Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

The Spiritual Plane

I STOOD IN THE CENTER of a world of pure white. The first time I’d come here, I’d been lost and confused, but this was an environment I’d gotten used to seeing—the spiritual plane. When Luna and Greed had been around, the torture they referred to as “training” had livened the place up. With Luna and Greed both gone, the spiritual plane was now silent. The days of fun were over. All that was left was…us.

A pitch-black substance bubbled up from the floor of the spiritual plane like water. It stained the world Luna had left for me like ink on a white tablecloth. The black stain floated into the air and formed into the shape of a person. The being shook its head, color filling its features.

I could barely even breathe as I saw what stood before me. It was the other version of myself. He glared at me, his eyes such powerful red I could barely hold its gaze.

“I did not want to meet you again…”

The other me flashed a wicked smile, as if it had ached for our reunion.

The false Fate raised his hand toward me. Black liquid flowed from his fingers and dripped to the floor, making yet another pitch-black stain. The stain opened into a gaping hole, from which I could hear the cries of those who had been devoured by my Gluttony.

What is he doing?!

I waited cautiously as an ominous, black greatsword rose slowly from the depths. It was considerably bigger than the one I’d last seen him use. When I finally saw the whole thing, I couldn’t help but be struck by its massive, overwhelming size. It was three times as big as my black sword.

This false Fate took the greatsword in a single hand and swung it with ease, leveling it straight at me. I took a few steps back while my enemy watched me, his eyes full of disdain.

My weapon wasn’t here; my black sword was gone. There was no way I could take that gigantic greatsword on empty-handed. But could I keep myself safe from Fake Fate until I regained consciousness in the real world?

I knew one thing for sure. Fake Fate was not going to make things easy on me.

“Here he comes.”

Despite the size of his sword, Fake Fate was quick. I leaped backward and dodged his first strike by a hairsbreadth. As soon as I landed, I dove to the left. The black blade swung through the air formerly occupied by my neck. One instant slower and I would have been completely decapitated.

I was more powerful and quicker on my feet than the last time we’d faced off, and it seemed like all my work and training in the real world was reflected here in the spiritual plane. Despite that, I was still on the back foot, stuck on defense just like last time.

Picking up speed, Fake Fate stepped forward with a diagonal slash from the right. I leaned to evade the swing, but in that instant, I felt something like electricity flash through my head. I instinctively knew that the incoming strike was a feint, and that the other me was actually going to throw a horizontal strike.

What is this feeling?

As we leaped around the spiritual plane, I found that I could read Fake Fate’s attacks before they happened every now and then. At the same time, dark, terrifying thoughts crept through my mind. A horrifying delight came from slaughtering monsters…people…all living things. Fake Fate took great joy in our battle. It wanted nothing more than to kill, kill again, and keep right on killing. Was he the embodiment of my Gluttony? Did he want nothing more than to destroy, to devour souls?

“Or is it me you want to eat?” I asked.

Fake Fate said nothing.

“Answer me!”

He silently brought his greatsword down toward me, as though that were answer enough. I dodged the slash and responded with a spinning kick aimed at his throat. Fake Fate flew backward, but quickly landed on his feet, glaring at me as though my attack were little more than an annoyance. 

My kick had been anything but effective. However, it had served to enrage Fake Fate, who roared into the sky as if he were raising hell itself. He scratched his head, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. He was as far from an intelligent human being as one could get. For a time, Fake Fate stared straight up into the sky, an absent-minded look on his face. I wanted nothing more than for him to just stay that way, but that was never how things worked out for me.

“Yeah, I just knew something bad was going to happen,” I muttered.

Four wings suddenly burst from Fake Fate’s back. He flapped them slowly, bringing his eyes to meet my own. The expression on his face had transformed. Before, he’d had the eyes of a feral beast, but there was now a sense of purpose in his gaze. 

The first words he spoke shocked me to my core.

“You impostor,” he spat.

This was the last thing I wanted to hear from someone who looked exactly like me.

“Give me back my body,” he said.

But it isn’t yours. It’s mine.

This creature was little more than a proxy for my Gluttony, and now, it was spouting madness.

“You’re the impostor!” I shouted.

Fake Fate spread his four wings wide. Their power shook the white world upon which I stood. Just when I thought he was going to move, he appeared right before my eyes.

“He’s so quick!” I said.

I couldn’t dodge Fake Fate’s first strike, and it cut from my right side into my stomach. I did not have a physical body in the spiritual plane, but the direct hit filled me with a searing, near-unbearable pain. Long ago, Luna had explained how damage worked in this world, and because I’d been hit by this imposter in our last battle, I believed that I could handle it.

But this… This was more painful than I could have ever imagined. It was just a single strike, but it was far heavier than expected. I howled in agony, barely able to stand. 

As I wobbled on my feet, Fake Fate grabbed me by the throat. “You dare call me an impostor?” he said, lifting me off the ground.

I struggled to free myself, but he was far too strong. “Let me go,” I sputtered.

“I am real…and you are the impostor. Understand that it is me… I am the real thing… I am Fate…and you are the impostor.”

He repeated the words like they were a curse. My own words couldn’t reach him, though I didn’t think he would have listened anyway.

“Disappear…” he said.

“Gah…”

A black stain appeared on my wound, and I felt it start to slowly eat away at my body. The searing pain gave way to a pervasive, all-consuming numbness that was similar to when I gave my stats to Greed.

Is he…is he trying to steal my very existence?! Damn it. If only Greed were here… We could fight…together…

“Greed…” I spat.

“Enter the abyss,” said Fake Fate.

“Greed…”

“It is over. From the start, you were only—”

Suddenly, I felt a weight sink into my right hand.

“Greed!”

I swung with everything I had. Fake Fate reluctantly let me go to avoid my strike. We then immediately collided, our weapons letting off sparks as we pushed against one another, glaring the whole time.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I’ll be honest. I don’t particularly want to be here. However, Eris wished it, and it is a weapon’s duty to obey their wielder, even when it happens to be for the sake of someone you can’t stand.”

The weapon I had found in my hand was not the one I’d been expecting. It was a weapon I’d met when we’d tried to kill each other in Galia. It had a long and storied—­not to mention complicated—history with Eris, but I’d heard that they were back on good terms. We hadn’t had a chance to talk since that fight in Galia, so our feelings toward each other continued to simmer.

“You are literally the last thing I’d expect to rescue me from trouble,” I said.

“Well, this is the last thing I want to be doing, too. But here I am. Now it comes down to whether or not you can handle me.”

The gunblade, Envy, had an attitude problem all of its own, one distinct from Greed’s. Memories of the struggles I had endured when it’d been my enemy surfaced. Nonetheless, the gunblade had come to help me, and for that I was grateful.

“I’ll wield you just fine,” I said.

“So you say. And you’d better, or we’re both in deep shit. I need you to get out of this place and return to the real world to help me with something.”

I knew it was Eris; I didn’t have to ask. The gunblade wanted me to free her from Libra’s control. We had a common goal, and so long as we had a similar destination, we’d be able to fight as a team.

Power flowed into the gunblade and pushed Fake Fate backward.

“Here we go, Envy!”

“Make it quick, Fate.”

I aimed the weapon straight at my enemy and fired.