Chapter 52: Beast realm
"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!"
The wind tore at Hugo's face as he plummeted downward at an alarming speed.
Hugo cursed his luck as He clicked the omnitrix dial to activate it. The device shot up from his wrist But instead of the holographic display of alien silhouettes, the faceplate displayed a single blue loading symbol...
It was cycling slowly, not showing any of his Imprints
"What?!" hugo yelled in disbelief as He tried spinning the dial, slapping the device over and over again.
Nothing.
His aspect wasn't responding to him in the slightest.
"Eurys! Why the hell is it doing this?!"
He screamed toward the two skeletons tumbling through the air beside him. Azarax was flailing his limbs comically trying to fly while Eurys fell in a comfortable position, not caring in the slightest.
The sacred skeleton managed to turn his skull, his empty sockets somehow conveying supreme indifference to their terrible situation.
"How in the hell am I supposed to know? It's your Aspect, not mine."
Besides him, Azarax let out a rattling laugh. "Performance issues, boy? At your age? Hilarious!"
'These little shits'
Gritting his teeth, he summoned [Nothing]. The Transcendent memory materialized in his hands in a shower of white sparks. He poured a massive amount of soul essence into it's enchantment, turning it into a sphere.
The mist moved around him, condensed, and finally solidified around him.
Hugo could have extended the sphere to catch Eurys and Azarax But he was currently too pety to do that and so he decided they could damn well handle their own landing.
'Served them right...'
CRUNCH-THUD-WHUMP.
The sphere of [Nothing] hit the soft, blue moss like a meteorite, digging deep into the pristine garden floor for several dozen meters before grinding to a halt.
Inside the cushioned interior, Hugo was thrown around violently but he was alive.
Groaning, Hugo pushed himself up from the crater while commanding [Nothing] to turn back into mist.
Every bone in his body ached and his head was ringing from the impact but he was in one piece. A fall from that height would have killed most Awakened even with a Transcendent memory's protection But he was a Tyrant or at least half a tyrant in his base form.
He climbed out of the crater, his boots sinking into the impossibly soft moss. Before him stretched the impossible jungle of Primus, with the most notable thing in it being the river of vibrant green liquid which seemed to be the life force of this place due to it's sheer quantity...
'How strange...' Hugo couldn't help but compare it to the dark sea.
That terrifying force of nature must have left a lot of trauma for the forgotten shore survivors, well at least it did for him and so encountering a strange mass of water in the dream realm... Hugo felt a little tense.
Although that traumatic memory did not last for long as Hugo noticed something inside the green liquid.
About fifty meters downstream, a skeleton was splashing and flailing helplessly in the river, being pulled along by it's current.
"Hey! You overgrown tentacled mollusk! Get me out of here!" Azarax the Mighty, Conqueror of a Hundred Thrones, the plague of steel himself screamed in panic.
Hugo baret suppressed a laugh as he looked to his left. There, wedged perfectly in the crook of a glowing blue tree branch, was Eurys. He was missing his left leg from the knee down. He gave Hugo an empty look and simply said nothing.
Hugo sighed as He sent a tendril of [Nothing] streaking toward the river. The grey mist morphed mid-air, flattening into a wide, raft-like carpet that slid under Azarax and unceremoniously hauled the sputtering skeleton onto it's bank. Meanwhile, Hugo scaled the tree—the bark was warm for some reason...—and carefully extracted Eurys from his strange prison.
Regrouped on the mossy bank, the trio stood there for a moment looking at each other awkwardly.
Azarax was dripping with green liquid which looked disgusting while Eurys leaned on Hugo for balance like an old grandpa.
"Now what?"
Eurys broke the silence.
Hugo, once again, had no answer. His original plan had been simple: find a Second Nightmare Seed, Challenge it, Ascend and Find a way home or at least out of the immediate frying pan.
And in a way, he did succeed in escaping the great terror as he doubted it could pass through the green barrier.
That said, He had never planned on picking up two ancient skeletons and he had certainly never planned on actually finding Primus...
Hugo knew this place held answers about the Omnitrix, about Azmuth and about the corruption in his own soul But that was more akin to a grand goal, for now He just wanted out of the dream realm...
"Maybe there's a Second Nightmare Seed around here somewhere…" he muttered to himself, the two skeletons couldn't come with him into the nightmare which was a bit sad but he couldn't help it. Leaving them here was better then leaving them in the desert.
The thought was pathetic but it was all he could afford... At this point, he'd risk entering Third Nightmare if it meant escaping.
The odds were suicidal but staying here felt like a slower more uncertain death.
This place, for all its breathtaking beauty, made his skin crawl more than the desolate desert had...
Its perfection seemed like a lie, especially considering how hard the entrance was.
Hugo tried summoning azmuth ship once again but to no avail, the divine memory simply refused to leave his soul sea.
'So that's gone too... Great...'
The fact that he couldn't use the omnitrix or summon his greatest asset was disturbing...
He turned east, his gaze drawn to the majestic volcano in the distance, it was the source of the pure green river and so it was likely to hold something important.
"I guess we should start walking that wa—"
A shadow suddenly fell over the trio.
Something massive and impossibly fast dropped from the sky, Hugo had a fragment of a second to register it's appearance before it landed squarely on his back with the force of a mountain.
The impact plowed Him through the dirt, His body becaming a surfboard for the entity attacking him, it dragged him violently across the moss and the ecosystem of the jungle.
At the same time, Hugo tasted dirt and all sorts of strange flora primus had to offer, but then, the entity on his back suddenly jumped off, causing the momentum to send him slamming shoulder-first into a moss-covered boulder.
THUD.
The pain Finally registered in his mind, nearly causing him to faint.
His Ribs were broken and his slickly green flesh was a messy of blood, stone and dirt causing his wounds to swell unnaturally.
Painfully, He pushed himself up on trembling arms, spitting out blood and dirt...
'Strong... So strong...'
The thing that just hit him was the most powerful and painful attack that he had ever experienced, and that was saying much considering he fought against three corrupted creatures in the past.
He blinked trying to clear the grit from his eyes.
He saw nothing but blurred greenery But he heard a voice....
Shockingly it was a human voice.
"Vilgax… you son of a bitch. You're actually still alive."
The voice was mature and manly but strangely... It was oddly familiar... As if he heard it once a long time ago.
"I don't know how you found this place but I'm going to make you regret ever crawling out of whatever pit you died in."
Wiping his eyes with a torn sleeve, Hugo focused on the source of the voice.
It was a man Tall, towering over even awakened rock, He had a build of dense corded muscle that spoke of a lifetime of brutal conflict. He looked to be in his late twenties with a strong square jaw marked by a distinctive cross-shaped scar.
His hair was long, black, and wild falling to his shoulders. He also wore a form-fitting suit of jet black leather, traced with grey lines that added a sense of fashion into his attire.
Around his neck hung a simple, metallic locket.
The man's eyes locked onto Hugo's with murderous intent
"Surprised to see me, huh? You're in for more than surprise."
Hugo opened his mouth to say "I'm not Vilgax" but the stranger gave him no chance.
The man simply bent and touched the ground and In an instant, the skin of his hand and forearm changed, morphing in color and texture to perfectly match the iridescent blue moss and crystal beneath him...
Then he moved, although his movement wasn't instant teleportation like the Great Terror, instead it was simply overwhelming physical speed that closed the gap between them in a blink.
A fist, now a solidified mass of crystal and earth, reached Hugo's face.
THUD.
The punch lifted Hugo off his feet, sending him flying through the jungle.
THUD.
His flight was arrested by the trunk of a tree, which splintered at impact .
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
He became a ragdoll, bouncing and breaking through the pristine jungle, finally coming to rest in a ditch, half-submerged in a puddle of his own blood.
Hugo gasped, feeling the blood inside his lungs.
Blood frothed on his lips, showing his broken teeths.
Amidst the drowning pain, one coherent thought formed in his mind...
A Transcendant.
That guy is a Saint.
He was not even considering how it was possible to encounter a human transcendant so deep within a death zone, They didn't matter, what mattered now was that the mysterious man was attempting to kill him
With a groan, Hugo summoned the [Sunlight Rings]. Their healing enchantment washed over him,manifesting as a warm light that knitted his shattered bone and torn muscle painfully.
He staggered to his feet just as a shadow fell over him again...
He saw a blur—a human-shaped mass of rock and crystal—hurtling toward him like a cannonball.
Saturating his Body with soul essence, Hugo threw himself sideways. The transcendant shot past him, and the boulder he'd been leaning against suddenly pulverized.
Hugo ran, as He fumbled with the Omnitrix again, trying to activate it, The damned loading symbole was still showing up with no signs of returning to normal.
Just why was his luck so terrible?!
Abandoning the device, he threw a command to [Nothing]. The grey mist flew from him, forming a wide, concave shield just as the Saint slammed into him again. This time, the impact was a deafening gong, but the Transcendent memory held against it's attacker.
Although, The force was still transferred, sending Hugo skidding backwards slightly.
He heard the Saint's grunt in surprise, followed by his voice, Which seemed to be confused.
"Is that a Memory? You bastard, did you somehow get infected by the Spell? And why are you this weak? Last time, you were a -"
He couldn't hear the last parts due to the fact that the transcendant started hammering on his face.
He was not even using a weapon, instead the Saint's own hands had shapeshifted into grotesque spiked mauls of granite.
They rose and fell with a sucking rhythm, delivering Dozens of blows to Hugo's abdomine and face.
Hugo raised the [Nothing]-shield, but each strike sent shockwaves through his arms, rattling his teeth, clouding his vision with bursts of white light.
The Saint's fighting style was brutal and overwhelming devoid of finesse but utterly effective against weak foes.
Hugo was launched again off the ground again, This time, as he flew, he grasped at [Nothing] with a wild idea.
He willed it to morph into a suit of armor, encasing his body in a shell of swirling grey mist.
It was his worst mistake.
The Saint didn't pause, as He immediately closed in, grabbing Hugo by the leg then sending him flying downard.
THUD
Hugo impacted with the ground violently, but before he could got up A kick that would have leveled a building connected with his armored chest.
CRACK.
A spiderweb of fractures appeared in the mist-armor, then, A follow-up kick sent him spinning on the ground causing The fractures to deepen.
a Transcendent Memory could harm a Transcendent being, but the reverse was also true and so The armor wouldn't hold for more than a few seconds under this assault.
Unless…
Without a second thought, Hugo reached into his soul sea and summoned the [Nameless Sun]. The Memory from the Crimson Terror manifested itself as a shimmering mass of captivating sunlight. Then Without wasting a second, he fused it with [Nothing].
The [Sun Armor] enchantment activated, recognizing [Nothing] as an armor. The grey mist ignited from within, glowing with a brilliant, white-gold light. Its rank was elevated to the supreme rank, or at least closer towards it.
The Saint's next hammer-blow descended.
Hugo, bracing with everything he had, caught it.
CLANG!
A sound like a great bell being struck echoed through the jungle, The Saint's rock-made Hammer stopped dead, held in Hugo's now-glimmering gauntlet.
The saint widened his eyes, clearly surprised..
In that frozen moment of shock, the Saint missed the small crystal orb Hugo had Summoned in his other hand.
the [Polymorphic Crystal], now upgraded to the Ascended rank through upgrade became no different from a plasma canon.
And so, Hugo unleashed the [Envy] enchantment.
A visible wave of distorted kinetic energy, erupted from the gem right at the transcendant face.
It wasn't enough to harm a Saint but it was a concentrated blast of pure force and so It hit the man square in the face sending him flying backwards.
Hugo exhaled a shuddering breath, thanking the dead gods that he always kept the crystal filled with soul essence.
As the Saint struggled to his feet some distant away, Hugo manifested a portion of [Nothing] into a longbow and a single, long arrow. The [Sun Blade] enchantment of the [Nameless Sun] activated, sheathing the arrowhead in a searing point of light.
He drew, aimed and fired in one fluid motion.
The enhanced Transcendent arrow streaked across the jungle, faster than the speed of sound.
The shapeshifter was just rising, his body shifting back from rocky armor to flesh.
He then saw the light causing eyes to widen.
"Oh, fu—!"
He dodged, his body blurring to the left with an unnatural speed But Hugo was ready for that.
Through the mental link with [Nothing], he guided the arrow left, It curved mid-air and slammed into the Saint's shoulder where it almost met his neck.
The transcendant snarled in pain as he clutched his bloodied shoulder and The arrow, suddenly seemed to get absorped into the saint's body.
Noitcing this, Hugo didn't wait to see whatever ability the saint possessed instead He turned and ran, pushing his body to its absolute limit.
The combined augmentations of the [Nameless Sun] and [Conqueror's Wrath] propelled him forward at a speed that defied his rank, leaving a trail of crushed moss and disturbed a rank, leaving a blur behind him .
'What the actual fuck was that?!'
his mind screamed as he fled. He had fought a Corrupted Terror before and even had a run through with a Great Terror, but a human Saint… that was something he couldn't even hope to fight even with an advantage.
But most importantly, how in the world was there a saint here of all places? Did he come across a secret stronghold of one of the great clans?
'No... He knew vilgax...'
Was there any chance this particular transcendant was someone from the ancient past?
In his panicked sprint, hugo failed to notice the pink radiance that descended from the twilight sky above him.
One moment he was running, the next, he was suddenly weightless.
A cage of shimmering energy solidified around him lifting him five meters off the ground.
Hugo immediately punched the barrier, His fist, augmented by memories and soul essence, hit the pink wall and stopped dead, the energy field not receiving any damage.
He hit it again, throwing a shoulder into it...
Nothing.
"I would recommend you stop that," a voice suddenly appeared near him, It was feminine, calm and carried a profound sense of beauty...
Hugo twisted in his cage, trying to identify it's source.
There, floating in the air beside him was a being of breathtaking and terrifying beauty. She appeared humanoid but was composed of a dark violet, semi-corporeal energy. From her head streamed a luminous, flowing mane of bright pink light resembling a hair. She had no visible ears, nose, or mouth, only the smooth suggestion of a face with large, luminous eyes glowing brightly.
She wore no clothing, but she didn't seem naked, somehow.
She was the most beautiful and the most harrowing thing Hugo had ever seen...
The world itself bending around her.
"Oh, Kevin, that fool.." the being sighed, confusing Hugo even more. "I apologize on his behalf."
From the treeline, the injured Saint emerged, clutching his seared shoulder. An annoyed scowl was etched on his face. "Gwen! What the hell! That little shit is mine!"
The being— who was apparently named Gwen—shook her head.
"Can't you see, Kevin? This isn't Vilgax."
The Saint, who was named Kevin, blinked, his fury giving way to confusion.
"It isn't?"
Gwen turned her cosmic gaze back to Hugo, Those eyes seemed to peer through him, past flesh and bone, finding their way to the very depths of his soul.
Their focus finally settled deep within his omni-cores, on the awakened, malfunctioning Omnitrix.
As she saw it, a smile seemed to form on her face, somehow.
"He might be just the person we've been waiting for..."
Then, a gentle pulse of pink light emanated from her fingers.
It washed over Hugo and then, the world suddenly went dark.
———
"Is he alive?"
A high-pitched voice punctured the darkness.
"I don't know. Maybe we should poke him? A small electrical shock can be very useful in these types of situations!"
"For the first time in my life , I agree with these two idiots."
"Who are you calling idiots, you half-breed furball?!"
"Blukic, Driba, please, behave yourselves. Kevin, for the love of everything, please be an adult for once."
He appeared to be in a strange open area constructed entirely of green technology, the place was enormous with the walls adorned by hundreds—if not thousands—of green cells.
He was on his knees restrained by bands of that same solid pink energy, binding his arms behind his back.
Five figures stood before him, staring at him.
To the left, glowering with his arms crossed, was the Saint who had attacked him earlier. The wound on his shoulder already gone.
Beside him was a beautiful woman with long orange hair pulled back neatly, revealing a confident, almost smug like expression. Her face was slender with sharp self-assured features, light-colored eyes and a calm, knowing expression. Her posture was upright emphasizing a tall, athletic build with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.
She wore a fitted bodysuit in shades of blue and black. The suit was sleek and segmented, hugging her frame closely, with darker panels along the sides and shoulders and lighter blue across the torso. Circular metallic details ran along her arms, integrated into the suit's design, giving it a high-tech, tactical appearance. The overall outfit seemed practical, advanced and designed for mobility rather than decoration... Although it did showcase her curves perfectly.
Beside her was a non-human being which seemed to be male, He was tall, with periwinkle-blue fur marked with elegant black stripes on his face and limbs. His torso and the center of his face were a clean white and He had pointed ears that twitched slightly, his posture was alert and professional. Most strikingly, he wore a suit of armor that was unmistakably a more advanced version of Hugo's own [Proto-Tech Armor].
On his shoulder rested a complex, multi-barreled device that resembled a gun.
Finally, closest to Hugo, were two small, frog-like creatures with big eyes and oversized heads that were undoubtedly Galvans, but with slightly different body proportions and features than the Grey Matter imprint Hugo possessed.
"Ahem," the orange-haired woman said, her voice firm but not unkind. She shot a sharp glance at dark haired saint, who looked away, sweat appearing on his forehead.
"I know you are confused right now... And probably more than a little rightfully angry about being attacked and then… detained in this manner." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "Before that, however, we need to establish something... We'd appreciate your cooperation... As that would benefit you and us greatly. The fact that you've found this place means something significant is happening Or… has happened."
Grimacing, Hugo tested his energy bonds. They were firm but not painful, He then looked up at the bizzare group Infront of hum...
three of them were undoubtedly Transcendent beings... While the two Galvans seemed to be awakened.
He was already struggling to escape from a single transcendant, but now that there was three of them... He had no chance of doing anything... If they wanted him dead, he'd be dead.
The fact that he was awake and talking meant they wanted something... Making it the the only leverage he had.
"Before you start explaining" Hugo said, his voice still rough from the fight "how can I be sure any of this is real? this could very well be a mind hex created by a particularly devious nightmare creature... "
He gestured towards the three saints with his head
"Encountering a group of unknown Transcendents this far into the dream realm isn't exactly a common Tuesday."
"If this were a mind hex, you'd already be dead, dumbass" the main known as Kevin , with an annoyed expression.
The orange haired woman elbowed him sharply in the ribs making him grunt.
"What he means, crudely is that an illusion of this complexity maintained for thus long would have been pointless, any nightmare creature would have already be feasting on your soul by now," she said, her eyes flicking to his wrist " also, that device should make you highly resistant to psychic attack."
Hugo let out a hateful snort.
"This 'device' haven't been working since I got here..." he wanted to press the claim that this was a mind hex but the [Omni-Mind] trait was fortunately passive, meaning it wouldn't be effected by the omnitrix malfunctioning.
That said, Hugo had a feeling that the odd group knows why his omnitrix isn't working.
"Care to explain why?"
"The barrier that protects this enclave emits a high-frequency damping field," the blue alien suddenly said, his voice a calm. "That field distorts localized reality to hide us and It also interferes with all forms of advanced technology, including The Omnitrix's transformation sequencing."
Hugo gave a slow nod... The explanation was both disappointing and beneficial for Hugo. On one hand, it was good to know the omnitrix weakness but on the other hand, knowing that it was effected by advanced echnology was also dissapointing.
He had expected more from a divine relic.
"Alright" Hugo said, locking eyes with the woman who seemed to be in charge. "Then who are you people? How do you know Vilgax? What are you doing in a death zone? And how do you know about the Omnitrix?"
The blue-furred alien stepped forward slightly. "I am Rook Blonko, current Magister of the Plumbers." He gestured with a clawed hand to the man besides him "This is Kevin Ethan Levin, one of the highest ranking plumbes we have" Kevin nodded. "And this is Gwendolyn Tennyson." The energy-being, Gwen inclined her head. "The Galvans are Technicians called Blukic and Driba." The two Galvans waved at Hugo, which looked a little cute
"We are what remains of the Divine Realm of Beast God."
Hugo's eyes widened as his suspicio was confirmed...
The suspicion he had been harboring ever since his conversations with Eurys became a fact.
If the nightmare spell was currently in the process of infecting the realm of War Goddess, then was it not logical to think that it had also infected the humans and creatures of other realms?
This meant that the current humanity was not the only non corrupted colony in the dream realm...
This chain of thought had seemed unimportant to Hugo given his situation, but now... he was uncertain...
This discovery... was monumental... No, that word was insufficient to describe what was happening here...
He had just stumbled upon a living non corrupted civilization of the old world ... or at least a part of one.
"How?" The After a moment of processing this, he looked back at the transcendent trio...
"How are you alive? Everyone else… everything else from the old worlds in the Dream Realm is either dead or Corrupted."
The figures Infront of him grimaced as they were reminded of this world's terrible cruelty...
"We were not supposed to survive," Gwen said, her face dimming slightly. "Our realm was infected by the Spell a long time ago... Due to… specific circumstances, more than half of our civilization perished. The remnants fled here, and then with the help of one of our strongest Awakened, and another Omnitrix wielder, we managed to erect the barrier that surrounds this place."
"…Another Omnitrix wielder?" Hugo .
Gwen nodded before continuing.
"The dome's nature is specifically designed to block out fate and its influence... With fate obstructed, concepts such as time and space become distorted, permitting us to exist and persist despite the fact that we were destined to die long ago, Through my cousin, Ben Tennyson, who was an omnitrix wielder like you, we managed to defy the fate of our people No that would be wrong, it would be more correct to say that we managed to hide from fate..."
"Furthermore, within this place, the boundary of time is non-existent. Thus, while our realm likely fallen thousands of years ago by your timeline, we experienced it as merely a decade ago."
Hugo's breath caught as he heard this impossible tale...
A civilization employing such a cunning trick to deceive the world and fate itself to ensure their survival... That was truly... miraculous... And definitely something that praise worthy.
Not to mention that Hugo was intrigued by this "Ben Tennyson," who seemed to possess the omnitrix, the real one just like eurys had... That or at least, one from a nightmare.
"And How did you accomplish such a feat exactly?" Hugo asked, more intrigued by this story.
The trio exchanged glances, then nodded.
Rook Blonko began speaking once again.
"My comrade and partner... Ben utilized his most powerful transformation, Alien X, also known as a Celestialsapian, to construct this place... Or to be precise, a replica of it, the primus you are in is currently a pocket dimension created on top of the original Primus, Although... he could not prevent the doom of our civilization... that same doom was the doing of an unholy creature..."
Hugo shuddered at the mention of such a being...
An unholy... A true corrupted god...
Their existence was something that existed only in theory but Hugo definitely believed in them, it was for this exact reason that he refused to cross the hollow mountains.
Hugo could not even fathom the True might of corrupted and great abominations, let alone that of unholy gods...
That said, he was curious about something else right now.
"So… you're all transcendant, right? "
The trio nodded.
"Then Why not just… leave this place? Teleport to another world? My world, Earth, still exists."
If their world had been consumed by the dream realm —and an unholy— could they not have gone elsewhere? Earth was certainly an option.
Gwendolyn shook her head with a dejected expression.
"Unfortunately that's not how it work, otherwise we wouldn't be here right now. Transcendent beings or Awakened in general, cannot freely access realms besides their own natal dimension. We, including you, can only move from our home realm to the Dream Realm, but our home realm is long gone, consumed entirely by the dream realm and so Our ability to create anchors became useless the moment our world was destroyed "
The transcendant man from before, Kevin, continued:
"We're basically trapped here and surrounded by death zones. There is no 'elsewhere' for us to jump to or anyway to traverse the death zones without dying" He met his gaze with a somber expression. "I am sorry to say this but your world is definitely next. "
His words was grim, but nothing new to Hugo...
Hugo already had the existential crisis about his world being doomed but he still felt immense disspointment about the fact that he would still have to have challenge the second nightmare despite saints being next to him.
Eventually He sighed.
"Can you unchain me?"
With a slight gesture from Gwen, the pink energy bands dissolved into motes of light. Hugo lowered his arms, stiffly rolling his shoulders. He towered over the group as he got up, his hybrid form feeling suddenly very conspicuous.
"Well," he began "I'm sorry for what happened to your people, Truly But I'm just trying to find a way home... I need to challenge a Second Nightmare due to my own circumstances so I can't stay here..."
The trio exchanged glances, as if they were communicating telepathically.
"We assumed as much," Gwen said. "No sane Awakened would traverse a death zone to reach this place without dire need... And you are in luck, We do have access to a particular Second Nightmare Seed you could conquer."
Hugo went still at her words...
He couldn't help but fund them suspicious.
The offer was too perfect and far too convenient for him...
Weren't they too desperate to offer him something like this? Their world destroyed, their people are clinging to life in a bubble surrounded by death zones.
And so finding an Awakened from another, intact realm would be akin to a miracle for them...
They would want to use him, get to his world and save themselves...
He knew he definitely would try something like that and so This kindness must have a price...
"I don't assume you're doing this out of the kindness of your hearts" Hugo said, glaring at them. .
Gwendolyn Tennyson let out a sigh that seemed to carry a heavy weight behind it.
"Believe me, we wish we could offer help freely... But we are in a… precarious situation. My cousin, Ben, is… not well and so Maintaining this pocket dimension is not something that's within our ability... We also have nearly two million souls here to feed, protect, and sustain... What we're offering you right now is a transaction of sorts. ."
She took a deep breath and Hugo felt like she was about to demand something very big...
"We need you to let us modify your Omnitrix."
"No."
Hugo's refused immediately... Letting people he barely knew, let alone trusted, tamper with his Aspect was simply Unthinkable... No awakened would accept that
"Listen," Gwen pressed, her face Stern. "We know the Omnitrix has a function allowing it to guide you to Primus, correct?"
"So what if it does?"
"We can expand on that function to hard-code a direct teleportation beacon to these coordinates... It's basically A way for you to return here, reliably, from anywhere within a the dream realm ".
"How does that solve your problem? I can't take two million people with me."
"Not now " Rook interjected. "You are merely an Awakened But in the future, when you become a transcendant, you will gain the ability to transport others across realms. You could return here then, bypassing the need for a gateway and evacuate us and our people to your world. From there, with the cooperation of your people's Transcendents, a larger evacuation could be organized. Surely your world could integrate two million additional Awakened individuals? It would double your species strength against Corruption."
Gwen picked up the thread of the conversation.
"By giving you access to the Second Nightmare now, we can invest in that future, furthermore We can even help you locate and secure a Third Nightmare Seed
As we've already scouted several.... You could ascend rapidly, survive this place and grow stronger to potentially save your own world And in doing so, you can save our people as well"
Hugo's mind raced at her words, analyzing the deal from every angle... It was staggering.. to say the least.
She was offering him a clear path to Ascension, Resources and Training all while Avoiding the clutches of Valor or Song...
And in return, he would commit to saving an entire civilization... Two million Awakened added to humanity's forces would be a game-changer against the growing threat of Nightmare Creatures.
In any other situation, he would have refused imm... But as eurys said, he had to ascend as fast as possible to save himself from the corruption seeds growing in his soul...
It was a perfect deal that was both mutually beneficial with clear long-term gains for everyone...
And this was exactly why he felt so worried... He couldn't believe something this perfect existed... Sure saving a civilvization was nice and all but what if the transcendant Infront of him was lying? What if they had a better, more guaranteed way of saving themselves through him.
After all, their plan was built on the fact that he survives and manages to ascend successfully. Otherwise their plan would fail horribly.
But then again, he was also desperate.
He had crossed a death zone, run away from a Great Terror and now had three Saints as his captors-slash-potential-benefactors...
Refusal might mean being trapped here forever, or something worse...
And if the deal soured… he could always choose never to use their beacon and never come back here again after he conquered the second nightmare.
This whole ordeal was leaving a bitter taste in his mouth... After all, He was bargaining with the fate of millions, including his own.
Hugo let out a sigh..
"Fine."
A palpable wave of relief and fragile hope suddenly washed over the group, Their shoulders, which Hugo hadn't realized were tensed, relaxed slightly.
Even Kevin's perpetual scowl softened a fraction.
"Perfect," Gwen said, a genuine smile touching her face. "Then, shall we begin by saturating your soul cores? "