986: Berserk and the Scabbard

Fran and the others finally stopped running, before turning to stare down at the battlefield from the top of a small hill.

Well, only Fran and Izario actually managed to see everything clearly, along with a few others using farsight skills.

The two stood side by side, standing a little distance away from the exhausted adventurers.

「Matsuyuki isn’t going out of control?」

「Woof.」

Matsuyuki kept her left hand placed on the ground as she leapt around wildly, her long white hair and a black skirt fluttering in the wind.

She was by all means, a beast. By gripping the ground with her hand, Matsuyuki could make ridiculous direction changing maneuvers that should be impossible for ordinary people to perform.

And her arm seemed to have a tremendous amount of strength behind it. She was rushing forward at super high speeds, before suddenly bending her path midair with a quick flick of her left hand. That’s not something a human should be able to do.

However, her eyes still clearly contained the light of sanity.

「That’s the effect of the scabbard.」

「The scabbard?」

「Yeah, the same thing happened last time too.」

Izario, who had been fighting on this continent for a long time, must have witnessed Berserk’s activation on several occasions in the past.

「Hagane apparently has strict limits on the usage of Berserk. They follow those limits no matter what.」

It seems Hagane always brings about 1,000 of the old soldiers with them, and Berserk can be released only after they suffer a certain number of casualties.

The last time Izario saw Berserk’s release was immediately after half of the old soldiers fell in combat.

According to his theory, the scabbard usually has a seal on Berserk. Also, that white mana being emitted from the scabbard is the signal that Berserk can be released.

「Moreover, I don’t think sealing Berserk is that scabbard’s only job.」

「The other effect is stopping Matsuyuki from going crazy?」

「Probably.」

Even now, Matsuyuki maintained a position that would prevent the antidemons from surrounding her, cutting yet another one down. Despite observing the high speed battle from so far away, I could clearly tell the precision of her actions resulted from logical thinking.

Upon closer inspection, I saw the mana from the scabbard flowing towards both Matsuyuki and Berserk. This is definitely not just some sealing tool.

No, I guess you could say suppressing Berserk’s demerits was also part of sealing it?

Izario hypothesized that the user of Berserk could keep their sanity as long as the scabbard was emitting that white mana.

「But it doesn’t last forever. Maybe two minutes at the most.」

「Two minutes… That’s really short. What happens after?」

「Well, they lose themselves to Berserk’s power and go on a rampage, of course. I’ve heard about one that pushed themselves too hard in the past. As I recall, they ended up completely annihilating another country’s army.」

I was wondering if Berserk’s power could be controlled safely, but I guess it’s not that easy.

「…That Matsuyuki’s ability seems focused on killing single targets, huh? Maybe we didn’t have to run this far.」

「What do you mean?」

「Berserk’s powers apparently vary a lot depending on who is using it. The first time I saw it used, the range was absolutely massive. It instantly inflicted tens of thousands of antidemons with petrification, as well as the entire allied forces too.」

The next Berserk wielder he saw delivered slashes that exploded their victims, and the user after that had complete control over ice.

So Berserk’s power was the ability to manifest a myriad of wildly different powers depending on the user.

Izario’s hasty decision to flee must have been because Matsuyuki’s abilities were still unknown. He wanted to keep as much distance as possible, in case her power would indiscriminately slaughter everyone over a wide area.

Even if the scabbard allowed her to maintain her sanity, that doesn’t necessarily mean she had enough control over her powers to avoid harming us, after all.

「I’d have a hard time taking down those antidemon-dragonkin things with a single blow. Don’t ask me how it works, but her ability is killing them one by one with frightening efficiency. All of Berserk’s potential must be focused in that area.」

「I see.」

So that’s why he called her the “killing single targets” type. It may not be suitable against hordes, but she’s near unbeatable against small numbers due to Berserk’s physical enhancements. That’s definitely a great asset in our current situation.

「She took down another!」

「Woof woof!」

Berserk’s mana enveloped another antidemon, who promptly collapsed to the ground lifelessly. Again, killed in a single blow.

「I knew it. One hit, one kill. Pretty damn amazing, and I hope I never have to face someone like her.」

Me too. Thank god for that scabbard.

「What’s with the scabbard? Is it part of Berserk?」

That’s what I was wondering about too. We’ve heard people talking about Berserk, but never about the scabbard. Shouldn’t it be way more famous?

「No clue, but I don’t think it was originally created alongside Berserk.」

「Really?」

「The scabbard is clearly of lower quality than the blade. It should be way more effective if it was on par with a divine sword.」

That’s true. Besides, it doesn’t seem to fit with the concept of the blade either.

The concept behind Berserk seemed to be more like “mutually assured destruction”, killing everyone without any consideration for the user’s intentions. A scabbard capable of maintaining the user’s sanity kinda defeats the purpose.

Perhaps it was created afterward to control Berserk. I’m certain many researchers throughout history would have searched for a way to use the divine sword safely, so I can easily imagine someone inventing a magical tool for that purpose.

「…Another one down. She’s amazing.」

「Arf…」

「Yeah. She might even be able to corner me one on one.」

Matsuyuki had already taken down six of the antidemons. The fallen were completely unmoving, showed no signs of regeneration, and were already beginning to disintegrate.

「Ah! They started running!」

「Woof!」

「No, that ain’t it! They’re targeting us!」

The antidemons, perhaps realizing that they were no match for Matsuyuki, turned their backs on her and headed our way.

Ignoring the nearby old soldiers of Hagane, they set their sights on Izario. They were clearly after the divine swords.

And their speed allowed them to distance themselves from Matsuyuki in no time at all. She’s not moving, maybe still deciding which one to go after? Matsuyuki’s abilities allowed her to kill a single target without fail, but taking down all four might be――

「URROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAGH!」

「「「!!!」」」

Upon hearing Matsuyuki’s roar, all the antidemons immediately flinched, with their bodies shaking in terror.

Antidemons don’t even have individuality, let alone fear. The fact that they easily pulled off a self-destructive attack suggested that these antidemon-dragonkin also inherited that characteristic.

But right now, they were clearly frightened. Was Berserk’s aura so immense as to frighten those incapable of feeling fear?

Matsuyuki slowly raised Berserk while staring at the shivering and motionless antidemons with her cold eyes.

Then, she whispered their death sentence.

「Die.」

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