Chapter 157: Equilibrium
Titans were mystical beings of ancient times, possessing qualities that were simply incomprehensible to lesser creatures.
However, they were not immortal.
Everything and everyone can be killed in this world, whether it be through sheer force, mystical power or a combination of both.
Hugo had used the strength of Four Arms, fused with the titanic power of Humungousaur to unleash a devastating strike while falling towards Goliath.
The skin of the stone titan cracked and broke, falling to the sea below and sending ripples throughout it.
Hugo used one of his many arms to make sure he did not fall, clinging to the body of the fallen Titan.
Goliath, shaken and angered by this transgression, brought down its mighty arm where Hugo was in an attempt to crush the pitiful bug who had dared to crack its hide.
Hugo leaped off the shoulder of Goliath and shot upward, dodging the fist and climbing onto another part of the enraged Titan.
'I need to destroy its eye...'
Hugo continued climbing relentlessly while continuing to cling to the titan.
Goliath tried to shake off Hugo, however the Shapeshifter refused to let go, using his tremendous strength to cling on.
Eventually, Hugo finally reached the head, and before the fallen Titan could unleash its magma, Hugo augmented himself with the last of his soul essence, and his Abilities, gaining a new sense of tenacity.
His two fists collided with Goliath's head, causing the titan to sway once again and nearly fall.
Hugo punched once again, and again and again. Unleashing an endless barrage of mountain shattering punches, each one cracking the flesh of the stone titan.
Goliath's mind, sharp and twisted by the influence of corruption, was struggling to withstand the relentless assault. In other words, Hugo had given it the world's biggest headache.
The titan could not control its body, and it accidentally went backward, causing it to plummet downward into the ocean.
Hugo found his golden opportunity and reached for the eye, then, gathering the last of his strength, Hugo punched the titan's eye, breaking through its layer and shattering it completely and revealing seven brilliant stars within it.
Those stars were its soul cores, tainted by corruption.
'Jackpot...'
With another punch, the titanic cores exploded into splinters and at the same time, Goliath's soul crumbled, losing its titanic will and power.
[You have slain a fallen Titan: Minor Shard of the Stone Titan]
As the titan died, the influx of soul essence that was stored within Goliath's core rushed towards Hugo, after all, he had destroyed its seven soul shards.
Just as Hugo was about to change forms, his Omnitrix beeped red, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
He had forgotten to lock his Omnitrix...
'And I was supposed to have a great memory!'
With a flash of red, he detransformed into his human form and held on to Goliath's corpse as it plummeted into the water.
'Might as well'
He pulled on his innate ability and scanned the corpse.
The yellow energy swept over its broken body and moments later...
[You have received an imprint]
Hugo, despite being burnt and broken, felt happy about acquiring such a powerful form.
But that was not the only thing that was happening...
Deep within his soul, the terror core, which had amassed six thousand soul shards suddenly shook, causing his entire soul to tremble.
The influx of soul shards escaped the confines of the core and danced around his soul, before slowly starting to spin around, fusing into one.
A new omni-core was taking shape and with it, Hugo's soul was beginning to transform into a Titan once again.
[Your Omnitrix has grown stronger]
[Your Omnitrix is taking shape]
He let out a silent scream and held his breath as he was submerged underwater...
Within the cold ocean of Antarctica, Hugo was reborn into a Titan once again.
***
Sunny was desperately fighting for his life, bonded with the [Shadow Symbiote] while completely exhausted out of his essence.
He had used shadow step to survive the fall, and all was well after that...
Until a certain devil appeared out of nowhere and ambushed him.
The creature was vaguely familiar. It was short, barely reaching Sunny's abdomen, with dark skin and bone plates covering its scrawny body like a suit of light armor. The damned goblin did not look too formidable, but it had a wide mouth full of sharp, triangular teeth.
...It was also missing two fingers on its right hand.
Sunny had remembered it well... It was the pitiful creature that had managed to escape him... The wretch had grown a lot since their last meeting... however, it was still on the smaller side.
Groaning from the attack, Sunny summoned the [Sin of Solace], briefly feeling its insidious whisper.
"Useless fool... You couldn't even finish off an imp. You disgust me."
At some point, the whispers of the Transcendent blade had become much more coherent... Perhaps because he had attempted to master shadow dance fourth step, briefly losing his mind.
Sunny could not afford to pay it any more attention, as he was busy wrestling with the ferocious monster.
It had taken a piece of his flesh when it had ambushed him, consuming it like the vulgar wretch it was. and now it was trying to kill him as a whole.
Dark tentacles sprouted from Sunny's back, grabbing the abomination by its hands and yanking it upward.
Exhausted and out of essence, Sunny used the augmentation his symbiote gave him and rose to his feet. He grabbed the [Sin of Solace] and clumsily cut the fiend's chest, piercing his flesh and infecting him with madness...
The little imp screamed in pain and savagely kicked around, hitting Sunny and causing him to be flung away.
At the same time the tendrils retracted into Sunny.
His [Shadow Symbiote] was the only thing keeping him standing, however even it had its limits. It had been bonded to him for a long time by now, and so it had become weaker...
It needed to rest in his soul sea, however if Sunny dismissed it, then he would surely die to the imp.
'I'm sorry, buddy, you'll have to bear with me a little...'
Seeing the imp rushing forward once again, Sunny grabbed the [Sin of Solace] and blocked each swing of the imp's claws, straining his tired body even further.
He could not afford to use the symbiote, as it did not have much essence left.
As Sunny evaded another Monsterous claw, he slowly realized something peculiar about this nightmare creature.
It was lucky. Extremely lucky, as it had managed to survive him back then and grown into a fallen devil...
More than that, as he was fighting it right now, Sunny was exhausted and out of essence. Most of his shadows were in his soul, embraced by the dark flames of his cores and being resorted by them.
His sacred treasure could not be used at the moment as well, as he did not have the necessary essence to utilize it.
It was as if the world, and fate itself, were aligned with the imp.
'There are those who are blessed, and there are those who are cursed… but rarely both...'
The second part of the [Fated] attribute description had made it clear that there are those blessed by fate, cursed by and in rare occasions both.
Sunny was both blessed and cursed, however this fiend seemed to be blessed by it.
That made Sunny both envious and hateful of it, however he did not allow his childish emotions to cloud his mind at this moment.
After all he was not just fighting against a fallen devil, he was fighting against fate itself right now. Any slip up could lead to his death.
He briefly utilized Shadow dance second step, copying Saint's indomitable battle art, and using impenetrable defence to stop any vicious attack.
Sunny parried another attack, and just then, an opening appeared within the guard of the abomination.
In truth it had no guard, as it was still a savage creature of corruption, but the distinction barely mattered to Sunny.
The Sin of Solace flashed like an omen of death, finding its mark on the fiend's shoulder and cutting off its arm.
The savage nightmare creature was in pain, yet it swiftly retaliated, ignoring its pathetic state and launching itself at Sunny.
Sunny's left arm, which was holding the Sin of Solace, could not be lifted fast enough to block the incoming attack, so, he was forced to use his exhausted symbiote once more.
His right arm moved on its own, manifesting dozens of tentacles and forming a giant arm from the inky black mass.
He shifted it a little and the terrifying arm collided with imp's lower body, causing it to explode entirely upon collision.
Left without its legs, the fiend tried to bite Sunny's arm, but before it could do that, Sunny angrily drove down the Sin of Solace down its head, piercing it and ending the life of the abomination once and for all.
[You have slain a Fallen devil: Ravenous Fiend]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
[You have received an echo.]
Sunny's [Shadow Symbiote] collapsed into black sparks, dismissing itself into his soul sea to be healed after a long time being used, leaving Sunny naked.
He quickly activated [Mantle] and wrapped himself in its dark embrace, still feeling cold and dizzy.
Groaning, he picked up the Sin of Solace and dismissed it into his soul.
His wounds were dangerous and painful, but blood weave and the mantle attribute were already repairing his devastated body, so Sunny did not need to worry about bleeding to death.
Looking at the remains of the fiend, Sunny sneered and spat on its disgusting flesh.
"Not so lucky right now, bastard?"
Despite his hateful words, Sunny was glad the fiend was finally dead... Who knew what it could have done if it had been left alive or if it had escaped him once again?
Shaking the thought out of his head, Sunny looked back at the direction of where Hugo was fighting the Titan... There was no sound of their chaotic battle which meant it had ended...
One of them was dead.
Sunny felt slightly worried, however he managed to notice a humanoid figure walking in the distance, encased in sleek silver armor.
Letting out a sigh, Sunny walked towards the figure and dismissed his helmet.
"You look like shit."
Hugo dismissed his helmet as well, looking bruised and burnt.
"Look who's talking..."
Looking behind him, Hugo noticed a corpse and realized that Sunny had faced a dreadful enemy on his way.
"Tough fight huh?"
Sunny shrugged.
"It was just a fallen devil. Did you kill the titan and if so, how?"
To his question, Hugo gave him a mischievous smile.
"I killed it by giving it a headache, how else is a man supposed to kill a titan?"
"... I see... So did you get anything from it?"
Surely the spell would've rewarded him for killing a titan.
Hugo nodded.
"I got its imprint and I managed to become a Titan once again, but no memories or echoes... The spell is so unfair. You'd think it would give me something for killing a fallen Titan."
"I can relate. Killing a powerful abomination and not receiving anything is terrible."
"Right? I once killed an unholy god and it rewarded me with nothing! It's outrageous!"
"..."
The two of them stared at each for a while, both barely struggling to stand from their injuries.
"Your comedy is terrible. It's only fun when I do it."
"Well that's not very nice of you, mister. But Anyway, we better head back to Erebus Field, your cohort seemed pretty worried about you."
With that, Hugo summoned the [Proto-truck] and entered it, leaving it in its truck form.
Inside, Sunny let out a long sigh and relaxed into his seat, letting his tired body rest.
"Driving across a monster infested Continent in a truck wasn't on my to-do list this year..."
Handling the wheel, Hugo answered
"Ah, but that's the thing, Sunny! adventures like this must always be unexpected! If it's something predictable, then can it really be called an adventure?"
"No I suppose not..."