The second I saw the dog on Midori, something snapped inside me, and I felt it again. That burning pressure surged through my chest, setting my blood on fire, like flames were about to burst from my eyes. All the fear, stress, grief, and terror collided inside me, tearing something open. The thing the old man and the others called Berserk had awakened.

  I was no longer in control, but I was not gone either. Rage rushed through my veins and burned away every clear thought, hate drowning out everything else. This time, I didn’t push it back or fight it. I opened myself to it and let it in. If turning into a beast was the price to protect the people I cared about, then I would pay it without a second thought.

  My flaming katana answered my anger. It burst to life, spitting sparks and fire that made the other dogs stumble back. The one on Midori also froze, drool dripping from its mouth, almost touching her face. It felt the danger, but it turned too late.

  

  I didn’t wait another second. I swung my sword forward before it could even react, driving it straight through its side and out the other. I lifted the body into the air like a war banner, heavy in my hands, yet held up by a strange power rushing through my veins.

  I twisted with everything I had and hurled it at the others. The body tore free, slid off the blade, and slammed into them with a wet, heavy crash. Two went down hard, and the rest jumped back in fear.

  The dead dog’s mana leaked out, drifting upward and thinning as it rose, until a small portion broke away and flowed toward Midori. I turned to check, and sure enough, it slipped into her nearly empty body, filling what little was left inside her.

  A spark of hope flared inside me, and a slow, ugly grin spread across my face. I started walking toward the remaining four dogs, and this time, they weren’t brave. Their tails drooped, and they took cautious steps backward, eyes fixed on me, trying to keep their distance.

  I picked one and locked onto it, pulling my arm all the way back and dragging the flaming katana along the ground as sparks screamed. Then I snapped it up in a wide half arc, sending the fire flying like a burning slash. It hit the dog and ended it instantly.

  Just as I expected, part of its mana too broke away and flowed into Midori. I looked back to be sure. Her mana had risen. Not much, but enough. My heart raced as I turned to the last three dogs and advanced.

  If I killed them all here, I thought, maybe the mana they released would be enough to pull Midori back from the edge of death. At least now there was a hope I could cling to, small and fragile, but real. And inside me, the hunger for destruction kept growing, something I could no longer stop anymore.

  The remaining dogs didn’t wait for me to pick them off one by one. They saw their numbers fall and knew standing still meant death. Two lunged at once from both sides, aiming for my legs. I didn’t dodge. A strange confidence filled me, like my body had turned to iron.

  I swung the sword in a wide, messy circle, and the fire didn't just cut but burst outward in a red wave of heat. One dog took it straight to the face and was thrown back, its fur burning to ash before it even hit the ground.

  The other managed to bite my thigh, but I felt no pain, my blood was boiling. I grabbed its neck with my free hand and smashed it into the ground hard enough to crack the earth, then drove the sword through its ribs and ended it.

  Two more thin streams of mana drifted toward Midori. I could see her chest rising and falling more evenly now. Color slowly returned to her face, and for the first time, I felt real hope that things might finally fall into place.

  Then the light in my hands went out all at once, and the flaming katana vanished. The mana I had taken from their leader was gone. A heavy weight crushed my shoulders next, and a cold, empty ache spread through me, making my knees shake.

  The last dog stayed back and watched while my eyes moved between it and Midori. My body refused to stand. And I couldn’t risk using my domain again. In this crazy state, I might drain her dry and kill her myself. I had to find another way, a safer one. My eyes dropped to the ground, searching for anything sharp, anything I could use.

  It felt like the dog had been waiting for this exact moment. It stayed a few steps back, yellow eyes fixed on me. It saw the fire fade. It saw me drop to my knees. A low growl rose from its throat, slow and proud, like it had already won. Then it rushed at me.

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  It jumped on me and slammed me into the ground. I barely caught its throat with both hands, my arms screaming, my fingers shaking as my grip began to slip. Its teeth scraped my collarbone, and the first sharp burst of real pain shot through me. The smell hit next. Rotting meat and old blood, so thick it burned my eyes.

  Then, out of nowhere, something flew through the dog’s head at impossible speed, entering one side of its skull and exiting the other. Its lifeless body fell on me. I spun around to see where it came from and saw that Midori had woken up.

  She let out a long, shaky breath and sat up, rubbing her temples. "I told you," she muttered, her voice weak. "I'm the one who's supposed to beat you up. Not some stupid dog.”

  I shoved the heavy body off my chest and sucked in air. I tried to stand, failed, and ended up dragging myself toward her instead. My leg burned where it bled, and pain throbbed through my whole body, but I didn’t care. Midori was awake. That was all that mattered.

  "Hey…" I whispered, my voice cracking. "Are you... are you okay?”

  She looked at my dusty, messed up hair and the blood on my face, then let out a dry, broken laugh. “I guess so. At least I’m better off than you.”

  I stayed silent. As the fire and rage drained from me, the night’s cold and the weight of everything I’d been through hit all at once. I shivered, pulled my knees close, buried my head against them, and stared at the corpses on the ground. I felt nothing… no fear, no relief.

  Soon, the ground under the dead bodies softened and swallowed them whole. The earth closed up like nothing had ever been there. I was still staring in shock when Midori slid closer, wrapped her arms around my neck, and pulled me to her.

  “It’s over, okay?” she said softly. “You’re fine. I’m fine. Everything is alright.”

  “I… I killed them,” I said, my voice shaking.

  “Shh. You did what you had to,” she said softly. “Even if I don't know how you managed it…” she added with a forced smile. “If you hadn’t, they would’ve killed us both.”

  She pressed a hand to my shoulder, used it to pull herself up with effort, then held her hand out to me. “Come on. Get up. We need to wash your wounds, or they will get infected.”

  I took her hand and stood, wobbling as we made our way to the river. We washed my wounds with clean water, and Midori tore a strip from her kimono to bandage them. She looked better now, almost normal, and I was starting to shake off the shock too.

  “Come on,” she said, “light a fire so we can see around.”

  “Me? No… I can’t,” I muttered.

  “Seriously?” she said, giving me that annoyed look. “This morning you were about to burn the whole town down… and now you can’t even make a tiny spark?”

  “This power…” I swallowed and looked away. “I don’t want to use it anymore. I don’t even want it to be mine.”

  “Just because you killed a few rabid dogs?” she said. “Stab someone once and you’ll quit kitchens forever?” She nudged my shoulder, failing to lighten the mood.

  “No. Yes, that too, but…” I let out a shaky breath. “What happened in town this morning… I lost control again. I always do. I keep messing things up.” My voice dropped. “I’m tired of it. And I’m ashamed.”

  “Hey,” she said and gave my back a light smack. “That’s just how it goes. Nobody is born good at anything. You mess up, you learn, you mess up again.”

  “Even when every mistake puts the people you care about on the edge of death?” I said. My voice was sharp, not at her, but at myself.

  “Well,” she said, looking away, “um… that part is a bit much. But what can you do. Big power, big risk.”

  “…big stupidity,” I muttered.

  “Oh, yes. That too,” she said with a grin.

  Then she held out her hand, and a few twigs appeared. She was spilling her last drops of mana far too freely. I shot her an annoyed look. She looked back at me. “Come on, light these. The night’s long, and it’s getting dark.”

  “But… wait a second,” I said.

  I grabbed the two twigs and rubbed them together fast. I had seen this in a survival show once, if it worked then, it should work now too. Midori had almost no mana, so there was no way I could use my domain on her. I focused completely, pushing through the ache in my body.

  She looked at me, exhausted. “What are you even doing?”

  “J-just a sec…” I muttered, all my focus on the twigs. Finally, a spark flared. I blew gently, coaxing it into a small flame. “I guess… this worked,” I said, looking away.

  “Alright,” she said, drawing a breath. “So tell me… how many dogs were there, and how did you take them all down?” Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “Six…” I said, scratching the back of my neck. “You were out cold, and they all attacked at once. I took one with my domain, the rest with the flaming katana… it’s all a blur, but I think my mana ran out at the last one.”

  “Six, huh? Wow… you’ve got some skills!”

  “…By the way,” I said, “I noticed something about the dead dogs… part of their mana flowed toward you.”

  “Flowing toward me?” she asked, frowning. “That’s… weird. No wonder I felt it.”

  “Felt what?” I replied.

  “It was like a faint warmth gripped my cold body, giving me life. It was… weird, I don’t know…”

  “I see,” I said. “I mean, I could see it too… your mana had increased a little. Not all of it, just a small part, but enough to matter. I’m glad it worked.”

  “Me too,” she said, glancing at herself. “But it’s not enough to get us back to the town, honestly. Maybe not even by tomorrow.”

  “Don’t worry,” I muttered, poking the fire with a stick. “I wasn’t planning to go back there anyway…”

  “What? Where did that come from?” she asked, confused.

  “I’m not fit to lead them,” I said softly. “I never was.”

  “Ugh, don’t start this, please,” she snapped. “No one becomes a lord in a single day.”

  “Yeah, but the others earn it. One way or another. Me? I’m just… an accident.”

  “Fine,” she sighed, clearly fed up with my mood. “Then how do you plan to earn it? Got any bright ideas?”

  “I don’t know,” I said after a long pause. “Maybe I should go to that mountain first. If I’m going to be useful, it has to start somewhere. And if I die or get lost up there… at least it would feel like something a lord would do.”