The architecture of the ruined city (or what was left of it) was distinctly interesting. It was clearly of a more uncivilized era, and almost definitely built by the ancient humans of the Dream Realm. Unlike the Jade Palace and the surrounding Ravenheart, this place seemed to be a place with very little Divine intervention. There were no inhumanly grand palaces or places that could not have been crafted by humans.
Yet, it was without a doubt still a prominent city. Its size was smaller than Ravenheart, but it was still larger than most other Citadels.
It was built with old sedimentary rock with dull grains and layers. Though the stones had innate designs due to being formed in a swamp, they were not particularly unique. Even near the city center the larger buildings had not shown luxurious distinction.
The Palace, and the center of the Citadel was the only place that had a modicum of decorum, and even then it couldn't compare to the residences of Ravenheart.
This large city was likely ruled by tough people who held efficiency and practicality in high regard. Perhaps it was no surprise it lay in ruin, as their neighboring territory ruled by the decadent Jade Queen seemed the antithesis to this entire place.
It was somewhat poetic that the heirs of the Jade Palace were the ones who would finally cleanse the remains of this civilization.
And Gehrman was helping them do just that.
[You have slain a Corrupted Beast, Horned Revokers.]
As Gehrman's blade cut through the massive creature he was immediately turning and firing off a shot from his [Blunderbuss]. It landed ineffectively in the watery-tendrils of the Grave Tyrant.
Still, he could feel an enlightened sensation as the [Weakness Mark] enchantment worked its magic.
A long ways away, moving very quickly, was the nucleus of this abomination. It shifted around quickly, never staying one spot too long.
Its entire body was made up of the Swamp water, and it was stretched very far dealing with the other Song Sisters.
Beastmaster had been collecting a force of Fallen and Corrupted Creatures lately, enclosing it on the Citadel from the opposite direction that Gehrman and Caster had. There were over two hundred of them, and though they lacked the ferocity of their untamed former selves, the hypnotized creatures were by no means weaker.
Lonesome Howl was a blur. Each Transcendent had access to a "Transformation Ability" that gave them unique forms. They were often resembling mythical creatures, while some were more abstract. But they were always deadly. Lonesome Howl specifically turned into a monstrous wolf with power that was ridiculous even for a Transcendent. She moved with surgical precision, dispatching every Nightmare Creature in her path while avoiding the Tyrant's attacks.
Moonveil was less dramatic as her siblings, but she was perhaps the most important player. Her Aspect revolved around weakening her opponents. She shot out numerous arrows, and each one that hit would do more damage than it should have, while also slowing the creature. What was more terrifying was the fact that they did not seem to be able to call upon their vile powers. Devils were specifically dangerous due to their ability to usually control some element or power at their level, but all of it was useless before Moonveil.
Revel…was like a nightmare. They had gone out during the dark to accommodate her Flaw, and it appeared that even under the low gleam of the moonlight her powers were devastating. Her form was one of a demon, with abyssal horns and wings. Her fighting style was more akin to a Nightmare Creature than a human, and yet it was still as pristine as the most experienced of fighters. True Darkness swirled around her, both empowering her and acting as a brutal weapon.
The final sister, Silent Stalker, was nowhere to be seen.
But she had the most important job of all.
Just as Gehrman was killing off another abomination, he felt the fruits of her labor. The air shifted and suddenly became less aggressive. Instead, it was cold, indifferent, and merciless.
Gehrman jumped back in surprise as he sensed the movement of the Nightmare Creature he had slain. His instincts told him that he must have failed to kill it, but this was not the case.
That thing was a corpse, and it was now a puppet of Ki Song.
All around the ruins the dead creatures rose up. A wave of thousands of creatures instantly turned against their former master.
Glassy eyed, the soldiers of the Queen moved in unnatural coordination, attacking the tentacles of the Great Tyrant.
This wouldn't actually damage the thing of course, but it would distract it.
It was already moderately busy keeping up with the Four Transcendents and the unnatural Ascended. With these new players, it was actually being pushed back.
And Gehrman knew this since he could feel the ever flowing nucleus of the creature slow.
He had not stopped moving the entire time, as even though the puppets were helping him, the Great Tyrant was still merciless.
He had already been injured several times over from simply being near its attacks. And the Song Sisters were not unscathed either. Even the smallest of tentacles could topple sky scrapers, and a single blow from a larger one flattened a city block. If it were released into the center of NSCQ, then the vast majority of humanity might have fallen to it.
The power of a Great Tyrant was simply that ridiculous.
Which was why it was so chilling that the monster was being subdued by a single person's presence.
Silent Stalker had claimed the Citadel, intertwining her soul with the ruins. And with that, this place became the territory of one of humanity's Sovereigns.
The Great Tyrant was no longer the absolute ruler of this land.
It was an intruder in the Supreme Queen's Domain.
And that put it at a disastrous disadvantage.
Gehrman took to the skies then, holding his hand on his head to keep his hat from flying off.
Like a wraith, the Hunter floated over the city, looking down at it with malicious precision.
Gehrman had already become quite insane due to the efforts of today, but he was still able to focus on the mission.
From one of his pockets, he pulled out a glass vial that was filled with a small amount of a red liquid.
He flew over to the nucleus of the Tyrant. Now that it was being suppressed by Ki Song's Domain, it was quite easy to find.
Once he did, he tucked his wings back and fell back to the earth. He built up a great amount of momentum, pushing himself even faster Gehrman felt his ears pop and a great pressure building.
And with that momentum, he threw the vial of red so fast that it broke the sound barrier.
It shattered on the nucleus, and the blood of Ki Song entered the liquid form of the Tyrant. Instantly, it started to get dissolved, like any other substance that entered its body.
But then, it started to glow bright red.
"Shit."
Gehrman brought his wings back out, not to slow his fall, but to push himself away from his target.
As usual his intuition was spot on.
A bright beam of light exploded upwards, a beacon of pure power illuminated the ruined city.
Like moths to a flame, all the Saints in the Citadel were sprinting towards it.
The abomination was damaged, but it hadn't yet died. The Great Tyrant was not an easy thing to kill by any means.
But then two arrows landed precisely where the beacon of blood was. Moonveil and Silent Stalkers projectiles had been dipped in their mothers blood, and it had the same horrifying properties as what Gehrman had just thrown at the Great Tyrant
A ripple of unseen power shot through the area as the Will of two creatures of the 5th Rank clashed.
"Son of a b—" Gehrman was flung backward. The shocks that tore through his body were incredibly unnerving. Nothing had physically happened to him, and his mind and soul weren't affected either. And yet, he felt himself in pain.
It was, quite literally, a fight on an entirely different dimension.
But then it wasn't.
Silent Stalker kept firing arrows with deadly aim. Moonveil weakened the creature with her own power. Beastmaster applied mental force. Lonesome Howl landed like a meteor.
All of this complied with each other.
The pressure abruptly ceased.
The Grave Swamp Tyrant died. Its harrowing presence folded under the onslaught of clever tactics and raw power.
Gehrman touched the ground weakly, and took a shaky breath.
"Ugh, that sucked."
But even so, it was undeniably worth it.
Under the moonlight, Gehrman cast his gaze around the apocalyptic scene around him. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, letting the scent of the land fill his nose.
It was cool, muggy, and raw.
A very unpleasant Citadel, truly.
Still, Gehrman smiled.
"Home sweet home."
…
Around a small pillar of flames, three of the Song Sisters sat with Gehrman as he consumed the flesh of a Corrupted Devil.
It was the highest Ranked creature with actual meat in its body. The disgusting thing was like a combination of a human, jellyfish, and spider. Somewhere in that mess though, was flesh.
Gehrman dug into it with ferocity.
It was an incredibly grotesque sight, and even though the sisters had seen some pretty horrible stuff in their day, the way Gehrman's jaw unhinged slightly to eat a larger bite was unsettling.
They had been talking about the procedure following the conquering of the Citadel.
Since the Song clan were the ones who actually conquered it, the vast majority of the spoils went to them.
However, it appeared that what they were most looking for was not Memories, Echoes, or Soul Shards, but the very corpses themselves.
Already, a pilgrimage of the things had set off to the Jade Palace. Apparently, there was a veritable army of corpses waiting to be unleashed just underneath the divine castle. Lightslayer and Lonesome Howl were escorting them, and that left Gehrman with Silent Stalker, Moonveil, and…Beastmaster. Again.
He still didn't much care for the woman, but seeing her covered in blood and death made her a more manageable existence (though she still somehow seemed unnaturally appealing even in her current state).
"You should know that though you can bring a Citadel to yourself as an Ascended, you won't be able to make full use of it until you become Transcendent," Beastmaster said casually. She did her best to keep the awkwardness she felt away from her voice, but it didn't succeed fully.
Still, Gehrman wasn't one to care about such things. What really piqued his interest was the information she was offering.
"What do you mean?"
The sisters exchanged looks briefly. Perhaps they had not agreed beforehand to tell him about this, but it was clear there was no going back at this point.
Moonveil sighed and spoke with a breezy voice.
"Each Citadel has something called a Component. It is something the Spell will give you access to once you conquer a Citadel and are of the proper Rank. Each different Citadel has a different Component, but they usually will offer the owner some sort of control over the land. Some even have mystical properties and can do fantastical things," she cast a sidelong glance at her sister, and the current holder of the Citadel.
Silent Stalker gave her an uncomfortable look before speaking.
"This one isn't anything special. You just get to control the ratio of water to mud the surroundings have," she said simply.
Though it sounded rather mundane, Gehrman perked up a bit.
"...Thats actually really useful. I might be able to force the development of certain sediments that way." The sisters looked at him in confusion, prompting him to explain.
"A swamp isn't an ideal place to live for humans due to its poor foundations. But for Awakened, it's not too hard to alter the terrain. And I'll definitely do that for the city center, but keeping the swamp the way it is would be great in terms of resources. If things work similarly here than they do on earth, then it wouldn't be hard to build a quarry here, thus mass producing things like sandstone. And with volcanic ash, I could probably make a pretty good composite that will be a fairly sturdy building material for most buildings."
Gehrman already had big plans for this Citadel. Having a place to call his own in the Dream Realm was great, but being able to mine his own resources was even better.
Building supplies in the Waking World were mostly synthesised, and their production would take a while and would almost always fall short of the original.
In fact, most of the factories and work in the Outskirts was focused on making these synthetic materials and foods.
It was a closed circuit of cheap work for cheap products that sustained each other and made it practically impossible to build oneself a better life.
If Gehrman wanted to truly help people, he would have to destroy that circut a bit. And a good way to do that was to bring an obscene amount of natural resources over from the Dream Realm.
Ascended could not carry humans with them to the Dream Realm, but they could bring inanimate objects with them.
It would be a chore to constantly shift back and forth between realms, but now that he had a Citadel, it would be easier than ever.
After all, Citadels all had Gates. These were not areas where Nightmare Creatures escaped from, but instead a place where Awakened would enter and leave through when they travelled between realms.
They each had to "anchor" to a gateway, and thus a citadel, to safely travel between realms.
The alternative was getting a Transcendent to throw your actual body into the Dream Realm, thus taking away the issue entirely.
This was what he had done with Caster. After a bit of convincing he got Beastmaster to bring him over to the swamp, but she made it very clear that he was not to be told anything about the operation. On top of that, he wasn't to even know where they were in the Dream Realm.
They wanted him in the dark as much as possible. As a former scion of a clan that belonged to Valor, they didn't trust him one bit.
But they didn't need to.
He was an Awakened after all, compared to them, the impact he had was negligible.
But now that the Citadel would be transferred to Gehrman, he could finally have Caster go back to being a normal Awakened…though there were still Awakened and Fallen creatures on the outer rings of the territory that he would be forced to continue killing.
He had to get those turtles for Milo after all.
That was his highest priority.
…besides actually beginning construction on his New Workshop.
"I gotta create an entire self-sustaining community, school, engineer district, and training grounds all on my own. And somehow I have to revive turtles at the same time," Gehrman mused. "What a life I live."