Path of the Berserker

BEFORE KELSEY COULD even question what that meant, I charged forward with a savage roar of my own. My Dantian was still near empty, with precious little Frenzy to spare but I used it to bolster my speed as I swept in to land a [Two Log Chop] on the beast’s sword arm.

It felt like hitting stone, my Corrupted Steel axe bouncing off its thick hide with a tuff of cut fur.

Holy shit, I thought. Not even able to wound it with my casual strength alone?

I was at the Fifth or Sixth Stage of Muscle Strengthening by now, able to bend steel without the use of Frenzy at all. To withstand that kind of blow this thing had to be an awakened A-class not B or C. But how did it become so strong? Was it drawing power from the sword itself? Just as the thought occurred, it whipped the gigantic blade in my direction causing me to duck into a roll.

I dove forwards instead of backwards, rolling under its guard to land another a massive chop with my axe, this time fueling it with Frenzy. I was rewarded with a hollering yell from the ape as I drew blood, my axe breaking the skin and exposing white flesh beneath.

My [Bloodlust] triggered feeding me scant amounts of Frenzy through my beleaguered Flame.

But I needed more to fight this. Much, much more!

Just as I was about to look for Kelsey, the girl appeared at my side, landing a blow on the ape’s hide with her pipe wrench. Thankfully she wasn’t strong enough for the beast to even notice her, but the Frenzy in her soul was enough for me to draw upon to bolster my own strength as I laid into the gorilla with a headbutt to its solar plexus.

The ape reeled backwards in response, winded by my assault.

Kelsey did as I commanded swiftly, moving to my rear.

“I didn’t even hurt the thing,” Kelsey said. “It’s strong as hell! How am I supposed to help you kill it?”

But I was already syphoning her Frenzy, mixing it with my own to fuel my next move. “You’re already helping more than you know. I need to get that sword back. To cleanse myself like I did last time, remember?”

“Yeah, I got you,” Kelsey said, breathing heavily. “Focus on getting the sword.”

“Stay as close as you can, but keep away from it. One hit from that thing and you’re dead.”

“Got it,” she said with a nod.

The beast glowered at me, lowering its brow over its yellow-tinged eyes as a growl rumbled from its throat. “Hyua…hyo…si…”

“What the hell?” Kelsey said. “Did it just talk?”

I focused on the sounds it had just made, realizing they were words spoken in Yee.

Switching my mind from English mode I quickly understood what it had said.

“Bad fires die.”

“What?”

“Nevermind,” I said. “It just means it really wants to kill us.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Kelsey said.

I had enough Frenzy now for another couple of blows. I needed to use them sparingly to get that sword back and cleanse my Flame so I could get under my own power. As helpful as Kelsey was, the amount she could grant me couldn’t fuel the techniques I really needed to put this beast down.

The giant ape roared, beating its chest again.

Just as I was about to fly in for another assault, the popcorn sound of gunfire came from my left. Jim had repositioned his men, flanking it from the side. The ape shielded itself with the sword, sparks flying off the giant blade as the assault continued.

They weren’t doing shit, but it was a welcome distraction and I took advantage by charging in and aiming a [Three Log Chop] at the ape’s forearm. The blow connected and I was rewarded with a satisfying roar of pain as it cleaved through its tough outer hide. But it wasn’t enough. Threja’s sword remained fixed in its hand and the next thing I knew, it was swinging the giant blade straight for my head.

I had just enough time to raise my axe to block and the two pieces of Corrupted Steel collided in a massive flurry of red sparks. The force of the hit ripped the axe straight out of my palms, sending my weapon flying end over end into a copse of nearby trees.

A man-sized fist struck me next, slamming me into the ground and I saw stars.

I redirected all my remaining Frenzy into [Iron Skin] and [Iron Core] as the gorilla flew into a primal rage, pounding me into the ground with its fist. Blood flew from my mouth as my bones and organs popped, my Frenzy faltering. It finally reared up with the sword raised high, ready to bring it down on top of me.

My body was a shattered mess, my eyes half blinded with my own blood.

I tried to move but couldn’t.

Shit!

Kelsey suddenly appeared on the ape’s giant shoulder, scrambling up its back from behind. With a yell she swung the pipe wrench and nailed the creature right in its eye. It bellowed with rage and pain, tossing Kelsey off its back with a swat of its hand. The girl went flying like a missile, bouncing off the ground with a sharp cry.

“Kelsey!”

She rolled a couple times winding up on her back and my soul came undone as she lay there unmoving. Rage flared within me, sparking tendrils of fresh frenzy that surged throughout my wounded body.

She wasn’t dead––I could sense that, but her Flame was growing weak, like a slowly fading candle.

The ape roared, clutching a palm to its wounded eye, seeking out Kelsey with the other. It finally spotted her lying on the ground and in a burst, rage came from within it, seeking vengeance perhaps. It pounced after her, sword drawn high to cut her in two.

I skipped healing and channeled all my remaining Frenzy into [Death’s Door], willing my shattered body to leap from the ground. I scrambled across the thick grass, arriving just in time to shield Kelsey from the blow.

Threja’s sword came down like a guillotine, catching me right on the collarbone.

What residual [Iron Skin] I had left, barely slowed it down as the blade cleaved into my right side, straight down to my waist. Blood burst from my pierced lung, and I vomited out the same from my mouth. Half my body flopped awkwardly to the side as it fell away from me, my consciousness fading as the last bit of Frenzy drained from my Dantian, threatening to sever my connection to the living through [Death’s Door].

“Max…” I heard faintly from behind.

I glanced over where my shoulder used to be and saw Kelsey staring at me horrified. Fear and pain filled her soul, her Flame converting both to Frenzy in response. Gently she rested a hand on my back, as if checking to see if I were still alive. As she touched me a new surge of energy coursed through my body, her Frenzy pouring into my empty Dantian.

My red Flame coughed and sputtered, desperately trying to reignite.

“Fire…die…” The creature spoke directly into my face with a vile grin, one eye bloodshot from where Kelsey had struck it. “Master… come… soon.”

From the darkness of my tunneling vision, I heard the shriek of the alien creature again.

Hell no… I thought. Not this time!

Using Kelsey’s borrowed Frenzy, I willed myself to move using [Death’s Door] and grabbed hold of the massive blade still lodged halfway through my body. Like electricity, the resonance of the Pure Frenzy vibrated through my soul, stirring my reddened Flame and causing it to flare once again. I screamed in pain on top of pain, black smoke spewing from my mouth as I belched the Dark Frenzy from my soul.

In a flash, my Flame flared from red to vibrant white and blue.

The immense pain I was experiencing hit my Flame like an atom bomb going off, filling my soul with an ocean full of Frenzy. Kelsey seemed to react to it too, her eyes growing wide as her Flame flared in response to my own.

I activated my meridians, channeling the newfound energy to form fresh slivers of Solid Frenzy in my Dantian. I wished I could have cultivated it more quickly, but even I had my limits. Still, it was more than enough to do what I needed to do, to finish the job.

“[Mark of the Giant]…”

As I spoke the words my body instantly began to change, my ribcage mending itself as my body sewed itself back together while growing to immense size. Bones snapped and popped, muscles and sinew lacing itself with fresh blood.

The giant ape backed away instinctively, sensing the unnatural change as the Struggler relinquished control. The demon in me roared as I stood and ripped the sword from my body, the gaping wound it left closing in seconds. I was near equal in height to the giant ape now, off by a few inches instead of feet.

Lemonade and Frenzy sprung from Kelsey behind me, but from the rest of my companions I sensed their hearts filled with a primal fear. The same was on their faces as I looked at them––Jim, Flores, Harris, and even Richards and his men stared at me with their mouths hanging open. I drew in their fear to replenish me all the same, cultivating the energy into usable solid form.

“Now you die!” I shouted and lunged at the beast.

I swung with a massive downward chop as rage filled my soul.

The sword moved a lot slower than I expected, a matter of balance more than lack of strength, the blade slow to accelerate. When it finally hit the ground, the ape had long since moved, backing away from me in a panic. The earth exploded in a shower of grass and debris, leaving a crater in the ground.

I fed Frenzy to my limbs to give chase, swinging the sword wildly.

It was harder to maneuver than I expected, my muscle memory used to the much-reduced range, speed, and weight of my axe. I kept at it regardless, tearing up the ground as I slammed my sword after the giant ape again and again like a game of whack-a-mole.

It kept running away from me and after a second I understood why.

It snatched something from the ground, and suddenly had my axe in its hand.

“You mother––” I cut my own words short as an indignant fury erupted in my soul. “Get your greasy-ass palms off my axe!”

Armed with a weapon the ape fought back, throwing a clumsy swing with the axe. I avoided it easily, and went for a counter, but responded with a clumsy swing of my own.

Damn! How the hell did Threja make this look so easy?

We went back and forth, swing for clumsy swing, turning the battlefield into a warzone of flying rocks, dirt, and shale.

Enough of this crap, I thought. I’d finally finished cultivating enough Frenzy to use a true technique.

Blue lightning flashed from the sky as I raised the sword, and with a quick downward slash I directed it at the giant ape. The shock of the booming thunder was enough to cause it to freeze and it stood flat footed as the technique connected with it dead on.

With a crackling boom! the lightning struck it, causing the ape to howl and writhe in pain.

I followed up quickly with another sweeping arc of Threja’s blade, aiming for my axe. The two metals collided once more, red sparks flying, the blow liberating my weapon from the gorilla’s meaty hand.

It spun in the air, rotating like a top and with a burst of speed I dove to catch it. Time froze as I snatched the axe from the sky and a new sense of power filled me as I wielded both weapons in my hands. I sent a crackle of blue lightning across my body as I casually hefted Threja’s sword onto my left shoulder while holding my axe towards the ground in my right hand.

I had no idea how I was going to fight like this, but no way was I going give this damn gorilla another chance to get any of my weapons again. The beast roared in defiance, perhaps realizing its end was near.

It beat its chest as if powering up––or psyching itself up at the very least.

It charged at me on all fours, becoming more feral as snarls ripped from its fang-strewn maw. I used the footwork of my axe techniques to avoid it easily, retaliating with the same. I charged back with Frenzy-infused lightning trailing the edge of my axe blade, hacking at the giant gorilla again and again.

I sliced into the beast, causing it to howl and shudder with the effect of the lightning.

It was stunned momentarily, staying still long enough to land a blow with the sword perhaps. I heaved it over my left shoulder one-handed, releasing a cry of rage as I swung it in a downward cleave.

“[My Turn]!”

I chopped into its collarbone the same way it had done to mine, only I aimed a bit closer to the shoulder, slicing its arm and part of its leg clean off. The ape bellowed in a fit of pain and shock, as if unable to accept what had just happened to it. It wailed and thrashed as it bled out, slowly losing steam as its life’s blood emptied.

That chop using Threja’s sword felt damn good.

So good that I felt like another.

Stowing my axe, I doubled up my grip on the sword.

“Time to end this, my friend,” I said in Yee so it would understand.

In between labored pants, the ape spoke as I approached it.

“You…strong…but…master…stronger….kill… you.”

“You tell your master that I’m coming for him, understand?” I choked up on the handle of the sword like a baseball bat, readying myself for a two-handed strike. “Tell him the Cursed Flame will come to consume the King of the Moon!”

I spun with the movement of a [One Chop Cleave], trailing the massive sword behind me as I leaned into the strike. It connected with barely any resistance at all, severing the beast’s head from its body cleanly with a sharp ring! of steel.

Its head fell to the ground and the huge body of the ape fell after it, spiking my [Bloodlust]. I cultivated the energy and suddenly felt the sword vibrating in my palm. I could sense something being drawn into it, something from the corpse of the beast itself.

I wasn’t certain, but the sword pulsed and the vibration seemed a bit stronger than it was before.

What the hell was that? I wondered. Did Threja’s blade just get stronger by absorbing the beast’s Qi?

But I pushed the thought aside as I turned my attention to Kelsey.

She was still on the ground and filled with pain.

“Kelsey, you okay?” I said, dropping to my knees before her. She didn’t have any broken skin, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have broken bones. I examined her quickly, eliciting several hisses of pain.

“Looks like you’ve broken your leg in two spots,” I said. “Not bad considering. Plus, it’s going to give you a chance to grow back stronger.”

She grinned up at me. “I like how you think, Max. But damn that was freaking amazing. Are you the Hulk too?”

I chuckled, realizing she’d never seen me transform to quite this size before.

As I helped Kelsey gingerly from the ground, I sensed the others cautiously approaching me from behind me. They all stopped in their tracks as I turned to them, looking up at me in a mixture of apprehension, curiosity, and plain old fear.

“You can all relax,” I said, hefting Threja’s sword back onto my shoulder. “I’m still on your side.”

No one said anything for a moment, glances shifting between them until they all inevitably landed on Jim. Finally, the colonel spoke, his browed furrowed more deeply than I’d ever seen it before.

“What in the hell are you, son?”

“He’s a god just like I told you,” Kelsey answered for me. “Now do you see why I think he should be in charge?”

Jim didn’t respond to her, his mind still trying to comprehend what he’d just seen perhaps. I guess you could sort of rationalize a guy killing a couple hundred demons with an axe as crazy kung fu magic. But to see me literally regenerate my body from a death blow and turn into a lightning-wielding giant was on a different level.

Hell, even seasoned cultivators would have reacted the same.

So much for keeping it a secret, I thought. Although they had no idea what was taboo or not right now.

With my Flame fully restored, the Struggler eased back in control again.

“You’re still in charge, Jim,” I said. “Gaining power and control was never my aim. I’m here to help. To restore our people. Now after what you’ve seen, I’m sure you may have some questions, doubts and even fears, but I want to prove to you that this sword can and will protect the bunker from those demons.”

I glanced at Richards, but he didn’t dare speak this time.

“Fine,” Jim said. “And how do you propose to prove it?”

“Tonight, when the Bloodmoon rises you’ll be able to see for yourself.”

“Fair enough.”

“One more thing,” I said and then looked down at Kelsey. “Kelsey sticks with me from now on. And that book you took from her. I need it returned.”

Jim’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I can understand you not wanting to mass adopt a foreign influence, but Kelsey has use of that book now. She’ll be your proof of concept to observe. If you like what you see, it’ll be up to you to authorize its dissemination to everyone else. Deal?”

Jim harrumphed. “On the book part, yes. As for her sticking with you, that authorization goes way above my pay grade.”

I raised a brow at him.

“You’ll need to ask her mother for that kind of permission, son.” He then gave Kelsey a quick up and down. “And bringing her back looking like that… God only help you surviving Susan’s wrath.”

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