Berserk: The Prophet

.........

Barkley.

When I opened my eyes again, I was already in Barkley. According to the Holy Dragon Knights' intelligence network, the "Wolf Fang" organization was active on the trails between Port Tulai and Pence, as well as in the countryside, attacking villagers and travelers. This group of thugs was mainly engaged in human trafficking.

Compared to Pence, Ali's family was closer to Port Toole. After luckily escaping Vanscaree's burning, killing, and looting, they were unlucky enough to encounter a few Red Brotherhood thugs. To protect his sister and two young brothers, Ali's parents tried to fight back, and Ali joined in. Fortunately, Ali was only knocked unconscious. In his dazed state, he heard the tall, one-eyed man talking about sacrifice. When he struggled to open his eyes, he saw his severely injured parents and two brothers having their throats slit and their blood being poured into a large black cup. This sight caused Ali to completely lose consciousness.

When Ali woke up again, he was already tied to a horse and taken away by the Brotherhood members of the "Wolf Fang" organization. His sister was nowhere to be found. Perhaps she was sold separately, or perhaps... that man knew.

Trunks, who was busy with other matters, briefly explained what had happened. Since it might involve heresy, he assigned himself two knights from the Holy Dragon Knights and five Holy Dragon squires to complete this mission. Through Pence's intelligence network, Lin had already determined their next base of operations—a hidden cave near Lorraine Town.

After briefly organizing their equipment and food in Lorraine, Green and his group had been lying in ambush in the mountains for a day and a night. Meanwhile, Cent, the leader of the "Wolf Fang" organization, and his men had just arrived and settled in. Among their group of thirty-odd men were several hostages who had been kidnapped from some unknown village and were being held tightly bound.

They were about to start cooking when Green signaled to the dozen or so men and his entourage to surround the area and seal off the exit.

The time has come.

"put!!"

Archers and soldiers equipped with throwing weapons unleashed a volley, taking down nearly ten men who were unable to fight any longer. The Red Brotherhood members quickly sought cover, using light crossbows to engage in skirmishes with Grimm's group. Then, led by knights and squires, they charged forward, and after a brief clash of swords, the battle was quickly over.

Only Cent was missing. After interrogating his accomplices, he was found in a dark basement. One of the Pendor infantrymen was killed by Cent with a hidden weapon. Fortunately, the other two knights reacted quickly and repelled Cent in the narrow passage. The two knights and Cent fought for a while in the room before they finally managed to capture him by stabbing him in the abdomen with their swords. The bloody atmosphere in the basement was chilling.

The hollow vessels used to hold blood, the various incomprehensible runes and formations, the corpses of rats, and the ancient black books stained with blood all exuded a putrid and stench.

"You remember me, don't you? The son of a refugee who fled from Balsari village to Port Tulai!! My parents and two brothers died at your hands, and where is my sister?!"

Ali, his eyes bloodshot, walked up and grabbed the collar of Cent, who was barely alive. If it weren't for the possibility of finding out about his sister, he would have killed the man long ago.

"Heh, cough cough... Hahahaha... What are you talking about? I've killed so many people on that road, you should be grateful you didn't die by my hand, hahahaha."

With only half a breath left and not far from death, Cent coughed up blood twice and grinned menacingly.

Ali gritted his teeth and punched Cent in the face with a loud "bang," knocking out one of his back teeth. He continued to beat Cent relentlessly until two Holy Dragon Knights pulled him away.

"Tell me, where did you take all those girls?! Where is my sister?! Don't stop me!!"

Ali gritted his teeth, trying to break free from the two knights' grasp. He hated the man who had ruined his family!

"Calm down! This kind of heretic must be judged by the Holy Dragon Knights!"

"That's right, only in this way can we prevent more tragedies like yours and your family's from happening again!!"

The two knights tried to dissuade him, saying that such a vicious heretic must be given the most severe trial in order to purify his soul; in short, he should not be allowed to die so easily.

"Hahaha, I don't care who your sister is. I only care if she's a young girl in the prime of her life. After all, only the blood of a virgin is the most delicious offering to the great Abyss God, Lord Ereda Oxso!!"

"...I'm going to kill you!!!"

Ali's heart skipped a beat. His hands were terribly cold. Overwhelmed by pain and grief, he unleashed a burst of strength in an instant, forcing even the two knights to use their hands to forcibly pin him to the ground.

"...Hahaha, you can't kill me. If you're interested, maybe you can find your sister among the pile of heads in the next room, hahaha, after all...a young girl's head is the best decoration, hahaha..."

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!"

Ali was pinned to the ground by two hands, his grief and anger reaching their peak. His eyes were bloodshot, and two streams of bloody tears slid down from his bulging eyes, like a wild beast howling in grief and anger.

"Tsk." Green couldn't stand it anymore and barged into the next room.

A fresh scent of blood wafted over them. In front of them was a stone table large enough to lay a whole human body flat. On the stone table were several grooves corresponding to the neck, limbs, and heart, directing all the blood to a low horizontal spout directly below. Below the spout was a black vessel resembling a wine glass that collected the blood, emanating an eerie aura.

On the stone shelves to the left and right are stacks of all sorts of small, exquisite skulls, including some infant skulls. Some skulls are still covered in fresh blood, and strange red symbols are carved on the foreheads of the skulls... they belong to male goats...

The walls were covered with human skins that had been turned into leather, and some disgusting limbs and organs were scattered all over the ground. A large pot filled with green soup was covered with a thick layer of sticky corpse oil.

"Ugh!!"

After merely glancing around, Green quickly emerged from the house, clutching his mouth tightly to prevent himself from vomiting. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and he could almost picture the screams of those severed heads—young women and children...

inhuman!!

The instigator, a man named Cent, laughed eerily and sinisterly, seemingly staring at Green uncontrollably. His pupils turned a terrifying scarlet, his skin turned a bizarre purple and then blue, and the blood vessels under his skin gradually bulged out. His teeth were also gradually elongating, an indescribably strange sight, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"not good!!"

Upon seeing this, the two Holy Dragon Knights were in a panic. They didn't bother to restrain Ali and quickly got up to draw their mithril longswords from their waists to prepare for battle.

“Prophecy…” (The devil’s whisper)

Cent's scarlet eyes seemed to be possessed by some kind of consciousness, scrutinizing Green through Cent's eyes. Ancient language murmured like some kind of spell, and Green was locked in by that gaze, making it extremely difficult for him to even move.

"Drink ah ah ah!!"

Now that he was freed from his restraints, Ali didn't care about anything else. Almost the instant he was freed, Ali snatched a mithril longsword from the knight beside him and stabbed it through Cent's heart, pinning him to the wall.

"Uh... Hehehe..."

Cent looked at the sword stuck in his chest with some surprise, but then uttered a series of strange, inhuman sounds. He gave Green one last meaningful look before hanging his head and dying, leaving behind only a bluish-purple corpse.