Berserk, Total War: Second Son of Nobles

“Karl, Karl…”

A faint yet clear call slowly drifted through the chaos, penetrating layers of blurred consciousness and settling deep within Karl's silent mind.

He felt as if he were trapped in an endless darkness, surrounded by complete silence, without a sound or a glimmer of light. The excruciating pain he had endured when the church collapsed had long since dissipated, leaving only a light, ethereal feeling, as if his soul had been ripped from his body and was floating in the endless void.

The voice calling was gentle yet persistent, repeating his name over and over again, carrying an indescribable pull that gradually brought his scattered consciousness toward the edge of clarity. He could vaguely sense that someone in the darkness was persistently calling to him, trying to awaken him from this silence.

"Karl, open your eyes..."

The call came again, clearer than before, and landed in Karl's ears.

At this moment, Karl felt as if he was enveloped by extreme weakness, as if he had exhausted all the strength in his life. He could not even do a simple action like moving a finger. Although his consciousness was beginning to clear, his body felt as if it did not belong to him, and was too heavy to control.

So he decided to rest for a while, and when he had the strength, he would try to open his eyes to see who was calling him.

"Ok?"

A soft sound, tinged with doubt, suddenly came from the darkness.

Immediately afterwards, a sharp pain suddenly shot through Karl's left cheek, as if he had been lightly slapped by something. The pain was not intense, but it carried a great deal of force, instantly shattering the emptiness and languor around him, like a bucket of cold water being poured over him, instantly dispelling the remaining drowsiness and weakness.

The sudden pain jolted Karl fully awake, and his eyes, which had been so heavy that they were difficult to open, now opened slowly and without any obstruction.

Contrary to expectations, there was no darkness before his eyes, but rather a clear and clean blue sky, cloudless and dazzlingly blue. The gentle sunlight fell upon him, carrying a warm temperature that dispelled the last trace of chill.

He instinctively turned to the side, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding scenery, only to realize with a start that he was floating on a wide expanse of water, his body firmly pressed against the surface, showing no signs of sinking, as stable as if he were standing on flat ground.

What surprised him even more was that the water beneath him was crystal clear, yet it didn't dampen his clothes at all, keeping them dry as if the water were an illusion rather than a real liquid.

Karl was filled with shock and confusion. He tried to stand up slightly and moved his legs gently. He was able to stand steadily on the water. The water rippled gently under his feet, and with his movements, it created circles of tiny ripples that slowly spread outwards. Apart from that, there was nothing else unusual. The feeling of walking on the water was almost no different from walking on solid land. There was no hindrance or discomfort whatsoever.

He looked down at the ripples spreading beneath his feet, then looked up at the clear blue sky above, his mind filled with confusion. He couldn't understand how he, who should have been buried under the ruins of the collapsed church, could end up in such a strange and magical place. Where was he? And where was the person who had called out to him earlier?

"Karl, look here!"

Just as Karl was looking around in confusion, a clear and familiar voice suddenly came from behind him. Karl turned around abruptly and looked quickly in the direction of the voice. He saw a small figure of light floating in mid-air, its body radiating a soft white light.

"Little beep!"

Carl's tone was full of surprise and disbelief. He could no longer contain his excitement and took a step forward and ran towards the direction where the little light man was floating. As he ran, the water beneath his feet rippled in a series of continuous waves.

He quickly ran to the little luminous person's side, reached out, and gently touched the little luminous person's white-glowing body. The warm touch on his fingertips felt real and clear, not an illusion.

Confirming that he wasn't dreaming and that Little B really existed here, Karl's heart eased slightly. He then asked eagerly, his tone filled with deep doubt.

"Hey, where is this? Why are we here?"

"This is the paradise you speak of."

Xiao Bi's voice was crisp and pleasant, ringing directly in Karl's ears. The simple sentence was like a thunderclap, exploding in Karl's heart.

He stared blankly at the little luminous figure before him, the word "heaven" echoing repeatedly in his mind. His heart clenched, and a terrifying thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

If this really is heaven, then doesn't that mean he's already dead?

"That's right, you're dead."

As if she could see right through Karl's thoughts, Xiao Bi spoke again before Karl could even ask, giving a calm but definitive answer that shattered Karl's last shred of hope.

Carl stood blankly on the water, the ripples beneath his feet gradually subsiding. His heart was filled with indescribable loss and resentment. He hadn't seen the rampaging monsters completely wiped out, nor had he seen his parents and sister one last time. To die like this was too much to bear. He still had so many things left undone, so many responsibilities left unfulfilled.

After a brief moment of disappointment, Karl suddenly raised his head, his eyes fixed on the little light figure, his tone full of urgent pleading.

"Is there any way to go back? I want to go back, I want to return to the human world, I want to fight those monsters with my comrades."

Little B's body, glowing white, swayed slightly, as if nodding. Its clear voice rang out again, carrying a sense of certainty, giving Karl the answer he most wanted.

"Of course there is a solution, and that's exactly what I'm about to do."

It paused, then slowly continued, clearly explaining its plan to Karl.

"That is to inject my life into your body, so that you can not only be resurrected and return to your original world, but also gain great power to destroy those ferocious monsters and save the people of Hilderan who are in danger."

The moment the words fell, Xiao Bi's body suddenly emitted a dazzling light, brighter than ever before. Then, countless tiny points of light emerged from its body, like a sky full of stars, slowly rotating around its main body.

As more and more light spots appeared, Xiao Bi's originally complete body began to disintegrate little by little. Those tiny light spots, as if they had lost the pull of the core, gradually drifted away in all directions. The originally small and agile light figure gradually became transparent, and finally only countless light spots remained floating in mid-air.

"Little beep."

Karl was momentarily stunned, staring blankly at the little light figure slowly disintegrating before him, watching the scattered specks of light. He was filled with shock and helplessness. Only now did he truly understand the meaning behind Little B's words: it was willing to exchange its own life for his resurrection and power.

He instinctively called out, his voice filled with urgency and reluctance, wanting to reach out and hold onto the scattered specks of light, but not knowing where to begin. He could only watch helplessly as Xiao Bi's body gradually disappeared before his eyes.

"Don't worry."

Just as Karl was filled with anxiety and reluctance, a gentle voice suddenly came from the surrounding air. It was still Xiao Bi's familiar, crisp tone, but with a touch of etherealness and remoteness, as if it came from all directions, lingering in Karl's ears.

"Even though I am gone, countless more of me will be born here."

The sound of a small beeping sound slowly began to play.

"And you, Karl, I hope you can use this power to become someone who saves people from danger, someone who carries the hopes of the people."

As these words fell, the countless points of light scattered in mid-air seemed to be suddenly drawn by some force, and began to rapidly converge towards the center. The originally scattered points of light gradually merged together, and finally condensed into a huge and dazzling ball of light, radiating a light that was enough to illuminate the entire world, warm and powerful.

The ball of light paused for a moment in mid-air, and then, like an arrow released from a bow, it rushed straight into Karl's body with a whistling sound.

Karl showed no hesitation or fear. He closed his eyes slightly, feeling the warm power of the dazzling ball of light instantly merge into his body. A vast yet gentle power burst forth from within him, flowing through his limbs and bones. The last trace of weakness and fatigue was instantly dispelled, and his entire body was filled with an unprecedented sense of power. A burning sense of mission quietly rose in his heart, growing ever stronger.

Meanwhile, inside the border military camp on the other side, the plant monster that had completely destroyed the church was turning and heading deeper into the camp, preparing to hunt new targets.

Its body was enormous, and its thick vines dragged casually on the ground, carving deep trenches wherever they went. Occasionally, it would encounter surviving soldiers along the way, but it would easily entangle them with its vines, either flinging them away or tearing them to shreds. It would roar triumphantly, enjoying the thrill of the hunt, completely disregarding the surviving soldiers. In its eyes, these tiny humans were nothing more than prey, easily defeated.

Just as the plant monster was feeling smug and preparing to attack its next target, it suddenly noticed an increasingly bright light coming from behind it. The light carried a familiar burning sensation, causing its vines to twitch slightly. A bad premonition instantly welled up in its heart.

It instinctively stopped, its massive body suddenly turning around, its gaze fixed on the direction from which the light was coming from. That was the very place where the church it had completely destroyed was located. At this moment, the church had long since turned into a chaotic ruin, with piles of rubble and tiles. But from the gaps in those rubble and tiles, beams of dazzling white light were constantly seeping outwards, growing brighter and brighter, enveloping the entire ruin.

"What is this thing? How can it have such a blinding light?"

The plant monster's gaping maw slowly opened and closed, emitting a low, questioning sound, its tone carrying a hint of barely concealed apprehension. It could clearly sense that the light contained a power that terrified it; the burning sensation was a hundred or a thousand times more intense than the light emitted by the little light-man before.

Just as it was filled with anxiety and doubt, a blinding white light suddenly burst out from the ruins, like a rising sun, instantly illuminating the entire military camp. The white light was so dazzling that the plant monster could not open its eyes and could only subconsciously close them, letting out a painful roar.

At the same time, a violent burning sensation instantly swept over its entire body, as if it had been thrown into a scalding furnace. Every vine and every inch of its body was filled with excruciating pain, making it grimace and writhe on the ground. Its massive body lashed out and struggled wildly, its thick vines flailing madly, but it could not escape the omnipresent burning sensation. It could only let out a series of shrill and desperate roars in agony.

"It hurts so much! What is this thing? Stop it! Stop it right now!"

The plant monster's roar was filled with pain and pleading. Its previous arrogance and ferocity had vanished without a trace, leaving only endless pain and fear. It had never felt such intense pain before; the burning sensation that penetrated to the bone almost completely incinerated its body.

The white light lasted for a moment before slowly receding and dissipating into the air, and the surrounding light gradually returned to normal. The plant monster slowly stopped struggling, enduring the excruciating pain all over its body, and opened its eyes with difficulty, its gaze fixed on the ruins in front of it, its fear and apprehension reaching their peak.

To its horror, it discovered that the once mountain of ruins had been cleared away by the dazzling white light, revealing a clearing. The rubble and debris were pushed aside, exposing the flat ground beneath.

In the center of that open space, a figure was floating steadily in mid-air, his whole body tightly surrounded by a layer of soft yet dazzling light, the light flowing and exuding a powerful sense of strength.

It recognized the figure's appearance immediately; it was Karl, whom it had knocked unconscious and buried under the rubble.

At this moment, Karl was completely different from before. His open eyes and mouth were flashing with golden light, and the aura emanating from his body was powerful and holy, a world apart from the small and fragile human soldier he had been before. An invisible pressure emanated from his body and spread outwards, causing the plant monster's body to tremble again.