Caster clutched the dull grey shroud that covered his shoulders. He held it close and breathed in the musty scent.
One might look at this and think this a tradition of some sort, perhaps the shroud held some memories that calmed him before battle.
In truth, this habit was one he picked up in his 2nd Nightmare.
It's over.
He would be lying if he said those three months hadn't been the toughest of his life. Both he and his cohort assumed that Gerhman's training would lead them to a tough, but ultimately safe victory.
But Caster had come closer to death during that Nightmare more times than he had during the Forgotten Shore.
It was a brutal test, and a truly nightmarish look into what wars looked like in the ancient past of the Dream Realm.
The landscape of that dessert, of the shadows and monsters that haunted it…
He shook his head and took another deep breath, willing the memories to fade.
Indeed the enchantment of this measly Dormant Memory was one that offered only the most meager magic: it smelled nice.
Specifically, it would produce the scent that one was most fond of.
For Caster, it reminded him of the training grounds of the Han Li residence, the first place where he recalled his father looking upon him with pride.
…oddly, there were also some old woody accents - much like the pervasive aroma of the New Workshop.
It was a bit chilling to say the least.
Somehow that place had stopped becoming a means to an end and truly became a home.
And now he had to defend it.
He dismissed the shroud and summoned stone-like armor over the black bodysuit the Government Military had provided for him.
Despite its weighty appearance, it was actually incredibly light thanks to an enchantment that allowed it to control its weight.
He had gotten it after defeating a particularly harrowing creature.
It had been an Ascended Monster - not a Nightmare Creature, but a soldier created by something far worse.
The fight had been a bloody one. And Caster had been forced to take on the rest of the Nightmare without one arm thanks to that fiend.
But its armor was very nice.
Though it was only of the 2nd tier, it also appeared to have something unique about it.
Besides the weight controlling enchantment – [Feather of Truth] – there was also [Prince of the Underworld]. This enchantment made it so the Memory continued to grow stronger each and every time Caster defeated an opponent while wearing it.
It also came with a strange counter.
Enemies Defeated: [45/2,000]
Needless to say the true worth of this Memory would be revealed when that counter was filled.
And Antarctica was the perfect place to do just that.
Caster reached out his hand and felt a prick, followed by a rush as the [Prideful Chikage] formed in his hands. This Memory had proven to be a life saver, without it, he doubted he could have defeated the general of those Stone Soldiers.
And it was also going to make what followed much easier.
In front of him, a canyon filled with hundreds of Nightmare Creatures squirmed about. They were humanoid, but far more ghastly and warped than anything of this world.
There were about 300 of them.
And by his side, there was only one other.
Malcolm shifted his weight uncomfortably.
"Are you sure just us two will be enough?" The strong man asked with crossed arms.
"Esquie confirmed the Guardian is just a Fallen Devil. Do you really think that is going to pose an issue? Or do you think our Ranger was off in her assessment?"
Malcolm grimaced.
At the moment, Esquie, as well as the other members of their cohort had moved on to face another batch of Nightmare Creatures.
They had split 2 and 3, with Caster and Malcolm being the 2.
Seeing Malcolm's expression, Caster scoffed.
"Remember, we're Master's now."
"Yeah, for all of one week. I'm not too keen on losing that status by picking a fight with a small army of Nightmare Creatures."
"It's not picking a fight, it's a necessity," Caster punched the taller man in the side lightly. "Besides, it's not like you really have to do anything. Just stand back and don't get in my way."
The [Prideful Chikage] thrummed in his grip, and Caster felt a rush of satisfaction.
"Tsk, alright you little shit," Malcolm summoned his greatsword, a Trick Weapon called [Ludwig's Holy Blade]. It was an Ascended Memory of the 2nd Tier, and one crafted by Gehrman, and somehow made into a Memory through unknown means. In fact, the [Hunters Attire] that Caster and the others had been using were of the same nature.
Only Caster opted out of wearing that Ascended Attire since he felt this new [Armor of the Underworld] would eventually become much more useful.
With a deep breath, Caster launched himself forward, it was a steady jog, but he still covered an insane amount of distance quickly.
He had managed to keep [Crows Vow] intact, and now held strength somewhere in the realm of a physical enhanced Master.
Now that he was Ascended, the augmentation it offered was not near as potent, but it was still an incredible boon.
He was fairly confident that when he became Transcendent he would be fine casting it off, but even then it would be dangerous to do so, and he could only do it in small bursts.
I miss it though. I wonder how fast I could go now?
Caster's mind wandered slightly as he cut into the first Nightmare Creatures. One swing of the [Prideful Chikage] cut down several Awakened Beasts at once.
About 50 meters away, Malcolm brought down his blade, and a small crater formed in its wake, brutally shattering the bodies of a separate group.
Though his Aspect was of a mere Awakened Rank, his new power had proven a game changer.
The physical enhancement he could employ as Awakened had undergone a qualitative change. Before he could turn his skin to stone-like durability and his attacks were far heavier than they ought to have been.
But now he could extend that privilege to other things.
His blade, for example, might as well have had the [Feather of Truth] enchantment that Caster's armor had.
Caster's Ascended Aspect Ability was more esoteric. Though he couldn't use it at the moment, he imagined many uses it could bring once he could leave behind [Crows Vow].
For now though, the power of the Charm fueled him, and his strength was domineering for it.
He had always been an incredibly skilled swordsman, but as he spent more and more time with Gehrman, spending countless hours battling the Nightmare Creatures around the Dread Citadel, his style had improved several times over.
Unnecessary movements were cut out, and though it was less pretty, he had undoubtedly become more deadly.
He was more reserved than Gehrman, not opting for his insane strategy of dodging toward enemy attacks, but he still employed more daring tactics than he would otherwise.
Right now though, that wasn't entirely necessary.
Awakened Nightmare Creatures fell like blades of grass under the practically weightless [Prideful Chikage].
As he made his way through the pack, he kept a fair amount of distance, taking care never to be totally surrounded.
But eventually things became tougher.
Fallen Beasts and Monsters appeared to block his path, the lieutenants of the Guardian Devil.
Caster grunted as an additional problem came his way - a giant boulder.
He cut through it with ease, letting the remnants crush two weaker beasts and he used the cover to slice into and slay more Fallen.
At the same time, he worked his way towards Malcolm.
Their teamwork was near seamless now, and though they had spread out in order to be more efficient with the taking on the larger batches of Awakened, it would be safer now to fight nearer to each other in order to best take down the stronger Fallen creatures.
It wasn't hard to make his way to him. Malcolm evidently had the same idea. He "Tricked" his weapon, letting the thin, light blade fall out of the heavy broadsword (which actually acted as a sheathe).
With that, he became much more dexterous, and they were soon fighting back to back in no time.
Boulders would still come flying, but the pair silently agreed to let Caster deal with them. Even with Malcolm's physicality being boosted by his Aspect, [Crows Vow] made Caster slightly stronger.
And with [Prideful Chikage] being a Rank stronger, it was only natural that any of the larger attacks that needed to be dealt would be left to Caster.
As they worked their way closer and closer to the Gate Guardian, the duo became a storm of death and physical violence.
No elemental storms or flashy attacks, just simple efficient brutality.
That was the way of the Yharnam Hunters.
And sure enough, Caster was upon the Fallen Devil.
A cut to its warped and elongated legs took it to the ground.
Malcolm landed a heavy blow on its skull.
And finishing the dance Caster brought his blade down, ending the battle by splitting the Fallen Devil in two.
Panting the two of them searched the battlefield, only to find a menagerie of corpses.
"What did I tell you?" Caster asked, looking down at Malcolm with a brazen look.
"You said you would do all the work," Malcolm sneered. "But it looks like I handled my fair share."
"20% of the motley army," Caster taunted. "Don't tell me you're satisfied with such a display."
The larger man did not respond for a while.
His eyes turned distant as he took in the landscape of violence that he had wrought. "I don't know, if I showed this to a younger version of myself, I think I would be over the moon."
Caster also took a pause, letting Malcolm collect his thoughts.
"And now?" he prompted. "What does the current version of yourself think?"
Malcolm chuckled.
"Currently, I think I'm insane. Because all I can think of is how pissed I am that I didn't kill more."
The corner of Caster's lips curled upward.
"You know where we are going, right? I think we'll have more than enough opportunities."
…
The new Masters arrived with much fanfare.
The dire mood of the city was uplifted by the new champions of humanity.
None of the original three Masters were great at public speaking, but Davis, being the "eldest" , ended up relaying the message to the populous.
The 8 Masters, the roughly 1,000 Awakened and the 15,000 mundane soldiers would be responsible with securing and maintaining the perimeter of Erebus Fields and several convoys that would travel in a be line toward large Government ships, which would in turn transport them to Falcon Scott.
From there, they would join that evacuation effort to Eastern Antarctica, and eventually Eastern or Northern Quadrants.
This whole process would take 7 weeks. Already Gehrman, Davis, and Sunny had held out for 1 week, and now with the new Masters the operation to flee Erebus Fields would finish in 3 weeks, followed by 4 weeks of Falcon Scotts evacuation.
All the while, tens of thousands of Nightmare Creatures would assault the siege capital walls and swarm every convoy they would send.
The Chain of Nightmares was always a bloodbath, but now, it had the potential to turn into an utter massacre.
With tens of millions of lives on the line, the sustainment of Erebus Fields and Falcon Scott became the most important mission in the entire world.