Glutton Berserker ~ The One That Exceeds The Concept Of Levels

I wasn’t going to wait until Gemini finished transforming.

I gave another 50% of my stats to the black bow. Stats were the least of my worries now that we’re in Gallia.

The bloody ptarmigan I released earlier also killed many monsters in its path, basically repaying its own cost. The fearless nature of Gallian monsters also helped a lot.

[Let’s go!]

I should attack before Gemini can retaliate.

Without anything to contest against it, my attack should land on target.

I sunk my feet deeper to the ground in case of a kickback. Aiming at the center of Gemini... where the gluttony skill told me to attack.

The recoil of bloody ptarmigan shocked my entire body. The double helix black lightning sped toward Gemini.

Gemini, still in the middle of transformation, was like a sitting duck.

If it’s like this, I should be able to hit that large target easily. But, in the end....

[....of course.]

Gemini was unscathed.

The bloody ptarmigan cross I released was somehow refracted the moment it’s about to collide with the target. The projectile branched out into many, pulverising the buildings behind Gemini.

Halo shaped light was illuminating Gemini.... It had finished its transformation.

Six golden wings spread out, flapping gracefully.

The body, which resembles an egg, was transparent and gave off a rainbow-colored glow. In the center, an unfamiliar pattern was moving like a living thing.

Giving me an impression that it was calculating something.

When the pattern stopped moving, twin halos appeared above Gemini’s head.

One of them started to rotate at high speed.

[Coming in!]

It was Eris, probably sensing something wrong.

Her hands were shaking. Even if her former self was not there, her fear of the sacred beast didn’t seem to dissipate as well.

She pointed the muzzle to the sky, and shot.

The bullet popped above us, showering the two of us in green lights.

The light wrapped around our body. This is similar to Phalanx bullet’s magic aura. Its function is to drastically reduce enemy damage up to 3 times.

The distance between us and the opponent was pretty far. Even with flight, it’ll still take some time to get to us.

『The prey....is behind us』

[What!?]

Thanks to an inner voice warning me, I was able to react in time when Gemini suddenly appeared behind us...

[Fate-sama!]

Gemini covered that much of a distance in an instance.

With such a sudden attack, I could only change the black bow to shield form.

That’s no longer in the realm of flight anymore. It’s straight out teleportation.

[Kuu... GUAAAaaaaa]

I managed to defend against it with the black shield. Eris’ defensive buff had probably also made it slightly easier.

[Damn, my footing.]

But no matter how sturdy the black shield is, the ground under me would give in much earlier due to the pressure from the flash. Eris also helped by pushing me from behind, but we were still getting pushed back.

While plowing the ground under us, we were pushed toward the imperial capital.

Even after the flash stopped, the momentum still remained. It sent us straight crashing on the city wall. We only stopped after crashing into several buildings.

[If it weren’t for our status, we would’ve been turned into minced meat.]

[Yes. Thank you... for protecting me.]

[Don’t mention it.]

She probably said that because earlier, when we were crashing on the buildings, I replaced our position so that my body was protecting Eris.

Not that it’s necessary, since our status would prevent the damage. But it’s just something I wanted to do.

[More importantly, Gemini’s movement.]

[I believe it was a space leap.]

[Oh that one...]

I got the gist of it since I had experienced something similar. It was when I fought Rafal Burix and his space-jumping spear.

This time around though, Gemini could transfer its whole body. Moreover, the distance far exceeds that of Rafal’s black spear.

[In that case... this might be effective against it.]

It’s something I learned from Greed. I have to somehow interfere during the jump.

Changing the black shield back to black bow, and nocked a magic arrow. I didn’t forget to infuse it with petrification magic. Then I shoot in the direction the gluttony skill told me.

Whilst avoiding the building wreckages, Gemini flew toward us.

I could sense it. Gemini is about to do a space jump again.

And if things go well, this would stop it.

[Kuh, Eris! Let’s move away from here.]

The petrifying arrow was dispersed before it could reach Gemini. Again... just like what happened to the bloody ptarmigan cross.

[It won’t reach!]

This is different from the almost hopeless battle Roxy and Myne is fighting right now. That’s not something I can interfere with from here.

Gemini, who jumped to the front of us again, was blocked by something invisible.

[Twisted again... I don’t like this.]

No attacks work. On the other hand, I’m getting the knack of detecting when and where Gemini will do its space leap thanks to Gluttony skill.

The previous surprise attack would no longer work.

If long range attacks wouldn’t work, how about melee attacks?

So I switched to the black scythe form, intending to slash at Gemini right when it’s about to shoot its flashing light. If its barrier is made of magic, black scythe should be able to cut through it.

The collision produced a high pitched sound, and both of my hands went numb.

It was blocked... no, it was rejected. I could see Gemini’s magic power flow thanks to my red eyes, but... the scythe couldn’t reach it.

So it’s not magic. And it didn’t seem to be a skill as well.

Is it the sacred beast’s unique ability?

[Fate-sama, watch out.]

Eris pushed me away, while at the same time shot another support bullet to increase attributes.

The flash of light made a huge hole in the building behind where I was.

The light from the setting sun shone through the hole.

To keep our distance with Gemini, we rushed to the building on the right.

[Using the same attack consecutively. Does it have no limit?]

[I did not sense any magic power when I saw it using my magic eye. It is using other power.]

[What do you mean?]

[The future vision that I saw with my magic eye has been distorted.]

[Future vision?]

[My magic eye allows me to see the future. Although only a few seconds in the future at most.]

Did she use her magic eye without my permission?

The usage should’ve put a great amount of burden on her eyes. Don’t tell me... I noticed that there’s a faint trace of blood at the corner of Eris’ eye.

[It is an emergency. There is no need to worry about me.]

[....that doesn’t change the fact that you used it without my permission. Good grief.... But does that mean Gemini’s power is able to alter the future?]

If that’s the case... defeating it would be impossible.

Eris shook her head.

[It might be future alteration, but at that moment, that moment I sensed a ripple.]

[Tell me more.]

[Our current assumption is that it is probably not in full control over the future. Otherwise we would not be alive right now.]

[I see, so it’s altering the future but in a limited way?]

We had been successfully guarding and avoiding Gemini’s attack so far. Which means, the future alteration does not affect its attack. If it could, we would’ve been turned to dust a long time ago.

So it’s gotta be limited to defending.

I did notice that something was going on whenever my attack almost hit it.

[Fate-sama, please shoot another arrow at Gemini once more. I shall observe it thoroughly]

[But more than that...]

This magic eye with future vision seems to be putting more workload on Eris’ eyes than her other magic eyes. The white of her eye had turned bloody red.

Subsequent use may cause blindness.

[It does not matter. The opponent is also looking for a way to kill us as we speak. Go!]

[...]

I took a good look at Eris. really now... It’s almost like I’m seeing the usual her.

Acting strong and all despite her fear of sacred beast.

Thus I pulled the bowstring and aimed at Gemini. Releasing the petrifying arrow, which ended up dispersed like before.

The scattered magic arrows were swept away by the wind and danced in the air.

[Eris!?]

She was holding her right eye with one hand. Blood was seeping endlessly from between her fingers. I had to control myself from running toward her.

[Gemini’s ability. I saw it.]

Eris grinned.

Libra’s adjustment should’ve diluted her emotions... but I noticed that it was just on the surface. She’s still fighting off her fear inside.

And here, she’s trying to confront the long standing ties between her and the sacred beasts.

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