The clouds over Innsmouth took on a strange hue on a particular morning. The light of the sun seemed to saturate and stretch, clouds turned to shadow, creeping and blocking the solar body partially.
The sun took on an impossible appearance, as no shadows should have been able to block its radiance. And yet, creeping darkness encroached upon it from all sides, creating an image of wrongness. It looked as if the world had become wrong and strange.
Like a nightmare.
The residents of the Fishing Hamlet rippled and quaked as whispers and unknown emotions assaulted their warped minds.
The parasites of Kos writhed, for the essence of the Great One that had spread itself throughout the Hamlet could feel it.
The approaching powers.
…
A cold feeling assaulted Ludwig's heart. Never before had Byrgenwerth ordered such a large scale operation before. An assault on a village no less. It made his stalwart heart uneasy.
Worse was that he had corralled the Holy Blades, that ancient order of good and just heroes to fight alongside him. This was a joint attack from both the College and the Healing Church, and their order was indebted to both of them.
They had mobilized despite their wariness, however.
And Ludwig, who had inherited the title of High Knight, was the leader of the order. The youngest ever.
With that iridescent relic strapped to his back – the Holy Moonlight Sword – he had been recognized by even the older Holy Blades. They had seen it as a divine sign, an ordination.
And it was only recently that Ludwig considered that this might be true.
He had accepted the role, and he had also received some training from the famous (or rather infamous) Gehrman, the First Hunter. His Workshop was filled with people of questionable stability, but undeniable talent.
What gave him more confidence in this path, that of working with the Healing Church, the Workshop, leading the Holy Blades, and having the hero-knights act as body guards for expeditions into the harrowing Labyirinth below Byrgenwerth.
All of this was the right thing, the correct path.
Because with every decision he had been guided, by that glimmer of light, that fleeting thing.
When he held the Holy Moonlight Sword, that light led him to becoming a better fighter, leading him to the correct path in combat, and even now it led him toward people and places. Decisions that had proved to only improve himself and his peers.
It was an ultimate guidance, one that he had kept secret from even his family and Order.
And now, out of the corner of his eye, it was as strong as it had ever been.
Walking in a formation, all 12 of the Holy Blades were accompanied by 10 Workshop Hunters. On top of that, 30 or so elite constables and hired mercenaries were bought with the new wealth of the Healing Church and the old money of Byrgenwerth.
It was a considerable force, all armed with the most elite weaponry.
All led by Ludwig.
All led by the words of Master Willem and Laurence. Those genius men who assured that this place held the key to the advancement of humanity.
All led by the light of Guidance.
…
Far above that approaching force, Gairm led a number of armored and proud elites of Cainhurst. Servants dubbed Knights and a handful Royal Guards as well.
Innsmouth was surrounded by small, rocky mountains on the east and west sides. From the North, a clear path for merchants and visitors led to the rickety wooden buildings of the Hamlet. The town resided in that solemn middle part, its southern end a sheer cliff facing the sea.
However, Innsmouth was not limited to that portion of swampy land, the people had dug into the mountains, putting in makeshift supports and bridges to navigate the deep chasms.
Tunnels burrowed under the town, a maze of abominations and parasites populated the caverns. It was perhaps just as dire as invading the Hamlet-folk head on. Especially because, if one knew the precise route and way to navigate, they could find a path to a quiet beach, isolated from the town, but revered greatly.
On this beach, what appeared to be a whale's corpse rested. It's blubber flattened and pale. But there were no eyes, no mouth, and no indication on how this thing even lived.
That was because it was not a whale, nor even in the same category of living species.
The Great One, Kos.
All the approaching forces could feel the harrowing eminence of the interdimensional being's abandoned flesh, but none could pinpoint it.
Like the tides receding and crashing it felt as if it surrounded the entirety of this cursed place.
Gairm knew all of this to be true because of Gehrman's words. Despite his status, it was difficult to mobilize the Cainhurst forces, only with this information could the nobles and Queen be confident enough to dispatch their Knights and Guards.
The Hunter of Hunters dawned the metallic and beautiful helm of the Cainhurst royal guard, allowing the sturdy chestplate to fit closely and lightly.
It was then that he felt his mind change, letting malice and deadliness swell, the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst took over.
With that, he led the forces of Cainhurst downwards, carefully navigating, and ready to pincer the swelling forces of the Hamlet, and then take down the forces of the vile Church and College.
…
No group had taken to the waves.
Despite knowing that Kos rested on a beach, it was clear that approaching from that direction was suicide.
The remnant will of that Great One infested the waves, making them eerily calm. But when anyone encroached upon the domain of Kos, they would find themselves violently tossed and assaulted.
Only a madman would approach from this direction.
Naturally, this was the route Gehrman had taken.
Cursing and flailing, gigantic waves that reached 30 meters in height assaulted him, dropping him low and attempting to crush him.
His boat had long been decimated, and he had resorted to swimming against the tide. Or, more accurately, pulling himself by his own blood.
Though it would have been much easier to fly, that would be a blatant revealing of his Aspect. And while he had no doubt that he would soon have to pull out all the stops against the Transcendent foes and Great Nightmare Creatures, but if possible, he would like to lie low for as long as possible.
If he showed his [Blood Manipulation], then there would be no doubt that every Byrgenwerth and Church member would kill him on sight, and even those of Cainhurst would likely try to kill him. He had not met their Queen, after all, so he did not meet the requirements to be declared a Vileblood.
Those fools who worshipped Annalise may very well see it as blasphemy and try to kill him.
So here he was, traversing the waves and trying his very best to keep track of the gathering powers.
As he "swam", he used [Eyes on The Inside], expending a decent amount of Essence, but getting a vast amount of information in return.
He could see the Soul Cores of each and every being approaching and existing within the Hamlet.
Gehrman came to the following conclusions.
The Church-Byrgenwerth forces numbered around 50. The front 12 were all Transcendent, emanating a firm aura. These were the Holy Blades. There were a handful of familiar Souls – around 10 – that were split, 5 Transcendent and 5 Ascended. And then there were a great number of people whom he was generally unfamiliar with.
A few he recognized as future Executioners. By a strange twist of fate, he recognized Logarius among them. However, he did not have a distinction as a pseudo-Supreme that the current Gairm did. Perhaps this was because it was only when the Vilebloods started to become prolific that Logarius felt the need to truly exert and train his strength.
Surprisingly though, there was another pseudo-Supreme besides Gairm among the approaching forces.
Oddly, it was not a Soul he was familiar with. It held within a terrifying, yet deafeningly quiet violence.
It was not someone from any of the previous Nightmares, which was deeply unnerving.
If Logarius, Maria, or Ludwig held that power then Gerhman could accept it, but an unknown…needless to say it was unsettling.
Besides the Pseudo-Supreme and Logarius though, the other 28 were all Ascended.
In other words, one pseudo-Supreme, 17 Transcendents, and 33 Ascended in total.
Cainhurst forces were weaker, but surprisingly larger in number. It appeared that Gehrman's information that he had supplied Gairm had had the desired effect.
Among them, there was Gairm – a pseudo-Supreme – 10 Transcendents (who were likely the Royal Guards of Annalise), and an additional 50 Ascended.
Lastly, there were the forces of Innsmouth.
…It took a lot longer to count them.
Gehrman and Maria had managed to slaughter them all by fighting smart. They hid and avoided the big ones, picking off the weaklings and expertly extinguishing all life from the Hamlet.
That was not going to happen today.
This was going to be a war.
And caught in the middle, over 100 Corrupted Beasts, roughly 30 Corrupted Monsters and Demons, 10 Great Beasts, and 2 Great Monsters.
That was how many populated the Fishing Hamlet.
…But it was not all the forces of Kos.
I may have miscalculated, Gehrman thought.
As his [Sixth Sense] spread below the waves he was reminded that the Great One was a being of the Ocean.
Slumbering in the great waters outside Innsmouth, Gehrman saw more and more enemies.
There was practically 5 times as many enemies hidden beneath the ocean, drifting listessly, yet holding profound strength.
Like sardines, roughly 500 Corrupted Beasts were packed together. 20 Great Monsters swam deeper.
And coming across his path, a truly vast body drifted.
Over 100 meters in length, what looked like giant jellyfish made of rotted teeth floated in front of him, barring Gehrman's path.
Shit.
A Great Demon had turned its attention toward him.