Alex thought that he and Alucard would reach Old Yharnam without any particular problems, making no stops along the way. But, unfortunately for him, Alucard attacked the Church Giant to test her repaired and improved weapon.
Leaning against a nearby stone column, Alex watched as the huge Church Giant swung its giant bloodied axe, intending to chop Alucard in two, while she calmly dodged, lazily observing his attacks. Stone shards flew everywhere under the swings of the giant axe.
Seeing the Church Giant once again drive its weapon into the gate column, causing it to become covered with even larger cracks, Alex gave a slight cough to attract Alucard's attention.
Hearing the cough, Alucard dodged another strike and placed her foot on the blade of the huge axe, preventing the Church Giant from pulling its weapon out of the ground. She turned her head toward Alex, who tapped his finger on his wrist, reminding her that they had other things to do.
Alucard gave him an empty look, and at that very moment the pentagram on her white gloves glowed slightly. Alucard's shadow began to lengthen until it was directly under the Church Giant's feet. In the same instant, the Cleric Beast emerged from the shadow.
The new Cleric Beast looked noticeably different from the previous one — it now appeared even more terrifying and was covered with dozens of red eyes that stared intently at the Church Giant. Before the giant could realize anything or attack, the familiar Cleric Beast plunged its huge hand into the giant's chest and tore out its heart.
Seeing that the Cleric Beast had become Alucard's familiar, Alex gave a low whistle of surprise. His plan to feed Alucard such creatures only grew stronger — now she could gain even more of these powerful familiars. Having killed the Church Giant with the help of her new familiar, Alucard calmly turned to Alex, showing that she was ready to move on.
However, her gaze clearly said that she hadn't even warmed up properly. Alex merely smiled and walked through the open gates, beginning to descend the stairs. He remembered well how to get to Old Yharnam. The path was quite short — they only needed to reach the abandoned chapel nearby.
Reaching the fork, Alex led Alucard to the left side. The Black Cat, which had been sitting on his shoulders, jumped down and ran further down the stairs. Alex only turned his head for a brief moment, seeing where she had headed, but said nothing and continued descending.
Just a couple of minutes later they reached the old chapel, beneath which was the passage to Old Yharnam hidden under a stone sarcophagus. But instead of immediately going down, Alex stared at the corpse of the Church Hunter in white robes, next to which lay a weapon broken in half that resembled a wooden wheel.
As soon as they entered the chapel, a man in a golden cap attacked them and immediately rushed at Alucard. The Healing Church Hunter screamed about impure blood, attacking furiously. But Alucard did not lose her composure: with one hand she simply crushed the wooden wheel, and with the other she punched through his chest and crushed his heart.
Before the Healing Church Hunter died, Alucard tore off his head. Alex himself watched all this with an empty gaze, shifting his eyes alternately between Alucard and the corpse of the Healing Church Hunter, whom, as he remembered, was named Alfred — a mad fanatic who hunted the impure-blooded representatives of Cainhurst.
"And what was that just now?" Alucard asked, holding Alfred's head in her hands.
"A church fanatic…" Alex replied with a strained smile.
"Really? I probably didn't understand that when he attacked me screaming about some impure blood," Alucard said in a cheerful tone, looking at Alex with unconcealed sarcasm in her eyes.
"Do you want a history lesson?" Alex asked with a cheerful smile, squatting down next to Alfred's corpse.
"No. Everything I need to know, I can learn from his blood… And what are you doing?" Alucard said, licking the blood from her fingers to obtain Alfred's memories.
"Taking his Hunter Badge. While you were sleeping, I learned a couple of interesting things," Alex replied, showing the silver pendant in the shape of a wheel.
Seeing the silver amulet in Alex's hands, Alucard gave a slight nod. Having received Alfred's memories through his blood, she understood what impure blood he had been talking about. Learning this information, Alucard smiled slightly with disgust and dropped Alfred's head to the floor, immediately crushing it with her heel.
Alex himself had not even planned to stop Alucard when Alfred attacked. This pathetic fanatic was himself to blame for choosing the wrong target for his hunt. Looking at the Wheel Hunter Badge, Alex only smirked and put it in his pocket. Raising his leg, he kicked the white sarcophagus standing in the center of the chapel.
Destroying the sarcophagus, Alex opened the passage leading to Old Yharnam. Having removed the obstacle, he looked at the staircase located under the marble sarcophagus. Before descending further, Alex whistled quietly to call the Black Cat. While he waited for her return, Alucard had already begun to descend, not waiting for him.
"Do you even know the way?" Alex shouted after the departing Alucard.
"I'll figure it out. I'm not you to get lost. There was information in that pathetic bastard's blood on how to get to Old Yharnam," Alucard replied without turning her head, waving her hand slightly and continuing to descend the stairs.
"Then wait for me, since you think I might get lost," Alex shouted, looking at the receding Alucard.
In response, he heard only cheerful laughter that echoed through the stairwell tunnel leading downward. Sighing, Alex turned his head just as the Black Cat appeared, carrying something incomprehensible in her mouth. Looking closer, Alex saw a strange creature consisting of several heads through which branches resembling limbs had grown.
The Black Cat ran up to Alex and dropped this abomination at his feet. Without changing his expression, Alex kicked the thing like a football. The incomprehensible creature flew in an arc and slammed into the wall with a fleshy slap.
Alex knew that this creature was called a Large Wandering Nightmare and that there were many such creatures in Yharnam. But in life they looked even more disgusting. Seeing that what she had brought to her owner now represented a red stain on the wall, the Black Cat looked at Alex with an empty cat-like gaze.
"Don't look at me like that. It was weird and disgusting. Don't bring me things like that. Ugh, fuck, this is disgusting," Alex said, shuddering slightly as he recalled the sight of that abomination.
The Black Cat gave him another empty look and began calmly descending the stairs, not even intending to wait for him. Shaking his head, Alex followed her to catch up with Alucard, who had gone ahead.
Alex managed to find the way very easily thanks to the trail of werewolf corpses that Alucard had killed along her path. In the end, he still didn't get lost, even if the Black Cat wasn't going to wait for him because of her grudge against her owner. Finding the passage further, Alex began to descend the destroyed steps to the very bottom — or rather, he fell down because the wooden steps had long since rotted from time and dampness.
Once at the very bottom, Alex coughed slightly from the dust, looking around. Climbing out from under the debris, he saw the passage leading further, and behind him was a spacious room with a Messenger lamp, next to which stood Alucard.
"You weren't in a hurry, my love," Alucard said, looking at the dust-covered Alex as he entered the room.
"I tried my best. But gravity decided to ruin everything for me again," Alex replied, shrugging slightly and brushing the dust off himself.
"I'm not even surprised that you fell down again… And if you're done, maybe we can move forward? I want to see what this Blood-starved Beast is like," Alucard said, leaning against a stone column and not taking her eyes off Alex.
"Alright, I'll just light the Messenger lamp and we can go," Alex said, shaking off the remaining dust.
In response to his words, Alucard only adjusted her red glasses and said nothing more. Approaching the Messenger lamp, Alex touched it and lit it to mark the location. Seeing that the lamp was lit, Alucard walked forward toward the only sealed gates in the room. Approaching them, she gave the doors a slight push.
The heavy wooden gates opened without any particular problems under the light touch. Alex and Alucard together passed through the open gates, and before their eyes appeared the gloomy view of Old Yharnam, over which hung a light mist mixed with smoke. They felt a strong smell of burnt flesh and fur hanging in the air. Alex grimaced and pulled a cloth mask over his face, while Alucard inhaled the smell deeply.
"Ah, the smell of burning bodies and this view… It brings back memories," Alucard said, looking at Old Yharnam with a slight smile.
"You mean the times of the Witch Hunts? I somehow even forgot that you're almost six hundred years old," Alex said, nodding his head and folding his arms across his chest.
"Do you want to die, my love? Or should I shorten your tongue?" Alucard asked, turning her head toward him and looking with red eyes.
"I'm just saying… Why such aggression," Alex replied in a dry tone, turning away.
"Next time talk less. It would be very sad for me to tear out your tongue, my love," Alucard said, placing her palm on his cheek.
"You do understand that this is basically impossible… I'm just reminding you — stop looking at me like that," Alex said calmly, taking a step back.
In response, Alucard only smiled tenderly and touched his lips with her finger, showing that she could still try. Sighing, Alex shifted his gaze to the houses of Old Yharnam below and approached the spacious observation platform. Descending to the half-destroyed observation platform, he tried to remember where the Blood-starved Beast was located.
Quickly looking around, Alex saw only old brick buildings hidden behind the mist and smoke rising from below. The view of Old Yharnam was simultaneously mesmerizing. And at the same time it evoked not the most pleasant feelings. After all, this place had been burned together with those who lived here. Now Old Yharnam served as a refuge only for the monsters that had once been its inhabitants.
"Shall we take the short way or look around?" Alex asked, turning his head to Alucard, who was standing nearby.
"Don't you want to examine this place? Or do you know that there's nothing interesting here?" Alucard asked, lowering her glasses to look at him.
"Everything that interests me is the Hunter Badge that the Hunter guarding this place has," Alex replied, nodding his head toward the tower from which he sensed the Hunter's presence.
Alucard shifted her gaze in the direction Alex indicated and saw an old hunter standing at the top of one of the towers. After examining him, she very quickly lost interest. She saw no point in fighting Hunters — for her they were all the same. Even if this was another world she had come to with Alex, the essence of Hunters had always remained the same.
In her time she had killed hundreds of such hunters who came to kill her. Different weapons, different eras, but the essence was always the same. And even the words these Hunters spoke were identical. Stopping looking at the Hunter guarding this place, Alucard shifted her gaze to Alex, showing that he could deal with it himself — she wasn't going to do anything.
"I thought you would be interested in the local Hunters," Alex said, noticing Alucard's lazy look.
"I've already killed enough of these 'legendary hunters.' They all think they're special. But in reality — just another victim. And it's you who needs what this Hunter has, so deal with it yourself," Alucard replied with contempt in her eyes, showing her attitude toward Hunters.
"Then you don't mind if I kill everyone in our path, leaving you the tastiest one?" Alex asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"Of course… It would be a gentlemanly act on your part — to remove all obstacles in our path," Alucard said with a light laugh.
"Then, with your permission, I'll take care of these obstacles, my Countess," Alex said, bowing slightly.
Seeing Alex in such a state, Alucard narrowed her eyes slightly, and a light smile appeared on her face. Nodding her head, she showed that she was ready to leave the rest to him. Alex smiled, took out a magic musket from his inventory that had been gathering dust since the end of the war against Millennium.
One bullet from this musket would be enough to clear all of Old Yharnam of everyone living in it, whether human or beast. Rising from the observation platform, Alex walked forward, spinning the magic musket in his hands and juggling it. A light smile was on his face as he began to hum a light melody, walking toward the bridge that needed to be crossed to enter Old Yharnam.
Alucard, following him, recognized the melody he was humming, and a cheerful smile appeared on her face — she began to enjoy this melody. After all, it was a song about a magic marksman that she had heard once before. As soon as Alex and Alucard approached the bridge, the sound of a shot rang out, and a mercury bullet hit the stone next to Alex's leg, leaving a distinct hole.
"Hey, Hunters… Didn't you see the warning? Leave immediately, both of you. People burned and abandoned Old Yharnam. Now only monsters live here," the voice of the old Hunter Djura echoed throughout the area.
Alex stopped spinning the musket, turned his head toward the Hunter who had shot at him. Tapping the musket on his shoulder, he tilted his head slightly to the side. Shaking his head from side to side a little, Alex smiled widely and closed his eyes.
Marking every living creature in Old Yharnam, he opened his eyes and aimed the barrel of the magic musket at Hunter Djura. Alucard watched with amusement what Alex was about to do. She knew that in Alex's hands this magic musket would be much more dangerous than in the hands of the one he had taken it from. Looking straight at Djura, Alex narrowed his eyes with a wide smile on his face.
"My bullets don't distinguish who or where. And they punish everyone indiscriminately, whether human or beast," Alex said in a calm tone, looking directly at Djura in the distance.
Alex pulled the trigger, and immediately there was a loud bang from the shot that echoed throughout Old Yharnam. Following the sound of the shot came a distinct whistle. The bullet fired from the magic musket twisted in the air, changing its trajectory.
Every time the bullet changed direction, there was a bang — it was breaking the sound barrier. Djura, standing at the top of the tower and guarding the entrance to Old Yharnam, could not understand what was making that sound. And only at the very last moment did he see the round bullet flying toward him.
Djura didn't even have time to dodge or do anything before the bullet turned his body into a sieve. But the magic bullet did not stop at killing Djura: it sharply turned in the air and flew downward, beginning to kill all the monsters that inhabited Old Yharnam.
Alex didn't need to aim or control the bullet — he had already marked all the creatures in Old Yharnam. The only job left in this place was for the Black Cat, who would have to collect all the Blood Echoes from the killed creatures.
Watching as the magic bullet killed everything living in this place, Alex transferred the musket to his other hand and put his arm around Alucard's waist. He took a step, and they found themselves on the tower where Djura's body lay. Squatting down next to the corpse, Alex pulled back the collar.
Grabbing the silver chain, he jerked his hand sharply, ripping it from Djura's neck. Looking closer, Alex saw that the Hunter Badge was a vial filled with explosive liquid in which small drops of mercury floated. Alucard, standing next to Alex, leaned toward the corpse.
And dipped her finger in Djura's blood in order to obtain his memories. Licking the blood from her finger, she immediately spat it out, not wanting such blood to touch her tongue. But even after spitting out the blood, she still received Djura's memories.
"Hmm… This is exactly what you told me about this place. But it seems this Hunter knew why the inhabitants of this place got sick," Alucard said, looking at Alex.
"You mean that the Healing Church deliberately poisoned the locals, infecting them with the Ashen Blood disease for the so-called experiments… I just didn't think it was worth telling about," Alex replied, shrugging and putting the Powder Keg Hunter Badge in his pocket.
"I'm not surprised. I've seen this for many centuries. The world is different, but people's actions are still the same," Alucard said with a contemptuous smile.
"Not all worlds are the same. There are many much more interesting and exciting worlds. And don't say you don't like a place like this? In the light of this pale moon you are especially beautiful, Carmilla," Alex said, rising from his squat and smiling as he looked at Alucard.
"I didn't say I don't like this world… This world quite suits my tastes… Only if you are nearby," Alucard replied, running her palm over his cheek.
"And here I blush, and you forcibly kiss me, and then we have a wedding, and we get another little princess," Alex said with a serious expression on his face, folding his arms across his chest.
"I'll think… about giving birth to another child for you… But you must put in more effort for that, my love," Alucard said with a light laugh, pushing Alex's face away from her.
Continuing to laugh, Alucard approached the edge of the tower and pushed off, jumping upward, and began to soar over Old Yharnam. Alex looked at her and simply shook his head, after which he lit a cigarette. Squeezing the cigarette between his fingers, he began to follow Alucard, but instead of soaring, he simply walked through the very space with slow steps.
Stepping through the air above the city, Alex caught up with Alucard, who was slowly soaring, enveloped in transparent mist. Passing by her, he smiled slightly and walked further, deliberately demonstrating his relaxed gait. Soaring in the form of mist, Alucard looked at Alex and immediately appeared above him. The mist around her dissipated, and she began to fall downward.
Before landing on Alex, Alucard changed her form, taking the appearance of a sixteen-year-old girl. She landed softly on his shoulders, placing her hands on his head. Feeling the weight, Alex adjusted Alucard's position and walked on. Reaching the right place through the air, Alex began to fall downward. He landed on a small fenced alley from which there was a view of the destroyed church.
"So that's where this creature lives… Its smell is quite specific," Alucard said, sitting on Alex's shoulders and continuing to rest her hands on his head.
"As I remember, this beast's blood is poisonous. And it poisons everything around itself," Alex said, stroking his chin.
"Interesting… How poisonous is this blood and can it poison me?" Alucard asked, jumping off his shoulders and stepping onto the stone railing.
"I don't think such poison would affect you in any way. Only if its poison contains hemotoxins. Then yes, it would be dangerous for you," Alex replied, climbing onto the railing and standing next to her.
"A creature that feeds on blood spreads a poison that causes bleeding… Everything has become much more interesting," Alucard said with a predatory smile on her face, looking at the entrance to the destroyed church.
"Yeah, a natural enemy for creatures that can control blood. It's just a shame it's weak. But if it becomes your familiar, then heh…" Alex said with a smirk, bringing the cigarette to his lips.
"You're reading my mind, my love. I want this creature for myself," Alucard said, slightly licking her lips.
"Was that a question or a statement? Because thanks to Völundr we can hear each other's thoughts," Alex said, turning his head slightly toward Alucard.
In response, Alucard only rolled her eyes, and her body disintegrated into a swarm of bats. The next moment she appeared at the entrance to the destroyed church and turned to Alex, showing that she was going to enter with him or without him. Throwing away the extinguished cigarette, Alex took a step and found himself next to Alucard at the entrance to the church.
Turning to the entrance, he saw only an old abandoned church that inside looked as if someone still came there to pray. Dry grass had long sprouted from under the stone slabs on the floor, the stone columns were overgrown with moss, and at the very end stood an altar on which stood a golden chalice. Alex and Alucard entered the abandoned church and began to walk deeper toward the altar.
And as soon as they entered, the passage behind them became covered with mist through which it was impossible to exit. Reaching the very center, they heard something creeping above them. Raising their gazes, they saw a bony creature clinging with all four limbs to a stone column. The remains of skin hung from the creature's back, partially resembling a bloodied hood from which blood dripped.
The face under this leather bloodied hood partially resembled both a human and a beast. The Blood-starved Beast resembled a very thin mangy werewolf and at the same time a completely different creature. And while Alex and Alucard looked at this creature, the Blood-starved Beast looked back at them.
It let out a loud howl and immediately pushed off from the stone column it was clinging to and attacked them. At the very last moment Alex and Alucard jumped in different directions, dodging the Blood-starved Beast's leap.
"Carmilla, are you sure you want to make such a creature your familiar? It's quite disgusting," Alex said with disgust, looking at the Blood-starved Beast.
"Really? To me it's the most ordinary creature… So don't interfere with me taming my new doggy. Go do what you came here for," Alucard said, lazily waving her hand.
Finishing her conversation with Alex, Alucard immediately shifted her gaze to the Blood-starved Beast, which was slowly creeping toward her like a predator on a hunt. Seeing such behavior from the monster, Alucard slightly licked her lips and returned to her previous form. In her hands immediately appeared a saw-axe, and in the other — a hunter's blunderbuss.
Baring her sharp teeth in a bloodthirsty smile, Alucard instantly appeared next to the Blood-starved Beast and pressed the barrel of the blunderbuss to its face, firing instantly. The mercury shot hit the beast's face point-blank, and it let out a loud screech, beginning to swing its limbs.
Dodging the blows, Alucard jumped over the Blood-starved Beast. Finding herself directly above it, she fired again from the blunderbuss, this time into its back. Another portion of mercury shot hit the beast's back. But together with the wound to the back, the Blood-starved Beast began to spray poison around itself. Seeing the cloud of poison, Alucard jumped back, quickly reloading the blunderbuss.
"So that's the kind of poison inside you… Understood," Alucard said, realizing that inside the Blood-starved Beast was poison that prevented blood clotting.
After the wound to the back, the Blood-starved Beast began to splash poison around itself. The reason was that Alucard's shot had damaged the poison sac located in the leather hood hanging over the beast's face. But even if this poison affected blood, it did not bother Alucard at all — it would cause her no inconvenience.
Stopping spraying poison, the Blood-starved Beast stared at Alucard and sharply jumped toward her. Seeing the speed at which the beast began to move, Alucard was quite surprised. She stepped aside at the last moment, dodging the lunge. But the Blood-starved Beast's claws still caught her clothes, leaving a long tear on her chest. Seeing that the beast had managed to tear her clothes, Alucard was quite impressed.
"It became faster… That's very good… Now I definitely want you to become my doggy," Alucard said, licking her lips and looking at the Blood-starved Beast.
"Carmilla, don't overdo it. And don't let it mutate," Alex shouted, sitting on the altar and spinning the golden chalice in his hands.
Alucard quickly looked at Alex and, continuing to look at him, fired directly into the mouth of the Blood-starved Beast that had lunged at her. The mercury shot hit the beast's mouth directly and flew out of the back of its head. The Blood-starved Beast began to convulse, swinging its paws and leaving claw marks everywhere on the stone columns and floor.
Alucard, however, stood horizontally on one of the columns, calmly watching as the Blood-starved Beast in a fit of rage destroyed everything around it. Still standing on the column, she noticed that the more wounds the beast received, the faster it became. Alucard shifted her gaze to Alex, who was lying on the altar with his leg hanging down, examining the golden cup in the moonlight and slightly swinging his leg.
Hearing Alucard's thoughts, Alex put down the golden chalice, took the magic musket out of his inventory and, without turning his head, fired at the Blood-starved Beast. The magic bullet began to inflict wounds, piercing the beast's body through and through. And in the next instant the entire body of the Blood-starved Beast was torn to pieces, its limbs flew in different directions, and the beast's carcass itself was even more mutilated.
"I didn't ask you to kill it…" Alucard said, looking at the mutilated corpse of the Blood-starved Beast in the center of the hall.
"You said 'make holes in it,' so I made them," Alex replied, sitting down on the altar and propping his cheek with his fist.
"And where am I supposed to find the next toy? If you killed this one?" Alucard asked, jumping off the column and looking at Alex.
"I know the location of two more. A revived electric werewolf skeleton and a saint who is supposed to turn into a monster… Choose any," Alex said, raising two fingers.
"A saint and a werewolf… Quite a meager choice," Alucard said, leaning on the altar where Alex was sitting.
"For now, only this. These are the closest monsters at the moment. You can't handle the others yet," Alex replied, jumping off the altar and standing next to her.
"Oh? For example, with whom?" Alucard asked with an intrigued smile.
"For example, with that Amygdala creature that you feel but don't see," Alex said, lighting a Messenger lantern and starting to leave to exit the destroyed church.
Alucard raised an eyebrow and smirked, following him. She was curious what that creature was like, whose presence she sensed but could not see. When Alex and Alucard approached the corpse of the Blood-starved Beast, the Black Cat ran in through the entrance to the destroyed church, looking at them with an offended gaze.
Alex smiled embarrassedly and picked up the Black Cat in his arms, while Alucard lightly ran her fingers over its head. But this did not stop the Black Cat from rolling its eyes, showing that it was still angry for being forced to run all over Old Yharnam and collect the Blood Echoes of all the killed monsters.
Seeing another monster corpse, the Black Cat rolled its eyes and opened its mouth to absorb the Blood Echoes of the killed Blood-starved Beast. Leaving the destroyed church, Alex took Alucard by the hand and took a step. In the next moment they found themselves in the same place where they had begun their path in Old Yharnam.
"That was somehow quick," Alex said, looking at Old Yharnam below.
"Even very quick… I didn't even have time to enjoy this place," Alucard said, leaning on Alex's shoulder while he hugged her around the waist.
"We can stay and breathe in the smell of burning bodies. I love that smell so much," Alex said in an exaggerated tone, turning his head toward Alucard.
"Better let's go visit that saint you mentioned," Alucard replied, chuckling slightly at his tone.
"I'll just conduct another experiment. Since we're heading for Amelia," Alex said, stroking his chin.
Alucard looked at Alex with an amused gaze, especially at how he called saving a woman an experiment. Alex ignored her look and took another step. At that same moment they found themselves in the Cathedral Ward, near Oedon's Chapel. Right in the place where there was a view of Amygdala, the second one clinging to the wall. Seeing Amygdala once again, Alex flipped the middle finger at this deity.
Amygdala herself continued to look at him and did not react in any way to his gesture, only watching him intently with her many eyes. Alucard looked at Alex, wondering what this creature had done to make her husband react to it like that. But Alex himself clearly was not going to answer that question. He simply did not like how Amygdala looked, especially the way it stared at him.
Stopping paying attention to Amygdala, Alex and Alucard entered Oedon's Chapel. And as soon as they entered, they saw that the previously closed doors were now open. Alex reached into his pocket, took out a pocket watch and looked at the time. Remembering what was behind this door, he looked pleadingly at his wife. Seeing his look, Alucard nodded her head, also showing interest in what was behind this door.
To be continued...
(I saw no reason to drag out my exploration of Old Yharnam because there's nothing interesting there, including the encounters with the Boss, who's terribly boring. I think I'll leave some moments off-screen to avoid dragging things out even further. But as I recall, if you do everything right, you can literally shorten a long journey. Of course, you can't do this in the game, but Alex and Alucard can. So you could call it a partial speedrun of the locations. And now it's time for food, sweets, and TV. Peace, love, and it was quick.)
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