Chapter 1 - part 4: The usual quirks of being berserk
“L-Linda Eisenberg?”
A horde of familiars - and a leviathan-sized wolf - had Dmitri and Elliot completely at their mercy.
Peculiar. The sight of her was quite peculiar, compared to the image displayed on the achievement chart.
Her current appearance was just that frightening.
“What did you do to my goddess?!!” screamed Linda.
“W-Wait! We…”
Ambrosia’s hairs turned from gentle green to a frosty blue color - her eyes were completely different from before.
She looked ready to kill...
“G-Goddess?!” uttered Elliot.
“Well, if you can’t take a risk, then, you won’t see the summit,” said Dmitri as he dashed backwards to avoid the air freezing inexplicably in front of him.
Linda Eisenberg used a familiar to come here, and, she saw these people in such a state in front of her goddess - in a kneeling posture, as if to honor Ambrosia’s act of going berserk.
Dmitri noticed the last of the guards turning tail.
“I won’t forgive you…!” grumbled the summoner while conjuring something big.
The corpses and unconscious bodies lying around were also not for show - it greatly served to infuriate Linda, as Dmitri observed...
The blood-lust which the goddess directed at him was no joke either.
“Wait. Could it be possible that there is actually a valid reason behind why this goddess can’t defeat demon gods?” muttered Dmitri.
“Linda-!” started Elliot.
The next instant, beasts resembling felines jumped at the duo, as Ambrosia screamed like a breaking glass.
***
Hey, do you know what I think is the most painful moment in anime, or, a good old, boring movie?
It is when the strong characters finally cry.
I am a weak person, so, I don’t know about how many times I’ve cried.
In the modern Earth, you have the possibility to condition your morality, and, emotions properly. Real humans can be born here. And, I will never forgive anything which threatens that possibility realized through many years of conflict and development - Things can change now, more so than in any other time.
But.
I’m not on Earth anymore.
***
A dark place.
It was hard to breathe.
It was so hard to breathe that I had to cough violently, as if trying to spit out my gut. And, I actively tried to cough - to cough - while bleeding my throats raw.
The fear and discomfort were too horrible.
Khah..hu…
They seemed like they would never go away.
Hu…! Cough! Cough!
My eyes teared up, and, drool started falling from my mouth like a stream, without any sign of stopping.
No…
My vision kept blurring, and, the bone-chilling pain I felt inside my chest each time I coughed rendered my body numb with the static shocks running across my nerves; the veins of my hands tensed up painfully each time I took a breath, and, stood out like monstrosities whenever my eyes vaguely focused.
No...!
My body, my brain were being eaten alive.
The ground felt cold and insecure; fear gripped my heart with icy hands, and, screams would not come out no matter how excruciating the cataclysm was.
Was I with any life left?
My heart cowered at my helplessness; my heart raged endlessly without any outlet.
And blood tainted all my senses.
I was suffocating without any hopeful end.
I want to run away.
I want to run away.
I want to run away! I want to run away! I want to run away! I want to run away!! I want to run away!!!
Everything distorted in front of my eyes.
The floor seemed to be dancing each time I moved - I hallucinated in all vehemence.
…
All these bloody hands reaching out to drag me down.
Cruel angels cutting at my black wings.
My throat felt indefinitely clogged; a traumatizing hoarse sound flowed in and out of my mouth.
And, my body had suddenly become a plaything for some unknown being - I was thrashed to the side-wall, up the roof, back down, and, my head kept tinkling with dullness.
And, then, I lost sense of everything.
***
Dmitri Ford was being pressured by the summoned familiars as he observed the goddess and Linda Eisenberg alternatively. In his hands were flashy swords of a purple hue which could emit barriers rather than long-range attacks.
No matter what he thought up, it was clear that these two women were hell-bent on exterminating him - Elliot could see to himself.
“Won’t listen. Won’t let go. Won’t let live.”
The goddess was not in a state to listen to the two young men; the spirit summoner was too busy making them escape from lightning-fast attacks rather than let in time for them to plead for their cause.
“Don’t suddenly get all philosophical!” lamented Elliot as Dmitri emphasized his words by rapid slashes at the familiars.
Elliot kept escalating the walls while trying to reach out to the goddess.
And, a shadowy monster followed like fumes in his trail, though it seemed just about cautious of carelessly approaching the pilgrim.
A chaotic scene, graced by Ulysses, who was having difficulty dealing with all the familiars of Linda - the latter was intent on performing some kind of ritual.
And, was blocking the exits with her familiars.
Ambrosia trailed the ghastly hall like a wraith as she went after Dmitri and Elliot alternatively, almost like an instinctive monster.
“With a berserk state like this, it’s no wonder that the demon gods are unaffected. Not that I know the power scope of the supposed evil gods though,” mocked Dmitri as he started running towards Linda.
The latter lowered one hand in his direction, and, Dmitri tried blocking the vibrant-blue swallow spearing towards him, but, was blown away just as is, lifting himself up to be attacked by another creature who was green in color - a flying lizard - whom he managed to deflect while swerving out of the way.
His sight perspectives kept changing persistently, as Dmitri struggled to stay up.
And, then, a golden beast came pouncing right on him - Dmitri Ford was paralyzed on spot before he could even think of running away.
Elliot was too far.
Just then, the last person to have gone down upon the familiars of the goddess getting out of control for the first time, barred the yellow feline’s route - and was blasted straight towards Dmitri as the beast glared at him ferociously.
Dmitri was once again blown away, but, this time, Linda opened her eyes wide, and, directed all the familiars in the direction of the goddess.
Her previous hostility had already vanished, as a bluish halo swooned about the man who had just regained consciousness.
Dmitri looked at his discarded swords, and, back to the man who was spilling blood from the mouth. He tapped the man on the back, saying:
“You saved us, man!”
And, Elliot kept fleeing from that shadow, which was getting more and more aggressive by the moment.
“You two, we’ll hit in together, come with me!” yelled Linda while flitting forward alongside her familiars.
“You trust us?!”
“I just acted upon my instincts. And my mind finally told me that heroes blessed by gods can’t be evil. My misunderstanding, you see.”
“Weird reasoning,” muttered the man holding purple swords.
Dmitri rushed towards the goddess as instructed, while Elliot was bewildered by the sudden change of behavior, getting overwhelmed by the pitch-black fangs and claws which viciously lashed unending blows on him.
“H-Hey, that thing chasing me keeps getting stronger. I’ll help you. Please save me first if you can!” voiced out Elliot while astonishingly using swords of light to abruptly change directions, still crawling about the walls like an acrobat.
Though, it was plain for all eyes to see that he was ti-
“Elliot! Get your ass here!” cried out Dmitri while maintaining his two swords at the front as barriers.
“How do you expect me to do that!” screamed back Elliot while desperately trying to put some distance between him and the smoky creature.
The creature in question ripped open Elliot’s back, and, the latter started jumping at wide angles, spinning his head in all directions, before placing consecutive swords of light behind him, which the shadowed being clashed against, getting confused just for some precious seconds at the blinding light.
“Alright, make way, I’m dashing forth!!!” declared Elliot while escalating a wall, and, stomping from it in order to fall onto the goddess - one of Linda’s familiars protected Elliot, who managed to get away from the goddess just in the nick of time.
“Don’t be reckless!” shouted Linda, as her frozen familiar crumbled away.
It was freezing cold, as Linda strove to break all the frost center-points, and, the unknown shadow pursuing Elliot inadvertently helped in the process - Ulysses was defeating one familiar after another indifferently.
‘We are screwed,’ thought Dmitri, while looking at Elliot’s half-frozen hands.
A blizzard initiated entry, as the goddess slowed down everything about her - even Linda Eisenberg, her blue hairs coming back to rest on her shoulders, was getting close to a standstill.
“Rawrrrr!” came an inhuman voice, as Dmitri noticed the humongous stag changing into a sizzling white color.
“This isn’t even a good joke…” he complained, but, he suddenly had an insight.
Dmitri felt something building up in his arms, before he found himself swiftly exploding forward.
‘The lethargy of the ice isn’t affecting me?!’ he pondered excitedly.
“So, that’s what a dynamite body is...”
“Dmitri, what are you saying?…” asked the pilgrim, confusion in his voice.
The dense flume of darkness was almost upon Elliot, who somehow still managed to keep up his original speed.
“Quite dynamic!” exclaimed Dmitri, finishing his pun. “Elliot, could you stop interrupting my jokes? My body has suddenly started acting like a dynamite, isn’t that awesome?!”
Elliot was not satisfied with his words.
And that summoner…
“Hey there, stop mumbling and get to her if you can move! I’ll have you seal her!” ordered Linda, “also, the other one, make your light rods link a path to the goddess for the stupid one to use! I’ll hold back Ulysses and Hugh!”
“Who is stupid!” complained Dmitri while gripping onto each sword of light which appeared in front of him.
“They are swords, not rods,” muttered Elliot unhappily, as a pair of yellow beasts ripped through the shadowy creature which had kept chasing him all this time - to a relatively minimum effect on the former.
“I’m sending you my magic reserve! The seal’s on your hands!” apprised Linda while trying to keep both of the goddess’s familiars occupied.
“That’s a save! I’ll seal her!”
So claiming, Dmitri became wrapped in an aura of steel-blue, which blaringly opened up the way to the goddess for him.
And, the goddess looked at him straight in the eyes.
“Hu…!” Dmitri was knocked to the side by a rotating sword of light as the goddess froze up the area where he had previously been.
Elliot nodded at him while still being chased by the smoky creature.
Dmitri regained himself, as pristine swallows of the deepest blue assaulted the goddess, alongside flying lizards, giant red ants which melted the ground, and, he finally reached the nape of the goddess’s head - he was almost blown away, but, was cushioned by Elliot’s swords of light, and, kept trying to land a blow, before re-invoking his pair of weapons - only, with longer blades.
He held back the weapons, as swords of light kept accumulating about him, as he circled the goddess while trying to pierce through her nascent barrier, and, he finally went in full-out.
A blow from the left, from up, and, a swooping feint at her legs, and, he finally managed to cut just the surface of her skin.
Dmitri was about to touch her, but, the goddess once again tried to blow him away, though, she was halted by a concentrated assault of the swallows, and, Ulysses broke free of Linda’s nagging familiars, pouncing towards Dmitri, only to be hindered by Elliot’s swords of light.
In the right hand, Dmitri suddenly exploded his sword in close range of the goddess, immediately forming another one, as he closed in on the goddess.
The latter issued a wrathful scream as she lifted a hand and, started freezing Dmitri up, but, he instinctively threw the sword he was holding in his left hand at her, exploding it with even more force, causing a loud reverberation.
…And, a blade of light appeared to the right of Dmitri, upon which the latter used his remaining sword as leverage to approach the goddess, and, finally touched her cheeks.
A seal appeared on the goddess.
