Chapter 148: Journey to Erebus Field (2)
A flaming arrow cut through the cold skies of Antarctica, headed for a terrifying eagle-like Nightmare Creature.
The arrow pierced the Nightmare Creature, and the fire that made up the arrow spread across the monster, consuming it and drenching the beast in flames.
[You have slain a Fallen Demon: Defiled seeker of flight]
Hugo, in the form of Heatblast, lowered his bow—Which was construced from fire—and scanned the area for more Nightmare Creatures.
He was atop the [Proto-Truck] ship, with his shadow still fused with the vehicle. They were flying at maximum speed, so remaining anchored to the ship was quite a hassle.
'Just fifty more minutes until we reach Erebus Field...'
He was currently using the Lifeform Lock to stay as Heatblast, meaning his Omnitrix still regenerated soul essence.
He was approximately at around three cores' worth of essence, which was not bad but it was not great either.
As the body of the Demon fell, Hugo controlled the flames that were burning its dead corpse and quickly extracted the soul shards, wrapped the flames around the shards, and brought them back to him safely using pyrokinesis.
He crushed the shards and absorbed them, raising his counter once again.
Soul Fragments: [5048/6000]
He was close to saturating the counter and forming his Titan core once again. Once he did that, he would become infinitely more powerful, just like the Titans running around Antarctica.
The people he was escorting had woken up a while ago and hugo explained the situation in his human form.
Their reaction... it was not pretty. Many of the people on the ship fell into depression and had panic attacks as they were faced with the truth.
After all, they had escaped, yes, but their families, loved ones, and friends had not.
Some lost their spouses, others lost their parents, siblings, and some even lost their children...
Hugo reassured them there was still hope and that there was still a way for their loved ones to be saved, but still...
Sighing, Hugo suddenly noticed an ethereal figure manifest on his shoulder.
"Well, aren't you one ugly duckling."
Bellicus's words were as enthusiastic as ever.
"Not in the mood, Bellicus. Come back another time."
Hugo's hands created another arrow and he unleashed it towards a second abomination that was heading to the ship, piercing the creature.
[You have slain an awakened monster: Atrocious bat]
"What?! You rascal, do you not have manners? Must I remind you that you are only alive because me and Serena allowed you to use Alien x back in your second nightmare?!"
Looking at the monster-infested land of Antarctica, Hugo suddenly had a thought...
He ignored Bellicus' words, and then turned to the celestial being and said a calm tone:
"...What would actually happen if I used Alien x right now?"
Considering the current situation... There was no better alternative.
With the power of a divine Titan, he could simply snap his fingers and save everyone. Killing every nightmare creature in this world.
Bellicus's expression shifted slightly, turning from anger to unease.
"Boy... If you transform now, you could doom all of existence... And even if you don't, you would be expelled from this realm due to its absolute law."
Creating another flaming arrow and shooting towards a nightmare creature, Hugo pressed forward:
"Did you not say that Alien x can do anything? Or is there a limitation to that 'anything'? That is very contradictory, don't you think?"
Bellicus seemed slightly offended by this, after all he was a part of alien x himself.
"...The concept that Alien x embodies is infinity. Within infinity lies infinite possibilities and infinite choices which means that in theory, alien x could do anything using his divine will. However, Alien x is a Divine Titan, and in this world there are things far more powerful then that. The traces of the old gods is one such example."
Hugo listened carefully, but remained vigilant for nightmare creatures.
'So alien x cannot overcome certain absolute laws created by the gods...'
"... Explain it to me further."
Hugo said.
"Don't command me boy, ask nicely and i might consider."
Hugo exhaled deeply as smiled, which looked absolutely horrifying in his heatblast form.
"This humble creature asks this great being for knowledge, oh magnificent deity, please grant me some of your wisdom. "
"Good enough. For an example you would understand, let's say a Sacred entity tries to impose their will upon a Divine god—they naturally wouldn't be able to. The same principle goes for Alien x. A Divine Titan cannot impose themselves on the traces of the old gods, let alone a Primordial God itself."
"Is that so..."
Hugo looked at the distance with a lost expression on his face.
Using all knowledge Hugo had accumulated over the years, he came to the conclusion that the entity known as the Forgotten God, which was currently in a dormant state, was apparently one of the Primordial Gods. The last one left alive, as well.
Using the power of Alien x in the War Realm was impossible because of its laws, and using it in the Dream Realm would cause the Unholy Ones to wake up... And for thd forgotten God to wake up as well, dooming all of existence.
Alien x...
That being seemed to bring true calamity—perhaps from fate itself— wherever it goes.
It made sense, in a way. After all, beings of that rank and class do have a great presence on fate; some can even influence it
It made Hugo wonder if the gods themselves had cursed the species of the Celestialsapiens with calamity, or perhaps bringing doom and destruction is in their very nature.
'Damn it all...'
This meant that Hugo could not use the powers of alien x outside of nightmares, not without destroying everything in existence.
Bellicus looked at Hugo with a stern expression, judging him like an angry father.
"I've noticed a very bad habit you have, boy. You're always looking for shortcuts to your problems, always trying to cheat the system instead of following it. Why are you always like this?! How about you cultivate naturally and become Divine like dozens of other beings did before you? You are a mere Ascended, yet you're craving Divinity like you are close to it. How about you focus on staying alive for a change, hmm?"
His reasoning was not bad, not at all... However, Bellicus was not like Hugo and so he could not understand him.
How could he?
Hugo was not only a person who carried great responsibilities but also someone who had gotten a taste of divinity once, even if it was brief.
Back in the second nightmare, his consciousness had been divided in half. One fused into the being that was alien x and one was inside the realm of alien x, debating with its other personalities.
After the transformation ended, his consciousness returned to its original form, inheriting memories from both sides...
Most of what he remmbered was filtered to save him from dying, as gazing upon unholy and cursed beings would have killed him... However, he still felt the Traces of his divine will, of his overwhelming powers and of the concepts he embodied as alien x.
He still retained the traces of his godhood, as if it was a distant dream.
In the end, Hugo did not want to argue and only said:
"...Whatever you say, old man."
Bellicus gave him the same unpleasant expression.
"How rude. You and Tennyson are truly one and the same."
Hugo suddenly froze moments before shooting another arrow, remembering something.
"Speaking of that bastard... What is he up to?"
Bellicus and Serena were, in a way, mediums between Ben and Hugo. They were connected to both of them, so they could be used as a way of communication network.
Not that Hugo wanted to speak with that bastard again.
Bellicus sighed.
"The usual, I suppose. Him and his friends are fighting off the endless wave of Nightmare Creatures... But thanks to their luck, or rather a lack of it, a new kind of horror has set its eyes upon the fake Primus, one far more dreadful than any other Nightmare Creature."
"A Cursed creature?" Hugo said, attempting to guess the answer.
Bellicus shook his head.
"No, but the answer is no less frightening. It's the army of the Divine Host—the ones you know as the Deathless. They're led by none other than Azarax, the Plague of Steel."
Hugo suddenly felt sick to his stomach.
Azarax was leading the Deathless? It made sense, as they were technically of the same kind, but still... He couldn't imagine that the ancient, prideful Supreme would willingly lead an army of skeletons.
More than that, it was his fault that Azarax was attacking the fake Primus, as he was the one who had set him free. And with no Supreme to protect the civilization of the beast realm, they couldn't hope to combat Azarax, but to only hold him back.
"...Why is Azarax attacking them, anyway? And what about Eurys?"
"The Plague of Steel that is attacking the fake Primus is not the same one that you freed from that sacred tree. He has been completely consumed by the curse of the Deathless, making him no different from a mindless monster. One that retained all his powers and battle experience. As for Eurys... He is nowhere to be seen, as he wandered off somewhere after you entered your second nightmare... That rascal. Still as mischievous as always."
Hugo processed his words carefully...
Azarax becoming a Deathless was quite dangerous a that meant the civilization of the Beast Realm could be destroyed one day, and more importantly, that meant Hugo could not return to the desert as a Saint, as he would likely die to Azarax and his horrifying army.
As for Eurys...
It seemed the sacred god had retained his sanity and left Ariel's hell, perhaps leaving to an unknown region of the dream realm.
But most importantly, Hugo noticed that Bellicus spoke of eurys in a familiar manner...
"You speak of Eurys as if you knew him... Well, do you?"
Bellicus's expression took on a somber tone, becoming slightly wistful.
"You are aware that Eurys of the Nine was a wielder of the Omnitrix before Ben Tennyson, right? Let's just say that brat had used alien x once, killing a very powerful being... Do not speak about this topic with me, I'm not willing to share. "
Hugo wondered why Bellicus was reluctant to speak about the topic, but he simply remained silent, respecting his wishes.
Indeed, Hugo had learned that eurys wielded the omnitrix from Azarax, back in Ariel's Hell.
Eurys was not only Ben's predecessor when it came to the Omnitrix, but he was one of its first users perhaps even the first One to use it.
Eurys lived in the old world, before the end came and destroyed everything, driving all of existence into madness and corruption.
Ben, meanwhile, was active during the age of the nightmare spell, specifically in the time where the nightmare spell infected the beast realm.
Hugo did not know what the order of infection of the realms were, as thre was no way to tell. However, he knew that the beast realm had been infected before his own realm as the war realm is the last divine realm in all of existence.
Moreover, he also knew that the sun realm was infected before the beast realm, which confirms that the realm of beast was not the first realm to be infected by corruption, but rather it could be the third or fourth, of even the Fifth.
After all, if the Divine Realms were truly the bodies of gods, then there should be six of them. The sun Realm, the beast Realm, the heart Realm, the storm Realm, the shadow Realm, and the war Realm.
All of those realms must have been infected by the Spell at one point in time and developed a society of powerful Awakened. But they were not infected at the same time.
Hugo currently lived in the war Realm, the last realm that was infected by the Spell. All of the other realms had fallen by now, so making an exact timeline was difficult.
This made Hugo wonder if there were other people who wielded the Omnitrix before Ben, but after Eurys. The Omnitrix traveling from realm to realm, finding a host in each of the Divine Realms, was an eerie thought, yet it was a fascinating one.
It would certainly confirm the theory that the omnitrix brought ruin wherever it landed...
Shaking his head, Hugo suddenly noticed a shape in the distance.
Engulfed in his thoughts and his conversation with Bellicus, Hugo had forgotten about the time.
They had finally arrived at their destination—at Erebus Field. The city atop a volcano stood in all of its glory, welcoming them with open arms.