As they continued on their journey, Gehrman made sure to stop every once and a while to survey the land. Not the landscape itself, that was rather standard. Instead, he was analyzing the Nightmare Creatures that populated the area.
The largest tribe (or rather tribes) that they kept running into were dubbed "Black Millipedes". Several meters long, protected by black chitin and monstrous mandibles that didn't belong anywhere near such creatures, these Corrupted Beasts were a problem.
Naturally, the both of them had no issues in disposing of Corrupted Beasts, the problem was how damn numerous they were.
So far, Gehrman had counted well over 10,000 of them, and that was just the ones in the wild. Both of them had located a few hives and had not yet ventured inside. There would undoubtedly be many, many more in those places.
However, there would also be Tyrants, likely of the Great Rank. Gehrman was sure that there would also be dozens of lieutenants of the Great Rank, if not hundreds.
Needless to say it would be quite difficult to invade such a place.
There were a bunch of other creatures out and about.
Plenty Great Rank abominations crawled about like common animals near (what they suspected to be) the center of this realm.
The issue was, like the millipedes most of these Nightmare Creatures seemed to follow hive behavior.
There were even some humanoid monsters which Sunny recognized as being similar to something he once fought. They were called the "Barrow Wraiths" and possessed dangerous abilities that worked on a metaphysical level.
The way they wielded Soul rending attacks was unique, and frightening.
This didn't leave a lot of options for hunting.
However, Gehrman made do.
Sunny was in an odd position where he was helping out Gehrman a lot more than the other way around. Though he hadn't complained about it much, Gehrman still wanted to return the favor.
In the end, they settled on simple things.
Materials and kills.
As a Weaver, Sunny required materials of a specific nature in order to house the Enchantments he wanted. Only a Great Creatures corpse could handle becoming a Supreme Memory, for example.
He had a decent store of such materials, but with the two of them together, they could do better.
Great beings of higher Class or of unique nature would be hunted down by Gehrman in order to help Sunny.
Additionally, they put in place a good system for Fragment acquisition.
Like Gehrman, Sunny had a unique Fragment system that could not be supplemented with Soul Shards.
Shadow Fragments were collected only upon the reaping of a life. The amount was just as paltry as Blood Fragments tended to be, with only one or two Fragments being granted upon a kill.
At the moment, both Sunny and Gehrman were Terrors, and becoming Titans was high on the list of things to do.
Though Sunny lamented the pointlessness of a killing Nightmare Creatures when the returns were so slim, Gehrman introduced him to the wonders of genocide-ing swarms of Nightmare Creatures.
What they ended up doing was somewhat similar to the Butcher Block in Antarctica. Gehrman would pierce or otherwise incapacitate Nightmare Creatures, bringing them near death, and then Sunny would make the finishing blow.
Sadly, due to being removed from Fate, Sunny did not have access to the Nightmare Spell, and thus did not have the potential to gain Memories or Echoes from the slaughter.
That being said, this was still wildly efficient. After all, Sunny only needed to make the final blow to get the Fragments, so Gehrman was free to absorb the abomination's blood.
For that reason, they were able to make steady progress.
Another week passed and they had both roughly earned about 300 Fragments.
Despite there being so many abominations, it was quite tough to actually kill scores at a time due to the nature of this place.
The Burned Forest was a Death Zone, through and through.
So for two Transcendent Terrors, it was not the best hunting grounds.
Still, exploring was fun.
The ease they settled into was probably why what happened next shook their entire beings.
…
As the Burned Forest – what was likely the ruins of the Heart Realm – faded behind them, a new hell was revealed.
At this point, Phantasm healing was in Gehrman's Soul Sea after a fight with a fearsome Great Devil, leaving just the two of them to discover this new land.
Or rather, rediscover it.
A feeling of strangeness and dread immediately assaulted Gehrman upon crossing the boundary into this desolate, rocky landscape.
There was no immediate danger, he couldn't even sense any Nightmare Creatures on the land.
Still, seeing this place greatly unsettled him.
"Do you get a bad feeling from this place?" Gehrman asked tentatively.
"...Yeah," Sunny replied. However, his eyes were distant, it was clear that his mind was elsewhere.
Gehrman was tempted to pry into his thoughts, but decided against it.
The pair continued flying, the oddness of everything finally coming to a head once they saw the first ruins of this dead world.
If that was the Heart Realm, then what is this place? Some parts of the Dream Realm had to be there from the start, the original Dream Realm likely comprised of the places where the Daemons had lived, seen as they were enemies of the gods.
So the region around Ravenheart, at least, is likely natural. I would wager the Hollow Mountains, Nightmare Desert and Forgotten Shore were as well. Ah, this is all just guess work, there is no way to say definitively what this place is.
For some reason, that nagged at him.
That question of this place's origin was like the serrated edge of a knife, slowly pulling back and forth over his brain.
Then, they finally saw something. Ruins of this realm's ancient past.
The only problem was that what lay before them was not ancient.
The structure stood decrepit and seething of ominous hatred. It was lifeless of all things, still somehow felt lived in.
That was because this was not some medieval design, it was modern architecture. The very same kind that was used in the Waking World.
Gehrman opened his mouth to ask the terrifying question that popped into his head, but when he saw Sunny's face he froze.
The man was even paler than usual, his pupils shook as he took in the site before him.
"This is…LO49. The Lunar Observatory on the southern tip of the Antarctic Center," Sunny's voice was hoarse and full of the same disbelief that Gehrman felt.
"You're sure?" Gehrman asked.
In response to that, another skip occurred as Sunny said something else from his past that could not find purchase in Gehrman's mind.
Shuddering, Sunny spoke again.
"Yes, I'm sure."
Gehrman frowned.
"So the Dream Realm is making replicas of the Waking World, or rather, the War Realm. Then it's stitching it to the ends of the Dream Realm?"
Sunny wordlessly descended, a look of macabre horror plastered on his face.
He reached the entrance, the secure gates having been decimated by something.
The pair spent some time exploring, trying to accommodate the fact that this modern and broken technology was in the Dream Realm.
They made their way through the place. Despite being a Lunar Observatory, it was more like a military outpost than anything.
"I met Dr. Obel and his assistant here, I don't think I told you that," Sunny said.
Indeed, the words stuck, so Gehrman let the man continue speaking.
"I learned a lot of things from that old guy. You know he made the Obel Scale, which allows us to predict the appearance of Gates and their relative magnitude, but the way he talked about it, you would think it was a cheap toy."
They arrived in a large open room. Sleeping bags and a myriad of survival equipment and supplies were strewn about haphazardly, like thousands of people had been living here, only to get up and abandon the place all at once.
"He wasn't satisfied with it since it was an incomplete science. More than that it was an impossible science. According to him, each Gate is born in relation to someone reaching further up the path of Ascension. So each Tier 2 Gate is a result of someone Ascending."
Gehrman's frown deepened.
"That doesn't make sense, there is a Category 5 Gate in North America, and when it formed there weren't even any Transcendents around, let alone Sacred."
"I said the same thing. Then the old man started talking about some weird metaphors, trying to explain his theory. In his mind, Gates and Nightmare Seeds existed outside of time. A Category 5 Gate exists because someone in the future becomes Sacred. Of course, some Gates of the appropriate Rank might form after an Ascension as well. I think what he was getting at was there was always a Nightmare Seed for each step someone walks on the path of Divinity. However, whether that Seed manifests in the past or future is random."
Gehrman tried to wrap his mind around the concept.
It was difficult, but not impossible to understand due to his experiences.
"So the three Category 4 Gates that formed during the Battle of Black Skull indicate the birth of 3 Sovereigns?"
Sunny nodded.
"It could even represent the current three, Anvil, Ki Song, and Asterion."
Gehrman stopped dead in his tracks.
Sunny stopped, he was still quite morose, but also confused at the look that now crossed Gehrman's face.
"What did you just say?"
Sunny gave him an odd look.
"That it could connect to the three Sovereigns that already exist, or that it could the Seeds come from three future Sovereigns."
"Not that, the names damn it. You said three names."
Sunny looked even more befuddled.
"Yeah, the current three Sovereigns. I already told you about how Anvil, Ki Song, and the Dreamspawn worked together to kill Neph's dad. What are you confused about?"
"You said a name, you didn't say Dreamspawn."
Sunny blinked.
"Uh, no. I said 'Dreamspawn'. Mordret chided me out in the Nightmare about saying his actual name, that's why we all use that pseudonym instead."
"But you just said…" Gehrman trailed off.
Asterion.
He tried to forget the name, but in trying to forget it he only just made the words bounce around his head more and more.
Asterion.
"Shit, never mind. I need to think of something else."
Sunny still seemed wary, perhaps he also sensed the danger of what just happened, but couldn't figure out the reason behind it.
Is this mental manipulation? Using his own name as a medium he can enter the thoughts of others? That's so random, there have to be conditions for it. It makes sense in hindsight that Sunny knew it. He was close with Nephis and they–
"Something else now, please," Gehrman said again.
His internal monologue was starting to center around Aster- or rather, the Dreamspawn. If this was a natural occurrence or manipulation was unclear, but Gehrman was didn't want to think on which one it was since that just made things worse.
"I don't think this is a replica," Sunny suddenly said.
"What?"
"I don't think this is a replica of the War Realm. I think this is the War Realm, and the Dream Realm is consuming it."
"Huh? How would the people of the Waking World not notice that their reality is getting subsumed into a separate reality?"
Sunny said nothing for a little while. Then his face scrunched.
"Gods, this has really put a damper on the explorer in me. Come on, we might as well find out."
Sunny's form shifted into that of a crow again, and soon they were both flying through a broken hole in the ceiling.
They kept going North.
Only, now that they knew that this was LO49, did they actually knew whereabouts they were going.
It seemed that this region started with some islands that were South of the Antarctic Center. So it only stood to reason that if they went further North they would eventually reach more familiar ruins.
If that happened, they would go West to see if Fort Balmuth was also here.
However, they didn't need to.
Both Gehrman and Sunny nearly fell out of the sky as they felt a powerful twisting nausea consume them. It was brief, and lasted only a moment, but it was not subtle by any means.
It was also familiar.
The pair looked at each other, and then descended once more.
They landed on the dry soil of Antarctica. The true Antarctica.
Gehrman turned around and started walking back from where they flew in from. After a minute he felt the twisting sensation again.
He turned around.
He could see Sunny only a few meters away, looking at him with a complex mix of emotions.
That was because at that moment, Gehrman was standing in the Dream Realm, and Sunny was standing in the War Realm.
The sensation that the both of them felt was the exact same as when one pulled on their Tether to enter the Dream Realm from the Waking World.
The line between the two was so blurred that it didn't seem to even exist.
The two looked at each other, not saying anything, nor knowing what to do with this information.
Eventually, Gehrman shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.
They had just discovered the edge of the world and confirmed the eventual apocalypse of the Earth was already underway.
No big deal.
Gehrman walked back towards Sunny, letting himself be pulled into the Waking World by simply taking a step.
"Well, this will be a lot more efficient than having Hunters get pulled into the Dream Realm and then sent back in order to go into their First Nightmare. We can just set up shop on this here border and have the worthy candidates take a step across, and then back, easy peasy"
Sunny's hollow eyes filled with a small amount of humour.
"I'm glad you can find a bright side to this."
"I try to always do so. This world, or rather, these worlds, need some brevity now and again."
Gehrman looked out over the wasteland of the Antarctic Center and got to thinking.
"You know, I think I have an idea on some more suitable hunting grounds for our journey to become Titans."
Sunny gave him a sidelong glance and a wry smile.
"I think I know what you're getting at, but I'm not sure that's a fight we want to pick. There is a Cursed Nightmare Creature, a literal fallen god, that has made its nest in America. It would be suicide to go anywhere near that thing."
"Very true. I am not in the mood to pick fights with gods just yet. However, if I recall, that thing is in North America. In other words South America is free for the conquering. Not only that, it should be ripe with Great Nightmare Creatures to satisfy our greedy, stubborn Soul Cores."
Sunny let out a sigh.
In truth, he had thought about this as well. The idea came and went in passing. The reason he ultimately dismissed it was due to the simple fact that he wouldn't be benefiting anyone by taking care of the Nightmare Creatures there.
They seemed fine to mind their own business so long as no humans were in the area. He didn't want to poke the hornets' nest (whatever that was) if I he didn't need to.
Still, that was before he had Gehrman with him.
The two of them together were a truly formidable force. Just them alone could likely conquer a Great Clan so long as the Sovereigns weren't in play. If there was anyone to make such an expedition, it would be them.
"What the hell, it wouldn't hurt to take a look. I've already discovered the secrets of the Dream Realm, it would be simply unfair to not familiarize myself with my own history."
Gehrman grinned wide.
Then, he spoke the words he would regret for the rest of his life.
"Exactly! Everything is already a shit show, we might as well be selfish. Besides, it's not like things could get any worse."
Sunny's face immediately fell.
He turned hostile.
"You did NOT just fucking say tha-"
At that very moment, the fabric of reality contorted in a truly monstrous way.
A new Gate formed in the Waking World.
Sunny's heart fell.
He remembered distinctly the fear and power wielded by the Gate Guardians that appeared at the end of the Battle of Black Skull.
Those were the pinnacle of the Great Rank.
True horrors that nobody in his generation had ever so much as glimpsed of.
This was worse.
Sunny wanted to throttle Gehrman.
The only reason he didn't was the sheer terror that now flooded his entire body.
His rational mind knew that despite this reaction, they were not in immediate danger of dying.
The Gate formed far, far away.
Later, it would be located in the center of Eastern Antarctica.
The War Realm's second Category 5 Gate.
And its second Cursed Nightmare Creature.