The day seems to drag as preparations are made for the coming siege, part of which involves Asfi flying out to scout the coming Yharnam horde then returning with the usual news about them still being together and getting ever closer.

Down at the Folkvangr, the home of the Freya Familia . . .

"Damn it to hell! I should be in charge of ordering the mages!" Hedin raved. "I am a king!"

Allen was right in his assumption of Hedin's resentment over Riveria's appointment.

"That's Ottar's alias," Alfrigg Gulliver sneered.

"Your not a king anymore, Hedin," Dvalinn Gulliver added.

"King of a toilet maybe," Berling Gulliver added.

"So go sit on one," Grer Gulliver added.

"You wanna die, pipsqueaks?" Hedin snarled at the Gulliver Brothers.

"Enough!" Ottar growled. "Hedin. The Guild has spoken and the gods support it. And need I remind you what our goddess commanded of you . . ."


"Hedin," Freya cooed. "You are to show Lady Riveria the proper respect as befitting of her station. Failure to do so will be met with my displeasure."


Hedin snarls while grinding his teeth over that memory.

"So if the Lady Riveria Ljos Alf commands your body to become a chair," Hogni the Dark Elf states grandiloquently, "get thyself down on your hands and knees."

"How about I knock you onto your hands and knees?" Hedin growled.

"Hedin, go!" Ottar growled. "Up to the northwest section of the wall. Now."

Hedin sighs and leaves the grounds of the Folkvangr.


The sun had set. Every mage in Orario remotely capable of casting offensive magic are atop of the ramparts of the northwest section of Orario's walls. Asfi flies in and lands amongst them.

"This is my last report since they are so close now," Asfi reported.

"What's your final assessment, Pegasus?" Riveria asked.

'There is no change and they should be within your sight in three hours."

"We'll be ready for them," Lefiya said from alongside Riveria.

"Go let the Guild know," Riveria said to Asfi.

Asfi heads out to the Guild and they broadcast the information throughout Orario. The other adventurers are down below, watching at various locations on Divine Mirrors.


Jonah and Bell stand amongst the other adventurers staring up at one of the Divine Mirrors with Eina nearby. Jonah was allowed to stay with Bell since the Good Hunter told Finn that his presence back at the Twilight Manor would be too distracting, especially for Bete and the Hiryute Sisters. Finn agreed, and returned to Twilight Manor alone.

"What do you think of my knife, Jonah?" Bell said as he shows it to him. It is a black knife.

"That is quite the blade," Jonah mused as he looks closely at it.

"Goddess begged Hephaestus to make it for me and it is suppose to be attuned to me," Bell said.

"So no one else can use it then," Jonah surmised.

"That's right," Jonah said.

They look up at the Divine Mirror at the approaching horde.

"When they get here, it'll be full on night," Jonah said.

"At least it's going to be a clear night with a full moon," Bell said while looking up at it.

"A full moon," Eina said from nearby while also looking up momentarily. "That means the werewolves will undergo beastification. It will enhance their strength."

"Is that helpful?" Jonah asked.

"It can be if they are adventurers," Eina answered.

"Here I am hoping that the Yharnam horde never comes and yet I want them to come so that we can get this over with," Bell remarked.

"That's what a coming battle does," Jonah said.

"I've never been in a battle either," Eina admitted.

"But hopefully this battle will be over with before they can reach those walls," Bell said. "And even if they do reach them, there is no way they could possibly breach them."

"The weakest spot on any wall is the entrance," Jonah pointed out. "All they need to do is make a concentrated effort to smash through the north gate."

"There is a huge misconception about Orario's walls," Eina said. "They are actually meant to keep people in instead of out."

"I don't understand," Jonah admitted.

"Well you know how powerful adventurers can become," Eina said. "They could easily sell their services to other kingdoms out there; generally speaking, the Guild forbids adventurers from leaving Orario. Now the Guild is willing to make exceptions, but for the most part adventurers cannot leave."

"Then does that mean there is little incentive to fortify those walls against an attack from the outside?" Jonah said while looking up and around at the walls of Orario.

"I don't think it's possible not to fortify walls from the outside since they are fortified from within," Eina said.

"Either way, let's hope that the mages are able to wipe them all out before they can reach the walls," Bell said.


Twilight continues to fade and the outdoor lights start turning on. The stars begin to shine, at least those bright enough not to be overwhelmed by the presence of the moon, which in turn does affect the werewolves.

At the Twilight Manor, Bete grumbles as his hair begins sticking out.

"Damn it to hell!" He snarled. "I really hope that some of them do come in here 'cause I wanna splatter them all over the place!"

"If everything goes according to plan, they won't reach the walls," Finn said.

"Yeah, you can also go and jump in the fountain to cool down," Gareth joked.

"It was smart of you to allow Mister Theron to stay with Bell," Ais said to Finn.

"He was right about his own presence becoming too much of a distraction," Finn said.


Down at the Guild, Rose is sitting on a chair bent over and gasping huskily.

"Rose, are you alright?" Misha asked in concern.

Rose sits up to reveal her feral eyes and her hair now like a bushy mane.

"It's the damn full moon," she rumbled huskily.

"Ah, beastification!" Misha said in a eureka manner.

"Whoa, Rose looks so sexy like that," a male colleague whispered to another male colleague.

"Don't push your damn luck or you might wind up at the healer's!" Rose snarled at them, causing those two to shudder.


The night continues getting darker and the moon higher and brighter.

Soon . . .

"There they are," Riveria said grimly as she points them out to the northwest as the mages stare with her out in that direction.

With their Falnas, they are able to see the coming hordes of Yharnam at that distance. Their enhanced vision enabling them to see the grotesque details of the various monsters that plague Jonah's world.

"Steady!" Riveria commanded as she tenses while still staring northwest. "Wait for it!"


Within the Tower of Babel, the deities watch the army of horror marching toward Orario.

"Why is Lady Riveria not ordering them to shoot already?" one of the gods demanded.

"She wants them close enough to unleash the full attack of their magic," Loki answered. "Magic is visual after all."

"I can see some of those monsters like the ones that attacked that day," Hestia noted. "But the others sure are gruesome as well."

"There are those that look like men but have snakes for heads!" Apollo winced with disgust.

"And to think that Jonah Theron fought them without a Falna!" Miach marveled.

"That's because he has his own version of a Falna," Hestia said.

"What do you mean?" Miach asked from nearby.

"Jonah told us that he can absorb something called blood echoes dropped by those monsters," Hestia answered. "He can simply exchange them for stats in a place called, the Hunter's Dream. It's a simpler way of leveling up since all he needs are enough blood echoes for that task. Something he can get simply by killing lots of those monsters."

"What a simple way to level up," Miach replied. "I wonder what Level he's at?"

"Whatever Level he's at," Loki answered this time, "I doubt it's something that can be translated into our idea of Levels."

"From what I have discerned of Jonah Theron, his attributes are complex," Freya analyzed. "He's not as strong as Ottar, yet Ottar would have to undergo beastification to even match Mister Theron's agility and dexterity, but would still fall short of matching Mister Theron's speed."

"Does that mean your Vice-Captain wouldn't be able to match Mister Theron's speed either?" Takemikazuchi asked.

"No," Freya admitted.

"In the meantime, those hordes keep getting ever closer," Hermes said.


Back up on the ramparts, the mages are tense as they glance side on at Riveria as she continues to glare at the coming horde, eager to go into action on a word from her.

"NOW!" Riveria shouted.

They immediately start chanting.

The seconds turn into a minute. Then into another minute. And another minute still as the mages continue their chanting to fuel their spells to greater power in order to effectively annihilate the approaching horde of horror. Spells of fire and ice were to be used as they would have the most destructive effects, especially when used together.

Then . . .

"WINN FIMBULVETR!"

"ARCS RAY!"

"FUSILLADE FALLARICA!"

And so on and so forth as the names of their respective spell keys were shouted by each and every mage to trigger them. Fire and ice violently bloom amongst the advancing horde of Yharnam to both burn and freeze them to death. The noise of the explosions are heard loud and clear over Orario as citizen and god alike watch.

"There's no way they can survive that!" Bell said hopefully.

"No way indeed," Jonah said. "I guess this world does have powerful magic users that can stand their ground against the forces of Yharnam."

The magic assault continues over the ground that the horde of Yharnam covers for a couple of minutes longer.

Then stops.

Mist and smoke cover the field. One of the mages calls up a wind spell to blow that away, revealing broken charred ground.

But no bodies.

"We did it!" Lefiya exclaimed happily.

"I guess we can return to our homes now," Hedin said arrogantly. "Really, those monsters were such a disappointment."

"Don't anybody go cheering just yet!" Riveria rebuked. "Their approach was troubling!"

"Troubling?" one of the mages asked.

"At that meeting, Jonah Theron said that they were never know to act like an army," Riveria chided. "Then he had an epiphany and deduced that a Great One must be guiding them, one of those gods that are responsible for the existence of those monsters."

"Then we'll have to keep our guard up," Lefiya said.

"That we must," Riveria agreed.


Throughout Orario, people cheer at the sight of the utter defeat Yharnam's horde.

"They did it!" An adventurer cheered.

"So much for a coming battle!" Another adventurer cheered.

"I guess it was easy after all," Bell said happily.

"Too easy," Jonah said unmoved by the cheering. "That horde travelled here like an army. I'm now convinced a Great One, possibly Oeden, was controlling them."


Down at Twilight Manor.

"Hoho, those dumbasses were wiped out!" Bete guffawed. "Guess Yharnam produces wimps after all!"

Finn grunts as if in pain as he clutches his right hand.

"Captain, what's wrong?" Tione asked in concern.

"My thumb aches badly!"


The cheers fall silent as all of Orario hear it . . .

"Is that a bell?" Eina asked.

"There's more than one," another adventurer stated.

"No. No! NO!" Jonah exclaimed in growing outrage.

"Jonah, what's wrong?!" Bell exclaimed.

"Chime Maidens! They bring forth monsters with their bells! Where are they?!" As the Moon-scented Hunter looks around wildly. "We have to kill them immediately!"

And it happens . . .


Down at the Apollo Mansion.

"What the?!" One of the members exclaimed upon looking around as a reddish light is cast about the place.

"Look!" Daphne exclaimed while pointing up with a shocked expression.

The moon is now blood red.

"The moon shall turn to blood! Horror shall come like a flood!" Cassandra wailed.


Everyone throughout Orario stare in awe up at the sight of the now blood red moon.

"What's happening to the moon?!" Bell exclaimed.

"Look!" Eina exclaimed as she points to the Divine Mirror. "Up on the roof of Babel!"

Upon that tower's roof stand six females at even distances around, each facing a direction.

"Those are the Chime Maidens!" Jonah stated intently.

And in between them is . . .

"They have that Pthumerian Elder for protection!" Jonah concluded intently.


The Pthumerian Elder sensed it, and teleported, along with the Chime Maidens that were hidden amongst the horde. They appeared on a section of the wall while the inhabitants were focused on the destruction of their horde. The Elder looked up and gestured at the top of Babel. He handed his cane to one of the Chime Maidens and she took hold of it, then held out his hand to receive a charm. He pocketed that charm, then took his cane back.

The Elder nodded then vanished, along with the Chime Maidens, to reappear upon the roof of Babel. The Elder instructs them for the charms back as those will end up interfering with what they are about to do.


Everyone watches as six ribbons of lightening suddenly shoot out from each of the Chime Maidens as they ring their handbells. They visually follow those lightening bolts and watch them strike the walls of Orario, or even Orario's gates. Blacken pits appear at the sight of impact that turn into images.

Images of a world overrunned with horrors.

"YHARNAM!" Jonah bellowed. "THAT'S YHARNAM, AND THE OTHER PLACES AROUND IT!"

"EHHH?!" Bell exclaimed.

Legions of its monsters rapidly congregate at those portals, and invade Orario.