Alex, Alucard, and Maria had arrived in the Upper Cathedral Ward. This place was accessible only to the highest-ranking elite of the Healing Church. Those who ruled over it called themselves the Choir.
Unlike the Healing Church, which sought ascension through the blood of the Great Ones, the Choir pursued ascension through experimentation and by understanding the traces left behind by the Great One they had made contact with. At their core, the members of the Choir were not only high-ranking clergymen of the Healing Church — they were also scholars from Byrgenwerth who continued their research within the walls of the Upper Cathedral Ward.
It was the Choir who were the first to successfully perform the Holy Chalice ritual. By opening a passage leading into the depths of the catacombs built by the Pthumerians, the Choir discovered Ebrietas and made contact with her. After discovering Ebrietas and founding the Choir, the Upper Cathedral Ward was constructed — a place where the Choir could conduct their experiments in peace.
One of the Choir's research projects was the creation of an analytical center for highly intelligent scholars. The Healing Church would pick up orphaned children from the streets of Yharnam to raise them as future members of the Choir. For these children, an orphanage was built in the Upper Cathedral Ward. It served not only as a place to live, but also as a site for experiments and education.
The reason behind the Choir's actions was quite simple: they believed that children's minds and worldviews were not yet fully formed. Through their methods, the Choir could raise highly intelligent scholars who would help advance their research even further.
The children in the orphanage were trained with extreme intensity, forced to listen to the voice of Ebrietas, which carried knowledge. However, not all children could withstand such strain. Many eventually went mad and died.
Such children were simply disposed of, as the Choir pursued grand goals, and the death of a few orphans was considered a small price to pay. Those children who managed to endure the ordeal eventually became full members of the Choir and began actively participating in the Choir's experiments.
One of the places where the Choir conducted their research was the Research Hall. The goal of these experiments was to give humans so-called "eyes on the inside," allowing them to perceive the world as the Great Ones did.
To cultivate these "eyes inside," the Choir forced people to drink water teeming with infected extraterrestrial microscopic life, which transformed their cerebrospinal fluid into something resembling eyes. These patients were then made to listen to the sounds emitted by the Great Ones. The patients described these sounds as something sticky, like the sound of water coming from the deepest parts of the ocean.
The Choir concluded that the sound the patients heard was the voice of some celestial servant guiding those who heard it toward something sacred. Or, as those who heard the sound described it, the voice was leading them toward revelation. Most of these patients eventually went completely insane, repeating before death that they were drowning.
The patients who survived these experiments began to mutate. Tentacles grew from their swollen heads. Seeing this as something remarkable and another step toward their goal, the Choir began studying these patients, believing they were moving in the right direction toward Ascension.
During their research on these subjects, the Choir noticed that some patients managed to retain their sanity. Those who became enlightened through the celestial messenger began to change drastically. Their bodies grew to enormous sizes, gaining blue flesh and gender-neutral forms.
These patients also gained the ability to wield primordial cosmic powers on the level of a Great One. Observing such patients, the Choir saw a chance to create something new. Through their experiments, the Choir sought to create a being capable of comprehending the cosmos and becoming a Great One in the truest sense.
Once they figured out the correct method, they succeeded in creating a being they named the Celestial Emissary. It was the first Great One created by human hands. After the Celestial Emissary was created, the Choir noticed that the patients who had undergone the same experiments and were soon to die became something like relatives to it.
In the end, the Choir decided to house the Celestial Emissary and its "kin" in the flower garden behind the Research Hall and continue their observation. The existence of such a being within the Upper Cathedral Ward was kept in the strictest secrecy from anyone who was not a member of the Choir or a high-ranking official of the Healing Church.
The Choir used the artificially created Great One as a source of elevated spiritual contemplation for the Church and maintained contact with Ebrietas. However, the Healing Church eventually began to decline. The Upper Cathedral Ward was sealed off for many years, and the members of the Choir scattered to continue their research elsewhere. The Upper Cathedral Ward itself remained the dwelling place of two Great Ones and the creatures that the failed members of the Choir had transformed into.
Alex, Alucard, and Maria passed through a tall archway and began climbing the stairs. As they ascended, Alex looked at the building whose gates were tightly shut. This building was the orphanage where children were raised to become future members of the Choir.
Once they reached the top, Alex looked around, recalling the path they needed to take. After scanning the area, his gaze returned to the orphanage, and his face twisted with disgust. Although the building looked like a spacious house that could accommodate many people, it filled him with revulsion because of what it had been used for — and what this entire part of the city had been used for.
Maria, having climbed the stairs, couldn't help but look at the Clock Tower. Gazing at it, she felt a strange mix of emotions, but guilt was no longer among them. The Clock Tower now evoked only a faint sense of nostalgia. After all, it had been the only place where she could be alone with her thoughts and enjoy the view of Yharnam while it still prospered.
But as they crossed the bridge leading to this area, Maria couldn't ignore what Yharnam had become. The once-prosperous city, its streets filled with people, had turned into a ghost town where only monsters now roamed the streets and alleys, and the houses contained people slowly descending into madness.
Alucard, having reached the top, frowned slightly as she looked around. A strange noise rang in her ears that she couldn't ignore. It sounded like the distant singing of a choir — very far away, yet somehow coming directly from within her subconscious.
"What is this irritating noise? I've been hearing it ever since we entered this place," Alucard asked, turning to Alex.
"I don't hear anything like that. Only a sound that reminds me of something crawling," Maria said, turning her head toward Alucard.
"That's the sound of singing coming from the creatures further ahead. The slimy sounds are made by Ebrietas's offspring. There they are," Alex said, pointing in the right direction.
Alucard twitched her neck slightly as the sound began to irritate her even more and turned her head toward where Alex was pointing. Maria also turned and saw even more slimy creatures that were barely noticeable because they were hidden behind statues.
Just like the previous Celestial Children, these beings were also crawling in one direction, as if trying to reach something in that direction. Alex, however, perfectly understood what kind of singing his wife was referring to. He could hear it too, but simply chose to ignore it.
Grabbing the closed massive iron gates, Alex pulled them toward himself with slight force. The heavy iron gates made a cracking sound as their mechanism broke, and a moment later Alex swung them open, clearing the path ahead. He saw no reason to explore this place thoroughly — he was only interested in the two beings that resided here. After opening the gates, Alex lightly shook his hands.
"We can go. I don't want to linger in this place. It irritates me," Alex said, turning his head toward Alucard and Maria.
"I hope we're heading toward the creatures making this irritating noise," Alucard said as she walked past Alex.
"Even though I can't hear that sound, I also don't want to stay here any longer," Maria said, adjusting her hat and walking past Alex as well.
Alex nodded and followed the two women. After passing through the gates, he saw the entrance to the orphanage. Knowing where to go, Alex led Alucard and Maria forward. To the right of the orphanage doors was another staircase leading to a stone bridge. As he climbed the steps, Alex lit a cigarette.
Once they crossed this stone bridge, they would reach the garden where the Celestial Emissary resided. Alucard walked ahead, feeling the choral singing in her head growing louder. Reaching the middle of the bridge, she saw a strange creature standing with its back to them.
Alex and Maria approached and also saw the creature. It resembled a humanoid alien with a blue body and a large, jelly-like head. The creature swayed slowly, like a jellyfish in water, twitching slightly as it moved.
"What is that creature?" Maria asked, narrowing her eyes at the Small Celestial Emissary.
"It's what humans turned into after the Church's experiments… I'm curious what it looks like on the inside…" Alex said, stroking his chin.
Before Alex could finish speaking, a shadow appeared beneath the Small Celestial Emissary's feet, filled with teeth. The next moment, the head of a beast burst out from the shadow and bit the Small Celestial Emissary in half with a single chomp. The beast's head chewed the creature into mince before spitting it out and disappearing back into the shadow.
Alex watched the scene with a blank expression and then turned his gaze to Alucard, who looked like a very irritated woman. Alucard looked back at Alex with a calm gaze and continued forward, showing she had no intention of tolerating this noise in her ears any longer.
"Looks like I won't get to see what process these blue creatures went through," Alex said, staring at Alucard's back.
"Do you really think so, my Hunter?" Maria asked calmly, running her finger along Alex's shoulder.
Alex gave Maria a tired look, to which she responded with a slight smile before walking ahead. Shaking his head, Alex followed Alucard and Maria. After crossing the bridge, they entered a spacious garden. Stone pillars ran through the center of the garden, supporting the bridge above, while below lay a garden of strange blue flowers that shimmered with a faint, star-like glow.
Standing on the elevated walkway, Alex's gaze shifted toward the balcony. He had been in this place before — but only in the Hunter's Nightmare. This was the same garden where the experimented-on patients had been released. Maria looked at the garden with a faint sadness, remembering that sunflowers had once grown here. The bridge passing over the garden was the same one that led to the Clock Tower.
"This noise is coming from here. The ones making this irritating singing are somewhere nearby," Alucard said, baring her sharp fangs in a bloodthirsty grin.
"They're hiding among the flowers. And it's up to you two to kill them all," Alex said, clapping his hands.
"Us?" Maria asked, pointing at herself.
"Yes, you and Carmilla. You don't mind, do you, my love?" Alex asked, nodding toward Alucard.
"Only if she doesn't get in my way," Alucard said in a contemptuous tone, narrowing her eyes at Maria.
Hearing Alucard's contemptuous tone, Maria calmly separated her Rakuyo, gripping the saber and short sword in her hands. After separating her weapons, Maria walked up to Alucard and looked her straight in the eyes. Maria was the same height as Alucard, so she didn't need to look up.
Seeing Maria's gaze, Alucard narrowed her eyes and laughed. She liked this cold look in Maria's eyes. It was the gaze of a Huntress ready to fight and unafraid of monsters. Maria showed neither irritation nor fear toward Alucard, who was openly laughing in her face. After finishing her laughter, Alucard took a step back.
"Then don't fall behind, little girl. Let's see how skilled you are after spending decades locked away in your tower," Alucard said mockingly as she approached the edge.
Before Maria could reply, Alucard simply jumped down into the garden. Maria remained calm and turned her gaze to Alex. Giving him a slight nod, she ran forward, pushed off the ledge, and leaped down into the garden.
Alex froze in place at what had just happened. He hadn't even had time to explain how to defeat the Celestial Emissary before both Maria and Alucard had already jumped into the garden. Sighing, Alex summoned Chastiefol and transformed it into a flying cushion. Climbing onto the cushion, he flew out from under the overhang and hovered above the garden.
"I suppose they'll figure out how to kill these creatures themselves pretty quickly," Alex said, yawning lightly and making himself comfortable on the flying cushion.
Meanwhile, down below, dozens of Small Celestial Emissaries began appearing unnoticed, along with one that was different from the rest — the one commanding them. Maria and Alucard saw dozens of nearly identical creatures that immediately began rushing toward them.
Gripping her saber tightly, Maria made a sharp dash forward, severing the heads of several Small Celestial Emissaries. Grabbing the short sword in a reverse grip, she delivered a spinning thrust, piercing the head of another. Seeing how quickly Maria killed several of the blue aliens, Alucard smirked slightly.
"Let's see how this new toy performs," Alucard said as the Chikage blade suddenly appeared in her hand.
Holding the Chikage, Alucard looked at the Small Celestial Emissaries approaching her. At that moment, she wanted to fully test the limits of her new ability. The moment the blue creatures got close enough, Alucard's body twitched slightly.
In the next instant, the nearest blue creatures were decapitated, and Alucard was holding the Chikage's hilt. After a moment of thought, she raised the hand holding the blade. Using causality, she skipped two actions — drawing the blade and swinging it. However, she couldn't skip the third action: sheathing the blade.
After pondering for a moment, Alucard suddenly vanished from her spot and reappeared several meters away from Maria, who continued swinging her blades and cutting down several blue creatures at once. Looking at Maria, who didn't stop killing the blue beings, Alucard raised her gaze upward. She saw Alex lazily lying on his flying cushion, holding a strange board with numbers on it. Understanding what the board was for, Alucard felt a surge of competitiveness.
Maria, however, paid no attention to what was happening around her. All her focus was on continuing to kill the blue creatures, whose numbers were only increasing. After performing a double swing with her saber and short sword, Maria recombined them into Rakuyo.
Holding Rakuyo with both hands, Maria began spinning the blade, delivering sweeping cuts all around her. Gradually, corpses of Small Celestial Emissaries began piling up beneath her feet, forcing her to balance on them. Stepping on one of the blue creatures' bodies, Maria felt her foot slip.
Before she could fall, she pushed off with her other foot from a nearby Small Celestial Emissary and performed a backward somersault, using Rakuyo as support by stabbing its blade into the body of a blue creature that had sneaked up behind her. Jumping out of the encirclement, Maria quickly scanned the garden, analyzing the situation.
"There are getting more of them…" Maria muttered, looking around.
She understood that they needed to kill these blue creatures as quickly as possible before their numbers grew even further. With a swift motion, Maria separated Rakuyo again and felt for a small indentation on the hilts of both the saber and short sword. Pressing the indentations on both weapons, Maria felt a sharp spike pierce her palms.
Blood from Maria's palms began flowing down the blades of the saber and short sword. A moment later, she was holding two blades with long red edges. Gripping the two blood-coated swords, Maria delivered a wide cross-shaped slash forward. A stream of blood followed her swing, slicing through several blue creatures.
After killing a few more, Maria began delivering sweeping strikes, literally turning her movements into a dance. Each swing left a trail of blood that dealt significant damage to everything around her. Her strikes were wide enough to begin cutting into the stone pillars, leaving deep marks.
Alucard, who was killing blue creatures on the other side of the garden, saw how Maria was using her weapon. Noticing that Maria could use her own blood as a weapon, Alucard was quite surprised. She hadn't expected Maria to be able to control blood.
"How interesting. I didn't think there would be people like this in this world," Alucard said, licking her lips.
Holding the Chikage in her hand, Alucard also found a small indentation and pressed it. Feeling the spike pierce her palm, Alucard showed no reaction and simply swung the Chikage, delivering a strike. Alex, hovering above the garden on his flying cushion, continued keeping count of how many Small Celestial Emissaries Alucard and Maria had killed.
Watching this literal carnival of blood, Alex calmly flipped the numbered boards, updating the score for the two women. Only a few minutes had passed since the start of the battle, yet Alucard and Maria had already killed at least a hundred Small Celestial Emissaries.
Swinging his legs idly, Alex wondered when Maria or Alucard would realize what they needed to do. Continuing to keep score, he never took his eyes off the special blue creature that was commanding the others, constantly summoning more of its kind.
"Ladies, you need to find the special one… It's controlling the rest!" Alex shouted, giving the two women a small hint.
Hearing Alex's voice, both Alucard and Maria looked up at him. Alex pointed with his finger, indicating they needed to find the special one. Maria immediately cut down the nearest blue creatures and began searching for the special one Alex had mentioned. Alucard also started looking.
She found it almost instantly. She saw one of the blue creatures behaving unnaturally, hiding behind a pillar instead of attacking. Alucard bared her teeth, and the pentagrams on her gloves began to glow faintly. At that moment, a pair of red eyes opened in the shadow behind the special blue creature.
The next instant, a massive, black-furred arm emerged from the shadow and slammed the Celestial Emissary into the stone pillar with such force that the entire pillar cracked. The creature's body was instantly crushed against the stone. However, even with the death of that Celestial Emissary, nothing changed.
"It can possess others. Look for the one it's possessing now," Alex shouted, giving another hint.
Maria immediately noticed the strange behavior of the nearest blue creature, which had started backing away from her instead of attacking. She gripped her saber and thrust forward. A red stream of blood shot out from the tip of the saber under high pressure, piercing the body of the Celestial Emissary. Before the blood stream hit the ground, it ignited, setting the Celestial Emissary and several nearby blue creatures on fire.
The Celestial Emissary writhed in pain, rolling on the ground, and went limp a moment later. Realizing what they needed to do, both Alucard and Maria began searching for the special one among the blue creatures. After killing the special one several times, it stopped running and froze in place. Not only did the special one freeze — all the other blue creatures stopped moving as well.
"What's happening to them? Why did they freeze?" Maria asked, wiping blood from her face with the back of her hand.
"I don't know. Maybe you should ask the one who knows the answer," Alucard said in a lazy tone, pointing upward.
Maria looked up and saw Alex sitting on his flying cushion. Seeing Maria's gaze, Alex made a "wait" gesture with his hand. Alucard, however, kept her eyes fixed on the special blue creature. During the battle with these creatures, the irritating choral noise had disappeared once she had grown used to her new senses.
Turning her gaze to Maria, Alucard couldn't help but admit that she fought quite well for a human. She couldn't help but remember the Hunters who had come to kill her. Among all of them, Maria stood at the top. Looking at Maria, Alucard narrowed her eyes slightly: if this were a different situation and in the past, she wouldn't have minded fighting Maria to see if she could actually kill her.
Distracted by her thoughts, Alucard didn't notice that all the blue creatures had turned into sparkling dust resembling starlight. Maria, who was watching this, immediately sensed danger and pushed Alucard aside while jumping back herself. The moment Maria and Alucard leaped in different directions, a spatial crack appeared where they had been standing, and a large hand with thin, long fingers and slender limbs emerged from it.
Following the hand, the Celestial Emissary itself stepped out of the spatial crack — the one that had been hiding by possessing the bodies of its kin. The Celestial Emissary was different from its lesser counterparts not only in size, but also because dozens of tentacles grew from its head, acting like antennae that slowly writhed like jellyfish tentacles.
"Did this disgusting thing just get bigger and grow a few tentacles on its head?" Alucard asked, looking at the Celestial Emissary with undisguised contempt.
"The main thing is not to let it use its abilities," Alex said, hovering above Alucard and Maria on his flying cushion.
"I have a feeling that won't be so easy," Maria said, frowning as she turned her head to look at Alex.
"You're right. After all, this is an artificial Great One. It's about a hundred times weaker than a real Great One… And it looks like it's time for you to attack," Alex said, pointing at the Celestial Emissary.
Turning her head, Maria saw the tentacles on the Celestial Emissary's head beginning to glow. Sensing danger once again, Maria jumped to the side, while Alucard remained standing in place. Lasers shot out from the tentacles on the Celestial Emissary's head, flying in all directions. Alucard used her Causality ability to dodge all the shots without moving from her spot.
Maria, having jumped aside, immediately began circling around the Celestial Emissary to attack it from behind. Running behind a stone pillar, Maria gripped Rakuyo tightly. Pushing off the pillar, she leaped upward and stabbed her blade into the Celestial Emissary's back. Maria felt her weapon pierce something viscous and get stuck there.
Wounded, the Celestial Emissary began flailing its arms, trying to grab Maria, who had stabbed it in the back. Dodging the creature's arms, Maria detached the short sword from the saber's hilt and began delivering rapid thrusting strikes into the Celestial Emissary's back. After landing about a dozen stabs, Maria grabbed the saber's hilt and pushed off the creature's back.
Performing a backward somersault, Maria landed elegantly on the ground and quickly recombined Rakuyo. The Celestial Emissary turned toward Maria and began chasing her, trying to grab her. Maria used the stone pillars to dodge the Celestial Emissary's attempts to catch her.
"She's quite good… when she's not being a crybaby," Alucard said, watching Maria's performance.
"It's rare to hear praise from you. Usually it's only criticism or contempt. You've gotten softer… It's almost cute," Alex said, looking at his wife in slight surprise.
"Do you want to find out just how soft I've become, my love?" Alucard asked, looking up at Alex and narrowing her eyes slightly.
"I'll take your word for it…" Alex said dryly, flying further away from Alucard on his cushion.
Alucard looked at her husband with a gentle smile, showing that he wouldn't escape her anyway. Chuckling at Alex, Alucard turned her head back toward the Celestial Emissary, and the Evelyn musket appeared in her hand. Using her ability, Alucard fired two quick shots at the creature's knees.
Hit in the knees, the Celestial Emissary fell face-first to the ground. The wounds on its legs healed instantly, and it began to rise. Alucard simply smiled and fired ten more shots into the Celestial Emissary's head. Maria, who had been dodging the creature, saw an opportunity to attack. Gripping Rakuyo with both hands, she delivered a wide slash toward the Celestial Emissary.
Instead of striking the creature directly, Maria struck a stone pillar that was already covered in large cracks. From the force of Maria's strike, the stone pillar cracked loudly and collapsed onto the Celestial Emissary. Along with the pillar, part of the bridge above also collapsed, burying the Celestial Emissary beneath the rubble.
To avoid being caught in the collapse, Maria instantly jumped backward. Looking at the pile of rubble, Maria wasn't sure whether such a creature could die from having a stone bridge dropped on it. She had nothing to check whether the Celestial Emissary was still alive or not. Alucard calmly looked at the pile of stones and slowly began sinking into her shadow.
Thick shadows spread beneath the rubble, and the next moment dozens of red eyes opened within the shadow. An instant later, the massive maw of the Baskerville Hound emerged from the shadow and swallowed all the collapsed stones — including the Celestial Emissary itself — in a single bite.
Maria watched as the Celestial Emissary was literally ground into paste inside the jaws of the horrifying dog, mixed with the stones. The Baskerville Hound continued chewing the flesh of the Celestial Emissary with a disgusting sound of tearing meat. After a few moments, the hound spat out what remained of the Celestial Emissary at Maria's feet.
Maria stared at what was left of the Celestial Emissary — a single mangled lump of blue flesh and blood that continued to twitch and regenerate. Spotting something that looked like a beating heart, Maria immediately stabbed Rakuyo into what she believed was its heart. When the blade pierced the Celestial Emissary's heart, it stopped regenerating.
"You'd better step back, girl," Alucard's mocking voice sounded from the shadow.
Maria didn't understand why she needed to step back. But she quickly received her answer when the Celestial Emissary's body exploded in a bloody firework, splattering both her clothes and herself with blood. Maria froze in place, completely covered in blood.
At that moment, her brain simply shut down as she tried to comprehend why the creature had suddenly exploded. Alucard slipped out of the shadow and looked at the blood-covered Maria with a mocking smile. Alex jumped down from his flying cushion and landed beside Maria, trying hard not to laugh.
"Now we can call you Bloody Maria," Alex said, clenching his teeth to keep from laughing.
Hearing Alex's stupid joke, Alucard let out a small snort, smiling at the corner of her mouth. Maria, however, continued staring into empty space, still trying to process what had just happened. She had never encountered anything like this before. Especially when a creature suddenly exploded, spraying its blood everywhere. Hearing Alex's joke, Maria's eyelid twitched for a moment.
"You think that's funny?" Maria asked, turning her empty gaze toward Alex.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it. There's just a legend about Bloody Mary that you can summon. And your names sound similar, so… Anyway, let me help," Alex said, trying to justify himself while looking into Maria's blank eyes.
Listening to Alex's excuse, Maria simply sighed and wiped the blood from her face. Trying to think positively, Maria told herself that at least she had helped kill one of the Great Ones — even if it was an artificial one. Alex quickly cleaned the blood from Maria's clothes. Noticing that she was clean again, Maria looked at Alex and leaned closer to him.
Leaning toward Alex, Maria gently kissed him on the cheek. This kiss was a small reward for his latest assistance. Alucard smiled slightly and walked over to Alex, grabbing his cheeks. Without waiting for his reaction, she kissed him on the lips, pulling him into a passionate kiss.
Maria's cheeks flushed slightly when she saw this. To hide her embarrassment, she simply turned away. She wasn't ready for something like that yet, and all she could manage for now was a kiss on the cheek.
To be continued...
(The Celestial Emissary should be strong. It should be. But I don't think so. All this thing can do is fire a couple of lasers and then die. Or just die without even having time to do anything. Even when I was playing Bloodborne, this thing died so quickly that I didn't understand what was going on. Anyway, next up is Ebrietas, and if I do everything right, we'll move straight to Byrgenwerth. Anyway, you know, there's not much left. Hmm... I think. Okay, I'll go eat. Peace, love, and watch your step.)
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