The Black Spider Woman (under reconstruction)

The Berserker

4 hours later

The sun sets below the horizon, the stars sparkle above as the land is plunged into darkness. Charlotte has made it to the town near the border and decided that it's best to look for a place to stay for the night. She finds a small hotel that looks nice enough and a stable for her horse.

Inside her room, Charlotte began making the process of removing her armour. Upon taking off the upper half, she was hit with immense pain. She groans and hisss as she falls back onto the bed. "Ow! Damnit!" She groans. "That damn Torturer! He bloody made a mess out of me!".

She removes the rest of her armour and rests it on a table. She lets out a huff before gently laying down and pulls the covers over herself. The covers pressed against her wounds which emitted a burning pain that made it next to impossible to sleep. Eventually, exhaustion drove Charlotte into a deep slumber. She can just hope that the pain from her wounds will be gone by tomorrow so she can continue without any issues.
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Charlotte wakes up in a cold sweat to the sound of screaming and horses. She gets up from her bed and limps to the window, still in pain from her wounds. When she looked outside she was met with the sight of houses and builds on fire and people in armour attacking anyone too close. Charlotte rushes over to her armour, puts it on and picks up her sword. She burst through the door of her room and rushed outside but the moment she stepped outside she was met with a huge apostle that immediately charged at her. She leaps out of the way and swings her sword at the beast and slices off one of its legs.

The beast tumbles down but it isn't done yet. It picks itself back up and lunges at Charlotte again but this time Charlotte slices the monster through the mouth and slices off half of its head, killing it. Charlotte suddenly got a twitch and looked behind and saw three large soldiers standing by a building that was on fire. "So, you must be the Black SpiderWoman, it is an honour to finally meet the reincarnation of the branded Swordsman", the biggest of the knights spoke. "I am Grunbeld and these two are my comrades, Irvine and Locus. Together we make up the Band of the Hawk. In the name of lord Griffith, you will be coming with us".

Charlotte lets out a growl, "as if I'd go with you!", she snarls. "You damn beast!". Grunbeld scoffs. "If that's what you're going do, then I will destroy you!". He pulls out his sword and prepares his shield. Charlotte knows this will be the toughest fight of her life. She pulls her helmet over her head and ready her stance. The moment she lowers the helmet over her head, Grunbeld gets flashbacks from almost a millennium ago, back when he fought against the black swordsman for the first time. Guts had pushed him back to the point he forced him to use his apostle form but it wasn't enough. Now that Charlotte has the Berserker armour, it is like experiencing the same battle.

"I've heard so much about you". He spoke. "You're the one who survived the recent eclipses. Hell, you weren't even branded. Gotta say, you are one lucky girl. Now, I Grunbeld, warrior of the band of the Hawk, commence you to single combat!". Grunbeld swings his mighty war hammer at Charlotte but she swiftly dashes out of the way and she delivers swift attacks of her own, swinging her sword at high speeds that she has never swung before. Grunbeld was surprised at her fast attacks but he keeps his cool and duels against the SpiderWoman.

Meanwhile, Zodd has arrived at the scene and stood by and watched the fight. He sees Charlotte in the Berserker armour and gets flashbacks of both Guts and his long-time foe. Suddenly he senses something from behind, swings his sword and blocks an attack from the Skull Knight. "So you've come". Zodd spoke with surprise. "To be honest I wasn't expecting you". Zodd transforms into his apostle form and begins to clash with the Skull Knight.

Meanwhile, Charlotte and Grunbeld clashed with one another. A few apostles have even tried to attack Char from behind but she swiftly counters them by slicing them down with her sword. Grunbeld stops in his tracks to acknowledge Charlotte's skills as a swordswoman. 'Her skills, it's like she's equal to us war demons!', he thought to himself. 'She even defeated Zodd way before she got her hands on that armour! She's far more skilled than even the Black Swordsman!'.

Charlotte on the other hand was experiencing a strange new feeling. 'What is this?'. She thought to herself. 'This armour, the moment I put it on, the pain from my wounds vanished. No, that's not it, it's like...

I don't care about pain anymore. More important than pain, is this impulse that's rising within me! I can feel as though there is something violent boiling up from within me!'.

"Let go!", a voice cries out. "Let go of everything!".

"I see!", Charlotte tells herself. "This! This is my..."

"Let go! Let go of everything!...."

LET GO!!

In a matter of moments, the helmet of the berserker armour began to change its shape. It went from a wild dog to a dragon's head and the eyes of the helmet glowed red as Charlotte lost herself and went all out. She immediately charges at Grunbeld and rams into him, pushing him back and he almost falls back but catches himself. 'She pushed my large frame back!'. He thought to himself, shocked at her attack. 'The armour! It's finally using its effects on her!'. Charlotte wasted no time to start swinging her sword at rapid speeds and even landed a few blows on Grunbeld who is now struggling against her.

The other demons watch on with shock as Charlotte takes on their leader and even pushes him back. "Dear lord! She's pushing lord Grunbeld back!". One of the demons gasped. They all gasp when Charlotte delivers a powerful swing with her sword and breaks Grunbeld's shield into two. The warrior tries to counterattack with his hammer but Charlotte swings her sword again and shatters the head. By now Grunbeld is in complete shock that the Black SpiderWoman is backing him up in a corner with such ease.

"Magnificent!". He congrats. "You're more powerful than I expected! The rumours lied not! You're a superb warrior and you exceed the-!". Grunbled is cut off when Charlotte swings her sword and slices through his shoulder. "Gah! That's it!", he yells out of rage. "You may have lasted this long but my goal lies ahead for my master! As an apostle of the band of the hawk of light...". Grunbeld began changing form, turning from a giant knight into a dragon beast that was covered in crystal armour, head to toe.

"I shall finish you! Using the form that has been granted to me as an apostle and destroy you once and for all!".

To be continued