Chapter 18 - Berserker

Nobody had expected what had happened to take place.. not even Jett, who had somehow survived Akio's attack, albeit having received lethal injuries. Knowing that he must use his trump card, he pulls something out and places it on his chest, as it glows bright purple.

It appears to be part of the power of The Dark Wizard, which seemingly empowers its user. In Jett's case, however, since he used it in a moment of desperation and he was depleted of magic energy, it didn't work.

In turn, Jett decided to not give up, using the other feature of this item: absorb the magic energy around it. Since it's part of The Dark Wizard's power, it's absorption magic, so there should be no problem with it absorbing and giving out magic energy, and so it does.

Power flows through the soldier, who regenerates, attempting to come towards the berserker. Akio continues his outbreak of destruction, when he notices Jett still standing. As he does have some sense of self left, he still recognizes him as the one who murdered Kurayami, but then, Akio is completely lost.

In his blind rage, Akio raises his hand, charging up a beam that is orders of magnitude greater than his mouth beam. Jett takes notice of this and raises his own hand, seemingly preparing to absorb the attack.

Firing the beam, Akio screams more, reacting angrily to Jett being able to somewhat absorb it, as he empowers his attack. Jett's absorption is not perfect, though, so it is overwhelmed, and even with this enhanced regeneration, the soldier finally falls.

With this, Akio turns to the two deities and Astaroth. Satan notes how Akio's power is growing rapidly, and he is in a state of constant Titanification, though his skeleton is growing at a faster pace than his muscle.. that's bad.

They'll need to beat Akio at any cost. Satan did say that Akio could become as strong as the two deities, but not like this..! God uses all of his magic energy to make pure divine chains to bind Akio, and it works, albeit for a few minutes.

Astaroth is instructed to stand back and await backup, but he is the first to notice two things: one, a barrier has been formed around them for some reason, and two, the magic energy from before is still here, and it is also under constant change.

This is alarming, but he focuses on the task at hand. Meanwhile, Beelzebub and Michael, both being with their teams, say that if the trainees become able to move, they must at no circumstance come close to that magic energy, as the two head out to meet up with Astaroth.

During this time, Akio has broken free of his binds, now charging blindly at Satan and God, who tag team him, noting that they'll somehow need to break the limits imposed on them, but there is no way to do so.

Knowing this, they continue to fight Akio for hours on end, until finally, they are defeated. Astaroth has finally been able to open the barrier partially, for a few seconds, which would be just enough for Michael and Beelzebub to pass through, as the three also head to the scene, where they see the two deities lying on the ground, heavily injured, and Akio rampaging.

Soon after, Akio stops rampaging, though he now starts harming himself. This is taken into account by Michael, who steps into the battlefield in hopes of stopping Akio from causing further harm to himself or everything around him, but he steps back quickly, after the berserker throws a powerful attack at his way.

It was at that point, the three subordinates realized that this changing magic energy is coming closer and closer, when Beelzebub remembered that Kurayami was not with the stronger team during the training session. Could it be..!?

Their fears were confirmed. In front of them stood Kurayami, whose power had increased dramatically during these past few hours, as if something inside her was being unlocked. She knows that she'll stand no chance against the berserker in front of her, but she has no choice.

Kurayami creates a scythe out of magic and charges at Akio, who remains unfazed by her attacks. Even so, she knows that Akio is in a very unstable state, being unable to recognize even the very woman whom he's fighting to avenge.

Her scythe makes contact with his fist, but Akio continues further, breaking the scythe and cutting off Kurayami's right arm. It is indeed a handicap, but Kurayami shan't falter. Just like Akio would never stop moving in order to protect her, she will also do it.

She makes an even stronger scythe with her left hand, as she raises her magic energy to her limit, and she manages to do some damage to Akio, but it's less than what God and Satan did. Nevertheless, Kurayami continues attacking, though Akio adapts to her attack pattern more and more.

In a moment of desperation, Kurayami calls out for Akio, and she gets a minimal reaction out of the berserker, though he swiftly continues to pummel her into the ground. Meanwhile, inside Akio's soul, Roland is seen, having stabbed Akio and pinning him in a wall.

Roland laughs, saying that Akio has left himself for the taking, but the latter's body starts twitching, alarming Roland. In the real world, God and Satan have woken up, demanding that Kurayami fall back. She responds to the request, but instead of going herself, Akio sends her flying through the battlefield.

God tries to heal her wound, but he fails. With this, she leaves her to the care of the three subordinates, as he and Satan go back to fight Akio. They had enough time to charge an ultimate move which should hold him down for long enough until they find a way to revert him back to his original form.

They run around like bait, and Akio falls for the trap, as God and Satan use an ultimate move.

"Ultimate move: Divine Binds!"

Chains appear from the ground and bind Akio tighter than ever, and surprisingly, he is in fact bound, but its obvious that he will soon escape. Meanwhile, his Titanification is continuing to progress, having now pierced through half of his organs and destroyed a few of his veins.

Meanwhile, everyone looks around to see the damage that Akio has caused. He's destroyed the bigger part of Hell and even part of Heaven, something surprising, as the two realms have quite the distance between them.

Disregarding that, they're trying to find a way to revert Akio back, as the clock's ticking and they have not made any progress. Sure enough, as they expected, Akio starts to break free from the binds, and the bones that stuck out of his body were now starting to envelop him, making a truly terrifying monster.

The berserker stands up, and surely enough, he blasts the two deities away, but in a final act of desperation, Kurayami charges at him, knowing that her chances of victory are heavily slim. This timing is perfect, as in his soul, Akio is starting to battle Roland's darkness, awakening a new power within him.

Kurayami's attack fails, and she once again runs around Akio, trying to attack him, and in his soul, Akio himself is starting to show off his new power. Roland is amazed.

"This can't be.."

"This is.. Phoenix Magic!"

Akio laughs, saying that Roland lost his one and only chance at controlling Akio. Now, it's his turn. Even if Akio knows he can't beat Roland as is, he'll simply weaken him, as he starts to regain control of his body.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Kurayami is heavily injured, using up all of her energy for one final charge against Akio. God and Satan watch from a distance, as they are unable to move, when Akio supposedly stabs Kurayami's abdomen, and a bright flash of darkness envelops the two.

When it starts to disappear, Akio is revealed to be there, with his Titanification having somewhat been reverted, as he hugs Kurayami, with his exposed ribcage lightly piercing her. Apparently, Akio has evolved his Fire magic at last, healing all of his lover's wounds, including her missing arm.

Kurayami cries, hugging Akio tightly, as he simply laughs and falls unconscious. God and Satan take him elsewhere, instructing Astaroth, Beelzebub and Michael to stand here and inform the others that are coming here of what has happened.

Astaroth goes to Kurayami, telling her that Akio will be fine, and that she mustn't cry. She must keep her head high, for she must carry the pride of her late father..

Turning to him, Kurayami asks how does she know the identity of his father, as he had been absent for all of her life. Astaroth has a bright and warm smile, saying that they had a close bond.. He then continues babbling about, until finally, he reveals the most important thing that he could have at that moment.

"Your father and I.. are brothers."