Chapter 156: Absolute Power
Sunny did not have much experience underwater, in fact that had always been one of his main weaknesses.
He knew how to swim, of course, and he had also survived the forgotten shore which had the terrifying dark sea in it.
But when it came to combat underwater, he was out of his field.
That was a fact that did not matter very much as he flapped his legs as fast as he could, trying to run away from the titan.
Goliath was big and strong, yet speed was not its strong suit. However, such a terrifying creature did possess mystical abilities...
Its giant eye slid away, revealing a second eye that was Unlike the first one, which was white and had neither an iris nor a pupil. The second eye was of a furious red color, as if made of pure magma, and had three incandescent pupils floating in its depths, like windows into a scorching inferno.
Suddenly, unbearable heat could be felt in the surroundings, and the water around the titan began to evaporate releasing steam into the air.
Sunny felt like he was being boiled alive, feeling the heat of the titan's secret eye.
His shadow sense, which had developed quite a lot ever since he became a tyrant, made him see how many terrifying nightmare creatures were killed by this simple attack, unable to resist the heat of Goliath.
He himself had survived thanks to the [Mantle] attribute, and [Memory of Fire] charm memory, which he had quickly summoned moments ago, that was attached to his armor. Mantle amplified the power of the Charm, so the fire resistance the charm gave him made him resistant to this heat.
That did not mean he could survive the attack, and most importantly... The water around him would likely evaporate soon.
Sunny did not know if a fallen Titan could evaporate all the water on earth, however he did not want to find out.
All he wanted right now was to escape.
'If I could just shadow step...'
Right as he thought about that, something changed in the water.
The sea suddenly parted in two, as if compelled to by a divine force...
Goliath, the stone titan had slammed its fist down the surface of the water, parting it away like it's nothing to reach its prey.
Sunny suddenly felt himself falling down, with the water rushing to close down on him preparing to crush him.
But before that could happen, a streak of red appeared seemingly out of nowhere, grabbing Sunny and flying him away before anything could happen.
Sunny, startled and assuming the worst, struggled to escape his captor before looking at who it was.
It was a red creature with slightly yellow-orange lines to the side. Its eyes and head were shaped slightly like an owl and there was a badge on its chest.
An all too familiar badge with an hourglass shape.
Recognizing his savior, Sunny couldn't help but smile under the plates of [Shadow Carapace].
"What's with you and flashy entrances?"
Hugo made sure to avoid a beam of incandescent heat that Goliath had unleashed, using his Arial experience and the mobility of Jetray.
"That's no way to greet your old friend, Sunny, and besides, don't you think the situation is too serious for jokes?"
"That was not a joke."
Below, Goliath seemed to have realized that its approach was not working, so it crouched down going slightly underwater... And then it leaped off the ground, rising to grab the two annoying creatures.
Hugo let out a scoff of displeasure and threw Sunny as far as he could into the sky, then he leaped down, avoiding the swing of the fallen Titan.
Before the titan could change its trajectory, Hugo increased his speed and flew towards Sunny grabbing him once again.
"You asshole!" Sunny screamed, clearly not pleased with being thrown around like a bag of potatoes.
Goliath landed on the ocean once again, before leaping a second time trying to reach them.
"This bastard just doesn't give up doesn't he..."
Why would it? After all there was an Ascended tyrant and an Ascended terror running around, both with a soul shining with the light of divinity.
It would not let them go at all, especially considering they could fuel its evolution to the next rank.
This time Hugo threw Sunny downward and flew to the side, letting Goliath pass them seamlessly...
However, the stone titan did not allow that to happen like the first time, instead it turned its attention towards Hugo at the last moment, revealing its molten eye once again and blasting him with its heat point blank.
The blast was too fast and too enormous for Jetray to escape, and so it swallowed Hugo, completely obliterating him.
[Failsafe activated]
A beautiful azure light pushed the molten lava away, as a being made of the same materials emerged.
The Omnitrix had used its failsafe, forcefully transforming him into an alien that could save his life. Heatblast was an option, however the creature was not resistant to lava, at least not entirely. So the Omnitrix chose NRG instead.
Groaning and in pain from the attack, Hugo left the NRG suit and emerged as a creature of lava.
He watched as Goliath fell to the ground and quickly rushed downward to grab Sunny once again.
"New plan Sunny, I'll try to hold off the Titan while you run away!" He hesitated for a moment then asked "Do you have enough essence for shadow step?"
"What are you insane?! It's a fallen Titan! You'd die!" Then, compelled by his flaw he answered reluctantly "yes my cores just regenerated just enough for one jump but that still doesn't mean I'd let you fight that thing alone!"
Without wasting any more words, Hugo tossed Sunny once again, this time as far as he could, knowing Sunny would be safe thanks to shadow step.
Goliath, which had landed on the surface of the ocean, briefly glanced towards Sunny and tried to blast him down, but before it could, an Ocean of magma fell upon it with the full power of an Ascended terror, causing its rocky skin to melt slightly and knocking it slightly off balance.
Of course, such an attack was not enough to destroy a fallen Titan, so it quickly regained its balance and gazed upon its attacker, who was flying high in the sky.
Hugo gazed down upon the living mountain, and sneered, his body burning with the heat of living magma.
"Hey bastard, I've got an opening in my resume. How about you become the Second Titan I've slain?"
It would be embarrassing if Hugo only had killed one Titan in his lifetime, one that was merely Awakened at that.
A horrifying creature like Goliath would make his impressive resume look even more glorious.
Goliath, however, did not seem pleased about being attacked with its source element, nor did it share Hugo's enthusiasm for upgrading his resume.
Its molten eye unleashed another devastating attack of pure lava, causing the ocean beneath to evaporate once again.
Hugo propelled himself forward thanks to NRG's ability to fly and barely evaded the magma.
If it had come from another creature, it would've been unable to hurt him. However, it had come from a fallen Titan which possessed an authority over magma and a will of some kind, making it deadly even to him, who was a being made of pure magma.
'How do I kill this thing...'
Goliath could not be allowed to live, no matter what. Even if Hugo escaped it now, it'll continue roaming Antarctica and laying waste to anything and anyone it comes across.
It must die now, but the question was how?
He could not overpower it, as he was not a titan himself. He was close, but still far...
None of his aliens countered it, as well.
Pure strength was useless in this situation, same with flames, electricity and possession.
Saints of the war realm would occasionally engage in fights against titans, in such situations, the mighty Transcendents use their transformations to overpower the titan.
A Transcendent human could beat a fallen Titan, but could an Ascended terror do the job?
'Let's see...'
Evading another blast, Hugo formed balls of magma and shot them at the titan shoulders.
The balls of magma hit their targets but did little damage.
Attacking a terror using its source element was unwise, however Hugo had a plan. He just needed to stall for a few minutes.
Moments passed, and the two creatures continued exchanging vicious attacks of magma, with Hugo evading the Giant blasts and the titan tanking Hugo's pitiful assaults.
When the titan had enough, it decided to change tactics, recognizing the nature of its opponent.
It used the blast of magma as a distraction to keep Hugo busy and then, using both of its arms, it brought them down to the surface of the ocean and used its fists to hold the water, before suddenly stopping its magma blast.
Then, without warning it released the water in its hands upwards towards Hugo.
Titans were intelligent and ancient, so it was no surprise that Goliath had used the opposite of Hugo's source element to drown him.
The water hit Hugo like a truck, drowning his body and destroying its heat. His molten body quickly crystalized and became rock, losing its properties of lava.
He fell down towards the stone titan like a fallen angel, as if delivering himself on a silver platter to the terrifying nightmare creature.
Of course, Hugo was not planning on letting himself be consumed, he just needed a way to get close to the titan and make it let its guard down.
His Omnitrix glowed with a blue light, as he slammed it and transformed once more. His rocky skin finally became flesh once again. It was light brown in color, and it was strong and mighty.
His body grew bigger, becoming like that of a humanoid dinosaur.
He had transformed into Humungousaur, but that was not the end.
Hugo activated his Ascended ability, [Fusion], and created a brand new hybrid alien.
One that was at the epitome of physical abilities.
An ocean of soul essence was immediately drained from his cores to fuel the transformation, and as it did, his body changed once more, becoming crimson red in color.
His dinosaur like head gained two new sets of eyes, and two powerful sets of arms emerged from his upper body, making his total amount of arms four.
He had fused Four Arms with Humungousaur, making him feel like he could crush mountains with a single punch... And thankfully, there was a mountain right beneath him.
Hugo activated his Abilities granted to him by this fusion and empowered himself as far as he could, gaining Transcendent level of physical power, then, just as his body reached Goliath, he positioned two of his arms in a narrow way to make a punch and...
CRACK!
The gargantuan titan trembled from the impact and swayed a little, to the point where it almost lost its center of gravity. The power behind the attack nearly knocked it over...
But more importantly, something new had happened.
Something that had not occurred in thousands of years.
For the first time in history, the impenetrable stone skin of Goliath was broken, revealing dark and sickening blood beneath it.