Chapter 3 - Memoirs (cinematic by Rameses B) *12 times better*

Traces of destruction and ruin appear everywhere outside the village. It seems that the Fomors did not target us specifically. For what reason have they come? For what reason have they killed? Thinking about their actions only angers me more. I should stop dwelling on what has passed and more on what is to come.

"Hey wait a minute... Didn't you say that the next village is 3 days away? Why is there one so close by then?"

'Oh. I was only playing. Haha! Your village isn't that secluded.'

"... I can't believe you."

'Haha! I got you!'

"..."

'Oh c'mon, you're not bitter, are you?'

"..."

'Okay okay! I'm sorry! Please don't give me the silent treatment. I've been alone for so long. I only wanted someone to talk to.'

"..."

'Lethita! C'mon. I won't do it again. I swear.'

"Haaa... I can't believe something like you is giving me power..."

'Haha! You better believe it!'

"..."

How long has it been since I left? It feels like I've been walking forever.

"Am I the only one who can hear you?"

'Good question. Yes. You are. If anyone sees you, it would look like you're talking to yourself.'

"...Great..."

After a long and tedious walk on an empty stomach, we've finally reached our destination.

'Well, this scene seems familiar.'

"Don't you fucking remind me."

Hunger is hardly anything to worry about. What lies in front of us is the remnants of another burned village. Countless bodies, pile upon pile. It seems that the Fomors sacked this unfortunate village as well. However, the attack has not seemed to have ended. Sounds of metals clanging rung off towards the centre. The villagers are still fighting, though the village is completely wrecked.

"Berserker, you're going to prove to me that having you manifest in my soul is not a bad idea."

'Oho? Going into battle again? Very well. Allow me to demonstrate the power tha-'

"Are you done?"

Not wasting any time, I cut it off before it starts to talk some more. I then dash toward the heart of battle with my swords in hand.

'Hey! I wasn't finished!'
"You are now."
'Aw c'mon, you should've at least let me finish my sentence.'
"Nope. Stop talking, you're going to bite the way your tongue."
'Shouldn't you be the one biting your tong- Ahhhh! My tongue!'

'Wait that doesn't even make sense! I don't even have a tongue, not even a body!'
"JUST SHUT UP!"

I howl at at Berserker. Which was a bad idea because the ones heard me were a bunch of goblins sealing off the entrance to the battlefield. They turned around in shock since I had snuck up behind them and taken them by surprise. There are at least 30 of them crowding in a small alleyway surrounded by burnt walls. Once they got over the situation, the Fomors point their fingers at me as if I'm some cockroach that they missed. Then they started charging at me with spears in hand.

In hindsight, it was a good idea that seemed like a bad idea. With the limited space between walls, only a maximum of 3 Fomors could fight me at once, not to mention the others squishing behind the front waiting for their turn.

I unravel my swords to grip them tightly. Nothing can hold me back now. The first three lunge with ridiculous speed. Taken a bit back, I lower my centre to have an easier time standing my ground. I then fan both my swords forward to ward off their spear thrusts. After knocking their spears elsewhere, I swing the swords back to slice them across their chests. Blood gushes upon contact. It seems that my blades haven't dulled yet. I drop the first three like flies. Their comrades howl in anger upon seeing the deaths of their disgusting friends. Enraged, each of one begins charging at me.

I don't have any time to stand around either. I rush them in response. Within minutes, I have completely exterminated these pests. However, even the deaths of these cockroaches could not quench my thirst for Fomor blood.

The sounds of fighting have brought more Fomor troops to my location. I grin at their stupidity. If a mere group of 30 couldn't take me down, why would they think sending more will help? Ahhhh. Who cares? More pigs to slaughter. Ahaha!

"BLOOD! MORE BLOOD!"

...

How long has it been since I lost myself? This feels just like back at the village... By then I realize, I'm surrounded by death. Again. My blades have gotten red. Again. Countless corpses lie below, again. What happened?

I survey the land. It seems that ever since I entered the burnt village, I have only contributed to the casualty count. Not that I'm complaining. Adding numbers to Fomor casualties is something I'd die for. I have no regrets.

The sounds of metals clashing no longer linger in the air. It seems that the fight has ended. But which side won? There's only one way to find out.

I walk towards the centre of the village, where the answer lies. To my surprise, the remaining Fomor troops have formed a circle around the tied up villagers in the large open field that is the centre. There are dozens of elite armored goblin troops scattered within the circle. In total, there are maybe 600 of them. It's a good thing that the guards haven't noticed me yet since most of their attention is onto the ones in the middle. I'm literally 5 feet away from the circle. Standing before the captured humans is a large ugly ass goblin commander with a leader-like aura. Fucking. Disgusting.

He treats the prisoners like toys. Within seconds, he has snapped off the arms of 2 men. Is this their form of execution? Torture them slowly while striking fear in the others?

"Noooooo! Father!"

A young girl cries out inside the middle. It seems that children were captured as well, not just men. No... Women, children, elderly, they've got all ages in there. I guess they don't discriminate our age nor gender.

If this goes on, every single one of them will die today. But what can I do?

The girl's cry quickly reached the ears of the commander. The eye contact between the two confirmed his next target. There's no need in thinking about it.

I slowly walk toward the Fomor guards. Lifting my sword high up in the air, I swing it down to cleanly slice off four heads. The sudden attack turned the heads of many. I grab one of the headless bodies and toss it at their commander. He eyes me down full of hatred. The elite armored guards, now fully alert, also start moving in my direction. With a hand wave, the commander signals them to stand down. It seems like he wants a duel. He thinks he can publicly execute a troublemaker. The nearby guards back away and seal off my escape, not that I planned to run anyways.

Up close, the commander is half a body taller than me. His heavy armor offers the best protection. And his goblin scimitar screams for blood.

"Watch out!"

The commander suddenly leaped at me and tried to end me immediately with an overhead slash. I quickly dodge roll away to the side. Had I not been paying attention, I would've died right there. He's fast... I thought his armor would slow him considering how heavy it looks. I guess that's not the case. It looks like this fight won't be easy. I loosen my sheaths and my bag full of throwing spears. At this point, I need all the speed I can get. Needles weight can only slow me.

The commander lunges at me again, this time with a horizontal slash. I dig my swords into the grounds to block it. But the impact knocked me back a couple of feet. That was such a heavy blow. I can't take him head on. My hands are still visibly shaking from that collision.

The commander sneers at my weak self. He then taunts me with a hand gesture, telling me to come at him. Now I'm really pissed off. Today will definitely be his last day existing.

I charge at him with both swords in hand. I want to avoid direct confrontation as much as possible. Speed is key in this battle. Midway through the charge, I feel a bit different... I surprise the commander and myself immediately with a head butt. The impact knocked us both to the ground. What the fuck was that? I traveled that distance in split seconds. I get up right away to plant a blade inside that fucker's skull. The commander wanted to do the same. Our weapons clash, causing sparks to scatter in the wind.

"Tch!"

I break away from the struggle. He's a tough bastard. What happened just now? I covered the distance in a flash.

"Berserker. Was that you?"

I feel a gap in my memories.

'You wanted power. I'll grant you power. In exchange for your consciousness."

Endless energy flows throughout my body. I feel as light as feather, as if all my physical abilities have been enhanced temporarily.

"Haha! Ahahaha! Wonderful."

My laughter echo across the battlefield. Every Fomor is as confused as their commander. They must think I'm crazy. Berserker empowers my body. If my conscious is all it takes for me to gain power. I would trade it every single time. I have never felt so light. Heh. Let's see what I can do.

I dash to the commander. By the time he reacts, I've already reached the ground he stood on. Using momentum from my sprint, I pummel him down with my entire weight. I slam the handle of my swords into his chest, knocking him down to the ground. Following up with the pummel, I leap forward to drive my blades into him, breaking through his heavy armor like paper.

"GRAAWWWHH!"

The Fomor commander screams in agony while writhing on the ground. His precious blood gushes out like a fountain. With their commander dead, the remaining Fomors seek to avenge their leader. I throw the goblin scimitar at the captured, hoping they could cut the ropes and escape safely. Then I run. None of the Fomors paid the other humans any heed since they've started chasing after me, all 600 of them. My aim is to lead them away from here.

Dashing through the thick forest, with the goblin troops in hot pursuit, this feeling has never been so thrilling. All of them, all of them, will die by my hands today! Ahaha!

In the midst of chase, I have lead them to a forest clearing. Believing that this is a good place for showdown, I turn around to face the goblin horde. The moisture in the air reimburses my gasping lungs full of air.

I exhale. I 'will' have my revenge. There are still about 600 of them. The clearing here gives me large enough area to maneuver through the Fomors. Fighting inside the forest is a definite no. The trees and leaves can only obstruct my movements, considering how many of them there are hunting me down. The only way to deal with them all is to fight in an open field. And if the fight gets messy, I can escape by the trees. This will not be the place I fall.

I charge forward swinging both swords horizontally to the left to parry their thrusts. I swing them reversely to fend off the second wave of spears. Following up on the opening I've made, I slide forward with a quick sweeping slash, clearing any goblins on the side, leaving the majority standing against me face to face. I kick the first one backwards into the horde. The force of impact knocked the frontline down immediately. Executing downed enemies is a waste of time, so I jump over them instead into the second wave of the horde. Their surprised faces tell me they never expected that it would be their turn so soon. I plant each blade right into those fuckers' heads. Like a tornado, I twist my whole body to clean up the surrounding Fomors.

My breathing is gradually getting heavier. I struggle to gather air into my lungs. Side effects of using Berserker began to appear; extreme fatigue. My vision is getting hazy. I don't think I can keep fighting. There's a part of me that just wants to surrender and lay in eternal rest. But I can't do that. I can never do that.

After breaking away from the dog fight, I manage to take a breather. The Fomors aren't nearly kind enough to allow me to rest however. In their giant pack, they chase after me. At this point I can barely hold my weapons. It's time for me to retreat.

...

I quickly search the nearby brushes and decide on the thickest one to make my escape. Without any hesitation, the goblins follow me into the forest once again. For me to engage them is out of y options. I just know that I will be a pile of meat in a couple of seconds. Thankfully, the trees and branches hinders them down considerably. I'm able to widen the distance between me and them.

That is not to say, the trees and branches are helping me either. They've just about hit my face 12 times, stumped my feet 19 times, and scratched me about 20 times.

The chase goes on for a while. I have since lost the pack that had been behind me all this time. Eventually I found a way out. I dash through the trees to finally leave the premise. I then immediately come to a stop. What lies before me is a cliff, and a waterfall. There are no paths other than to go back into the forest. Shit. Shit. Shit. I quickly turn around to return from where I came. That's another impossible option. As soon as I turned, those that have caught up has already lunged at the lone figure standing on top of a cliff, me.

Is this where I die? What other options do I have? Damn. I haven't nearly killed enough to avenge everyone. The scene in my village flashes before my eyes. I hope they're satisfied with this. I can only blame my powerlessness.

"Fuck! Berserker, give me more power!"

'...'

"What are you doing?!"

'... Don't blame me for the consequences.'

"Just fucking do it!"

With that said, I black out one more time. The last thing I could remember was...falling off the cliff with countless Fomors. And I thought to myself, at least I didn't die alone.