A scream had woken Jackson. He looked out from the bird’s nest to see the body of a large man missing a head a few feet from the wagon. Barbara was nowhere in sight, so Jackson grabbed his dagger and started to follow the trail of bodies. What he found was waiting for him on the main street. It was his worst fear, but he couldn’t hesitate now.

“Great! Round two!”

The Berserker turned to face him and roared like it did the first time he fought it. It made the first move and jumped to tackle him. Jackson rolled under it and turned to block its blade from striking him from behind. It took all his strengthening magic just to keep standing. But something didn’t feel right. He’d fought the Berserker at its full strength before, and this was not it. He didn’t know anything about the armor, but Barbara always seemed as strong as the Berserker.

The Berserker didn’t wait for him to finish analyzing its swung and attacked again.

“Shield!”

A golden shield appeared and deflected the attack just in time. Sadly, it was too weak to take the swing. Golden fragments bounced off the ground before they disappeared.

“Break!”

On his spell, some of her armor broke off, but it repaired within a moment. Jackson once more parried her attack and felt that something was wrong. The Berserker opened its metal mouth, and tried to snap at him, but Jackson was able to roll away from it beforehand. He created several more shields as she jumped to attack again. Like before, each shield couldn’t take the impact of her swings. As he tried to think, Jackson felt something in his hand.

He looked down, and saw the thirteenth Arcana, death. He threw the card to the side and shook his head. The last shield shattered, and Jackson blocked the attack with his dagger. He saw small cracks form along his blade as he held off her attack. The Berserker went to kick him, but Jackson predicted it. He shifted his weight and knocked the monster off balance as he kicked it foot out. It rolled and turned quickly and dashed at him.

As their blades met again, Jackson called upon the earth element within his blade to strengthen it. It withstood the assault, and the pair backed away from each other. His dagger now had a greyish glow to it. That time he felt what was wrong, the Berserker was hesitating. Perhaps Barbara wasn’t in control, but also didn’t want to hurt him. That was his only hope of winning at that moment. Jackson knew he couldn’t win, only defend until she figured out how to get around his defense. At this point, the Death Arcana returned to his hand.

“No, I don’t want to kill her!”

He snapped at the card. It was just like the woman said, it was the card he needed but not wanted. The Death Arcana would mean his victory, but he would have to kill Barbara. After all they been through, he couldn’t bring himself to killing her. The Berserker charged again.

This time, Jackson found himself flying back after blocking the attack. It was much stronger, and the Berserker seemed less human. After landing hard, Jackson looked up from the ground and saw the dreaded chains begin to form on its back. They ended in daggers and started to snake back and forth. The Arcana had returned to his hand.

He tossed the card away as he leaped back. He let out a cry of pain as the chains clipped his side. They destroyed the ground that he was standing on and started to snake faster after him as the Berserker dashed to attack him.

“Explode!”

Jackson slammed hard against the wall of a shop after being hit by his own attack. He saw the Berserker was against another wall but had already regained itself. Jackson couched, and looked for his dagger. Sadly, while being thrown through the air, he had dropped it. All Jackson saw was the glow of the Berserker’s eye as it impaled his left side.

“Break!”

The armor once more broke, but it healed again. But it became weary of being so close to and skipped back. Jackson removed his cape and moved from the wall. The monster’s blade still pinned the cape to the wall. Had he still had a left arm; he would have been in trouble.

“Did you forget you already took my left side from me?”

It simply roared at him. Hatchets formed in its hands. Death once more returned to Jackson’s.

“I don’t want to kill her! I want to stop her! To restrain her so I can get her out of that armor!”

He dropped the card, but felt it immediately return to his hand. He looked in discuss but was shocked to see something else in his hand. Number: XV, the Devil. He had read that one and understood why it was in his hand.

“Fifth-teenth Arcana, Devil!”

Goat horns grew from his head, and his eyes turned to yellow slits. A bone left arm formed, surrounded in blue flames. Metal chains formed around him, moving like snakes as his feet changed to that of a goat. He felt faster, and his eyes could now keep up with the insane speed of the Berserker. He watched as it kicked off the ground and dived at him. The hatchets changed to a lance. Jackson kicked the ground and jumped to the right as she crashed through the shop behind him. He watched as the rubble fell in slow motion. The Berserker screamed at him, and the lance became a spear as it was tossed at him. He charged after her, ducking under the spear.

His book spoke of the Devil Arcana. As he grabbed onto the Berserker, metal restraints formed on her arms. His flaming hand grabbed her neck, and a metal collar formed. Her hand and collar became attached by a metal chain. The Devil meant bondage, the lack of free will. In that moment, it completely restrained the monster under him. However, he wasn’t the only one with chains. Her came back to life and stabbed his back. He grabbed her other wrist, and another restraint formed. He ignored the pain as he started to heal from the attack, but the blades still rested inside him. They seemed to be heating up. Jackson grabbed under her collar and started to pull the chest piece off. He felt another dagger seep into his back. It finally gave, and he revealed her breasts. He dug his fingers into the Berserker’s eye socket and ripped with all his might. Two more daggers stabbed him. One found his right arm, the other his right leg. His body felt like it was one fire as he ripped the helmet from her. Barbara face was blankly staring at him as she started to blush. The heat stopped from the daggers as they were removed from his back. The rest of the armor melted off.

Jackson could feel his wounds heal as the girl kept looking into his eyes. She was extremely red. Her hands were still chained to her collar, and her left one gripped behind his neck. She started to pull herself towards him, moving her head slightly to the side. Her legs wrapped around his back as she drew closer. It was then that Jackson remembered the other part of the Devil’s power, seduction. Those trapped within the Devil’s power will experience a growth in lust, and desire. Right as her lips were to touch his, Jackson released the spell, and returned to normal. The cuffs and collar disappeared with his appearance, and a sudden shock stopped Barbara. For a moment, she relived the last few minutes, and a tear leaked from her eyes. She released Jackson, whom got to his feet. He went to retrieve his cape. When he returned, Barbara was sitting up staring at the ground. He covered her in the cape and led her back to the wagon where Gypsy was waiting. She looked worried. Around the Wagon was a squad of knight, with red capes. One with a blue cape came over to Jackson.

“Boy, please move quickly, the Berserker has been sighted in the area. The beast has already killed a dozen people including this towns elite guard.”

Jackson tried to look surprise and got Barbara inside the wagon. She pulled his cape tightly around her as she leaned on him. Jackson put his arm around her, in a comforting manner. He could feel her tears drip onto his arm. No one bothered them for the rest of that night.