The market within the oni settlement was as busy as ever.
Most if not all onis were here during this time of the day to work and meet up with their friends.
Erisha followed behind Sharktear without saying a word.
She hung her head low and stared at the ground with an empty face while walking closly behind him.
This made Sharktear and the onis around them uneasy since she was radiating such a gloomy and depressive energy.
With each seacond that passed Sharktear's unease grew, until finally he broke the silance.
"So, what kind of a disguise do you want?"
Erisha remained quiet for a moment.
"Any will do as long as it serves its purpose well."
The oni sighed and threw his hands in the air.
"Come on girl! There is a reason Kazamir chose us!"
Erisha looked up and met the red onis eyes.
"What would that be, oni?"
Sharktear smiled wildly, showing off his white teeth and tusks.
"Its cause we are the best!"
His voice was full of confidance.
Erisha however looked at him with doubt on her face.
Even now she could not understand why Dawn would pick these barbaric people to construct such a delicate thing as a disguise that could potentially hide her from the eyes of the empier.
"Come on, don't be shy! Ask why we are the best!"
Erisha was getting annoyed at Sharktear's condescending tone, but she was willing to give him a chance.
"Why are you the best then?"
Sharktear then stopped and turned around.
He then bent over to meet the elfs eye level.
"Because everything we do, we do it with passion!"
Erisha raised an eyebrow at hearing this.
"With passion? Are you suggesting that no other being can be passionate about their work?"
Sharktear simply snickered as he turned around and continued to walk forward.
"We are a strange kind of race. You see to advance in our sociaity, an individual must develop passion for things other then fighting."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You'll see soon enough."
He then took a sharp left turn, towards a seemingly ordinary house.
He slided the front door open and the two went inside.
"What are we doing here?" Erisha asked
In front of them was nothing more then a plain and empty room.
Sharktear smiled and pulled out a knife.
He then cut his hand and allowed the blood to spill on to the floor.
Then suddenly the whole room begsn to glow in red.
"What th-"
In the matter of seaconds the scene before her dark eyes changed to that of an immensly large workshop.
Instinctivly Erisha drew her sword and prepeared for an ambush.
"Where are we!?" She demanded to know
Sharktear turned back and faced her.
"The place your new identity will be made!" He shouted with clear pride in his voice as he threw his arms in the air like an artist showing off their grand work.
Erisha took a moment to look around and observed her surroundings.
The facility was highly equiped with several machines, magic crystals the sizes of several people and staff that worked tirelessly.
The onis here wore white robes and safety goggles to protect their eyes.
They conducted strange experiments and reserch.
Just from a glance Erisha could not decipher their purpose.
They looked at Erisha and Sharktear with surprise.
"Sharktear! You misirable pile of dog shit!"
The voice of a man rang throughout the chamber.
An oni in white robes stepped away from a glowing magic crystals and headed towards the unexpected guests.
He was shorter then Sharktear, but larger then Erisha, he was about the same hight as Dawn.
The oni had long white hair that was tied in to a pony tail.
He stormed his way to Sharktear and stood in his face.
"What the hell are you doing here!? I thought I told you, you are banned!"
"I know, I know, but I was sent here by the matriarch." Sharktear answeared with an arrogant tone.
For a moment the angry onis face shook, but it was quickly steeled.
"Bullshit, there is no way that the matriarch has given you another mission after the shit that you pulled a while ago!"
Sharktear simply shrugged, then reached for a sachel attached to his waist.
He then opened it and pulled out a scroll.
With a smug look on his face he reached it out for the other oni who looked at him with great confusion.
He then tore it away from Sharktear's hand and opened it.
Putting on another pair of glasses he read the scrolls contents and with each letter he read the dark clouds on his face quickly faded.
He then looked up with pure joy on his face.
He then dashed towards Erisha who was alarmed by his speed.
To her surprise the oni grabbed both of her hands and invaded her personal aura.
"You are a companion of the berserker that fought the matriarch!?"
Erisha bewildered by his reaction did not answear his question.
Instead she glared at him as a response.
The oni quickly realised his mistake and stepped away from the elf while coughing a little.
"Sorry about that. I can get excited very quickly."
But in the next moment the oni was wrapped around by dark tendrils that shot out of the ground.
Erisha then held her blade against the onis neck.
"Do that again and your head will roll!"
Seeing Erisha's outburst the onis around them grew anxious.
Even Sharktear was a little bit nervous.
"Understood." Said the oni with a calm tone
With a sharp gaze Erisha released the oni and sheated her sword.
The onis sighed in relif.
Then suddenly the oni with the long ponytail turned towards the rest.
"Who told you that you can stop working! Get back to it this instant!"
The sound of the onis reluctantly resumeing their work filled the room.
Some even cursed at their boss that this is how he thanks their concern for his safety.
The oni then turned back to Erisha.
"Come inside. We can get started right away."
He then turned around and began to walk away.
Erisha and Sharktear followed closely after.
The sound of furniture breaking and the pained grunts and shouts of men filled the air.
Every men and women stopped in front of the adventurer's guild due to the loud sounds of an intense fight.
They looked on with shock and anticipation.
Some of the adventurers were sent flying through the closed windows and brick walls causing several holes to appear on the building.
Through these holes alone the outsiders could watch the fight happening inside.
The sight was truely unbelivable.
They saw a gaint of a man with grey hair and deep dark eyes fending off an angry mob of adventurers.
Some charged at him with weapons, but he broke them with his bare hands.
Some tried using mana and their various matrial arts, but that too proved to be ineffective infront of his overwhelming streanght.
This was mostly due to the small space they were confined in.
The man's long arms allowed him to keep a moderet distance while dishing out heavy blows to any who dared come close to him.
After half an hour of intense fighting the last adventurer fell unconcious by Dawn's fist.
His clothes that were brand new were torn and ragged.
His breathing was steady and not a single drop of sweat was present on his face.
He then tried to somewhat straighten his clothes and turn to leave when a hand caught his ankle.
Dawn looked back and saw the same blonde woman who first recognised him.
"Give.. them... back..."
Her voice was weak and was filled with sorrow.
Tears began to trail down her cheecks as she weakly punched Dawn's leg.
Dawn's expression turned grim at the sight.
"I was not the one who took your husband. I thought that even with your limited brain you would understand that."
Dawn then forcefully yanked his leg away from the womans grhasp.
"If *sob* you've done your fucking job!"
Hearing this Dawn stopped in his tracks.
He then furiously turned around and walked up to the woman who layed on the wooden floor.
He then crouched down and grabbed her by her hair and lifted her head up.
The woman grunted in pain and faced Dawn with a defiant look.
But this had no effect on him.
He felt neither pity or sadness for her.
"I am not the reason he died, but I am responsible for all of your survival! You feel contempt for me like the rest and ignore the good I did!"
But it was as if he was talking to a wall.
Her face did not change and she even spit on his.
In response Dawn smashed the woman's face in to the wooden floor with enough force that a small hole was made with her head.
He then stood up, wiped the spit off of his face and turned to walk away.
"You can be at ease. I will no longer show my face here. You people are not worthy of my protection and you never were."
With these words of goodby Dawn walked outside.
What met him was a squad of guards and a large crowd of civilians who came here to see what was going on.
The leader of the guard squad was none other then Bertram who walked up to Dawn.
He then tilted his body to see inside the guild building.
He saw the destruction and the beaten, but still breathing adventurers inside.
He then looked back at Dawn with a stern face.
"Remember what I said a few days ago?"
"I do."
"Then you know what I have to do now, right?"
"You do not want this battle."
Bertram smiled and let out a loud laugh that echoed throughout the fortress.
"You don't know how long I have been wanting this fight!"
With a snap of his fingers the guards behind him readied their spears and bows.
Dawn noticed that each one was well crafted and that their armor was much more sturdy and decorated then ordinary guards.
"You prepeared a squad to fight me?"
Bertram nodded with a sly smile.
"I know you and how you fight. I know how you think. I knew a day like this would come. When despite your oath you will find a loophole and cause chaos in Geiza."
He then put his hand on his sheated dagger and unlocked its sheeth.
"Arthur Kazamir! By my authority as seacond in command of the Guards of Geiza you are under arrest!"
"Bertram...."
Dawn hung his head down.
Unlike his regular self his face displayed emotion which even surprised Bertram.
"Of all of them. Of all of the people who lost their loved ones on that day. You are the only one that has the right for revenge."
Bertram's eyes widened and his mouth slightly opened.
Dawn then raised his head and locked eyes with him.
His face was regretful with not an ounce of mockery.
"If this happened just a few days ago I would have given you the satesfaction of having revange on me, but now I have a goal."
As he talked Bertram noticed something strange in the corner of his eye.
He looked down at Dawn's hand which previously had a cut on it.
But that cut was nowhere to be seen.
Immidietly after in the fraction of a seacond Bertram pulled out his combat knife and dashed towards Dawn.
Once in range Bertram stabbed the dagger inside Dawn's neck.
The knife burried itself in to his muscular neck and severed several of his arteries.
Blood began to gush out of the wound, much to the dismay of the civillians.
Several of them even screamed from the shock of witnessing such a brutal sight.
Then suddenly Bertram's hand was grabbed by Dawn.
Slowly he forced Bertram's knife out of his neck.
Bertram tried to struggle to keep the knife in the wound, but no matter how much streanght and weight he put on it Dawn overpowered him with a single hand.
"You motherfu-! You were a berserker!?"
Hearing Bertram's words the surrounding civillians and even the guards behind him froze.
Not a single soul moved out of the people that were watching the event unfold.
Even those who were up high on the fortresses walls froze.
Everyone saw how Dawn did not die from such a severe wound on his neck and they also witnessed his wounds closing almost instantly.
If they witnessed an oni or an orc survive and heal from it they wouldn't even have bat an eye, but a human?
One that did not use mana or holy magic?
It put the fear of god inside them.
This was the dread the title of berserker had.
The only being who was moving was Bertram.
He too could only do so because he was so blinded by rage that he did not care.
In desperation Bertram punched Dawn in the face, but the blow did not even make him flinch.
"Damn it!"
For years he has been prepearing.
He has been analysing and watching him from afar.
He only suspected that he was a descendent of a barbarian which would explain his monstorus streanght and hight.
In his frustration Bertram tried to punch him again, but Dawn caught his fist and twisted both of his hands.
Bertram grunted in pain as he dropped his knife while Dawn forced him to his knees.
He then burried his knee in to his face, sending him flying towards the other guards.
The squad was made up of 9 guards excluding Bertram.
3 up front with short swords and shields, 3 in the middle with long spears entierly made of iron and the last 3 wielded crossbows for long ranged support.
Bertram was caught by one of the guards at the front who dropped his shield and sword to safely catch him.
"Thanks Talos. I owe you one." Said Bertram as he stood up.
His nose was broken and blood dripped down to his mouth and chin.
"Attack! Formation 4!"
With that the remaining 2 guards with shields rushed forward.
They ran in opposite directions from one another and closed in on Dawn from right and left.
They both reached Dawn at the same time and swung their sword at his neck.
Dawn caught both of their blades with his hands without much issue.
Then suddenly a bolt shot towards his face.
He moved his head allowing the bolt to miss him, but once he did another 2 appeared and shot him right in the head and chest.
At the same time the two guards beside him smashed their shields in to his chest and stomach.
The blows made Dawn realease their swords as he stepped back.
However before he could get too far away the 2 guards with shields stepped back and allowed the 3 spearmen to rush forward with their spears ready.
Dawn growled as he pulled out the bolt embedded in to his skull and chest.
He then rushed towards the guards.
The 3 spearmen thrusted their spears at the same time, but what they did not expect was for Dawn to not put up any defense at all and just let himself be impaled.
Even more surprising was the fact that Dawn did not stop and continued his advance even with the iron spears inside of him.
He then delivered a massive punch to the closest guard, sending the poor soul flying towards the marksmen.
Dawn then turned to the other two who in response tried to pull their spears out of him, but the spears did not even budge.
Looking more closly they realised that Dawn was flexing his muscles to keep the weapons in place.
As shock set in Dawn gripped the spear of the guard on his right and smashed his face in with the back of his hand, making him lose consciousness while blood flowed from his dislocated jaw.
The other let go of his weapon and fell back while the guards with the shields rushed at him once again.
This time Dawn pulled out one of the iron spears from his guts and held it with two hands over his head.
He then swung it like a bat at the charging guards.
A loud bang could be heard as the iron spear's handle collided with one of the shields.
Immidietly both the shield and spear deformed and the guards arm broke in to pieces, with bone sticking out of it.
He screamed in agony and fell to to ground while holding his now broken arm.
The other guard however did not stop and continued his advance.
They collided with the guard smashing his shield in to Dawn with the full weight and momentum of his body.
But fear took over the guard shortly after.
His charge did nothing to the berserker as it did not even make him move an inch.
It was like colliding with a giant boulder.
The shaking guard looked up to see Dawn's bloody yet stoic face.
And in the next moment his jaw and the teeth inside his mouth were broken as Dawn delivered an uppercut to the guard.
As the guard was flung away a shadow appeared under it.
Without giving him time Bertram appeared beside him and with 2 quick and precise strikes severed both of his achilley tendons.
Dawn fell to his knees and in the next moment a knife slid in to the side of his head.
Bertram then grabbed both the back of his head and his knife tightly.
He then began to repedeatly kick dawn in the face with his knee.
Blood splattered everywhere as each kick was stronger then the last.
The sounds of flesh tearing and bone breaking filled the air until Bertram began to slow down.
The onlookers could only watch the horrofying scene unfold before them.
Many began to whisper among themselfs with several thinking that the fight was finally over.
Then Bertram let go of Dawn and stepped back a few steps.
Then to the horror of the citizens Dawn began to rise even with his broken and bloody face.
Before their very eyes the wounds that he recived began to heal and he even reached for the knife that was still inside his head.
He then yanked it out without much trouble.
Blood and brainmatter spilled out almost immidietly, but soon that too was healed.
After half a minute Dawn's face was compleatly healed.
Bertram breathed heavily as sweat drooled down from his face.
He then fell back.
His face was grim and dark.
He then pulled up the pants on his right leg that he used to pound Dawn's face.
Much to the horror of the citizens Bertrams knee was utterly destroyed with bone and meat sticking out of it.
If left untreated he would never walk again.
The 3 remaining guards and readied their crossbows and shields and only awaited Bertram's order.
"Stand down." He ordered
They looked at eachother for a seacond, but with great reluctance they did as he ordered.
Bertram then looked up.
Dawn was standing over him with his regular stoic face.
A single spear was still in his stomach while all of his clothes that remained on him were bloodied and torn.
By all means he should be dead, but he is standing right on his feet.
"You berserkers are fucking monsters you know that right? I could feel it. My knee broke the first time I bashed it against your face."
Dawn stayed silant for a moment.
His mind thought back to his long journey to the Dark Woods.
He faced discrimination and hate everywhere he went.
They did not know him and yet when his true identity was revealed he was chased away.
"A monster that protects."
Bertram raised an eyebrow.
"A monster not by choice, but by necessity."
Dawn then looked up to the snowy cloud in the sky.
"I was alive during the war. I fought against the darkness with my brothers and sisters. During those grim times we were reveird as protectors and the vanguard of the military. We were an unstoppable, an undying tide of death and gore that killed in the name of humanity."
He then looked at the people that were watching him.
His face then distorted and with a sudden movement pulled out the spear that was still inside of him.
He then pointed it at the citizens much to their and the guards's shock.
"We fought and died for you! But one mistake that was made by our leader made us abominations in your eyes! You judge us and look down on us! That is the reward we were given for laying down our lives for you!"
Dawn's eyes were filled with hatered and spite for his fellow humans.
For a single moment he even thought about giving in.
To let them meet the monster they belive he is.
But nonetheless Dawn lowered his weapon.
He then threw it to the ground.
"I should kill all of you. I should give you the death you deserve!"
Fear began to seepe its way in to the onlookers hearts.
If he decided he could surely kill them all.
Their only hope would be the guildmaster and the guard commander who transended humanity like the berserker before them.
"But I am better then that and you are not worthy enough for me to kill you.
Dawn then kneeled down infront of Bertram.
He then placed his hand on his wound.
And in an instant bright red light engulfed the wound and before their very eyes it healed.
It was like nothing has happened to it.
Inface for some reason he could feel that it was stronger then before.
Bertram looked at Dawn with a shocked face.
He then noticed that his nose was not broken anymore.
Dawn did not bet an eye and simply stood up.
"You can bring your men and the adventurers to the church for healing. Their wounds are not life threatening."
He then turned to leave.
As he walked the people who stood in his way opened up a path for him.
Dawn walked out of the fortress and on to the snowy streets.
None stood in his way and all who saw him only stood in silance.
As he walked he chose to take the same street he did before.
The same children were playing, but this time their parents quickly grabbed them and dragged them out of his way.
As he walked he hung his head low.
He saw the terrified look on the childrens faces.
Until suddenly one of the children shook of his mothers hands and ran towards Dawn.
He then hugged the leg of the giant man.
This even shocked Dawn who turned his head at incredible speeds.
His eyes widened to see the same child that bumped in to him now embracing his leg.
The child looked up at him with an innocent smile.
A long forgotten feeling awakened inside Dawn.
One that was warm and cozy like being near the fireplace after a working in the snow all day.
"ALDO!"
A woman's voice snapped Dawn out of his dream.
He then looked up to see the boys mother standing in the middle of the street.
She was 5 meters away from them and her body did not allow her to go closer to Dawn.
Dawn recognised that face on her.
Fear.
With a deep sigh Dawn grabbed the childs arms and gently removed them from his leg.
He then couched down and patted the boys head.
"Always listen to your parents, young one. For they only wish to keep you safe, unterstood?"
The boy nodded.
"Good, now go back to your mother and never leave her side without permisson."
The child then ran back to his mother who picked him up and rushed off to their home.
With a rare smile Dawn turned around and began to make his way back to the oni settlement.