Chapter 46: Goodbye
Hugo, still sprawled on the cold ground summoned his runes.
After all, receiving a new attribute wasn't something that happened every day.
Attributes: [Mutant], [Extraordinary Memory], [Flames of Divinity], [Anatomica], [Shadow-Rend], [Spirit-Core], [Soul-Bound], [Soul Conduit]
[Soul Conduit] Attribute Description: [You have become the vessel of the Crimson Spire.]
He sighed.
Of course it wasn't something good.
Hugo groaned as he pulled himself to his feet, his body aching in ways that were both familiar and new.
He looked at the mind-controlled Gunlaug, standing inert and empty. "Guess it's just you and me now, you old bastard..."
summoning the [Sunlight Rings] and activating it's healing enchantment, Hugo felt a warm, soothing light wash over him, knitting together his bruised flesh and mending the countless fractures in his body.
But the deep damage in his soul caused by the terror's attacks and channeling the Spire's power remained untouched. The rings sadly couldn't heal that.
Then, he focused on his new Memory, no matter how hurt and tired he was a transcendant memory was bound to make him feel better.
Memory: [Nameless Sun]
Memory Rank:Transcendent
Memory Tier:VI
Memory Type:Weapon
Memory Description:[For a long time, the Nameless Sun suffered in solitude, longing for all the things that were lost. Only when she lost that longing, too, was the Crimson Terror of the Forgotten Shore finally born.]
Memory Enchantments:[Annihilator], [Longing], [Sun Blade], [Sun Armor], [Solitude], [Fire Keeper]
[Annihilator] Enchantment Description:[This Memory's attacks the soul.]
[Longing] Enchantment Description:[The greater the longing within one's heart, the greater the power bestowed.]
[Sun Blade] Enchantment Description:[This Memory has no fixed form, it can coat any weapon it touches.]
[Sun Armor] Enchantment Description:[This Memory can coat any armor.]
[Solitude] Enchantment Description:[During moments of true solitude, this Memory shields its wielder.]
[Fire Keeper] Enchantment Description:[This Memory can store and preserve flames within it.]
'What a powerful Memory... and a tragic one...' The description explained the last part of the forgotten shore history.
The Terror had come to be because it, after all.
She had longed for her lost purity, her past and her people, And when even that longing was finally corroded by the endless torment, Saint Mary had fully succumbed to corruption, losing herself forever.
'Saint Mary... I will remember a d cherish that name as long as I live...'
The thought was a quiet vow in Hugo's heart.
Though, Remembering her and her fallen civilization didn't change their fate, it still felt important. It gave him a strange, somber sense of relief which something he needed right now.
'This Memory will come in handy later...' A Transcendent Memory of the sixth tier was a treasure beyond all measures.
One that could grant him power within certain conditions, protect him, augment his gear, and store elemental fore? It was incredibly versatile and a perfect tool for what was coming.
Hugo exhaled as he moved to take a step, but before he could go far, he heard the sound of rushing footsteps from behind.
Turning, he saw Nephis climb the last crumbling steps into the ravaged chamber, her armor scorched and her face set in its usual stern mask. Not far behind her, Sunny emerged from a pool of darkness, his expression hidden behind the onyx visor of his dark armor.
Nephis's sharp eyes swept the scene: the destroyed chamber, the hollow artificial sun , the scorched and melted floor from the Terror's final attacks and most importantly , the terror missing from the scene.
Her gaze finally settled on Hugo. She hesitated for a fraction of a second before asking "You killed it?"
"Yes," Hugo said, his voice rough. "But more importantly, why the hell are you two still here? I told you to go."
"We couldn't just leave yo—" Sunny began, but his sentence was cut off as the Spire itself gave a groaning shudder. Above them, the husk of the artificial sun, now devoid of all energy, cracked audibly.
Fine dust and debris started to rain from the ceiling.
Of course it would crumble. The power source, it's main conduit and the very purpose of the structure was gone.
The ancient magic holding it together was unraveling at an alarming speed.
Hugo's eyes narrowed. Through a jagged hole in the wall, he could see the distant gateway flicker erratically, its light growing weak and dim.
Of course, that too, was tied to the Spire's mechanisms and unluckily for them, It was failing.
"Get on top of me, now!" Hugo shouted , his body already straighting as he prepared to carry them.
"What—?" Sunny said with a baffled expression.
Sadly, There was no time to argue. Hugo lunged forward, his large arms sweeping up both Nephis and Sunny off the ground before they could offer any resistance. He tossed them unceremoniously onto his broad shoulders in a move that was jarringly nostalgic of their frantic escapes in the Labyrinth.
He then sent a sharp mental command to Gunlaug's Echo to follow, and then, without pause, he sprinted for the gap in the wall.
The fifteen foot giant, leapt from the peak of the spire holding a divine shadow and a nephlim on his back.
The wind whistled past them as they fell through the open air toward a balcony where the gateway was located.
THUD.
Hugo landed hard, his feet digging into the stone.
He immediately grabbed Nephis and, ignoring her startled protest, threw her bodily through the shimmering surface of the gateway.
She vanished in a swirl of light.
He set Sunny down more gently. Then, as the mind-controlled Gunlaug landed behind them with a heavy impact, Hugo sent another command through the [Spirit Seed].
Gunlaug walked stiffly toward Sunny. As he moved, the magnificent golden Echo surrounding him dematerialized into a shower of white sparks and transported to sunny.
What was revealed underneath was grotesque and wrong, Gunlaug's true body, now a fused mess of human flesh and woody roots...
At its center, pulsing like a diseased heart, was the [Spirit Seed] glowing with a sinister red light.
Hugo turned from the puppet to face Sunny. "As I promised. Here's your Transcendent Echo. Now get the hell out of here."
Sunny stared at the seed embedded in the monstrous form for a moment then turned his head to Hugo.
"...I appreciate it "
Sunny said quietly as He began to walk toward the flickering gateway, but then he suddenly paused, his head tilting slightly.
"Why aren't you going through?"
Hugo froze.
He had long been anticipating and dreading this moment...
Now that it was here, he found himself strangely empty...
After all, He couldn't go through the gateway.
Because he was dead.
The tether to his physical body in the waking world was gone, hollow and empty. The Omnitrix had confirmed his worst suspicions months ago when he asked it's Ai.
He was what the world called a Lost.
But he couldn't just say that. Not now and certainly not to sunny, who wouldn't leave a friend behind just like that.
"You go first q I still have a matter to settle with this asshole," Hugo said, jerking a thumb toward the mind-controlled husk.
"That's alright... Settle it now. Or better yet, let me kill him myself. I already have blood on my hands from killing Harus and the other hunters on the way here..."
Indeed, the Sleepers who had abused their power under Gunlaug's tyranny had been dealt with by Sunny and Nephis with the help of the Handmaidens before they reached the gateway.
They didn't deserve to live But that wasn't the problem now...
Hugo sighed as He saw the subtle tension in Sunny's posture.
His friend had already figured out something was wrong.
"You were always the clever one, weren't you?"
Hugo looked at his friend, his expression solemn and tired.
"I can't go through the gateway, Sunny."
"Why the fuck not?" The shadowy Sleeper's voice was a low snarl from behind his visor.
"My body is dead, Don't ask me how I know, I just do. Now go, before the gateway closes."
Sunny took a slow step away from the gateway, his hands shaking a little
"Then why the fuck did you do all of this for?! You tried your best to save everyone and reach the gateway despite the fact you wouldn't be able to pass through!"
Sunny was in a foul mood upon hearing the truth...
Of course he was.
"I already told you, Sunny. I wanted to save—"
"Cut the bullshit!" Sunny's voice was laced with venom. "You and Nephis really love your fucking savior shit, don't you? Oh, the noble 'Paragon of Purity,' sacrifices himself for the sake of humanity! That's just the perfect story, isn't it?"
Hugo stayed silent for a moment, his hands clenched at his sides. In truth, his motivation for saving the Sleepers was not truly selfless.
He had wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't a bad person and That he was someone his mother would have been proud of...
But was that truly selfish? What even was a "good person" in their broken world?
He didn't know, But he knew one thing for certain: he was getting Sunny through that gate, whether he liked it or not.
Without warning, Hugo rushed forward, using his Awakened Tyrant's superior speed and strength. Sunny's eyes widened behind his visor as Hugo grabbed him in one massive hand.
"Goodbye, Sun—" Hugo began, pivoting to hurl him toward the gateway.
But before he could do that, a gigantic shadow erupted from Sunny's own shadow.
The Carapace Scavenger, now darker and more menacing than before, slammed into Hugo with brutal force, sending him stumbling backwards.
Hugo gritted his teeth.
"Stop being so difficult! Just go through that fucking gate!" he shouted.
"Don't tell me what to do" was Sunny's flat reply.
Hugo's frown deepened as he glanced at the Omnitrix on his wrist—still recharging—and the increasingly unstable gateway.
"Just what the hell are you playing at?! If you stay here, you'll die!" he said, his voice raspy and tired " Do you think I want to stay here and sacrifice heroically?! If I could go through that gateway, I would've gladly left you here instead!"
The words were harsh and Crue And above all else a lie.
Hugo would never sacrifice any of his friends, But he had to convince sunny somehow.
Sunny was acting strangely at this moment...
Uncharacteristically so.
"I already left you once, I'm not going to do it again." Sunny responded, his voice mixed with strange sadness.
"Oh, so that's what this is about? You think you owe me something because you accidentally left me for dead? Well, you don't! I was dead at that time, and you know that, there was nothing you could do about it!"
Sunny gritted his teeth. "So what?! You're not dead now, are you?! And you want me to just leave you here to rot alone?!"
The Spire gave another violent shake a large chunks of coral began breaking free from the ceiling.
"So your grand plan is dying with me, is that it?"
Sunny hesitated for a moment before adding, "We can find another gateway together, Especially with that ship of yours."
"Oh, I see what this is." Hugo suddenly let out a humorless chuckle. "You just want to leech off me... as usual."
"What?"
"You heard me. You just want to stay here so you don't feel bad about leaving your friend. Then you'll rely on me to carry you through this hell, and then it's all rainbows and flowers, Of course! When hasn't your weak, pathetic self done this? First me, then Nephis and I'm sure there will be many more in the future." he said, his voice venomous and sharp " 'Divine Shadow'? More like 'Divine Parasite,' you selfish piece of shit."
The insult seemed to finally land, Hugo couldn't see Sunny's face but the subtle flinch in his shoulders and the tightening of his fists told him everything he needed to know.
Suddenly, Sunny let out a startled, short chuckle.
"Gods, you're good. But sorry to say this , Hugo, your mind games won't..."
He suddenly stopped as if his energy was instantly gone...
"...You didn't mean that... did you?" His voice was quieter now, seemingly hurt.
"Of course I did," Hugo said, his voice as cold and sharp as ice "You think I want to take care of you anymore? I'm sick of it. I'm sick of having to save your paranoid, annoying, crybaby ass. So now do us bother a favor and go through that fucking gateway and let us be done with this stupid melodrama."
Sunny seemed deeply affected by his words, his posture wilting slightly.
'Good... it's working,' Hugo thought grimly. In his emotional state, Sunny had forgotten about the mind-controlled Gunlaug standing right next to him...
The same Gunlaug that housed the [Spirit Seed] and now, that same seed have been slowly influencing Sunny's mind ever since Hugo had given him gunlaug golden Echo.
Hugo hated using such a trick on his friend but he knew how stubborn Sunny could be once h puts his mind on something.
"You..." Sunny paused, then his head turned slightly toward Gunlaug. A dawning horror seemed to seize him all of a sudden.
"Wh—..." He had realized it. "You little—!"
But when Sunny turned back to Hugo, all he saw was a flash of blue light and a blur of black and blue rushing at him an incredible speed.
Hugo, now in his [Kineceleran] form, moved faster than thought itself, He grabbed Sunny before he could protest or summon another Shadow and in two strides, he was at the gateway's edge.
Hugo looked down at his friend one last time, a grim, sad smile touching his lips.
"Let's meet again, Sunny."
Sunny's eyes widened in horror behind his visor. "N—!"
His scream was cut off, drowned in a shower of brilliant white sparks as he was pulled through the gateway.
In mere seconds, He was gone.
An instant later, the gateway's light winked out completely leaving behind only dead, cold stone which crumbled moment later.
At that same moment, a final groan echoed through the crimson Spire.
High above, the empty shell of the artificial sun shattered completely and fell smashing through the upper levels of the structure, burying itself into the heart of the island and causing the entire edifice to fold in on itself with a sound that seemed like the end of the world.
Hugo stared at the apocalyptic scene at the crumbling Spire, his expression solemn and tried...
this monument that had consumed countless lives and caused endless suffering was finally meeting its end.
And once that was done, A profound, hollow loneliness washed over him, colder than the dark sea itself...
He was alone.
Again.
"I guess I won't be getting that cake anytime soon..." he murmured to the emptiness, already wondering how his friends were in the waking world...
Just as he began to turn away, hugo suddenly stopped.
"Ah, right." He looked at the mind-controlled Gunlaug, standing motionless amidst the falling dust. "You're still here..."
Hugo walked toward the puppet with his claws opened and commanded the [Spirit Seed] to return to his soul sea.
It was time to end this chapter of the story once and for all...
But something strange happened once again...
His Echo did not obey.
"What are you—?" Hugo whispered as his confusion turned to alarm.
Before his astonished eyes, the [Spirit Seed] embedded in Gunlaug's chest erupted with a dangerous, pulsating light that was a chaotic mix of sinister red and pure white soulessence.
He was nearly blinded by the light, but then the voice of the spell spoke in his head:
[Your Echo is evolving.]
"What?"
Quickly, he summoned the Echo's runes.
Echo: [Spirit Seed]
Echo Rank:Awakened
Echo Class:Terror
Echo Description:[A sacred seed once sprouted from a mountain of corpses after a cataclysmic battle. It was the last sapling of the World Tree, meant to be a bastion of life and beauty. But its hunger knew no bounds, leading corruption to fester within its heart. The seed grew into a harrowing fiend, enthralling thousands of souls to its service, until one day it made the fatal mistake of enthralling a treacherous shadow, a wicked nephilim, and an insidious shapeshifter.]
Echo Attributes:[Hunger], [Sacred], [Spirit], [Heartwood]
[Hunger] Attribute Description:[This seed is a child of Heart, and thus its hunger for growth is insatiable.]
[Sacred] Attribute Description:[This seed is of a sacred, divine origin.]
[Spirit] Attribute Description:[This seed can reside within the body and soul of its master.]
[Heartwood] Attribute Description:[This seed's core possesses numerous holy qualities.]
Echo Abilities:[Enthrall], [Harvest], [Soul Fruit], [Soul Weaver]
[Enthrall] Ability Description:[This seed can manipulate the minds of weaker creatures.]
[Harvest] Ability Description:[This seed can absorb the souls of the fallen.]
Souls Harvested:[10000/100]
[Soul Fruit] Ability Description:[This seed can transform harvested souls into soul fruits.]
[Soul Weaver] Ability Description:[This seed can manipulate the souls of weaker creatures.]
"How..." Hugo gulped, his eyes fixed on the staggering number of souls harvested...
A terrible realization suddenly dawned on him, this one more horrifying than the last.
His Echo, in its boundless hunger, had somehow absorbed the entire reservoir of sacrificed souls contained within the Spire's failing machinery...
Before he could react, countless thick, woody roots erupted from Gunlaug's body.
They lashed out with terrifying speed, wrapping around gunlaug limbs and torso in a parasitic manner.
The roots coiled tighter, lifting him off the ground and weaving a dense, living cocoon of glowing divine wood around him before falling to the ground with a thud.
Elsewhere, in the waking world, sleeper gunlaug body suddenly glowed with a omnious light before disappearing from the pod without a trace.
Hugo was left in the ruins of the Crimson Spire. The sun was dead plunging the world into absolute darkness. The dark sea was sealed away, And now, his own Echo had done the impossible and entered a strange state of chrysalis..
"What the actual fu-"
———
[Sunny's POV]
Sunny woke up in his recovery pod in a somber, heavy mood.
He had done it.
He was back.
He had finally escaped the Forgotten Shore and returned home as an Awakened, one of the most powerful ones at that.
By all means, he should be beyond happy, thrilled even.
After all, He was strong now and Many of his friends had made it out of that hell ..
But one hadn't...
The friend he had wanted to save most was gone once again.
Sunny gritted his teeth, anger and frustration boiling under his skin. He punched the pod's glass open, the reinforced material shattering under his Awakened strength, and forced his way out.
He had been played. Like a damn fool.
How could he have been so blind to that cursed Echo? Hugo had used their conversation and the Echo's subtle mental influence to stall him
To stall long enough for his damn Aspect to recharge.
It was a devious, masterful trick that made Sunny feel a twisted sense of pride even as fury consumed him...
Suddenly, one of the medical nurses responsible for monitoring the Sleepers entered the sterile room. Her face was a mask of shock at seeing him awake and out of his pod. Then, a deep blush crept up her cheeks...
In his anger, Sunny had forgotten he was naked.
Now that he was an Awakened—an Awakened Demon, no less—he was no longer the scrawny outskirts rat he had been before... His physique was lean but powerfully built, and, as the nurse's flustered gaze inadvertently confirmed the fact that he was... proportionately impressive...
Rolling his eyes, sunny summoned the Puppeteer's Shroud in a torrent of sparks to cover himself.
"Awakened Sunless! Glad to see that you are back!" the nurse stammered, trying and failing to maintain professionalism.
Sunny's tired eyes swept over her dismissively.
"Yeah, whatever..." He approached her. "Can you take me to Sleeper Hugo's room?"
The nurse's expression instantly soured at the mention of that name...
Her professional mask cracked, revealing pity and discomfort. "You mean the Paragon of Purity..."
"Yes?" Sunny said, raising an eyebrow.
Why was she reacting so strangely?
"I'm... sorry to say this. But Sleeper Hugo is... deceased. He was declared as a Hollow five months ago."
Sunny's eyes widened in shock... A cold, grim realization washed over him...
his lips spread into a pained smile and he let out a dry chuckle making The nurse take a horrified step back.
'Of course. So that's why...'
The bastard had actually died, after all. And if he died in the Dream Realm, wouldn't it make sense that his body in the waking world would perish as well?
The small, fragile sense of relief he'd felt for not being the cause of Hugo's first death instantly evaporated... it was because of him, and his cursed plan to take out the carapace demon that Hugo had died in the first place.
And now, because of him, his best friend was stuck, alone, in a death zone on the other side of the Dream Realm...
———
[Two days later]
Awakened Jasmine stood in a dull white room, her posture stiff and exhausted. Next to her, seated in a wheelchair, was a young boy with jet-black hair and empty, sightless blue eyes.
His expression was blank and His very soul seemed unnaturally absent.
Two days ago, the entire world had been taken by a storm.
Hundreds of Sleepers, lost for years, had awakened from their deep slumber, returning to the embrace of their families and friends.
All but one.
Sleeper Hugo.
True Name: Paragon of Purity.
His name was causing a major ruckus throughout the government and the entire world.
Hundreds of returned Sleepers had recounted incredible, valiant deeds performed by the "architect" their testimonies bordering on reverence and worship.
They all credited him, above all others, for their survival.
It made no sense...
Because the Paragon of Purity had died. His body had become a Hollow five months ago and their technology certainly was not broken.
Jasmine remembered that day clearly, The sadness and pity she'd felt for the poor boy and the emptiness she felt for the young sleeper...
Miss J wasn't someone who got attached quickly, especially not to Sleepers, given their horrifying mortality rate, But she couldn't help it.
After all, She was still a human.
Now, with this new development, she didn't know what to think anymore, Was her student alive? Why hadn't he come back if all the Sleepers swore they'd seen him?
Was someone impersonating him? Or worse, had some parasitic abomination taken his place?
Her thoughts were mangled and crazy, as no such a creature would help humans reach the gateway...
The situation was beyond confusing and that was putting it mildly... And to make it worse, The entirety of the Sleeper's army , including the rising changing star and her cohort were demanding to see the Paragon of purity...
There had been many strange occurrences in the world of the Nightmare Spell, but this certainly took the cake...
The Academy, and by extension the government, couldn't admit he was a Hollow as They themselves didn't understand the situation properly and So, they did what governments do best.
They lied.
They fabricated a perfect story: Sleeper Hugo was still in his pod, critically injured from holding off the Corrupted Terror and unable to pass through the gateway in time. They made him a tragic hero to the World and his fellow sleepers.
The lie went through perfectly, because all the Sleepers confirmed that Hugo was fighting the Terror alone when they escaped—a feat the Academy found impossible to believe, no matter how much they tried to wrap their heads around it.
The entire situation was simply too absurd.
And All that was left now were hundreds of powerful, newly Awakened individuals perhaps the strongest awakened of all time , all mourning a savior they believed was just out of reach...
Awakened Jasmine gritted her teeth, staring at the hollow shell in the wheelchair.
"It's not fair... Why did it have to be like this?"
"Ah, but when has anything been fair in our world to begin with?" A raspy, stern voice came from behind her.
She didn't need to look as She knew that voice too well.
It was Instructor Rock, her former colleague, and someone who had formed a brief bond with sleeper Hugo in the month before the Winter Solstice.
Without taking her eyes off Hugo's hollow body, jasmine said in a low voice
"Hey, Rock... Do you think he's..."
"Dead?" Awakened Rock finished, his own gaze fixed on the hollow body. "That boy? He was already impossibly strong for a sleeper But after hearing what he did on the Forgotten Shore... I don't think there's a force in this world or the other capable of killing him for good..."
A dry, fragile smile found its way to her lips. "I suppose so... But still... No child should go through what he did, Especially not now, all alone in that hell..."
Instructor Rock sighed. His attempt to lift the mood had failed because he wasn't certain of his own words either.
"I... can only pray for another miracle. Even though I didn't know the boy for long" he said solemnly, knowing full well his prayer would not be answered.
After all, the gods were long dead.
"A miracle, yes. That would be nice..." Her voice was strangely wistful.
She finally looked at him, her crimson eyes meeting his amber eyes.
"Hey, Rock."
"Yes?"
"How would you like some cake right now? All this stress over the last few days has really increased my appetite..."
Rock looked at her with a dumbfounded expression before sighing in resignation. "You never change, do you? But Sure. Let's go have some cake."
The duo took one final, somber look at the hollow form of Hugo, then turned and left the sterile room...
Unbeknownst to them, a certain shadow had been clinging to the darkest corner of the room throughout their entire conversation. It had observed them, and more importantly, it had observed the empty vessel on the wheelchair...
A whisper, so soft it was almost inaudible, drifted through the still air...
"I'm sorry..."
Then, the shadow was gone as well.
Once again, Hugo was alone.
[End of Volume 1: A Mysterious Watch]