Memory: [Prideful Chikage].
Memory Rank: Ascended
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description:
[The closer a noble is to the Vileblood Queen the greater the esteem they have. While this used to be performative, an event occurred that made the matter of blood purity all the more important.
"Once, a scholar betrayed his fellows at Byrgenwerth and brought forbidden blood back with him to Cainhurst Castle. It was there that the first of the inhuman Vilebloods was born."
Though the auspicious people of Cainhurst had ruled the mountainous Western regions for centuries. It was only a few years before the founding of the Healing Church that the creatures known as Vilebloods were born.]
Memory Enchantments: [Prideful]
[Prideful]
Enchantment Description: [This blood blade exudes an aura of Pride. When fed with arrogant blood, the blade will become impossibly light. But those who feel the weight of the world upon their backs will find this weapon just as heavy as their kindness.]
The Chikage was already unique in its style being from the far East. The curved blade was reminiscent of the "katana" from Dorian's world. It excelled in slashing with the sharp end and parrying with the strong, flat side.
It required great expertise to wield, and in this Dream there were very few who could wield it.
Though Gehrman had some experience wielding it when he was Johann, he was not going to use the Memory when he had the higher tier [Gluttonous Reiterpallasch] and [Burial Blade (Sealed)].
That being said, it was still very useful.
The obvious prize was that he now had five of the seven "Sin" series Memories. All he was missing now were those that bore the name of Envy and Greed.
The Shard Memories from the Forgotten Shore offered a pivotal boon when all of them were gathered, Gehrman suspected that gathering all Sin Memories would prove invaluable in the upcoming conflict…
However, he was running out of time.
"The Venerable Crow." Gehrman muttered as he climbed the ladder in the library. The title showed a great deal of respect. Though the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst had undoubtedly earned great merit for his unprecedented power. The fact remained that he was not a true Vileblood, and thus not of Cainhurst descent.
What had he done to make the proud Royal Guards so reverent?
He did not have time to ponder. As he felt a great concentration of powerful individuals above him.
Gehrman threw himself out of the tallest window and grasped the ledge of the nearest parapet before pulling himself onto the snow covered roof.
A freezing cold wind blew harshly. At this temperature, a normal human would likely die in minutes if they were not equipped with excessive winter gear. Johann pulled up his mask from his Hunters Attire and stepped toward the grand clash that was taking place on the snow covered roof.
A sense of deja vu assaulted him as he recalled walking these same steps when facing the dreaded Martyr Logarius.
Now he could see the man before he deteriorated into the ghastly version of himself that Johann had put down.
Logarius wielded his wheel, and he moved with impossible speed and crushing power. Despite Gehrman's senses being equivalent to the strongest Human of the 2nd Rank, he could not follow the movements of the man.
As he suspected, Logarius was a Transcendent.
And he was clashing with a force just as horrific. The Bloody Crow of Cainhurst moved in an unnatural and ugly way. His momentum constantly shifted and moves were unpredictable.
It was tough to say who was superior, especially because Gehrman could only extract data based on environmental factors and the brief flashes of light that indicated clashes between the two.
However, it was clear who would be the victor.
Gehrman realized at that moment that the Bloody Crow had not betrayed the Queen of Vilebloods, but instead that the tool used to seal her had been stolen by Logarius.
Three elite Executioners aided the soon-to-be Martyr in his battle. One of which had no shirt. It made sense that Logarisus's right hand would be right beside him during the final attack. And though the Ascended humans were far too feeble to truly harm the Bloody Crow. They acted with enough finesse to avoid instant death while also keeping his movements in check.
On the battlefield, there were three Royal Guards left standing, their blades alight with wispy flame. Five Executioners dawning the Gold Ardeo encircled this force. Their teamwork and numbers were superior to the Royal Guards. So even though their individual power was superior, the Vileblood Nobles were clearly falling behind the endless assault of the Executioners.
There was also an additional Executioner who did not wear the golden cone, instead dawning a familiar Iron bucket with a single hole carved into it.
Though the man now wore the Executioner attire, there was no question who that individual was.
Valtr the Beast Eater had arrived at Cainhurst.
He did not use the Whirligig Saw, as this Trick Weapon would not be made for several years. Instead, he used the Kirkhammer. But he swung it with the ferocity of something far more evil.
His screams of bloodlust echoed eerily from under the helmet. Due to the bucket shape, it was even lower than those with the Gold Ardeo.
Gehrman's jaw clenched.
He had now taken the lives of both Vilebloods and Executioners, but in this fight, he could not stand to help either achieve a victory.
After all, he needed each of them men here to die…except for Valtr.
Though the man was ghastly, he was also the source of countless successful hunts. He and his League would reside in the Forbidden Woods and keep the poisonous beasts there in check.
But at the same time, Gehrman acknowledged that this was still a dream, no matter how immersive it was. This reality would soon collapse, and there was nothing he could do about it. At this point, he was mainly playing out his role as Old Gehrman in order to maintain his sanity and acquire relevant resources.
He could very easily act "out of character" if necessary. However, he feared what he would become if he disregarded these people's lives as nothing more than fabrications. They were convincing enough that Gehrman felt something would break inside of him if he slaughtered all of them in search of greater power.
Even still, there had to be blood spilled today.
For that reason, he resummoned the [Slothful Evelyn]. The Memory was of the second tier despite being awarded for killing an Ascended human. This was likely due to the fact that each of the kills were in quick succession and in the same movement.
He had also quickly looked over its Enchantments.
Of course, the [Sloth] enchantment vastly decreased the wearers motivation, movement, and will power. But the second attachment [Roses Thorns] made it especially terrifying.
As long as took the shot while not moving, the bullet could take an extreme amount of blood and essence it would ignore all resistance unless it was met with an equal or greater force. In other words, Gehrman could shoot a single bullet, throw a crowd of Awakened Abominations and slay an innumerable amount of them. This enchantment also helped it ignore any physical limitations like air resistance.
It was an exceedingly potent enchantment, much like the one in the [Wrathful Shaman's Bone Blade]. And like this Memory, it required a good amount of Essence. Around half of a soul core's worth. As well as Fallen Blood to form the glimmering Quicksilver bullet.
That same glow was hard to notice though, as it moved with impossible speed into an Executioner's head.
He made this decision for the simple fact that there were more of them, and thus it would be more likely for him to get more Sin Memories.
The shift in battle was immediate, as the shattering of the Gold Ardeo cracked across the rooftops the chill they all felt became more pronounced.
Gehrman lowered the gun and let it disappear into light sparks.
At this moment, the fighting immediately picked up again. They could not stand to lose even a second of focus.
As the Spell whispered the kill to him, Gehrman gritted his teeth at the lack of a follow up. He had three more chances to get two Sin Memories. Ordinarily, this would be a tall ask, but he could put the odds in his favor so long as he could manipulate the Executioners into acting out either Greed or Envy.
Of course, it would be troubling to accomplish such things.
If only he had been waiting on Wrath, each of these killers would embody that Sin perfectly.
Nevertheless, he jumped into the fray.
He could not use the Reiterpallasch due to the nature of this ambush, so he threw the scythe behind his back before letting it explode forward with unbelievable force.
It was met with a Church Pick, and the clash resulted in the nearby snow to get blown away.
Indeed all throughout the roof the snow was being sent flying by the vigorous combat. The result was a misty white that whirled around them all.
Gehrman moved gracefully around the follow up swings of the Executioner. Having fought Logarius's fanatics multiple times now, he had picked up on their attack patterns.
Though Executioners were specifically taught to fight against humans, they still practiced a technique that prioritized brute force. A battle that could be ended in a single blow was an ideal one.
From the looks of it, he had accomplished this ideal many times tonight. His fists glistened with the blood of fallen Cainhurst people. The red stained the grey fabric of their attire deeply. Causing it to take on a very dark shade.
A familiar dark red shade.
Gehrman couldn't help but let his eyes widen as a thought came to him.
Even while he was surprised, he still dodged the long strike that came from the war pick. A few stray grey hairs were cut and quickly flew off in the whirling white winds surrounding them.
As he continued to ponder the truth behind this new phenomena he kept his movement unpredictable. Fortunately, his own style was different enough from the Vilebloods that it wasn't hard to keep the Executioner off balance.
Unfortunately, the Executioner had something to even the playing field. It was something that Gehrman had not considered from the start of the Nightmare as they were exceptionally rare.
From the start he considered Hunter Tools like the Arcane weapons of the Church to be unattainable due to the place in the timeline, but there was a tool that was created during this Nightmare.
In fact, it was on this very night that Gehrman would witness their creation.
The fists, or rather the gloves of the Executioner did not just glow due to the moonlight, they were physically producing their own harrowing light.
It was the eerie dark red that existed within the Logarius Wheel. A dark blood that consisted of something eldritch and unknowable.
At least, it was unknowable until this very moment.
But Gehrman had the Impurity Oath Rune equipped, so he could see the Vermin from the dead Cainhurst people in the Executioner's hands. Hundreds of Vermin stained his gloves.
But they did not writhe.
They pulsed with a hollow and furious beat. These Vermin had been violently taken from their hosts who had been in excruciating pain.
The Vermin themselves had either transformed or died from this encounter. But the pain they felt still resulted in a terrible dark red mist.
It was this mist that the Logarius Wheel released. The screams of the victims of Cainhurst taken by the weapon fueled its killing even further.
And for those Executioners whose hands were red with the blood of hundreds of victims, the changes were even more dramatic.
It was the appearance of the first Hunter Tool.
The Executioner's Gloves.
At that moment, three ethereal red skulls shot forth from the Executioners hands. The violent will of the dead Vermin released a horrible shriek as they closed in on Gehrman.
He had seen this attack before, as he had tried out the Hunter Tool when Johann had found it. But being on the receiving end was much more oppressive than he realized.
The skulls had some tracking ability to them. So dodging up or down was out of the question. Strafing to the side would be of little help either.
The only way out was backward.
The skulls were most difficult to deal with due to their persistence and inevitably. The damage they inflicted was as bad as three bullets fired from a Hunter Pistol. For Workshop Hunters, these bullets would not seriously injure them even if they were caught off guard.
But being struck by the skulls would also lead to short-form paralysis. In this type of fight, that would mean certain death.
So gehrman threw himself down the dangerous slope of the precarious battlefield. Using the angle of the slanted roof, he bought himself a precious moment as the skulls redirected themselves over the obstacle.
In that time, he brought his hand downward and grasped the tiles of the roof, pulling them from their place.
Each tile was individually laid, so they could not be pulled up to form a shield, but the stone under it certainly could.
Using some blood to guide the process, Gehrman pulled out a slab and braced himself. The impact felt strangely soft, but the stone almost instantly crumpled.
Gehrman put as much force as he could in his legs and leaped as high into the air as he could.
The skulls once again turned to face him.
And the Executioner had finally snapped out of his confusion over the macabre power he now wielded. He saw an opportunity to kill his enemy.
The thick sword of the Church Pick thrusted at his landing spot while the skulls slowly closed off any other area of escape…
But Gehrman simply moved through them.
At this point, the Arcane manifestations had exhausted their power. Each second away from the collective dead Vermin deteriorated its power.
Still, the lingering effects hit him like a truck.
He was not paralyzed, but he did feel an astonishing amount of pain. He could feel his bones break and his neck slit simultaneously. The pain of the Vilebloods now assaulted him.
But it was not comparable to true Agony.
Though that Truth was horrendous, he did appreciate the level of pain tolerance it gave him. At this point, Gehrman would hardly flinch at being stabbed or gutted.
And so he found himself back on the floor in a crouched position.
Both him and his opponent were breathing heavily. The adrenaline coursing through their bloods pumped with such ferocity that all other sounds drowned out besides their own deafening heartbeat.
Gehrman saw his own reflection in the now smudged Gold Ardeo. It was a bit more twisted than he had imagined.
The blood he had on him was a mix of all the people fighting today. As a result, it had a unique shine that seemed to practically sparkle in the moonlight.
Compared to him, the flashy gold adornment that the Executioners wore seemed pale in comparison.
Gehrman took in an incredibly deep breath. Taking in more oxygen than ought to have been possible.
In the middle of his exhale the Executioner attacked once more. Before he could bring his blade down, he was met with Gehrman's heel connecting with a specific rib on his right side.
It fractured under the weight of the twisting blow. The break was messy. Gehrman lacked the power to cleanly break Ascended bones without any preparation.
However, this was more than enough.
Because this Executioner did not know the same pain Gehrman did. He reeled backward.
Gehrman pushed this momentum forward. He tackled the Executioner, and they both were sent careening towards the other fighters.
Amidst the other duels, sparks flew as weapons collided. The air pressure shifted constantly as amazing forces clashed for supremacy. The Executioners no longer had their numerical advantage, and it was clear that they were slowly losing ground.
However, the Royal Guards were also unable to turn the tables quickly due to their own injuries, which were not minor by any means necessary.
So even though they were now surrounded by dangerous warriors, their duel would not be interfered with by any living party.
However, they were now also near the man Gehrman had slain with the [Slothful Evelyn].
The blood from the corpse was chilled, but it still kept some heat that allowed Gehrman to pull it upward and form an approximation of chains.
As he did, he tried to do something that had been brewing in his mind ever since he saw the burning blade.
The Vermin shuddering with great speed reminded Gehrman of something described in a textbook Dorian had found in his world.
What was known as "heat" was simply the speed at which particles moved. The reason fire was so uncontrollable was due to the fact that all surrounding molecules were now dancing with excited energy.
It was very similar to how the Vermin acted.
In fact, it was uncanny.
He pushed his Aspect farther than it had ever gone and he reached deep inside the blood that shot towards the recovering Executioner.
He first strengthened the bonds between molecules, trying to make the chains solid and unbreakable.
This partially worked as they seemed to take on a more metallic sheen. However, he could feel the liquid inside was still the largest part of the makeshift restraints.
It didn't matter in the end though.
As soon as the blood chains pulled the Executioner to the ground, the remaining blood from the fallen Executioner started to form a shuddering lance.
It shook with an eerie pattern that was decidedly unnatural. The pointed end was reflected in the Executioner's eye.
In the next moment two things happened simultaneously.
The first was the combustion that Gehrman desired. Starting from the inside, the lance became a pillar of wild flame.
Gehrman could feel his Aspect adapt to the new heat, and he strained himself to adjust to the unfamiliar phenomena of controlling flames.
Meanwhile, the Executioner summoned the last of his strength to shatter his bindings and roll to the side.
However, the impact of the flaming lance never came.
For in that same instant as it lit up with brilliant light, it also burned through every single fragment of blood that made up the ethereal weapon.
Gehrman's mouth slightly dropped as he made a confused sound. He had expected it to be difficult, maybe even impossible to turn blood into flames with his Aspect Ability.
Though he had trained his [Blood Control] with an obsessive fervor. Manipulating blood on a molecular level was a feat he found hard to visualize.
But perhaps the adrenaline he was drowning in allowed him to realize the blood flame…but unfortunately reality had other plans.
Fire was not a form of matter nor was it life. Instead, it was simply a process. A process that ate away at surrounding matter to form an even greater reaction.
But if it was forced to feed off of only blood, then it apparently would fall apart quite easily.
The wisps of smoke were quickly chased away by the tyrannical winds of Cainhurst, but Gehrman was already moving.
The exhausted and exasperated Executioner had started to get his bearings when Gehrman's [Burial Blade (Sealed)] returned to its curved greatsword form and sliced the throat of the Executioner.
The man brought his hands (now alive with ghostly shades) to his neck. As he choked on his own blood, the Gold Ardeo fell off the man's head revealing a young face.
He was probably barely into his 20's. Peach fuzz scratched at his chin and his cheek bones stuck out prominently.
And the light left his eyes.
[You have slain an Ascended Human, Executioner Qul.]
[You have received a Memory.]