"We had a meeting a little while ago, Mordret, Caster, Oskar and I. Things took a bit of a turn when I told them I thought the Dreamspawn had made his return and was battling you. Mordret…well there is no easy way to say this. He ran."
Gehrman stared at Sunny dumbfounded.
"Huh?"
"He told us that, and I quote, 'there is nothing left to do but prepare for the apocalypse,' and then he disappeared."
"Good to know the guy still has faith in me."
Gehrman shook his head and took a sip from an obsidian goblet that Sunny had offered him. It was water, but incredibly fresh and tasty water. This was probably better for his exhausted self than a Mango-Lemon-Apple deluxe, so he drank it gratefully (even if he would have rather had that drink).
They were sitting in what appeared to be a dining hall. The massive open space was empty besides just the two of them.
"Do you have any idea where he could have gone?" Sunny asked, his fingers rapping the table anxiously.
"Nothing immediately comes to mind. Perhaps it is something to do with that strange immortality of his. He's always so unimpressed with everything because he knows that he's never in any real danger. It stands to reason the Dreamspawn knows how to actually kill him, and now he's scrambling to rectify that."
Sunny nodded.
"That does actually seem likely. In the 3rd Nightmare when we asked about how to kill him without a Soul Duel he said something about 'never bringing it with him'. Which implies there is an actual physical thing that keeps him immortal. If Asterion knows what that thing is and where it is, then it only stands to reason that Mordret would want to find it and move it."
"...Honestly I don't blame him. Mordy is too valuable a card to risk losing, and his immortality makes him even more valuable. If he needs to be on leave to ensure he remains unkillable then so be it."
Sunny crossed his arms and let out a scoff, clearly not agreeing with Gehrman's perspective on the matter. Though he did leave them high and dry, it wasn't exactly an unexpected turn.
"What's the deal with the House of Night, did he slaughter everyone or just the Elders?"
"Hard to say. Before he bolted he did mention that the Night Garden had become a Citadel of Song, so he at least took down whoever was captain of the ship at the time, which I believe would be that old Saint Typhoon. I haven't heard anything else though, I don't have any sources on the Night Garden but at the very least it is operating as normal."
Gehrman nodded and turned his head down. It was a bit tough to switch to thinking strategy after being in full-on assault mode for two months. He had to scrounge his memories for all the details that needed his immediate attention.
"What are the army's positions?"
"Both have advanced well past their borders with no sign of stopping. Valor is having an easier go of it since they mobilized the Ivory Tower. Since Cassie has gotten good at controlling its flight, it has become a true Great Citadel. She can even utilize the "Crushing" that affected the Chained Isles for so long. Anything weaker than a Corrupted Monster will get instantly flattened by it, and it can immobilize Great Creatures too."
"Damn, no kidding?" Gehrman was surprised to say the least. Everything with the Chained Isles, the Ivory Tower, and the Fire Keepers had all been more outside of his awareness. He knew about the Great Citadel that had hung impossibly over the Chained Isles since ancient times, and he knew it was Cassie, Mordret, Effie, Kai, and apparently Sunny who had figured out how to get control of it and end the Crushing in their 2nd Nightmare.
However, the way it operated had been a mystery to him. He thought that the Crushing was more of a natural phenomena brought about by the nature of the tower, not an actual aspect of its component.
In hindsight, it appeared that a better description of the component would be an extremely powerful gravity manipulation.
Indeed, that was a pretty awesome power to have at their disposal. Plus, Valor was the clan of War, it only made sense that they would be efficient in their conquering of new lands when they went all out.
"They both mobilized then? Anvil and Song?"
"Anvil has. I've already been in a war meeting with him. The 'Lord of Shadows' is a mercenary sworn to Changing Star alone. Apparently they were desperate enough for help that they let me join on those terms. Granted, they are getting a damn good deal out of it. I've already cleared out dozens of Great abominations for them that would have killed hundreds of their Knights and maybe one or two of their Saints. Song…I'm not sure. I'm not actually in their war councils so I can only glean so much."
Gehrman paused, realizing something.
"Wait a second, how do you know about the situation in Ravenheart? You've been here this whole time I thought."
Sunny averted his gaze.
"Right, I have been. However, I also have been in Ravenheart at the same time. I've been there since before we met, actually."
Gehrman gave him a dubious look, forcing Sunny to sigh and slouch.
"I don't know why I hide things from you anymore. I don't mean to say it's just…a force of habit, I guess."
What happened next hurt Gehrman's brain a bit.
One of the 5 shadows of Sunny's figure split off, becoming independent. Then, in a strange and very fast transformation, it became corporeal.
Just like that, Gehrman was looking at two Sunny's.
This was not just Shadow Manipulation though, this was the real deal. A true Transcendent body with the strength – and by the looks of it – all the same abilities as the Saint that Gehrman knew.
"This is my Transformation Ability. Each of my shadows can become another, separate, me."
In an even stranger turn of events the new "Sunny" turned with a huff.
"Oh yeah, and how do you know you're not me?"
"Because my body is made of flesh and blood, you fool!"
Sunny waved his hand and the other "him" disappeared, leaving Gehrman in stunned silence. Partly because it was such an odd Transformation, partly because it allowed for a similar parallel processing that Gehrman's own Transformation gave him, but mostly because that little spat about who was real seemed like something that happened a lot.
How crazy is this guy? I don't think I ever really nailed that down.
Of course, Gehrman didn't have any room to judge. None were crazier than he, after all.
"Anyway, I can spawn an Avatar based on the number of Soul Cores I have. I originally planned to split myself further and have some of "me" at every Great Citadel, but I didn't have time to set up how I would do that."
He scratched his head.
"Well, I guess I did send an Avatar to Bastion early on to give Aiko some Supreme Soul Shards. We were working on the Brilliant Emporium and I kinda left her hanging and without a job after I got torn from the fabric of reality, it felt like a fair trade off."
He smiled then, a rare sight that caught Gehrman off guard a bit.
"I really wanted to actually restart the Emporium, maybe make it a cafe too. I could have made breakfast for everyone and made a few Memory commissions on the side to stay in business…but there just wasn't enough time. By the time I could set up everything, Bastion would have already gone into war-time, and I doubt I could kick up business in such an atmosphere."
His smile fell.
"Maybe I should have still tried to be a Memory dealer. War profiteering sounds lucrative….damn, missed opportunity."
Gehrman chuckled and patted Sunny on the shoulder.
"When all this is done, let's all get together and have a meal at your cafe."
Sunny's face softened, and for the first time Gehrman felt like he was seeing the real him. It was a nice enough moment that Gehrman nearly forgot about the Dreamspawn a few kilometers away.
"For now though…ah, what about Seishan?"
Sunny looked a bit mad at himself for not bringing that up on his own.
"Right, I was going to tell you. She's also gone."
"Gone as in, off on a secret mission or, like, missing."
"Missing," Sunny responded. "It's kept under wraps of course. I never really snooped in the Jade Palace, but after you were gone I took the risk, especially since I had to leave pretty soon after that. I overheard some of the sisters talking, apparently she just up and vanished hours after you had your 'talk' with Ki Song."
Gehrman's eyes went hollow.
"I'm probably in for a divorce, I didn't really think about that. I killed a vassal of Song, used that life like a measly pawn when it had done so much good for humanity. Those vassals, they were practically family to her."
Sunny said nothing. There was nothing he could say in that moment to alleviate the guilt that he had kept off for months by simply 'not thinking about it'.
Gehrman had made a choice at that moment. He chose the New Workshop and himself. If he had not made it clear the threat he posed to her Domain's integrity, if he had not made that plan with the Stake Drivers, she would have worn him down and eventually truly made him a puppet.
It was the right move.
But that didn't mean he couldn't feel like total garbage about it.
Gehrman teeth grinded.
Seishan went missing. Where? Why? To find him and hunt him down? To get answers? Was there any possibility she would side with him?
No, not after this. Surely not.
If anything, she would hate him more than anyone in the world. He had given her comfort, understanding, and warmth in a life where those things were rare commodities. She had given him the same. Then he threw that away. What did that say about him? She probably thought it was all an act, that it was fake and that none of it was real.
He closed his eyes. He needed to confront this, to accept it, but he couldn't. So instead, Gehrman pushed it aside, just like he had done before.
"The Song army is making steady progress though? With her puppets and their strategy to send the Princesses ahead to claim the Citadel and then easily overtake the defenders, I'd imagine they would be having a smooth time."
Sunny frowned.
"She is keeping her puppets in reserve. Beastmaster's lesser thralls are at the front of the pack, but it's a thin line. Song soldiers are falling. Much more than on Valor's side."
Gehrman bristled at that.
"What the hell? How can she rationalize that? How can the sisters and vassals rationalize that?"
The shadow shrugged. "The same way they always do. 'It's an honor to fight and die for the Queen' and all that. Those that survive are stronger for it. Though only a select few are allowed to go into Nightmares since they need all hands on deck." Sunny once again looked away. "The truth is though, they don't have a choice. They have done too much for Ki Song to go back now. There is no alternative."
Gehrman did his best to keep his hands from clenching. Letting out a long breath he looked at Sunny with a serious expression.
"You've talked with Nephis, right? We need everyone from your 3rd Nightmare if we want to create an alternative."
Indeed, Nephis, Cassie, Jet, Effie, and Kai had been on their own for long enough. It was even probable that they had formed their own coalition to defeat the Sovereigns, but if they wanted to have any chance at success, they needed to all work together. A series of 3 v 1s against each Supreme with the strongest of Saints backing working in perfect unison. Ordinarily, such a thing was impossible, but with four Divine Aspect Users, each of them with the Class of Titan, it was well within the realm of possibility.
At least, it would have been if not for Asterion.
"She's met the Lord of Shadows, but we've barely talked, she has no reason to trust me," Sunny said bitterly.
"It shouldn't be a problem. Use the fact that the Fire Keepers saw me show up to convince her. She and the others are familiar with the New Workshop, so getting them together won't be a stretch. After that it just comes down to getting Mordret back in play. So long as we can keep Asterion isolated and his Domain weak, we can likely take care of the other Supremes so long as one of them doesn't claim the others Citadels."
Sunny looked uncertain, the idea of fighting the Sovereigns with numbers was clearly not enough for him.
"I have been working on something else, if I can get that enormous spatial Memory Effie got in the 3rd Nightmare, I might be able to take out one of the Sovereigns, at least temporarily."
"What is it? A Memory? A bomb?"
"...A Cursed Demon."
"Eh?"
Gehrman once again had to appear dumbfounded. He wasn't used to be so thrown off in a conversation, especially multiple times, but he had to admit that what Sunny had been saying was even outside his realm of expectations.
"There is one in the Hollows. I don't know what its powers are, but it's unique in that it sleeps. I've already had Nightmare working on trapping it in a Dream Maze, but it will probably take another four months at least."
"Nightmare, you mean the horse? Wasn't that thing a Transcendent Terror?"
"It is."
"...what kind of Transcendent Terror can trap a damn god?"
Sunny shrugged.
"Its a great match-up for Nightmare, and we got extremely lucky. In any case, if I can get that thing in Effie's Memory, I could drop it on one of the Sovereigns. The only issue would be keeping it from rampaging and destroying everything afterward."
"Right, True Bastion might be good. If what I heard is true, whoever controls the Citadel can turn off the ability to travel between the two. If you could somehow get Anvil in there and seal it off, that could work. Otherwise…maybe the Forgotten Shore? Or the Hollow Mountains?"
Gehrman paused.
"Right, that reminds me. Do you think it would be possible for you to tag back in with me in a month or so. If possible, I'd like to take a trip to the Hollow Mountains for my own purposes."
"What do you need from that godsforsaken place?"
Gehrman stood from his chair, stretching a bit. "Ideally, the next step in my Aspect Legacy, also, if things go well, I might have a way to kill old Asterion."
…
As the forces of Song and Valor marched on Godgrave, the machine of war butchered all in their path. Though losses mounted on both sides, they were largely negligible. In a matter of weeks, the forces of the Great Clans would meet in true combat.
Before then, Ki Song wanted three things. The first was Night Garden, fortunately, it had already been taken by the Prince of Nothing. For now, that meant that it bolstered her Domain. She suspected that the fickle creature may very well go out on his own, taking the Great Citadel with him, but so long as it was not Vale's, she could live with that.
The second thing she needed was Bastion. Not only to cause a further blow to Vale, but more so to his army. If his soldiers knew their home had been lost, their glorious pride would no doubt be wounded enough to affect their combat.
Finally, she wanted that place, New Yharnam, burned to the ground.
All of her daughters had warned against it, but Ki Song was not willing to let their transgression slide. They had killed one of her own, and so they would pay the price.
On that day, she received two pieces of good news.
The first was that a cohort of prominent vassals had conquered the 3rd Nightmare, vastly improving her Domain while also giving her an auxiliary force she planned to put to work immediately.
5 Saints, as well as Silent Stalker would be more than enough to take that damnable place. She would send a large amount of her puppets as well, just to make it clear to the outside world that the New Workshop's Citadel fell to Nightmare Creatures. Perhaps those that were fleeing the warpath of the Great Clans advance.
With ten thousand puppets and 6 Saints, what did they have to fear? After all, that place had merely one Saint and a hundred or so Masters. So long as none of the Government Saints came to their aid, it would be an easy victory.
Which brought her to the second piece of good news.
The reflective and beautiful ornate designs of the ceiling in her throne room shimmered slightly, and a voice came through.
"My Queen, I wish to immediately take Bastion. It appears that only my dear Uncle Madoc is left to defend that place. Though he no doubt has been left dozens of Transcendent Echoes, I should have no problem conquering it."
Ki Song did not immediately respond. There was something off about his voice, an urgency that was unlike the Mordret she knew. However, he hid it well enough that she wasn't sure if she had imagined it.
"Do as you like. However, I will need you to make a show of it. If you can, get the Raised by Wolves, Soul Reaper, and Nightingale to step in. I need them off the board as well. Once you do that, you are free to act as you wish for the rest of the war, and after it."
"You're magnanimity truly knows no bounds, Raven Queen," the somber voice of Mordret echoed before his presence in the reflective surface vanished.
Her eyes narrowed.
Something had been off.
Something was off.
When did it begin? Back before she had decided to put Gehrman in his place? Even earlier?
No, it was around that time. When she had been truly doused in Madness for the first time, she could have sworn she felt something there.
A little worm burrowing into her mind.
In the next moment, she dropped the ridiculous notion, returning her focus to her puppets and her march on New Yharnam.