Chapter 159: Warning from an Oracle
Hugo felt the clean wind of the dream realm enter his lungs, making him feel oddly relaxed.
'Who would've thought I would be happy to be in the dream realm...'
It seemed Antarctica had managed to traumatize him more than the dream realm, which was a great feat.
Expanding his titan consciousness Hugo felt the numerous fire keepers within the island, however strangely enough, there wasn't much of them.
In fact even the cohort were not present...
'Sunny did say Effie and Kai are coming to Antarctica...'
Cassie and Nephis are likely going to go when Valor sends its forces. Though that does not explain the disappearance of the fire keepers.
Walking towards the tower, he felt a similar soul core at the bottom part of the tower, where the divine soul shard was.
It was Cassie, it seemed she has not left yet... Or perhaps she was waiting for him.
Moving to the lower parts, he knocked to make her aware of his presence.
Sid was beside Cassie, helping her see the world through her eyes.
"Sid, Cassie. I hope I'm not interrupting."
The two seemed to be startled a little by his visit, but clearly not displeased.
Cassie got up from her seated position and smiled.
"It's been a while, Hugo."
Sid gave him a taciturn nod as the two of them were not that close, despite the fact that he had taught her about sorcery a few times.
"Well, a few months are more than a little while, but yes, it's been a while." Looking over at the runes she was reading Hugo asked "Where are the fire keepers? This place is strangely empty."
Cassie gave him a long sigh.
"What do you think? Valor saw two hundred Ascended come into their clan willingly and immediately took advantage of that by deploying them to Bastion and the Black Mountains in order to battle the nightmare creatures there. Only a few had remained here, merely as a political gesture, nothing much."
Crossing his arms, Hugo thought about it for a moment.
'Valor... Ruled by the King of Swords...'
Anvil of Valor was the heir of War God, so he must be an expert when it came to war and guiding his army.
Cassie had not said it but Hugo wouldn't be surprised if those fire keepers hadn't been sent to the war in Antarctica.
Two hundred masters was a powerful force indeed, but they were nothing compared to the one leading them...
Hugo shivered at the thought of the King of Swords descending upon the waking world and fighting against the ruler of clan Song, the Queen of Worms...
A battle between two supremes would wipe Antarctica clean off the map, forever changing the planet.
Hugo himself had seen what supreme humans and supreme beings are capable of first hand in his second nightmare.
'Surviving the next few months would prove to be a challenge...'
"I imagine working under clan Valor has not been easy for you and Neph?"
"... The elders of the clans are trying to control us as best as they can. I'm sure you are familiar with their politics, so you'd understand, considering the nature of your job. The clan members themselves are a mixed bag, there are some who admire Nephis for her bravery and some who think she would bring shame to the clan. The latter part is those who support princess Morgan and who also see Nephis as a threat to her."
"Morgan of Valor... I know her. I've never spoken to her but I did see her when I went to Saint Thane's events and parties. She's an exceptional Ascended who's destined to inherit the clan one day... But I also heard she's ruthless and cunning."
Cassie and Hugo walked out of the room, moving to the upper levels of the Ivory Tower and entered the kitchen. Sid stayed outside to give them some privacy, at the same time, she summoned a strange memory in the shape of a lock and placed it on the kitchen door.
It did not take a genius to recognize that was a charm memory capable of blocking out seers and other forms of espionage.
"Cunning indeed... She's a tough person to deal with, even if she's unaware of Nephis's plans..."
Looking through the shelves, Hugo found some tea herbs and some fresh water.
Mixing the two together, he activated his Ascended ability and turned his arm into that of Heatblast, heating the water and quickly making the tea, then detransformed his arm and poured the tea into two cups.
He sat beside Cassie and gave her the tea.
"I assume Nephis plans to destroy the clan from the inside?"
Hugo had not been told about her plan, but he knew that Changing Star was up to no good.
Cassie nodded.
"Yes. Choosing to join Valor was a means to an end. She plans to ascend further and find a way to kill the sovereigns when the time comes, and I plan to help her... And before you ask, only you and Sunny know about this. He himself wanted no part of it."
Hugo chuckled, before taking a sip of his tea.
"Why wouldn't he? You two are planning to kill two demigods. Anyone who's fine with it would be a madman... No offense but you and Nephis aren't exactly right in the head."
"None taken... But the same goes for you, you know?"
"True... But tell me Cassie, why exactly is she trying to kill those two? They were her father's former companions..."
As he said those words, something suddenly clicked in his head.
It was so obvious, so much so that even a fool would have realized it.
Nephis' hatred for the sovereigns, the fall of the Immortal Flame clan and the death of Broken Sword...
"Don't tell me..."
Cassie's expression turned grave but she unfortunately gave him a nod.
"Yes. Broken Sword did not die to a nightmare creature nor did he perish in the depths of a nightmare. Instead he was betrayed and slain by his former companions. For what reason, I cannot tell... But I doubt Nephis cares about that."
Hugo rubbed his temple, feeling like he had just discovered a world shattering truth...
And in essence, it was a world shattering truth. Broken Sword had been a major pillar of humanity, being the first to conquer the third nightmare and opening the path forward to the rest of humanity.
He made the impossible, possible. A true hero, one that would never be forgotten by humanity...
'Damn it...'
Dying a heroic death did not sound bad... But being betrayed and killed by his friends and companions was perhaps the worst way to die.
It made Hugo wonder... If he and his friends become supremes one day, would they turn on each other?
'Surely not...'
Deep in thoughts, Hugo was suddenly startled when Cassie snapped her fingers to get his attention.
"Oh sorry, I was just thinking about how messed up all of this was."
"Yes I'm aware... It's deeply disturbing, but alas we can't do anything about it...." She looked at him for a while and then suddenly changed her tone "pardon me if I'm too forward... But you didn't come here to talk about this, didn't you?"
Hugo's expression darkened slightly.
"No, I didn't... You see Cassie, there's this abomination that I've encountered in Antarctica that managed to defeat me and take thousands of people hostage using its profane abilities... It's a galvan, similar to one of my aliens and it's of the corrupted rank. A terror to be specific. I was wondering if you knew anything about it... Specifically how to slay it."
Cassie did not seem surprised at the fact that Hugo had come across such a dreadful being, after all she knew that he was insane enough to throw himself at any creature, no matter their rank and class to save people.
"Coincidentally, I happen to know quite a bit about it." She took a sip of her tea as she talked. "As you probably know, its name is Malware and it was a noble creature once, a long time ago. Malware was not like the rest of his people, the galvanic mechamorphs. He was born with a mutation that made him different from his people."
"That explains why his Abilities are so different..."
Corruption could have twisted the powers of a galvanic mechamorph, yes, however it could not have granted him the ability to possess people or absorb memories.
It seemed even noble creatures could have problems at birth.
"An individual that goes by the First Thinker promised to 'fix' Malware... But finding a cure for his condition was difficult, even for such a being. It took time, and as the years passed, Malware grew bitter and angry at the First Thinker... Until one day, the First Thinker disappeared without any traces, leaving both his civilization and Malware alone."
"Ah..."
That confirmed it. Azmuth had indeed disappeared during the time period of Hugo's first nightmare.
It seemed that Malware was active during that time period, meaning he must've come across figures such as Albedo and Vilgax...
'Wait... Both Albedo and Vilgax were present within the second nightmare... Which means they're thousands of years old.'
That did not make any sense. That meant they survived the end that brought doom to all of existence, and remained uncorrupted, at least until Vilgax came across Dagon.
But as for Albedo... He was not a corrupted abomination, as Ben Tennyson had taken over his body.
Albedo has to be a mere Awakened for Ben Tennyson to possess his body...
Or...
'He dropped down in ranks because he was transformed into Ben Tennyson...'
Albedo was a galvan, after all. So he must've used the Omnitrix, or a replica of it, to turn into Ben Tennyson. In doing so, he dropped in rank to match him.
'Malware must have come across Albedo and Vilgax...'
Vilgax was definitely dead by now, no doubt in that, but Albedo's fate is unknown. He was definitely not in the beast realm, but it was impossible to determine whether he survived his realm's destruction or not.
"Let me guess, after the First Thinker disappeared, Malware sought out the Omnitrix to fix himself?" Hugo asked.
"Yes... But by that point, the device was already being fought over by plenty of powerful beings, and eventually someone too powerful for Malware must've found it."
'Eurys...'
It seemed his old skeleton friend also knew of his adversary. It was a shame that he didn't finish off the bastard before he was nailed to that tree.
"That's everything my visions have told me... But after sometime, Malware must've lost himself to corruption but even then, his desire for the Omnitrix must've consumed his madness allowing him to pursue it in the waste of the dream realm.... If I'm correct, than you're dealing with a being that's thousands of years old and one that survived the fall of the past divine realms."
Cassie had known about the divine realms after Hugo shared that information with her and the rest of the cohort, so she easily made that connection.
"Your Visions are incredible... To be able to see into the lives of so many creatures... It must be wonderful... And also terrible."
Who knows how many memories Cassie had seen? After all, fate gave her visions from all of history.
Aside from the sovereigns, there was no one alive as knowledgeable as her.
But even her incredible ability had not given him what he needed.
"I'm sorry, but that's as far as I know when it comes to the past... And also, don't bother dwelling on it for too long. This being does not have any weakness that you can exploit, I'm sure of that."
Hugo had finally finished his tea cup, and was currently gripping its handle hard enough that it broke.
'No weakness to exploit...'
What else could he possibly do? His strength as an Ascended Titan was superior than when he was a terror, however he was certain that he could not overcome a Corrupted terror.
The Crimson Terror, which ruled over the forgotten shore, had lost to him because it had just finished evolving, and even then, Hugo had not won that fight fairly. He had won it by using Upgrade's powers and turning the Crimson Spire against its owner.
As for his other battles against powerful beings, he had also won through using their opposite source element.
He defeated the White Devil, a Transcendent devil, by exhausting his adaptation ability.
The Forever Kings were merely corrupted beasts and not equal to true Transcendents, but even then, he had killed them with attacks that could not replicate, at least not without a great cost.
He could damage Malware, however he could not kill him, at least not before it killed him.
Even with the help of his shadow, Zed and his spirit body, it was not enough.
Perhaps Sunny and his shadows could help, but knowing Malware, he could parasitize his shadows and make the battle even more dreadful.
This was one of the reasons why Hugo had not told Sunny about his plans to battle Malware... He knew that Sunny would try to help him, which would ultimately lead to his death.
Hugo's decision to battle Malware was final, no doubt about it...
Looking at Cassie, Hugo's eyes became slightly desperate.
"You've told me everything you knew about the past... But what about the future?"
Cassie's mask of calmness remained as still as it ever was, not showing any of her true emotions.
"... My aspect did not show me any vision of the future, I'm sorry."
Somehow, Hugo doubted her words.
He would not call Cassie a liar, but there was something that had made him doubt her every word.
It was the fact that Paradox, the spirit of time, knew about her existence, and that she was planning to break fate itself.
An act so outlandish that even the great gods couldn't do it... But alas, Cassie had something that even the gods did not have....
She had Sunny, an individual with a great and terrible fate.
"Is that so... Did it not show you anything... Or are you simply hiding the truth so that the outcome you're preparing for doesn't change?"
Cassie's face seemed to twist a little at the accusation, but she shook her head.
"If I had prepared for such an outcome as you claim, I would have made it so you do not even think about the possibility of knowing that I'm manipulating you. So no, I do not know the future."
"So you wouldn't happen to know my friend professor Paradox, nor will you know about any conversation I had with him in a nightmare?"
Cassie's face became confused.
"No? Why would I know that? And what kind of person calls themselves Paradox?"
She had a point about the name part, but Hugo could tell she was not being honest.
'There's no point in accusing her right now if she keeps denying it...'
Hugo suddenly felt as if he was sitting beside a complete stranger...
When had Cassie become someone so cunning? Someone who would lie in a heartbeat to avoid telling the truth...
He had changed a great deal after the forgotten shore, but it seemed his friends had also changed drastically... They were just better at hiding it than he was.
But still... Cassie must have her reasons for doing this...
He did not know the extent of her plans, nor what she knew about the future but he knew one thing.
Cassie cared about her friends, especially Hugo, Sunny and Nephis who had helped her survive the forgotten shore.
So she would not wish them any harm... At least this is what he had hoped for.
After a long and uncomfortable silence, Hugo gave her a solemn stare.
"Cassie... People's lives are at stake right now... You can play whatever game you want with fate, but please, just tell me if I can kill that bastard. That's all I ask of you."
Cassie remained silent, still refusing to help.
Getting frustrated, Hugo got up and prepared to leave but before he could...
"Kanakht."
Cassie suddenly said in a low voice.
Gripping the handle, Hugo turned around with a confused look on his face.
"What?"
"His story is the key to solving all of your problem... Do with that what you want."
With those words, Cassie got up from her seat and walked past him, opening the door and leaving alongside Sid.
'Kanakht... Why would a story about a mad supreme who wanted to devour his people help me defeat Malware?'
It made no sense...
'So cryptic... Oracles are truly the worst...'
Hugo would have loved to stay here for long, enjoying the beauty of the chained isles and the Ivory Tower, but alas, he had duties back in the waking world, so he could not dwell here for long.
He pulled on his tether in the waking world and with the blink of an eye, he disappeared from the dream realm and returned to the waking world, inside of his room in Erebus Field.