When Charles returned to the town, he found that the gate at the far end, which led into a wider area, had been firmly sealed.
Thick iron chains and freshly added wooden braces were clearly visible.
The surviving residents had presumably erected the barricade in haste to prevent the monsters from spreading any farther.
On the terrace to his left, however, Charles noticed a small wooden door leading into the building.
It had been left slightly ajar, perhaps by a resident who had fled in such a panic that they had failed to close it properly.
He did not enter immediately.
The exhaustion left by the previous battle persuaded him to find a relatively safe corner and rest for a while.
The spoils from the fight had far exceeded his expectations.
Aside from the usual Blood Vials and bullets, he had obtained several strange items of varying shapes, each giving off faint traces of energy.
There were several lingering dark-red halos that seemed almost alive, known as “Blood Echoes”; a small vial of magnificent crimson liquid, icy cold to the touch, called “Coldblood Dew”; several “Blood Stone Shards,” as hard as stone and possessing a distinctive double-helix structure; and the ginger-yellow Blood Vial given to him by Dr.
Iosefka.
As though answering his unspoken questions, several pale Messengers silently emerged from the shadows at his feet.
Their hollow, direct voices whispered into his mind one after another, explaining the purpose of each item.
“Blood Echoes,” also known as the “Legacy of Blood,” were aggregates of life essence and lingering obsession extracted from defeated enemies.
They were the primary resource Hunters used to grow stronger and could be spent in the Dream Workshop to enhance their abilities, exchange for special items, or strengthen their weapons and equipment.
“Coldblood Dew” consisted of icy droplets of blood highly concentrated with pure Echoes.
Bright red and translucent like gemstones, they allowed Hunters to absorb power within the Dream more safely and efficiently, without directly exposing themselves to excessively violent Echoes.
“Blood Stone Shards” were strange, hardened fragments formed when Coldblood solidified under particular conditions.
Their internal double-helix structure could effectively channel the power of blood, and embedding them into weapons would significantly increase the weapons’ strength.
As for “Iosefka’s Blood Vial,” it had clearly been refined through a far more sophisticated process.
Its restorative effect greatly surpassed that of an ordinary Blood Vial, allowing it to heal much more serious injuries.
With its fine craftsmanship and distinctive label, it appeared to be a product unique to Iosefka’s Clinic.
Charles had met the woman only once, yet she had given him something so valuable.
Whatever reservations and confusion he had felt toward her before had now faded, replaced by a complicated sense of gratitude.
Apart from these special items, he had also collected a fair number of Quicksilver Bullets, several Poison Knives, and a few homemade Molotov Cocktails from the corpses, all useful everyday consumables.
Charles carefully sorted everything by type.
Then, with a thought, he used the Messengers’ peculiar ability to place the items in Hunter’s Storage, preventing the excess weight from hindering his agility.
“It’s about time I moved on.” This story is hosted at g.com.
Once he had recovered somewhat, he rose, pushed open the half-closed door, and continued forward.
After passing through several short, oppressive interior corridors and an abandoned backyard, he finally emerged into the Fountain Square of Central Yharnam.
The sight before him was one of utter devastation.
The once-magnificent fountain had long since run dry, the statues were broken and incomplete, and discarded belongings and dark bloodstains covered the ground.
The desolation seemed to seep into his bones, almost suffocating him.
“Caw… caw…”
From somewhere in the distance came the occasional hoarse, ominous cry of a crow.
Each grating call sounded like a dirge offered to the deathly silence.
“Hahaha… hehehe…”
As Charles cautiously made his way along the edge of the square, a shrill, nervous laugh suddenly rang out from a second-floor window in a building at the corner.
Against the surrounding silence, it sounded especially abrupt and unsettling.
After a moment’s thought, Charles followed the sound and stopped beneath the tightly shut window.
He politely tapped on the frame and asked in a low voice, “Excuse me… are you all right? Do you need any help?”
The laughter stopped at once.
After a brief rustling noise, the wary, hoarse voice of an old woman came from behind the window.
“Who are you? I’ve never seen you around here before!”
Her tone was thick with suspicion.
Charles’s thoughts raced, and he quickly invented a plausible excuse.
“I’m… from outside the city walls. I happened to come into town today on some business, but all the shops were already closed, and now I’m trapped here.”
“Hah… locked outside on the Night of the Hunt…”
Rather than showing him any sympathy, the old woman scoffed, her voice carrying an almost malicious delight.
“What terrible luck. Truly terrible luck. Hahaha… You’ll die here, you poor wretch, just like all the others! Hahaha…”
It was obvious that she was no longer in her right mind.
Her words were steeped in paranoia and cruel amusement, so Charles saw no reason to waste any more time trying to communicate with her.
There were probably very few people left in this city who still retained their sanity.
Just as he was about to turn away and leave the old woman’s mad laughter behind, a series of heavy thuds and beast-like roars echoed from deeper within the square, drawing his attention.
Looking toward the source, he saw a well-dressed gentleman in a fedora fighting fiercely before the massive carved gate at the far end of the square.
His opponent was an abnormally large humanoid monster wielding an enormous brick as a weapon.
At first, the two appeared evenly matched. New chapters come out on g.com first.
The gentleman moved with impressive agility, dodging and counterattacking in a calm, orderly rhythm.
But then more frenzied residents armed with weapons joined the fight, along with several crawling creatures in the midst of Beast Transformation.
The pressure on the gentleman immediately increased.
He was gradually forced back into a corner against the wall, and his situation soon became perilous.
Without hesitation, Charles raised his Hunter Pistol, aimed at the most dangerous of the enemies, the enormous humanoid monster, and pulled the trigger.
“Bang!”
The bullet struck the monster squarely in the shoulder.
It was not a fatal wound, but it succeeded in drawing the creature’s attention.
“Roar!”
Enraged, the monster let out a deafening bellow and abandoned its original target.
It turned, swung the massive brick, and brought it crashing toward Charles with a vicious rush of air.
Charles gave a cold laugh and easily sidestepped the clumsy attack.
At the same time, he calmly took aim once more, this time at the creature’s huge and seemingly none-too-bright head.
“Bang!”
Another gunshot rang out.
The Quicksilver Bullet, mixed with Charles’s blood, burst into a spray of blood between the monster’s brows.
Its enormous body suddenly went rigid.
Every movement stopped, leaving it briefly staggered.
Now was his chance.
Charles surged forward like a hunting beast.
As he closed the distance, he flicked his wrist and activated the mechanism of the Threaded Cane.
Rather than fully extending into a long whip, the weapon partially came apart.
Its thorned, serrated length coiled rapidly around his right arm like a living creature, forming a vicious gauntlet of barbs.
Using the momentum of his charge, Charles drove the makeshift “claw” deep into the monster’s unprotected chest.
“Splurt… gurgle…”
A sickening, muffled impact was followed by the horrible sound of organs being crushed.
Charles’s arm plunged deep into the creature’s body.
Feeling the warm, slippery flesh between his fingers, he twisted sharply and ripped backward.
The monster gave one weak, choking gasp before collapsing heavily to the ground, never to move again.