[h3]Hidden alcove, outside the walls south of Yahar'gul, northwest of Yharnam[/h3]
As Farren's Bulwark transformed into its shield-form, it did indeed do some additional damage... not a lot, but some. Though the mechanism that allowed the sword to become a shield was fairly powerful, it was still a high ask for steel to cut steel, and if Farren examined the folding blades at some point he would find a sizable chip where they had met the chain. One side of the opening to the link, which had already been warped and weakened by the two arcane explosions it had been exposed to, bent outward and broadened the gap. It looked as though it would be possible to simply pass one of the other links through the opening now, and the chain would be severed.

In the meantime the darkbeast seemed to have recharged enough to stand back up properly and look around to check on the positions and activities of the intruders... only for its sweeping gaze to stop instantly as soon as it saw the Shopkeeper. As the Shopkeeper cocked their head, seemingly looking back at the monster, the darkbeast glared at them. It opened its jaws and let out a growl; a deep, hoarse and horrifying sound that sounded like bones grinding on bones, creaking and cracking. Its claws dug into the lightbeast beneath it, which whined pathetically.
Over the course of one second from spotting the Shopkeeper, the darkbeast's dull blue electric glow changed gradually first to violet, and finally to bright red, with sparks crawling everywhere on its body. Even its dark, empty eye-sockets and the shadow within its maw were filled with scarlet light.

Then, in a burst of insane, almost impossible-seeming motion, the darkbeast crossed the six meters that separated itself and the Shopkeeper at a speed and acceleration that seemed almost as fast as that of a quickstepping Hunter. Its right front paw – giving off an almost blinding red light – slammed down on the Shopkeeper, who just had time to raise their left arm over their head and, in a flash of blue light, conjure a perfect copy of the Loch Shield. Then the claw hit with such force that silt was thrown up from the ground in an obscuringly dense cloud of dust, filled with crackling red lightning.
Torquil, who as the summoner was standing right next to the Shopkeeper, was both thrown aside by the shockwave of the hit and shocked by the burst of electricity dispersing from the hit. He scrambled back to his feet and retreated, axe in hand, and began making his way over to the actual Loch Shield.