The Byrgenwerth Institute was founded long before the terrible events that took place in Yharnam. Byrgenwerth was built deep within the Forbidden Woods, on the shore of Moonside Lake. The man who founded it believed that locating the institute so deep in the forest would allow the students to remain undistracted from their studies.
The construction of the building on the shore of Moonside Lake — named for the beautiful sight of the moon reflected on the water's surface every night — was meant to inspire the students as they admired such views.
Byrgenwerth was founded by Master Willem, who was considered one of the greatest minds of his time. In the early years of the institute, they studied medicine, astronomy, ancient ruins, and the nature of humanity.
Even then, Master Willem was obsessed with studying the human body and human nature. He tried to pass this knowledge on to his students so they could delve deeper into research together. Very quickly, under Master Willem's leadership, Byrgenwerth became one of the most prestigious centers of knowledge in the world.
It was Master Willem who managed to decipher the ancient records of the Pthumerian race that had lived on these lands long before Yharnam itself was founded. After deciphering the ancient language of the Pthumerians, he wished to learn everything about them. Through his research into the traces left by the Pthumerian race, Master Willem and his closest followers were able to find a passage into the catacombs built by this ancient race.
The deeper Master Willem and his closest associates delved into the catacombs, the more they learned about the knowledge possessed by the Pthumerians. On one of the ancient tablets that Willem managed to translate, he learned what — or rather, for whom — the Pthumerian race had built these catacombs. The deeper the Byrgenwerth researchers descended into the underground, the more tablets of knowledge they found.
In the underground catacombs of the Pthumerian race, the Byrgenwerth scholars discovered many artifacts, which they studied meticulously. They also found numerous records of rituals left behind by the ancient race. Many of Willem's ideas about Insight and the evolution of humanity were inspired by, or directly based on, the findings left by the Pthumerians.
With every tablet Willem translated, he found strange mentions of one word, which he was only able to translate after several years of long research. Every descent into the catacombs brought Willem new material. And the more he immersed himself in the history of the Pthumerian race, the stronger his fascination grew.
At the same time, he feared following the same path of self-destruction that the Pthumerians had taken by going too far. Only after years of study was he finally able to translate that word. Willem learned the reason for the fall of such a great race.
In the ancient Pthumerian records, it was mentioned many times why their civilization had fallen. The cause was the blood of the Great Ones, which the Pthumerians could not control. In the end, their entire race vanished like cosmic dust, leaving behind only ancient echoes of memory.
Upon learning the reason for the fall of the Pthumerian race, Willem made a firm decision to never touch the blood of the Great Ones and forbade its study, repeatedly telling his students the same phrase: "Fear the Old Blood."
Willem believed that the Pthumerians had left behind many warnings for a reason. Therefore, he focused his research on enabling humans to open the so-called "Eyes Inside," which would allow people to see the world through the eyes of beings like the Great Ones.
Years of research passed, and Willem delved deeper into the truths of the world and the knowledge left by the Pthumerians. While Willem thirsted for ascension through Insight, there were those who disobeyed his words and began to study the blood of the Great Ones. Willem repeatedly tried to dissuade his students.
In the end, Laurence, Micolash, Gehrman, and others left Byrgenwerth. Willem watched with sadness in his eyes as his students left the place he had built for them. When Laurence and the others left the institute, Willem felt he should stop them. But in the end, he did not. He thought that when his students saw the truth for themselves, they would stop and realize their mistakes.
Years passed. Willem did not stop paying attention to his former students, watching what they did after leaving Byrgenwerth. He saw how both of his students went down different paths: Laurence founded the Healing Church, while Micolash founded his own school.
Even though Willem's path and that of his students had diverged, he still visited them from time to time, offering advice. They were like children he had raised, and he could not abandon them.
While continuing to communicate with his students, Willem did not cease his own research to help humanity ascend through Insight. But he never found a way to connect his brain with eyes to improve the thinking process. Disappointed by the limitations of human intellect, he turned to higher beings for help. In his search for answers, Master Willem received enlightenment.
"We think only about the simplest of worlds. What we need is more eyes," Willem told his students after receiving this revelation.
But Willem himself took this insight too literally. And this later led to the students of Byrgenwerth being transformed into multi-eyed flying creatures. More importantly, Willem found the umbilical cord of a Great One in the Pthumerian catacombs — a unique and powerful artifact.
He wanted to elevate his consciousness to the Great Ones by covering his brain with eyes. This was the only way he knew to become equal to them. The umbilical cord granted insight and, as the ancient Pthumerian records stated, helped grow eyes inside. Though no one truly understood what that meant.
It is unknown exactly how Willem managed to find the umbilical cord. During his research, he was able to artificially grow eyes, but he never managed to connect those eyes to a human brain.
And during one of the experiments on a student named Rom, an ordinary university student became a kin of the Great Ones. This experiment was both a failure and a success. Although Rom became a Great One, she remained an artificial one.
After becoming one, Rom turned out to be empty and detached from the world. She did not communicate with anyone and existed as an empty shell that didn't care about what was happening around her. Willem thought he had made a mistake in the experiment and wanted to conduct a new one. But this was not meant to be.
For above Yharnam rose the Red Moon, plunging the city into a vortex of madness and beastly violence. And Willem knew how to stop its influence. During the experiments with Rom, he and the other Byrgenwerth scholars discovered that Rom possessed an ability similar to a shield that could suppress the influence of the Red Moon. Rom was placed beneath Moonside Lake to seal the Red Moon. She became a thin barrier between madness and sanity, preventing the Red Moon from rising again in the night sky.
Those who knew the truth thought this was the end and that such a thing would never happen again. But no one knew that this was only the beginning of their nightmare. All the events that followed the sealing of the Red Moon ultimately led Yharnam into even greater horror and madness. In the end, a shadow covered the terror-stricken and deadly dangerous city where madness had made its nest. Thus began the eternal Hunt Cycle, to the creation of which everyone who had come into contact with the Great Ones contributed their part.
Meanwhile, Alex, Alucard, and Maria were walking through a small forested area after killing the Shadows of Yharnam. To reach Byrgenwerth, they had to pass through this last stretch of forest. Walking along an abandoned road that no one had used for a long time, Alex smoked a cigarette, thinking about what needed to be done next after killing Rom. He had already explained what would happen when the spider named Rom died and what it would lead to.
After passing through the forest thicket, Alex, Maria, and Alucard saw the outlines of Byrgenwerth — the walls of the institute loomed through the thick fog. Leaving the forested area, they found themselves in the backyard of Byrgenwerth. Looking at the institute itself, Alex thought that this place looked more like an abandoned psychiatric hospital than a temple of knowledge. Byrgenwerth looked deserted, yet it still retained its former, untouched appearance.
"Here it is — the place where they first started throwing shit at the fan… Wonderful," Alex said, flicking away his extinguished cigarette.
"I don't know what that expression of yours means… but I roughly understood the context. And yes, you're right. Everything started right here," Maria said, shifting her gaze from Byrgenwerth to Alex and giving him a strange look.
"Why are you still surprised by such things, my love? Is this the first time you've seen people leading themselves to self-destruction?" Alucard asked, looking at her husband with an intrigued gaze.
"Of course, this isn't the first time I've seen it. And I've seen many times how people kill themselves because of their own stupidity. It's already become commonplace," Alex said, starting to walk forward to descend toward Byrgenwerth.
Alucard smiled slightly, narrowing her eyes at Alex, and followed him. Maria had no intention of falling behind and quickly caught up with them. Descending the path, Alex walked forward to reach the entrance to Byrgenwerth. As he passed through the backyard, he looked up and saw a humanoid insect sitting on a dry branch above them — identical to the one Alucard had killed a little earlier.
Viscous slime dripped from the creature's strange mouth and fell near Alex. Alex reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a silver coin, and immediately threw it at the humanoid insect. The coin passed through the creature's head, and it fell beside him.
"At least this thing isn't as disgusting compared to the other creatures I've seen so far," Alex said, stepping over the corpse of the humanoid insect.
Maria nodded, agreeing with Alex's words. After all, in the memories he had shared with her, there were far more disgusting creatures. Alucard, however, didn't even pay attention to such a creature.
Instead of stepping over the disgusting being, she stepped on its head, crushing its skull with her heel. Hearing the sound of something being crushed, Alex glanced over his shoulder and saw what his wife had done. Slightly pursing his lips, he shook his head and continued walking.
After walking along the ruined path, Alex, Alucard, and Maria emerged onto the front courtyard of Byrgenwerth. Alex's attention was immediately drawn to the observation platform on the second floor, built directly above the lake. While Alex looked at the observation platform where Master Willem himself was located, Maria's attention was focused on something else entirely. She was staring at something incomprehensible.
It seemed to her that she saw a creature resembling both a plant and an insect, standing in the shadow cast by the moonlight. This creature had a long neck with thin glowing appendages, and at the end was a bright flower glowing with moonlight. Its body resembled a centipede with long spider-like limbs.
Alucard was also looking at this creature with mild interest. Maria gently tugged on Alex's sleeve and pointed at the creature. Feeling the tug, Alex shifted his gaze to where she was pointing.
"Whoa… Interesting. An insect possessing cosmic power. This is the first time I've seen something like this," Alex said, stroking his chin.
"So, is this creature dangerous?" Maria asked, starting to think about how to kill it.
Alex opened his mouth to answer that this cosmic centipede was not dangerous at all, when the sound of gunshots rang out. Alex and Maria turned their heads toward the creature and saw its thin body torn to pieces.
Turning around, they saw Alucard holding a long black Jackal pistol in her hands, smoke still rising from the barrel. Just a few 13-millimeter silver bullets were enough to turn the cosmic centipede into a mess. Alucard calmly holstered the pistol under her coat.
"I thought this creature would be more resilient, considering it possesses such power…" Alucard said in a calm tone, as if nothing had happened.
"The fact that I said the insect possesses cosmic power didn't mean its body could withstand 13-millimeter bullets made of Macedonian silver with tips of consecrated mercury," Alex said in a dry tone, looking at Alucard.
"Really? What a shame. Who would have known," Alucard said in an amused tone, poking Alex in the nose with her finger.
Alex sighed heavily, looking at his wife. Shaking his head, he walked forward to enter Byrgenwerth. Seeing Alex's reaction, Maria couldn't hold back a smile and followed him.
After crossing the front courtyard of Byrgenwerth, Alex approached the entrance to the institute and pulled the door toward himself. Not calculating his strength because the door was locked, he tore it off along with the doorframe. Looking at the door in his hand, Alex calmly placed it against the wall as if nothing had happened and was the first to enter the building. Alucard chuckled lightly at her husband's expression and entered inside with Maria.
Once inside, Alex saw a rather spacious room that looked more like a lounge and reading area than a place for study.
"It doesn't really look like a place for studying," Alex said, looking around and walking deeper into the room.
"This is probably the place where Master Willem conducted private lessons for his closest students," Maria said, sharing her opinion after inspecting the area.
"Hmm… That could be. And what do you think, Carmilla…?" Alex said, nodding at Maria's assumption and turning his head toward Alucard.
Not hearing an answer, Alex turned to look at Alucard but didn't see her. At that same moment, a light crash came from the second floor, followed by the sound of breaking bones. Hearing the noise, Alex and Maria shifted their gazes to the spiral staircase leading to the second floor.
A moment later, the lifeless body of a woman with a broken neck rolled down the stairs. Looking at the corpse of the woman in white Choir robes, Alex raised his gaze and saw Alucard slowly descending from the second floor. After coming down, Alucard didn't even pay attention to the one she had just killed.
"Were you asking me something, my love?" Alucard asked with an amused smile on her face.
"Never mind… I think it's time to go up to the second floor," Alex said, shaking his head.
Before going up, Alex approached the woman's corpse. Leaning down, he touched the body with his finger, and it instantly turned to ash. Glancing at Alucard once more, Alex rolled his eyes and began ascending to the second floor. Maria followed him, not at all surprised that Alucard had killed someone without warning. From Alex's memories, she was well aware of Alucard's cruel nature, so she said nothing.
Upon reaching the second floor, Alex's attention was immediately drawn to the bookshelves on the other side. Thinking for a moment whether he should take these books, Alex decided to take them after all, so as not to leave them in this place. Snapping his fingers, he placed the bookshelves into his inventory and approached the doors leading to the observation balcony.
"It will be interesting to look at the old idiot," Alex said, preparing to open the doors to the observation platform.
"Do you think Master Willem is still in his right mind?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Alex.
"He went mad a long time ago. That's why I called him the old idiot," Alex said, shaking his head, and pushed the doors open.
Maria nodded in understanding, thinking the same as Alex. When the doors opened, Alex, Maria, and Alucard saw Master Willem sitting in a rocking chair and staring into emptiness. Smiling slightly, Alex walked forward and approached Willem.
Walking around the rocking chair, Alex stood in front of him and looked at the old man. Willem's eyes were covered by an iron mask with patterns that hid the upper part of his face. Willem's face looked like a melted wax figure with gray skin. Strange growths resembling glowing mushrooms had sprouted from the back of his body, growing directly from his neck.
Using his magical vision, Alex smiled widely. While he was looking at Willem, the old man raised his hand, in which he held a golden staff, and pointed it toward the lake.
"This is the end you deserved, Willem. Just like both of your students," Alex said, walking around the rocking chair.
"What's wrong with him?" Alucard asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He's nothing more than an empty shell without a mind. Instead of brains, he has only mushrooms," Alex said, turning the rocking chair toward the cliff.
"So he's dead?" Maria asked again, watching what Alex was doing.
"Oh, no. He's very much alive. His soul is still there, but there's no mind. Like I said — he's an empty shell. Even if he dies, nothing awaits him after death," Alex said, tilting the rocking chair forward.
Understanding what Alex meant, Alucard smiled contemptuously and looked away. Maria only partially understood the meaning, as this topic was still too distant for her. Alex tilted the rocking chair in which Willem was sitting forward and shook it slightly. After shaking the chair several times, he dropped Willem down from the observation platform.
Willem didn't even try to resist — he slipped out of the chair and began to fall. With a thud, Willem's body smashed against the ground. Standing on the edge of the platform, Alex looked at Willem, from whose body purple blood flowed instead of the usual red.
"The second of the three great idiots is dead. Only one remains," Alex said, kicking the rocking chair and sending it down as well.
"Who is the third? As I remember, the third should be Micolash. Even back then there were rumors that blood rituals were performed in his school," Maria said, thinking for a moment.
"You guessed right. Micolash is the third idiot who is to blame for everything," Alex said, raising his thumb.
Hearing the confirmation, Maria nodded. Even back when she was a Huntress, she had often heard rumors about what was happening in the school founded by Micolash. On his orders, people were abducted from the streets to later perform blood rituals and insane experiments on them. Even then, Maria had suspected that Micolash had managed to persuade some hunters to engage in abductions.
Alex approached Maria, who had sunk into thought, and quickly lifted her into his arms. Maria came to her senses the moment she found herself in Alex's arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. Holding Maria in his arms, Alex walked to the very edge of the observation platform, which was located directly above the lake.
"Where to next?" Alucard asked, standing beside Alex.
"Straight down. Into the lake," Alex said, taking a step forward.
Seeing what Alex was doing, Maria gripped his neck tighter just in case. Alex stepped forward and began falling straight down into the lake. Alucard didn't wait and immediately jumped after him. As he fell, Alex heard two splashes of water. And instead of landing in the lake, they found themselves in a strange place.
The place where Alex, Alucard, and Maria appeared was an endless world of water with no clear end. A bright pale moon shone in the sky against a clear blue firmament. But in the reflection of the water's surface, everything was the opposite. In the water, a bright crimson moon hung over Yharnam. Landing on the surface of the water, Alex lowered Maria.
"What a strange reflection in the water," Maria said, looking at the reflection beneath her feet.
"The water is nothing more than a barrier. Now we need to find Rom, who is maintaining this barrier," Alex said, looking around.
"You were talking about this creature?" Alucard asked, pointing in a direction with her finger.
Alex and Maria shifted their gaze and saw in the distance the silhouette of a creature resembling a mix of a spider and a larva in one body. This creature looked like a small island of land in the endless world of water. Rom had a strange body structure, resembling a larva covered in dark, almost stony skin with many irregularities and openings.
Its head resembled a snout with many eyes or eye-like openings, which looked quite eerie in such a place. Along its back and sides grew glowing white lunar flowers that shone in the moonlight.
Examining Rom, Alex was intrigued by the fact that this creature had once been human and that its power could limit the influence of the Great Ones before the cycle began.
"This creature doesn't look strong… I'd even say it looks quite mediocre compared to the other similar beings," Alucard said in a thoughtful tone.
"Then you can try striking first," Alex said with a slight smile.
Alucard looked at Alex, then shifted her gaze to Rom. After a brief hesitation and seeing no reason to refuse, Alucard walked forward at a calm pace. She was curious how strong this creature could actually be.
Watching Alucard move further away, Alex smiled slightly and lit a cigarette. Maria shifted her gaze from Alucard to Alex and saw the smile on his face, which he wasn't even trying to hide. Maria immediately understood that everything was not as simple as it seemed at first glance. She understood that Rom was the one maintaining the barrier, preventing the Red Moon from rising.
"How strong is this creature?" Maria asked after a short pause.
"Rom isn't particularly strong. But she is very resilient and durable… And she's not alone here," Alex said, exhaling cigarette smoke.
"Not alone? Are there other similar creatures here?" Maria asked, frowning and looking around.
Maria looked around, trying to spot creatures similar to Rom in this endless watery world. Alex smiled and stood behind Maria, placing his hands on her shoulders and making her look at Rom. At that same moment, Alucard approached Rom and stood in front of her face. Rom showed no reaction to Alucard and simply continued standing, moving her small spider-like legs across the water and aimlessly rotating her dozen eyes.
Alucard used her Causality ability to strike Rom in the face. At that moment, Alucard's arm broke with a loud crunch of bones. Alucard looked at her broken arm, then at Rom. She was greatly surprised that she had broken her own arm by hitting Rom. And while Alucard was distracted, Rom began to move and back away. Along with Rom's movement, dozens of her children began crawling out from under the water, their goal being to protect their mother.
"Now I understand why my husband called you a spider. You called your little ones for help… But what a shame, this is not enough. You should have summoned even more," Alucard said with a bloodthirsty smile, crushing the head of one of Rom's children under her foot.
After killing the first of Rom's children, Alucard drew the Evelyn musketoon and the Jackal pistol and began shooting at Rom's children to kill them all. Within moments, all the summoned children of Rom turned into corpses that sank beneath the water. Without restraining the bloodthirsty smile on her face, Alucard approached Rom, who was still backing away, and placed her foot on the creature's head.
"Your head is sturdy, but what about your eyes?" Alucard asked, pressing the barrel of the Jackal pistol against one of Rom's eyes.
With a sadistic smile, Alucard pulled the trigger and fired. But instead of wounding Rom, the bullet passed through her body. Alucard staggered as Rom's body became intangible and disappeared at that very moment.
When her prey vanished right before her eyes, a look of disgust at such cowardice appeared on Alucard's face. Alucard clenched her teeth in anger, and her red eyes began to glow as she scanned the area.
Alucard's gaze immediately stopped on Rom, who was now surrounded by more than a hundred of her children.
"Cowardly beast! Pathetic cowardly creature!" Alucard hissed through her teeth, staring at Rom.
Alucard's eyes burned with rage at the fact that her opponent, possessing such power, was cowardly fleeing instead of fighting. Alucard's body instantly disappeared from its spot, causing an explosion and raising a large pillar of water. Alucard moved at such speed that her body instantly broke the sound barrier, which knocked away the nearest children of Rom.
Appearing beside Rom, Alucard clenched her fist and struck the disgusting face. When Alucard's fist slammed into Rom's head, a distinct sound of breaking bones echoed across the quiet area. Alucard ignored the fact that her fist had once again been broken.
The broken arm instantly regenerated, and she delivered another blow to Rom's head. Alucard began striking blow after blow, wanting to crush the creature's head. While Alucard was striking, Rom's children leaped toward her, wanting to protect their mother.
"Get out of the way, trash!" Alucard said, swinging her arm.
Alucard's arm became covered in shadow, which instantly took the form of a monstrous maw that swallowed a dozen of Rom's children. The shadow slipped off Alucard's arm, taking the form of a huge werewolf with deer antlers. The huge werewolf immediately began crushing Rom's children like ordinary spiders, which they were. Alucard once again shifted her attention to Rom after releasing one of her familiars.
Striking Rom's head once more, Alucard thrust her palm into an eye socket. Clenching her hand, she tore out one of Rom's eyes and crushed it in her palm. But Rom herself showed no reaction to such damage and only continued to retreat, trying to get as far away from Alucard as possible.
"Oh no, you're not getting away. Because I'm going to tear out all your eyes, one by one," Alucard said, gripping Rom's head with both hands and preventing it from crawling away.
Alucard squeezed Rom's head and began dragging the creature toward herself, not allowing it to escape. Wanting to deal with Rom as cruelly as possible, the smile on Alucard's face grew wider. But at that moment, a cracking sound resembling breaking ice rang out.
Alucard lowered her gaze and saw that her arms had turned to ice all the way up to her shoulders. Smirking contemptuously, Alucard twitched slightly. From the jerk, her ice-covered arms instantly shattered. A moment later, new arms appeared in place of the missing ones, along with clothing.
"What a shame you can't do the same, spider," Alucard said, instantly regenerating her arms.
Rom showed no reaction to Alucard's words, and her body began to disappear into the fog. Alucard sharply lunged forward to grab Rom, but she had already vanished. Alucard's hands passed through the fog, and she failed to catch Rom. Gritting her teeth in irritation, Alucard shifted her gaze to the side, searching for Rom again.
She quickly found her, and Rom was once again surrounded by an army of her children, whose numbers had grown even more. Preparing to summon several more of her familiars, Alucard heard whistling and claps. She saw the bodies of Rom's children being torn apart by magical bullets that twisted through the air, striking every target.
Shifting her gaze to the side, Alucard looked at Alex, who was holding a magical musket in his hands. Smiling, Alucard blew Alex a kiss and instantly disappeared, appearing beside Rom.
Alex, standing farther away from all this, calmly stored the magical musket in his inventory and leaned against Maria's shoulder, who immediately leaned on him in return. Alex hadn't expected Rom to summon such a large number of her children.
Watching this, he suspected that if Alucard didn't kill Rom soon, this entire area would be filled with an army of hideous spiders. Leaning on Alex's shoulder, Maria continued to observe what was happening. It wasn't hard for her to notice that Rom had no intention of fighting at all and kept retreating, summoning her children to protect her.
"Why is this creature trying to run away? And not even attacking?" Maria asked, watching Rom intently.
"Rom doesn't have a mind in the usual sense. I would call her a being with one function — to protect and defend herself," Alex said, lighting a cigarette.
"That's two functions, not one," Maria said with a slight smile, turning her head toward Alex.
Hearing Maria's words, Alex exhaled smoke through his nose and turned to her. Maria continued smiling, looking at Alex's face. Shaking his head, Alex narrowed his eyes and kissed Maria on the cheek, causing her cheeks to flush slightly, and she turned away.
Seeing the embarrassment on Maria's face, Alex smiled and turned his head toward Alucard. He was curious how long his wife would keep trying to break through Rom's thick skull instead of dealing damage to the soft flesh on her back.
To be continued...
(I was thinking about fitting the entire battle with Rom into one chapter. But in the end, it didn't work out. I still have to mention and talk about certain things, and that's why some of it is dragging on. But to be honest, there's very little left. Honestly, very little. Those who played it already know this. But in short, all that's left is to get to the Nightmare of Mensis. And now I'm off to eat and drink beer while playing Ghostwire Tokyo. Peace, love, and if there's a monster living under your bed, charge it for the stay.)
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