The earth surged upward into the sky, then crashed down like deadly hail, killing the unfortunate who couldn' t escape in time.
Body parts and blood mist rained down in a torrent.
The ground collapsed into a massive pit, becoming a pool of blood and corpses.
An explosion roared, its echo reaching the heart of the inner city.
Every living thing that heard it froze in place.
Walls crumbled along a stretch spanning kilometers.
Countless monsters perished.
Adventurers and soldiers who couldn' t flee were gravely injured or killed.
The situation, where humanity was on the verge of defeat, balanced out once more.
*****
Calika Nehu
[Selected target has been eliminated.]
[Releasing suppression of consciousness and thought.]
[Terminating Berserk status.]
...
[Calika Nehu still desires Berserk status.]
[Termination of Berserk status canceled.]
[Berserk status active for 1 week.]
[Warning!! Calika Nehu will face penalties from Berserk status.]
[Under Berserk status, cannot consume dungeon cores to upgrade skills.]
[After Berserk status ends, all accumulated skill points will be lost.]
[After Berserk status ends, all upgraded skills will reset to 0.]
[After Berserk status ends, all skills will incur a penalty of -2x their previous level.]
[After Berserk status ends, Body Balance -20.]
[After Berserk status ends, Strength -10.]
[After Berserk status ends, Skin Durability -16.]
[After Berserk status ends, Agility -12.]
[After Berserk status ends, Regeneration -20.]
[After Berserk status ends, Damage Output 0.]
[After Berserk status ends, will enter a comatose state until full recovery.]
[Warning!! During comatose state, cannot regain consciousness or protect oneself.]
[Recommended to find a safe location before Berserk status ends.]
[Estimated recovery time: at least 3 months.]
After regaining my senses and reading all the messages, I hurriedly asked the system window in excitement:
"System window, with my regeneration at 20, I can heal two people, right?"
[Not possible.]
[The value of 20 is only a temporary boost from Berserk status.]
…Is that so?
So, I can only choose to save one person—either Sister Tiara or Elda.
Now' s not the time to decide. I rushed back to retrieve my mask amidst the fear of low-rank adventurers.
But I couldn' t wear it because of the horns on my forehead, so I punched two holes in it and put it on.
Mid-rank adventurers charged at me, mistaking me for a monster.
I chose to flee, climbing the wall now unmanned by soldiers, and headed straight to the [Resonant Magic] guild.
*****
Jaigia, Rank A Adventurer, titled Bloodthirsty Beast, Leader of the [Shining Fang] Guild
Before Calika entered Berserk status
I was too focused on the mermaid. By the time I realized, Calika had already saved her little sister.
A simple task—just devouring one trash kid—why couldn' t it be done?
That trash monster deserves to be beaten to a pulp and torn apart from the start. And it dared to harm my Calika?
I' ll make it suffer so much it' ll regret ever being born.
But for now, I turned to the ice soldiers holding her little sister.
In the end, I had to take matters into my own hands.
I transformed one arm into a tiger' s, waiting for the moment to kill with a single strike.
"Huff… huff… finally… found you… huff…"
At that moment, one of my guild members came running, panting.
"Get lost!!!"
"B-B-But, sir—"
I glared until he collapsed, trembling in fear, crying and wetting himself disgustingly.
This one deserves to die too, but then he mustered the courage to shout:
"Lady Rachel has been detained by the soldiers!"
"What?!!"
"They… they said…"
"Said what?!!"
"Aaah! They said she broke martial law by leaving the slums! They' re waiting for you to handle it, sir!"
I released the mermaid' s head and bolted to the rear at full speed.
The half-dead mermaid can be dealt with later. Calika will take time to plan for again. But Rachel, who' s already mine?
I chose to save Rachel.
*****
Calika Nehu
On the wall, with no one to dodge and no obstacles, it was a straight path. I reached the city gate in less than half the time.
But beyond this point, soldiers were stationed everywhere. Above the gate, another knight had replaced Jisend.
I didn' t slow down, leaping over their heads, aiming to land in the open plaza.
The new knight saw me jump into the outer city, shouted about a monster breach, and ordered the soldiers to hunt me.
Mid-air, something stabbed me in the back.
Even with durability level 16, it pierced through effortlessly.
But with my other stats boosted, I swung my elbow back swiftly.
The elbow struck something, and I heard bones crack and someone coughing blood.
Since I couldn' t see the attacker, I assumed it was Roja.
Even though the dagger used was military-issue.
BOOM!
Soon, a house was smashed, leaving a hole the size of a person.
Then I understood why it ambushed me mid-air.
To divert my landing from the empty plaza to a pile of soldiers' corpses, sent by Jisend to capture me.
Strangely, they all looked torn to pieces.
BOOM!
The soldiers' body parts scattered, splattering across nearby houses, blood streaming down in trails.
I turned, kicked the ground, and lunged at the house Roja had crashed into, roaring with full force.
The houses in front collapsed flat. Still no sign of Roja.
It must have fled, because soon after, the soldiers caught up, seeing me drenched in blood amid their comrades' scattered remains.
There was no way to clear this misunderstanding. I turned and fled, ignoring their curses and relentless attacks fueled by rage.
I deliberately took detours to hide my destination, sneaking into several houses. I found a bathtub full of water, poured it over myself to wash off the blood, then grabbed women' s clothes, underwear, and clean cloths from a wardrobe, stuffing them into a sack.
Passing the kitchen, I took all the dried food, packed it into a pot, and wrapped it in another cloth sack.
"When I have money and settle down, I' ll come back to repay you."
Then I left the house, sneaking to the [Resonant Magic] guild.
At the guild, I identified myself as Calika to the same receptionist. Though she was suspicious of my new horns, my hair color and slightly damaged mask convinced her to lead me inside.
Outside Lady Lera' s house, most of the ice soldiers were half-melted but still guarded the door, letting only me pass.
I asked the receptionist for a large cloth and rope, then entered the house alone.
The house was sparse, with minimal furniture, as if used only for resting and hosting guests.
Sister Tiara lay as if asleep in a coffin. Elda and the beast-eared girl, according to the receptionist, had been treated with medicine but showed no improvement, deemed beyond saving.
They lay on separate sofas. Elda' s breathing was faint, the beast-eared girl' s ragged, her face etched with pain.
While waiting for the cloth and rope, I took clean cloths, soaked them in water, wrung them out, and gently wiped down Elda and the beast-eared girl until clean. I dressed them in new clothes, layering more to keep them warm.
Then I approached the painting of a young Lady Lera hanging in the center of the house.
She was stunning in her youth. I knelt, bowed, and thanked her again.
"Thank you for everything. Without you, I couldn' t have saved my family."
A knock at the door signaled the rope and cloth' s arrival. I asked the receptionist to help tie Elda and the beast-eared girl to my back.
I hoisted Sister Tiara' s coffin onto my shoulder and walked out.
At the door, I turned to the ice soldiers and bowed.
"Thank you for helping and following my selfish orders."
Each ice soldier sharpened their fingers, carved smiling faces into their own, and gave me a thumbs-up.
I returned the gesture, tears welling, as they melted away outside Lady Lera' s house.
I thanked the receptionist again and ran from the guild.
Outside, I glanced at the distant palace, barely visible, for the last time.
Amid heavy snowfall blanketing the kingdom in white, the noble districts glowed warmly with lit mansions.
In contrast, the slums were stained red with blood and orange with flames, chaotic with screams of agony—a different world.
"Let' s go. There' s no place for us in this kingdom anymore."
I knew the three couldn' t respond, but the words came from my heart.
I turned from the palace, dodging soldiers, heading straight to the city wall and climbing up.
"A slave and slum rat trying to escape!"
A soldier, spotting me halfway up, shouted to his leader and comrades.
The leader ordered an immediate, unhesitant shot.
I lifted my mask and roared back.
BOOM!
The arrows shattered, the wall' s upper platform exploded, and soldiers flew into the air.
Reaching the top, I leaped over, outpacing the airborne soldiers.
I spun mid-air, roaring with reduced force.
I must be beyond saving to still help them.
The shockwave pushed the soldiers, who would' ve died from the fall, back onto the wall' s platform.
The leader ordered another shot, bound by martial law.
"Fire at will!"
The soldiers glanced at their leader, nodded, and fired.
I prepared to roar at the arrows, but every shot deliberately missed me.
The leader subtly nodded to me. I roared at the ground to cushion my fall, no longer worrying about arrows hitting Elda or the beast-eared girl.
Thud!
Upon landing, I bolted into the forest.
Without looking back.
----------------------------------------------- End of Arc 1 -----------------------------------------------