C93: Hand In Hand
So, to be fair. I originally envisioned this to be around 800 or so words but I guess my thought process on word count did not match my vision as it easily surpassed the average word count, reaching 2.6k.
Enjoy and hopefully you feel like I do about this.
8/23/26
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The supernova's fire power had extended far beyond what I thought it could do with the limited resources it had, but to say that all of the nightmare Yharnam melted would be a certainty.
The chapel at the start shattered like a lego building making extraterrestrial contact with a massive hammer. The winding paths of the nightmare version of the Cathedral ward were ground to sand under the oppressive heat and beams of light.
All life that could potentially have remained were melted into ash until not even the ash remained. The beastly curses flow into me yet I had not the moment to care about any of that.
"Ugh" A piece of rubble that had somehow survived and shielded me from the blast. In my final moments, The sage had grabbed me and pulled me alongside itself underneath a dense earthy structure. Essentially a bunker.
Yet such a simple magical form could not deter my beautiful masterpiece. It was glorious, I reminisce even now as my body is covered in burn wounds and half melted pieces of flesh. My clothes burnt and only left in patches that stick to my skin.
I slowly lift my head as I try to make sense of where I am and what happened to my enemy as well as what led to the current situation.
I take a few moments in my dazed state to remember that when I showcased my lovely creation. The loops had collapsed first, reaching their maximum state based on the provided mana. The compression's failure followed as it could no longer suppress the supernova's expansion. Following this, the chaos barrier I put around the supernova, acting as the final barrier to prevent self-harm, was the last to collapse as I had underestimated the final result.
I had barely equipped the barrier against myself again, using my stamina as the final check and then dashing away. That is when The Living Sage had grabbed me and pulled me into his barrier. It didn't take long for that barrier to collapse onto the two of us but he kept making barriers until he was exhausted and multiple piles of rubble fell on us. Thankfully by that point, my own barrier had lasted a few seconds before I was immolated underneath all the rubble.
Gazing now at the fallen sage, I see his body begin to dissipate into black smoke and the familiar boss notice appears before me like usual.
[Prey Slaughtered]
[Astral clocktower key obtained]
A shift crosses my face as I slowly but surely push away the surrounding rubble pinning me down until I was free. Free to take 5 years to stand up, barely at that. For some reason, the unchanging gamer body function doesnt work right now, in fact it hasn't worked for quite some time but the healing blood has done its work before but I don't have the mind to think about that right now. Which is why I'm in quite a bit of pain and shuffling toward, bit by bit until I reach the door.
"Haah haaah" Heavy panting escapes my lips, absolutely dry and cracked skin that leans against the door. My hand trembles as I summon the key and stick it into the key hole. It takes a lot of effort to turn it so that the door unlocks. My body weight shifts the door open as it swings open and I fall on the floor.
"Gagh" I groan as I collapse on the central wooden floor. Shaped in a cross, this piece of the structure is far more durable as compared to the rest of the room with some pieces of the wood rising up and others down in uneven patterns. Dust scattered everywhere, untended and abandoned except for a few streaks.
These streaks come from me as I try to drag myself forward, a hollow sensation fills my body, I know my next death is not far from now. Yet I have something I need to accomplish before then. It's the type of feeling that If I don't do it now, I would never get another chance later.
I try to stand but my legs give out every time, causing me to only continue dragging myself forward. I eventually reached the other side. A pair of chairs rest before me with someone sitting upon it. A pool of blood begins clinging to my dust and dirt covered form as I get closer.
My right arm collapses at that moment as I roll over onto my back. I take multiple agonizing breaths to try steading my body. My right arm swings over to clutch at my chest as my left slowly slides over and barely brushes against the shoe of the seated individual before it too falls aside.
I quietly wheeze, trembling all over as my body slowly still. My eyes feel heavy as I slowly close them. A sense of unfulfillment fills me, the hollowness claims me once more.
"You look terrible…as usual." My eyes snap open at those words. The hollowness, extinguished as if it was never there. Strength once again slowly fills me, but very slowly. My eyes regain their vision as I take in, with great clarity at the pale beauty hovering above me wearing a unique hunter set of her own. A face that appears to mimic the Doll, yet also far more life-like. Yet Nay, not hovering but simply leaning over from her seated position which looks down at me from the opposite direction. An…old friend.
"Perks of the Job" I say with a cough both before and after speaking. The dust still gradually leaves my lungs from the previous explosion.
"And what was your reason for leaving for so long?" She questions as I gradually turn myself over. Kneeling on both legs, barely knee height with the seated woman. She has a displeased look on her face as she kicks me before asking her question.
I cough up some blood yet a part of me can't help but be pleased that she at least lashed out at me since I left her alone for so long. A sort of retribution.
"I…had to get something…something for you" i cant help but mutter as I bring out an item into my clenched fist which I thump against my chest.
"And what is it?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Before that, I have a request." My head lowers and the woman seems fairly annoyed though after a second, she relents as she knows how tedious I could become for her when I get into similar moods.
"What is it now? Oh, killer of mine?" She says, though her tone shifts to a hint of sorrow as my head lifts, tears begin to stream down my face as I give my request.
"I ask you. One last time. What is your name? I won't ignore it this time. I'll say it properly. I'll ignore any headache I have. I'll listen." My words elicit quite the reaction from her as well. Though her face, while pale white, becomes painted with a single stream of tears, which also shows a dear smile.
"Maria. I am Maria. You fool. You better remember this time around" She says and extends a hand to help lift me up. I use my left hand to push hers' away.
I push it as my right hand, clenched, my fingers wiggle as I hold something.
"Then, as one last request. Will you, my dear Lady Maria. The most darling of hunters ... .Marry Me?" I reveal the item in my hand.
[The Ring of Bethrothal]
My head is lowered and silence ensues throughout the room before I feel that the ring disappears from my grip. I then hear something tumble a bit away from me. A sense of loss passes through me until I look a bit up and see that what fell was not the ring but the very knife that Maria had used to slit my throat shortly after I slit hers.
When we made the pact to end each other's lives in this very room. I had chosen to further slit her throat so that she would die before me and thus suffer less but she then slit my throat with my own dagger. As such we collapsed in these very seats.
I lift my head and see that Maria was admiring the ring after it was placed upon her ring finger. A smile is evident on her face as she uses the same ringed hand to grab my hand and drag me up while she sits up as well.
I use my other hand to cup her cheek as our lips meet in the middle.
It takes quite some time before we separate. "You certainly took your time." She admonishes me.
"Sorry, I lost it for a bit. I had to go through some hoops to get it back."
"Mmhmm. I see you also finally got that Growth Spurt you mentioned so long ago. Nice to see I don't have to kneel to be eye level with you" She suddenly brings up
"I was never that short" I harumph in mock annoyance.
"Oh, then it must have been your many daydreams where you saw yourself shorter than me and liked it" She teases me before we kiss once more.
We talk for quite some time before we finally sit down next to each other. Me in one seat and her on my left. Hand In Hand. Fingers Locked. Our arms ceaselessly dripping with blood from the unstoppable wounds demarcating our attempt at death. An attempt to forget the nightmare that clutches at our chests. Our Sin.
We accept our deaths. No more dreams, no more murder, no more beasts. Just us in this moment, with each other.
"Ugh, fuck it" I get up, hands still locked.
"What is it now?" Maria asks.
"I just don't wish to die in this dreary fucking place." I rant in my natural annoying self.
"Hmmph, and where would we go?" She huffs in her usual annoyance when dealing with me.
"I know of a chapel close enough to here. We raid a few houses and have ourselves a proper wedding. No priest but I can modify my voice enough to mimic one" I explain the plan.
Maria rolls her eyes, though the smile on her face betrays her thoughts. She then yelps in surprise as I lift her up in a princess carry and begin making my way to the exit.
I hum along with every step, Maria forfeits herself to my whims as she snuggles in against my chest. We gaze into each other's eyes.
We suddenly hear a thump before us and go on the alert. I drop one hand, setting Maria down as she draws her Rakuyo while I have my personal Hunters Axe appear in said hand. Yet by this point, it is already too late. A giant fishman appears before the both of us, his hand already in motion as it sweeps through the both of us. The attack doesnt seem to do any actual damage to us.
At least until I fall to my knees with my hunters axe clattering to the floor a foot away from me. The both of us reach for our throats as the sealed wounds break open once more. Maria with her true vileblood lineage is able to resist this injury for a few moments as she draws her Rakuyo and begins slashing and stabbing the beast but as her weapon is one based on agility rather than pure power that would be able to perfectly draw out her special strengths. She is quickly overpowered as the ogre type creature commits to an overhead slam onto the female hunter.
I try to stand as well. Drawing my best weapon (in terms of grade), the Guiding Moonlight greatsword which I shake into its shimmering two handed state before Charging up a heavy swing which does halfway chop off the monster's arm. In retaliation, it punches me which sends me through the chairs we just left, shattering them both. My grip remains strong on the weapon
Maria reaches for my axe which I dropped earlier, but just as she grabs it, she is lifted up by her other arm before it is promptly ripped off by the shoulder akin to a doll that is to be mutilated by a bad child.
This first mutilation is followed by her other arm which was holding the axe around her below before her legs follow.
"Kagh, Mar…ia." I try to stand up but the previous hollowness rears its head again as I lose all strength and can only reach out and stare in horror as Maria's head is crushed within the palm of the Giant Fishman.
"NOOOOOOOOOO" I yell as I collapse.
I cant see anything anymore as the system interface in negative Opacity blocks my vision.
[knowledge has leveled up. T3 Knowledge level 8 ->level 10. Evolution forced. T∞ Knowledge {MAXED}]
[Hidden requirements of Curse of Kosm met. Insight lock reactivated. ]
[Skill-Greater Sense dismantled- +100 insight. Skill-Knowledge dismantled- +500 insight. Curse = Caryll Curse absorbed- +100 insight. All titles scrapped: Old Hunter- +10 insight, Im retarded and I know it- +200 insight. Young Hunter- +20 insight. VileBlood- +30 insight. Pyromaniac- +15 insight. Beast Tamer- +45 insight. Rookie Runic Mage 2- +50 insight. soul slayer 3 - +150 insight. Cheater- +30 insight. Current insight = 1698.]
[Excess Insight converted into Curse of Kosm progress. 1598 added to the current progress of 75 = 1673% beastification.]
[Beginning transformation. Error curse progress beyond possible standards. Creating a New Beast form to accommodate curse percentage.]
[Error. Error. System Securities activated. System Securities Bypassed. System shut down.]
The screens disappear a moment later as I begin to feel my veins all over my body squirm. Strength returns to my body far beyond what I could have ever unleashed before, yet it comes at a grave cost as my eyes go bloodshot to such a level that my veins pop and blood fills all that I can see. My brown eyes take on that similar blood like hue as I make use of my newfound strength.
"HAAAAAAAAAA" BOOM.
I charge forward, screaming all the while, and crash into the Giant Fishman who had begun walking towards me only to be slammed into the ground, though not before rabidly being clawed apart.
In the sight of the Giant Fishman is that the malevolent creature that tackled it is gradually growing larger. Its spine contorts before every aspect of its humanoid body expands in size before it's sight collapses under the claws of the monster.
From a distance, the sight of the clocktower is quite spectacular yet not for long as it soon shifts and crumbles to reveal the creature that broke it.
The Monster is 80 ft tall (24.3m). It's head is a wolvish monstrosity with sharp metallic fur, yet this is not true of the rest of it's body. The chest is instead a whole broad set of shimmering scales in hexagonal sections that shift with every breath. One arm is no different than the form of the Eldritch arm skill. A squid like tentacle that inspires the greatest fears known to man. The other arm is not an arm but a giant snake body and head for the hand. One leg is akin to a striped Tiger paw and the other is a bovine hoof.
The nightmare trembles as the originally human scream that had been crying out these past few minutes finally shifts to that of a beast.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH"
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Word Count = 2643