In the night when the moon hung low in the sky, there was an abandoned warehouse loomed like a forgotten titan, its once bustling corridors now silent and desolate. Broken windows on its sides stared out like empty eyes, reflecting the coldness of the night.
A vast open space before the warehouse stretched like a void.
The darkness of the night seemed to swallow the front, seeping from every crevice.
Weeds clawed their way through cracks in the concrete, reclaiming the land that had been abandoned by man. Standing in front of this creepy abandoned warehouse, looking inside warily were Azura and Isadora.
After their meeting in the secret canteen, the two of them head to this area.
"Azura, are you ready?" Isadora asked.
Since the two of them went straight here, they haven't gotten the time to change clothes.
But even then, Isadora looked ready with her black leather jacket and pants.
In her hand was a machete with its blade glistening under the embrace of the moonlight.
Knowing that it would be easier to kill with modern weapons, Azura asked why she decided to go with a machete. He initially assumed that she didn't want to make a loud sound in the night such as this, but that assumption was thrown away.
Since the warehouse is quite desolate and nears train tracks, a gunshot sound is nothing.
Nobody would come even if Isadora emptied her clip recklessly.
Consistently, with barely a pause between each occurrence was the low rumbling sound of a train which further confuses Azura about her weapon of choice. But it soon became evident that the machete was not selected randomly, there was a deliberate motive behind it.
A reason why she decided to wield it.
Isadora told him earlier that modern firearms would be useless against a Hybrid for her.
Unlike the conventional bladed weapon, it required more focus to enhance a bullet flying at extreme speed with mana. It was way easier to infuse mana into bladed weapons thus she chose the machete.
"Can we do this another time...?" Azura asked, putting on a wry smile on his face.
Listening to this made Isadora roll her eyes.
"Why are you being scared for?" She asked, hugging his arm tightly and pulling him towards the warehouse. "Our mission today is only an F-grade berserker. You are stronger than me, you even killed Brad and Zack, this should be nothing for you"
Eventually, the two reached the mouth of the warehouse and stopped.
"Killing is still something for me, I'm not some sort of serial killer you know," Azura retorted.
He did kill two people yesterday, but that was out of self-defense.
Compared to the one he was about to do right now, it was a completely different thing.
'Not some sort of serial killer...? Despite your boasting that you have not killed people before, you seem to be an expert in killing Zack. Anyone who hasn't killed someone would not have the balls to rip someone's throat like you did' Isadora commented inwardly.
She saw directly how Azura killed Brad and Zack, and it was as if he was a natural.
For someone to do that, they must've imagined killing before.
Azura doesn't seem to be that type, but then again, she couldn't judge him by his cover.
As far as she's concerned, he might be a lunatic hiding inside a facade of innocence.
Pivoting to face Azura, she put both of her hands on her waist and tilted her head, "Listen to me, berserkers are not Humans anymore. Since they tried to choose a higher-grade avatar than their legacy one without proper preparation, the avatar took over their mind and body,"
"You only need to look at a Berserker one time and you'll understand," She added firmly.
Upon hearing this, Azura remained silent in contemplation.
But seeing that he was still hesitating, Isadora persuaded, "Do you really want to stop here?"
"I mean, this mission will give us $3,000 you know, so it would be a shame if I hog all of it for myself, right?" She added, knowing exactly what to press. From their brief conversations, it was quite obvious that money was an important thing in Azura's mind.
So naturally, luring him with money is the best way to go.
Just as she anticipated, Azura's eyes lit up at the sound of $3,000 as he really needed it.
A flash of determination immediately crossed his eyes.
"Fine, this time, I'll let you take the entire reward for this mission. Will you help me now?"
"Yes, ma'am! Point the direction, and I'll kill anything in sight!"
Chuckling sweetly at Azura's reply, she shook her head as he was quite a simple man.
However, the two were startled by a loud clanging sound echoing from within the abandoned warehouse. Exchanging a nod, Azura and Isadora readied their weapons firmly in their hands and cautiously stepped inside.
Unlike Isadora, Azura has a combat knife in his hand.
It was the only weapon Isadora had aside from the machete she brought for herself.
Since Isadora thought that Azura wouldn't need a weapon with how he could turn his arm into a weapon, she didn't think that she would need to bring him one. Due to that, Azura would only make do with a combat knife.
Going through the crack in the gate, the two opened their eyes in search of the Berserker.
Azura scanned his eyes around.
As he cautiously navigated the dim interior of the warehouse, he could see all kinds of heavy machinery from the warehouse's operational days scattered in pieces. It was as if someone took their time and dismantled these machines.
Due to the darkness that obscured his vision, it was hard to discern details.
But as he was carefully leading at the front, a notice appeared.
[A Quest has been issued!]
———
Quest: Take down the Berserker
Description: Kill the Berserker that loomed in the area to complete the mission from Isadora.
Eliminate the Berserker: 0/1
Rewards: 500 adaptation points and Nocturnal Sight talent
———
Just like when he was attacked by Zack and Brad last night, the System issued a quest.
However, instead of gaining bonus stats, he would gain talent instead.
It was quite explanatory, Azura could tell what the talent does judging from its name alone.
"Go right, I think I heard something from the right," Isadora whispered lightly.
Upon hearing this, Azura nodded and turned to the right. He traverses the narrow corridor in between two big machines until he reaches the end. There, an open space awaited him, but his gaze instinctively rose upward.
Standing on a mezzanine was a person seemingly eating something.
Pointing at this unknown man, Azura turned to Isadora, seeking confirmation from her.
In response, Isadora nodded her head, "Yes, that's the Berserker"
"Hmm...? I thought you said that a Berserker couldn't be considered a human but t- holy shit!"
Before Azura could finish his sentence, he was shocked at what he was seeing.
Grrr...
Sensing that someone was watching him, the Berserker turned around and faced both Azura and Isadora. He was chewing on something, but the crimson stain smeared on his lower jaw, and also a grotesque sight of a corpse near him was enough to tell what he was chewing on.
Additionally, Isadora was certainly right about what she said earlier.
Nothing about this man was human except for the fact that his form was still human.
One stark feature that the Berserker had that instantly gave it away was the veins across his entire body were bulging and were colored black, an unnatural color for human veins. Azura could also see that his eyes were glowing yellow.
"Luring a Berserker requires mana," Isadora explained from the side.
Upon hearing this, Azura looked at her weirdly, "Mana? That's a fucking corpse right there!"
"A Berserker or a Hybrid corpse, that is what the association usually uses to lure a Berserker" Isadora corrected. Mana is the only thing inside a Berserker's mind, and if it couldn't put its hands on mana, then regular people would be the target.
But Berserkers put priority on gaining mana instead of normal people.
Due to that, the occurrence where a Berserker attacks normal people is very rare.
Even then, there's always an exception to everything.
"Outstanding!" Azura commented in disbelief.
He couldn't believe that this kind of thing hadn't gone public yet, he marveled at the Hybrids in positions of authority for maintaining such secrecy all this time. With a subdued growl, the Berserker leaped from the mezzanine, landing squarely before them.
Crack!
Startled by the cracking sound, Azura looked down before he gasped in shock.
Despite the Berserker appearing to be in his thirties, his sheer force could shatter the ground beneath him as though he weighed five hundred pounds. It was impeccable, Azura couldn't fathom how such a powerful entity could be classified as an F-grade Berserker.
If it was up to him, this should definitely be above the F-grade at least.
However, in the next second, his eyes widened in realization.
Wait a damn minute. If this thing is an F-grade, then how strong are the higher-grade ones?
Observing the palpable shock written clearly on Azura's face, Isadora whispered from behind—preparing herself to fight, "Berserkers can feel no pain, so it uses more force than it should use without repercussions. Because of that, it seemed stronger than a normal F-grade"
"Get ready, you face it head-on, I'll sneak in attacks," Isadora continues.
Upon hearing this, Azura clenched his teeth, "Face it head-on?! Are you fucking cra- Waahh!"