Going Berserk

There was one simple way I knew how many months it had been since Otherworlders appeared here.

That was because every month, I experienced a physical and mental cycle.

And as it happened, today marked the fourteenth berserk episode celebrating the anniversary of the Otherworlders' arrival.

To honor the bastards, I held a small personal ritual deep inside my cave.

Tak-tak-tak, tak...

...I wouldn't go into detail about what kind of ritual.

Describing it concretely would be embarrassing, and also too damn gay.

To put it briefly... I fired a few off. Quite a few, actually.

Lately, Berserk B had been manifesting somewhat oddly.

Maybe it was because I'd seen far too many provocative scenes recently, but instead of rage or gloom, it was lust that kept accumulating.

It had always been a type of berserk where blood rushed to my lower half, but the symptoms were especially bad these days.

I wasn't sure if I should consider that a good thing or a bad thing.

"Hoo..."

Still, the excitement did fade as time passed.

The long night passed, and morning came.

And so all that remained was a weirdly fishy smell and the reality check hitting me hard.

'How many times did I do it without anything to work with...?'

The world didn't look beautiful. I just felt a bit of self-loathing. Still, I supposed it was better than sinking into depression.

"..."

After letting my mind wander for a moment, I walked straight out of the cave.

Once the berserk episode settled down, seeing sunlight was usually the first thing I did.

That was how I convinced myself night had truly passed, and it also improved ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my mood a little.

Above all, it was a routine I'd repeated for decades, so now I felt uneasy if I didn't see the sunlight.

The moment I stepped outside, a fresh scent of grass tickled my nose.

"...! ...!!"

And with that, voices reached me from somewhere.

Well, they weren't Chae-rin's or Ha-neul's voices. Those two had each already visited once recently.

But that didn't mean these were voices I could ignore.

"...Look! Is Yor... over there...!"

Because among the distant shouting, I heard my name.

I grimaced hard and let out a deep sigh.

"Hah."

I was dead tired, so who the hell was calling for me?

If it were up to me, I'd have just ignored them and gone back to sleep, but that wasn't an option. Whether they'd leave if I ignored them was an unknown.

So I forced my exhaustion aside and moved toward the voice. With the thought that I'd at least see who it was.

"...Huh, what the. Called you not that long ago and you came quick. Were you nearby?"

The moment I met the other party, I couldn't help but grimace.

It wasn't a particularly welcome face. The name was... what was it again. Nikki Tanesia, was it?

She was a Manifestor like me, and at the same time a member of Lemegeton.

She was also the one who'd suddenly told Yoo Chae-rin about my identity, nearly wrecking my relationship with her.

Well, it ended well in the end... but I had nothing but bad memories about it.

So I immediately snarled the moment I saw her.

"Didn't I explicitly tell you to get lost back then? You came back because you really want to die?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I'm not here to recruit you today."

"..."

I relaxed my guard a little at those words. Truthfully, I didn't sense any particular hostility from her.

And she looked utterly exhausted.

As I kept glaring at her, a question suddenly occurred to me.

Come to think of it, she was a Manifestor too. So how had she managed to reach this forest so early in the morning?

I asked her the question right away.

"What about your berserk phase? Wasn't it the new moon yesterday? How are you already in this forest?"

"The berserk, you mean? Well, it's a bit of a pain, but I can still move around somewhat. So I dragged myself here at dawn today."

I tilted my head.

...Really? The berserk was just 'a bit of a pain'?

Wasn't it supposed to wipe out your whole day whether A or B erupted?

Sure, I also roamed the forest when B erupted, but... I had no confidence I could move around while keeping my reason intact like that.

'Does the berserk apply differently to each Manifestor?'

The thought crossed my mind for a moment.

I had no idea. It wasn't like I'd ever seen someone else go through it.

While I was thinking about that, Nikki spoke again.

"Sniff, sniff, more importantly, don't you smell something weird? There's a kind of fishy smell..."

I felt a bit embarrassed hearing that.

Shit, now that I thought about it, I'd fired off a few and hadn't properly washed.

Couldn't be helped. I'd only planned to see the sunlight and head back in, but I'd unexpectedly run into someone.

"...Shut up. Just tell me the business that brought you here today."

I spoke brusquely and changed the subject. Fortunately, she went along with it without much thought.

"Simple. I came to pass on a few pieces of information."

"Information? All of a sudden?"

A new information shuttle. That was a little novel.

"...Just listen."

So she began explaining what had happened the night before.

It was about the Altar occupation battle, which I hadn't paid the slightest attention to.

*

The Kimaris Altar Occupation Battle had drawn a large crowd.

Anything concerning demons was always important to Lemegeton.

Among the participants was Nikki. She was a Team Leader-level talent in her own right, and her skills were fairly outstanding.

But not long after joining, she had to hear this.

"This battle is already lost."

"...What?"

"The other side has swarmed in with too many. You need the numbers to be even in a fight, and at this rate, even if we capture it, we'll lose it again right away. Tch."

The one speaking was none other than the Fourth Branch Leader.

The commander overseeing the entire battle had already declared defeat.

The enemy's sheer numbers were that overwhelming. She didn't know about individual combat strength since they hadn't clashed yet, but they'd already lost on headcount.

Even so, a commander couldn't just tuck tail and run before even fighting.

They had to at least put on the pretence of a fight. That way they could roughly protect their reputation and wipe away the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stigma of cowardice.

So, the Branch Leader made a different call.

"On the night the new moon rises, we will raid their tents. The light will be low, so even if we lose the fight, retreating will be easier."

It was a fight for show, so to speak.

After all, they could still inflict damage on the enemy while minimising their own losses. Among the executives who followed the Branch Leader, none voiced opposition.

The only downside was that Nikki couldn't join the battle on the night the new moon rose.

She was a Manifestor, after all.

Fortunately, her berserk episodes came on the weaker side, but not to a degree where she could fight. So she decided to wander the nearby village while the battle took place.

Her body stung a little, but walking around like that was better than sitting still and enduring it.

It was while she walked beneath the dark night sky.

"—How dare you...! To defy the kingdom's sacred law and hide a criminal!!"

"We beg forgiveness! Please, spare our lives at least...!"

"Nonsense! Those who threaten humanity must pay in blood!"

"Kyaaaaak! F-Father! No!"

From somewhere, clamorous shouts rang out. What was more, the faint sound of blades being swung echoed through the air.

"...What's this?"

Unable to contain her curiosity, Nikki headed toward the noise.

And then she saw it. Several cold, dead corpses, and one wounded knight panting heavily.

Though she hadn't joined the battle, she had been here for a few days, so she knew who the corpses were.

The village chief's family. For whatever reason, a knight had slaughtered them.

Her gaze moved further inward. And she saw a new figure.

A girl clutching her head in pain, a dark-red ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tattoo on her thigh.

"A-agh. My head...!"

A Manifestor, in other words. To think she'd discover a new Manifestor here. Her eyes widened for a moment at the unexpected turn.

Then she quickly pieced together the situation.

A wounded knight had stumbled into the chief's house, discovered the hidden Manifestor, and slaughtered the chief.

After all, hiding a bearer was a grave crime, just like bearing Demon's Blood itself.

"Hut, who goes there!"

Whatever the case, she couldn't just stand and watch.

Not as a member of Lemegeton, and not as a fellow kin. She couldn't let a Manifestor be killed.

So Nikki swiftly dealt with the knight and got the kid out.

No matter how much her berserk phase was active, she still had enough strength to handle one wounded knight.

The chief's family had already all been killed... so there was no choice but to take only the child.

By then, the child was half out of her mind.

"Hic, sniff... Chief. Mom, Dad..."

She was already suffering from the berserk, and on top of that, the people who'd looked after her had been murdered.

Nikki felt a brief pang of sympathy for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the little kid.

The place Nikki headed was the tent of the Fourth Branch Leader. The commander had not yet joined the battle and was still reading the flow of the war.

The Branch Leader looked at Nikki as she entered the tent and asked.

"Hm, what is it? And who's the brat?"

"She's a Manifestor. I rescued her when she was about to be killed by a knight."

Nikki briefly explained the full story.

"Hm, ho-oh..."

Having heard the whole tale, the Branch Leader nodded with apparent interest.

"A Manifestor hidden away in a small village like this. Intriguing."

"Right? More importantly, is there a spare tent? I think I'll need to protect her for a while." "Just a moment... hold on."

The Branch Leader looked back and forth between the little kid and the map on the table for a moment.

As if deep in thought about something.

After a short while, he spoke to the child with a crooked smile.

"Hey, child. Don't you hate those bastards?"

"...?"

Even then, the child still hadn't escaped her grief.

Her tear-streaked eyes looked up at the Branch Leader.

"Don't you loathe the knights who killed your family? It just so happens I have a method."

"What? No, hold on."

That was about when Nikki stepped in. Because it was blatantly obvious what he was trying to do.

She cut off the Branch Leader and demanded.

"What the hell is this shit. You're not going to calm the kid down and comfort her, you're pushing her to run wild?"

"Think coldly, Nikki. This many people have gathered in one place, you see. What do you think happens if a Demonkin is dropped somewhere like this?"

Without a doubt, a great many sacrifices would be offered all at once. The Branch Leader chuckled as he trailed off.

Nikki swore at him and tried to stop it.

"You son of a bitch..."

Honestly, she didn't have much interest in demons.

At any rate, the reason she'd joined Lemegeton was because this was a comfortable place to live.

She was born a criminal anyway, so she'd already stepped partway into it.

But wasn't this going too far?

To coax a child into selling her own soul.

But it was already too late. The child was already somewhat drawn to the Branch Leader's words.

"What's... the method...?"

The child looked at the Branch Leader with watery eyes. She was still crying, but hatred was gradually filling those eyes.

The Branch Leader spoke to the child in a gentle voice.

"The method is simple. It's a method you already know."

"..."

The rest was obvious. Not much coaxing was needed.

The child became a Demonkin and killed a total of 120 people.

And the thirteen-year-old child met a dramatic end.

*

"...I hate to admit it. But you were right. This place worships demons."

What followed was simple.

Unwilling to watch her own kind rampage, and disgusted by the Branch Leader, she'd headed straight for me.

We weren't on great terms, but still, to me, a fellow kin.

"It is a comfortable place to live, but those bastards see us as tools."

The knights had provided the cause, but in the end, it was Lemegeton that turned the child into a Demonkin.

She seemed to have a lot on her mind about it.

Naturally, I was shocked too.

A Demonkin had appeared again. And as many as one hundred twenty people had been offered up as sacrifices. Didn't that mean another demon could appear?

I felt sympathy for that child, and at the same time, my perception of the Fourth Branch Leader turned automatically hostile.

But beyond that, I also had questions.

I looked at her and asked.

"You ran all the way here just to tell me that one piece of information? While your berserk phase is even active?"

"...Yeah. Honestly, I don't like you. But you're still a fellow kin. And you haven't joined our side yet, either."

Nikki drew a breath, then continued.

"And I didn't necessarily come here with just that one piece of information. There's one more piece of intel that's especially helpful for people like us."

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you. Info those Lemegeton bastards would never share even if they died."

I paid closer attention to her words.

Hoo, she steadied her breathing for a moment, then spoke to me.

"There's a way to permanently eliminate the berserk."