Chapter 30: Ashen Hell
Hugo felt something change the moment they stepped from the labyrinth's edge onto the grey sand. It was a pressure, not on his body but on his mind. A faint, insistent whisper at the edge of his consciousness that couldn't quite form into a coherent thought. It was like a word stuck on the tip of his tongue but for his entire soul.
He frowned, looking at Sunny. "Hey. Do you feel that? Something... Wrong?"
Sunny didn't look away from the barren landscape. "You'll have to be more specific. I'm feeling about seven different kinds of 'wrong' right now."
"Like something's trying to get into your head but can't find the door," Hugo clarified, his voice low.
That got a reaction. Cassie and Nephis both stiffened, but just as quickly, their expressions went blank, as if the thought had slipped from their grasp. Only Sunny managed to hold onto the feeling, his face grim.
"Yeah, I feel it. This place is... bad."
Nephis glanced at them, her usual mask of indifference still on her face, but Hugo sensed a strange emptiness behind her eyes which was unnatural for the Changing Star he knew.
"Stay alert," was all she said, her voice flat.
They moved deeper into the ashen waste. The silence was absolute. No wind, no skittering of creatures, just the crunch of their feet on grey sand. Then, it was Sunny who called a halt, his shadow scouting ahead.
"Nothing is moving. Just flat, dead land," he reported, his voice tight with unease.
Cassie listened intently, then shook her head. "No sounds. Nothing at all."
Nephis's gaze was fixed on the distant Ashen Barrow crowned by its monstrous black tree. "Let's continue." She altered their course slightly toward a small, sand-covered knoll, which was the only feature on the barren plain.
As they neared it, Sunny suddenly froze, his expression turning into a deep frown.
"Hide!" he hissed, dismissing his Echo and grabbing Cassie in an instant. He pulled them all down behind the knoll, pressing them against the gritty surface.
Hugo crouched, his hand instinctively moving to activate his Omnitrix.
"What is it?"
"Centurions..." Sunny whispered, peeking through a gap. "Two of them are coming from the labyrinth. They're carrying something..."
Hugo risked a look, using his [Emerald Spyglass]. He saw two massive, scythe-armed creatures moving with an unnerving purposefulness across the sand. Clutched carefully in their bone scythes were crystals that pulsed with a brilliant, hypnotic light. Hugo immediately recognized that light; they were the Transcendent soul shards from two weeks ago.
"They're heading for the Barrow," Sunny murmured, his voice tense. "If they stay on course, they won't see us."
They held their breath as the centurions passed. The carapace creatures moved with a strange, reverent gait, like pilgrims on a sacred prayer. When they reached the base of the ash hill, one of the creatures stopped, carefully placed the shining shard on the sand, and then did something that made Hugo's confusion skyrocket.
Both of the harrowing abominations knelt.
The eight-legged horrors bowed their torsos, placing their scythes flat on the ground in a posture of absolute submission.
"What's it doing?" Cassie whispered, sensing the shift in tension.
"Wait," Sunny said, his eyes wide as he stared at the top of the Barrow.
A glimmer of light appeared from beneath the tree, growing brighter. A shape descended. This time, Hugo's breath caught in his throat as he took in the view of the creature.
It was a carapace creature, but unlike any they had seen before. It was a behemoth, a walking fortress of polished, spiked metal that reflected the grey sky. Four arms—two with pincers, two with scythes larger than the centurion's—moved with a dreadful, elegant power. Its face was a horrifying mockery of a human's, crowned with sharp horns. An aura of pure, ancient malice radiated from it, a pressure that made the air feel thick.
"A demon," Nephis breathed, her voice barely audible. "Or worse."
The metal demon ignored the kneeling centurions, picked up the transcendent shard and turned back toward the tree. Sunny's face was pale. "My shadow is following it."
They waited in tense silence as Sunny tailed the creature. After a minute or so, Sunny let out a shaky breath.
"It's... it's just eating a piece of fruit from the tree. It dropped the shard like it was nothing."
The absurdity of it was almost as frightening as the creature itself. The centurions finally rose and retreated back toward the labyrinth. Once the creatures were gone, the cohort slowly stood up.
"We need to go back. Now," Sunny said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
---
Back at the Bone Ridge camp, the fire did little to chase the chill from Hugo's bones. Sunny finished recounting what he'd seen—the kneeling centurions, the metal demon, and the discarded transcendent shard.
Hugo and Nephis both frowned in unison as Sunny recounted the things he saw in detail, clearly not excited by the implications.
"What's more, its carapace is not made of chitin. Instead, it looks like some strange metal alloy. I don't think we'll be able to cut through it. I also didn't notice any gaps in that monstrosity's armor, not even around the joints."
Cassie gulped, turning her head to her friend. Changing Star, however, remained silent.
Sunny sighed.
"In addition, that thing has four arms instead of the usual two, a pair with pincers and a pair with scythes. They're even bigger than the centurion's. Its carapace is littered with spikes, and it has long horns on its head. It also looks… uh… more human-like. It almost has a face, albeit an extremely ugly one. And its eyes… well, I think that it is more sentient than anything we had faced before."
Hugo sighed, flipping a piece of meat as he said: "It's definitely an Awakened Demon."
Sunny and Nephis nodded, clearly having similar thought processes.
"Or maybe a devil. In any case, I think we should avoid that scary bastard at all cost."
Changing Star stared at him, tilting her head a little. For a minute or so, there was only silence.
Sunny gritted his teeth, then sighed, then blinked a couple of times. Finally, he gave her a doomed, crooked smile.
"Let me guess. You want to kill it..."
Nephis blinked slightly, looking at the shadowy sleeper before speaking in a calm tone. "Yes."
Sunny was on the verge of ripping his eyeballs out from the sheer audacity of this bi... respectable young lady.
Before he could voice his thoughts, Hugo interrupted.
"I think we can kill it."
Sunny looked at Hugo with a shocked expression as if he had just been betrayed. "You're crazy too! Oh gods, why did I have to end up with you two of all people!" He ruffled his hair, clearly annoyed.
Cassie chuckled slightly despite the grimness of the situation.
Looking at the strange scene in front of him, Hugo coughed to get everyone's attention before continuing:
"I actually have a way to kill the big bastard... I have an Ascended memory... Well, not really, but I have a certain memory that can elevate the rank of my trident to the Ascended rank. Which should be more than enough to hurt the big bastard."
Nephis seemed deep in thought for a moment before asking in a nonchalant voice, "A charm memory?"
Hugo shook his head. "It's a utility type," he said, summoning the small ruby red [Polymorphic Crystal].
Deciding to reveal that to the trio was a bit difficult but he didn't want to lie to his friends, so he simply decided to say it.
'It's not like I'm revealing my Aspect or anything'
he thought before summoning his trident and showcasing the process of the [Upgrade] enchantment.
They watched in awe—well, aside from Cassie, who couldn't really see—as the crystal entered the trident, immediately enhancing its effects.
"But that's not the only thing we can do to guarantee a clean kill," Hugo added, making the trio look at him in bewilderment.
"Remember who made your charms? If I could make charms capable of granting positive effects, then it'd only be natural I'd be able to do the opposite," Hugo said with a sly smile on his face.
Sunny's eyes widened as he understood the meaning behind his words. "A weakening charm?"
Hugo nodded. "Making one strong enough to weaken a demon or a devil would be hard but not impossible. Sure, it'll still be able to kill us in one hit, but at least it'll be slower at doing it."
This time, it was Cassie who spoke, her curiosity piqued. "Sorry if I sound slow, but how exactly would the charm work? Do you just throw it at the Nightmare Creature?"
Hugo looked at her confidently. "Don't worry about that, I have an idea," he said, then turned his head towards Sunny. "And I also happen to have someone who'd help me pull it off."
Sunny gulped, not liking the look Hugo was giving him, but strangely enough, he did not object to his statement, simply accepting his fate with grim anticipation.
---
Later that day Hugo spent the entire evening crafting a strange sharp daggers from the carapaces they gathered on their journey. It was a much easier process then using his pyronite transformation minor stone manipulation and this time around sunny and Nephis could help him by sharpening the carapace with their swords.
Eventually they ended up with a a very large and sharp piece of carapace, it's size almost Sunny's entire arm which was quite funny.
After that was finished there was the process of inscribing the runes...
Which was particularly difficult due to the fact that unlike with regular stone, the carapace of the dead scavengers were of the awakened rank in terms of durability and so they had to resort to another way of inscribing the runes...
Hugo sighed looking at the pale boy beside him
"hey sunny"
"no"
Hugo raised an eyebrow "i didn't even ask you anything yet"
Sunny scoffed " everytime you start a sentence with 'hey sunny ', you either ask me to do something crazy or kill you! Sometimes even both!"
Hugo rolled his eyes dramatically
"well don't worry, I won't ask you to kill me this time nor I'm going to ask you to do something too crazy"
"really?" sunny asked, clearly unconvinced
Hugo smiled hesitantly "sure... I mean you'd only have to stab me."
——
The process of inscribing the runes Hugo settled on was through using blood...
Hugo blood to be precise considering he couldn't ask the others to do it.
Although there was a certain benefit to it.
Whenever he injured himself, nephis could use her healing on him essential restoring him to his regular state an instant.
So with that, he made sunny cut him slightly, gathered the blood in a bowl of chitin and then turned into a Galvan inscribing the following runes into the oversized dagger:
[weakening]
[Poison]
The two runes were of similar to each other, both containing runic syllables of the same proportions so the process of making the runes was far easier.
There was also the fact that imbuing his 'will' into the enchantment was a more successful endeavor this time around considering Hugo focused on 'killing' and 'harming' rather then the concepts he prioritized when making the charms for the trio.
Lastly due to Hugo's only enchanting one item, he could saturate it with a large amount of soul essence making both enchantments as powerful as they could possibly be for his current mastery over runic sorcery. Not to mention it'll last twice as long.
By the times Hugo finished the entire thing, it was already Early in the morning and so Hugo told sunny and nephis that he'd be taking a small nap.
---
[ The Next Day]
The air in the camp was thick with a strange mix of dread and determination, Cassie had gotten a new vision which had given them a crucial piece of the puzzle: a hidden weakness on the demon's chest.
Now, they just had to live long enough to exploit it.
Sunny laid out his plan with the air of a man who knew it was insane. "So, we need to get close without it trying to kill us on sight, to do that We'll need a disguise."
Hugo raised an eyebrow. "A disguise. To fool a seven-meter-tall metal demon? .You want us to... what, wear a hat?"
"Not us," Sunny said, his eyes glinting. "You."
Hugo simply stared at him confused even more. "Elaborate"
"The centurions bring it offerings, right? They also kneel to it like it's their king, so It doesn't attack them on sight," Sunny said, pacing slowly to Hugo . "So, we bring it an offering. A big one. You, transformed into four-armed —"
"Tetramand," Hugo corrected flatly. " 'Fourarms' is a stupid name."
"—Will wear the carapace of that centurion we killed. You'll be our Trojan Horse. Well, Trojan... thing. You'll carry the 'offering'—that's us, hidden—right to its feet."
Hugo processed this, the plan was reckless, borderline suicidal and relied on the demon being both arrogant and gullible. "You realize that if it sees through this, I'm the first one it turns into scrap metal."
"That's why we have the weakening charm," Nephis stated, as if that solved everything.
"And what if it just decides it doesn't like the look of me? A carapace centurion is one thing. A four-armed, red-skinned thing in a carapace shell is another."
Sunny looked at him, thinking about something "well, can you transform into a carapace centurion?"
Hugo scoffed " it's not a matter of if I can, sunny. " he said looking at his Omnitrix before adding " in theory I could do that but that would limit me in the future. "
Hugo said remembering that he only had five remaining imprints slots.
Sunny hearing Hugo reasoning did not push forward although he was a bit dissapointing.
"Then this is the only plan we have," Nephis said, her tone final.
Hugo looked at the empty centurion carapace they had dragged back to camp. It was a shell of black and crimson chitin, huge and menacing. The idea of cramming his Tetramand form into it was ludicrous to say the least.
"Alright fine! I'll do the stupid disguise" he said, the words tasting like ash. "If things go south I'll carry you three and jump away, or at least try to..."
Sunny gave a grim nod. "Understood. We'll be right under you... " He stopped for a moment before adding "not in a–"
"we get it! " Hugo said sighing at the absurdity of the situation while nephis looked between them in confusion.
——
From inside the stifling makeshift shell of a carapace centurion, Hugo felt like a complete idiot.
The chitin armor was heavy, awkward and reeked with a terrible smell. He was crammed into the thing in his Tetramand form making it impossible to get any semblance of comfortablity. while Sunny's shadow—the real mastermind of this absurdity—guided his movements from below, making him 'float' across the sand to mimic the creature's gait.
'this is the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life' Hugo thought, the Omnitrix on his chest glowing slightly in his chest.
The Paragon of Purity, Carrier of thousands of DNA samples from extinct Nobel creatures and possibly the only wielder of a Divine Aspect in history was currently playing dress-up as a deadbuge.
Then One of the giant fake scythes strapped to his back came loose and thudded into the sand.
Sunny shadow which was guiding him made a gesture that could be summed up as "leave it"
Hugo resisted the urge to tear the entire ridiculous costume off and just charge the hill to fight the demon.
But alas , they had a plan. A stupid, fragile plan but a plan nonetheless.
They reached the base of the Ashen Barrow. Following Sunny's direction, Hugo still disguised kneeled slightly imitating the centurions.
'Now we wait' he thought grimly regretting the moment he agreed to Sunny's plan.
He didn't have to wait long as The ground slightly trembled.
Peering through a narrow gap in the carapace, Hugo saw the Carapace Demon descend. The polished metal of its body reflected the dying sun and its four arms flexed with latent, terrifying power. It stopped, observing the strange, motionless 'centurion' with those burning scarlet eyes.
'Here we go. The moment of truth.'
That moment of truth lasted only one second.
With no hesitation, the Demon lunged forward , it's harrowing scythe flashed out with impossible speed.
"Now!" Sunny yelled from a large distant
Hugo was already moving, with a surge of strength, The carapace shell shattered around him as the full, muscular bulk of his Tetramand form surged free. Four powerful arms caught the descending scythe mid-swing, muscles straining against the overwhelming force. The impact sent shockwaves through his body, but he held.
"He didn't even hesitate!" Hugo roared, shoving the scythe away and leaping a few feet's away.
From the remnants of the disguise, Sunny's scavenger Echo scrambled out, darting forward to harry the Demon's legs. The massive creature, momentarily surprised by Hugo's appearance, swatted at the nuisance with a pincer. The Echo was sent flying but rolled and regained its footing, its carapace cracked but intact.
At that moment, Hugo leaped upward using his trident to impale the demon pincer.
The trident went through the thick carapace, then right at that moment, one of Hugo arms flew it slamming the enchanted dagger inside the abomination.
Instantly Hugo poured essence into it activating it before jumping away from the carapace demon.
The creature let out a terrible screams as it launched a counter attack.
Hugo snarled, ducking under a swing from the other scythe. He couldn't block it head-on, else he'd be cut in half. So He had to be agile which is why he picked the tetramand form rather then vilagax
"Hurry up!" Hugo said to no one as he avoided the creature attacks.
He saw Nephis, a blur of white already halfway up the massive tree, with Cassie clinging to her back. Sunny was near her sprinting across the ashen sand toward the base.
The plan was to send Hugo and sunny scavenger to distract the abominations while the trio rushes towards the tree base.
Hugo was picked because he was the only one capable of matching an awakened demon or escaping from it.
But he was starting to doubt that fact as The Demon's attention was fully on him now. It saw him not as a curious centurion, but as a genuine threat.
Four arms versus four arms. Its metallic face seemed to twist into something resembling a snarl as it noticed that fact.
It was fast, Horrifyingly fast. Hugo poured every ounce of soul essence into his body to avoid the attack, the world narrowing to the dance of avoiding those razor-sharp scythes and crushing pincers. He was buying the cohort seconds but each one feeling like an eternity.
The Echo charged again, latching onto one of the Demon's back legs with its pincers. The giant creature stumbled, just for a moment but it was the opening Hugo needed.
Hugo used one of the abomination pincers to propell himself forward, then with two of his arms, he punched the horrible creature right in the face.
Hugo punch, augmented by soul essence was enough to send the creature flying slightly.
Using that moment, Hugo grabbed his trident and activated the [vortex] enchantment, the terrible vortex of air forming around the creature causing it to face the mighty assaults of the air.
Hugo didn't attack after that, instead He retreated, using his incredible biology to leap upward from the creature.
The plan, surprisengly enough had gone perfectly for now. The creature was injured, weakened and dealing with a mini Vortex.
The reason Hugo didn't try to finish him off himself was because of his timer and the fact that the second part of the plan hadn't happened yet.
——
[Sunny's POV]
Sunny saw it all from the base of the giant tree.
He saw Hugo, now free of the shattered centurion disguise, use the distraction to lunge at the demon using trident to Pierce a hole in the abomination weak spot before driving the weakening charm deep into the wound.
The Paragon of purity continued his assault, through Sunny's echo serving as a distraction, he saw Hugo jab the abomination with two mighty arms before using the [vortex] enchantment to summon a harrowing miniature storm.
The fact that Hugo, a sleeper used an enchantment that requires essence did not escape him but he had more important stuff to do for now.
A furious, metallic roar shook the Ashen Barrow. The demon swiped a scythe, but Hugo was already moving, his four-armed form granting him incredible agility as he begun running away.
As the vortex dissapered, the demon rushed at sunny echo intending to destroy it but luckily he managed to unsummon the scavenger right before that happened.
"Sunny! The package!" Hugo yelled, sprinting and leaping toward the tree.
Sunny didn't hesitate. He grabbed the seaweed rucksack Nephis had left and tossed it to the sprinting Tetramand.
Hugo caught it without breaking stride.
"Climb!" Sunny shouted up to Nephis, who was already pulling a wide-eyed Cassie onto the lowest branch.
The demon, enraged by the stinging wound, gave chase. But its movements were already slower, more sluggish. The charm was doing its job well, not to mention the creature was extremely wounded.
Hugo reached the tree. Instead of climbing, he turned, hefted the rucksack, and with all the strength in his four arms, hurled it directly at the demon's face.
The sack burst open mid-air, releasing a cloud of the corrosive centipede oil they had harvested. The black liquid splattered across the demon's polished metal chest and helmet-like head. It sizzled, eating into the metal, though not deeply. The real effect was the blinding rage it incited.
The demon shrieked, clawing at its face. That was their cue.
"Go, go, go!" Hugo shoved Sunny toward the trunk where Nephis had dropped the golden rope.
Sunny scrambled up. He glanced back to see Hugo take a mighty leap, his lower two hands catching a thick root, his upper two pulling his massive form up onto a different, lower branch than the one Nephis and Cassie were on. He was a clear, obvious target.
The demon, wiping the oil from its eyes, focused its burning scarlet gaze on Hugo. It lunged but its movements were heavy and labored. A scythe bit into the trunk where Hugo had been a second before, but the Tetramand was already swinging to a higher branch, putting the massive tree between himself and the monster.
[Hugo's POV]
'This is working. It's actually working' Hugo thought, his hearts hammering against his chest. The demon was strong, but the weakening charm and the corrosive oil had dulled its edge. It was like fighting through mud giving Hugo the chance to evade it.
He made a show of scrambling higher, a bright red target. He needed to keep its attention and draw it away from the others.
"Over here, you overgrown shit !" he roared, tearing off a chunk of bark and throwing it with incredible valocity.
The demon took the bait, circling the trunk, its scythes carving deep gashes into the ancient wood. Hugo danced back, using his four arms to swing and grab with an agility the heavy demon couldn't match.
Below, he saw Sunny finally reach the safety of the high branch where Nephis and Cassie were hidden.
'Good...'
Then, right as they planned, A thunderous rumble echoed through the labyrinth.
The dark sea was returning.
The demon heard it too. It paused, its hateful gaze shifting from Hugo to the darkening horizon. With a final, frustrated roar that sounded like grinding steel, it began to retreat, lumbering back to its lair at the hill's summit. The weakening effect and the approaching sea had saved them.
Hugo waited until the demon was gone, then let out a long, shaky breath. He looked over at the branch where the others were hiding and gave a slow deliberate thumbs-up with one of his upper hands.
They had survived the first encounter. Now came the hard part:
actually killing the thing.