Chapter 2

Before Izuku knew it, he'd stuffed a bag full of Berserk volumes into leftover plastic bags before leaving for his dorms. He hadn't dared to read ahead in the middle of the night though he was definitely interested. Izuku wanted to see the Black Swordsman's counterpart.

With a few bags straining his fingers, he took the train and made the trek back to school.

At least I'll have something to pass time.

He did buy them after all, he wouldn't want to waste his money by not continuing even the first chapter. It was a little too violent for his tastes – and Izuku hadn't ever read anything like it. He didn't even think it was allowed to have such violence depicted in manga.

Kentaro Miura was a name he'd also never heard of. Maybe it was an old series? The art seemed dated, and though he read many older series, Izuku preferred the newer, more clean style of art.

I probably should have checked it out before buying it.

A sigh escaped his lips and soon he found himself before the doors of his dorm. Izuku wondered what everyone had been up to. He also wondered if anyone ever read 'Berserk.'

The doors swung open with a light kick and Izuku's eyes swept over the common room.

No one's here?

His eyes found the clock. 06:30?!

Palm met head as Izuku groaned. He'd barely gotten any sleep!

The rustling of his bag caught his attention.

I'm not really tired…

He plopped the bags down near a couch and rummaged through them for the first volume. They all had the Black Swordsman as their cover image. He must be one of the main characters, then. Izuku felt his brows scrunch.

Maybe he turns into a hero?

Izuku shelved the thought for later and flipped open back to where he was.

Alright then.

'Hey! wait up!'

The fairy creature flit about the Black Swordman's uninterested face.

'Listen, if you're gonna save someone, you don't just leave'em tied up like that. You're supposed to follow it through the end, y'know!'

It neared the slab of a sword. 'Say, that's quite the sword y'got there. Or should I call it a slab?'

Ha. Izuku smiled at the line of thought.

'Oh, yeah. I'm Puck. Nice to meetcha.'

Puck proceeded to explain his (its?) backstory and Izuku was more interested in the Black Swordsman's lack of an acknowledgement. He knew the man didn't go there to save Puck, but to instead inform this 'boss' of his presence.

What caught his eye from Puck's ramblings was the town providing tribute to the thugs. His memory wandered to the panel of the caged children.

They're giving up their own people?! How could they?

Just who was this boss? How had the thugs gotten so closely entwined to even the guards?

Corruption would never happen like that here.

'OWW! That hurt! Wha'd you do that for?!'

'Don't touch me… I'll squash you.'

So aggressive…

Izuku watched as Puck screamed at the Black Swordsman, and watched as the two got surrounded by knights. They might be the good guys. Maybe not all the guards were corrupted.

'See? I told ya. Well… gotta go.'

The panels led to a dungeon, where the Black Swordsman was strung up and had cuts and scars painting his flesh. A pool of blood formed beneath his feet, rivults flowing freely down his body.

Though in page and black and white, Izuku couldn't help but feel squeamish at the sight. It definitely wasn't something he'd like to see.

It must have hurt.

All thoughts of the guards being un-corrupt left his mind. Instead he felt a streak of heat run across his body.

'Yer a stubborn bastard y'know that?! Ain'cha even gonna make a little noise? Huh?' The bald torturer prodded with his whip, but received no reply. 'You bastard!'

'Stop.' An old priest-looking man appeared.

Maybe?

'That's enough for now.'

He clenched his teeth. He might have killed their men, but torturing was completely immoral and never something that needed to be done!

'That stockpile of weapons, it belongs to that man?'

Izuku studied each of the instruments on the table; blades, arrows, a crossbow – just how did he handle all of them? Regardless of what he did, Izuku did know the man was a skilled fighter.

Especially to wield a sword like his…

'A complete stranger to these parts, you've done a terrible thing…' The old man shivered, and Izuku couldn't help but pity him. He must have been threatened… but still… those children. They didn't deserve whatever happened to them.

'Do you have any idea what you've done?! Because you murdered those men... This town may very well be destroyed!'

Villains! There were people in that town! Children and more!

Who's going to save them? The hero must show himself.

'Are you telling me those guards are scare-crows?'

"Huh?" He exclaimed.

The panels showed the inner ramblings of the old man. The ruler was beyond human? Incomprehensible? Just what was he?

'No one can kill him… At least not anyone human.'

'I see. So that's why you made your dirty deal with him.'

'How could you understand?! A wandering vagrant like yourself!'

Izuku was conflicted, but understood. They were just civilians, they were powerless. They couldn't do anything but risk their lives for no reason. It was why heroes existed.

'I know all about it. How he's a monster that eats human flesh. I know it very well.'

Izuku was hooked.

'And I know that you continue to provide him with his meals. I passed them at the gates of the city. A prison wagon full of women and children.'

Izuku gasped, his darkest thoughts coming to fruition.

'I… I am the mayor! It is my duty to protect the town'

Izuku would have pummeled the man in the face if it were possible. They were just innocent people! Fed to a monster?!

'Protect this town? Don't you mean yourself?

'Do it! Torture him as much as you like!' The mayor's ugly nature revealed itself, and Izuku lost all feeling for him. He was as villainous as the ruler.

The Black Swordsman was right.

Izuku sped through the panels, and found himself face to face with the monstrous ruler. The mayor seemed to beg for his life, yet the villain didn't care.

He was eating a human.

'Gold, prisoners. I don't care about such things. All I wish to see are humans within a fiery apocalypse trying to escape.'

His face was monstrous. 'All I wish to hear is the sound of snapping bones crushed under the hooves of horses. I don't even need an excuse. None at all.'

This is wrong. So wrong. Izuku felt a knot form in his throat.

The panel shifted back to Black Swordsman.

A malformed creature of flesh appeared before him. 'Get away from me! Get away from me!'

What the hell is that?

'What's with that all of a sudden! You scared the hell outta me!'

The Black Swordsman seemed less tense all of a sudden. 'You from the tavern…'

'Hey! This water's kinda yellow… Don't tell me it's…'

Izuku huffed. Puck was quite the opposite of everything Izuku had seen.

'What'd you come here for?'

'To repay a debt. We elves have a strong sense of duty.'

An elf? I thought they were graceful, tall, and had pointy ears.

'Let's see…'

'Don't touch me!' Izuku flinched as though he heard it. Why was he so aggressive? Puck was trying to help. 'Don't you ever touch me…' Could something have happened to him in his past?

The Black Swordsman tried to wriggle away from Puck as dust fell from his wings. 'Guh. Stop.'

'The pain… it's disappearing.'

'We elves got all sorts of powers.'

He heals? That's so cool!

'We can heal wounds, we can sense people's emotions, we can even make people happy.' Puck for once looked serious. 'Or at least that's what our troupe leader said before he got his head cut off by bandits.'

Izuku felt his face morph into a serious All Might.

'Say what's your name?'

Finally!

'Guts…'

Guts?... Isn't that… like, organs and stuff?

'Hey! What's that?' The panel displayed an oddly shaped mark on Guts' neck.

'Brand.' His hand traveled to cover it. 'It's the brand.'

Puck bombarded him with questions Guts clearly wouldn't answer. 'You'll find out soon enough. Pretty soon, he'll come here to kill me.'

Izuku didn't like how oddly calm Guts seemed at the prospect. Even the ghost of a smile was present on his face. 'As well as burn this whole town to the ground.'

'You mean you– you're planning to drag the townspeople into all this?!'

'I don't care.'

The words struck a chord in Izuku. How could he not care? They were people just like him! People completely innocent and living full lives with families and dreams and and… so much. It wasn't heroic at all.

'All I wanna do is find this bastard and kill him. I don't care about anything else.'

The panel showed Puck trembling. Izuku believed it to be in fright. He wouldn't blame the nice elf. Guts was villainous.

'Anyone who dies because they get caught up in someone else's fight is a small fry who doesn't have the strength to survive in the first place.'

That's why heroes are a thing! So that we can protect everyone! We don't just let the powerless fend for themselves! It's not fair!

'His emotions are pouring into me! My chest is burning!' Puck doubled over.

'If someone can't live their life the way they please, they might as well die.'

Izuku's fingers curled into the page. You're wrong!

'Is it rage? No, it's not just that. It's rage, sadness and fear. It's all mixed together so dark! And there's something even deeper than that…'

Sadness and fear? His grip relaxed. But why would he say such things?

'In that case… What about when you saved me?'

'Hahahaha!' Puck looked confused as Guts guffawed. 'Idiot! Who do you think you are?!' Why would anyone save you?! To think I'd risk my life for a little bug!'

Guts was cruel. Too cruel. Puck had even healed him! Why would he say such things! He wasn't some little bug!

Puck headbutted Guts and left to the cell's window. The panel of Puck had Izuku tearing up at the site.

Guts stared at Puck, suddenly quiet.

He fell back into place and Izuku wanted to give the elf a hug. He even left the cell's keys for Guts to leave. You don't deserve the help.

"Huh?"

Izuku flinched back at his own thoughts. Everyone deserved help… Even if they were a villain. It was the right thing to do. What a hero would do.

Guts drew blood from his own skin, and Izuku was only more confused. Then the brand started to bleed, and Guts licked the outpour of blood, 'I've been waiting for you… Haha!'

.

.

Izuku felt bile rise up his throat as he saw the image of a child impaled on a spear, and the monster drinking their blood.

'Wahahahaha!'

He'd never read anything so dark. And for good reason. The pillage of the town, the death, the fires. Everything was wrong. This was not the only child who had died a terrible death.

Why would he write such a thing? To cause us anguish?

'Charge! Burn everything to the ground!' He could feel the sadism pouring out of the page, the dark impulse making him think just the same.

If I got my hands on you… It won't be prison he goes to first.

He reigned in the rage. He was to be a hero. Not like some savage, worthless monster of a villain. Even if they were the worst.

Be like All Might.

Sufficiently calmed, Izuku trudged through to the next panel.

Then there he was, appearing from a pile of corpses. Guts' face was shrouded in darkness, his single eye devilish. His crossbow shot rapidly at the bandits. He peppered them down with precision and rage.

A horseman rode towards Guts, blade poised to decapitate. But when Izuku saw the familiar hilt of the gigantic sword, he knew that man was dead.

Once again, the art pierced through him, conveying Guts' rage and power. He cleaved straight through the horse and rider in one clean swing.

So brutal.

Izuku didn't look away this time, his eyes were glued to the pages.

'So you're the Black Swordsman. The one who's been hunting us apostles. I don't know what you hope to accomplish… But to think a mere mortal can oppose us. Is pure folly!'

Guts paid to head to the words, instead he loaded his crossbow, and for once Izuku felt as if he wanted Guts to win.

The arrows hit their mark and he thought that was it. The fight was over, and though Guts killed him, Izuku understood why. He was a monster. It didn't sit right, but…

A tail slammed into Guts, the impact left Izuku wincing.

The monster rose from the building he had fallen into, but this time truly in the visage of a monster. A large serpentine figure standing on two legs. An ugly face with a long tongue protruding from its maw.

'It's futile… No matter how many bolts you shoot at me… A mere human like you can't possible kill me!'

No!

'I'm going to eat you! I am going to eat you alive boooy!'

Even the monster's own men ran from him, he neared Guts with long strides as Puck screamed for him to get up.

It slammed and tossed around Guts, toying with him, enjoying his pain. Izuku wanted nothing more than to help.

'Oh… Still breathing are we? Most humans would've had their organs crushed by the first blow and be quite dead by now. But it all ends here!' It lifted Guts, who obviously was heavily injured and heaving bloodied breaths.

'Weak… How pathetic humans are!'

You're the depraved one! You're a monster!

Izuku felt himself rise from his seat, emotions on a high.

'You humans are nothing more than food. Nothing but morsels to fill our stomachs. Food should learn to act like food and–'

The cannon!

BOOM

Freed from the monster's grip, Guts scampered to his sword and swung it towards the serpentine creature with all his might– 'Yaaaahhh!' Once again, cleaving the monster into two.

Where Izuku thought it was over… Guts didn't. His face was contorted into a monstrous smile – covered in blood.

He loaded his crossbolt, and Izuku felt dread climbing into the space that was his heart.

Be better than them! Just end it!

'Don't die on me yet.'

'Ugh! Stop! Stop! PLEASE!' Bolts peppered the monster's head without end.

'Didn't you say it doesn't matter how many bolts I shoot at you? Must be rough, being unkillable and all… Like you said, humans are weak. But no matter how weak we are, even if we're being chopped to bits or stabbed to death, we still want to live. I'm going to give you a taste of what it's like.'

Izuku was disgusted. It was a perversion of their will to live and prosper. Guts was right but… it was bloodied. He was a murderer, and now a torturer. And with that the monster said, and what he saw. It wasn't the first time he had done this.

Guts' grin only widened at the screams of the monster.

'Who.. who are you?' The brand was shown. 'Th-that mark! It's the brand of sacrifice! You are–'

'The Godhand. Where are the five members of the Godhand.'

'I don't know! I don't know where they are! It's not for apostles such as I to know! I- I'm telling you the truth.'

Guts left the monster, and Izuku sagged in relief, though he knew he shouldn't have.

'Take your time and savor it… As your body is slowly burned to ashes.' A pile of burning building fell onto the monster. 'AAAAHHH!'

'WAIT! PLEASE! I DON"T WANT TO DIE! WAIT! HELP ME!'

Puck had curled into himself, the emotions of despair surely effecting him as it did Izuku, 'Berserk.' He finished. The backdrop of the fires and piles of corpses as Guts walked away left him flabbergasted. That was only the first chapter?

"Midoriya!"

Startled, Izuku leapt off the seat.

"Ah! Are you okay?!"

Izuku turned to see Iida having his hand outstretched for him.

"Uh. I guess so."

He ignored the look of confusion on Iida's face as he slammed the manga shut, mind whirling a maelstrom of thoughts, of Guts, and his own feelings. He would read more later.

"I was just... passing the time."

"Hm. As expected of you to come back so early."

"Ah, yeah. I forgot to check the time before I came here."

"What was it you were just reading? You seemed really engrossed in it."

"It was nothing! Just a manga I picked up that I thought was interesting!"

"Okay…"

"So how was your trip with your family!" He deflected quick, and was successful when Iida perked up his glasses and started his long and winding tale.

He tried to pay as much attention as he could have, truly… It was just that– Berserk wouldn't leave his mind.