Berserk, Total War: Second Son of Nobles

With all his might, Karl pushed open the heavy wooden door of the church. The door slammed against the wall with a dull thud. He half-supported, half-dragged the wounded soldier into the church.

The soldier's leg injury was still severe, and every step he took required tremendous effort. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Karl's forehead, but he dared not stop for a moment.

The church was deserted at this moment, devoid of the solemn atmosphere of prayers that usually filled the air; only deathly silence remained. Looking beyond the empty hall, one could see a tall statue of St. John standing in the center of the deepest part of the church. The statue stood there quietly, exuding a sense of solemnity in the dim light, becoming the only conspicuous landmark in this empty church.

As Karl helped the soldier sit down on the floor inside the church, he breathed a sigh of relief. His tense nerves relaxed a little. He knew that this place was relatively safe for the time being, at least he could avoid the raging monsters and chaotic battles outside.

He then immediately spoke softly, calling out:

"Little beep."

This is the name Carl gave to the angel. The origin of the name is very simple; it is simply because every time this angel appears, it is accompanied by a crisp "beep" sound. There is no complicated meaning behind the name.

At first, Carl wasn't sure if the angel would accept such a casual way of addressing him, but after trying it a few times, he found that the angel would respond every time he called the name, so it seemed that the angel had already accepted the simple address.

"Beep!"

A crisp sound rang out precisely on time, accompanied by a faint yet striking light that slowly emanated from the St. John statue in front. Immediately afterwards, a small figure of light floated out from inside the statue. It was radiating a soft white light, and its small and agile body slowly flew towards Karl's direction.

Without the slightest hesitation, Karl immediately spoke to the little luminous figure in front of him, making a request:

"Xiao Bi, quickly treat his leg injury. His leg is badly injured and he can no longer walk normally."

Little B seemed to understand Karl's words. Its body, glowing with white light, swayed slightly, then slowly flew to the wounded soldier's side, extending a small hand that also glowed with white light and gently placing it on the soldier's injured leg.

The moment the small hand landed, a soft white light spread out from the point of contact, completely enveloping the soldier's entire leg. The white light was gentle and mild, without any glare, quietly shrouding the injured area. After a moment, the white light slowly receded and finally dissipated completely into the air, leaving no trace.

The moment the white light dissipated, the wounded soldier suddenly moved his leg, and the pain on his face instantly faded.

He tried to move his ankle gently, and an unbelievable surprise appeared on his face. The excruciating pain he had just experienced had disappeared, replaced by an unprecedented sense of ease. Although he could not run as nimbly as usual, he could stand and walk normally without being tormented by the intense pain.

"Beep!"

The little luminous figure made another crisp sound, its white-glowing body turning towards Karl, its little head bobbing slightly.

Immediately afterwards, it nimbly turned around and flew towards the back of the St. John statue. Before long, it flew back with a piece of paper and a pen. It gently placed the paper and pen on the ground in front of Karl, and then quickly wrote a line of words on the paper with its glowing little hands.

"What happened?"

"That's right, the military camp has been overrun by many monsters..."

Before the words were even finished, a deafening roar suddenly rang out. The heavy wooden door of the church was violently flung away by a tremendous force. The wooden door drew a heavy arc in the air and crashed heavily into the wall in the distance, instantly shattering into countless pieces that flew everywhere.

A strong, fishy smell, accompanied by a gust of wind, rushed into the church. Karl instinctively looked up and saw a huge plant monster blocking the church entrance, occupying the entire doorway.

Its entire body was covered with thick, tough vines, and between the vines, a huge, blood-red maw was wide open, with traces of blood still remaining at the corners of its mouth, exuding a terrifying ferocity.

"So this is where it is. No wonder I felt so uncomfortable."

The plant monster's gaping maw slowly opened and closed, emitting a deep, hoarse sound. Its gaze swept quickly across the church, finally settling on Karl and the little light man.

Karl's heart leaped into his throat. He knew very well that with his current strength, he was no match for this enormous plant monster. Although the soldier beside him had recovered from his leg injury, he had only just recovered, and even if the two of them joined forces, they would be no match for the monster.

In that critical moment, he immediately turned to the soldiers beside him and shouted:

"Go out and call for reinforcements. Only if reinforcements arrive will we have any hope of survival."

"Then what will you do? After I leave, you won't be able to handle it by yourself."

"There's no time to hesitate now. If no one holds it back, we'll both die here today. Go find reinforcements. Only when reinforcements arrive can we completely defeat this monster."

Looking into Karl's resolute eyes, the soldier instantly understood their predicament. He knew Karl was telling the truth, and hesitation would only lead them both into a desperate situation. He gritted his teeth and said to Karl:

"I'll be right back. You must hold on until I return with reinforcements to help you."

After saying this, the soldier didn't linger any longer. He turned and ran quickly toward the small door on the side of the church, his steps hurried and he dared not stop for a moment. He had only one thought in his mind: to find reinforcements as quickly as possible and rush back to save Karl.

Seeing its prey trying to escape, the plant monster immediately swung a thick vine and lashed it out in the direction the soldier was fleeing. The vine moved with a whistling sound and was extremely fast, almost catching up with the soldier who was about to reach the small door.

With lightning speed, Karl raised his flintlock pistol almost the instant the vine lashed out, aiming the muzzle steadily at the speeding vine, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

After a crisp gunshot, the lead bullet accurately struck the middle of the vine. The vine paused abruptly, then quickly retracted as if in pain. The momentum of the pursuing soldier was instantly interrupted, and the soldier took the opportunity to quickly pass through the small door and completely disappear from the plant monster's sight.

Seeing its prey escape, the plant monster's rage was instantly ignited. It let out a low roar from its gaping maw, abandoned the pursuit of the retreating soldiers, and charged toward Karl with its massive body. As its gaping maw opened and closed, it uttered words full of malice.

“You lowly human, how dare you obstruct my hunt? You are courting death.”

Karl tightened his grip on the flintlock pistol. Although he knew the difference in strength between them was vast, he didn't back down. He straightened his back, met the plant monster's fierce gaze, and shouted sharply:

“I don’t care who you are. You have now invaded the border of Heldran without authorization and cruelly murdered my comrades. As a soldier of Heldran, I have a duty to completely eliminate you.”

"Out of control."

The plant monster sneered disdainfully, its tone full of mockery. The moment its words fell, it suddenly swung several thick vines, like several agile giant pythons, lashing out fiercely at Karl with a whistling sound.

Carl tried to dodge, but the vines were too fast, giving him no time to react. A thick vine struck his body first, and the force sent him flying.

Karl's body arced through the air before crashing heavily to the ground some distance away, his armor striking the ground with a heavy thud.

A sharp pain shot through his entire body, causing him to groan involuntarily. A metallic taste filled his mouth, and all his strength seemed to be drained away instantly. The flintlock pistol in his hand fell to the side and slid far away.

"Beep!"

Just as Karl collapsed to the ground, a crisp sound suddenly rang out, and a dazzling beam of light burst forth from Little B's body, striking the plant monster's body with sharp momentum. The light landed on the vines, instantly burning a tiny scorch mark. Although the wound was small, it still made the plant monster feel real pain.

"who!"

The plant monster, in pain, turned its head sharply and instantly locked onto Little Beep, who was hiding under the St. John statue. It never expected that this seemingly insignificant little ball of light could actually harm it.

"Beep!"

Little Beep showed no fear and made another crisp sound. Immediately afterward, another dazzling beam of light shot out from its body, accurately landing on another vine of the plant monster, leaving another clear scorch mark. Although the power of the light was not strong, it carried a strong burning sensation, making the plant monster even more annoyed.

"Damn it, you filthy thing!"

The plant monster was completely enraged. It roared and swung several thick vines, lashing out at the little bee below the St. John statue, determined to tear this little ball of light that dared to provoke it to shreds.

Just as the vine was about to touch Little B, the plant monster suddenly felt a violent burning sensation, as if it had touched a scorching hot iron. The excruciating pain spread throughout its body along the vine, causing it to convulse involuntarily.

Even so, the plant monster endured the excruciating burning pain, exerted its strength, and used its thickest vine to tightly wrap around Little B. Ignoring the burning pain from the vine, it violently pulled Little B in front of it, its blood-red mouth close to Little B, exuding intense killing intent.

"Cough cough..."

Carl struggled on the ground, the metallic taste rising in his throat making him cough uncontrollably. The pain all over his body made every movement extremely difficult, but when he looked up and saw that the plant monster was holding Little B tightly, a strong rage instantly ignited in his heart.

Ignoring the excruciating pain in his body, he struggled to his feet and rushed towards the plant monster, trying to free the little light man from its vines.

But the plant monster had already noticed his movements. Before he could get close, it swung a thick vine and lashed out at him. Karl instinctively drew the longsword from his waist, trying to block the vine's attack, but the vine's strength was too great. The moment the longsword collided with the vine, it was violently whipped away.

The longsword spun rapidly in the air a few times before finally embedding itself deeply into a crevice in the nearby rock with a loud clang.

Without his weapon, Karl was completely powerless to resist. The plant monster's vines attacked again, lashing his chest with tremendous force, sending him flying like a kite with a broken string.

This time, he crashed straight into the base of the St. John statue. The violent impact made his vision go black, his consciousness blurred instantly, and he finally fell into a coma. His body slumped down under the sculpture, motionless.

"Beep!"

The little beetle, tightly bound by the vines, saw Karl lying unconscious on the ground and let out an anxious yet powerless sound. It mustered all its strength to activate the light within its body, and a beam of light even more dazzling than before burst forth, striking the plant monster hard and leaving a scorch mark even deeper than before.

The plant monster abandoned the unconscious Karl, its massive body pressing down on Little B firmly under its feet. Thick vines suppressed it, relentlessly stomping on the ground. With each stomp, the light on Little B dimmed a little, the once vibrant orb of light gradually weakening, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.

After an unknown amount of time, the plant monster slowly stopped trampling. It slowly lifted its foot and looked down at the little bee at its feet. At this moment, the little bee's light had dimmed to the extreme, and its body had become extremely weak, but it still tremblingly stretched out a small glowing hand. The tip of the small hand slowly rounded out, and then, from the very center of the round tip, a tiny finger slowly extended out.

The plant monster looked at the little light creature in front of it, which had little power to resist, with disdain and ruthlessness in its tone.

"Then go die."

It stretched out its thick vines, grabbed the little bee whose light was almost exhausted, and casually threw it below the St. John statue. The little bee fell heavily at the foot of the statue like a broken leaf, its light growing weaker and weaker, almost merging into the dim light and shadow.

After dealing with Little B, the plant monster stopped and turned to walk slowly out of the church. When it reached the door, it suddenly swung several thick vines and lashed them hard at the stone pillars inside the church.

The thick stone pillars cracked instantly under the violent impact of the vines, and then one after another the stone pillars broke, the framework supporting the church collapsed completely, the roof stones kept falling, the walls began to tilt, and the whole church was plunged into violent shaking.

With a series of loud rumbling sounds, the church collapsed, burying the unconscious Karl and the dying Little B under the rubble.