Chapter 313

My nose bridge was aching.

To tell the truth, something happened to me too. The patient, even after taking a direct hit to the face, didn’t lose his strength and instead put his weight on my neck to knock me down. A makeshift bed that looked like an operating table toppled over, scattering medical scalpels around us.

‘How are you still sane after that?’

My throat hurt from being pressed. Since he fell down too, things did go partially as expected… but I didn’t think I would end up being taken down with him.

At this point, my deduction was this: If this patient is indeed the one who was chasing Narce, he approached Narce because he wanted Divine Power. I don’t know where the side door of the treatment room leads, but there must have been a path the patient knew, and he intended to go find Narce through it. However, he ran into another Mage coming to catch him, and luckily felt the Divine Power when he got close to me.

‘How on earth did a Non-Mage Old Human…?’

Confusion dominated my mind, but the answer is actually simple.

The most rational conjecture, and likely the truth, is that because this person was contaminated, a Vitriol core capable of sensing Magic Power is forming. Although it’s not apparent yet, he will soon go berserk, and the fact that he’s enduring with superhuman strength is probably also due to the Vitriol that hasn’t come out of his body yet.

‘Two Berserkers on the first high-risk field deployment?’

While even Mages couldn’t feel my Divine Power, I have an idea why this person noticed it. The summarized fact that Vitriol and the berserk phenomenon are ‘extreme manifestations of emotions’ serves as the basis for my deduction.

Let’s set that aside for now. There’s no room to think further.

In the process of falling, my personal communication artifact must have broken, as I can see a dark grey glass shard with its invisibility dispelled. I can’t receive personal messages sent to me, but fortunately, the one for general communication is still working.

“Ah… Aaaah….”

The patient gritted his teeth and pressed his twisted nose with one hand. Feeling the weight of the new Berserker pressing down on my neck bones, I barely managed to secure my breath and spoke calmly.

“Come out.”

I have no intention of having a leisurely conversation. If I let the new Berserker change targets and bounce around, it would be quite troublesome for us, so I had to make the patient focus solely on me. At the same time, I also needed preparation time to restore my Magic Power.

A supporter will come up soon. The sound of the shutter opening and closing began to come from below. Just endure for a moment. Just a moment. Repeating that to myself, I focused on the sounds of my friends’ special spells coming through the artifact. Listening to the sounds, the 7th floor is already in chaos just from me being out of the combat force. If I inform them that a new Berserker has appeared and I’m currently under attack, the balance barely being maintained might break in that instant. Especially psychologically.

“Ugh….”

Sweat-drenched hands began searching for my core on my back. A bizarre expression whose meaning I couldn’t decipher appeared on the patient’s face, which I checked out of the corner of my eye. He seemed on the verge of tears as if he felt the Divine Power but didn’t know what to do next, and at the same time, he looked out of it, so there’s no way to express it other than truly bizarre.

And….

Although I didn’t make such an expression, I couldn’t maintain my previous expression either. In an instant, the Magic Power in my limbs and head drained out and gathered near my heart. In other words, the Magic Power of my core is currently being sucked into his body, and if my Magic Power runs low like this….

Wait. Wait, wait, wait!

Thwack―!

“Ugh…!”

“…That won’t do.”

I have no intention of begging for someone else’s blood again. Especially in such a public place.

My head throbs from headbutting the patient’s face. My vision is spinning, but is this the time to wait for it to adjust? I turned my body, slammed the patient’s head into the floor, and pinned down his limbs. Since the patient is an Old Human male and on the verge of going berserk, I thought it wouldn’t be very easy, but anyway, he was an Old Human so his bones were light, and decisively, he was a head shorter than me. Even so, perhaps because he lost his reason and was in a frenzy, it wasn’t easy to pin him down even with New Human strength.

“Grrck, kraaaack!”

‘No, what is this….’

Foam formed at the corners of the patient’s mouth along with the sound of teeth clashing. He’s trying to bite now; is this really okay?

I gritted my teeth, lifting my head as much as possible to get away. Unlike all the Berserkers I’ve dealt with after receiving reports so far, seeing that Vitriol hasn’t come out yet, it means it’s maturing inside the body. If I use Magic Power on his blood vessels instead of destroying the core, there’s a possibility he’ll absorb it and become stronger. Regardless of the cause of the rampage, a Berserker feels thirst for Magic Power and goes crazy to absorb external Magic Power. In that process, even if they get hurt by forcibly absorbing Magic Power, eating someone else’s Magic Power is their top priority—survival—goal.

However, to destroy the core, if I take my hands off, I’ll be bitten by those snapping teeth.

I could consider a plan to take the risk and flow maximum Magic Power through my arms to destroy the Vitriol core, but that risk bothers me. If I fail, I’m making one more victim like that Grade 3 Berserker.

‘If I could use Divine Power right now, I could buy some time.’

Even without entering the labyrinth, I can buy a few seconds with purification magic. Even if not that, it would be good to attack using a special formula with just Magic Power….

As soon as I had that thought, the sound of the shutter going up began to be heard nearby. Now, really, if I just endure a little longer, support will come. Just as I thought I should save the immediate attack for the supporter’s safety, someone kicked the door.

Bang―!

“Found him. I’ll take Lukas.”

It’s Narce.

Narce, who was speaking with his hand on his artifact, smiled when our eyes met.

‘Not a supporter….’

The tension released all at once.

Narce sat facing me and placed his hand on the forehead of the snapping patient. The light of Divine Power flashed.

—Unless Yahweh keeps the city, the watchman’s wakefulness is in vain.

For a moment, the patient’s movement stopped. As he fell asleep, the veins standing out on his neck gradually subsided. As I caught my breath with a slight sense of despondency and let out a hollow laugh, Narce smiled gently.

“Maybe because he’s an Old Human and hasn’t gone fully berserk yet, he doesn’t know how to defend. That’s a relief.”

“…Yeah, that’s a relief.”

“Grab on.”

Narce helped me up and took out an elixir.

“I was surprised because I envisioned a future where one more person went berserk… but you changed it. This one can return to normal if just treated.”

“That’s good news.”

I answered like that and examined Narce. Unlike before, he is purifying the space. Even now, Divine Power is continuously draining out through the Staff Narce is holding. Narce explained the situation to the supporter who arrived just in time, and meanwhile, I drank the elixir. While the supporter restrained the sleeping patient with Magic Power, I looked at the upper floor and opened my mouth.

“I’ve been thinking.”

“You’ve been thinking. While going through that just now?”

Narce looked back at me with a laugh. He seemed too distracted to have read my thoughts yet.

“There are five up there. Heike is maintaining the barrier, and four are draining the Berserker’s energy.”

“Right. I returned both escapees. Now you and I just need to go up.”

Not only that, but he’s casting purification magic even stronger than before to prevent further rampages. I can see white light flooding into the wards, perhaps to reassure the patients. I swallowed those words and looked at the light of Magic Power bursting on the upper floor.

I need to call Ulrike a bit. Unable to make a personal call, I inevitably asked so everyone could hear.

“Uli… no. Luise, how is the Berserker’s pattern?”

[Uh, first… it’s wary of all of us. It’s spraying Vitriol indiscriminately.]

“It seems it’s not focusing only on the person attacking in close range right now?”

“With six more people present, it thought attacking you wasn’t advantageous.”

Connecting it with what Ulrike told us earlier makes sense.

[Uh-huh, that’s it! It’s observing all directions. Although it’s dull even doing that… the Vitriol is so strong that it’s hard to withstand even with that level of calculation. Where are you right now? I heard strange sounds earlier…!]

“Just a moment. Thanks.”

I looked at Narce again and said.

“This patient wanted your Divine Power.”

“Quick to grasp the situation~”

“And that Berserker upstairs received treatment close to torture multiple times, and although you might not have felt it, that patient probably wasn’t treated well usually either. The nurse also said he probably went berserk because he wanted to go outside.”

“…So?”

“If the illness is cured, they can escape this hell called a mental hospital, so there’s no reason not to seek Divine Power. If you help, I’ll go.”

“Ah.”

[…Are you crazy?! Lukas!]

[…That’s how you can be called the Imperial Academy’s number one.]

[You stay out of it!]

[O, okay. Lukas. I don’t know what it is, but for Leo to say that much….]

Ulrike intervened in Leo and Elias’s conversation. Ulrike, who thinks Leo and I are awkward, might say ‘that much’, but Leo was originally like that, and also perceptive as usual. I don’t know when the 3rd test’s number one changed to the school corporation’s number one, but Elias also understood what I was saying. Even though he didn’t even see what I went through.

Narce smiled regretfully and replied.

“Lukas, think one more time. Although I was continuously purifying this place, that Berserker didn’t chase me.”

“It means it has at least a little intelligence.”

“Hmm… That Berserker knew it would be caught if it came to me?”

“Yes.”

Narce pulled out all the artifacts from his ears and also pulled out the artifact hanging on my ear. He prevented the sound from going over to the headquarters and said.

“That’s the same even if you become the bait. Besides, only that patient on the verge of going berserk luckily noticed your, …, there’s no guarantee that side will notice too.”

“What about your Foresight?”

“…Haha.”

It means it seems likely to notice. If I just approach close enough.

I pointed to the artifact in his hand and said.

“You wrap me in Divine Power.”

That will be a smokescreen for the headquarters. A momentary delight flashed through Narce’s eyes, which held light. When I looked at him again thinking I was mistaken, his expression had returned to its usual neatness.

“…….”

Bang―!

As Narce stomped his foot, Divine Power burst out. He hung the artifact on my ear and swept his hand down my shoulder from there. Divine Power wrapped over my clothes like a barrier.

“Will covering this much be enough?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

I smiled as gently as possible to say goodbye and called Leo.

“Leo. I’m going to dig in with a sword. You five support according to the situation.”

[…….]

“If we exceed the recommended time, the survival rate drops drastically. You know we can’t drag this out any longer. Don’t be swayed by personal feelings and make a judgment.”

[…No, guys! What are you doing right now!]

Ulrike’s voice filled with despair was heard. Tsheringen and Heike had no reaction. To the three, it would sound like ‘Even if you hate me, listen to what I ask’… so they must be thinking teamwork is totally shattered at this point. It was indeed said to sound negative at least to the three.

Soon, an answer came from Leo. As if binding a core with thread, Leo’s Magic Power began to wind tightly. He is signaling me about the future strategy.

[Do it.]

“Counting down. Heike, remove the barrier.”

[…Got it.]

I grabbed the 6th-floor railing and ran so that the Berserker firing Vitriol in all directions could see me. Since the Berserker was on the floor right above where I stood, I had to go to the opposite side.

Why?

“3, 2….”

Because I won’t use the stairs.

I aimed my Wand at the iron bridge heading to the 7th-floor surveillance room and said.

“1.”

Bang―!

Applying Magic Power to my legs and running, I used the barrier formed under my feet as a stepping stone, took a running jump, and grabbed the bridge. Thanks to being trained to death by Leo, it didn’t take long to climb onto the bridge after hanging in the air. I stepped on the crude rebar bridge where one person could barely pass and landed on the corridor floor in front of the ward. Only after I passed did the bolts of the bridge, which had corroded and weakened, come loose and fall vertically.

Screech― Crash, Clang―!

I rolled my Wand, changed it into a sword, and charged. Tsheringen and Leo were attacking after retreating about two steps from their previous positions, and the Berserker’s gaze turned to me.

Slice―

The Berserker’s Vitriol flies toward me. I cut through that mud, threw it to the floor, and closed in right in front of the Berserker’s nose. I feel the Vitriol poking intensely at my Body Veil. Aggression that couldn’t be felt from ordinary Magic Power pressed on my lungs. I see the Berserker’s mouth opening. Unusually, Narce didn’t come up, probably because he read my plan just now.

“Aaaaaaaack!”

The Berserker screamed and stomped its foot hard. The black slime covering the floor soared in all directions.

‘As expected.’

It doesn’t bite immediately just because I threw bait, but is wary of everyone. I covered my front with both arms and retreated.

Sizzle―….

“…!”

When Vitriol touched the place where the Body Veil was thinnest, the fabric in that spot changed as if scorched by fire. When I applied force, it fell off as if truly burnt. If this touches the skin, what will happen…. Since it’s clear I’d need to go to the emergency room before the bone melts, it’s better not to imagine further. The reason this person is a high-risk Berserker is due to intelligence, but the aggression of this Vitriol must have also played a part. Even Elias, who would have joked not to ruin expensive clothes, was more serious than ever now, and everyone continued to confront the Berserker as they did earlier. Still, I am the only one who needs to create a variable.

‘It would be good if I could confer with my friends.’

In this situation, there is no time to make everyone understand. At least the rest, excluding Ulrike and Heike, must have roughly guessed the plan from the moment I came upstairs wrapped in Narce’s Divine Power. I have no choice but to rely on the fact that Leo fortunately rated the success probability of my plan highly.

Bang―!

Backing into the ward door while blocking attacks, I cut away the attacks of the Berserker shooting Vitriol in all directions with my sword and ran toward him again. I see the Berserker’s mouth opening again.

“Aaaaaaaack!”

Striking down with the sword toward the Berserker’s head, I relaxed the strength in my hand.

Bang―! Splat―

“…?!”

I see Ulrike’s widened eyes in the distance.

The moment I relaxed my hand, naturally, I was hit by the Berserker’s attack and fell, and the Berserker didn’t miss the opening created by my fall. A barrage of Vitriol incomparable to before poured toward the side where my friends, including Leo, were. Perhaps sensing something ominous, screams of people in the ward are heard. While pouring attacks on my friends, he lifted a lump of slime that was his foot and stomped down on my calf.

Crunch―

“…!”

It feels like the bone will break. Since I reinforced the Body Veil at least, I probably don’t have to worry about dying from contamination. I tried to reassure myself.

Rumble― Bang―!

Changing strategy against the friends’ attacks continuing to come in, the Berserker trapped me and himself in Vitriol. A blunt hand covered in pitch-black mud, no, a lump that used to be a hand, began searching for the place where the core would be on top of the Body Veil.

This person is also trying to suck Divine Power just like that patient earlier. The emotional pain and resentment accumulated from inhumane ‘treatment’ acts caused him to go berserk, and if viewed from a slightly different angle, that rampage is the result of a strong desire to eliminate his illness and escape the prison-like hospital. How rational the rumor is, is not important to those who are suffering.

And cleverly, it is true that Divine Power is a tool to cure certain kinds of diseases.

My vision turns black due to the dome-shaped Vitriol curtain. There is no time to think further. If I stay a little longer, I die.

“Lukas! Why aren’t you using the Magic Formula!”

Ulrike, who hadn’t noticed my plan yet, shouted urgently. She must have shouted so loudly that Ulrike’s voice pierced through the artifact and was heard with just my ears.

I’m about to use it anyway. Although it will be used in a different direction than Ulrike’s expectation. I quietly muttered the spell.

[If you remain in me and my words remain in you.]

Crack― Bang―!

[Ask whatever you wish.]

Before the words even finished, something broke, and red Magic Power sparked on the Berserker’s wrist in the darkness. The moment the binding Magic Power, amplified by Amplification Magic, firmly fixed the Berserker’s and my hands, I distributed Magic Power with my still-free other hand and extended my arm.

‘To where the 6th-floor railing would be.’

Please.

Quickly!

Thud―

The Vitriol dome on the side I extended my hand to was pierced by red Magic Power. The Berserker’s head turned that way. It happened in an instant. Feeling the Magic Power hook firmly onto something, I pulled hard. I feel the center of gravity disappearing.

Success. The Berserker’s body fell into the air with me.

“Uh, uh-uh-uh-uh!”

“W, wait! Lukas!”

Following Ulrike, even Heike, who was reinforcing the barrier at the rear gate stairs far away, shouted loudly.

***

‘Th…!’

Leo grabbed the ward handle behind him and stomped his foot. Several plant stems caught the friend falling into the air. Trying not to break his bones gives me a headache.

His heart beat like crazy, so nothing but the sound of his own heartbeat was heard in his ears. It must be due to fear. To prevent emotions from ruining the job, one must always face one’s condition clearly. Leo raised his hand sharply upward. At the same time, a sound not made by him burst out from somewhere on the 6th floor.

Boooom―!

Divine Power exploded on the 6th floor, blinding the view. That single blow that purified ten thousand square meters could now be used. Narce snatched the falling Berserker, and Yulia and Elias immediately drove the Berserker to one side as if they had planned it. Ulrike Kleist and Heike Ainsidel followed belatedly. Thus, Narce was finally able to burst his core. Leo closed his eyes, relying on other senses for balance, and pulled his arm back sharply.

Thud―

A human covered in Vitriol fell to the floor. Even though he thought he calculated it, the sound of coughing is heard, perhaps because he pulled wrongly.

Leo briefly checked his friend’s condition and immediately swung his Wand in all directions to prevent the Berserker’s Vitriol from bursting out for the last time. The Berserker’s scream was louder than ever. It was natural since he himself must know now that his time has come.

Isolating him on the 6th floor to seize victory. This must have been Lukas’s plan.

If only a moment of respite is created, if we can suppress the Berserker like that, we can attack while keeping a distance. The reason we didn’t attack with a floor’s difference until now is clear enough for anyone to know. It is madness for everyone to attempt ranged attacks in a state where the Berserker is not subdued. Do you think the Berserker won’t jump up?

Furthermore, the Berserker was on the top floor from the start, didn’t fall obediently to the lower floor, and even if he actually fell, it was difficult to prevent the risk that a counterattack would return immediately as long as the Berserker’s interest was focused on all of us. Wasn’t that what I thought from the moment I rejected Yulia’s proposal?

The reason we were able to subdue the first high-risk Berserker….

Is because Lukas grasped the victim’s essence and became bait, giving us an opening. While we focused on the Berserker’s aggression, he thought about the process until the victim went berserk. It was a trivial difference, but at least to me, who knows he is Nicolaus Ernst, it didn’t come across as trivial. He clearly didn’t forget the fact that the Berserker wasn’t a monster from the beginning but was once our citizen, and still is.

The Berserker’s voice diminished and cut off completely. Leo completely withdrew and eliminated the plant stems used to pull Lukas up to the 7th floor and muttered.

“Crazy.”

“…….”

Lukas, sprawled on the floor perhaps from fatigue, only laughed with an expression asking if I had the mind to act out a bad relationship even in this situation. Then, staggering up to sit, he shook off the Body Veil to drop all the Vitriol and asked quietly.

“It’s all over, right? Did it take exactly about 15 minutes?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now we just need to send him to the hospital.”

Leo took out the signal device for final reporting to headquarters from his jacket pocket and threw it. Even though the meaning was obvious, Lukas only looked up expressionlessly. Leo gestured and explained briefly.

“You report.”

“…….”

If it were Elias, he probably would have fooled around asking where is the guy who makes someone take credit for something like this at this moment. Perhaps understanding the meaning behind the words, Lukas smirked and pressed the button three times. He exhaled a long breath and spoke calmly.

“Terminated. We are returning.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep