Tales of Berseria The X: Beyond Calamity

Chapter XX: Just Another Killer

The tower collapsed on its heavyweight. Huge chunks of stones fell and crushed the ground beneath them. Velvet and the group ran away as far and as fast as they could. Velvet and Laphicet both stopped and whirled back in shock and worry, gazing at the enormous tower turning into dust. The earth suddenly shook, smoke came out of the entrance, and the tower of the exorcists started to come crashing down completely.

Laphicet gazed in terror as thick clouds of dirt and ashes raced towards them, but there was no sign of Avernus or Zaveid. Laphicet looked at Velvet, her eyes filled with usual wrath, and she was gritting her teeth.

Despite Velvet's unforgiving and angry mood, she was usually calm. She didn't care about anyone except for Artorius's head on a plate. Freaks could surround velvet for all she cared. But that was changing, and Velvet didn't even know how to deal with it. It was freaking her out.

And she was once again bothered by the unwelcoming distraction.

Velvet turned to Laphicet and firmly hugged him for protection against the incoming cloud of debris. The area around them flashed; Magilou already created a bubble shield. It widened like an inflated balloon encasing them. She held her arm upward with one of her legs hanging in the air. Having the proud and all-knowing gesture, she hummed triumphantly. "Guess I'm not a bad learner after all. You don't need magical blood or be an overbearing Shepherd. By the way, you're welcome, my children."

Velvet checked inside the bubble. Everyone was accounted for except for Avernus, Tia and Zaveid. Laphicet suddenly felt a strange surge through his mind. He looked from the corner of Velvet's cloak and into the dark cloud. "There! They're coming out!"

The team inside the shield began to look closely into the haze. All they could see and hear was a dusty fog and echoes of the tower's destruction. It seemed only Laphicet could see them.

The obscurity went away. The dust began to settle down. Two figures emerged from the gloom; Avernus and Zaveid.

"You're both okay!" Laphicet cheerfully said. Velvet crossed her arms and let out a sigh of relief. Eleanor's body was mildly shaking from witnessing the destruction of her school. So many memories now went up in the air in an instant.

Zaveid frantically paced to Avernus, face all tensed up. "What did you do?!"

Avernus looked at the remains of the demolished exorcist tower, placing the gun on his shoulder. "Saved our lives."

"By Killing?! If I knew what you were going to do with it, I wouldn't offer you the weapon!" Zaveid furiously revolted. He extended his arm towards Avernus. "Give me back the Siegfried."

Avernus looked at Zaveid from the corner of his eyes. Uncaring and cold, he held the gun upward. The engravings on the weapon were flickering. "Even if I wanted to give you the weapon, you could never use it again. It bonded with me through blood."

Zaveid gritted his teeth. "You're just like the exorcist, crossing any line to get what you want!"

"I'm not like them. Don't you dare compare when you don't know anything about me, malak. Do you think I like killing? A damn dragon was trying to bury us. What did you want me to do? Pet him and ask to play nicely?"

Zaveid clenched his fist. "But you took a life! Does this mean anything to you?"

"If I hesitated for a second, every life, our lives, would be lost. People like you who walk with those pacifist ideas in your heads will get you, and everyone around you killed."

Zaveid stepped closer threateningly, raising his voice. "There is always another way!"

Anger welled up in Avernus's chest. "Not always! You're dealing with people who won't pause for a moment thinking that they should turn you into a daemon or not."