Under the four blood moons, the eerie Soul Sea of Gehrman quaked. His Shadow manifested just like it had before.
And soon, a line split reality open, and the ghostly apparition of a young man appeared. However, white sparks danced around it as soon as it left the simple dream it had been stored in. The young man returned to the form of The First Hunter.
And then it once again returned to Gehrman's true form.
This was the influence the Second Nightmare had on Gehrman's being. In that moment it had reestablished Gehrman's place in the Nightmare. Aligning him with the body of Old Gehrman.
A rain of blood started to drizzle onto the Shadow and the ghostly form of Gehrman. This time, the transformation started rapidly.
Wet splotchy sounds echoed as the unnatural process of body formation occured.
Instead of months, he was brought back to life in a matter of hours.
Gehrman's consciousness also returned during that time. He quickly noted the exponential increase in rebirth speed. No doubt, this was due to Paleblood's increased authority in this Nightmare.
However, it was hard to feel relief or joy in that moment.
A numb buzzing sound around Gehrman's head. He felt shell shocked. He was no stranger to death, having experienced in this life and many times in his past lives. But this one was the most sudden and unprompted one he ever had.
And it was also the most confusing.
The Bloody Crow…I knew he was a monster but that was ridiculous. That speed was unlike anything I've ever seen.
Gehrman cursed as his bones splintered into being. He did so because he came to a realization.
There was a third Transcendent Human in this Nightmare. And it just so happened to be another lunatic murderer.
Transcendent humans are called "Saints" in Dorian's waking world. I swear, I'm never going to call them such a title after this. What foul creatures humans of the 4th Rank are.
He had acted with unparalleled strength and speed, but that wasn't even what scared Gehrman the most.
First of all, the man had somehow cut the connection he had with his own blood. Since the Bloody Crow wasn't a Vileblood, he had not used his own blood manipulation in order to do so. Instead, it seemed as if his blade simply cut the blood's ability to respond to its master.
Though he wasn't overly familiar with the exact skill sets of Transcendent humans, he was fairly certain such a thing was not within their capabilities.
That brought him to the other thing that worried him.
That Arcane Sealing Mask.
It had thoroughly trapped and ruined Annalise by the time Johann had encountered her.
If the Bloody Crow was using it as a tool, then that would certainly explain his ability to cut Gehrman's connection to his blood.
But where the hell did he get that thing? Arcane tools like that could only be found in the Labyrinth. The only way he could have gotten it is from the Healing Church.
Gehrman had been under the impression that Logarius had been the one to bring the mask. Perhaps he had even dove into the Chalice Dungeons to find it himself.
But it was somehow in the hands of that murderous enigma.
Gehrman swiftly reviewed everything he knew about the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst. He was certainly a strange figure. On Johann's night of the hunt, that man was the one who had bested Eileen. She was a great Hunter who did her job well, but was ultimately no match for the fiend.
Since he had been targeted by the Hunter of Hunters of that era, then he must have been confirmed to be both Blood Drunk and a Hunter. After all, the Hunter of Hunters had a strict code, and they would not slay any random madman.
This fact meant that Eileen eventually discovered who was behind that dreadful mask, and what's more, she recognized him.
A thought entered Gehrman's mind then. But it was interrupted by an abrupt change.
Gehrman felt a shift in his being.
Once again, he had returned from the dead.
The novelty of the situation had long been lost on him. Gehrman wasted no time returning to the line of graves on the slope leading up to the empty workshop. There was now a second stone there, signifying a much different location. Indeed the Second Nightmare was on another plane of existence, so this was only natural.
Without hesitation, Gehrman reached out his hand towards the pale, purple light radiating from the new stone.
…
[Blood Fragments: 942/4,000]
Gehrman stared dumbly at the counter. Before the price of rebirth had been sending him back to zero Blood Fragments. But this time it had barely taken 100!
The complete depletion of his Blood Fragments was already a small price to pay for being raised from the dead. But this was on another level of cheap!
I guess…Paleblood doesn't need as much of a catalyst to revive me in the Nightmare.
He could practically feel the Spell hissing at the eldritch being for bringing about such a divine feat for nothing but a couple of measly Fallen creatures.
It was entirely unfair…and also gave Gehrman a feeling of dread.
With this, he would be able to revive dozens of times.
Did that mean that Paleblood expected him to die that many times?
He shivered at the thought.
Gehrman turned his head in order to ground himself back to reality, only to be met with Caryll's corpse.
He blinked. There was no discernable reaction except a dark look coming across his face. Gehrman did not weep over a fake dream of a woman he could barely call a "friend"...but it did piss him off.
It may be impossible. But I think I'm going to kill a Transcendent in this Nightmare.
An aura of Frenzy mixed with Anguish dripped off him. The world around him seemed to shrink from Gehrman's presence.
He slowly turned his gaze to the West.
If the Bloody Crow had been telling the truth, then Gehrman had to return to Cainhurst, and fast.
…
As a Vileblood Knight, Gehrman had a Cainhurst Summons that would get him to the capital of the land through an Arcane carriage pulled by black steeds. All he had to do was find a Summoning Pillar.
These were placed very sparsely throughout the land. Johann had used the one in Hemwick Channel to reach Cainhurst. But the closest one to Gehrman was actually hidden in a path near the coast of the Ocean. Fortunately, it was relatively close to the ruins of Loran.
Buried beneath sand, the pillar vibrated and the clopping of hooves echoed. An inexplicable fog appeared. One could faintly make out a worn out cobblestone path at the bottom of the fog.
The fog and the path that stretched over the ocean, ignoring all laws of physics.
This strange occurrence was also almost definitely the result of a Great One interfering with the dream.
Of course, at the moment these features were all intentionally added by the Spell since all Great Ones (except for the Moon Presence) were blocked from this reality. Still, the strange thing had made a diligent copy.
As soon as the old carriage appeared, Gehrman was already climbing inside.
And while he did, he lugged a large leather sack with him.
The Nightmare would soon be ending after all. He would be foolish to let all the information Caryll compiled go to waste.
So during the hour-long trip that covered several dozen kilometers, he studied the runes of the Spell. Or rather, its language.
It was a very complex system indeed, and much of it seemed to be up for interpretation. Each rune represented a concept, but the context where the rune was used could change its meaning.
However, the runes that the Spell created were often deprived of such context.
True Names were a good example. It seemed that Nephis's True Name could have a few more harrowing interpretations. Changing Star could also be read as Star of Ruin or a Star that brings change. It seemed to represent an agent of calamitous and drastic change. There was no moral association with this change, however, it was simply a promise that an upheaval would occur.
Given her performance on the Forgotten Shore, this seemed to be a very appropriate true name.
Gehrman's "True Name" on the other hand also had some secrets within it.
Paleblood seemed to be a completely new rune that the Spell made specifically for the Moon Presence. However, there were a few concepts that held similarities. These were helpfully pointed out by Caryll.
Drained of Blood, Corpse, and Abomination all shared similar roots and flourishes. All of which were very fitting descriptions of Paleblood…but they also fit himself as well.
Though he found this disturbing. He consumed as many runes as he could. Eventually comparing the translations from the Spell of the enchantment description with his own new knowledge.
The results were just as disturbing as his True Name.
Many of the terms that were of Old Gehrman and Johann's world seemed to be specifically curated for these new concepts. The concept of hunting and hunters was obviously established prior to Gehrman's arrival, but a new rune was used to describe Yharnam Hunters.
The Old Blood and several other concepts had special runes as well. All of them seemed to share a similar feature that neither he nor Caryll could find anywhere else.
It was hard to put into words. But each of these runes had a certain depth to them. As if someone had written over the lines multiple times. Perhaps it was better to describe it as an instability or inconsistency.
These concepts were of the Great Ones, and thus they were of the Void. The Spell was a creation that seemed to be an antithesis to the madness of the Void, as such its language struggled to accurately define the intricacies of its nature.
All of this continued to cause Gehrman's mind to whirl.
But he was unable to ponder further on runes.
After all, there was some research done on them in Dorian's world. He could still explore them later.
The sound of metal clashing, explosions, and screams that scorched his ears now held his full attention. This was the climax of his Second Nightmare, and it was not something that could be dealt with later.
The Executioners had arrived at Cainhurst.
The slaughter of the Vilebloods was here.