Harry Potter and the Berserker

Berserker

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and Berserk is owned by Kentro Miura. I own nothing.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong; and the fact that they were in a troll-filled cave had nothing to do with it. While the threat of trolls was still an immediate factor, they came in small droves, but even then they were able to make short work of them.

Isidro, bringing up the rear, covered their escape by means of his pouch of explosives. The rusty-haired youth might have a long way to go in terms of his swordplay, but he had a deadeye with his aim. Every explosive that he threw managed to hit its mark, putting an end to the trolls pursuing them. All his spare time tossing rocks back in his village must have paid off.

But with how expansive the cave was, there should have been a lot more trolls chasing after them than the amount they had. So far they had encountered ten, maybe a dozen at best. No doubt that was largely owed to Guts, who was still slaughtering the bulk of their numbers where they had left him. Even as they began to near where the exit of the troll cave was located, they could faintly discern the cries and yelps of the trolls from deeper within. The wailing, desperate cries of pain were either coming to an abrupt end, or they were just much farther away. Harry strongly suspected that it was the former.

That was to be expected though. Guts was always taking on the most dangerous end of things, willing to place his life on his sword and come out on top in the end; that was just how he was, that was not what felt wrong.

Harry was also certain that it had nothing to do with the women and children they were escorting either. That wasn't to say what had happened to them wasn't terrible, just looking at their malnourished bodies and broken eyes was enough to tell the whole story; but that too was not the feeling.

This feeling was... it was different from just being in a den of trolls. It was different from encountering any ordinary apostle; this was something much darker than that. "How are you holding up back there?" Schierke asked. She too seemed to sense that something was off, but was no closer to an answer than Harry was.

"We're clear of trolls for now," Harry informed. Even so, he kept his staff and sword at the ready, just in case that suddenly changed. "How are the citizens holding up?"

"Most of them are holding steady – for now," Schierke added that last part. "They've been through a lot recently, but they should be able to make it back to the village. If worse comes to worse, we can summon a few golems to carry some of the weaker ones back."

The entire conversation was just a distraction. Harry could see exactly what physical state the citizens were in. it was just a way for him to ease into the main focus of what he wanted to ask. "Still, even with us getting them out of here, this place doesn't quite feel like it's done."

"What's with the cryptic wizard-talk?" Isidro asked, readying another explosive as he thought he saw movement behind them. "We got this covered, and Guts is giving those nasty trolls the beating of their lives."

Ivalera flew over to Isidro and Puck. "There's nothing cryptic about it. Even someone uneducated in magic like you should be able to tell that something isn't quite right here. Right, Schierke?"

"..." Schierke was silent for a bit as she led them further back the underground labyrinth. "You're right, Ivalera. This is the zone of darkness, it's natural for what we perceive to be normal to be out of focus, but even so... there's something-!" Her eyes widened, and a half-second later, Harry felt why.

Od. An overwhelming, overpowering, od. It made the life-force of the entire troll colony feel like an insect, just an ant in a colony of thousands, insignificant overall. And it was dark, beyond the darkness that comes with apostles, something more, something older and more sinister. This od was so strong that Harry could almost see its dark, midnight energy rush past them overhead as it clung to the ceiling of the cave as it traveled farther down. Down to where Guts was. It wasn't until after the od had passed that Harry realized that even with the rune drawn, his brand was bleeding. The blood ran down his neck, staining the neck of his clothing with a thin trail of his life juice.