[Berserker – Lvl 19.]

“Shit— what is he doing here?” Trace Taylor stared at Janus as he conversed with the injured Rogue. “Did that bloody bellend lie to us?” Her voice came out as a sharp whisper.

Elizabeth Evergreen leaned forward, peering past the redhead’s shoulders. “Does it really matter? Janus is here, and those women we’re trying to save are right behind that door. We can kill two birds with one stone right here, Trace.”

“I…” Trace hesitated. She eyed Janus— he hadn’t noticed the pair. He was too busy screaming expletives at the Rogue as his face looked like it was about to pop like a can of tomatoes. “Alright,” she sighed. “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to do it proper. We need a plan.”

“We go in there, kick ass, take names, and save the day.” Liz grinned.

“I’m being serious, Liz.”

“I ain’t capping, either.”

The redhead gave her best friend a flat stare.

“Alright, fine,” Liz said, rolling her eyes. “If you want a plan, how about you shoot out his kneecaps while I distract him?”

Trace’s eyes flickered. She reached over to her bag, fumbling through it until her fingers found a handful of semi-cylindrical object. Aetheric bullets. Eight of them. Just enough for a full clip.

“C’mon, Trace. This isn’t chess. That’s about the best plan I have.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” The redhead took one of the aetheric bullets and swapped out the last bullet in a magazine for it. She repeated it eight times until she had eight clips with a single aetheric bullet in each. “Let’s get this fucker.” She took aim and fired.

Janus glanced up as the bang resounded in the room. He reacted instantaneously. The bullet whizzed by him as he ran to the side. Trace fired two more rounds as Liz dashed forward to intercept him.

“Sup, anus?” The Swordsmaiden smirked as she drew her Obsidian Longsword.

“You!” He glared, fists being wreathed in a dark silver energy. Vytal. The kind of magic a Warrior could use. “I knew I should’ve killed you when I saw first saw you.”

“Glad to hear that you’re still a major asshole.” She raised her blade as he charged her.

They clashed, and Trace circled around them to get a better vantage point of the fight. She took aim but was interrupted as a soft whistling caught her attention. There was a flicker. A flurry of small sharp objects flew her way. The redhead hopped back as the darts struck the ground.

She glanced over in the direction the attack came from; the Rogue grimaced as he held up his right arm. He had darts held in his hand— one in between each of his fingers. His left shoulder was still wounded from earlier when Trace shot him.

The redhead stared. “Seriously? Of all the throwing weapons you can use, you use darts?”

“I was a professional dart thrower when I was twenty,” he said, shrugging. “Also, these are larger and more lethal than regular darts. What do you want from me?”

“I want you to maybe stop hurting people, please?”

“No can do. I’m supposed to kill you. Boss’ orders.”

He threw the darts at her as she cursed. Trace managed to get three rounds of thanks to Quick Fire before rolling out of the way. But the Rogue was fast. Not only did he evade the gunshots in that short period, he managed to close the gap between them, too.

Her eyes grew wide. He swung down at her with a dart in hand, and she barely pivoted out of the way. She fired another round from close-range but missed again. The next shot would be her aetheric bullet. With a finger already wrapped around the trigger, she began to squeeze—

But the Rogue kicked the gun out of her hand. Trace stumbled back as he continued swinging for her with his darts. “Can’t do anything without your gun, can you?” he taunted her, and she continued to back up.

She eventually found herself pressing up against the wall while trying to avoid his incessant attacks. He smiled savagely as he realised he cornered her. Snickering to himself, he lunged out to finish her off.

But there was a flash. Recall Weapon. Trace brought her pistol up, aiming for his right shoulder this time. “As a matter of fact, yes.”

“Wha—”

She fired. It was an aetheric bullet. One that was already magically enhanced by both her skill and the Shot Amplifier. A thin red beam lasered out and bore straight through the Rogue’s right shoulder. It didn’t even slow. It went through him and through the wall past him.

He screamed as his arm flopped to his side as blood spurted out. Trace made a face.

“Ouch, that looks like it hurts.”

“You think?!”

The Rogue couldn’t even move his right arm anymore. He grasped at his shoulder with his left hand, only to scream when he raised his left arm. There was still a bullet hole on his left shoulder, after all.

“This is the… worst… fucking…” he trailed off. “My darts career is over.”

“Wait, I thought you were retired?” Trace blinked.

“I said I was a professional dart thrower at twenty!”

“Aren’t you, like, forty right now?”

“I’m twenty-fucking-five!”

“Oh.” She pursed her lips as she looked at his thinning hairline. “The last five years have been rough on you, huh?”

He groaned and curled up into a ball. “First my arms, now my ego. Just stop it, already.”

Well, it’s not like he doesn’t deserve it. Trace left him lying there as a loud crack reverberated from the side. She hurried over to Liz and Janus, still locked in battle. The Swordsmaiden had just barely managed to dodge the Berserker’s punch— one which sent waves of silver energy wherever he swung.

“Yo, Trace, a little help over here?”

“On it!” The redhead swiftly reloaded her weapon and began unloading her clip at Janus.

His gaze snapped over at the ringing gunshots, and he quickly ran back as Liz gave chase. The vytal wrapped around his arms shifted to his legs, bringing him towards the redhead with great haste.

“Oh, shit—”

“Come back here—”

Liz yelled as Trace fired round after round in a panic. Janus weaved his way around the bullets, dodging the redhead’s attacks despite her Magically Enhanced Accuracy. His face twisted into a rage-filled expression as he let out a guttural cry.

He reached Trace mere moments after, leaping into the air and over her shots. The vytal once again travelled through his body, this time returning to his arms as he brought them together to make a fist over his head. Trace’s eyes widened. She tried to raise her pistol to shoot him down mid-air.

There was only one bullet left in the clip— the aetheric bullet. If she struck Janus with it, he’d be finished. However, she brought her weapon up too slowly. It was still aimed at the ground. He’d reach her before she could fire. Somewhere, inside of Trace’s mind, she knew he’d rip her apart before she could even pull the trigger.

And it was at that moment, while still aiming at the ground beneath her feet, she decided to pull the trigger twice.

The first shot— the aetheric bullet— dug a deep hole into the ground. It simply pierced its way straight down without leaving much of a mark otherwise. But it was the second bullet that mattered. After all, her clip was empty. It meant she could use one of her strongest skills.

Last in the Chamber fired. It blasted the ground apart— the recoil sending Trace back as she simultaneously hopped into the air. A second later, Janus came crashing down, leaving a small crater where he landed. The attack grazed her as the world rolled around her.

Eventually, her tumbling came to a stop and she regained her bearings. Trace tried to force herself back to her feet, only to find it very difficult to get on more than one leg. Her left leg was bleeding— wounded by both Janus and the self-inflicted Last in the Chamber blast. Strings of blood seeped down her leg like they were tying her to the ground, and she grunted.

Fortunately, that was the worst injury she suffered. Her other leg and was cut up, but not badly enough to immobilise her. She’d survive.

…

Well, not unless Janus had something to say about it.

He marched his way towards the redhead as his eyes flared along with the vytal in his arms. “I will break your spine!”

But before he could reach her, a black blade swung down at him from behind. He barely reacted as Liz slashed for his back. Janus brought an arm up, redirecting the swing across his skin. When he stumbled away, the entire length of his forearm was dripping with blood. Somehow, the vytal had protected him from losing an entire hand, but he was still badly wounded.

He looked down at his wound, then at Liz who flicked the blood off her blade.

“You’re not touching her,” she said simply.

Janus roared incoherently as his eyes glazed over into a bloodshot gaze. He charged at Liz, swinging even more wildly than before. She blocked or evaded most of the attacks but was unable to launch counterattack due to the pressure. He moved faster than before, and his attacks were far more powerful.

“H-how? …”

[A Berserker draws strength from their rage,] Ex said as Janus smashed through a wall. [And he is very angry.]

“That’s bloody bullshit.” Trace watched Liz barely fend off another barrage from Janus. The redhead needed to help her best friend. Her eyes flickered over to where her pistol fell. She lost grip of it earlier when she used Last in the Chamber. It vanished and appeared back in her hand with a single mental command.

She pulled out another clip from her backpack and was about to load it into her pistol when she paused. Janus was distracted right now, but the moment he heard a gunshot, he’d be able to react and move out of the way. Trace wouldn’t hit him unless her bullets moved faster.

But she just so happened to have a bullet that did move faster. The redhead emptied out her clip except for the aetheric bullet. With a click, she loaded her pistol and took aim.

Janus bounded at Liz, staying on her like a rabid dog. Trace hesitated. If she fired her bullet now, even if she didn’t miss, the aetheric bullet would go straight through the Berserker and into her best friend.

So, Trace aimed lower— at his ankles, where the bullet would go straight into the ground. She waited for the opportune moment and fired right as Janus made a small misstep and slowed in his movements.

In an instant, the aetheric bullet pierced straight through his ankles. His leg gave out even as he tried to continue his mad charge. He stumbled and began to fall, blinking in confusion. Liz immediately knew to slice out then, but he continued his flailing. His punch knocked Liz back as she opened up a large cut across his chest.

“Oof—” She staggered back, taking a moment to steady herself.

Meanwhile, Janus crumpled to the ground silently as the vytal dissipated. The aura around his body was gone.

Trace sighed in relief. “Fucking hell, I almost thought he wouldn’t go down.”

Liz wiped at her forehead. “He’s very strong for his level. Berserker is a pretty strong class, huh?”

“Each time we hurt him, he’d get angrier,” the redhead explained, “and because of that, he’d also get stronger.”

“That’s just ridiculously overpowered.” Liz walked up to the fallen man and raised her Obsidian Longsword. “But it’s over now, I guess.”

Janus jerked up. He tightly gripped the black blade as it burnt his hand. It cut into his palms, drawing blood down the sharp tip. The red liquid sizzled slowly, and he turned a burning gaze up at Liz.

“Not yet,” he said as vytal coalesced around him. This time, it covered his entire body instead of just his arms or legs.