Arya found the chamber that led towards the place where the Berserker hid. There was a large lever to the side, which the pair pulled down and opened a small door leading to the bottom.

Arya began her descent to the secret room of the Berserker.

The door led downwards, and soon Arya reached a large dark chamber with several torches.

Right in the middle was the large frame of the Berserker, who was emitting a powerful energy wave.

Arya used her Assassin skill Identify, which helped her gauge the power of the person.

“Martial Formation level 1... But this power is so thick!” Arya frowned.

“Who is it?!” The Berserker roared as he felt someone.

Arya decided to reveal herself. Unfortunately, the armor and strength of this Berserker were so strong that her skills wouldn’t be able to wound the Berserker.

“Usserfer the Berserker!” Arya called out.

“The Assassin?! And here I thought I’d have problems looking for you! So you actually came to kill me? How foolish!”

“Why did you kill your family?” Arya directly asked the Berserker with a cold expression.

“What?” The Berserker was confused.

“You killed your family. I know you did! I just killed Abrellam and Nabal and found strange darkness in them that allows them to harness dark energy from the souls of their loved ones! Monsters like you don’t deserve to live!” Arya shouted.

The Berserker’s expression changed.

“Abrellam and Nabal? They... killed their families?”

“Of course! Don’t pretend to be stupid! I know you know of the darkness of the Arc Knights formed from Abrellam’s magic power! I can sense the same darkness from you! I will kill you and make sure to grant peace to your family!”

“What nonsense are you spouting about?! I gained this power because anger consumed me! King Ciroel’s men killed my father! All because I didn’t sell him one lousy painting!”

“Hahahaha!” Arya began to laugh.

“You are an idiot! King Ciroel killed your father? Are you sure it’s not whoever turned you into this beast? I was once like you. I thought King Ciroel killed my family! I am Arya Blaze of the Blaze family! I was training to be a Rogue in the service of King Ciroel’s men! But then my family got killed, and I used all of my income to transition my skills to become an Assassin through the Assassins league! But soon I found out that it wasn’t King Ciroel who killed my parents through Nabal, it was the Serpentari! Think about it, Usserfer. Your family dies, and the Serpentari just happened to have the right object that can channel your rage and anger and turn you into a Berserker in an instant?”

“What?!” The Berserker was stunned at her words and could help but reach out to grab something in his chest.

Arya noticed it and kept a mental note.

“Is that where he is hiding the object? I have to confuse him more!” Arya decided.

“Turn me into a Berserker? I fought hard and trained hard outside the Wildlands to become like this!” The Berskerker argued.

“You can’t deceive me! I’ve seen your painting! You are a painter of calm and serene disposition! Your father's paintings show how you greatly loved him and how he doted on you and your sister! Is this a berserker? No! This isn’t the hobby of someone who could crush a knight's head in combat! I’ve seen the power of Abrellam and how his precious Arc Knights become vampires! But, I’ve also seen the power of the Kingdom! King Ciroel has no means to turn you into a Berserker, but the Serpentari has! And they used that to make you one of their strongest Lieutenants! Tell me now if you still think that King Ciroel killed your family?”

The Berserker was shocked at the words that Arya spoke. He fell into a deep trance as he realized that there was something strange about everything and every event that led to him becoming a Berserker. How was it that his rushing out of that place made him meet up with the leader of the Serpentari?

But while the Berserker was in a trance, Arya acted.

She rushed as fast as she could and used her abilities to strike his chest of Usserfer.

CLANG!

A loud sound of striking metal stone echoed out in the chamber.

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Arya’s sword broke as she struck the chest of Usserfer, but she did not give up and revealed other weapons that Dyne had given her.

All of Arya’s quick attacks were striking at the upper chest region where the Berserker reached out.

Yet all of these attacks couldn’t destroy or remove the object in the Berserker’s chest.

Berserkers were known for the strong and resilient bodies that could even take the attack of a Knight without wearing any armor and survive it.

But Usserfer was a Berserker who was influenced by Soul cultivation. His body was not hard due to martial training, but he had into a coat of armor by condensing the darkness fueled with anger into a metaphysical form.

Arya’s final strike managed to penetrate deeper, and Usserfer roared in pain.

Suddenly, the power of the Berserker exploded.

The rage that drives Usserfer exploded out, and with amazing speed, Usserefer reached out and grabbed Arya.

The movement was so fast that her hair got pulled even when Arya tried to escape.

Arya quickly slashed with her sword to cut her hair as she escaped.

Usserfer ran and pounced at Arya and smashed her to the ground.

BANG!

Arya’s face was smashed on the floor, and Usserfer raised his fist and readied to smash down on Arya.

“Ussylys.” A deep and warm voice called out.

The Berserker was shocked as he heard that voice, and he gazed at the entrance to see a tall and smiling figure.

“Fa-Father...?!”

Ussylys was Usserfer's real name. And so, when the figure of his father called this name, it made Usserfer stop.

“I am but a spirit, son. Even as a ghost, I couldn’t live and face your mother and sister if we did nothing to stop you. That lady is correct. King Cireol didn’t kill your family. The Serpentari did. The thing that you wear in your heart has corrupted you. Thankfully, that assassin managed to crack in and weaken the seal. And now, the anger can no longer stop you from hearing my voice.” The old man smiled as he walked closer.

“Father...?” Usserfer wept as he saw his father and moved towards him. His entire body suddenly felt great weakness as he approached.

“Stand up, son. The reason why the Serpentari killed me and tried to kill you is that we are Soul Cultivators. People who have the very power to challenge them.”

“I’ll kill them! I swear I’ll kill them!”

“Not now. I am using this body as a medium to speak to you. Follow his commands after this. For now, I will use the last bits of my soul to change that darkness in you. They gave you the power of the Dark Berserker. But I will use that foundation to give you another power... Trance! Use it well.” The Old man smiled as a strange deep orange heat appeared on his hands.

The old men reached out, and even though the power in the hands of the old man had immense heat, Usserfer didn’t retreat but allowed the hands to touch his chest, for this was his father.

A bright light flashed, and Usserfer began to convulse violently.

Dyne forced Usserfer’s body down and kept holding on to his chest as Dyne channeled the energy to purge the darkness.

He had learned of the voice and the real name of Usserfer when he began to absorb the soul left on the painting. He witnesses small bits of Usserfer's memories, and Dyne used them all to gain the trust of Usserfer.

Dyne kept using the Mana orb sent into Jedo’s soul space to absorb mana from the souls to replenish his spell.

As Dyne kept doing that, Strafe watched in shock and finally understood what Dyne meant when he said he could ‘use the Imaginarium Bond easier.’

“That... That... That’s unfair! You didn’t even fight him!”

“Why do I need to fight him? I have a powerful subordinate who managed to chip the strange dark jewel in his chest. I can now send my Brimstone energy to purge the darkness inside with the opening. Or rather, the dark lightning. Strange. Wrath is lightning?”

“How did you figure that out?!” Strafe was stunned as Dyne mentioned a certain detail that only the stronger cultivators knew.

“The Afarit! He was clearly fire but had the power of darkness. I deduced that the elements could exist with an inverse application. Fire is often linked to passion and desire. But the Afarit grants wishes and uses dark fire. So I guessed that his ability is simple. It is based on the corruption of passion. It’s more of an obsession, I guess. If fire is passionate love, then dark fire is a more selfish form of love. And after meeting with the Afarit in the soul space, I’m certain it’s jealousy or envy.”

“Amazing. You got that perfectly correct. So then you are planning to use your Brimstone energy to turn Dark Lightning into Lightning?”

“Yes. That way, I can create a Berserker! Similar to Evil Ryu in the Street Fighter series.” Dyne smiled.

“Master... I have failed you.” Arya tried to stand near Dyne.

“Drink this.” Dyne retrieved several healing potions he took from his pillaging.

Arya immediately drank.

“You didn’t fail me. I now have a powerful warrior. If you didn’t crack this jewel, I wouldn’t be able to do this. Besides, that plan you had to confuse him using your simple words was amazing. It seems that you have easily grasped the purpose of our Broken Sword analysis.”

“Indeed. Through Broken Sword, I was able to send the enemy into a trance.”

“That is what an Assassin should be. Don’t just think about swords and daggers and slitting throats. Think about logic, deception, strategy, swords, daggers, and slitting throats.”

“I will keep that in mind, master.”

“Erm... You’re hair looks... cu-cute.” Dyne mustered the courage to say it.

Arya blushed when she heard this.

“Your kind words honor me.” Arya bowed.

Because of how she cut her hair, Arya was now looking more and more like that woman in Dyne’s past.

She drew closer towards Dyne and looked at the pained expression of Usserfer.

“Master really is amazing...” Arya smiled.

Dyne was blushing as he could see the gorgeous face of Arya draw closer.

“Well... you-you’re amazing too...” Dyne murmured shyly.

Jedo and Strafe were shaking their figurative heads at Dyne’s awkwardness.