Chapter 151: Final touch
A burning sensation ignited in Hugo's mind, causing him to let out a painful scream.
His current mind was enhanced due to Brainstorm's nature, however that did nothing to soothe the pain. If anything, it made it far worse.
If he had activated the [Supreme Mind] enchantment as a human, the effects would've been evident but far less powerful... After all, a mortal couldn't comprehend the mind of a demigod.
However, Brainstorm could. His mind was not only more complex than that of humans but it was also faster, functioning like a supercomputer.
What was meant to be experienced in seconds felt like hours due to this and Hugo suddenly found himself in a state of hyper focus.
He felt as if he had just climbed in ranks, instantly becoming supreme... But of course, that was not the case. A mere supreme memory could never elevate an Awakened above their rank.
However... It could elevate one part of them.
'... I am... Supreme'
Hugo felt the near boundless mind of a supreme in an instant, feeling vast, powerful and... Tyrannical.
It felt as if he had become an entire nation, ruled by a powerful tyrant.
Strangely, this sensation which would be surreal and alien to almost anyone below the supreme rank, was familiar to Hugo.
He had felt something like that whenever he used his tyrant class. Although the feeling of being a supreme was much more intense than being a mere tyrant.
This minor note made Hugo wonder about the nature of the path of ascension.
'Could it be that the classes of noble creatures coincide with the ranks within the path of ascension?'
The thought seemed laughable at first, but the more he thought about it, the more possible it became.
Beast would be dormant, monster would be awakened, demon would be ascended, devil would be Transcendent, tyrant would be supreme, terror would be sacred and lastly, titan would be divine...
Did the gods create noble creatures in the image of the path of ascension?
It could be a coincidence, but Hugo doubted it.
'How fascinating...'
He wondered how that would affect him in the future, after all he was unique among the humans and noble creatures alike.
Shaking off the thoughts, Hugo focused on his problem.
Now that he possessed a supreme mind, one that was accelerated thanks to Brainstorm, he should be able to find a solution to his minor problem.
'The enchantment runs out in a few seconds but it would last for two hours in my perspective thanks to Brainstorm's ability... That said, wasting time is not a good idea right now.'
Hugo got to work, and as he did, hundreds of light shapes emerged in his mind, shifting and transforming into runes.
Every word in the runic language that he knew was present, accompanied by dozens of runic arrays, sentences and codes.
At the same time, a blue orb manifested itself, unleashing waves of... Ice.
That represented the authority of the Winter Beast, in other words, the main problem.
The runes, codes and arrays broke apart and reshaped themselves into various forms of runic enchantments, ones that were new and innovative, created by his supreme mind.
He was running simulations, experimenting and testing which enchantment could be the most effective against the Winter Beast's authority. Or to be specific, he was searching for which enchantment could bypass and avoid that dreadful authority...
'That creature...'
Hugo frowned. With his current supreme mind, he now had enough insight to recognize something.
The authority the Winter Beast possessed was not just his titanic nature, no it was far more sinister.
It was will... Or at least a form of it born from the Winter Beast's powers and its nature as a Titan.
As far as Hugo knew, creatures below the supreme and great rank could not wield will, they possessed it but could not wield it. To them, it was something instinctual, rather than something they controlled.
This rule held true for most creatures, but not for titans it seems.
As hundreds of simulations passed and failed to evade the tyrannical power of the Winter Beast, Hugo discovered something new.
'This thing... Its powers have evolved to become a domain... A lesser domain to be specific.'
He was not the most knowledgeable when it came to domains, however, he had seen the domain of Max Tennyson and that of Anvil of Valor, even if the latter happened in a brief moment.
Both monarchs held their domains within them, an extension of themselves. This had led Hugo to believe that domains were an extension of the aspect, which are in turn a part of an individual.
In the case of the Winter Beast, the unique ability it must've once possessed as a devil mutated and transformed into a domain... A domain over ice.
'The Winter Beast, despite being a corrupted abomination meets all the requirements of being a supreme... How unsettling...'
It made Hugo wonder what kind of creature it was.
Was it born of corruption? Was it a human who had been corrupted? Or perhaps it was a noble creature?
He would never know, at least not for now.
His mind worked harder, trying to find the final missing piece of the puzzle.
As he did that, somewhere else, a certain master was fighting for his life, barely struggling to remain alive in the desolate hellscape that was Antarctica.
***
Hundreds of nightmare creatures were rushing through Antarctica like an omen of darkness, chasing after a caravan of humans...
Those beasts could not resist the allure of thousands of human souls, even if they were mundane...
More than that, there were a few Awakened among them.
Dark tendrils tore the head of a rushing abomination, killing the creature in an instant and moving to the next target.
At the same time an arrow flashed through the sky impaling dozens of nightmare creatures.
Sunny, standing atop the accelerating rhino, with his [Shadow Symbiote] bonded to his body, let out a scowl as he heard the voice of the spell.
[You have slain a fallen beast: Brood of the Devouring Cloud...]
'Damn it all...'
Soldiers from the caravans and his own cohort used their guns in hope of slowing the horde of Devouring Clouds, but alas it did little to the abominations, even if the guns they were wielding were upgraded by Hugo months ago.
The Devouring Cloud was one of the threats Sunny had encountered here in Antarctica, those aerial abominations were no joke, as they were deadly and malicious, and more importantly, their numbers were far bigger than the normal hordes... Well, there was nothing normal when it came to nightmare creatures, but the statement still stands.
More than that, the abominations they were dealing with right now were far more powerful than the usual bunch. Stopping to fight them was not an option, as it would cause the civilians to be caught in the crossfire.
'... We don't need to stop... But a friend of mine can.'
Sunny dismissed [Morgan's Warbow], and raised his hands, making a hand gesture, Form two tight fists or forward-facing horns with your index fingers curled out on each side of your head/hands.
At the same time, a dark wheel of seven balls manifested atop his head like a crown, as it did, the shadows around them suddenly became much deeper.
"Come forth, Piercing Ox!"
A large ox made of pure shadows rose from Sunny's own shadow, and before it could even take a look at its surroundings, it suddenly began running in a mad frenzy, leaving a trail of electricity behind it.
This was one of the shadows within the sacred treasure, known as the Piercing Ox. Out of the nine shadows Sunny had unlocked so far, this one was the trickiest to tame due to the fact that it wouldn't stop.
Now... It was rushing headfirst into an army of abominations.
The mad ox slammed into the nightmare creatures, engulfed in lightning and shadows, it looked like a fierce God had descended from the heavens to destroy the army of corruption.
Its mighty horns drove through them, but some still managed to escape its wrath.
Sunny, instead of feeling happy, made sure to kill the abominations that escaped using his Shadow Symbiote.
He would've summoned more shadows from the sacred treasure, but unfortunately, unlike his main Shadows, the ones offered by the sacred treasure consumed shadow essence when they were summoned.
Back when they were Awakened, Sunny could maintain all of them at once, as he was an Ascended. But now, with most of the Shadows becoming Ascended, he could only maintain one at a time.
Summoning Saint, Sunny handed her [Morgan's Warbow] and commanded his [Shadow Symbiote] to retract its tendrils.
Saint, his most loyal shadow, needed no command as she immediately began firing arrows at the abominations.
Sunny opened the door of the rhino and entered the vehicle, looking at the people inside...
Belle, Dorn, Kim, Luster, Quentin and Samara. However, his cohort was not the only passengers here, as they were accompanied by two extra people.
Beth, and Professor Obel.
Seeing the old man's face, Sunny gritted his teeth as he remembered what had transpired at LO49...
All of those deaths... All gone, just like that, never to be recovered...
Shaking his head, Sunny moved to the driver seat to speak with Luster, who was currently the one driving.
"How long until we reach Erebus Field?"
Luster hesitated for a moment, his eyes drowsy and tired from the lack of sleep.
"I'm not sure sir... The GPS is broken but if I had to guess... I'd say a few hours. Though the map that we took from LO49 says that there's a tunnel a few miles from here."
Sunny nodded, as he sent two of his shadows, the ones granted by his cores, to scout forward, and another one to scout the area behind them.
There in the distance, he could briefly see a tunnel, just as Luster said. If nothing interrupts them, they should reach it in fifteen minutes.
In the back, however, was a less appealing sight. The ox was fighting desperately for its life drowning in the sea of raging abominations.
It had managed to hold them down, however it would not survive for long.
'What a damn mess...'
Leaving the rhino and getting on top of it, Sunny dismissed the ox back into the sacred treasure.
His original plan was to use the ox to stall the horde long enough so they can put enough distance between the nightmare creatures and the caravan, however that had failed, as Sunny could not sacrifice one of his shadows, or at least he did not want to.
So now, he must find another way to deal with the horde, or else the caravan would be doomed.
Sunny exhaled as he made a hand sign once again, this time it resembled that of a rabbit.
The wheel floating on his head made a ticking sound as it rotated once. At the same time, something rose from his shadow...
Unlike the Shadows granted by the treasure and his regular shadows, this one was small and imposing, manifesting as a small white rabbit.
It was funny, Sunny had never seen a rabbit before obtaining the treasure and taming it.
Despite its lackluster appearance, one would be foolish to underestimate this little bastard.
Sunny recalled three of his shadows, and augmented himself, feeling his body become more powerful.
At the same time, he wrapped himself in his [Shadow Symbiote], increasing his powers even more.
Kneeling slightly, Sunny grabbed the shadow rabbit and gave it a small wink.
"You must be hungry right? I once read that rabbits used to like carrots... Unfortunately I don't have that right now, but I do have a shit ton of nightmare creatures instead!"
The rabbit tilted its head, slightly confused by the antics of its master.
Then without warning, Sunny leaned back and tossed the rabbit as far as he could towards the direction of the horde. The rabbit was launched like a missile, becoming a projectile that could shatter buildings...
When it reached the horde of nightmare creatures, instead of piercing them, the little monster did much more than that...
It suddenly multiplied. One after another, the rabbit grew into hundreds of rabbits, challenging the devouring dark horde.
The two monstrous armies clashed in the middle of Antarctica, blocking out the sun for a moment due to their sheer size and casting a shadow over the entire region.
Sunny, looking at the dreadful sight, shivered slightly. Then he turned to Saint, who had reclined by his side, wielding Morgan's Warbow.
"Saint, remind me to never piss off the rabbit..."
Saint glanced at her master, then nodded solemnly. Then, she suddenly turned out, and looked somewhere.
Following her gaze, Sunny saw that she was looking at the tunnel the caravan was closing in towards...
'Strange... She never usually does stuff like this...'
This harmless gesture made Sunny uncomfortable, but alas they had nowhere to go.
The caravan continued forward, and finally, after dreadful minutes, they reached the tunnel.