Chapter 182: The City of Falcon Scott
After agreeing to kill the demigods ruling humanity, the three of them discussed a few more subjects with each other.
Such as the role of House Night and the government in the upcoming conflict, the politics of clan Valor—who are pressuring Nephis to transfer the Ivory Tower to Bastion—and much more.
They spoke about the Creatures they've killed and encountered, as well.
After all of that was said and done, Sunny and Hugo were prepared to leave for the waking world, but Nephis remembered something and went to her room to fetch a certain item.
A few minutes later, she came out carrying a huge chest and placed it near Hugo.
Opening the lid, he was almost blinded by the glow light inside.
Inside the box were hundreds of soul shards, each glowing with different intensity. They seemed to be of the Ascended and Transcendent ranks.
Sunny looked at them with a greedy expression while Hugo was a little baffled.
"What is all of this?"
Nephis shrugged.
"It was something Cassie had saved up for you and me. She knew we'll probably end up losing you're cores one day so she made sure to gather plenty of soul shards in advance just for emergency."
'All of this would've taken years to gather...'
That meant that Cassie likely knew about Hugo sacrificing his cores to attain Transcendence a long time ago, and was preparing for it.
The excuse Nephis made was valid and sound, yet he did not believe it...
'Just how far does her visions go...'
The power of a sacred aspect should not be underestimated and so it's entirely possible that Cassie knew of what the upcoming years held for them.
Hugo ended up absorbing the shards, even if he felt uncomfortable about this whole situation. He still had hope that Cassie knew what she was doing, at least for now.
Hugo ended up forming three more cores thanks to the shards, making him an Ascended devil once more.
With that done, Hugo and Sunny bid farewell to Nephis.
The next time they see each other, They would likely meet in the waking world when Valor comes to Antarctica.
They passed through the gateway and appeared back in the waking world, within Falcon Scott.
Hugo's room had remained exactly like it had been, except now there was someone else new in it.
A pale lady sitting calmly on a chair, with icy blue eyes and raven black short hair.
"You two should really inform me when you disappear into the dream realm like that, you know." Jet said with a tired expression, as she drank her coffee.
She looked at Sunny and Hugo, but her gaze lingered on Hugo for a few moments.
"I see you got a little helping hand from your friend."
Hugo nodded.
"Changing staris an excellent healer."
"I'm sure she is..." She sighed and got up. "I'm sorry about what happened to you kid, but I'm glad you're still alive."
"I appreciate the gesture. Now that aside, where do you need me."
Jet raised an eyebrow.
"I know you're healed, but you've just experienced a traumatic event that would've broken most people... Your body will not function properly and your mind can break under pressure. The last thing we need now is you going crazy and turning on us."
Hugo shook his head.
"I guarantee you, staying put while innocent people lose their lives out there is what would make me go crazy, and quite frankly, what I need the most right now is to tear down nightmare creatures, so I ask you again, where do you need me."
He also needed to gather soul shards and reform his tyrant, terror and titan cores and regain his true powers as fast as possible.
When that was done... Hugo intended to do something outlandish once again.
He was going to challenge a dna chamber, and unlock a Transcendent imprint for the first time.
It would be a gamble, but it needed to be done, infact it was the only path forward for him.
Jet rubbed her temple, and finally relented.
"Very well... I was actually hoping you'd say that, especially with three corrupted tyrants coming soon enough."
***
A tall man made of diamonds, wielding a Magnificent crystal spear and a great shield was tearing his way through a horde of pale worm like abominations.
The nightmare creatures broke his skin, but he refused to relent, manifesting various constructs of crystals to cut down the horde of monsters.
Hugo was feeling a bit stiff in his Ascended devil body, after all it was a far cry from his Titanic self.
But still, using Diamondhead as a devil made him use his battle art once again, which allowed him to increase his martial prowse.
In the last few months, Hugo had relied on the easier, much more savage version of his battle art. The one that involved overpowering the enemy and tearing them apart using his various forms and abilities.
Now, he was going back to his roots, using the grounded style of the stone saints, which was built on the foundation of impenetrable defense and brutal offense.
His spear flashed again and again, taking down even more monsters and drowning in their blood.
Hugo tried implementing his crystal abilities into the battle art, and then he threw his shield far away crushing the head of a fallen demon.
He found an opening and looked at the corrupted tyrant Faraway.
It was one of the abominations that had come out of the three gates in Erebus Field.
The creature was a savage chitinous worm, its body as long as a skyscraper and its maw capable of swallowing entire neighborhoos...
It looked oddly familiar, as well.
Cutting down more abominations, Hugo finally remembered where he knew the abomination.
'Ah... The creature from the white desert.'
He had come across a similar creature, a long time ago in the scorching hell that was the white desert.
Though the abomination he met that time was far weaker. Hugo had also fried its inside using Heatblast and proceeded to eat its corpse using wildmut.
He could clearly see that saint bloodwave, the only saint within falcon Scott was clashing with it.
Bloodwave was outside of his source element, so he could not use his transcendant form, but he still had the powers of a saint and a powerful arsenal of memories and echoes.
Suddenly, metal rods fell from the sky piercing the ground in a loose circle and then blinding arcs of electricity shot between the rods, creating a wall of lightning around the worm and shocking the tyrant.
That was the doing of Master Roan of the White Feather clan, someone Hugo was not acquainted with, but knew of nonetheless.
'As expected from Saint Tyris' husband.'
Both of them were extraordinary Awakened and one that Hugo greatly respected.
Hugo augmented his legs with soul essence and rushed towards the tyrant, who had almost escaped Roan's trap.
He slammed his Omnitrix and activated his Awakened ability [Omni-enhanced].
Rocks and blue plasma like energy formed around the crystalline body of Diamondhead, increasing the innate qualities of his crystals and his control over them.
Shifting his hand into a spear of crystals and omni energy, Hugo leaped off the ground and landed on the back of the worm.
Then he pierced its skin and struggled against it for a few moments, before attempting to bring down the giant worm.
The tyrant wiggled and splashed around terribly, destroying Roan's electric rods and taking Hugo on a wild ride.
Hugo used Diamondhead's abilities, and created another crystal construct.
A majestic collar around the corrupted tyrant's neck and pulled with all of his strength.
He could not overpower a corrupted tyrant as he was right now, but he could make it struggle, at least.
The worm was suddenly hit by a lightning bolt, courtesy of Roan, and at the same time, bloodwave used this opportunity to bring down his curved swords upon the flesh of the tyrant, and cutting it in half.
The corrupted abomination was still alive, even after the legendary saint cut it.
In the end, Hugo and the worm ended up crashing to the ground, and the worm unleashed a terrible sonic stream that cracked the crystal of his body, and forced both roan and bloodwave to cover their ears.
Gritting his teeth, Hugo slammed his Omnitrix and changed forms.
It was an alien made of red radioactive energy, wearing a strong metallic suit.
"NRG!"
Hugo quickly left his suit, and rushed towards the worm's mouth, entering it and making his way deep within its body.
He waited for a few moments then used all of his essence to heat up himself and spew as much radioactive magma like substance as possible, heating and melting the insides of the great worm.
It screeched in agony, and at the same time, Roan saw an opportunity to hit it with a lightning bolt, frying its head.
Saint bloodwave leaped high into the sky, then, he fell down like a missile and used his leg to squash the head of the corrupted tyrant, killing it once and for all.
A few moments passed in silence.
A portion of its chitinous skin melted slightly, and Hugo emerged from its belly, filled with blood and viscera. Thankfully, his body burnt most of it thanks to the heat.
He grabbed the five Transcendent soul shards and absorbed each of them, saturating his cores.
Master Roan, tired and exhausted, looked at the Monsterous creature in front of him, while bloodwave simply wiped the blood off his boots.
"... Thanks for helping us friend... Ah, you are a human, right?"
Hugo pointed at his chest, where the Omnitrix symbol was. It was quite popular nowadays, especially in the Awakened world.
"Ascended Hugo of the first evacuation army, I should be the one thanking you." He looked at the horde. "Now that their tyrant is down, they should lose their formation."
Roan leaned on his blade and sighed. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm roan of the White Feather clan."
Hugo turned to the nightwalker besides them.
"Saint bloodwave. It's good to see you again."
Bloodwave nodded.
"It's good that you're still alive, but pleasentries aside, the battle isn't over yet, and the other two tyrants could appeare at any moment."
The Other two corrupted tyrants that came out of the gates would take a while to get here, as they were not as fast as the worm and its legion.
At best they'll come in two days, and at worst, they'll come in a few hours.
Hugo nodded.
"I'll rejoin the battle then and finish off the rest of the abominations, take care of yourselves, Master Roan, saint bloodwave. "
With that, Hugo flew off into the horde, and used the destructive ability of NRG to melt and burn the worm legion to the ground.
Master Roan stared at him from afar and sighed, looking at saint bloodwave with a defeeated expression.
"... Are we even the same rank?"
Saint bloodwave shrugged.
"Maybe you should think about challenging the third nightmare. For a guy like you, it'll be of great help."
With that, saint bloodwave rushed off towards the horde once again, unleashing his Transcendant might.
"... Showoffs! So what if you're stronger than me? None of you guys are married to the most perfect and beautiful woman in this world, two world even!"
Grumbling, roan brandished his sword and engaged in battle.
***
Hugo was sitting atop a mountain of dead worms, each of them scorched and melted by his magma. He grabbed their soul shards and absorbed more, feeling his body nearing the tyrant class once again.
Looking around, he saw plenty of familiar figures around, regrouping after the harsh battle.
There was Sunny and Jet, the members of the White Feather clan and Master Winter, who had survived long enough to reach Falcon Scott.
There were also Neave of the House of Night, and the only saint they currently had, the legendary Bloodwave.
The House of Night was aware of Lugan's sudden disappearance, however they could not stop their missions because of one lost member.
Though Neave was clearly saddened by his friend's disappearance.
'... Maybe I should not have deceived them.'
He had gotten into the House of Night to utilize his spirit body and gain access to the storm lineage, but now after becoming decent friends with some members and Neave, he just felt terrible for lying about his identity.
Hugo did not want to summon his spirit body right now, remembering that someone had told him to keep his spirit safe.
The very idea of using his spirit as a tool was idiotic, in the first place.
He touched his Omnitrix and detransformed, landing gently on the ground from the pile of worms.
The first battle he participated in within the boundary of Falcon Scott was not so bad. There were few casualties and thanks to the heavy hitters, like Saint Bloodwave, Jet and Sunny, the battle ended without any catastrophic results.
The Awakened harvested the soul shards and the materials, then retreated back behind the city walls to rest and heal.
Hugo had chosen to return to his room, and do something he was eager to do ever since he woke up.
Closing the door behind him, he sat down and summoned the memory he had received from Malware.
A small cube manifested in his hands, it was red and black, making him feel slightly sick in his stomach.
It seemed the spell used Malware's flesh itself to construct this memory...
Hugo sighed. Even though Malware had caused him so much pain, the memory he left over was a Transcendent one, capable of enhancing his power greatly.
He needed power more than anything else right now.
He summoned other [Metamorphic Crystal] to read the enchantment runes and the memory tier.
Memory: [Malware's Armor]
Memory rank: Transcendent
Memory tier: IV
Memory type: armor.
Memory description: [A flawed galvan sought out salvation across countless realms.
It fought against demigods and mortals alike and survived the war that killed the gods themselves to earn its salvation.
In the end, it did earn that salvation, but a vicious daemon had took it away at the last moment.]
The description was short and unimpressive, a brief summary of Malware's history but it seemed that the spell had considered Hugo something akin to a daemon, a being of calamity and suffering who ruined malware's heroic journey.
Of course the truth was far more sinister.
'... I've been called worse, I suppose.'
He scrolled down to the enchantments.
Memory enchantments: [Soulbound], [armored], [Tech monster], [weapon ark], [Essence repair]
[Soulbound] enchantment description: [This memory can bond with its owner's soul]
[Bind relic?]
[Armored] memory description: [This cube can turn into a sturdy armor around its wearer's body, protecting both the body and the soul.]
[Tech monster] enchantment description: [This memory can assimilate technology]
[Weapon ark] enchantment description: [This memory can use the assimilated technology.]
[Essence repair] memory description: [This memory can repair itself using essence]
Hugo was pretty shocked to see that he has come across another Soulbound relic... One given by the spell, that is.
'An armor...'
He already had the [Asura] armor bonded to his soul, which served him well until now. But this too, can become a powerful tool in his Arsenal.
He had a feeling that if he bonds with it now, this could very well be the last relic he could house in his soul... After all, Soulbound relics fuses with the soul core of its owner.
Hugo, and other divine aspect wielders, can have multiple cores, so they could accommodate more relics, but even they had their limits.
Looking at the runes of the spell, he sighed.
"Bind relic"
Immediately, the cube exploded into hundreds of brilliant crimson light and entered Hugo's soul.
He felt it slowly connecting to his omni core, and to his Omnitrix, as well, forming ethereal strings around the core.
But before it could fuse completely, the spell suddenly spoke again:
[Your attribute [Asura] can fuse with the relic]
[Fuse attribute?]
Hugo raised an eyebrow.
A relic fusing with an attribute? That was even more unheard of than Soulbound relics.
Even Sunny, who encountered a lot of crazy things thanks to his [Fated] attribute, never saw something like this.
'... Why not.'
"Fuse relic."
The relic stopped the Soulbound process, and changed directions, heading to his original omni core, the one that [Asura] mantle was bonded to.
Hugo entered his soul sea and observed the process.
Within his omni core, a mass of silver metal was dancing with a black and crimson mass, fusing together and transforming into something new.
[Your attribute has fused with a relic]
[Your attribute is taking shape]
[Your attribute is evolving]
[Your attribute has taken shape]
Feeling the change within his soul and body, Hugo noticed a few new things.
The metallic property of his skin had gotten stronger, and a new sensation was added to his being, one that made him sensitive to technology...
He opened his runes to see the new attribute.
Attributes: [Mutant], [Light of Divinity], [Extraordinary Memory], [Anatomica], [Spirit Body], [The Shadow], [Soul Bound], [Mechamorphic Asura]
[Mechamorphic Asura] attribute description: [The dream of Inti of Mictlan was finally realized, thousands of years later. A fusion of his mighty Asura and the technology of the Galvans.]
Hugo was a bit surprised by this description. He already knew of Inti, who was a brilliant man from the sun realm and the creator of the Asuras. However the fact that the spell referred to him by name implied that he was somehow important within the grand schemes of things, at least important enough for the spell to remember his name and his wish.
More importantly, there was something familiar about that name...
Inti...
It was as if he had heard it in a dream, a long time ago.
'His dream has been realized huh...'
Inti was long dead and his realm was gond too, but Hugo was glad that he was able to make it come true even if it was unintentional.
Attribute traits: [Shell], [Mantle], [Bound], [tech monster], [weapon ark], [Essence Conduit], [Morphic Frame]
[Shell], [mantle], [essence conduit] and [morphic frame] and [bound] remained the same, however it seemed that the [armored] enchantment had fused with [morphic frame].
The [Last Light] and [Unassailable Bulwark] traits had unfortunately disappeared and were replaced with [technology monster] and [weapon ark] which did not bother Hugo that much, as he did not use the previous traitsthat much anyway.
He concentrated for a few moments and manifested the new asura.
Metallic black material spread across his body, encasing him in a tight mantle.
The armor was sinister and eerie, dark as midnight and had glowing runes all over it. The nex armor looked more abominable looking than Asura had been, for sure.
It felt sturdier, though, and it was. This attribute was far more useful in terms of utility than the previous [asura] mantle.
He formed a spear from the black mass, then a hammer, then a blade, before retracting it back to his body.
'It's quicker and feels more natural... I don't like the red though.'
Hugo thought of an idea and brought out the system screen of the Omnitrix, and went to the modes tab.
He clicked on the costume mode, and instead of customizing the Omnitrix, he found a separate tab for the Asura.
'So I was right, it does connect to the omnitrix.'
That was because he and the omnitrix were the same. Anything that was bounded to the divine relic was bounded to him, as well.
He simply changed the red color to blue, making the black and blue armor much prettier.
He did not feel that much joy about it, however it was still better than looking like that abomination, Malware.
Still, this was a good upgrade to his Arsenal.
Hugo retracted the [mechamoprhic asura] and sat down on his bed, thinking about the events of the last few days.
'After this is all over... I want to build a monument for the people who died in antarctica.'
He grabbed a pen and a paper and begun sketching down the idea.
Perhaps there was still hope for the future, even if it was surrounded by darkness from all sides.