Chapter 147: Journey to Erebus Field
Hugo struggled to open his eyes, feeling the traces of being burnt alive.
He found himself laying on cold metal, surrounded by... People?
There was a myriad of souls—about one hundred of them—spread across a dark metallic space. They were mostly asleep but some of them were starting to wake up.
Hugo quickly realized something... He had failed to save the people of Bunker 202. In the end, all his powers were not enough, and he was forced to escape with only a fraction of the overall citizens.
Trying to move, Hugo suddenly felt pain spread across his broken body.
'Oh right...'
Looking down, he saw that he was burned badly from his last attack. His skin had turned onyx black from the fire, and his hair, which had been long before, was completely burned now.
Such wounds would've proven fatal to any mundane person; in fact, most Awakened would die from them, but his Ascended body—enhanced by the [Asura] and his Divine Aspect—allowed him to survive.
He did not have enough soul essence to use [Sunlight Rings] or any of his transformations to heal himself, so for now he had to endure the pain in his human form.
Looking around, he saw that he was in the interior of the [Proto-Truck], but one that was far larger than the regular one.
The Memory itself was only the size of a regular truck before, but now thanks to the augmentation of his shadow—who assumed the form of Upgrade—it became large enough to house such a big number of people.
The powers of the Memory were slightly elevated, as well.
Upgrade's enhancement was strange when it came to Memories. For example, an Awakened Upgrade would be able to upgrade Awakened Memories into the Ascended rank, but an Ascended Upgrade cannot elevate an Ascended Memory into the Transcendent rank. This was the reason Hugo had requested Sunny to elevate his Ascended Memories into the Transcendent rank instead of just upgrading them himself using his Upgrade imprint.
[Proto-Truck] was now a Transcendent Memory, thanks to Sunny. Currently, it was upgraded by his Ascended shadow—which didn't do much in terms of quality, but at least his shadow could control its shape thanks to the authority Galvanic Mechamorphs hold over technology.
Struggling to get up, Hugo moved further into the ship, feeling nostalgic as he remembered [Azmuth's Ship]. He used to spend hours exploring its interior back in Ariel's hell...
'Good times... Well not exactly but still...'
Reaching the pilot room, Hugo entered it and fell into his chair... Tired and completely exhausted.
"Are you alright, buddy?"
Hugo said to his shadow.
His shadow manifested a small head from the walls of the ship and nodded.
"Good to know..."
He would've liked to relax now, but there was no time. That abomination, Malware, could be following them right now.
He needed to get those citizens to a siege capital as fast as possible.
Raising his Omnitrix, he activated the Network menu and checked which capital was closest to his current location.
'Erebus Field, huh.'
Erebus Field was one of Antarctica's most prominent cities, a sprawling metropolis built atop geothermal vents that kept the land warm and fertile, even in the cold of this icy Continent.
Still, Hugo found the idea of a city built atop a volcano to be a strange one, but he didn't have the luxury of complaining.
From the reports he had on his government account, Master Davis—one of the Irregulars Company captains he had met on the journey to Antarctica—wad the one in charge of protecting the population of that city.
Him and his cohort should accept the hundred refugees Hugo would bring in.
In the meantime, Hugo had to act fast. He needed to find a way to kill Malware and stop that abomination from spreading throughout Antarctica.
It was a corrupted terror after all and creatures like that were extremely dangerous, not to mention very annoying to deal with.
He would've liked to sit here and cry about how unfair the situation was, but he knew that would help no one and would only unnecessary problems for himself.
The best thing to do now was to reform his Titan core, amass more power, and perhaps... Gain a Transcendent Imprint.
He was hesitant about the last part as forcing Transcendence upon his soul would cause significant damage to him.
In the past, transforming from Dormant to Awakened had been painful but tolerable. Then Hugo gained access to Ascended aliens as an Awakened—which did not destroy his soul as the gap between Awakened and Ascended was smaller than the one between Ascended and Transcendent.
The same principal would go for the higher ranks, which meant that a hypothetical Transcendant Hugo wouldn't be able to use supremes imprints without consequences.
'Still... I'll have to do something.'
It would also be beneficial if he remained within Erebus Field for a while, as large siege capitals got attacked by Nightmare Creatures a lot, which meant he would have a chance to accumulate more soul fragments.
His original plan, which involved being a siege engine for humanity and rampaging across Antarctica, was working... However, it was becoming less effective with each passing day as the Chain of Nightmare Gates grew more powerful and much more oppressive.
So, perhaps stationing himself to a single area instead of hunting an endless number of Gates was a good idea.
Either way, he made sure to turn the ship around and inform his shadow about the location of Erebus Field, steadily making his way to the siege capital.
The journey there would take hours, but it should be manageable.
As he thought about that, a call suddenly came from within his communicator, startling him a little.
It was Soul Reaper Jet.
'I'll need to tell her the bad news...'
He opened the call with a grim expression and waited to see what she would say.
"You're alive... Good."
Master Jet's joke landed badly, which was not unusual, but there was something wrong about her voice... She sounded solemn, which was not normal for the cold-blooded killer that she was.
"...Reaper, we have a problem. One of the human settlements in the Antarctic Center has been taken over by a Corrupted Terror. Said Corrupted Terror can absorb technology, assimilate people, and even fuse with them... I managed to damage the abomination and escape with one hundred people from the settlement, but it still claimed thousands... Moreover, it will undoubtedly recover and move on to other human settlements."
Soul Reaper remained silent for a long moment after he was done talking, then she sighed.
"... The situation has gotten a lot worse then I've thought.... Far worse than we expected, at least."
Hearing this, Hugo prepared himself for more bad news.
"I assume something bad on your side has happened?"
He was not in touch with the situation in Antarctica much, not really. In his time in this cursed continent, he simply killed abominations. He would get some updates from Soul Reaper, and sometimes from his Spirit Body. But he was too preoccupied with killing Nightmare Creatures to dwell over them.
"...It's bad, Hugo. It's very, very bad. Three Titans have finally emerged on the continent, bringing doom with them to our world... One Titan has already been dealt with by three of our Saints, but the other two are running rampant around Antarctica. One of those Titans is an abomination we call the Winter Beast. It's a Corrupted Titan that crippled all communication networks with its authority over ice, forcing us to rely on the Dream Realm. In fact, I only managed to contact you right now because of that bizarre watch of yours."
Hugo's face became even more solemn as he heard her words.
A Corrupted Titan... That was a problem. A big one. No Saint alive could take it on; he was certain of that, as he had briefly caught a glimpse of one such similar creature in the depths of his nightmare.
In his second nightmare, Max Tennyson—a powerful Supreme—had managed to destroy a Corrupted Titan, while the Saints of his domains were forced to retreat into the Dream Realm as none of them were able to kill such a Creature.
So, unless one of the Sovereigns descended upon the waking world and killed the Winter Beast, there would be no way to slay it.
At least not for other people...
'... If I clear a Transcendent Imprint, then in theory I could become a Transcendent Titan and destroy it...'
The battle would not be easy, not at all. It would cause mass destruction through the continent, and would likely destroy his own soul in the process thanks to the strain that would be put on it.
"What about the other Titan? Is it also Corrupted?"
Hugo asked, attempting to get as much information as he could.
"No, that one appears to be a Fallen Titan—we've dubbed it Goliath, based on what our reports and Awakened seers have observed. Its current location is unknown, however. It managed to survive the Saints that engaged it in combat."
"Goliath, huh..." Hugo looked at the cold sky of Antarctica through the window of the ship, a distance expression on his face.
He had noticed that it had gotten colder... Much colder.
'Winter Beast and Goliath...'
He quickly made up his mind about what he needed to do.
"Very well then. Right now, I'm heading to Erebus Field to make sure the people with me survive. After that, I will pursue the Fallen Titan myself and slay it. I assume this is the mission you wanted to assign me?"
His plans to remain in a single siege capital might be unwise...
"No, quite the opposite, actually... I want you and your minions to retreat into the big siege capitals. Either Erebus Field or Falcon Scott. All the minor human settlements are being evacuated into those two right now as we're starting the final stage of the campaign early due to the intensity of the Gate crisis. Having you with us would be much more beneficial than simply sending you to kill random Nightmare Creatures. Also, you would die if you encounter the Winter Beast. That is a certainty. Saint Tyris herself is barely containing it using her Aspect."
'Saint Tyris...'
She was a Saint who possessed authority over wind, lightning, and the weather thanks to her aspect abilities, making her a perfect counter for the Winter Beast. However, there was still a gap in power between them, which meant that eventually, Tyris would fall.
Hugo remained silent for a moment, contemplating what to do.
"Alright. I'll go to Erebus Field and make sure the city is protected... I will also inform my minions to help evacuate the citizens into the big siege capitals and station them there."
"Good to hear... As for that Corrupted Terror you told me about, send me details about it if possible and I'll see if one of our Masters has an Aspect capable of countering it... Either that, or we leave it to the intelligence department. I gotta go now. Make sure you don't die, boy wonder."
"...You too."
With that, Jet cut off the call, leaving Hugo alone in the ship cabin.
He was tired, hurt, and burned to a crisp. His soul was also wounded, making him even less powerful than before.
There was also the samm problem of his Spirit Body, which he had dismissed earlier.
'It shouldn't be a problem. I'll just have it pull its tether, enter the Dream Realm, pass through the Gateway, and return to the location of its original tether...'
Hugo had placed the tether on one of the Evacuation Army ships, so that shouldn't be an issue.
He summoned his Spirit Body and took a good look at it.
"You're doing much better than me, you bastard..." he said, looking at his second body.
With a sigh, he stopped his nonsense and pulled on his second tether, reaching the Stormsea, specifically the Night Garden.
From there, he avoided the people and quickly moved towards the Gateway, making it sure to pass through it unseen.
Just like that, Lugan was back in the Evacuation Army ship.
'Now all that's left is to reach Erebus Field, reform my Titan core, and recall my minions to the siege capitals.'
He was not using the [Crown of Falsehood] enchantments right now due to his lack of soul essence, so his minions were simply left to their own devices.
It was not a big problem, as they had a few commands instilled into them which were simple, yet enough to keep them alive. The commands were to kill Nightmare Creatures, stay alive, and help humans.
They weren't truly intelligent, but they should be able to follow those three simple commands.
'I should get some sleep, regenerate some of my essence, and then use the Crown to take control of my minions again.'
His plans had changed a lot in a few moments, but what mattered now was going forward.
Contemplating the situation further could wait for now.
Closing his eyes, Hugo fell into the embrace of sleep, commanding his shadow to wake him up in four hours.