Chapter 43: Deal with a Shadow
After Hugo exited his soul sea, he was immediately informed by one of the handmaidens that he was needed in a meeting.
The meeting was between the current rulers of the castle, namely Hugo and his cohort.
But Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie were the only ones present, as Effie, Kai, and Caster were busy with other tasks within the castle.
Gunlaug and the rest weren't needed for obvious reasons.
The reason for their meeting was simple, yet a bit dreadful: to discuss the emergence of an Awakened Terror in the city.
The abomination had previously been a dormant Tyrant that had been in hibernation for a long time, along with its forces at the edges of the labyrinth.
It was also one of the iron spiders, Sunny had managed to confirm that truth.
Hugo sighed, crossing his giant arms. "It won't be a problem."
Nephis raised an eyebrow. "Hugo, I know you're strong but an Awakened Terror is still a calamity. If we aren't careful, we'll suffer losses that we cannot afford. Especially now that we're planning on conquering the Spire in a month."
Hugo shook his head before looking around as if checking if anyone else is listening.
"There's a reason I'm confident about being able to kill it... I'm going to tell you about something … which might seem shocking and like a lie..."
Sunny shrugged. "Like what? You rose from the dead? Oh right, you already did that. So what's this now?"
Hugo said, "Do you guys promise to keep it a secret?"
The trio hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"I promise."
"Me too."
"Me thrice."
Hugo shifted in his seat before looking at them with a complicated expression
"...So, back when I died, the nightmare creature that was parasitizing my soul was a Corrupted Devil, a nasty one at that, The reason I was saved and brought back from the dead was because my Aspect which is of the Divine Rank, killed the abomination and then used it as a power source to form multiple cores. Currently, I've formed another core, and I'm now an Awakened Tyrant right now."
Nephis and Cassie widened their eyes in shock, so much that they almost fell over. Sunny on the other hand looked strangely calm, as if he already knew.
Hugo had a hunch that Sunny could somehow see souls, similar to how his Ectonurite form did but he just couldn't prove it yet.
"You're an Awakened?! How?" Cassie said
"My Aspect forcibly awakened me.Turns out natural Awakening is possible, well, for me at least."
"A Divine Aspect…"Nephis muttered, a strange expression appearing on her face.
"With my transformations,I'm practically an actual Awakened Tyrant—a sentient, intelligent one that's following the path of ascension—and so I'm more than capable of killing the Awakened Terror."
Cassie and Nephis seemed to contemplate for a moment, taking in his logic, while Sunny scoffed slightly.
"...You do realize this is a terrible idea, right? Not the Awakened Terror thing but the fact that you revealed your secrets to us just like that ?"
Sunny was right... Revealing his deepest secrets just like that was… nothing short of stupid.
But Hugo wanted his friends to know him. He wanted them to know that he trusted them and that… they were everything he had in the world, despite the fact that their time together was short.
Their friendship, to Hugo, was something so sacred to him that even his Flaw couldn't change that no matter what form he took.
Hugo shrugged slightly.
"I trust you guys."
This finally got a reaction out of Sunny. The boy's eyes widened as if unsure how to respond to this statement. It was as if the concept of someone trusting him this easily was so alien, so bizarre, and so impossible that he could never begin to fathom it.
Then it was Nephis's turn. The Legacy princess seemed to be in deep contemplation, as if fighting within herself about something… Eventually, she sighed.
"Me too…"
"What?"
"I,too, have a Divine Aspect. Mine is related to light and fire, and I currently have four cores, making me a Devil..."
Hugo and Sunny's eyes widened— although Cassie seemed to have known that already— What were the odds of having two Divine Aspect wielders, unheard of in history, in the same cohort?
"That… makes sense... Now that I think about it" Hugo said. Nephis had always been a freak in terms of power and she, too, possessed a True Name confirming Hugo's theory about Divine Aspect wielders all possessing a True Name.
Sunny seemed to be in the same state of shock … but then his expression suddenly fell turning into the same contemplative look Nephis had on her face a moment ago, though this one was far more severe and intense than her own by a margin.
Hugo frowned. "What? Don't tell me you too have a Divine Aspect?"
he said, a bit hesitant.
Sunny's face twisted in agony as he seemed to be resisting something… "Yes, I do…"
Hugo, Cassie, and Nephis almost fell to the ground at the same time!
"Oh, come on!"
Hugo shouted, not believing what he was hearing.
A small part of him thought he was special for possessing a Divine Aspect…but now that part was shattered, burnt and tossed outside upon realizing two of his only friends ALSO possessed a Divine Aspect. Not only that, they didn't seem to need a divine relic to access theirs which wounded his pride a little.
"It's like the Spell is handing them out like a fucking bargain sale…" he grumbled, slightly annoyed by that fact.
Wait… why was he annoyed?
His friends had Divine Aspects! Meaning they had just the same potential as him! Meaning he wouldn't have to worry about them at all...
"So I'm a Tyrant, Nephis a Devil, and Sunny a…"
"Demon,"
Sunny said, still a bit annoyed about the fact that he revealed some of his secrets… although he seemed… a bit more relaxed? As if a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders…
Suddenly, Cassie raised a hand. "Guys… I have something to tell, too."
"Cassie,if you say you have a Divine Aspect, too, I swear I'm going to—"
"Oh no,I don't have a Divine Aspect."
Hugo exhaled deeply.
"I have a Sacred one."
He grabbed his chair and tossed it at the wall of the castle, breaking it.
———
A day later, Hugo, Sunny, Nephis, and the rest of the cohort—minus Cassie, who was back at the castle—with the addition of Gunlaug, stood atop a high rooftop. Around three hundred Sleepers were arrayed in the streets below, weapons ready, their faces tense as they stared at the colossal obsidian wall of the Dark City with grim anticipation.
On the wall's surface, a horrifying cascade was underway. A waterfall of small, iron spiders was dropping from its top, a relentless, clattering tide of chitin and metal spilling from the depths of the Labyrinth into the city.
At the very crest of this metallic deluge, Hugo's eyes narrowed, pinpointing the source of that tide.
A massive arachnid, fully three times the size of a Carapace Demon, was perched there, its body a fortress of interlocking steel plates without a single piece of flesh appearing on it. This was the Awakened Terror Sunny had discovered. How the shadowy Sleeper had known of its arrival was a mystery, but Hugo was glad he had nonetheless.
Hugo sighed, activating his Omnitrix dial.
The blue hologram of his [Florauna] form flickered to life, Hugo felt quite guilty for not using the plant transformation that much outside of combat, but alas this was not the time to be thinking about such childish thoughts.
He spun the dial, scrolling through the combat-optimized Imprints of [Playlist 1].
His [Playlist 0] was not that strong currently posssesing imprints that would only be useful in certain situations, not to mention it only had five imprint in it now. so he relied [Playlist 1]
They were about to fight an Awakened Terror and hundreds of its minions, all of the Awakened rank, though none higher than Demon-class. So In preparation, Hugo had used his Tyrant abilities to bestow boons among the fighters.
Nephis currently carried the Blessing of Fire from his Pyronite form, Effie and Seishan hummed with enhanced strength from his Tetramand ability, while sunny Kai and Caster all moved with the preternatural speed and reflexes granted by the [Kineceleran]
The numerous Sleepers beneath them also had similar blessings augmenting them.
If there was one way to describe the current uit would be that the humans had numbers while The iron spiders had monstrous strength on their side.
"So, let me get this straight," Effie said, her tone laced with confusion. "You're planning to fight an Awakened Terror alone, while the rest of us deal with a few hundred Awakened abominations?"
Hugo nodded. "It's the only viable plan. If we don't stop this horde now, they'll march on the castle considering it's the place with the largest amount of souls, and I'm the most suited to face the Terror. Not to mention You are all more than enough for its minions."
Effie looked at him, then at Nephis. "Seriously princess, It's like they cloned a male version of you... Well a male e more tentacled version of you but my point still stands. ."
Hugo ignored the comment as he heard sunny and Kai giggle slightly, stepping onto a higher ledge.
He pressed the Omnitrix dial and in a moment, His flesh erupted. His Bones cracked and became liquid magma, while his skin turned to living stone and pure flame. In a flash of blue light, the towering warlord was replaced by the walking inferno of a Pyronite.
The fiery creature looked up, his gaze meeting Kai's from where the archer floated perfectly in the sky, his bow drawn.
Similarly On the ground, the hundreds of Sleepers nocked their crystal arrows and bow memories awaiting for his signal.
Hugo mirrored them but Instead of summoning a bow, he drew one arm back, then his fingers curled slightly as if gripping an invisible string. In his other hand, he concentrated his soul essence, compressing the roaring flames of his [Furnace] ability into a single, searing point creating a blazing arrow of white-hot plasma that caused The air around it to crackle and warp.
He could faintly hear Sunny whisper, "Showoff," making him grin slightly.
After all what use was having the ability to manipulate fire if you couldn't it show it off?
Next, he summoned the [Sunlight Rings], feeding a trickle of essence into its single active enchantment.
Pure, brilliant sunlight coalesced at the arrow's tip from where his fingers were.
He couldn't control sunlight created by the memory, but he could do the next best thing.
Hugo wrapped the divine flames tighter around the sunlight eby the rings, using them as a magnetic sheath to contain and direct the radiant energy which should, in theory posssesing the force of an ascended considering the memory it came from rank.
'Now...' he thought, a part of himwas tempted to use the essence-draining [Omni-Kiks] armor immediately, but he saved it in case of emergency . .
"FIRE!" Hugo roared, and released his hand.
The magnificent flame arrow streaked across the sky turning into a comet aimed directly at the heart of the metallic Terror.
At his signal, the sky suddenly turned blue. Not with color, but instead with the sheer mass of crystal arrows launched in a single, unified volley from three hundred bows below.
They formed a whistling curtain of death rising to meet the descending horde on the great walls.
Alongside them, Kai's single, blood-red arrow shot upward, matching the velocity of Hugo's projectile.
Both reached the wall's peak at the same moment.
THUD-BOOM!
A cataclysmic detonation erupted where the Terror stood. Hugo's concentrated flame and contained sunlight collided with Kai's piercing shot, the combined force shearing through the nearby metal and stone. Right after that, The crystal volley rained down into the scrambling spider minions with deadly effect impaling the abominations to the wall.
The smoke cleared a second later revealing the results of the powerful attack.
The Terror was wounded with great gashes steaming in its metallic carapace, but its seven arachnid eyes burned with malice, now fixed solely on Hugo and the Sleepers.
Then Its metallic flesh suddenly writhed shifting and knitting itself back together at a terrible speed.
With a harrowing screech, it commanded its swarm once more, The remaining spiders lunged forward, abandoning the wall to pour into the streets toward the Sleepers.
"Nasty bastard…" Hugo muttered annoyed at the fact That plan A failed.
He then slammed the Omnitrix symbol on his chest.
The living inferno vanished. In its place stood a small, sleek creature resembling a living battery—black, with a bold lightning bolt stripe and positive/negative symbols on its back. This was his newly aquired Nosedeenian form that served as a capacitor of pure electrical energy.
The small form dissolved into a crackling mass of blue lightning and shot forward becoming a living bolt streaking across the battlefield, headed toward the heart of the horde.
On the ground, Nephis's voice cut through the chaos. "Hold the line!" The Sleepers shifted in their movements obeying changing star command, archers loosing another volley from the rear as melee fighters in the front braced, their shields raised while their weapons pierced the spots between them.
Hugo, meanwhile, closed the distance in moments then unleashed a vast, arcing shockwave of blue electricity that slammed into the front ranks of spiders. The energy chain-linked through their metal bodies, spreading like a plague.
[You have slain an Awakened Monster: Iron Spider.]
[You have slain an Awakened Monster:Iron Spider.]
[You have slain…]
The Spell's voice became a rapid-fire chant in his mind as the electrical surge fried dozens of creatures. The few that survived his onslaught scrambled forward, only to be met by the grim, waiting wall of Nephis's forces.
Then, Just as Hugo reached the midpoint of the gigantic wall, the Terror begun it's retaliation.
A dozen tendrils of liquid metal erupted from its back, lashing toward him with frightful speed that was unexpected from any awakened creature.
He twisted his electrical form mid-air, avoiding the grasping limbs by a hair's breadth despite how small he already was.
Then, He reached the top of the wall and slammed the Omnitrix again.
Whatever the Terror expected to face , it certainly wasn't a giant, yellow sphere spinning at a deafening, unstoppable velocity dropping like a meteor directly onto its head.
THUD-CRUNCH!
Hugo, now an [Arburian Pelarota] slammed into the beast with both [Sphere Form] and [Nigh-Invulnerability] both active. He crushed into its body becoming a living grinding wheel of incredible density, refusing to stop untill the abomination was dead.
The spider's iron flesh compacted and shattered beneath him.
But the creature was truly deserving of its class. Its metallic flesh began to regenerate at a frightening speed, flowing back together almost as fast as Hugo could pulp it.
'This is getting annoying,' he thought, then, In mid-spin, he summoned [Nothing]. The Transcendent Memory flowed over his spherical form, coating him in a layer of impervious, razor-edged mist that spun with him at the same speed.
Now, he was a Transcendent-ranked buzzsaw.
The metal tendrils thrashed violently, Then, in a sudden, shocking move, the Terror's core liquefied and slipped out from underneath its own collapsing body, abandoning its shell as Hugo crushed it completely.
[You have slain an Awakened Terror: Spider Patriarch.]
Hugo, still a sphere, used his momentum to carom off the wall and skid to a halt, facing the quivering silvery puddle of metal that had escaped from the abomination body.
'What the fuck is this now…'
The strange liquid metal surged toward him, aiming to swallow him whole.
Hugo eyes widened , then A fraction of a second before contact, Hugo slammed the Omnitrix once again making His form dissolved into the pale, spectral wisp of an Ectonurite.
Intangible, the metallic abomination passed through him harmlessly, saving Hugo from its grasp.
Shivering slight , he floated slightly away from it creating a moment of respite for him.
That moment bought Hugo just enough time to activate [Soul Gaze].
What he saw made his spectral form flicker with cold dread...
At the heart of its soul, Four harrowing soul cores, each brimming with a profane darkness so absolute it could corrupt even the purest of saints.
It radiated pure, ominous doom that Hugo had seen only once before.
'A Corrupted Devil…'
It all clicked together in a moment, This thing had likely been piloting the Terror like a puppet making this devil a parasite...
It was also eerily similar to Gunlaug's golden Echo, likely being of the same species as it.
'How am I supposed to kill this…', I theory He could pierce it with [Nothing], but surviving its retaliation would be a problem...
'wait... Why am I thinking so narrowly?' He had ten powerful forms of ancient Nobel creatures created by the gods themselves.
He wasn't limited to just one.
'I should still have enough essence for this…'
He floated a bit higher, then slammed the Omnitrix again, already feeling his omnitrix lose more essence the more he used his awakened ability.
His body solidified into the faceted, crystalline majesty of the Petrosapien. Then, Hugo raised hands unleashing a torrent of emerald crystals down the devil like divine judgment .
Then The beams swarmed over the metallic parasite, weaving and hardening in an instant into a beautiful, massive, prison-like emerald with the corrupted creature right at it's heart.
Hugo landed on the ground with a heavy thud knowing well enough that his Awakened-rank crystal wouldn't hold it for long.
Luckily, That was the point.
Using [Crystallokinesis], he willed the giant emerald to rise from the ground, floating like it was move by an invisible hand, after all the crystals created from his body were like another limb.
Then He sprinted to the edge of the wall and, with all his strength, hurled the captured abomination—within the crystal prison—high into the sky, as far from the city and the Sleepers as possible.
Then, he transformed back into his Pyronite form.
With a jet of concentrated flame from his feet and hands, he propelled himself skyward in pursuit.
Inside the emerald, the Corrupted Devil was already cracking its prison, seeking to escape.
As Hugo shot past the rising crystal, he arrested his ascent and let himself begin to fall. In that moment of weightlessness, he activated the [Omni-Kiks] trait.
Advanced armor enveloped him as An orange helmet sealed over his fiery skull with a glowing visor, Segmented white and orange plating covered his torso and limbs. Most crucially, his left arm morphed into a massive, stabilized cannon, its core glowing with the intense, contained heat of his magma body.
He lowered the arm-cannon and aimed it towards the emerald.
This was it.
He poured every last drop of essence from his cores into canon.
The [Omni-Kiks] armor didn't just serve as protection, instead it focused and intensified the energy stored within it, turning his divine flame into something else—a beam of pure, annihilation-grade energy.
This was the unique augmentation the [omni-kiks] to his pyronite form.
The cannon fired.
A lance of concentrated, solar-bright energy engulfed the grey sky. It lit the world in hues of obliterating orange and red as it descended, striking the emerald prison and the creature within and then hammering them both into the broken plain beyond the city walls
The Sleepers within the city , having finished the last of the minions, watched in awe. They felt the air grow blisteringly hot as they saw the geography of the distant land itself change under the catastrophic impact.
'Come on, come on, please work…' This was his final gamble. If he failed, he'd be essence-dry and helpless before a creature that could hijack his very body...
A moment later, the painfully familiar, sweet voice of the Nightmare Spell whispered in his ear.
[You have slain a Corrupted Devil: Silver Twin.]
[You have received a Memory.]
He cut the laser beam before it could cause more destruction to the land.
Immediately, his body went rigid becoming numb.
A heavy, numb emptiness flooded his limbs from essence exhaustion which made him lose control of his body.
He had hit zero point.
'Ah, fuck!'
He cursed his luck as his armored form lost all propulsion and fell from the sky, slamming back-first into the searing crater his attack had just melted into the earth, a short distance from the city wall.
THUD
Thankfully, the [Omni-Kiks] armor protected him from the residual heat, but the impact still sent waves of pain through his exhausted frame Making him feel like he had just been run over by a truck..
'This is bullshit…' was all he could think.
What Awakened had to kill a Terror, only to find a Corrupted Devil hiding inside it? And what Awakened, after somehow killing that corrupted devil , ended up crippled and stuck in a self-made pit of molten rock?
His luck was truly terrible.
———
Within the broken streets of the Dark City, a humanoid armored figure was walking through the streets, attempting to find the humans.
Not far away, the Terror's minions were also dead, killed by [Crystal Minions] which his Petrosapien Imprint's Tyrant ability that manifested as featureless creatures made entirely out of crystals..
In truth, these minions were not that powerful to Hugo, as they were one rank below him, meaning they were only dormant , opposite to the Terror's minions, who were the same rank as it. But that wasn't much of a problem, considering Nephis and the hundreds of sleepers had been more than enough to deal with all of them, especially due to being aided by sunny, Kai, Effie, and Caster, which made things far easier for the cohort.
Hugo, feeling tired and disjointed saw the humans sleepers, who all started to sheer the moment they saw him.
"Glory!"
"That terror never stood a chance!"
"Show us your tentacles!"
Ignoring the chant and —and the strange kinks— , he slowly made his way towards sunny direction.
The shadowy Sleeper, upon seeing him pulled out his blade from the corpse of one of the minions, then looked at him with a strange expression.
"What?"
Hugo stared at him for a while, which made Sunny shiver a little then said, "Sunny, about the two Echoes you have, the serpent and the stone warrior, are they strong?"
Sunny stretched a little as he looked at him, unamused. "Sure. One was created by a daemon and the other was made by a god! How could they not be strong?" His tone was lazy and sarcastic but Hugo easily saw past that facade.
He had realized it for a while now: Sunny seemed to have a habit of misdirecting people through impossible things, or to be precise, impossible truths.
But there was something that the treacherous shadow did not account for.
Hugo, too, had things that were genuinely impossible to believe on his resume, so he could easily believe whatever insane story Sunny had.
Hugo only smiled. "Well then, you wouldn't mind summoning them for me right now, would you?"
"And for what exactly?"
"...You realize that I can transform into multiple creatures, right? Well, I can also scan them and then turn into them. So, I was wondering if you could do me a favor and let me scan them."
Sunny seemed to be contemplating for a moment before suddenly flashing Hugo a dangerous smile.
"Hugo, Paragon of Purity, my dear friend, I trust you so much, you know that?"
he said, putting a hand on Hugo's armored shoulder.
Hugo was a bit confused now. "Uh, thank you? I trust you, too but what are you getting at?"
"You see,I have this belief that nothing is free in this world and that belief is so strong that I have to apply it in every situation… including, but not limited to favors!"
Hugo paused for a moment, not believing what he was hearing.
"Sunny… are you trying to scam me?"
"Woah there! I wouldn't use such a vulgar word to describe it, but you can consider this as another investment in Sunny's Brilliant Emporium! Think about it: you'll get two new transformations, while I get… something useful, perfectly fair in my opinion. "
Hugo sighed, wondering if this was even worth the hassle, especially after the tiresome battle.
"Alright, what do you want?"
Sunny shook his head clicking his tongue" Tsk Tsk Tsk, You're really a terrible businessman,aren't you? You should be the one offering something for my goo—shadows!"
Hugo paused for a moment, thinking deeply about the bizzare transaction.
What did he have thatSunny would consider valuable?
Sunny would rather die than take the Soul Devourer Echo from him due to his history with it… and Hugo's Memories weren't something he could sell right now, even for a new Imprint
It was then that a thought found its way inside Hugo's head.
He did not need to give Sunny something that was in his own soul arsenal.
"How about a Transcendent Echo?"
Sunny paused, his playful expression gone as he understood the implications.
"You don't mean…"
"Yes,that one, exactly."
"But wouldn't it be suspicious?If Gunlaug loses his Echo all of a sudden, people would get suspicious…" Sunny paused again, as if realizing something dreadful. "Don't tell me you're planning on brainwashing them, too?"
"What?! Gods, no!" Hugo said, mortified by his friend's choice of words.
Did he really think that low of him?
"I only did it for the ones that are too unredeemable. Sunny, I'm not a terrible person who enjoys taking others free will, and I hope you realize that."
He sighed before adding, "How about this: After we reach the Gateway, I'll take the Echo from Gunlaug and give it to you. What do you say? You let me scan your Echoes now, and you get the Echo later. You said you trusted me, right so this should be a reasonable trade, no?"
Sunny sighed, cursing his mouth under his breath.
Then the shadowy Sleeper's eyes widened as he made the greatest discovery of the century.
"Did you just… reverse-scam me?"
Hugo looked at him innocently."Nope."
"I hate you"the grumbling Sleeper said before summoning the graceful, dark stone warrior and his dark, long black serpent.
Hugo, without wasting any more time, activated [Essence Imprint] on the creatures.
He started with the serpent first.
[You have acquired an Imprint.]
Then, just as he reached the Stone Saint… something strange happened.
[Scanning…]
[Error: Incomplete Shadow Creature DNA detected…]
[Error: Stone Saint DNA detected…]
'Huh?'
[Singling out the incomplete DNA…]
[Scanning…]
[You have acquired an Imprint.]
"That was strange."
"What was?"
"The Stone Warrior. My Aspect says she's… incomplete."
" Incomplete How exactly?"Sunny said, intrigued considering it was related to his Echo.
"It said 'incomplete shadow creature,' although I don't have any idea about that."
"Huh…well, that's interesting…"
Sunny remained silent afterwards then waved at Hugo and turned to gather soul shards from the dead abominations.
Hugo, on the other hand, summoned his runes focusing on the two new Imprints on Playlist #0:
[Playlist #0:]
First imprint:[Chimera Sui Generis] [Inactive]
Second imprint:[Galvan]
Third Imprint:[Piscciss Volann]
Fourth imprint :[Blessed Herald]
Fifth imprint :[Klyntar]
Sixth imprint :[Soul Serpent]
Seventh imprint :[Stone Saint]
Eight imprint:[Empty]
Ninth imprint:[Empty]
tenth imprint :[Empty]
Imprint: [Soul Serpent]
Imprint Rank:Awakened
Imprint Class:Tyrant
Imprint Description:[Shadow looked upon his children, the Shadow Slaves. The Divine Shadows were not like other Nobel creatures who were born with the strength of a hundred man, no, his shadows were not born glorious, mighty, or pure instead They were born weak and puny and worthless yet they held the potential to become the most harrowing creatures of them all.
And yet, because of that reason, the Divine Shadows could easily lose sight of their paths early in their journey. Thus, Shadow created the Soul Serpents that were meant to guide the Divine Shadow in life and death, forever bonded with them.]
'Shadow God, huh?' Hugo read the runes carefully, glancing at Sunny from a far 'So Sunny is a Divine Shadow… How interesting.'
He did not want to pry into his friend's business too much, but it was interesting to see that such a creature was capable of existing.
'Wait, doesn't this make Sunny a Nobel creature?'
The thought was certainly… intriguing.
That would make sunny one of the few non corrupted inhuman species walking the path of ascension in the entire world.
If the great clans found out about this fact, he would undoubtedly become an hier of his status... Or die.
Hugo shook his head ignoring the dark thought,as he looked at the abilities and attributes of the Imprint.
Imprint Attributes: [Shadow-Guide], [Soul Weapon], [Shadow-Born],[Shadow]
Imprint Abilities:[Soul Reaver], [Formless], [Shadow Blessing]
[Shadow-Guide] Attribute Description: [The soul serpents can manipulate its shadow essence better than most creatures.]
[Soul Weapon] Attribute Description:[Those shadows is a blade that cuts all it touches.]
[Shadow-Born] Attribute Description:[shadows gains strength when surrounded by their kin.]
[Shadow] attribute description : [This shadow creature can enter the shadows]
[Soul Reaver] Ability Description: [This imprint can absorb the souls of slain creatures.]
[Formless] Ability Description:[This imprint can assume the form of the souls within it's soul sea.]
[Shadow Blessing] Ability Description:[This imprint can bless others with its essence.]
Hugo was practically drooling as he read the runee thinking of the sheer versatility of this imprint
'Sunny, you sly dog, you had something this strong?!'
Of course, Sunny's own shadow serpent probably wasn't a Tyrant yet but it was still immensely powerful…
Powerful enough that Hugo wished he was blessed by shadow instead of bonding with a divine relic.
'... I take that back...'
Now for the second imprint which Hugo had high hopes for:
Imprint: [Stone Saint]
Imprint Rank:Awakened
Imprint Class:Tyrant
Imprint Description:[Deep in the cavernous halls of his dark domain, the Daemon of Destiny had created the Stone Saints from stone to quell the fire burning in his resentful heart. However, that fire only grew hotter. Designed to bring peace, they were instead born into an endless war.]
'An imprint from a daemon? Well, that's new…'
Hugo's imprints were usually those of Nobel creatures created by the gods, but never from a daemon… But who was to say other divine beings—if this daemon was one such existence—couldn't create their own Nobel creatures?
'so now I have Sun God, Storm God, Heart God, Shadow God, War God, and Beast God creations! And now a daemon's, too…'
Hugo felt slightly overwhelmed by the sheer power of his aspect but he also wondered about what type of creatures he'd be able to transform into in the future after ascending further in ranks
The thoughts of his power as a saint made him grin slightly before turning back to the runes.
Imprint Attributes: [Battle Master], [Stalwart], [Weapon Master], [Heart of Darkness]
Imprint Abilities:[Mantle of Darkness], [Blade of Darkness], [Creature of Darkness]
[Battle Master] Attribute Description: [Born on the battlefield, the Stone Saints are proficient in all forms of combat.]
[Stalwart] Attribute Description:[The Stone Saints are highly resistant to all forms of damage, as well as being fully immune to mind and soul attacks.]
[Weapon Master] Attribute Description:[The Stone Saints are masters of all weapons.]
[Heart of Darkness] Attribute Description:[A pyre of ancient darkness dwells within the hearts of all Stone Saints, granting them tenebrous powers.]
[Mantle of Darkness] Ability Description: [Darkness embraces all of Nether's children. When surrounded by darkness, the Stone Saints grows stronger. In True darkness more so.]
[Blade of Darkness] Ability Description:[The true darkness dwelling in the Stone Saint's heart can be summoned in the form of a fearsome weapon.]
[Creature of Darkness] Ability Description:[The darkness within the Stone Saints can be shaped into living creatures under their command.]
'Edgy…' was all Hugo could think of after reading the runes, yet it was so… cool.
He would never admit that aloud, of course, but the spot for his favorite imprint might have been taken by his newest imprint…
How could he not?
It was A perfect killing machine
———
[Two Months Later]
The Sleepers of the Forgotten Shore had… gone through an explosive transformation, to say the least. In only two months, they had managed to kill most of the abominations within the dark city, essentially claiming it as their territory.
Of course, that was only possible due to Hugo's new powers as a Tyrant.
He currently possessed seventeen Tyrant abilities, each unique and powerful in their own right.
Some allowed Hugo to bestow attributes such as minor flame control, increased strength, minor electricity control, and so on.
These were easy to bestow because all the Sleepers on the shore were dormant, thus weaker than Hugo. However, Hugo was smart about the process as He took in every Sleeper's individual strength and talents into account before bestowing them with abilities to maximize the greatest bienfaits for all the sleepers.
For example, warriors with direct combat Aspects were given a strength boost — Courtesy of fourarms tyrant ability — while those with utility Aspects were given an intelligence boost—courtesy of his Galvan Tyrant ability— and those with elemental affinities were given something suited to them.
The other type of Tyrant abilities were the ones that could create minions. This one was useful to overpower hordes of abominations or at least, distract them.
but in the long term, they were stil incredibly weak as they were dormant and did not possess any aspect of intelligence of their own.
However, what made Tyrant abilities so strong was the fact that the ability bestowed on sleepers and the minions did not disappear after Hugo detransformed. Instead, they could remain forever until Hugo decided to release them or not making the process incredibley efficient.
Furthermore, for each Sleeper blessed by Hugo, he gained a subtle increase of power to his soul essence and overall strength, allowing him to help in more ways than one especially when his 'minions' were in close proximity to him.
Although there was a drawback to this incredible boon.
Hugo was limited to only forty uses of his Tyrant ability per imprint. Meaning he could only have minions and bless Sleepers 680 times which sounded like a lot but it really wasn't, considering there were around a thousand Sleepers on the Forgotten Shore.
Overall Hugo could not really complain about his powers even if they were flawed as being a tyrant was treating him just fine especially now that he was halfway into becoming a terror.
———
"So we're really doing this, huh?" Hugo said, seated across the table from the rest of his cohort.
"All the Sleepers have already saturated their cores, and the abominations in the city have been wiped out. There's no other way for us to grow our forces anymore…"
"Unless we go to the Labyrinth…"Effie said, her expression quite serious this time around.
Nephis slowly shook her head. "They won't survive, Effie. Maybe we can go and hunt there ourselves, but the other Sleepers will die and that is for certain."
The people in the group remained silent for a Moment, taking in her words.
Eventually, it was Seishan, the former lieutenant of the Bright Lord and leader of the handmaidens, who spoke.
"Why don't we wait for the next winter solstice to gather more Sleepers? After all, the Terror on the Spire isn't actually evolving into a Corrupted Titan."
Cassie shifted slightly as she spoke. "Remaining for an extra four months on this shore would drain the morale of the soldiers, which is already quite low as it is. Besides, the abominations surrounding the Spire are growing by the day, meaning the longer we stay here, the more we risk fighting more powerful enemies."
The pale, beautiful woman nodded understanding the seer's point of view
"That is a good point…" Then she turned to the humanoid squid near her. "I don't suppose you have any more tricks up your sleeve?"
Hugo tilted his head slightly offended by that question.
"What more could you be asking for? I created hundreds of enchanted pieces of equipment, I enthralled half of the castle to make sure you fools don't kill each other, created a sorcery potent enough to shield this place from powerful nightmare creatures and even bestowed unimaginable abilities on half of the army, without even mentioning some other stuff, like killing hundreds of Fallen and high-class abominations and supplying all the sleepers with memories."
The seven Sleepers seemed to pause for a moment, thinking about how impossible all of this was… But sadly, it seemed even with the impossible on their side, they still weren't certain of their success in conquering the crimson spire.
"Then it is decided. In two days, we will leave the castle and the Dark City behind" Hugo said, looking for any objections among his allies.
None had objected whatsoever, which made him a bit nervous…
Deep down, he, too, was afraid of the upcoming siege.
———
On the beautifully decorated steps of the Bright Castle, three figures were standing, facing hundreds of Sleepers, all clad in armor.
The first was a tall man wearing a shifting golden armor that radiated an aura of authority and power, the face of his helmet was exposed revealing a young man in his twenties with eyes that seemed too dull for any human.
The second was a beautiful, tall young lady with silver hair, her eyes burning with uncontrollable flames that threatened to consume anything in her way.
The third, however, made the previous two pale in comparison.
He was a tall, humanoid monster with light green, tentacled skin, his eyes two dots of crimson that should have driven fear into the hearts of the Sleepers who saw him. Yet, strangely enough, none of the Sleepers seemed to be afraid of him in the slightest. Instead, they looked at him with… pride, hope, and respect.
Of course, the figures standing atop the ornate steps of the Bright Castle were none other then the Bright lord, changing star and the Paragon of purity.
"Sleepers of the Forgotten Shore!" Nephis's voice, clear and sharp as a honed blade cut through the still air. "I am Changing Star of the Immortal Flame Clan. For half a year, we have fought the horrors this shore ceaselessly threw at us. We have battled day by night, trapped in an eternal cycle of fear and dwindling hope, some of us have been here far longer then others… but no more."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the sea of faces —hunters, healers, crafters, all united by shared suffering.
"I refuse it! I refuse to hide here and wait for a death that creeps closer with every setting sun. We have conquered the Dark City itself! We have broken its tyranny over us . And so, we stand before you not with a demand, but with a plea. Follow us. Trust us. And we will lead you out of this hell. We will show you the path back to your homes!"
A profound silence followed, heavy with the weight of her words Then, she continued, her tone hardening into unvarnished truth.
"But make no mistake. The road ahead will be long. It will be arduous. It will be carved from pain and sacrifice. Not everyone will make it. The weak will fall. The strong will fall, too and Those who survive… will not be the same people who stand here today"
She let that grim reality hang for a heartbeat before her voice rose again, filled with a fiery, unbreakable conviction.
"Yet I promise you this—one thing I swear on my name, on the name of immortal flame and my very soul: Follow us, and you will never again be slaves! Not to your fear. Not to a cruel fate and Not to the indifferent cruelty of of thd nightmare Spell. Come with us, and whether we live or die, we do so as humans! Not as cowering beasts awaiting the slaughter!"
For a moment, there was only the wind. Then, the dam broke.
A roar erupted from the crowd, not of fear, but of fierce, defiant joy.
Voices tangled and merged into a thunderous chorus:
"Hail Changing Star!"
"Hail the Architect!"
"Hail the Bright Lo—"A voice started, only to be shut off quickly by these From the outer settlement.
the sentiment was then swallowed by louder, truer cries.
"To FREEDOM!"
"TO LIBERTY !"
They cheered, they clasped arms and they smiled through tears of joy.
It was the euphoria of condemned prisoners finally seeing the gate to their cell crack open knowing the path beyond was lined with thorns, but choosing the thorns over the cage.
'Something is seriously wrong with these people...' Hugo thought, observing the electric almost manic hope in their eyes.
A moment later, his own fearsome tentacled mouth curved into a sharp-toothed smile.
They were all gloriously and fatally insane.
He turned his head to Nephis. "You are all completely deranged, you know that?"
Nephis offered him a dry smile. "And you are not?"
Hugo scoffed slightly at her words.
"Oh Please. I pride myself on being the sole bastion of sanity among all of you."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night,"she replied, her eyes drifting past him to the monstrous silhouette of the Crimson Spire, looming over them like a promise of death..
"The journey there… crossing that plain with all of these people... it will likely be more terrible than the Spire itself."
A faint grimace touched her lips as she said that
"Oh," Hugo said, his voice dropping slightly as he remembered something . "I might actually have a solution for that."
"You do?"
Without another word, Hugo stepped forward, past Nephis and the placid Gunlaug. He then raised his massive, tentacled arms toward the heavens, a gesture that hushed the celebrating crowd into curious silence.
What was the Architect doing?
For a second, nothing happened. Then, a single, shimmering emerald spark flickered into existence high above, a tiny, defiant star against the gloomy grey sky.
Another followed. Then ten. Then a hundred more, The sky itself began to crackle with nascent energy.
The sparks multiplied, swirled, and condensed growing from a glimmer into a beautiful torrent of viridian light that painted the awestruck faces below in waves of alien radiance.
The very air seemed to fold on itself with Reality itself groaned as it parted like a curtain.
And from the heart of the luminous maelstrom, it descended.
The Divine Memory—Azmuth's Ship—did not simply appear like any regular memory would.
Instead, It imposed itself upon the very world.
It was a vision of predatory grace and impossible engineering, a craft that seemed less built and more grown from a logic beyond human comprehension.
Its primary hull was a disc of polished, metallic gray, Across its surface, rivers of neon green light pulsed and flowed like luminous blood through crystalline veins throbbing with a deep, powerful energy.
From this central disc, three vast, curved arms extended, sleek and tapered like the talons of a celestial raptor. Each joint was a masterpiece of fluid design demonstrating the incredible agility the ship possessed. At the core of the disc was a beautiful omnitrix symbol which looked like a deep, oval void—a sightless eye that seemed to drink the light around it encircled by concentric rings of glowing circuitry that spiraled into its infinite dark.
And from its rear, a long, segmented tail stretched back, culminating in two vast, fin-like wings that glowed with a soft luminescence resembling nothing so much as the ethereal wings of a gargantuan insect.
The term colossal did not do it's size any Justice as It did not just dwarf the castle, its shadow alone engulfed entirety of the Dark City blocking out the sun.
It hung in the sky, silent and absolute, a testament to power so advanced it felt like divinity, and in a sense, it was Divinity.
A thousand as the hundreds of sleepers took in the otherworldly sight of the divine memory. After all, even in the world of the nightmare spell, this was not normal.
Hugo let the awe saturate them, his voice then cutting through the stillness.
"What are you waiting for ?"
As if hearing him, the smooth belly of the ship opened with a mechanical sound but strangley enough, No ramp extended.
Instead, a beam of pure emerald light lanced down, striking the ground before the crowd with a harmless impact.
It was a road of light, a radiant path into the sky.
Then, a gentle, irresistible force took hold of all the people on the ground as the Sleepers felt their feet leave the cobblestones.
A collective gasp rose as hundreds of men and women, armored and robed to the teeth, were lifted effortlessly into the air, cradled by the green radiance.
They ascended slowly, defying gravity itself, drawn upward in a stream of astonished humanity toward the waiting maw of the miraculous vessel.
The exodus had begun with a Miracle and hopefully it would end in one, too.