Chapter 84 (1/2)
Episode 5: Citizens.h.i.+p / Chapter 84: Musical Chairs (7)
TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk
The victory banquet continued in the city. Sometimes, there would be a gust of wind which would blow past the banquet feast prepared out in the streets. Although annoying situations like tablecloths being flipped over or salad flying away would occur, even those were fun. While they were unable to become drunk due to karma, the Berserkers went on a spree of eating and drinking. As they were already in a good mood, even if they didn’t get drunk, their moods heated up like drunken men. The wind blew again.
Suddenly, a loud explosive sound erupted from a field outside the city.
Booom!
Familiar flames surged upwards immediately after. Blood-red flames burned in the sky before dispersing.
The Berserkers, who had been enjoying themselves to their heart’s content, stood up like a spring. Surprised, the citizens of Nasari stood up after them.
Someone said,
“… Isn’t that leader’s Flaming Wing Dance?”
The Berserkers’ eyes cooled to a chill. The heated mood became chilly like the edge of a blade. The festival streets instantly felt menacing as if they were in the middle of a battlefield. The gusts of wind, which previously felt like an enjoyable game, now felt bleak as if hinting at death. This wasn’t a mood colonizers who weren’t used to fighting could endure.
‘We… We’re going to die…’
The citizens of Nasari felt death approach the tip of their noses. A warm stench of urine arose as someone had wet themselves. No one laughed.
Tap, tap.
With quiet footsteps, the shadows of a few people shot through the air like arrows. Lee Jinhee, Chu Youngjin, Ryu Hyunsung, as well as other top executives of the Berserkers, had quickly gone to figure out what happened. However, they stopped before they could even leave the city. It was because Choi Hyuk had returned within that short period of time.
His serious expression showed that he was deep in thought. Three people, Richard, his aide, Leah, and Choi Hyuk, had left the city together, but only Choi Hyuk returned.
“Leader, what about the Sovereign of Balance?”
When Lee Jinhee asked, Choi Hyuk replied half-heartedly,
“He left.”
“Umm… You didn’t kill him, right?”
Choi Hyuk tilted his head in an obscure manner and replied,
“He wouldn’t die.”
Then he said as he pa.s.sed Lee Jinhee,
“Gather once you’ve eaten your fill. Let’s have a meeting in the evening.”
Choi Hyuk continued to go further away with a serious look. Looking at his figure, Lee Jinhee shook her head.
Rumors spread wildly. There were many people who had partic.i.p.ated in the banquet that day. They had seen Richard and Choi Hyuk leave together and witnessed Choi Hyuk return by himself after a large commotion. Soon after, a rumor that Richard was seriously wounded to the point of immediately requesting healers spread. Although no one confirmed it publicly, one story went around as fact.
‘Richard proposed something to Choi Hyuk, and Choi Hyuk, enraged, attacked Richard!’
Sovereigns, who were already concerned with the Berserkers’ forceful actions, looked at the situation this time with gravity.
“To even attack Richard… Does he not distinguish his opponents? He isn’t someone who we can get through to with words.”
There were rumors that the Anti-Berserker Alliance was preparing for their second expedition. They said that there were many more sovereigns partic.i.p.ating this time than in
Jessie’s first expedition where he failed hopelessly.
{The Berserk Sovereign Choi Hyuk. Savior? Or Demon King?}
{The Sovereign of Paradise Camilla, “He is a warrior who can save the world. This isn’t something we should decide hastily…”}
{Prosecute the Berserkers for their brutality.}
All sorts of articles were published.
While the public opinion of the Berserkers was gradually becoming worse, Choi Hyuk, instead, continued forward with surefooted steps.
Whoosh.
A storm formed in Dragonic as winds were getting fiercer. The white, heavy sky rippled frighteningly. Grddk, grddk. Every time the sky swayed and shook, revealing its ma.s.siveness, a sound which was difficult to describe shook the land. It was incomparable to the sounds of thunder on Earth. ‘Did an enormous beast swallow us?’ Are we being digested in its stomach?’ ‘Is the sky crus.h.i.+ng the ground?’ Even though they knew it wasn’t true, the sound made all sorts of thoughts cross their minds. That sound and the appearance of the sky rippling, as if it would pour down, brought on a fear exceeding their imaginations. And this fear brought forth an abnormal state of consciousness as if one had been possessed by a spirit. They said that your mind would waver when simply looking at rippling water for a long time. The scene of the sky, which filled their vision, couldn’t help but be on another level as it tossed and turned while screaming… The consciousness of the colonizers was not free from the storm’s influence.
Grrddl. Grrddk.
Below the wailing sky, Choi Hyuk gathered the Berserkers and the citizens of Nasari and declared,
“We leave on an expedition. Until the seven overseers are decided.”
Choi Hyuk’s voice pierced through the screams of the sky and clearly rang in people’s ears.
“Those who wish to continue to live in Nasari must partic.i.p.ate in the expedition. I don’t need anyone who does not fight with me in my cities.”
At first, the citizens of Nasari whispered to each other with perplexed expressions. Soon after, once they realized Choi Hyuk’s meaning, ‘If you don’t partic.i.p.ate, you will be deported from the city,’ their faces turned deathly pale. They looked towards the Berserkers, whom they had formed friendly relations.h.i.+ps over the past few days, and asked what was going on, inquiring whether he would really do that, through their gazes, but the Berserkers showed a ‘So what?’ expression. Endless battles. This was their daily life. In the Berserkers’ perspective, they were actually taken aback when the ones who hated fighting were taken aback.
“Some may say this is crazy and swear at us, but don’t worry. Isn’t this the case? This is a world where two to three billion people die within half a month. There’s no way rational thoughts will work in this world that is already as crazy as it gets. Let’s become crazy. Instead, let’s become even crazier.”
The rising wind drove into Choi Hyuk’s voice and created a bigger, bleaker echo. Choi Hyuk continued on with a voice similar to that of a G.o.d’s.
“I will make you victorious.”
Grrddk. Grrrdddk.
Some felt fear from Choi Hyuk’s words, while others became excited.
That was how a storm began to sweep through Dragonic.
The storm blew. The Berserkers rushed forward along with the storm. Their cheeks were endlessly wet with red rain.
Slice.
“Geu…”
The corpse, which had his head sliced by Ryu Hyunsung’s sword, was swept up by the storm and disappeared. The crowded, heated ground flung corpses that had lost their karma up towards the sky. Ryu Hyunsung and the teams following him were ‘technicians’, who represented the Berserkers. They used the trait ‘Mind’s Eye’ as a foundation and released precise sword strikes at their opponent’s weak points. Even if it felt like there was an even battle, once a few swords suddenly flashed, their enemies would break like scarecrows and be blown away. Even their blood drew beautiful arcs.
Rumble! Rumble!
Chu Youngjin and the teams following him were incarnations of destruction. With a single strike created by exploding their karma like an internal combustion engine, they turned their enemies into blood geysers and mist. As their fighting method wasted a lot of their strength and because they would lose out if they missed even a single time, Chu Youngjin’s team members undoubtedly pushed forward and killed their enemies with a single strike even if it meant getting wounded themselves. A b.l.o.o.d.y charge. Because of their chaotic appearance, this troop was the symbol of the Berserkers.
“Rotate to the right!”
A group of Berserkers followed Lee Jinhee’s shout and ran to the right while stepping on the enemies’ shoulders or weapons.