Berserk: The Prophet

...A human face? Green had also seen the appearance of the apostle fire dragon that was transformed from Gurenbelud in Grant, and it also had a human face.

...A human face, it's an apostle!!

But the situation before him left Green no time to think further; what followed was a twisted and thick whip of flesh from its enormous maw!

The whip of flesh, carrying a stench and a raging storm, lashed out at Grimm with lightning speed. The mithril arm guards slammed into the sticky flesh, the metal hitting soft flesh with a dull thud. Grimm was thrown to the ground by the enormous impact, rolling several times in the mud before finally coming to a stop.

Jacob roared and swung his sword, the greatsword cutting into the fleshy whip. The sword was embedded more than six inches into the monster's flesh, yet it was as difficult to pull out as if it had been cut into a swamp.

"Waaaaaaah!!"

The monster roared in pain, violently twisting its thick, fleshy whip. Jacob held on tightly, and was thrown away along with his sword.

"Uh..."

Whether it was bad luck or good fortune, Jacob was knocked unconscious by the blow, his helmet fell off, but he ended up hanging on the top of a thick tree, which saved him from falling to his death.

Jacob was knocked unconscious by xx...

The system notification echoed in Green's mind. He knew that if he didn't think of a solution soon, his human infant body would surely perish in the mouth of these disgusting insects!

Dragon Flame...

Just as the monster was about to pounce on Green, a familiar power spread through his limbs and bones.

He remembered that when he was about to emerge from the cocoon beneath the volcano, he had gazed upon some ancient obelisk, on which was engraved... the ancient language of dragons.

Dragon Language Obelisk - Blazing Dragon Flame!

At that critical moment, ancient language rolled out from Green's throat, and even his eyes seemed to blaze with flames and lava.

"I am the flames, the dragon's fire!!" (Dragon language)

[Mental Strength -40, 400/480]

A scorching pillar of fire, like drinking hot soup, rolled out of Green's throat.

The scalding dragon flames surged forth like a torrent, distorting and deforming the air in their wake, and shot directly into the mouth of the monster that wanted to devour Grimm whole.

In an instant, the pillar of fire pierced through the monster's mouth and throat.

"Aaaaaah!!" The monster let out a shrill wail as the flesh whip covered what looked like its throat. However, this still couldn't stop its flesh from rapidly carbonizing in the dragon flames. Even its two pairs of fleshy "tentacles" emitted sizzling white mist!

The horrifying face was twisted into a charred mass of flesh under the intense heat, yet it still stared viciously at Green, its mouth torn to the roots of its ears, revealing sharp, gleaming teeth.

Green's consciousness was burning fiercely, and the power surging out through the Dragon Language Obelisk was like a double-edged sword, scorching his throat and will.

He staggered back a few steps, his nostrils filled with the distinctive burnt smell of his own spiritual energy burning.

"Cough cough..."

Acrid black smoke billowed from Green's mouth and nose, and snot and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. It felt like stuffing his nose and mouth full of cigarette smoke and taking a deep drag.

Even after clearing away the residue floating in the mouth and nose, it is still inevitable to continue coughing and choking caused by respiratory reactions.

However, even as physiological tears streamed down his bloodshot eyes, Green did not dare to relax, staring intently at the insect-shaped apostle.

Until Longyan completely destroyed his physical body... that hideous face and eyeballs were completely reduced to ashes.

In the ever-dancing flames, the demon's body was completely annihilated, and the apostle, which originally resembled a caterpillar, gradually became nothing more than a charred human shell.

...The extinguished flames left only a few wisps of smoke.

Green collapsed to the ground, his throat burning with intense gasps. The air was thick with the scorching heat of charred flesh and lingering dragon flames; the harrowing battle had left him trembling slightly.

Monsters... there are monsters in this world too...

I'd encountered a demon before in Barkley, which was equally terrifying, but nothing quite as chilling...

Ugly and bizarre...

What's even more absurd is that they have human faces; yes, this is that kind of world...

...The same goes for Gurunberudo.

"They are not born monsters, but apostles born from the offering of a part of a person's 'heart'..."

Jiang Yue's words echoed in Green's mind. That memory had almost faded with time, nine years... a full nine years!

This was the first time he had faced an apostle in person as a human!

Looking back on that time in Grant, it still feels like a dream.

"...No one around me understands Swordwind better than me, I am... never mind. Maybe I'm... similar to Griffith? We're the same kind of people, who knows?"

"If Jiang Yue were here too," Green thought, recalling that idle chatter. If he had known he'd end up here after death, he wouldn't have missed watching the whole anime. What a twist of fate!

He only watched the beginning of Apostles and only a part of the Golden Age, because he worked in the cafeteria and had to listen to Jiang Yue tell him about many of the plot points.

Forget it, maybe that guy should be glad he didn't transmigrate here. How could anyone like to stay in a world where demons run rampant and even survival is a problem?

[The insectoid apostle has been defeated, granting 2000 experience points and +100 Soul Points. 20 Soul Points have been refunded to fallen soldiers.]

The battle is over, and the soldiers have awakened.

With the system notification, Green snapped out of his daze, and his breathing gradually calmed down. Thank goodness for the system; as long as he didn't act too recklessly, surviving shouldn't be a big problem.

The corpses of the summoned soldiers and the dead horses all turned into starlight and flowed into Green's body.

...The moment the soul flowed into the body, it felt as if something was overflowing in my chest.

The soldier's memories also surfaced in Green's mind, and the Apostle's... it seemed as if one could vaguely glimpse the four figures in the darkness...

...a dark being with a naked brain.

However, Green soon found himself unable to explore any further, as an invisible resistance and barrier pulled him back from that point.

"Jacob, the battle is over. Let's leave here first." Green forced himself to stand up, his legs feeling weak as if they wouldn't obey him.

He looked at Jacob, who was hanging unconscious on the treetop. Good heavens, is it really that high up in the treetop?

...It looks like it's ten meters high, he should be able to get down by himself, right?

"...Hmm?" Jacob opened his eyes groggily, raised his head, and tried to stand up but unfortunately lost his balance and fell from the treetop.

Jacob was knocked unconscious.

Green: "..." "Sigh." (Sighs while rubbing his forehead)

Forget it, I'll just exchange for some more soldiers from the Soul Shop. Hmm... I still have quite a few Knight Spirits with leaping blue flames in my backpack, I'll exchange them for some Griffin Knights.

[Do you wish to exchange 10 Knight Essences (Good) for 10 Griffin Knights? This requires 1000 Soul Points. Yes/No]

Looking at the transparent gold system panel in front of him, Green clicked the "Yes" button.

Hmm... it seems the team is lacking ranged units, so let's replace them with 10 Silver Mist Rangers.

With a wave of his hand, Green deducted another 1000 Soul Points.

[Soldier redeemed, summon immediately?]

"Summon immediately."

[10 Griffin Knights and 10 Silver Mist Rangers have been summoned, costing a total of 2000 Soul Points. 4 Power points have been gained. Congratulations to the Prophet for his swift unification of Pendor!]

As the system notification sounded, 20 blue beams of light shot out from Grimm's chest, and 10 fully armored knights with griffin patterns and 10 silver-armored rangers carrying eagle-striking bows appeared in front of Grimm.

"Honorable Son of Prophecy, let our swords shine beneath your horse!!" Twenty burly men knelt on one knee before Green in a knightly salute.

"No need for formalities, just call me Your Excellency. Go and retrieve the mithril marbles, and while you're at it, move Lieutenant Jacob to the temporary camp."

"Yes, Your Excellency." The crowd acknowledged the order and dispersed.