If Gehrman were a normal Awakened who could receive Memories he would probably be upset at all the kill-stealing this Fallen Titan was doing.
None of it was on purpose, all the wrath-consumed beast wanted was Gehrman dead, but since Gehrman just so happened to show up near any cluster of Nightmare Creatures…
Well, the results were evident enough.
The whole region of the Antarctic Central looked like it had been carpet bombed 5 times over.
It had been 2 days since he first encountered the Titan, and these last 48 hours had given him more stress than the last 2 weeks. Granted he wasn't entirely coherent during that time, but it still bugged him how tough his current situation was.
The mountainous creature flailed wildly now with no real tactics or thoughts other than bloody murder. That itself would be enough to ruin any roads or structures nearby. But while Gehrman could easily steer clear of those, the damn heat-wave attack had proven to have absurd range, it actually melted the surface of Coastal Highway, turning it into boiling liquid.
That being said, Gehrman hadn't been just dodging wildly and leading the Titan in a random manner.
He had taken the time to find the approximate location of Erebus Fields and the Nightwalker Naeve (who he had been sent to protect during this influx of Tyrants, Terrors, and Titans).
Naeve was indeed on a naval convoy, clearing out all Nightmare Creatures near the coast. And while he was faced with some difficulty, he hadn't faced anything too bad yet.
So long as Gehrman kept his new wrathful friend in check, there shouldn't be an issue.
Of course, there were still plenty of issues.
Gehrman's endurance and stamina may have been absurd – perhaps even the best in the world besides the cloistered Supreme Humans – but he had been nearing his limit for a while now, and only by carefully rationing Essence and staying extra sharp could he avoid death.
On top of that, the Call was growing stronger and stronger. Gehrman was startled to realize that this wasn't just because of the Chain of Nightmares, it was because of what was growing in his own Soul.
The Tier 3 Seed that would turn him into a Transcendent.
This wasn't a random escalation, but something that had been slowly growing for the past year and a half. He was fairly certain he could fight it off for at least a couple months, but it seriously hindered him during combat.
And that was a serious issue.
One misstep could prove fatal, after all.
And though Gehrman was sure he would revive again, the time it would take to go through that process meant that by the time he got back there might be nothing left in Antarctica to save.
Instead, he needed the cavalry to arrive, and fast.
Suddenly, Gehrman picked up something rapidly approaching with his [Sixth Sense].
Gehrman took the opportunity to use flight in order to catch the projectile. It was costly, but at the moment, standing still and catching it would likely be worse.
The winds howled and screamed as the Titan's mass caused everything to shudder.
Above the rising clouds of snow, Gehrman caught what appeared to be a bolt from a crossbow with some difficulty.
The bolt was of the same design as most Memories were, looking archaic yet beautiful in design.
And then, it talked.
"Ascended Gehrman?"
"Hello random sentient crossbow bolt, how are you this fine evening?"
After a beat of silence the voice responded in a gruff, tired voice.
"This is Ascended Davis, Captain in the First Irregular Company. We can't talk for long, the further away the bolt is the more Essence it drains to send my voice to it."
"Understood. Did you get my message?" Gehrman asked as he abruptly fell out of the sky, avoiding another wild swing of the Titan's arm.
"...Yeah, you dented the wall."
Davis did not seem pleased about that fact.
In Gehrman's defense though, it was an absolute necessity. He had to contact Erebus Fields and the Master there, but he couldn't very well bring his Titan around. Gehrman had spent several hours carving words into a large rock, and eventually chucking it in the direction of Erebus Fields.
It took a few tries, and it was the part of the reason Gehrman was so drained. Keeping that boulder together while also throwing it far while also making sure the Fallen Titan swatted it out of the air had been most troubling.
"Ugh, look. Captain Sunless is currently escorting a VIP from LO49. At least, he was supposed to. I don't know if you noticed but coms are down due to one of the new Titans, designated as the Winter Beast. There's a bunch of Tyrants and a handful of Terrors…and you, somehow, have run into one of the few Titans."
"Really? I hadn't noticed," Gehrman said dryly. "Look, I need Sunless here ASAP. This thing won't die unless I have him."
"Not to be rude, but it looks like you've been leading the thing around like it's on a leash, give me the info you've gotten on it and my squad of Irregulars and I will come help you make the final blow."
Of course I can kill the damn thing! Gehrman wanted to scream. But he knew the consequences of actively keeping a Nightmare Creature alive, especially one this dangerous.
In situations like this, lying was better.
"Not to be rude, but your presence wouldn't do shit. Unless you have an Awakened with an Aspect that can interfere with Shadows then it's not going to make a difference. The damn thing can molt, physical attacks barely do shit to it, and the only weak spot shows up when it's obliterating everything with a heat-wave attack, and even then it is only vulnerable to elements like Divine Flame, True Darkness, or Shadow, and last I checked, you don't have any freaks with you that can conjure up any of those things."
The bolt was silent for a few seconds. Gehrman was starting to get worried that Davis's Essence had run out when he heard the older man's quiet, tired voice.
"You got a shitty attitude," he observed neutrally. "But the fact that you're still alive means you're definitely stronger than me, so I guess I'll defer to you on this one…If you can lead Goliath around the perimeter of Erebus Fields and make sure no threats crop up while I'm gone, I can go rendezvous with Sunless and take over the VIP escort mission, freeing him up to get to you. It'll probably take a week though, maybe more depending on what the Chain of Nightmares decides to put in the path."
"I can handle a week," Gehrman said with bravado. On the inside, he was slightly panicking and cursing himself for this idea. Though it was indeed very nice for clearing out all the filth that had been cropping up in the area, the risk of death during that time was all too real.
Still, if there was one person who could fulfill this task, it was a Yharnam Hunter.
…
It was actually ten days later when he heard the familiar voice of his friendly shadow.
Which was technically true because somewhere along the way Sunny had literally entered, and become Gehrman's shadow.
"You lied," was all that his shadow said.
In fact, Gehrman wasn't even completely sure that it was Sunny and not some trick of the wind. But at this point, it was exhaustion, not Madness, that made him reply to no matter what sound he heard.
"Wanna elaborate?" Gehrman grumbled.
"You don't need me to kill it."
At this point in time Gehrman very well could have elaborated on the many, many reasons why he had not only been leading this thing around like a circus animal but also refusing to kill it, but instead he simply opted for the response that took the less talking.
"Do you trust me?"
Sunny did not respond for a few seconds, but then, in a strained voice he made his reply.
"I do."
"Then when that fucking thing switches it's eye around and starts blasting the heat of a solar flare everywhere shoot an arrow or something through it's eye!"
His shadow flickered a bit, but then at lightning speed it split in two. His true shadow stayed behind, but the freeloader sped its way upward. Most of the mountains in this region had been leveled, but there were still a few high grounds, and with the height of the Fallen Titan (which he now knew as Goliath thanks to Davis), he would need all the height he could get.
At the moment, the fiend was currently stepping on a small army of lesser Nightmare Creatures that appeared to have strewn away from a Category 2 Gate. Their lives ended quite quickly, and the earth itself fell before the Titan's footsteps.
Then, the thing spotted Gehrman again, a decent distance away.
Before the eye even moved, he was already manifesting wings to dodge the incoming heat wave.
Since Sunny doesn't have much fire power this will probably take a whi-
But his thoughts were abruptly cut off.
Even Gehrman's incredibly enhanced senses only caught the projectile's movement when it was already halfway to its target.
And it took less than a second for that thing to not only pass through Goliath's Eye, but also land in the mountain behind him and leave a 50 meter crater behind.
By the time the cracks of the broken sound barrier reached Gehrman, Goliath was dead.
Gehrman blinked a few times.
He could have performed a similar feat to Goliath as well, he was sure of that…but it wouldn't have been easy.
Sunny had gotten the order to fire a mere minute ago and now it was already done?
Gehrman looked up to see the young man in his daunting black armor that seemed carved from stone. It was incredibly hard to make out, but the young man also seemed surprised.
[Eyes on The Inside] revealed a somewhat decent explanation for why that attack had been so powerful.
His Essence reserves (which had been about ¾ full) were now almost entirely drained. In other words, whatever he just did drained three Soul Cores.
Gehrman let out a deep sigh and rocketed upward to meet the dumbstruck Master.
"Hey, why do you look more surprised at me that you just did that?" Gehrman landed and stood next to him, overlooking the crashing Goliath and the utter ruin his falling carcass caused on the landscape.
"I, uh, I guess I just didn't expect it to be that powerful," the young Master looked at his own bow with a renewed awe. "I think the biggest reason it worked so well though was that it hit the eye when it was turned around like that. You were right to think that was the weak spot."
"Obviously I was right," Gehrman flopped onto his back, creating an indent in the snow where he laid. "I'm always…just, so right, all the time."
Sunny blinked down at him and gave him a crooked grin. "Are you blood drunk right now?"
"Just tired."
Gehrman replied.
Which was the unfortunate truth. His ridiculous progress had halted because he was too scared of doing something crazy while playing with Goliath. In terms of Gates and Nightmare Creature's destroyed his numbers hadn't gone down since before meeting him, but it was still regrettable.
If only I could revive those thousands of dead Nightmare Creatures so I could kill them myself and get their blood this time…wait, that's psychotic.
Gehrman rolled to the side and stood up.
"Okay, I need to take a nap," Gehrman's eyes slid to Sunny's and gave him a smile.
"Lets rendezvous at Erebus Fields, report this and then…see what else we can do. Apparently there is a Titan that's messing with our communication channels, maybe we could hunt that down? I mean, this one went down so easily that I bet this one would be dead in a week if we put our minds to it."