Blood Berserker - [ A Litrpg Apocalypse]

Tristan sniffed at the grass, his face scrunching up in disgust at the smell that assaulted his nostril. It was an odor which he'd unfortunately begun to get accustomed to. The putrid scent belonged to the one creature that made the ranger feel ... inadequate.

Tartans.

Spitting to the side in disgust, the ranger uncrouched, his gaze wandering as he scanned the surrounding area for any signs that the creature was nearby. He was almost ashamed when a sigh left his lips at the realization that the creature had long left the vicinity.

"San Francisco is so not it right now," Tristan muttered.

The ranger kept his bow close to his side as he walked through the woods, his senses heightened to the point that each and every movement by a creature in the quiet forest was easily trackable for him. Normally, Tristan wouldn't have been bothered by background noises, but once it came to something like the Tartans, entities so corrupt that the system itself refused to recognize them, the ranger was fidgety—and rightly so.

The tension in his shoulders was getting worse with each step he took, from what he'd been able to gather from those unfortunate enough to try to rob him. The area was mostly controlled by gangs, some having progressed enough in the new world that they had strongholds of their own.

To be honest, Tristan wasn't surprised by the emergence of gangs as the frontrunners of controlling the new world. After all, these same gangs had enough experience growing and adapting when the world had been normal—ruled by the government. He wasn't in any gang, but he was sure that every one was happy with the new world.

Piper's Domain.

Tristan shook his head at the title of the stronghold. For the most part, he'd been told by his would-be robbers that the Piper's Domain was the place to be if he wanted to get information or something of the sort. At the time, he'd simply snorted, but he'd still gotten the directions to the stronghold before ending their lives.

Although he promised he'd let them live if they gave him useful information, he wasn't quite sure the information at the Piper's Domain would be worth their lives or if they were just saying anything so that he'd let them live. And so, without holding back for a second, he killed his two would-be robbers and set himself on the unfortunate task of heading towards the stronghold that they'd advised him to.

He paused and glanced back, purely a reflex action that he'd gotten used to over the past month. He let out a sigh once he realized that no one was behind him, no one. His entire squad had left once they realized that he was nothing more than a monster in human form. And as much as Tristan liked to pretend he didn't care, their decision to abandon him had left a little scar on his side, and he was left wondering and considering if he was going about everything the wrong way.

Maybe I am, or maybe not.

He kept walking, not minding the moral warfare going on in his mind. There was only so much a person could take before they snapped, and Tristan had a feeling he'd already snapped before the apocalypse had even happened, and this was just a way for him to lash out without having to worry about any repercussions.

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Since the tutorial, he'd killed about twenty-plus humans, most of them scumbags who'd challenged him in one way or another. He'd done his civic duty by snuffing their pitiful lives, he'd taken out the trash as most would term it. The Priestess who'd been murdering children to power some kind of blood ritual was his best work. It was one of the scenarios in which someone as ruthless as him was needed.

I'm not done yet.

That was part of the reason he was in San Francisco too. The priestess had mentioned something about the Cult of Kabash just before she'd died, and he was still pulling the threads on that lead. So far, the leads hadn't been much to work with, as the cult was a very low-key one—if it was even possible for people who participated in human sacrifices to be such.

"The Piper's Domain."

That was what it all led to, the Piper's Domain. That was where he was supposed to get his next clue or perhaps even clash with the so-called Cult of Kabash. Tristan wrinkled his nose in disgust at the thought. He couldn't believe that some people would go so low as to reach out to Demons for power. Not only that, but they'd be willing to exchange human life just for a little bit of power—this repulsed him.

The ranger understood that power was everything in the new world, and while he didn't mind that people would want to chase after it, he did mind the way that certain people went after such things. Indiscriminately killing just for the sake of power wouldn't be tolerated by him, especially if children were involved.

So his top priority was the Cult of Kabash. Maybe if he was fast enough, he could end up stopping another meaningless slaughter. Priests and priestesses killing minors for the sake of power was definitely a no-no for Tristan, and he'd be damned if he just let it happen without lifting a finger.

Not only would the memory of not doing anything haunt him for most of his life, but he could also not live with the thought of having this kind of evil running rampant on Earth. Only God knows how big the Cult of Kabash was and what kind of influence they now possessed. Most importantly, he couldn't fail whatever child was still in their clutches, praying for someone to come save them. And while Tristan wouldn't pretend to be a saint, he did have a heart, and so saving them was his duty.

Deep down, Tristan had the feeling that he was taking on a lot more than he could chew, but he wasn't the kind to abandon tasks midway. Even if he was going to be a single man going against a hundred demon worshippers, he wouldn't give up. He wouldn't back down, and most of all, he'd make sure their blight of an existence was no more.

The presence of Tartans and the Corpse so close did complicate matters a little bit. Other humans and demons he knew he could deal with easily, but once it came to handling Tartans, he was unsure of his decision to go at this alone without any sort of reinforcement anywhere.

If he was lucky, he might find backup at the Piper's Domain, but knowing his luck, he might find nothing but more trouble and probably many more pending questions. Without a shadow of a doubt, this was one of the hardest things he'd had to do. A part of him had even labeled the entire thing as suicidal, but he didn't back down, especially since he had nothing better to do.

No, that's not it.

Tristan wasn't sure what had happened to him after the tutorial, but it seemed like he was just drifting, hoping to find a purpose or something to keep him going in this nightmare he'd been tossed into. He had no family or... well, friends to look forward to meeting. But if he was going to end himself, he might as well make a worthwhile contribution to Earth before he was no more.

That was what this self-assigned task was: a way for Tristan to have a glorious exit, fighting against an evil so terrible that his mind couldn't fathom anything else worse. Shaking his head to dislodge the unwanted thought, he focused on the road ahead. If the timing was right, then he should make it to the Piper's Domain in the next six hours.

Then I'll react accordingly.