Chapter 136: The Terror of Antarctica

Hugo’s eyes widened as he heard the voice of the Nightmare Spell.

’A memory... A Supreme memory...’

He was still weakened and depressed about losing a core, but this was insane!

He had gained a Memory from a Great Abomination... A creature that even Saints would not even think about facing.

Such a creature was ancient and powerful, so much so that Hugo would have never been able to defeat it if it hadn’t made the dire mistake of entering his soul and facing the full wrath of the Omnitrix.

Calming himself, Hugo first extracted the five Supreme soul cores and quickly decided what to do with them.

Absorbing them was a good idea as it would help him reform his Titan core... However, he felt like those soul shards could be really helpful in the future.

’Sunny should be able to weave Supreme Memories if he advances his weaving sorcery...’

If he saved them for that occasion, he might even be able to commission five custom Supreme Memories from Sunny! Or a powerful Supreme Memory of the fifth tier!

In the end, he only absorbed a single shard and stored the rest in [Nothing].

He absorbed the Transcendent soul shards he got from the Demons, making his soul fragment counter rise to [5/6000].

With that done, he quickly opened his runes.

Memories: [Proto-Tech Armor], [Polymorphic Crystal], [Emerald Spyglass], [Heart Compass], [Nothing], [Sunlight Rings], [Silver Tears], [Nameless Sun], [Proto-Truck], [Lucky Charm], [Proto-Tool], [Stone Spear].... [Crown of Falsehood].

’A crown Memory? Seriously...’

He was not the type to wear crowns, but he was not complaining, it was a Supreme Memory after all!

Opening its runes, Hugo suddenly held his breath.

Memory: Crown of Falsehood

Memory Rank: Supreme

Memory Tier: IV

Memory Type: Tool

Memory Description: [Countless days and nights had come and gone after the people of Trair were allured, and in that time, the promise of love and compassion promised by their warden were soon forgotten, as they were put in a dream, one that bestowed upon them a kinder world.

Under its rule they swept countless kingdoms and cities, all in the hopes and dreams that one day they would regain their humanity. One day, Allurement ascended from the shores of twilight, its voice cut through the world in a serene and melancholic tone.

"Oh goddess, must your grace be so cruel, must I wander these lands, allowing others to dream a dream far kinder than my own. Have I ever uttered the name of another deity with as much reverence as I do yours? Have I not followed you for countless cycles? Have I ever shown a lack of faith? Why must I be forsaken..."

Its desperation grew more evident as the waters grew more erratic, and disaster began to befall the turbulent waters.

"WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY... have I ever uttered words of praise to any but you... Must I not be allowed your mercy? Please... Respond to me, O magnificent deity... O the guide of my soul and the wind below my wings... allow me to be cleansed of this corruption... Allow me to sing praises of your glory with my previous blessing... Grant me your grace once more so that I may go through the realms... so that I may spread your love to others that need it... Please... Please, O magnificent one that stands above the sky... grant me liberation..." The black skies passed without stopping, and so the previous blessed of the storms wept.]

’... What a horrifying tale...’

Countless innocents, perhaps millions, died because of this being... All because its goddess forsook it.

He looked at its body with disgust... It deserved everything that it had gone through... But still...

This story was simply cruel, far too cruel, much like that of the Forgotten Shore.

Such stories were not that uncommon in this world.

’No matter what, such tragedy must never happen again... It cannot be allowed to happen.’

His conviction to grow stronger became even more dire now.

Hugo focused his attention on the enchantments.

Memory Enchantments: [Supreme Mind], [Tranquil Mind], [Tyranny], [Promise of Madness]

[Supreme Mind] Enchantment Description: [While this enchantment is active, this Memory will elevate the mind of its wearer to that of a true Supreme, at the cost of a large amount of soul essence.]

[Tranquil Mind] Enchantment Description: [While worn, this Memory will naturally soothe the mind of its wearer.]

[Tyranny] Enchantment Description: [Those that serve under the wearer of this crown can be controlled individually by the wearer.]

[Promise of Madness] Enchantment Description: [While the enchantments are active, the wearer’s mind will lay bare before this Memory, enabling it to creep into their mind. Slowly corrupting the mind with insatiable and all-encompassing madness.]

Hugo nearly fell over, shocked by the enchantments of this Memory.

A Supreme Memory, capable of granting him the mind of a Supreme, was unheard of!

It was extraordinary, no, supernatural!

’It’s not that cheap though... All of the strong enchantments are active, which means I need soul essence to activate them.’

To sustain such enchantments, he would likely have to spend his entire reserves. For example, he was sure that he could only activate the [Supreme Mind] enchantment once before he would be completely drained of essence, and even then he was likely going to have that Supreme mind for only a few seconds. As for [Tyranny], that seemed to be an enchantment that would have less essence drain, but undoubtedly too expensive for him to use.

Still, those two enchantments paired up incredibly well with the abilities he had. For example, he could use the crown to control his minions individually, which was a terrifying ability, but also one much needed in the Antarctica campaign.

Lastly, there was [Tranquil Mind] and [Promise of Madness].

Those two enchantments seemed to be passive, and more than that, they were polar opposites. One made his mind calmer and the other... Made him mad.

It made it so the Supreme Memory cannot be abused.

"Not a problem if I use it correctly..."

He had to be careful though, after all the Spell made the Memory in the image of the Great Tyrant, Allurement, so the madness he would feel when activating the enchantments might be similar.

Still, the enchantment specified "Active" which is a very important thing. That meant as long as he only wore it to benefit from the [Tranquil Mind] enchantment, he would have nothing to worry about.

Exhaling, he summoned it to take a look. A graceful crown materialized in his hands. It was created entirely from many small, metal wings arranged in a continuous circle. Each wing was crafted from steel, shaped with fine feather-like segments and layered tightly with others so their tips overlap and interlock. The wings curved inward, creating a band that fit around the head.

’How beautiful... And also terrifying.’

The crown looked both angelic and creepy, giving it a mystical appearance.

It did hold the power of control after all.

’If I’m not wrong, Supreme humans could use this crown to control their domain subjects individually...’

The monarchs ruling humanity would kill to have such a Memory.

’The Spell seemed to have fashioned [Tyranny] for Supremes specifically, as it likely didn’t account that a Tyrant would be among its carriers... At least in this realm.’

He had no idea if the Spell could actually infect Noble Creatures, so he couldn’t be sure.

Cracking his neck, Hugo activated his [Uniform Mode] once again, and entered the Omnitrix tab, calling Master Jet.

"From the explosion, I assume you’re done with the Gate?"

Her voice was surprisingly serious, after all the Antarctica operation had officially started, and there was no time for banter or jokes.

"Yes, ah, there’s the body of a Great Tyrant I just killed. You should send someone to take it. It can probably be used in a lot of things."

He couldn’t take the body for himself, but the government probably could.

"You killed a what?!"

***

[Day 2 of the Antarctica campaign]

A taciturn legion of steadfast warriors made of stone advanced across the vast expanse of Antarctica, armed with weapons made of darkness and dark crystals. Such a legion of Awakened warriors would not have been as mighty as they were without the silent, yet insidious, presence of their lord.

Their target was a region that had the misfortune of having two Nightmare Gates of the second category open right next to each other, rendering the area a temporary death zone.

All the Awakened and Ascended were busy dealing with the main horde of abominations alongside the main evacuation army, so no one had bothered to deal with those two Gates.

The leader of this steadfast group, one that possessed a strange form of intelligence, unlike that of his comrades, commanded them to stop.

The Stone Saint looked at the sea of monsters near the two Gates, and looked at the army of Stone Saints, as if communicating with them telepathically.

The Stone Saints raised their blades and their shields, slamming them together as they marched into battle, forming a devastating battle formation of the highest order.

That day, the ice was painted red.

***

[Day 3 of the Antarctica campaign]

A legion of dragons was soaring through the skies, their marvelous wings hiding the horrors of the aerial legion that was the skies of Antarctica.

Their goal was a Category Three Nightmare Gate that had opened very close to one of the settlements.

Naturally, the dragons, being only Awakened, with only their leader being Ascended, could not possibly defeat the horde that would come out of a Category Three Nightmare Gate.

However, they, being as gargantuan and destructive as they were, could break the formation of the abominations, serving as a siege engine.

After all, their main intention in this operation was simple: it was to distract the abominations from the pure mundane souls that lurked within the nearby human settlements, and stopping them from descending upon the humans.

Fire, ice, and a multitude of breaths were unleashed by the dragons, as they ravaged through the sky of monsters.

***

[Day 7 of the Antarctica campaign]

Far in the sky, where the true horrors of Antarctica—the aerial kind—laid.

A circle of five Category Two Gates had opened in the sky, threatening to descend upon Antarctica and consume it whole.

Humans no longer trusted the skies as safe transportation networks after the descent of the Nightmare Spell, as Gates could easily sprout there, not to mention, many dreadful beings made the skies their hunting grounds.

But there were no hunters within the skies as ferocious as the Necrofriggians. Those moth-like aliens lurked in the sky, lacking the majesty and menace of the dragons, yet they were no less terrifying.

Their leader, a certain Necrofriggian that was of the Ascended rank, commanded the legion to split into three parts, surrounding the Nightmare Gates.

Right as the Gates opened, the abominations that came out of them were met with a dreadful surprise.

Instead of being the hunters, they became the prey and instead of drowning in the blood of humans, they drowned in ice.

***

[Day 12 of the Antarctica campaign]

An army of Vaxasaurians marched through the plains of Antarctica, their gigantic bodies covered by dark crystal armors. Those boisterous humanoid dinosaurs were the first to be seen by humans. Naturally, none of them attacked the humans.

But instead, they marched into battlegrounds alongside them, going from place to place and jumping into the battle between humans and Nightmare Creatures without invitation, massacring the Nightmare Creatures and leaving the brave Awakened of humanity utterly and completely confused.

The champions of humanity, seeing that their mysterious saviors had not attacked them, did not do any harm to them—after all, they could not afford it.

The silent legion of gentle giants continued on their way, led by their Ascended leader, silent and imposing, as if their life’s purpose was to destroy the corrupted.

***

A horde of monsters had spread through Antarctica, two weeks after the start of the campaign.

They were not Nightmare Creatures, and they did not kill humans... Instead, they targeted the abominations, going after Nightmare Gates and even protecting the humans at certain times.

The humans, astonished by this, could not believe what they were seeing.

They saw creatures made of stone and darkness cut down abominations with their onyx blades, they saw humanoid moth creatures freeze dreadful beings before they could descend on settlements, they even saw dragons soar through the sky, dealing with the dreadful aerial abominations that threatened settlements.

There seemed to be two kinds of those abominations—ones made of shadow and others made of flesh and bones.

Some reports claimed that they had seen the leaders of this mystical group of creatures, which were two creatures: a shapeshifter who could assume a variety of forms, and their shadow, who followed them wherever they went.

The humans did not know who this mysterious creature was. In fact, they started making some wild theories, such as it being one of the few good Nightmare Creatures, a powerful Supreme who emerged in Antarctica out of the Fourth Nightmare, and many more absurd theories.

Of course, they couldn’t be further from the truth.

But no matter, that was how the story of the Terror of Antarctica was born.

***

On top of a magnificent hill, a man in a white skin-suit, battered and torn, was sitting cross-legged, looking at the world with a distant expression.

His gaze... It was not empty, but as if he was not here.

There was a graceful crown on top of his head, giving him a mystical sense of royalty.

Beside him, his shadow, who assumed a physical form, remained idle above the cliff, staring calmly at the expanse alongside him.

Hugo had been very busy in the last two weeks as he had to change his plans completely.

His original plan was to march into Antarctica as a Titan, and use his shadow as a Terror to spread minions and influence.

Unfortunately, that did not go as planned, due to a harrowing Great Tyrant invading his soul and causing the Omnitrix failsafe to waste an entire core to protect him.

But no matter, he had to adapt fast now that he was back to being a Terror.

Using his Tyrant abilities, Hugo had created four legions of minions, alongside his shadow.

Hugo, as Ascended, was only capable of maintaining a few hundred minions, mainly four hundred.

To make the legions as versatile as possible, he and his shadow chose different aliens to spawn.

For example, he had spawned one hundred Stone Saints, one hundred Dragons, one hundred Necrofriggians, and one hundred Vaxasaurians.

The four groups were all meant for combat—different types, yes, but combat nonetheless.

The Stone Saints were the most organized force and the most skilled ones, using their battle arts and perfect synergy to combat Nightmare Creatures that humans could not deal with, saving many lives in the process.

Out of those hundreds of Stone Saints, Hugo was only controlling one of them, and guiding them through that one, whenever there was a dire battle, that is.

He was doing that using the [Tyranny] enchantment, which allowed him to take control of his minions.

To make the best use of this enchantment, he only controlled one individual out of each legion, making them "generals". They were of the Ascended rank as well.

The Dragons were siege engines, simply put. They were used to distract the more powerful abominations from the human settlements, mainly meant for Category Three Gates, which were more often too perilous to endure for humans.

Thankfully, the Great Tyrant, Allurement, was a special case, and not something every Category Three Gate spawned or else humanity would’ve gone extinct by now.

The Dragons were led by one dragon that Hugo controlled, but they were much more spread around than the Stone Saints, who moved in groups. The army of dragons were each assigned to a different settlement helping humanity in different ways. Some even helped with cargo transportation.

Of course, the dragons were always close to the Ascended general dragon, as they were not sentient enough to do anything on their own.

The Necrofriggians made for great aerial fighters, with them dealing with most of the abominations in the sky. They used simple tricks—attacking the enemy while translucent, making the enemy chase them and playing cat and mouse until the enemy was exhausted. In that case, they would freeze the abominations to death.

They too were led by one minion of the Ascended rank that was controlled by Hugo.

The army of Vaxasaurians did not need any elaboration on their role, as they were the ones responsible for being siege engines on the ground, meant to deal with the lesser powerful abominations and most importantly, hordes of Nightmare Creatures, making sure that they never spread across Antarctica. In other words, they made sure to contain abominations, even if they could not kill them.

They too were led by one minion controlled by Hugo.

Now... This process was not as smooth as it sounded.

Firstly, Hugo cannot control his general minions all the time using the crown, as he did not have infinite soul essence, and more importantly, he was risking madness every time he used it. That meant he could only guide his minions to certain battles. The tactic was simple—take his minions to battle and then command them to kill creatures. Then, he would take control once again and guide them to the next battle.

Secondly, all four legions were merely Awakened. He only placed Ascended minions as the leaders of each army, making them generals. That was done to make sure they had more quantity minions.

He did not like it, but in Antarctica—thanks to the nature of the Awakened and Ascended ranks—quantity was far more important than quality. But even then, with each battle, at least one minion would fall.

That meant that Hugo had to spend more essence to create new ones, which was extremely painful spiritually and mentally and also sometimes impossible. At certain times, he would exhaust too much of "himself" when making minions, which made Hugo incapable of making more minions for long periods of time.

Thirdly, he was merely an Ascended Terror. Sure, his influence spread far and wide, but he was a mere Ascended Terror. Not only could he not handle this pressure, but he also didn’t have the soul essence necessary for it.

He was capable of barely scraping by thanks to the spirit essence he receives as a Terror and the Omnitrix recharge feature.

Hugo found himself low on essence nearly every day, taking time to recharge before going to battle again.

His main body was not spared of this, as he himself dealt with powerful Gates on his own from time to time. He did not help with the evacuation directly, but he still did his best to aid humans by killing Nightmare Creatures.

His shadow was in a predicament. It could not let its minions wander far away from it, as it did not have the [Crown of Falsehood]—only one of them could use a Memory at a time.

So, its minions were far less useful than Hugo’s.

They were armies made up of Diamondheads, who served as craftsmen for the armies; Brainstorms, who served as planners—not very effective most of the time but thankfully, his shadow could assume his own Brainstorm form to communicate with them properly and then he would communicate their plans back to Hugo.

Lastly, there were minions of Fasttrack, who served as scouts, despite their speed being... Less than moderate, to say the least.

His shadow remained with him all the time, alongside Zed, to protect him and... so that they wouldn’t be destroyed.

If his shadow dies, Hugo dies.

If Zed dies, then Hugo’s heart dies with her. He could not allow anything to happen to the both of them.

He was tired mentally, physically, spiritually, and in every other way possible. His mind was calm yet plagued by an insidious madness. One not too different from the madness he had experienced back in Ariel’s Hell.

In a sense, Antarctica was not so different from the desert, with their elements being the only distinction.

But at least, through all of this, Hugo was making a difference. The reports from the command center said so, at least. With each death of his minions, ten humans get to live.

He was getting a lot of Memories and Echoes in the process. Not ones that he would need himself, as they were all mediocre, mostly. Almost all of them would go to the government Awakened, for a small price, of course.

Only the soul shards would be taken by him, with his core saturation rising every day. It was hard to saturate his core because he could not gain any fragments from Awakened and Dormant Nightmare Creatures.

"Being a Terror is strange..."

He had realized how little, yet how vast he truly was in this world. It was a strange existence, especially now, as he was currently controlling several bodies.

The "controlling" isn’t really true control, at least not in the regular sense.

It was not extra bodies like the Spirit Body; it was something else entirely.

It was as if he was holding a controller, and looking through a screen, moving his "characters" around. That was what the [Tyranny] enchantment felt like. It was a terrifying sensation, as he was playing with puppets, basically.

And later on, those puppets would spread his commands to the other minions, also puppeteering them in return.

Speaking of his Spirit Body... The evacuation efforts done by the House of Night were nothing to scoff at, with two ships having already evacuated around ten million individuals.

"Only eight hundred and ninety million left... How wonderful..."

At that moment, Hugo suddenly received a call on his Omnitrix, from Soul Reaper Jet.

He was needed once again.