Blood Berserker - [ A Litrpg Apocalypse]

His sword whistled as it parted the air, the berserker moving so fast that their eyes could not even keep up with what was unfolding right in front of them. The female ranger was barely able to let out a scream before her body was cut in half, the halves falling in different directions as blood splattered across Nathan's face.

The Berserker wasn't one to celebrate a kill mid-fight, so he'd already lunged for the nearest guard, his blade flashing as he twisted and turned, killing guard after guard. The few who'd been able to lay their weapons on him weren't even enough to leave a dent on his skin, with the enraged berserker simply tearing through their resistance with ease.

A few spells were launched at him, and Nathan did his best to dodge as many as he could, with the others landing on his skin and doing no damage, much to the chagrin of his opponents. Pirlo chuckled from where he was bound; the rogue by circumstance had been relegated to becoming nothing more than a spectator, and it seemed like the rogue was enjoying himself.

That makes two of us.

Nathan's entire body was covered in blood, and so was the entire space outside the cathedral. The white snow was now dyed red with blood from his victims seeping into the ground. The Berserker simply let the useless information pass around in his head as he focused on his fight—or slaughter, as it was.

"Stop!!!" Piper screamed.

With a lazy swing to end the life of the unfortunate rogue who'd been trying to defend himself, Nathan turned to face the seething Lady. Her eyes had started to glow an uncomfortable yellow, almost the same shade as a forest fire. The demeanor on the lady's face matched the look in her eyes.

Nathan twirled the sword in his hand as he waited for the lady to speak, lest he return to his killing spree. He easily could've disregarded her call to stop, but he'd decided to hold on. After all, if there was a life that could be spared a senseless death, then he'd play his part.

"Are you ready to let my squad go?" Nathan asked.

"No, you are n—"

Nathan lunged for Piper, uninterested in listening to the rest of her sentence. He'd noticed that she'd been nothing more than a total waste of time and, by his observation, a terrible leader. It wasn't like he hadn't seen worse—he had, with Sparrow. It reminded him of a leader who just kept throwing bodies at the problem in hopes that the problem would simply cease to exist, a leader who preferred to let their underlings pay the price for their stupid ego, and most of all, a leader who was most certainly not going to see the end of the day if Nathan had anything to say about it. Before charging into the fray, he decided to inspect the Lady.

[Name: Piper Sealos

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Rogue

Level: 43]

Pitiful.

The end of the day is too long;

I give her till the end of the hour.

The orbs of fire that had replaced her eyes widened at the form that was dashing towards her. Nathan wasn't a mathematician by any stretch of the word, but he was liking his odds in this fight and would go as far as to say that he would bet his life on coming out on top.

"Then dieeee!!!" Nathan growled.

The visage of the berserker was like something out of a horror movie, blood coating him head to toe, his entire shirtless torso covered in the slick fluid. His pants were soaked with the same fluid, and soon enough, he expected Piper's to cover his sword.

He slashed at the form of Piper, his muscles growing taut as he hoped to end the battle in a single hit—whoosh. Nathan's eyes widened as his sword met nothing but air. The rogue was no longer standing where she'd been a couple moments ago. In her place, a hot wind imploded, the heat brushing off his form and forcing the blood on his body to dry up and cake.

Well, fuck me. This just got interesting.

Whatever that skill was, it had definitely caught Nathan's eye, who was a little bit thrown off balance by the ability the rogue had used to evade his attack. He initially struggled but ultimately regained his footing as he scanned the space outside the cathedral.

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Mutilated dead bodies and blood made up most of the scene, courtesy of Nathan. A few living guards with terrified expressions stood watching him, a few of them corralled his already bound squad, and right in front of the guards that corralled his friends was the one person he was searching for—Piper.

"Look at how you've slaughtered my people," Piper screamed. "Now it's my turn to return the favor. I wonder which of your three friends I should start with."

Shit.

Nathan's heart clenched involuntarily as he watched the female rogue with orbs of fire for eyes reach for Diane. The terrified guards parted for their leader as the rogue hoisted the priestess with ease, gripping the bound priestess's jaw with one hand while leveling a dagger to her throat.

A tear ran down Diane's face as Piper continued to raise her up, and soon enough even Pirlo went from chuckling to agitated, the rogue struggling against his bonds as he tried to get to the priestess. Even Daniel was doing his best to get to Diane, but both men were bound securely and wouldn't be able to do anything meaningful.

Just like me.

Nathan exploded forward, his sword aiming for Piper's throat as he hoped to kill the rogue before she could end the life of someone very dear to him. He knew he wasn't going to be fast enough—the distance was too much—but Nathan's logical side had been suppressed entirely; he was running on fear.

Not for himself but for her, Diane, who was currently muttering something under her breath. The priestess didn't have the slightest chance of surviving a glancing blow from Piper, which meant by all indications that she was dead, but Nathan couldn't let such thoughts stop him. He hoped and prayed for a miracle; he couldn't lose her. He didn't necessarily have the best ranged attack, but he had one, and he'd be damned if he didn't throw everything he could at her, and so he activated his only ranged attack, hoping that it would be enough to buy him some time.

Blood Boil.

You have successfully cast blood boil.

He paid attention to his priority foe even as he charged towards her, so it wasn't difficult for him to spot when her eyes unfocused, no doubt she'd just gotten the system notification that she'd lost ten percent of her health to the skill he'd just cast. Her reaction to the notification caused Nathan to grimace; she chuckled maniacally before staring at Nathan dead in the eye. A malicious smile spread across her face before she slashed at Diane's exposed throat with her dagger.

"No!" Nathan screamed.

BOOM!!!

A mini explosion rocked the space outside the cathedral, with the snow on the floor instantly melting and spraying everyone with superheated water. The wind from the explosion stopped Nathan's charge and even pushed him back a few feet, with the berserker doing his best to keep his feet planted and his eyes open.

Hot scalding water hit his skin, leaving an audible hiss as steam rolled off his body, but Nathan didn't focus on that part because it barely registered on him as his eyes were fixed on the source of the explosion. The berserker was unsure if he'd passed out from the explosion and was now experiencing a weird dream.

No freaking way.

The situation had turned on its head. Every single person around the area had been blasted away, except two people: Diane and Piper. The roles had now been reversed much to his surprise; the bindings that had once bound Diane had disappeared somewhere in the middle of the explosion, but that wasn't the only unsettling thing. Piper, who'd been holding Diane by the throat before the explosion, was now on her knees with Diane keeping the barely alive Lady from collapsing to the ground by gripping her throat.

The crème de la crème of the situation was the fact that Diane was on fire—on literal fire! The flames acted like a second skin on the priestess, but they were alive and very much licking at the exposed skin of Piper's throat. Nathan wondered what exactly he was seeing and how exactly Diane had suddenly developed fire-related powers, a curiosity that led to Nathan gulping audibly once he looked up.

What in the Hell?

Hell was correct because right above Diane's head was the hologram of a demon, smiling down on the dying Lady Piper. Before Nathan could process his next thought, Diane—strengthened by whatever had possessed her—snapped Lady Piper's neck like a twig with one hand, much to Nathan's disbelief. Piper had been at least TWENTY levels above Diane; how exactly had she pulled it off?

"Arrrggghhhhh!" Diane screamed.

Nathan watched the priestess open her mouth as the scream left her lips, but the sound wasn't human-like, and it was highly unsettling. With a jolt, Nathan snapped off his confusion and dashed for his squad mate who seemed to have let out the last of the horrifying scream. The fire aura surrounding her receded into her normal skin, and the hologram winked out of existence, but before it had, Nathan could've sworn he saw the demon wink at him. Pushing it to the back of his mind, he caught the priestess mid-air as she collapsed into his arms, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at him, her hands reaching for his as she deposited something hot in his palm.

"I... I had to do it, Nathan," Diane cried. "Please... Find me... Find me."

"Wha—"

Nathan was unable to finish his question before Diane faded into nothingness, as though he'd caught nothing but an illusion. The priestess was gone, but in his open palm was the item the priestess had left with him: a burning metal talisman with a smug-looking demon staring back at him. Nathan closed his eyes and, in a fit of rage, he crushed the metal talisman, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

"Game on, Demon. "

***

IMPORTANT: Hey guys, I just wanted to update you all on my new book, obsidian rogue. Which has just launched today.

I'd really appreciate it if you guys check it out and leave a follow + rating/ review if you like it.

The link is in the authors notes.

Thanks in advance.