Dark Berserker: Rise of the Forgotten Progenitor

Chapter 26: Athelstone or not

The moment Cristian heard that name, his pupils shook, his muscles tightened and goosebumps appeared due to the icy wind billowing off the forest from which a loud hiss echoed.

Most of the wolves were dead and the remaining few protected the Dark Lord, who glared at him with hate and extreme bliss, for he awaited Cristian's swift death.

"Kill her," he ordered, and ten wolves dashed toward the powerless arcane mage.

The soles of his boot dug into the soil as he dashed toward Sheila. With a grunt, he leaped over the wolves the Dark Lord sent to obstruct him and landed behind them.

Cristian ignored them and sped toward Sheila, struggling to reach her before the wolves.

Slowly, Cristian's mentality changed. From an ordinary earthling to that of a berserker!

A fabled class that had gone extinct!

Berserkers were meat grinders, breakers of stalemates and horrors to all. Their presence on a battlefield meant a bloodbath!

Cristian knew none of this but he would soon remind the world of that era, one dominated by the unranked class; Berserkers.

"GET BACK TO THE WALL!" his booming voice resonated in the heads of the soldiers and they regained themselves. Cristian knew how powerful Medusa's illusions could be and it would be a disaster if she entraps the soldiers, for they would be ripped apart.

The silvery glow of the moon reflected on his blade as he raised it and slashed a wolf's head off.

Had he been a second too late, Sheila would have been a corpse. "Why!..." he bellowed, marched forward, and kicked another wolf, taking its head to the ground. "Is!" he hollered again and drilled through the fallen wolf.

As he pulled his sword out, a good portion of its length was coated in red. It formed droplets at the tip and slowly fell.

"She!" the air tore, as the blunt part of his sword slammed another wolf causing its legs to buckle and it fell. Blood spilled from its mouth as Cristian literally slapped it with a sword!

"So!" he pierced his sword into the ground, held the hilt tightly, and spun. His foot hit another wolf and the pitiful level 16 wolf fainted instantly. "...So determined to kill me!"

"Ugh!" Cristian groaned as a wind wolf shot compressed air at his back, tearing his flesh, causing him to grunt.

The wolf shot another toward Sheila and Cristian blocked it with Burning Fury. it had been a few minutes and she regained a little strength.

Seeing him amid wolves protecting her made Sheila feel warm and disappointed in herself, for he took the leading role where she had failed.

No adventurer would do this. Fighting a lost battle was akin to death, and they weren't Knights or a household soldier.

His tattered transparent top hug to his battered blood-covered body, his state looked really bad, but the man fought with increasing fervor.

Seven wolves lay on the ground and out of the standing, three, two were injured. "Cristian," her soft tone rang as for the first time she reached out to him but when her fingers almost touched his back.

Cristian leaped away like she was something disgusting and it made her eyes tremble. However, the gaze made her baffled. It was filled with fear, relief, and caution.

Cristian's heart almost left his rib cage when Sheila almost touched him. She would have turned to dust due to his blood.

While it would take longer due to her strong neutral affinity, Sheila would surely fall and Cristian didn't want to bear that feeling, for it would eat him up.

"W-..." Sheila couldn't speak as she raised her head and her irises dilated. Cristian followed her sight and the same snake that made him deviate from his path to Grayston slithered out of the forest.

Her massive size was unfathomable as the other part hid in the forest, her hiss resonated and even the people hiding inside their homes could hear it and their eyes dilated.

The entire town became still, as many were lost in illusions. The soldiers weren't exempted, and the sounds of weapons hitting the ground echoed like a sweet melody to the Dark Lord.

Her iconic, thick, chilling fog covered the plains and crept into the town. The wolves retreated and so did their Lord.

Cristian's eyes burned with green flames, and the sounds of a woman sobbing made him turn. Sheila knelt on the ground. Her mesmerizing eyes that shone with steadfast determination were lost, as the woman before him was like a young girl that had lost her mother.

"Hiss~ You can't escape from me, Athelstone," a charming voice echoed behind him and Cristian chuckled.

'I never knew this world wanted my death this much,' he mused inwardly. Cristian would be shocked to know how true those words were in the future.

"Medusa," he muttered and turned, both eyes, small and large, clashed. Her large blue ones against his ghastly green ones.

Both eyes were charming and exuded a strange attraction. Naivety had long since left him for these few days, thought him how much strength mattered.

Everyone sought strength and they would go at any length to gain it. It was a matter of if you were strong enough to be removed from their target list.

Be feared or be the one to fear.

To live or die.

There were only two choices at every corner, and Cristian would always embrace life. And if Medusa wanted him that much, she would have to work hard for it.

His current regeneration was too slow to heal his injuries, so he had to bear the pain and the icy chill.

"You chose the hard way, then." Medusa's voice reverberated as she gazed at this human weakling putting up an utterly pitiful show.

'Too bad I'm alone,' Cristian sighed and his blade lit up. The flame shadow danced on his face and the madness of his origin took over.

"I will plunge this blade right through you even if it's the last thing I do!" Cristian yelled and twirled his blade.

Medusa opened her massive jaws and whitish smoke that turned to frost shot towards him. A smirk played on Cristian's lips and his eyes blazed. He raised his blade and plunged deep into the ground whilst he pumped his mana into the great sword, causing the flames to increase.

Boom!

Ice and fire collided, and Cristian's surroundings turned to ice. Some appeared on his skin, but as he kept on fueling his blade, they melted.

More frost left Medusa's mouth, causing the fog to thicken and a good part of Cristian to freeze. 'I wish I had flames with my decay,' the freezing man muttered inwardly and raised his sword.

Even as his body froze and his health dropped, Cristian marched forward. Suddenly, a golden beam fell on him, restoring his life and wiping off the chill along with his blood.

Back at the wall, a golden-haired beauty shone resplendent gold. The image of an angel appeared behind her and alongside the phantom. She raised her staff and hit the ground with its bottom.

Boom!

A golden barrier covered the town, and people slowly regained themselves. Some felt ashamed, for they found themselves in unthinkable positions.

"You're not alone… Athelstone," Anna muttered, her golden eyes flashing with questions for she knew something Cristian didn't. No other being dared answer that name Athelstone, for it would bring death to them and their household.

To be called Athelstone meant Cristian was an angel, but where were his wings? Or perhaps he hid it?

Numerous thoughts flashed through Anna's head but she locked it for the time, for questions would come only if they survive.

Medusa's eyes flashed but her focus on Anna vanished when Cristian leaped, poured a staggering 50 points from his pool into the blade and an arc made of flames moved toward her.

An ice wall rapidly formed and negated the attack without much damage. "Time to end this," she scowled and her large head went higher as she prepared to unleash a devastating attack.

A golden barrier appeared, demarcating him and Medusa. "CRISTIAN BACK TO THE WALL!" Anna screamed and even from his far distance, Cristian heard it but before he took three steps, the barrier shattered and a beam of frost shot from Medusa towards him.

"He's gone," Sheila, who had been brought to the wall, sighed as her eyes clouded. She didn't know why she felt this emotional. Even as she pondered, translucent liquid coated her eyes.

'Damn, I made a promise to Lia.' Cristian sighed, and both gloves fell to the ground. He was prepared to unleash his affinity.

"You hurt him," the voice was barely a whisper, but it changed the situation as a being stepped out of Cristian's shadow.