Path of the Berserker

My Frenzy was draining like I was back under the rays of the Cursed Star again, but this time it wasn’t from the effects of Demonic Qi. However far I was now projecting my soul was coming at a price.

And by the looks of things, I couldn’t waste a single second.

Towering above me was a monstrous demonic form that resembled a behemoth from the Hell Worlds. Its body was covered in flames, and it had a gate built into its chest that was spewing tons of Dark Frenzy, but that wasn’t what pulled my attention. Vomiting from its mouth was a stream of green fire that was pinning something to the ground.

Something screaming and surging with Frenzy.

“Kelsey!!”

For a split second I nearly rushed to the ground to shield her with my body.

But I had no body right now.

I was a [Spectral Form].

I looked instead to the source of the flames. The demon was at least as strong as that giant Pythor I had fought during my final exam back at Du Gok Bhong. Mini Hell gate, green flames and all. But how the hell could something so strong have found its way here? Strong enough to penetrate the barrier even.

I didn’t have time to ponder its origins right now.

I just needed to kill it.

I lacked a body, but my spirit could still pack a punch.

“[Lightning Drill of Fury]!”

I corkscrewed through the air with the technique, aiming straight for the demon’s head. Sparks flew as I collided, but I didn’t feel a thing. The force of my technique shattered its jaw nonetheless, knocking the giant monster right off its feet.

It came crashing down with a massive explosion of flames behind me, shaking the ground like an earthquake, but I was barely paying attention to it anymore. I raced back to where I sensed Kelsey instead. As I searched the ground, I saw only a charred corpse where I had seen the green flames. But there were no more screams.

God no…

“Kelsey!” I cried out as I landed on the ground next to her.

I reached out to her instinctively, but my translucent hand passed right through her body.

Shit…was I too late?

And then I sensed it.

The sudden surge of her Flame.

It was weak, but it was there.

I joined my Flame with hers, channeling fresh Frenzy into her spirit. “Come on, Kelsey. Shake it off. Come back from [Death’s Door].”

I kept pushing and her body suddenly moved.

“Mark of… the giant…”

The words croaked hoarsely from her charred lips and then like a phoenix rising, the blackened flesh of her body flaked away as new muscle and sinew began to grow. Kelsey stood as the [Mark] took form and within less than a minute, my not so little sister stood before me again, clothed in nothing but burned and tattered rags. She was at least seven feet tall now, buff as hell and with a shock of wild blond hair that made her look just like Threja.

As she shook her head to reorientate herself, Kelsey’s eyes fell on me and then squinted with confusion. “Max?”

For a moment I wondered if she couldn’t recognize me or something, until I remembered I was not only a translucent specter hovering before her, but in the form of the red-hued struggler as well—a version of me she had never seen before.

“Holy shit…” she said as she stepped cautiously towards me, lemonade filling her soul. “Max, is that freaking you?”

I wanted to rush in and crush her in my arms, but the most I could do was give her a smile. “Damn good to see you, little sis. I thought I lost your ass just now.”

“Max!” she cried out and jumped to try and hug me anyway.

Her body passed straight through mine, and she looked back at me shocked and perplexed. “Oh my God. You’re not really dead, are you, Max? Please don’t tell me you’re a ghost or some shit!”

“What?” I said, and then realized the stories of my demise must have actually reached her. “No, I’m alive Kelsey. But I’m still on the Hell world.”

“You’re what!?”

“It’s hard to explain. What the hell is happening here?” I said glancing about. I could sense [Everyone’s Fear and Pain], hundreds dead and dying in the swath of destruction all about us. “Is everyone alright? Where’s Fia?”

Kelsey shot me a blank stare and my heart lurched.

What the hell did that look mean?

“Kelsey?”

“Max, she’s okay but the baby—”

Her words cut short as a huge tentacle suddenly wrapped itself around her waist and yanked her right off her feet. She went screaming into the distance and I traced the tree trunk sized tentacle back to the figure of the giant demon that was now slowly rising back to its feet. It’s flaming shield was gone and I could now see its corpse-like body in full view. I immediately saw how it had penetrated the barrier. There were no less than four Mind-Reapers embedded in the creature’s flesh and upon its torso was a second face. It was grotesque and demonic and where its stomach would be, was instead a vertical maw of razor-sharp teeth from which poured a mess of tentacles like spilled bowels.

And one of them now had Kelsey.

Son of a bitch!

I blasted after her with [Ride the Lightning], focusing on the giant tentacle about to pull her into its mouth. I was just about to sever it with a [Lightning Arc Strike] when a sudden pulse of Dark Frenzy caught me off guard and the next thing I knew, something the size of a truck crashed into me. My world went spinning with violence and pain and I found myself sailing in the opposite direction through the air.

As I righted myself with [Lightning Walk], I realized I had been slapped halfway across the arena by a giant club now wielded by the fiend. For a second, I was confused at how something physical could affect me in this form, but then I saw it radiating with the putrid red glow of Dark Frenzy, filling the air with even more chaos.

I checked my Dantian reserves.

Shit! I was down to nearly half already?

That hit had taken a lot out of me and with how fast my Frenzy was now draining just to maintain my [Spectral Form] there was no way I could afford to take another. As I sprinted through the air with [Lightning Walk] back towards the monster, a deep bellowing laughter filled the air.

“My, my, Chun, how we both have changed, no?”

I paused in mid-air at the sound of the voice.

I knew it. And as I looked to its bald head, even with half its jaw and beard now missing from my initial attack, the recognition hit me. And what I sensed from Kelsey from across the stars finally made sense.

Or at least the name did.

“Hong Feng…” I said, brandishing my [Spectral Weapons] as I manifested them from thin air. “Never expected I’d see your ugly-ass face again. Although it seems you’ve managed to get even uglier somehow.”

But was it truly him?

This was an awakened demon, but clearly Hong Feng’s soul was mixed in there somewhere.

“You’ll pay now for your treachery, boy,” it said. “Your entire clan will suffer as mine as suffered, starting with this foul little wretch who has been tempting me for weeks now.”

I looked down to see Kelsey being dragged into its stomach, kicking and screaming.

Tough as she was now, I wasn’t that concerned for her safety, as much as I was for what she was about to say earlier. What the hell was wrong with the baby?

My insides churned with uncertainty.

I had to know.

“No offense, bro,” I said with [Struggler’s Resolve]. “But I have bigger concerns than your recycled, dumbass, right now! Get the hell out of my way!”

I wanted to barrel right into him, and just tear him apart but I needed to be conscious of what precious time I had left to expend as well. In the corner of my vision, I could still see blurrily through my true eyes. Blue Rose was yelling into my face and as I focused on her a second more to zoom in, I saw her pointing at the sky.

There, descending behind her were the tethers from the drop skiff.

Shit. They were here already.

I had only 15 minutes before we would have to get on board or be left behind forever.

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I forced a message through to Blue Rose. “I’m coming. Just need a few more minutes!”

She shouted something back at me, that reading her lips, sounded like “No time!”

She was right.

I didn’t have any time.

At least not to waste.

Efficiency would be key.

“Kelsey! Tear his ass up from the inside!” I shouted and then rained down on the monster with a series of [Lightning Arc strikes] from my axe.

As expected, the demon shielded itself with its massive club, which was exactly what I needed it to do to avoid another hit. I then launched my true attack, spinning up with another [Lightning Drill of Fury]. The technique had worked well once already and I didn’t have time to experiment with anything else. I flew into the giant monster like a missile, tearing through its shoulder and knocking it off balance again.

The hit was enough to break its focus and it let out a massive roar of pain and shock as a second scream filled the air.

“[Wrath of a thousand Slain Souls]!”

Kelsey burst from the monster’s insides with an explosion of lightning, stunning it yet again. I used the opportunity to make a second piercing strike with my [Lightning Drill of Fury] and then a third. Kelsey and I went back and forth battling the monster, avoiding its club swings while getting in attacks where we could. I aimed for the brain-like bodies of the mind-reapers, and destroying two of them, I could sense its power to resist the barrier diminish.

But my powers were diminishing as well.

I was burning Frenzy like crazy, down to a third of a tank. As the minutes stretched by, I glanced to my Hell World vision to see the tethers now already connected to the skiff and Blue Rose seemingly arguing with the other legionnaires to wait for me to embark.

Damn it! I thought. I needed this thing dead, and quick.

Suddenly I felt a new source of Frenzy growing as lemonade seemed to seep from all around me. With a quick glance, I saw a mass of skiffs high above the arena, now all stopping to stare at what was happening below.

I couldn’t make out the details of anyone onboard the vessels, but I could imagine what they were possibly thinking by seeing my Sacred Soul form laying into the giant demon along with Kelsey. The monster finally retaliated with another burst from its fire shield and a pound of its club that sent debris flying high into the air, but Kelsey avoided both deftly before jumping onto its torso and laying into it with a series of Axe strikes.

“Max, I’ll go for the gate!” Kelsey cried. “Keep it busy!”

As I saw her climbing up the monster’s second face to get to the gate at the center of its chest, I invoked my [Sacred Soul Shield] to give her added protection. The monster winced and roared as I activated the technique, shielding its eyes like I was shining it with a spotlight.

A new voice then emerged, all scratches and high-pitched squeals.

~Foul Hust. Thou doth violate mine own domain to venture across the stars? Thy impotence knows no bounds~

I’xol’ukz again? I thought.

“Why am I not surprised you’d decide to show up now?” I said.

But I didn’t have time for any of its shit either.

I ping-ponged back and forth through the air with [Lightning Walk], drawing blood with each pass as I kept its attention on me and not Kelsey. I could sense the anger and resentment building inside the beast, coming from both I’xol’ukz and its dark passenger, Hong Feng, or whatever the hell he had become now.

I heard Kelsey cry out from below again and saw her swing her axe straight into the purple window of the gate. A huge lightning bolt sparked, but her axe bounced right off if it.

~Too weak… Thou are too weak to destroy this aperture before I destroy all of thine domain~

Its flaming shield roared to life again, shifting to a bright green color as it exploded with Dark Frenzy. Kelsey and I were both blown back by the sudden increase in power, but I could only fathom what it was going to do next as I sensed even more Dark Frenzy building within it.

It shifted into a martial form, cycling its Dark Frenzy, preparing for some ultimate attack as the monster began uttering words in some ancient language I couldn’t understand.

Not good…

I flew down to Kelsey just as she was getting back to her feet.

“New plan,” I said. “I can’t affect it physically in this form, but you can. We need to swap spots. I’ll take out the gate. You attack its head.”

“I don’t know if I can climb it with those flames on it now,” Kelsey said.

“You won’t have to. Hang on.”

I honed my mental focus to grab her about the waist with my [Spectral Body] and then took to the air with [Lightning Walk].

“Hit it with everything you’ve got once its shield is down,” I said and then used a good dose of Frenzy to toss her high into the air, above the creature’s head. As the monster looked up to track her, I used the opportunity to lunge at it with [Lightning Drill of Fury] again, but this time I aimed for not its head, but its heart.

I pierced the flaming green barrier and pushed straight into the small triangle of the gate beyond. I passed right through it, emerging in a microcosm of spiritual space again. I kept the momentum and attacked the gate both internally and externally, destroying it physically with my lightning and spiritually within using the same technique, at the same time.

The result was an explosion that tore straight through the monster’s bloated body as my translucent form passed through unscathed. Huge wails of pain emerged from both I’xol’ukz and Hong Feng and quickly its flaming shield dissipated.

“Now, Kelsey!” I cried.

But my little sister was already way ahead of me.

She was falling towards the demon with her axe held high above her head in a downward swing.

“[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!”

Her axe hit Hong Feng’s bald head with a flash of lightning from the sky and Kelsey’s momentum send her straight on through. She carved down the massive, building sized creature with a single cleave and then hit the ground in a crouch. A split second later, the two halves of its body erupted in blood and fell apart.

A new dose of Frenzy surged as both Kelsey and I were triggered by our [Bloodlust]. I cultivated it greedily to keep my reserves at just above the 10 percent mark now.

I landed to rejoin Kelsey as blood and offal rained from the sky.

With it came an angry and terrible whisper from the dark.

~Cursed Husk. Your divine punishment shall be met yet.~

“Yeah, keep talking your shit, Big Bro,” I said with [Torment of the Frenzied Flame]. “I have a good idea where you truly live now, and when I’m done with my family business, I’m going to come home to sort out the Flame’s.”

The monster released another horrid screech as it was assaulted by both the technique and my words. Then all at once the Dark Frenzy ceased as I’xol’ukz crawled back down its hole once more.

Kelsey, now covered in demon blood, looked up at me. “Big Bro?”

“I’ll explain later,” I said. “What were you saying before about the baby? Is Fia alright? Is the baby alright?”

A bit of the victorious jubilation faded from Kelsey’s eyes as she looked up at me. “Just prepare yourself, Max. I’ll take you to her. Follow me.”

* * *

Lady Silver Tear stared down into the burning arena with a mixture of incomprehension and disbelief racing through her soul. She saw the giant Awakened demon fall, slain by some unknown cultivator, using an axe technique that looked familiar and aided by a [Sacred Soul Projection] that looked far too familiar as well.

Her mind raced as she tried to reconcile what she was seeing with what she knew to be true.

Or thought she knew.

Silver Tear studied the glowing red image of the bare-chested man with bull’s horns, wielding the axe and glaive. There was no question as to who he was, even if she couldn’t readily see his face. As he disappeared into the smoke below her, her heart raced.

How could this be?

Was he truly dead?

Or had he not only ascended, but now held such remarkable power as to [Astrally Project] his soul from even the planes of hell?

The thought unnerved her.

She glanced over her shoulder to the rear of the imperial skiff.

Her niece Di Shen was there, whining and crying as she was being attended to by one of the healing staff from the arena. Meanwhile, her sisters Wi Shen and Fi Shen were bickering about who indeed took more credit for killing the Lady Silver Light and her child.

“I was the one who kicked that brat out of her stomach!” Fi Shen said. “It was me.”

“But I held her down for you,” Wi Shen said.

“Yes, but on my command. You all don’t do anything unless I tell you to, anyway.”

“Quiet!” Silver Tear snapped. “I care not for such trivialities. I only need know if you are certain she is dead. Her and her child.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Her nieces looked between one another again, like idiots, until finally both Wi Shen and Di Shen looked to Fi Shen.

“She is dead,” Fi Shen said. “I saw her die with my own eyes. Consumed by the flames where we left her bleeding out.”

Silver Tear grimaced. “Then we had better leave. And quickly.”

All three of them looked at her quizzically, but she didn’t have time to give them all a detailed explanation. And she herself was not 100 percent certain. But she could not deny what she had just seen.

“Pilot,” she said. “Take us to the imperial city at once. Top speed. And then relay an emergency communication to the Princesses’ skiff via Qi Stone.”

“At once, Madan Warden,” the pilot responded with a salute. “The message?”

“Tell her, the Iron Bull yet lives…and is somehow… in Jurin Province.”

* * *

Fear and trepidation filled my soul as I raced after Kelsey through the burning ruins of the arena. The unnatural flames of Hong Feng 2.0 were now gone, but the natural fires they had started were still burning, with some of them now being tended to by cultivators desperate to douse them.

But all I could care about right now was finding Fia.

We pushed through the thick smoke and finally reached the edge of the arena, and there, huddled under a piece of the stadium roof that had fallen, I saw my entire family gathered together.

My heart soared with elation and fear all at once.

Kelsey rushed ahead. “Everyone, he’s here, look! Max is here. Fia, he’s here!”

I couldn’t feel the ground beneath my feet as I touched down upon it, rushing behind Kelsey. Heads turned with confused stares, yet with eyes wide and full of hope. There was Yu Li and Gui Zu, along with little Su Ling. Rhi Dong and Master Hei Dong, Zu Tien and Jian Yi.

But in the midst of them all…was Fia.

She was on the ground, covered in blood and screaming.

“Shit! Fia!”

I rushed to her side, but she seemed almost delirious in pain, not even able to acknowledge I was there.

Her mother, Rhi Dong was tending to her, but I had no idea what was going on.

“What happen to her? Fia?”

She looked up at me weakly at the call of her name, and she sort of half smiled.

“Max is that you? Where are you?”

“I’m here,” I said and used all my mental acuity to briefly hold her hand in my [Spectral Form] “I’m here, Fia.”

“Max!” she suddenly exclaimed, as if realizing it was truly me and not some dream. “You’re here!”

“Sorta of,” I said. “Hang on, Fia. We’ll get through this.”

She shook her head as her eyes teared. “I’m sorry, Max. I never should have done this and now the heavens are punishing me for it. I’ve lost the baby.”

My heart lurched. “What?”

“I can’t feel it anymore.”

“Max, come with me,” Rhi Dong said calmly and then stood and walked to the edge of the arena, away from Fia.

I held Fia’s hand a moment more. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”

When I joined Rhi Dong outside, the look on her face was grave.

“Listen to me now, Max,” she said. “I don’t understand how you are even here, but I believe the divine heavens have sent you here to make a terrible choice.”

“What?”

“They are both dying, Max. I can try to save one but not both. Fia has lost too much blood and the baby no longer moves. You must choose...quickly.”

The world swayed beneath me as my head grew light.

I looked back at Fia as she went through another screaming fit.

My soul ached and not just for her.

This child I didn’t yet know…would now have to be sacrificed to save her?

I forced down my anguish with a façade of [Indifference] as I struggled to stay strong for Fia. I rushed back to her side and once again took her hand. “Fia… I love you no matter what happens, understand? I forgive you for everything. You’ve done nothing wrong in trying to preserve our family.”

She choked out a sob and reached a hand to my face. “You look so different, Max… but the same. Where are you?”

I checked the corner of my vision for the Hell World.

Blue Rose was yelling at me again.

There was no time.

“I’m far away. But I’m coming home. Soon. Trust me.”

I looked to Rhi Dong and then gave a slight nod towards Fia. Rhi Dong closed her eyes and nodded back, accepting my decision.

There was no other choice to make.

I couldn’t lose my wife.

By why was I forced to even make such a terrible choice?

“Fia,” I said. “No matter what happens, I’m here for you. I’m alive and I’m coming back for you and our family.”

“I’ll see to her now,” Rhi Dong said. “Yu Li, help me. Quickly.”

My sister gave me a sad smile as she reached out to touch me. “She’s safe with us, Max. Come home to us. Soon.”

The rest of my family reached out to me as well.

Gui Zu and Zu Tien.

Master Hei Dong and Jian Yi.

It was surreal.

Far from the happy homecoming I imagined.

I stumbled away from them, trying to collect my thoughts.

I’d worked my ass off to get home in time for my child to be born.

And now, I had come this far… only to have them die?

My gut twisted as I let out a heart wrenching cry.

Grief filled my soul and my Flame roared in resonance with it.

“It’s okay, Max,” Kelsey said next to me. “It’ll be okay.”

But it wasn’t okay.

This shit never should have happened.

Not if I had been here.

Anger flared, consuming the pain and grief in my soul.

There was only one question left to ask.

“Who the hell did this to her?”