17 The Hunter's Nightmare, part 2

Word count 10,782

Returning to the Research Hall entrance, I finally entered the place and witnessed the rather appropriately disturbing first room, with a sort of strange, poisonous shallow pool in the center of it.

Oh, and there was one of the local patients of this accursed place, whose appearance was, needless to say, rather disturbing, though his continuous mumbling about having dropped his eyes in a puddle made him more pitiful than anything else.

Shaking my head, I took the nearby stairs, deciding to try and quickly finish going through this place.

After having to kill a few of the more insane locals, though one was just begging Lady Maria's help over and over again, I came across a room with two elevators.

One was currently inaccessible, though the other one was, and by taking it I met one of the most "sane"- for a certain value of the word- of the locals: Saint Adeline.

I had to admit, hearing a tied up person talk without any visible mouth was pretty weird, but to be fair I have seen much weirder by now…

"Is that you, Lady Maria? No, you're someone else. Well, perhaps you could help me all the same? I can't move at all, I'm afraid. But I need Brain Fluid. Murky, mushy Brain Fluid. Help me hear the sticky sound, I've gone so long without it..."

"... Alright, I'll keep an eye out for any… brain fluid." I replied, a bit weirded out by the request, even if I knew what to expect already.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you truly…" she replied happily.

Shaking my head, I opened the nearby door opening up to the first floor, then took the elevator back up, before dropping down into a nearby floor entrance opening down into the room beneath me.

Killing the crazy patients there- who had the unnatural ability to leap like some kind of demented frog over several meters- I then found the Decorative Old Hunter Garb and Trousers.

Opening the door of the room, I then quickly found myself on a balcony with another peaceful patient who kept mumbling about droplets of water.

Shrugging, I left him be, then took the nearby stairs to kill the two rats on them, before backtracking all the way back to the original staircase and going up the other side of the building, though not before making a detour to find the Loch Shield.

I hummed at the sight of it, before doing a few moves with it.

Ah, there was the (Shield Wielding Mastery) skill! I did find a shield a long time before now, towards the start of my stay in Bloodborne, but didn't unlock the skill at the time.

Then, after dispatching all enemies on my way up to that floor, I decided to start with the furthest room.

Needless to say, when I found that said room held tied up patients begging for death, I could only grant them the very mercy they begged for with a grim face.

That done, I took the nearby ladder, came upon a particularly maddened patient that I put down, followed up by clearing up a few more rooms of crazy patients, before going up and then making my way to the room further ahead.

Making sure to swiftly kill the sneaky bastard hiding by the entrance, followed by the other mad patient in the room, I took the stairs on my right, took the loot on the balcony, and then backtracked and took the central staircase to go up another floor, killing the madman with his machine gun by way of fireballs along the way.

Opening up the door which led to an elevator, I then made the trip down and then back up, though I didn't take the secret passage opening mid-way for the time being.

Instead, I took the path around the central staircase, eventually finding a room full of still living patients' heads.

Yes, JUST their heads.

And no less murderous, considering the tentacles sprouting from said heads trying to kill me…

Needless to say, I thoroughly burned the whole room to ashes.

Then I made my way where the madman with his machine gun was, dropped down on the stairs below, and found myself in the "secret" part of this place otherwise accessible by the hole in the wall mid-way in the latest elevator trip.

The reason to go there, beyond killing the hunter in the area, was so that I could "kill" the peaceful living head there, which kept mumbling to Lady Maria that she was a robin, in order to get some brain fluid for Saint Adeline.

Not that it mattered much, considering that, seconds after her "death," she returned to life, as if nothing happened.

… Right then. I swiftly returned to the Saint with the brain fluid, before giving it to her.

"Oh, thank you, you're terribly kind."

And then there was a slurping sound, and her "head" deformed like it was made of water, before she let out a long, blissful sigh.

"Ohh... it's wonderful. And, oh! I hear the sticky sound. Do you hear it, too?"

"I'm afraid not." I replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that." she said, sounding like she truly meant every word. "Oh, I know. Will you have my blood as thanks? I'll have you know, I was once a Blood Saint too. So, do come back, if you ever run dry of Saint's Blood."

"Very well." I answered, accepting the deal.

She chuckled. "That makes me happy. But I cannot move. Look, on my right arm. I'm sorry to trouble you, but you don't mind, do you?" she declared, nodding towards the medical equipment on her.

I nodded, even if I frankly doubted that she could see me, then took a vial of Blood from her.

After that, I gave her my goodbye, for the time being at least, promising that I would look out for more on my journey.

I then went back up, taking a ladder and finding myself in the rafters.

After killing some giant rats, crows, and one madman who kept hitting his head on the wall, I took another ladder to go even higher, before finding yet another peaceful (and immortal) living head, from which I got some more brain fluid.

It, like the madman I killed not a minute before, kept mumbling of the sea, and dripping droplets of water IN the sea.

I then activated a nearby device, killed the crow with yet another Guidance rune (why he had it, I had no fucking clue), took a detour to take the loot in a nearby chest, and then went all the way back to Adeline.

"Hello? Is that who I think it is? Please, oh please, I need Brain Fluid. The sticky sound is fading fast. Please, bring me Brain Fluid. I must have it... that sound, it is all that guides me... Without it, I'll be sent back... To my former, lesser years... So, please. My blood is yours. Please!"

I nodded, then gave it to her.

"Yes, that's it, let me have it! Ahh... ahh! I can hear it, yes! The sound that guides me. Ahh... ahh… Thank you, thank you so much. You have saved me. Take this charm. Lady Maria gave it to me, but it is all I can offer, other than my own blood. Please, do not abandon me... I promise to do good..."

I took the Balcony Key. "Don't worry, I'll keep looking for more brain fluid."

Then, after waving off her thanks, I made my way to the Underground Cell Key.

True, I didn't really need it, considering that I already busted down the door, but oh well.

That done, I went to the balcony on the first floor, now opening it thanks to the key.

Once there, I had to kill a number of patients (who could all cast spells) in the Nightmare version of the place where I fought the Celestial Emissary, before finding the Blacksky Eye!

Blacksky Eye: Create meteor-shaped Arcane projectiles. The Higher the level of this skill, the higher the number of meteors and the damage caused by said meteors. Current level: (1)

I nodded. One more Arcane skill was always good to find!

That over with, I broke the nearby window, found the loot in a nearby chest behind it, and then went down, finding myself back in the room with the Altars/Elevator.

Taking it, I then used the nearby lantern to return to the Hunter's Dream, leveling up to MAX my new skills thanks to the Doll, before going back to see Adeline.

As I suspected, Adeline was no longer where she was- or rather, her head wasn't where her body was.

Turning around, Adeline's head was in fact near the door, said head wobbling like water.

"Oh, hello, do you hear that? The sticky sound, as clear as day. Slip, slop... Drip, drop, slip, slop… How extraordinary. Do you think that water drips, even down deep below, at the bottom of the sea? Can you hear it? Drip, drop, slip, slop… One last time, will you fetch Brain Fluid, just one last time?" She begged.

"The murky, mushy fluid that will make me whole. The sticky sound whispers to me. So very close, right into my ear...

My head, just a head, that's all there is. I need my baptism. Please, I beg of you... I want to be something...

Please, give me Brain Fluid! The sticky sound whispers, I need my baptism!

… Ahh, or perhaps, I'm already brimming over…"

I sighed, then struck her with my sword.

She screamed, turning lifeless for a moment, and I got brain fluid from her.

Then, just like the others, she returned to life, and I gave her her own brain juice.

"Ahh, ahh!... Ahh! Aahh! I see a shape! My guide, I see your voice, clearly, as it bends and bleeds. My own revelation... just for me…" She whispered.

"Thank you. For everything... Really, I used to be nothing..." She declared towards me, before her head suddenly fell all over the floor, no life seemingly left at all.

I, meanwhile, got a Madman's Knowledge- and the Milkweed Rune, which I received with the faint whisper of dripping water echoing in the background, before the sound disappeared as suddenly as it had first appeared…

Shaking my head, I left the room.

From what even my (Insight) said, neither the body nor the head of Saint Adeline contained the slightest bit of life left in them anymore.

What had happened and where did she go? No clue.

As near as I could tell, her soul just… wasn't there anymore.

Well, it didn't really matter to me, I suppose- first, I needed to deal with the Living Failures.

That would be easy enough- damage dealt to one was done to the whole, at least in part.

As for Lady Maria… Well.

I'll find out soon enough.

With that thought in mind, I went upstairs, finally entering the Garden with all the Living Failures.

Waiting until a good numbers of them had appeared, I gripped the Holy Moonlight Sword tightly, nodded once, and then unleashed a (Multi Dark Cloaked Dimensional Slash) at all the gathered Living Failures, none of which were smart enough to- or capable of- dodging the incoming attack.

As one, they froze.

And then they all fell, cut into two by my attack.

I waved off the PREYS SLAUGHTERED (very much appropriate, admittedly) message, before taking the Astral Clocktower Key.

Then once I had activated the nearby Lantern, I took a deep breath… and I opened the doors leading to Lady Maria.

And there she was. Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.

Slowly, I walked towards her, before stopping at a respectable distance.

She didn't so much as twitch. Either she had decided to keep playing dead, or she really was heavily asleep.

… Okay, then!

Well, if she wanted to play it like this…

With a shit-eating grin on my face, I put my weapons away…

And then loudly clapped my hands, shouting a loud, cheerful "Hello there!"

Several things happened at once.

First, Lady Maria jerked in her chair, looking around with the panicked and wide-eyed look of someone brutally taken away from their sleep.

Second, the chair she was in tilted backward, and her eyes widened even more when SHE began to fall backward.

Desperately trying to hold herself back from falling, her arms and legs flew around.

Except her right boot caught on the edge of the table on her right, and with only the strength that a hunter could possess sent it flying backward too.

The unexpected hit on her right foot sent her even more into a confused panic…

And then the whole house of cards finally fell over in a loud crash and an equally loud, feminine squeal of shock.

For a moment, I could only stare, frozen, my bright grin and clapped hands unable to so much as twitch before the sheer absurdity of what just happened.

Then a muffled groan of pain came from underneath the table and chair that were now above the weakly moving human form barely visible underneath them, and a silver head poked out of the chaos, turning a blurry, blinking green eye my way.

Said eye- and body- froze utterly when my presence finally properly registered, a look of utter, abject horror and embarrassment dawning within that bright green orb.

Let it be known- I tried my best.

Let it be known- I gave it my all.

Let it be known- I fought harder than I ever did!

Alas, in the end, I still failed to hold myself back.

Thus I promptly fell over laughing, holding my belly as tears of mirth fell down my face.

The sound of a dull "thud" coming from a human head hitting the ground, accompanied by that of a muffled groan of utter misery and despair, did NOT help matters!

Lady Maria, sitting primly in her high chair, stared at me.

I stared back.

Lady Maria, a bright, burning red blush on her face, began squirming under my gaze, as I gave her a look of amusement, with twinkling, laughing black eyes only further embarrassing her.

Finally, her willpower broke, and she looked away, her blush growing an even brighter red, while she cleared her throat.

"You saw nothing." Her green eyes snapped back to me, a silent deadly promise held within. "NOTHING. Understood?"

I grinned, reminded of another woman of Cainhurst who reacted much the same way…

"But of course, my Lady. Why, I haven't the foggiest idea of whatever you may be talking about!" I declared brightly, still giving her a twinkling look of amusement.

Lady Maria grunted, her narrowed green eyes still glaring at me with deadly promises for a time, before she finally sighed.

"That aside, may I ask what exactly you are doing here? Because if you are here to investigate what lies beyond me to uncover its forgotten secrets-"

I cut off her increasingly menacing words by raising a hand. "Actually, I know exactly what lies beyond this place."

She stared at me.

I shrugged. "Amygdala kept bothering me for a while now about putting the Orphan of Kos to rest at last, but I had a whole bunch of stuff to do first, like-" I began counting on my fingers "- killing the beasts in Yharnam, in Old Yharnam, in Hemwick Charnel Lane, in the Forbidden Woods, In Byrgenwerth, where I also had to kill the Great One Rom, and then there was that whole mess with the hidden cult of Mensis, the Great One known as the One Reborn, or even the Nightmare of Mensis and what lied there-"

"Stop, just... stop for a minute." Maria declared, holding one hand at me while she massaged her forehead with the other.

"First things first." She declared, after taking a deep breath. "Amygdala, the Great One… tasked you… with putting the Orphan of Kos to rest at last." she said slowly while staring at me.

"Yup." I replied, cheerfully agreeing and nodding.

Maria gave me a long look.

"So you know of myself, Kos, and its child, alongside what we old hunters did to the fishing village as a whole?"

"Yup. Though to be fair, I easily recognized you because I am dating your… twin? Yes, let's go with twin."

She stared at me harder.

"What."

I shrugged. "You want the short version, or the whole story?"

After some more staring, Maria sighed deeply.

"Somehow, I've got a feeling I'm going to regret this, but… the whole story, if you please. Spare NO details." She ordered.

My eyes twinkled with amusement at the order.

"No details, eh? Very well then. It all began when I made a deal with a shady-looking guy…"

And then, IN GREAT DETAIL, I proceeded to explain the whole Night to Maria, taking great care to explain everything, especially about the Doll and everything concerning her.

The look on Maria's face when I first told her of the Doll was priceless, and it only grew better with every word I spoke on the subject.

"Prove it." She eventually declared, and while it was told firmly, I could tell the desperate attempt at proving me wrong for what it was:

Thoroughly desperate.

Still, for a moment I frowned, thinking about how to go about doing that…

And then I smiled.

"Very well then." I replied cheerfully.

And then I took out the Doll body I found in the real version of Gehrman's Workshop for her to see, explaining what it was to Maria, who came closer and took in the Doll's incredible resemblance to herself with stunned shock.

Needless to say, it didn't take long before I had to stop talking, as the great Lady Maria first put her head in her hands, screamed in utter mortification, and then proceeded to curse Gehrman with such strength, length and creativity that I could only listen with mute awe at a vocabulary which would make the oldest, most grim-faced pirates and sailors blush and look uncomfortable.

Eventually, after Maria was done mimicking strangling Gehrman with unquestionable enthusiasm and unbridled passion, and after she had stopped pacing across the room with her weapon tightly gripped in her right hand as she growled like an enraged predator on the hunt, she finally collapsed on her chair with a huff, waving me to keep going with my tale.

And as I told her of my adventures, from the deepest Nightmares to the greatest churches, her expression went from horrified to awed to shocked to, eventually, numb staring at me.

A long moment after I finished, she finally blinked.

"That happened." she asked, though perhaps simply stated, from the flat tone of her voice.

"Yup."

"Really."

"Yuuup."

She sighed.

"I have… so many things I'd like to say about… everything I just heard. You…"

She rubbed her forehead for a time, before shaking her head.

"You killed GREAT ONES." she finally declared as she looked up at me, her voice and look containing the immense storm of emotions within her.

"Not just butchered them at their weakest, or with many hunters at your side, no, you FOUGHT them, by yourself, and WON. SEVERAL TIMES."

I nodded.

She kept staring.

Then she sighed. "So, you are here to free the spirit of the Orphan of Kos."

"Indeed."

She nodded. "Right then."

She stood up (making me notice that she was at least a head taller than I was), turned around, and then took the nearby Celestial Dial and opened the path at the end of the room.

Then she marched forward, before looking at me over her shoulder when she arrived at the threshold.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Are we going to do this or no?"

I blinked, shook my head with a chuckle, and then followed.

It figures, really, that after everything, Maria would naturally seek to see the end of this sordid tale of blasphemous deeds with her own eyes.

She had sought to protect the resting place of Kos and her child for many years… but was it truly surprising that she, who took her own life over the horrible deeds she had been accomplice of, would eagerly jump at the chance to actually set the ancient wrongs right?

Thus, I stood at her side as I finally crossed the threshold to the Fishing Hamlet, staring at it for a moment…

And then I stepped forward, with her at my side.

It was time to go kill an infant god.

As we walked towards the hamlet, I took in the ocean around us, and noticed the vaguely recognizable shape of Yharnamite buildings beneath the sea itself.

Mentally shaking my head, I focused most of my attention on the slowly approaching figure of a fishman priest ahead of us.

"Byrgenwerth... Byrgenwerth... Blasphemous murderers... Blood-crazed fiends... Atonement for the wretches... By the wrath of Mother Kos... Mercy for the poor, wizened child... Mercy, oh please..."

I could see Maria flinch at the words, and I put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on. We'll make things right- No need to let old sins weigh us down, now more than ever."

She looked at me for a moment, before nodding in thanks and walking forward again.

As she passed the old Fishing Hamlet Priest, he seemed to stare at her especially hard.

"Atonement for the wretches... Lay the curse of blood upon them, and their children, and their children's children, for evermore. Each wretched birth will plunge each child into a lifetime of misery!

Mercy for the poor, wizened child... Let the pungency of Kos cling, like a mother's devotion...

Curse here, curse there. A curse for he, and she, why care? A bottomless curse, a bottomless sea, source of all greatness, all things that be. Listen for the baneful chants. Weep with them, as one in trance. And weep with us, oh, weep with us..."

As the sounds of his voice finally ended with the distance, Maria let out a shuddering breath, but waved me off when I gave her a concerned look.

"As you said, we are here to make things right. So let's get on with it."

I nodded. "Very well."

We soon arrived at a Lantern, which I activated under the curious gaze of Maria.

"So this is one of the Lanterns you spoke of…" her eyes fell on the messengers around it. "And the Messengers of the Dream."

I nodded.

For a moment, she stared at the Lantern, a complicated storm of emotions in her eyes as she no doubts thought of those who lived within the Dream… but eventually she shook her head and kept going forward, green eyes holding only determination within them.

The poor fishman who tried to ambush her seconds later didn't even get to scream before his head went flying.

I nodded. "Swift." I praised.

She smiled slightly, but otherwise just kept going.

As we kept going forwards, Maria and I kept quickly killing our enemies, though when we came across the one who had the ability to launch spirits at us I didn't bother holding back.

A wave of my hand in his direction, and a dozen fireballs turned both him and all other fishmen nearby to ash.

Maria whistled slightly.

"It is one thing to hear about it, it's another to see it." She replied when I glanced at her.

I shrugged, nodding.

Fair enough.

Of course, that was when a giant fishman showed up.

And then died when I Quickened to his head and stabbed him in the brain.

I jumped back from his falling corpse, nodded once, then turned around.

Maria looked from the giant corpse to me, then back, before nodding.

"As I said." she declared.

Then she turned to look at the nearby well, a strange look on her face appearing and then disappearing in a flash, before she shook her head, tightened her grip on her weapons, and marched onwards, face blank.

Deciding not to ask questions- I had a good idea of what it was about anyway, considering the description of the Rakuyo- I followed after her instead.

After clearing a few houses of fishmen, we took a path on a nearby hill that led to the rooftops, from which I opened up a shortcut by way of putting a ladder in place.

After dealing with the fishmen in a nearby house, I found the Harrowed set and put it in my Inventory, the sight of which left Maria staring for a moment before she shook her head.

When we went back down, she again looked at the well… And then her green eyes snapped towards me.

"You like to collect all kinds of Hunters' Tools, correct?" she questioned.

I nodded.

She gestured towards the well.

"Then go down there… You'll find a weapon like mine there."

I gave her a long look, well aware of the whole story behind why that weapon was there, but she just looked back calmly at me.

Eventually I nodded, went down, killed the giant fishermen down below, and went back up with the Rakuyo in hand.

Maria gave her old weapon a long look… Then nodded at me and walked forwards.

With a shrug, I put it in my Inventory and followed her.

Going up the hill, we faced (spirits throwing, in one case) fishmen, fishdogs (which I gleefully set on fire with a delight that had Maria throwing me a bewildered look, and my answer of "Damn Giant Demon Fire Dog" just seemed to increase her curiosity and bewilderment) and more giant fishmen.

Honestly, I knew that the creators of the game created this place based on "The Shadow over Innsmouth" from Lovecraft, but even he didn't go so far as having fishdogs in his story!

Or giant fish people either, but that I didn't mind.

They were really bad at dodging fireballs, after all, considering their sizes.

Soon enough, we arrived at the top of the hill, where a broken down wooden Lighthouse half-stood against all odds, and where a lantern could be found- alongside a locked door.

Normally, this was where a dying Simon could be found in-game, but considering that Simon already went "Fuck that shit, I'm going home!" there was, naturally, no one to be found.

Thus, after activating the lantern, both Maria and I kept going.

Maria did stop at a grave with a single flower overlooking the sea for a time, staring at both the grave and then the sea, but eventually she kept going, her green eyes still visibly alight with determination to make things right.

We then came upon another group of buildings with fishmen everywhere, but since I had already killed Brador, it turned out simple enough for both of us to kill our way through.

Simple enough that we began talking of our separate hunter life, with Maria telling me various tales of her birth and childhood at Cainhurst, followed by her time as Gehrman's apprentice.

Once that was done, we naturally began talking about weapons and the Arcane, and the sheer number of masteries I had accumulated over my time as a hunter in both Martial and Arcane skills impressed her greatly- or so I felt, by both the look in her eyes as I spoke of it all, and my (Empathy) catching her awed reactions to my various tales of fighting from the lowliest of beasts to the greatest of Gods and Legends such as Ebrietas or Ludwig- and successfully standing victorious in such fights, all over the course of what could arguably be call a single night's worth of time.

I naturally also began talking in greater details of the various factions I had encountered- from the Healing Church as a whole, to Cainhurst and its immortal queen and even of the League under Valtr.

Needless to say, I was rather- if not immensely- critical of the first, though I made no attempts to hide my problems with some of Cainhurst old "tolerated" practices that I personally found unacceptable.

That subject led to my status as a Vileblood and my capability to use the Blood Arts, and a great debate over whether the use of the Blood Arts was a good thing or not.

Of course, that led me to reveal that I did not need to fear for my health as others who use the Blood Arts sometimes did with some of the techniques/weapons, while also mentioning my status as a Blood Saint, which certainly stunned Maria quite a bit, since a Blood Saint, especially one who became so from the moment he had his first transfusion of Old Blood, was… shocking, to say the least.

Other things led to that continuous feeling of awe I felt from her- the places that I went to and successfully conquered the dangers of (such as the entirety of the Chalice Dungeons), the foes I faced and killed, my stunning capability to rival, if not stand greater than, the very gods themselves in battle and more besides.

Eventually though, our discussion was put to a temporary pause as we entered the parasite farms, and after clearing the first layer of it and opening the nearby shortcut, I decided to show some of what we were talking about concerning Arcane (and magical) abilities by unleashing various spells and arcane abilities on any enemy we encountered.

Which were all copies of the snail woman I encountered before the Ludwig fight, by that point.

The only time that changed was when we entered the caverns, where that one guy who could send spirits our way was.

As we were discussing Void magic at the time, I thus pointed at him and the corner of the cavern he and some snail women were in, and nodded.

"Here, I am going to show you one of my most powerful spells. It effectively creates a Black Hole from which nothing can escape. Watch carefully."

And then I cast the spell under her attentive watch, and not only did the spell eat the spirits thrower, it also ate the spirits, the snail women AND the nearby rocks from the walls.

Maria didn't whistle, but I could feel from (Empathy) that she was very close to doing so.

I smiled. "I trust it illustrates well the power of Void magic?"

She shook her head, looking faintly stunned as she put a gloved hand over the walls of rocks which clearly had been bigger before.

"That is an understatement if I ever heard one, Aeon."

I chuckled, but we kept going soon enough- we still had work to do.

We did find an elevator soon after, which allowed me to open the locked gate at the Lighthouse where the Lantern was.

Going back down, I then signaled Maria to wait, and then swiftly killed the frenzy-inducing woman before setting her body on fire.

And then I did the same with the other one nearby.

I was, after all, the only one of us who was immune to frenzy attacks.

Nodding at her, we then made our way in the other path, where after killing more snail women and some lightning bolts summoners, I found a Blood Rock!

Sure, they weren't as useful to me thanks to Gehrman's teaching, but still!

Naturally, the discovery of said Blood Rock caused Maria and I to start comparing our knowledge of Bloodstones and Gemstones, with me drawing out of my Inventory various examples in my possession to better help the discussion.

Eventually, however, the discussion ended when we came up to a cavern where dozens of snail people were prostrating towards the entrance of the cave.

We shared a grim look, understanding that it was finally time to do what we were here to do, though before I kept going, I instead took out the Lunar Tear that the Doll gave me at our first meeting and enjoyed its scent again.

Maria looked at me to the flower with confusion for a few seconds, before her eyes widened as she remembered one specific part of my tale.

Her green eyes softened.

"You truly do love her, my… twin, don't you?" she asked softly.

I nodded. "I truly do." I replied, equally softly but with unquestionable conviction.

She smiled. "I'm glad. I never… really had the chance for such things myself. I was too focused on becoming the best Hunter I could become, or with helping Yharnam and her people in whatever ways I could, and then…"

She trailed off.

"And then, the events of the Fishing Hamlet massacre happened." I finished.

She nodded.

I looked at the flower in my hand… And then extended it towards her with a smile.

Maria blinked in surprise, but after giving me a look asking for permission, she gently took it, admired its beauty for a moment, before taking a deep whiff of its scent.

Then she looked at it with a small smile.

"It's beautiful. And its scent is incredible. And…" she frowned in thought.

"There is a certain feeling of… peace, and safety, and even warmth from it. How peculiar…" she whispered, before shaking her head and giving it to me back.

I put it back in my Inventory, giving her one last smile, and then the both of us walked forward, coming out of the cave to an open beach where a massive corpse laid on the sand.

Maria's hands clenched on her weapons at the sight, old feelings of horror, guilt and regret threatening to overwhelm her, and even I felt a deep, burning sense of Wrath, Despair, and… Longing? In the whole place.

Still, I was used to such things by now, so I put a hand on her shoulder again, and after she stared for a time in my concerned black eyes, she took a deep breath and nodded.

Again, we began walking forward.

And then this happened.

BOSS BATTLE

ORPHAN OF KOS

I used (Insight).

Orphan of Kos.

Level 100.

I smiled.

Well then.

It's about time you went back to your mother, nameless orphan.

Lady Maria, student of Gehrman, the First Hunter (who she had every intention to have WORDS with one day, concerning some recent revelations), stared at both Kos and her newly revealed orphan with equal amounts of horror and determination.

It was one thing to want to make things right, it was another one entirely to face her darkest sins so literally.

Ans she had little doubt that this was going to be a fight unlike any even she, the student of the First Hunter, could imagine.

The first reason, of course, was that she was about to try and kill a GOD.

True, it was "only" an infant Great One, but still!

And of course, there was the second reason, who was even now calmly, if coldly, examining the Orphan, standing close to her right, with gun and Holy Moonlight Sword (glowing bright with the power of the Arcane) in each hand.

Aeon, the Good Hunter: slayer of madmen, beasts, and gods alike, all in a frankly awe-inspiring attempt to save Humanity from the scourge of beasts.

And also the boyfriend of her "twin" as he put it, though the whole thing was frankly bewildering.

To think that her master Gehrman would do such a thing as… creating a living doll somehow that looks exactly like her…

She certainly held no ill will towards this "Doll." From Aeon's own words, she was one of, if not, the kindest persons in all the world (though she heavily suspected him of being slightly biased on the matter) and in any case, she certainly had no fault for being… "born" as she was.

Gehrman, on the other hand, that was an entirely different matter.

And then there was the fact that Aeon was the boyfriend of said "Doll."

Who looked exactly like her.

She would admit, her "twin" had certainly good tastes in men, from what she had seen- Aeon was certainly handsome (shockingly so, in fact, and his sheer charisma was undeniable, even in minutes after their… meeting… she had already noticed it) and an incredible Hunter (A godslayer multiple times over. Just… what?).

She wouldn't be surprised if more women other than just her "twin" were interested in him…

Then again, Aeon did tell her of the Doll's comment about wanting children, and her willingness for him to have multiple romantic partners, which…

Well, it was true that a man with multiple partners wasn't completely unknown to either Yharnam or Cainhurst, whether it was out of the fact that hunters tended to try to live without regrets, for who knew when the next hunt would be their last? Or as a way of showing power and influence- that was mostly true for Cainhurst nobles.

True, in the latter case it was more often than not a man with one wife and several mistresses, rather than one man and several women with equal standing among one another.

And of course there was the Healing Church's desire to ensure the continuity of useful "Bloodlines"...

And if Aeon actually SUCCEED in saving Yharnam- and all of Humanity…

Well. All together, she couldn't help but admit that she could definitely see where her "twin" came from, and agree with her decision making.

Though Maria herself would be hard-pressed to remain able to look in Aeon's eyes for more than a few seconds without turning away with a blush on her face.

That first meeting was going to haunt her for a long time, she feared- and Lady Maria knew a thing or two about past mistakes.

… All that to say, the day of the massacre of the Fishing Hamlet was, without a doubt, the worst day in her life.

This day, where she stared at an infant god and prepared herself mentally to try and do her best to kill it, was by far the weirdest.

She blamed the man beside her.

Oh, and Gehrman, too.

Again, she mentally vowed to find a way to stab her old pervert of a mentor once this whole fight with the Orphan of Kos was over.

She REFUSED to pass on until justice was done!

She had lived on for this long already, surely there would be a way to one day go into the Hunter's Dream and stab him?

She would find a way to come back to life altogether if she had to!

She would-

The Orphan finally turned, its eyes settling on both incoming hunters, and Maria's desperate attempts to not think about the feelings of Wrath and Despair permeating this place, or of the sheer enormity of the task she had set out to do, crashed and promptly died an ugly death.

Fitting, a part of her brain thought, while the rest of her froze under the inhuman weight of the god-child's stare full of raw malice, hatred, and godlike power combined.

That stare foretold of only one thing: a promise of a bloody, brutal and agonizing death.

The scream of sheer rage it then unleashed only furthered that conviction.

Naturally, the man at her side responded by not even slowing down his slow walk towards their foe, seemingly uncaring of the danger ahead.

Maria swallowed, focused on trying to come up with strategies- not exactly easy, considering she was trained to kill beasts, not Eldritch gods- when Aeon's voices derailed all of her half-formed plans.

"Just so you know, if you get killed by placenta of all things, I am totally telling EVERYONE the full story of our first meeting."

Maria froze.

A look of utter horror took over her noble features.

"You wouldn't dare!" She half-whispered, half-shouted.

Aeon merely grinned. "Try me."

And then both god and godslayer vanished and reappeared in the middle of the beach, shockwaves smashing into the sandy ground from where divine placenta met Arcane sword.

Maria cursed loudly both men and gods alike, swore unholy vengeance against them both, and then charged in, all apprehension gone in favor of sheer, glorious murderous intent.

It took her exactly five seconds to come to the conclusion that no, she wasn't, in fact, capable of matching god or godslayer, when a glancing blow still sent her flying backward almost all the way back to the cave entrance.

With a grunt, she got up and decided to change strategy;

Let Aeon, godslayer that he was, take on the god by frontal assault.

Meanwhile, she was going to focus on precision strikes whenever an opportunity presented itself.

Beyond that-

A crashing sound of thunder loud enough to almost deafen her crashed on the beach, and the world turned white as thousands of lightning bolts crashed all over the beach, except for where she was.

The nameless Orphan replied by sending just as many Blood spikes and daggers at Aeon, and the whole beach suddenly started steaming from the heated Blood and Lightning crashing everywhere.

-She was just going to focus on not dying.

Charging right back into the fray, Maria and Aeon fell into a rhythm where Aeon would clash blow for blow with the Nameless Orphan, while Maria focused on attacking at every moment of weakness of their foe.

Eventually, Maria herself coated her blades with Blood, as, while reluctant to use the Blood Arts, it really didn't take a genius to see this was a fight where she could hold nothing back.

A truth further proven by the escalating power of the exchanged attacks between Aeon and the Nameless Orphan, as lightning storms, Earth spikes, storms of deadly sharp shards of ice and even blasts of both Light and Darkness were countered by various Blood magics and then followed by Arcane spells capable of targeting entire areas against the two agile hunters, and even the ocean itself suddenly seemed to help the Orphan, as great waves rose up to intercept attacks which came too close to hitting the infant god.

Then the Nameless Orphan took one too many blows, and obviously decided that enough was enough, as wings sprouted from his back and he began passing just as much time flying than he passed attacking from the ground.

Naturally, Aeon proceeded to reply in kind, as Black Holes, exploding Suns, and Arcane Stars or meteors were joined by tentacles coming out of portals.

Furthermore, Aeon began to outright teleport and create portals from which Maria could attack from at unexpected angles against the Nameless Orphan, while she noticed that his sword glowed a bright dark green as Arcane blasts, waves and some kind of invisible strikes kept harassing the Orphan.

Maria, if she had the brain power to spare, would have noticed that almost the entire sky of the beach was filled with arcane and magical attacks being traded back and forth, but as it was her entire focus was on using the countless portals created by Aeon, closing and opening around her at every second that passed, which let her dodge deadly strikes or instead gave her perfect positions to try and give them.

The Orphan, it needs to be said, fought like a devil, trying absolutely everything in the fight to finally bring down his would-be killer.

His ability to heal from the seawater around him, while by no means instantaneous, certainly came as a nasty shock, and prolonged the fight even more, for without a constant pressure being applied against him, any amount of breathing room given to the Orphan allowed him to heal himself.

But, despite his best efforts, he was still only an infant Great One.

And one of the two Hunters who was now fighting him was an experienced godslayer.

The end, when it came, was as abrupt as such things tend to be.

Maria, falling in the air between two portals, had a third portal open itself near her.

Her sword, swift as the wind, struck.

And the Orphan, ever-so-slightly too focused on the greater threat that was Aeon, as was his intention and plan all along, reacted too slowly to dodge.

Thus it could only scream in agony as Maria's blade took out his left foot.

And in that moment where he stumbled, it was Aeon's turn to strike, as his left hand was launched forward, entered the god-child's chest, and unleashed a Void-infused blow around his heart.

Most of the Nameless Orphan's internal organs immediately ceased to exist.

And at long last, with one last dying gasp, the Orphan of Kos fell into the sea below- before exploding into white mist.

Allowing both hunters to return to the heavily cratered beach- which had only one place where no attack struck it.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was where Mother Kos' corpse remained.

Both Aeon and herself fell on the sand, panting heavily in exhaustion after the insane fight they had just gone through.

As she closed her eyes, Maria didn't see Aeon cast one last spell towards a seemingly living shadow which had just appeared over Kos' corpse, which promptly banished it and dispersed it towards the sea.

Nor did she see his smile as the sun finally shone brightly, nor did she notice the beach suddenly gaining an aura of peace and tranquility.

"Is it… always like this against… Great Ones?" She questioned in between tired breaths, as she laid sprawled on the beach, finally opening her tired green eyes and staring at the sky above.

Was it her, or did it seem more welcoming, all of a sudden?

"Honestly, I've had worse." was Aeon's amused reply, and she couldn't help but gasp in shock.

"Worse?!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

He chuckled. "What, did you think that godslaying was EASY?" he replied, mirth obvious in his voice at the very thought.

She fell silent, before groaning.

"I think I'll be satisfied with just one godslaying fight, then, thank you very much." she declared dryly.

He laughed, before looking at her.

"Alright, but tell me this, then- how do you feel about the one we just did?"

She opened her mouth… and then closed it.

What DID she feel?

She looked down at the beach, before blinking in surprise at the sight of a bright sun whose light actually brought warmth to those below and at the peaceful, calm sea stretching out before her.

And as she stared at the warm sun and tranquil sea, all she could feel was…

Peace. Pride, even, feelings that she hadn't felt for so long that she honestly felt stunned at their return- and the strength of said emotions.

She was… happy. The guilt which had led to her suicide was… perhaps not completely gone, she doubted it ever would truly be, but it was so much smaller now, something that she felt at peace with.

And she felt proud, proud of finally having made up for her past sins, proud that, this time, what she did was unquestionably GOOD.

She looked at the man close to her, who had introduced himself as Aeon…

The Good Hunter.

A name given to him by her twin.

A fitting name, she couldn't help but think, as he stared at the sea and sun with unmistakable satisfaction at a job well done in his dark eyes.

"Thank you." She finally said, the simple words almost choked from the sheer strength of the gratitude she felt.

He blinked, looking at her curiously.

"Thank you… for helping me make things right."

He smiled.

It was a warm, kind smile, full of only genuine joy at having helped another- at having done something good, and having helped make the world a better place.

Then that smile turned into a concerned frown.

"You're crying." He pointed out softly.

She blinked, noticing that she was, in fact, crying.

Still, she smiled.

"Tears of joy, Good Hunter." She replied, and she marveled once again at how… free she felt.

As if a heavy shackle which she had never noticed the presence of was suddenly gone, leaving only immense relief behind.

He stared at her for a moment, before grinning.

"Indeed."

And then he gave her a hug.

She froze.

"You…"

He snorted. "Don't try to resist- Trust me, I won't take no for an answer. And besides, how long has it been since you got a hug anyway?"

She blinked, and actually gave the question some thought. How long has it been?

Her mind blanked.

… She couldn't even remember. Long, far too long.

After thinking about it for a moment, she mentally shrugged.

Frankly, at this point she was both physically and emotionally too exhausted to care about much of anything right about now.

So instead, she let her head rest on his right shoulder, and she silently accepted the hug, staring alongside him at the bright, warm sun and the peaceful sea ahead of them.

How long they stayed like this, she had no idea, but then again it was obvious neither of them cared.

Certainly, she felt far too warm and at peace to do anything but enjoy the moment.

Eventually though, she decided to get up, Aeon following after her, and she noticed an unlit lantern nearby.

She gestured towards it.

"You should go, Aeon. You still have more work to do before the end of the night of the Hunt, don't you?"

He nodded. "I do indeed." He gave her a concerned glance.

She smiled. "Don't worry about me, I am not going anywhere. I…" she trailed off, turning to look at the sea and shining sun, before turning back to smile brightly at him. "I'm going to stay here for a time. I've got a lot to think about, after all."

He smiled at her, before activating the Lantern.

Then, he gave her a hunter's bow that she gladly returned.

"Goodbye, Lady Maria. Until we meet again."

"Goodbye, Good Hunter Aeon."

As he turned towards the Lantern, she smirked.

"Oh, and do tell my sister that I shall think over her idea of sharing you, will you? I must admit, she has fine taste in men…"

The last she saw of the Good Hunter was the startled, shocked look he gave her before he disappeared from the Hunter's Nightmare.

She laughed. "You may have had the first laugh, Good Hunter, but I still remain the eldest hunter of us both! The final victory is mine, Aeon!"

Then, snickering heavily at the hilarious look he had on his face, she sat on the sandy ground of the beach, staring for a moment at the corpse of mother Kos, before looking over the peaceful sea and shining sun.

And as she began thinking of recent events, and of a certain handsome man with kind black eyes, she couldn't help but wonder if the feelings of gratitude she felt were solely her own…

Or if they were a mirror of the feelings of the sea before her.

"...Ahh, sweet child of Kos, returned to the ocean... A bottomless curse, a bottomless sea. Accepting of all that there is and can be..."

As I returned to the Hunter's Dream, I couldn't help but blink rapidly at what just happened.

Was… was Maria serious? She certainly felt like it, beneath the obvious amusement she felt at getting one over me at last.

For a moment, I just stayed there, blinking dumbly.

"Good Hunter?" the Doll voice questioned, as she stared at me curiously.

I turned, staring at her for a long moment.

"I think that I accidentally seduced your sister." I finally replied, a far-away look in my eyes.

The Doll blinked.

She tilted her head.

"That… will require context, dear Aeon." she pointed out, amusement shining brightly in her green eyes.

"Right then…" I muttered, before launching into the full story of my adventures in the Hunter's Nightmare.

And of the time I passed with Maria.

By the end of it, the Doll was nodding in comprehension.

"I see… Well, that does explain a lot."

She hummed.

"Now that I think of it… I believe I once heard something about how men found the concept of twins attractive… Tell me, do you find the mental image of both myself and Maria naked in your bed an attractive one? And any children of Maria would look remarkably similar to any potential children between us, which I would be very interested in seeing, especially if it turns out that I cannot bear any for you myself…"

I choked on my own spit at her words.

She blinked, tilting her head again. "Is there something wrong, Good Hunter?"

I shook my head, muttering something about how I should have seen this coming, considering that she wasn't human- and thus didn't have the same concept of taboo topic of conversations- before taking a deep breath.

Right then, my girlfriend, who already made it clear that she had no problem- the opposite, in fact- with me having multiple lovers, just bluntly asked me if I would be interested in having both her and the closest thing to a "sister" she had as lovers.

… It was moments like these that made me remember that this definitely was not my Earth, and that the Doll wasn't a human woman.

So with all that being said, and with the theoretical understanding that honesty in any relationship was a good thing, I decided to nod in agreement.

"Yes, I do find that mental image… VERY attractive." I answered.

The Doll's bright smile at the news just kept hammering the fact that she was NOT human, and had a very different way of thinking.

"Very well then. If her last words to you are anything to go by, then it shouldn't be too difficult to arrange in the future. I will naturally do my best to support you, dear Aeon, though my admittedly small knowledge of such things tells me that you shall have to be the one to convince Maria yourself… Though I suppose that I can try to bring up the subject, if the opportunity ever arises..."

I nodded numbly. Then, after giving her my thanks, I rather dazedly went to Meditate.

I really needed to clear my mind after this conversation.

And not just to try and banish the very attractive mental images assailing my brain.

Eventually, after much more time than usual, I successfully began to meditate, and focused on the latest events.

I had received the Kos Parasite from killing the Boss, alongside a rather impressive number of Blood Echoes and the message "Nightmare Slain."

A different message than the usual "Prey Slaughtered", as I expected.

I also noticed that I had a stunning (90/100) Rep with Lady Maria, which was… damn impressive.

Though understandable, really, considering what I helped her with.

It also put into some perspective her last words to me. If her Rep was truly that high, then…

I shook my head. That was a matter for later.

Nonetheless, with all that over and done, the only things left to do was buy the various weapons available in the Messenger Bath, maxing any new skills I get from those weapons- like the archery skill I would no doubt receive from Simon's Bowblade- and then follow that up by checking up on the various friendly people of Bloodborne, such as those in the Oedon Chapel or Queen Annalise.

And once that was done, all that would be left to do was to finish what little left of the Chalice Dungeons I didn't travel to yet, the Mergo boss fight, and then, at long last, the Gehrman boss fight.

Followed by the one against my Moonlight Benefactor.

And then godhood would be mine.

I opened my eyes, staring at the gates deep within the Hunter's Dream leading to the final boss fight area of Bloodborne.

Soon, so very soon now, I would finally uphold my old vow of rising greater than ever before.

Soon.

Checking on my (Meditation) Level, I noticed that I was almost at level 100.

With a mental shrug, I closed my eyes, then focused on getting said skill to max.

It took some time, but eventually-

I fell.

Opening my eyes, and getting up when I noticed I was laying on the ground, I rose- and then froze at the sight and smell surrounding me.

I was in the Hunter's Dream… Or more specifically, a NIGHTMARE VERSION of the Hunter's Dream.

Because this most definitely was NOT the one I was familiar with.

The ground was covered in Blood; the vegetation was dead or dying; the sky was an ominous red-black color; and the whole place stunk of Blood, death and decay.

This was…

A loud CRASH sound resonated further within the Hunter's Dream.

I ran towards it… And then froze.

The beast before me… It was an abomination like none I ever saw the like of before.

Some parts of it were on fire, with what had to be lava for Blood; other parts were frozen in ice, while others still looked to be made of living Shadow or Light.

The moment our eyes met, we both froze, as an indescribable sensation of pure, raw HATRED flashed through our eyes.

I knew what this thing was.

I had suspected its presence, even without the Game mentioning it since the very beginning.

This… this abomination which stood before me, who held only hatred for me and vice-versa…

This was MY inner beast. MY inner madness, and Bloodlust, and all things wrong and corrupt within me.

And the very sight of it made my whole being scream with hate, rage with disgust, howl with wrath at its very existence- feelings which were all too easy to see were fully reciprocated by the beast before me.

The absolute worst part, however- the one which had my struggling to decide whether I was more enraged or utterly, overwhelmingly, incomprehensibly offended- was that my inner beast...

Was a GODS BE DAMNED DOG!

Of all possible forms my inner beast could have taken, it just HAD to be a dog-like abomination!

It was like Reality itself was mocking me!

I was, to put it mildly, BEYOND ENRAGED at the revelation!

However, when I used (Insight) to learn more…

I smiled.

Coldly, darkly, in cruel triumph.

A message appeared.

*Ding!*

You have discovered the hidden trait "Inner Beast"!

[Inner Beast]: There's a problem with your new body and mind: there's now a bestial side to your mind trying to claw its way out and take over, somewhat literally. Drinking or covering yourself in too much blood, consuming items like Beast Blood Pellets, or using/taking various other items like the Beast Claw will all empower it. If it gets too powerful and manages to take over, transforming you from Hunter into Beast, you lose. There are ways to fight it though. Avoiding or pacing yourself on blood pushes it down a bit. Becoming more worldly and insightful will weaken it as well. Willpower can slow its power grab, but can't stop it on its own.

I chuckled darkly.

Because, by a combination of my max Insight, sheer Willpower and (Gamer's Mind), I had effectively been starving AND weakening my inner beast all along.

Not consuming Beast Blood Pellets, not using Beast Claw, doing my best to remain calm in battle, all that and more starved the beast.

And things like Insight outright weakened it.

Thus, while my inner beast had my powers…

It did not have my STATS.

Oh, it was still extremely powerful- just having skills like (Physical Damage Resistance) alone would make it insanely hard to kill.

The fact it had my immunities made most of my usual mystical arsenal useless, too.

But that didn't matter- not against ME.

Because it did NOT have perfect Physical or Arcane Damage Resistance.

Neither did it have as much HP as I did, since it had worse stats.

And I had the Holy Moonlight Sword, too- which meant guaranteed Arcane AND physical damage dealt at every blow.

Thus I charged, the beast doing the same towards me.

We met in a horrifying clash of blade against claws, our eyes reflecting the same burning hatred towards one another.

Again, and again, and AGAIN, we charged. Clashed. Sent deadly techniques at one another- (Multi-strikes), or even (Dark Cloaked Dimensional Slash).

Me with my blade, it with its claws- it didn't matter.

We both knew one another's skills and abilities perfectly, after all.

We both knew what to look out for, allowing us to know when it was time to dodge, or when instead it was better to try and tank a blow to hopefully give a better one in return.

It was a long fight. It was a VERY long fight. We both had a lot of HP, and with our resistances and healing factor, it was all the easier to get any lost HP back.

How long did it take for the fight to be concluded? I do not know. I was fighting in my very mind, a mental landscape created for one purpose only- to decide who, between Hunter and Beast, was the greatest.

And a fight against something with the exact same advantages- and lack of weaknesses- that I had could only be one worthy of legends in their own right.

And it truly was. Blows capable of obliterating mountains were exchanged in but a blink of an eye, and while elemental attacks were pointless in terms of damage, they could still be used to try and distract one another.

Thus did thunderstorms, volleys of Blood Spears and more were exchanged in between sword strikes and deadly claws seeking blood, over and over again.

The already hellish version of this representation of the Hunter's Dream only became more so, as rivers of lava met with plains of ice and released immense amounts of boiling steam, or areas of pure Darkness fought for supremacy with areas of pure Light.

In the end however, the beast's defeat came for one, simple reason- for all its power, it was neither as strong, or as fast, or as agile as myself, weakened as it was.

Thus, over the hours- or was it days?- or our battle for supremacy, I carved down its health sliver after sliver at a time, until eventually the battle ended as swiftly as it began.

Since the beast possessed (Gamer's Body) like myself, it too was able to fight at its strongest even while at the brink of death…

And thus in a truly fitting fashion for a death by a thousand cuts, its death came when my sword made a simple cut on one of its limbs.

A single cut which took away the last sliver of HP it had left.

And as it happened, the beast froze- and then collapsed, finally put to death at long last.

For a moment, I stared at its corpse, before screaming in triumph.

"GLORY TO CATS!" I shouted gleefully, delivering one final insult to my now slain foe even as I exulted at my victory.

I had done it! I overcame my inner beast!

I did what no other hunter ever did- I became the one, sole master of myself!

At that thought, the entire Hunter's Dream froze- and then changed before my eyes, as all damage disappeared, all traces of corruption dissolved like so much smoke in the winds, to reveal a pristine, carbon-copy of the Hunter's Dream- as I knew it.

Beautiful, peaceful, serene.

I went through my gains, noticing first that a message informed me that the newly revealed trait [Inner Beast] was gone.

Secondly, that I had achieved Max level in (Meditation).

And finally, that I had gained a new Trait!

Mastery of Self: You know your Mind and Soul perfectly, you have nurtured them to the point that they have become immutable bastions of your Self. As such you can no longer be affected by Concepts such as Fate, Death or any other, while no beings, no matter how powerful, are capable of altering your Soul- or sense of Self- in any way any longer without your approval. You furthermore can't be bound by anything or anyone unless you give your consent.

With one last shout of joy and triumph, I disappeared, returning to the "true" Hunter's Dream.

Meanwhile, unknown to the hunter, a great Dreamer rolled contentedly in his sleep beneath the mental landscape resembling that of the Hunter's Dream, having noticed the destruction of one of the shackles seeking to keep him mediocre and weak and feeling a burst of anticipation course through him.

Soon, so very soon now, the Stars will be right for his Ascension.

Soon… his Dream of Eternity could begin!