Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 31

Chapter 31:

To Feast 

THE DIVINE DRAGON opened its mouth wide and gathered a charge for another roaring blast. It faced Babylon. Even now, it was still trying to follow its master’s last orders. 

Not if I could help it. 

“Hey, Greed, you ever want to know what it feels like to fly?” 

“Huh?! What are you talking about?!” 

I didn’t answer. Instead, I launched Greed like a javelin. I gave the throw everything I had, aiming at the Divine Dragon’s lower jaw. Greed shouted something as he left my grasp, but I figured whatever he had to say at this point couldn’t be very important. 

Usually, I would never have done anything so reckless, but without my left arm, wielding the black bow was no longer an option. Even with Health Regen, it seemed like growing an arm back was impossible for a human. I glanced at the ragged stump and was glad to see the bleeding had stopped. I could still feel my arm where I had none, perhaps because it was still such a recent injury. 

Greed carved a black line through the air and slammed the Divine Dragon’s mouth completely shut mere moments before it roared. An instant later, with nowhere else to go, the roar exploded inside the beast’s mouth. The shock tilted the Divine Dragon, and it dropped slightly from the sky. 

Yes! I should be able to reach it at this distance . 

I sent the earth around me flying as I kicked off, jumping toward the Divine Dragon like a bullet aimed at the bottom of its jaw. 

I charged power into my right fist and loaded up the skill Brawl’s tech-art, Ruinous Strike. However tough the Divine Dragon’s skin, it didn’t matter to me; this tech-art would destroy it from the inside. 

I punched the Divine Dragon with all my might. Its skin puffed up around my fist, then burst open in a rain of vivid flesh. The momentum of the strike sent me higher. Within the scattered flesh of the still-living dragon, I glimpsed the black sword. I used the Divine Dragon’s bottom jaw as a foothold and lunged to grasp Greed in my hand. 

“Welcome to your destination, Greed. You had a pleasant flight, I hope?” 

“Fate…you better remember this. If you ever, ever think you can use the mighty black sword Greed like some kind of throwaway javelin again…” 

“I got you back, didn’t I?” 

“That’s not the problem!” 

Greed was right. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was the Divine Dragon, still alive and reaching for me with one of its monstrously thick claws. I deftly dodged out of its way and used Identify on the monster. 

The Heavenly Calamity 

Divine Dragon, Lv 1,500 

Vitality: 2.10e8 

Strength: 1.80e8 

Magic: 2.10e8 

Spirit: 2.90e8 

Agility: 1.50e8 

Skills: Vitality Boost (Ultra), Magic Boost (Ultra), Spirit Boost (Ultra), Health Regen Boost 

As I expected, the Divine Dragon was in the Domain of E. It was the first monster I’d seen with a level higher than three digits, too. 

Three of the Divine Dragon’s skills were ultra-high status-boosting skills. I’d acquired a high-boost skill, so “ultra” was clearly the next level. All the same, stat boosters were most effective when you leveled up. They did boost base stats, but they weren’t particularly delicious skills for someone like me, who was eternally Level 1. That said, collecting the whole set of stat boosters was something I’d looked forward to, like a little personal goal. I wondered whether ultra was the limit, or if there was a stat booster that surpassed even that. Not that it really mattered anymore. 

The Divine Dragon also had the Health Regen Boost skill. That was probably how it had stayed in the air even after taking such a vicious attack to its head and body. It was at least one step above my own Health Regen. I wanted to use Identify to check the skill out in more detail, but the Divine Dragon was done waiting. 

The beast reached out for me once more with its claws, but I sliced at it while I asked Greed something that was on my mind. 

“Why doesn’t the Divine Dragon freeze under the power of Gluttony’s gaze?” 

“Even if your stats are higher, that won’t work on any enemy in the Domain of E. Like I said, it’s a world beyond human. A lot of things are different now.” 

“More’s the pity…” 

I leaped onto the Divine Dragon’s forward limb, then dashed toward its back. The monster twisted violently like it was trying to get rid of a pesky flea, but I had no intention of going down so easily. I had my sights on the very thing that kept the Divine Dragon airborne: its shining set of six wings. 

I sent each wing plummeting to the earth with a slice of my blade, and with each lost wing, the Divine Dragon dropped farther. This was a monster sometimes referred to as a herald of the gods. Some of the population even worshipped it. I reduced it to a shell of what it once was. 

“You’re the one who’s going down!” I cried, slicing off the Divine Dragon’s last wing and kicking it toward the earth with all my strength. 

The dragon had lost its ability to maneuver in the air. It was little more than a sitting duck. Unlike the regeneration abilities chimeras possessed, Health Regen Boost wouldn’t regrow the dragon’s crushed jaw, shattered flesh, and wingless stumps. That worked for me. I didn’t want to have to deal with the beast flying through the air again. 

As we careened downward in freefall, I gripped Greed tight in my remaining hand. Even without its lower jaw, the Divine Dragon prepared to launch another energy beam. Just as I saw the giant beast as a target, it now recognized that I was powerless to dodge any attacks as I fell through the sky. 

“Fate!” Greed cried, ever my faithful alarm. 

“Don’t worry! I’m on it!” 

As the Divine Dragon roared another energy beam toward us, I engaged the Strength Overload skill and the tech-art Sharp Edge. Strength Overload doubled your strength at the cost of dropping your strength stat to ten percent of its total for a whole day after use. It was risky, but perfect in a pinch. And this was it—my last strike. 

When I’d multiplied my stats in the Domain of E, the Sharp Edge Tech-art had become overwhelmingly powerful—enough to slice the Divine Dragon’s attack into pieces. The energy beam broke in two halves around me, dissipating into particles of light. My attack didn’t stop there; it continued straight through the sky and sliced the Divine Dragon in half, too. 

My attack was of such power that it carved into the Galian wasteland itself, cutting a deep ravine in the earth below. Into that dark abyss, the two halves of the Divine Dragon fell, as if from heaven into the depths of whatever awaited in the darkness beneath the earth. 

It was finally over. As I tumbled toward the ground, I heard a familiar metallic voice. 

Gluttony Skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +2.10e8, Strength +1.80e8, Magic +2.10e8, Spirit +2.90e8, Agility +1.50e8. Skills added: Vitality Boost (Ultra), Magic Boost (Ultra), Spirit Boost (Ultra), Health Regen Boost. 

With the Divine Dragon now dead, there was nothing to naturally cull the monsters in Galia. Still, the enormous chasm that now ran across the earth would lessen at least some of the burden on the defenders of Babylon. It wouldn’t be easy for any monster without wings to make it across this barren wound and into the lands of the kingdom. 

Abruptly, an unbearable pain unlike anything I had ever known assaulted me. Gluttony’s bliss exceeded my limits, warping into horrific agony. It was more powerful than Luna could ever hope to control. Trying to resist the crazed energy made me feel like I would burst into a shower of blood. 

It was only a matter of time, now. Before I lost myself entirely, there was still one thing left to do. I could tell it was possible. I’d done it three times before, and I knew what it felt like. 

His conditions were met. 

“Greed,” I said. “I’m sorry…” 

“Fate! Wait! Stop!” 

“I can’t…I can’t hold on any longer…” 

It had worked. I could tell from Greed’s haste. Unlocking a new level required my permission, and I had given it. I released the stats from within me, and the power poured out of me in a forceful rush. At the same time, Greed was wrapped in light as his form changed before my eyes. 

What appeared as the light faded was an elegant black stave. I wanted to look at it more closely, but I couldn’t. I could barely even keep hold of it. Gluttony made my hand shake. As the stave dropped from my grasp, Greed’s voice faded from my mind. 

“Not you too…” 

It was an unusual tone for Greed, tinged with loneliness. 

With Greed’s Fourth Level released, I was reduced back to my base stats. It would be all too easy for any adventurer or monster to kill me. Still, there was always the chance they wouldn’t. The chance that I would manage to kill someone and grow more powerful, a red-eyed monster in the wastes. Before I lost myself completely to Gluttony, I wanted someone to end it for me decisively. 

As if to allay my fears, a girl appeared, walking toward me from the south. She had white hair and tanned skin, and she carried on her shoulder a giant black axe. 

It was Myne. She had come to keep her promise.