Path of the Berserker

I CYCLED MY Frenzy as I subtly engaged [Mark of the Demon].

I grunted beneath my bull mask, the horns growing into place, again feeling like my head was in a vice. I endured the discomfort until it finally subsided, shifted completely into my demonic form without anyone in the court being the wiser.

Or so I hoped, at least.

Across the distance, Master Lo Feng was preparing for the battle himself, brandishing his twelve-foot-long halberd and igniting it with flames. The magistrate and Warden had already set the rules of engagement for the duel and we both had agreed.

There would be no yielding for this match.

Victory or death was the only outcome.

And that was just fine with me.

Fia was now seated with her parents in the defendant’s box, staring at me with a measure of fear in her heart. I couldn’t blame her. From her perspective the [Odds were Against Me] and my Flame was already spewing fresh Frenzy from the technique.

I’d defeated both Hong Feng and Hin Wu, but with the full use of my Berserker Forms. Now I had the use of only one, perhaps two if I kept the other form low key. But beyond that there was the unknown of Lo Feng himself. Hin Wu was the closest cultivator I could use as a reference to him, and it had taken both Fia and I, plus my full demon form to defeat her.

The upping of the stakes caused the Frenzy from my Flame to grow and I cultivated it quickly to flush my body full of vigor as well as maintain the multiple techniques already pumping through my system: [Steel Skin], [Steel Core], [Mark of the Demon], and [Soul Shield].

It would be a heck of a lot to maintain and all while trying to figure out Lo Feng’s technique and fighting style. All told, this was shaping up to be a fight like none other, but I had my ace in the hole as well.

I glanced to the sidelines and raised my axe to Kelsey, who gave me a subtle thumbs-up in response. I was only able to slip a couple of words to her in English while the duel was being set up, but what I told her had clearly gotten the message across.

“Need you like at the bunker for this guy,” I’d whispered to her. “Will your Flame to find mine.”

Even now I could sense her furnace of Frenzy roaring and at the ready.

And having seen what Lo Feng did to Fia’s mother, I had to be ready for anything.

I went through a quick set of martial forms as a warmup, using my patented Axe and Glaive technique. Across the distance from me, Lo Feng let out a scoffing laugh.

“I’ve never seen such an absurd combination of weapons,” he said. “How you managed to defeat Hin Wu and Hong Feng with them is beyond me.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll see for yourself in a minute.”

Lo Feng smirked. “You’re some kind of cheat or fraud, Iron Bull, but none of that will save you today. Today you’ll pay for the crimes against my sect. Robbing me of my victory against the Dong family included.”

He grimaced at me loathingly, anger building in his soul.

I released a sigh and casually hefted my Glaive onto my shoulder.

“Look, old man,” I said with a combination of [Indifference] and [Struggler’s Resolve]. “I really hate to tell you this, but the enthusiasm for this fight is less than mutual, understand?” Lo Feng’s eyes grew wide with disbelief and indignation. “To tell you the truth, I honestly couldn’t give a shit about your clan or the people I killed in it. The only thing you are to me is a means to an end. Always were, always will be. You’re just a bump in the road that I’m itching to get past so I can execute the next part of my plan. You’re as insignificant as a checkbox, my friend.”

Lo Feng’s soul exploded with rage as I performed the veritable mic-drop.

I truly hadn’t said it as a means to extract more Frenzy from him—this fight was indeed nothing more than just a roadblock to me—but I wasn’t going to let the free Frenzy go to waste either.

I cultivated it quickly as the High Magistrate finally took her place center stage at the top of the dais with the Warden seated by her side. She banged her gavel until everyone within the court was silent.

“Honorable witnesses and attendees,” she said. “I will now preside over this duel of contest for leadership of the Jurin Province Fire Bird Sect. Master Lo Feng. Master Iron Bull. Are you both prepared?”

Lo Feng gave a nod and then I did the same.

“Then commence!”

She banged her gavel and I immediately broke into a dash, trying to close the distance to Lo Feng before he could retreat and hit me with a ranged technique. My instincts proved right as he did just that, leaping into the air and filling the arena with several torrents of flames.

“I’ll show you just how insignificant I am!” he screamed. “[Vortex of the Nine Hells]!”

It was the same move Hin Wu had used to nearly kill me with when we first met, only Lo Feng had created four of them. The towering pillars of flames moved through the arena like tornadoes and I leapt desperately to the side to keep from being sucked into any of them.

As soon as I did a huge fireball smacked me right in the face.

“Argh!!”

The impact was intense, and I went flying backwards with the momentum as my flesh was singed even through my [Demon]-enhanced [Steel Skin] technique. It was a testament to just how strong Lo Feng was and for a stray second, I wondered if it had been a good idea to piss him off.

The answer came in the form of Lo Feng’s fiery halberd cutting through what was left of the fireball and deep into my skin. I cried out with shock and pain, not expecting the old bastard to be so aggressive or fast. It was a strike to my chest, but my combined [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core] technique kept it to what amounted to a mere flesh wound.

Still, his power to break through all those defenses, was immense.

“Not so smug now, eh?” Lo Feng chided as he flew into a fiery whirlwind, both literally and figuratively as he performed martial techniques so quickly, I could barely see them. I paid the price of another slash to my leg before he grabbed me by the throat and pushed me straight into one of the swirling vortexes of fire.

White-hot pain exploded in my mind as my flesh burned.

I kicked and screamed in pure reaction, finally sensing the shift in power that was a Soul Realm cultivator. I cycled my Frenzy into [Steel Lightning] and finally got a bit of reprieve as my ablative technique fought against the tremendous power of his Qi.

My Dantian began the drain, trying to keep up with constant damage.

Holy shit, I thought. His Qi was more powerful than I even imagined.

He was going to cook me alive unless I did something!

I could hear him cackling over the roar of the Flames.

“Too weak! Just as I thought! A fraud you are, bull man. A fraud!”

I clenched my teeth in anger and pain.

The presumptuous bastard.

He had no idea what I was!

I screamed in sheer retaliation and indignation, reaching for the core of my Dao.

I would not fall today!

“I’m through with you egotistical shits underestimating me!” I cried. “[Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls]!”

The explosion of [Frenzied Lightning] went off like an atom bomb, shattering the vortex and sending Lo Feng bouncing across the battlefield. I used the quick reprieve to recover, channeling my Frenzy into healing my flesh and reinstating my [Steel Skin].

Lo Feng was already on his feet, leering at me from afar. “So you have some power it seems. But I know you possess no skill.” He went through a quick set of forms with his glaive. “Come, let me embarrass you with that ridiculous double weapon technique of yours.”

The battle had just reset, but I needed to dig deep if I wanted to stand a chance.

Beating Lo Feng meant everything.

To my future with Fia.

To the future of my clan.

I needed to win at all costs!

“Come at me!” I shouted with [Struggler’s Resolve]. “I’ll show yo—!”

He flew at me with a speed unimaginable, covering the distance between us in the blink of an eye. Blazing steel flashed as he struck me hard across the chest with his halberd. I coughed blood, but then tapped into my pain and rage to fight back. I engaged the swiftness of my axe techniques, chopping and slicing as he did the same.

Sparks and fire flew.

I finally managed to parry his halberd and then immediately wound up for a huge strike with my Phalanx Glaive. He shifted to avoid it just like I had planned, and I hopped in the opposite direction to tag him with a [Lightning]-charged cleave from my axe.

It felt like I was striking iron, but I elicited a shout of surprise from him as the axe cut through his robes. He spun with his halberd and I ducked under it, feeling like I was back with Iron Pot Wong and the countless hours I’d spent learning how to predict glaive techniques.

Lo Feng looked irritated that I had avoided the hit.

“You are nothing but lucky!” he shouted. “Your meaningless existence ends today!”

He flew back at me with a fervor as we reengaged.

Desperate minutes went by as we locked into the high-speed chess match of pure martial skill. I fueled my attacks with Frenzy to bolster their speed and strength as I parried, countered and blocked, all while Lo Feng did the same. The clashing of our weapons became a cacophony of ringing steel, sparks and flames.

I lost myself in the mechanics of it, feeling like I’d just had another breakthrough in my martial skill. All the months of sparring with Fia and Venja had committed the highspeed chess match to pure muscle memory. But I wasn’t perfect. I took hits from his glaive, using [Indifference] to hide the pain.

“You should give up while you’re ahead, bull man!” he spat, catching me with a swift counter. “Your fate is inevitable no matter how much you try.”

Ignoring him, I pushed straight through, not giving a shit about getting hit anymore.

I was bleeding like a sieve, my skin scorched.

But with each hit came an education.

A small glimpse into his technique and style.

And I paid for my knowledge in blood.

Knowledge I would soon use against him.

My body began to weaken as the minutes wore on, but I began to learn his attack patterns, deciphering them like a hidden code. My confidence grew as I began to fight back, my thoughts of all I’d accomplished shining through.

I’d killed a god on the moon with nothing but my technique and skill.

Surely Lo Feng paled compared to that.

I began to read Lo Feng’s techniques two or three moves ahead, catching him with slow follow-ups of my glaive. I sensed something new come from within him.

Anger and the tiniest bit of fear.

He started upping the ante with Qi techniques, shooting torrents of flames between his forms. I dodged them as best I could, enduring the burn when I failed. I then retaliated with a [Lightning Arc Strikes], connecting with my axe.

He screamed as bolts of blue light coursed through him, and I wasted no time following up with a quick axe strike. It was like striking steel again, but the sudden pain I sensed from within him let me know I was finally getting through.

“Enough!” Lo Feng cried and suddenly backflipped to disengage. He then surged back at me again, but with a Qi-infused technique instead.

“[Blade of a Thousand Fiery Spears]!”

As he annunciated the technique, his halberd became a blur of violence, a thousand stab motions coming at me at once. No way was I dodging that! I stood firm with [Indifference] and [Steel Lightning] instead. Sparks of lightning flew with each hit and I pushed through the pain that came with each one as his fiery weapon pierced my skin. With divine poise I wound up for my counterattack, putting [My Turn] and [Struggler’s Resolve] in a double-weaponed [Three Log Chop]!

I screamed with retaliation as I brought my axe and glaive down upon Lo Feng’s unsuspecting form and I broke his technique mid-attack, cleaving into his chest and drawing blood. He cried out with a mixture of shock and pain and went flying backwards with the force of my double strike.

I wasted no time following up, engaging [Mark of the Beast] in the chaos.

Charging my weapons with [Lightning], I went to town on him with a quick series of martial forms, putting all my strength into each blow. Blood and fire flew as I got Lo Feng on the backfoot, surging forward with a speed he didn’t anticipate by employing my [Beast] form.

“How’s that for an absurd weapon combo, you dumbass?!” I screamed as I continued to dominate the exchange. Blood rained from the sky as I whittled him down, breaking through all his defenses. It was clear he hadn’t received a beating like this in an eon and the fear leaking from his soul confirmed it. Then suddenly his entire body burst into flames and an explosion went off, rocking me backwards. I went tumbling across the arena, flipping to my feet just in time to see Lo Feng dragging himself from the floor.

“Insolent cur,” he muttered. “That’s no natural strength that you have.”

His eyes began to glow, and I wondered for a second if he could sense my [Demon] form.

But then I began to sense something else as well.

Dark Frenzy…

Holy shit, I thought. He was pulling out all the stops and in front of an audience as well.

I bolstered my Flame with [Soul Shield] and it immediately began to glow.

Lo Feng lifted his halberd to the sky and then shouted with a voice like thunder.

“[Fire Chamber of My Soul]!”

The whirling tornadoes in the arena suddenly centered on him, engulfing him in his own attack. They grew in size and faintly behind the flames I could see the figure of his form growing in size. Then suddenly the column of flames exploded outwards, expanding at a speed unimaginable. I barely had time to engage [Steel Lightning] before the wall of flames crashed into me and the entire world went black.

* * *

Master Hei Dong stood to his feet as the arena became encased in a swirling vortex of roaring fire. The heat from it was enough to burn his face from over a hundred feet away, causing him to shield his eyes.

Fia stood next to him, crying out with tears in her eyes. “Max!”

Max? he thought. Who the hell was Max?

But his wife seemed equally concerned.

“I’ve never seen so much power,” she said, gingerly touching her Dantian. It was a Dantian that Hei Dong could now sense was crippled, although he prayed only temporarily.

“I was a fool to ever stand to challenge Lo Feng,” she continued. “I had no idea Lo Feng had become so powerful.”

“What’s happening?” Fia asked. “I can’t see anything!”

Hei Dong himself wished to know.

He had only just met this Iron Bull, but the man had for some reason risked everything to save his family. A true answer to his prayers to the heavens. But now had he been so quickly defeated by Lo Feng as well?

“Where is he, the Iron Bull?” Hei Dong asked. “Has Lo Feng killed him?”

“No,” Rhi Dong said. “Not yet. But he may do so soon.”

“What is this?” Fia cried, gesturing to the massive wall of flames. “I’ve never seen such an attack before.”

“It’s not an attack,” Rhi dong said. “But it proves the Iron Bull has indeed pushed Lo Feng to his limits.”

“What do you mean?” Hei Dong said.

“Master Lo Feng has summoned the pinnacle of his Sacred Soul arts,” Rhi Dong said. “He has trapped the Iron Bull within the realm of his inner soul.”

* * *

I came to my senses in a world of pressure, heat, and pain.

The sky above me was a sickening purplish hue and beneath me the rocky ground was made of red shale. On all sides the flames roared, a thick veil blocking the outside world. And then it hit me—a pressure of Dark Frenzy so great it drove me to my knees.

It was like being back in the hellscape again, on the spiritual surface of the moon and then like déjà vu, I realized that was exactly what this place resembled. It was complete with an inverted obelisk that now towered behind Lo Feng.

Lo Feng himself had changed to match the new surrounds, his physical body now superimposed by the translucent form of a flaming ten-foot-tall demon with tentacles for eyes. It was like looking at a miniature version of one of the giant monstrosities that roamed the surface of the moon.

The pressure on my [Soul Shield] technique increased at just the sight of it.

The sight was maddening.

A horror from beyond the stars.

Under the crushing weight of the heat burning my [Steel Skin] and the Dark Frenzy attacking my Flame, my Dantian was draining like a bucket with a hole. I was back on that hell plane in more ways than one. I needed to end this before my techniques failed and I either died or turning into a raging demon, or both.

“I see through that disguise, boy,” Lo Feng said, his voice contorting with the unearthly power of his spectral form. “In truth it’s no disguise at all, is it? You are exactly what you appear to be.”

“I can say the same for you,” I said, twirling my weapons. “Looks like I’xol’ukz gave you the premium package.”

“How do you know that name, demon? What truly are you?”

But I had no time to answer his questions.

My Dantian was already slipping past the halfway mark.

“The only thing you need to know,” I said, charging my blades with lightning. “Is that I will be your end.”

I charged at his demonic form, but Lo Feng didn’t even move. I whaled into him with a spinning [One Chop Cleave]. My blades passed through the translucent form of the demon as if it were simply a mirage, but when I struck Lo Feng it felt as if I had just slammed into a mountain made of steel.

He laughed, not even budged by the momentum of my strike.

I retreated backwards, gaining distance from him.

“Fool,” he gloated. “I am invincible in this space. Witness now, the true strength of a Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator gifted with the blessing of the Divine Stars.”

He spun and the translucent image of the demon monster spun with him, his halberd elongating to catch me where I stood almost twenty feet away. It was translucent, but it hit me with the force of a truck, sending me flying as it cut through my [Steel Skin] and straight to my soul beneath.

My [Soul Shield] technique nearly buckled at the direct attack, draining a huge chunk of Frenzy to stay maintained. I reeled from the hit and slammed into the fiery outside wall. Pain lit up every cell in my body, from the wound in my side to the flames now scorching my back, combining with the Dark Frenzy attacking my soul.

Lo Feng was on me in a second, almost teleporting to my position to crush me with a thunderous overhead slam. I raised my weapons to block, but his translucent weapon passed straight through them and tore a deep wound in my chest, causing me to scream as it took away another chunk of Frenzy from my Dantian.

Panic and instinct took over, my Flame reacting with the new threat in a burst of Frenzy from the [Odds shifting well Against Me]. I fought with the only weapon I figured could affect him at all.

The Flame itself.

“I’ve slain your dark master multiple times,” I said with [Fear the Flame] and the technique caused his demonic form to flinch backwards. “I killed both Hong Feng and Hin Wu in their full demonic forms. I’ve battled the demons of the Bloodmoon and was reborn in their blood with a demon’s heart. I’ve traversed the unholy gates of the Great Chain Maiden I’xan’dra and bested her on the spiritual planes of the moon!”

Lo Feng took a step back, his eyes widening in madness as his jaw dropped.

It was as if I were now the one to be the window into the unknown, perhaps sharing secret truths and knowledge that Lo Feng himself had not yet learned. I’d caused a shift in the battle, but I would need to capitalize on it quickly if I wanted any chance of truly defeating him.

My Dantian was now under a quarter and draining fast.

I had mere seconds left.

I needed strength.

Kelsey…

I tried to reach out to her Flame, but I could sense nothing from beyond the fiery wall around me. I did the only thing I could think to do next. I closed my eyes and rapidly dove within the spiritual world of my own mind.

The real world shrunk to a small window, and I reopened my eyes to find the Struggler restraining the Demon in a headlock.

“No time for that shit,” I said, launching into my blue-hued form. “We need to go!”

I let go of the Demon and sprinted through the darkness, seeking the fresh Frenzy of Kelsey’s Flame. I found her in a second, following the radiant blue glow of her Flame in the darkness. I began cultivating from her excess Frenzy and sensed a bit of relief come from her as we made contact. I wasn’t sure how much I could communicate with her, but I tried to give her reassurance as my Dantian was topped up to full.

“Thanks, Kelsey,” I said. “It’s all on me now. I got this.”

From the window of my physical vision, I saw myself in third person, now a mannequin without a soul. Lo Feng backed away from me, but slowly he began to shake his head.

“I see now why they fell to you,” he said. “You’re what the prophecies speak of. The great betrayer. The Unholy Flame that will devour the Stars.”

My Flame suddenly resonated in response.

A new truth that was untold.

“Fate has led you to my hand,” Lo Feng said as he reared back with his halberd for a strike. “Cursed Demon of the Flame. In the name of the lord of the moon, I will snuff thee out!”

Shit…no time to waste now.

I needed to do something and fast!

I rushed to find Lo Feng in the spiritual realm, closing in on the Dark Frenzy permeating my soul. He emerged like a tower before me, his demonic form appearing solid before me. I wasted no time and cleaved into him with a [One Chop Cleave] and Lo Feng reeled backwards in the real world, reacting to the hit.

“What in the hells?”

And then slowly, the darkness of the spiritual realm around me began to take shape and color as it merged with my view of the outside world. I was still in a meditative stake, it seemed, but only partly so. I could move and as I did, the subtle blue hue of my spiritual self, moved with me, now present in the real world.

What the hell…?

Lo Feng took another step back, looking shocked as well. “Nine Hells… you’ve already mastered Sacred Soul Projection? Hin Wu underestimated you completely.”

I had to take a second to realize the step in progression for myself.

I suppose I had been on the brink of it and my time spent within the hell plane of the moon had seen me breaking through to the next step of evolution for my [Death Mastery]. I suppose learning how to project my inner self was the natural next step. One that I had now accomplished though my desperation and resolve.

“You all have,” I said, my confidence returning. “My soul has been tempered by the Flames of hell. Your shitty microcosm is no comparison.”

I launched at him with a quick series of axe and glaive strikes, throwing him off balance as I cleaved into the fiery flesh of his spectral form. He screamed unnaturally, clearly not used to having his soul directly attacked like mine.

But then, like déjà vu, his fiery flesh began to heal and I immediately saw why.

About the demon’s wrists and throat were shackles and although the small links of chain that hung from them led to nowhere, there was no question as to where it was drawing its regenerative power.

“Idiot,” I said as I stepped towards him. “You don’t even know where your power stems from, do you?” I looked at the inverted obelisk behind him and chuckled. “Give my regards to the big blue bitch I’xan’dra when you see her, yeah? Tell her the Iron Bull is coming for his rematch.”

He glowered at me, but didn’t say anything, realizing he was now the ignorant one in our exchange. He fought back with a flaming halberd technique instead, but I parried it with the spiritual projection of my [Spectral Form], feeling the power of both my [Form]-imbued body and my new-found spiritual power.

I knocked his weapon so hard that it stunned him and I used the opportunity to quickly target the shackles with my axe. With an explosion of sparks, I broke each one, sending Lo Feng reeling backwards again. The inverted pillar exploded behind him and slowly the flaming walls began to dissipate as his inner world came undone.

I didn’t know how much of my bestial form was now on display, so I rushed to finish him off while he was still dazed. I tore through his evaporating spectral form, hacking into his true body beneath. Blood and viscera flew as I chopped off a hand and his leg at the thigh. As he fell to the ground, the real world emerged and everyone in the arena was on their feet.

Huge doses of lemonade flowed, even from the Warden and Magistrate, perhaps surprised to see me not only alive but hacking Lo Feng to pieces.

But I couldn’t give a shit about them.

I instead looked to Fia, Kelsey, and Jian Yi.

Fia’s eyes were shimmering with tears, but she let out a sudden laugh of relief, almost as if she couldn’t believe she was seeing me again. Kelsey however gave me a more knowing smile and a simple nod, proud of her big bro.

I looked down at Lo Feng as he coughed up blood and groaned.

“Fool,” he whispered, his breath labored and heavy. “You have no idea… what wrath you will bring upon us all…”

I smirked.

“I’m counting on it, asshole,” I said as I raised my axe to split his head in two. “Tell I’xol’ukz the Earth will never be ruled by a Cursed Star. Not when there’s a Berserker here to protect her.”

His eyes grew wide as my blade fell and with a sickening chop it was all over.

The magistrate banged her gavel and the small crowd stood to applaud.

But I could barely take in any of it.

To them this had just been a battle for leadership, but I now realized it had been so much more. This was me sending a message to the real threat that lay beyond the stars. An official declaration of war of sorts.

Still, a victory was a victory.

I looked down at the corpse and grimaced.

Lo Feng was no more.