Chapter 160: Terror of the End
A few days had passed since the defeat of Goliath. Antarctica was free of one of its greatest threats and the evacuation army had less to deal with.
That said, there was still many dangerous horrors roaming Antarctica and rampaging across the continent.
The horror of LO49, the devouring horde, Malware, the Winter Beast and many more...
Colonel Jet had received a bunch of news from Sunny and Hugo and thanks to their incredible feats, more plans regarding the evacuation efforts were made.
More people were moved from Erebus Field to Falcon Scott and so only thirty thousand people remained in Erebus Field. They too, would be transported to Falcon Scott when the time was right.
From there, they would board the ships and be transported to another quadrant.
***
Two Monsterous beings tore through a horde of hideous stone like abominations with ferocious strength in the empty wasteland of Antarctica.
One was a crimson four armored humanoid creature with four eyes, using nothing but his bare strength to tear through the monsters.
The other was a similar yet slightly more monstrous beast of four arms made of shadows. He wielded a jade sword that whispered madness in his arms and was embraced in shadows.
Sunny and Hugo battled the stone hive, one of the newly emerged nightmare creatures, outside of the walls of Erebus Field.
The stone hive was strong yes, possessing immense durability. However, with Hugo and Sunny utilizing their full strengths they easily tore through the army of corruption.
From behind, the Awakened of the first evacuation army were being aided by Hugo's minions and some of Sunny's shadows.
Hugo punched the head of one of the stone abominations, before grabbing two others with his arms and smashing their heads together.
At the same time, Sunny's blade cut multiple enemies at the same time, cutting them in half.
Zed was doing her best to protect the soldiers and the Awakened, while tearing apart as many creatures as she could.
Soon enough, the numbers of enemies was reduced to nearly nothing, and Sunny eventually managed to finish off the Awakened tyrant leading them.
A few minutes later, the horde was completely finished off the stone hive, leaving none of them a chance to escape or retreat.
Sunny let out a sigh as he dismissed his shadow shell and looked at Hugo, who was still transformed.
"You really could have handled this alone, you know?"
Hugo shrugged, which looked a bit comical considering his size as Four Arms.
"Meh, it's been a while since I fought beside you, It's fun you know and besides, you're leaving soon enough so we might not get to see each other for a long time."
Indeed, Sunny and his cohort had remained in Erebus Field for sometime to deliver the citizens they were transporting, fix their rhino and restock on supplies.
Now, all of their needs were satisfied and they are able to continue their mission, which is to transport Professor Obel and researcher Bethany to Falcon Scott.
"Coming with us is also an option but I'm sure you're too heroic to do that."
Hugo sighed.
"There's thirty thousand people left in the city, Sunny. And there's barely a hundred Awakened left. Me and my legions are needed here more than ever."
"You and your legion are also needed in Falcon Scott, which has millions of people in it, thus making it a bigger target for nightmare creatures. Your help there would be far more valuable to humanity than your help here... Of course, I'm not asking you to leave those people to their death, but I'm sure you're smart enough to understand the situation."
Hugo did not know what to feel about that... But alas, he was confident that Falcon Scott would be alright.
After all, Colonel Jet was there and soon enough, Sunny and his cohort would reach it.
But more importantly, he was confident that the city would be fine because of the fact that the House of Night, and his spirit body, are coming to Falcon Scott as well.
The ships taking humans off this cursed continent needed to be guided by the nightwalkers, so Hugo had a way of both being in Falcon Scott and Erebus Field at the same time.
Granted, his spirit body was inferior to his main body, in fact it could not even compare to it in anyway, but still it was better than nothing.
"I'm sure you'll manage... That aside, when will you leave?"
"Just about now, really. Luster has already prepared the rhino and now we don't have to take any of the people with us. We just need to follow the evacuation convoy and we'll reach Falcon Scott in no time."
Hearing this, Hugo pressed his Omnitrix and detransformed.
"I guess this is goodbye... Well, for now."
Sunny stared at his friend for a while, then gave him an odd look.
"Why would it be a goodbye? You'll stay here for a while until everyone is evacuated. It'll barely take a few weeks, so must you really be this dramatic?"
"I mean, knowing our luck, a fifth category gate could emerge at any minute, dooming us all before then."
Sunny sighed.
"Don't jinx us, you idiot. It would be fine... Probably..." With those words, he reached to the shadows, but before he left, he gave Hugo a wave. "Take care of yourself, and let's hope the next time we meet under better circumstances."
"Oh? Really? I mean, what better circumstances are there than saving you from a fallen Titan?"
"Anything else, if I'm being honest." And with that, Sunny melted into the shadows, leaving towards the city.
Hugo let out a sigh of relief... After all, he had managed to trick Sunny without arousing his suspicion...
Hugo was not going to go to Falcon Scott, even after the city was completely evacuated. Instead, he was going to pursue Malware, in a foolish attempt to kill him and free the innocent people he had taken over.
'I must have gone crazy... Completely crazy.'
***
Sunny had finally set off to Falcon Scott with his cohort and the VIP escorts. They had taken the same routes as the other convoys and so they would reach the siege capital in only a day or two of travel.
Even Master Davis was set to leave soon, but the seasoned veteran wanted to leave after every human was evacuated.
'I should be able to sneak out later.'
Hugo thought as he sat atop the wall of Erebus Field, feeling the cold winds play with his hair.
Besides him, his shadow avatar was fully manifested, an exact copy of him wearing the same clothes, but made of shadows instead of flesh.
Zed was seated on his lap, with her eyes closed.
The shadow was scribing some gibberish on the wall, but it was not harming anyone so Hugo let it be. He never wanted to treat it like a slave or a servant anyway.
His odd little family was quite nice if he said so himself... But of course this was not the only members of his strange little family.
"Oh hugoooooool"
A feminine loud voice spoke out from Hugo's shoulder, nearly causing his Ascended ears to bleed.
It belonged to none other than Selena.
"How have you been dear?!"
"... Firstly, please don't shout, it freaks me out. Secondly, I'm fine. Nothing much has happened in the last few days."
Behind them, his shadow was painting a beautiful image of itself and Hugo fighting against nightmare creatures.
"Oh really? You don't seem fine to me! You're usually so full of life!"
"..."
"Well that's a lie. You're usually depressed and sad all the time but you're being extra moody right now! Seriously, with this type of attitude you will never get a girlfriend, or a boyfriend for that matter."
"As I've told you before, getting into a relationship is not something I'm interested in right now."
"Hmmm is that so? What about that girl who wields true darkness?"
"Revel? No, she's not my type. She also happens to be a song princess, so basically royalty and she's also older than me. Besides, even if she somehow was attracted to me—Which I doubt considering her personality—I wouldn't want anything to do with her because her mother is a sovereign. In fact, now that I look at it, being friends with her is also incredibly dangerous."
"Gosh you're so boring! And that's a lot coming from me, a cosmic being who has lived for thousands of years! Hugo my boy, you're being antisocial, insecure, whiny and quite frankly, a little bitch right now!"
Hugo nearly fell over the edge at the last part... Hearing Selena curse was not something he had ever imagined would happen, but alas, she was the voice of compassion, not the voice of proper language.
"Yeah yeah just-"
Hugo suddenly froze, and his body went completely numb.
His shadow had stopped whatever it was doing and turned its attention to the far north.
Zed woke up from her sleep with a startled expression on her face.
Hugo's face darkened...
The world itself felt like it was suddenly being consumed by a malevolent influence. His titan consciousness was screaming at him to run away, which was odd as titans did not have much to fear...
"So you have finally come back to finish the job... Bastard."
Out there, beyond the walls of Erebus Field, hundreds of miles away, an army made up of thousands of humans and a few more nightmare creatures were walking in unison towards Erebus Field.
Their eyes were completely dark and crimson lines covered their bodies as if they were baptized in blood and they were led by no one, after all why would they need to be led?
All of them are an extension of one singular being, one that had survived thousands of years and a myriad of divine realms, all in the hope of finding the first divine relic, made by mortal hands.
Malware had come to find the Omnitrix and he would stop at nothing to achieve his goal.