Chapter 189: Pesky dust.

Chapter 188: Pesky Dust

Hugo regained consciousness, and as he did the first sensation he felt was something deeply familiar to him... an emotion that every Awakened knew all too well.

It was fear.

Fear crept into the deepest parts of his being, filling his soul with endless dread.

All he had seen in those two long nightmares... it was horrifying.

Both Eurys’ and the prince of darkness’s lives had been long and dark, filled with pain and loss. Witnessing it was sad, yes, but experiencing all of it was far worse.

Decades of knowledge, experience and pain all blurred together and fused with his own life, making him feel... Longing.

Longing for a world that no longer existed and for a life that was never his.

Thankfully, he did not remember all of it, but what he did remember was enough to shake his very being.

Hugo experienced being a slave, owned by another with no free will of his own. Perhaps that was the cruelest fate anyone could ever have.

He saw glimpses of the divine dragon and experienced being Alien x once again, slaying the avatar of war god after creating countless schemes to weaken the fierce god.

There was the four spirits, who broke the skies of the underworld and hurled the Omnitrix into its depths...

That was a calamitous scene, enough to break the minds of lesser Awakened.

Hugo even saw Shadow God fight against Eurys, breaking his spirit and hanging him on a lone tree in the middle of hell.

He saw Nether the daemon of destiny, and the horrors of the underworld, as well.

Hugo had finally gotten a glimpse of the underworld, which was a place he had only learned about from memory descriptions.

Thankfully, the Omnitrix—and perhaps the spell itself—had shielded him from seeing their full images, saving his mortal mind from being destroyed.

From what he had seen, the aftermath of Eurys’ defiance and the death of war god’s avatar was exactly what had led to the prince of darkness receiving the Omnitrix.

Eurys had gone on to pursue his own ascension without the Omnitrix, which caused the four spirits of the empire send it down to the world in a fit of rage, causing the prince to find the relic.

From there it was history.

Those two dreams, or for better words, nightmares, gave him incredible insight about various things...

The war empire, the tyrannical force that swept across the mortal realms and forced people into submission. They were a cruel force Ruled by war god’s avatar.

’Gods had avatars...’

Was it only the great gods though, or all divine beings?

He certainly did not recall having an avatar as Alien x, but then again, a Celestialsapien was not a regular divine being.

Hugo had also gained valuable information about what had caused the end of the gods, and the daemons.

It seemed the daemons had rebelled against the great gods in an all consuming war that destroyed everything in-between.

All those deaths... All this chaos, misery and corruption.

It was all because of the divine conflict of thirteen beings...

A true divine tragedy, one that shook all of existence and ruined the lives of endless creatures.

’What a mess...’

In the midst of this chaos, Hugo had also gained insight about Transcendence, supremacy, apotheosis and even the divine rank.

Transcendents expanded their souls beyond the mortal confines of their bodies, being recognized by it and establishing a small connection between them.

Supremes ruled a portion of the world through their wills and authority, while spirits embodied a portion of the world.

And true divinities, they were far beyond the world, to an extent at least.

The divine rank... concepts such as time were not so absolute to them.

’Nether...’

The daemon was undoubtedly addressing Hugo when he spoke to the prince of darkness in their first encounter, millions of years before his birth.

It was unknown if the daemon knew about him, or if he had sensed that someone from the far future was looking at that scene and addressed him without knowledge of their identity.

’He did seem to know about the Omnitrix...’

Hence why he had called him an abomination.

The Omnitrix... It promised power, salvation but denied godhood and brought endless suffering with it.

It made him wonder... What would become of him, if he ever tried to become a god himself?

Eurys said that Hugo would not face the same fate as the previous Omnitrix wielders if he ever challenged the perilous journey of apotheosis.

The Omnitrix was bound to his very being, it was his aspect and in a way he was the Omnitrix, so it should not stop his ascension.

There were many questions in his mind, still.

What happened to the spirits ruling the war empire?

Why had Nether spoken to him, and how much did he know about the future? Did he know about his own death and that of the great gods?

Why did the Omnitrix deny apotheosis to its wielder, and was unable to be wielded by gods?

Why had the gods and daemons fought each other in the first place?

So many questions were dancing within his head that he had almost forgotten that he was in a pseudo trial.

’... Why wasn’t the prince of darkness’s life shown fully?’

Unlike Eurys’ dream, the prince of darkness’s life was not shown completely, as it did not show what he had done when Nether came to tell him about war, nor did it show if he succeeded in delivering his vengeance.

How he had lost the Omnitrix, as well.

And more importantly, Hugo was not being shown any other dream right now, which meant that the entity showing him those dreams had exhausted its powers.

Or... It had died from the visions themselves.

Surely, if it had been able to put him to sleep, then it would also be able to see the nightmares he was dreaming of, as well. Which meant that it had been exposed to various sights.

It has seen spirits, Alien x, the dragon, the daemon of destiny, the avatar of heart god and much more.

And unlike Hugo, it did not possess the protection of the Omnitrix and the nightmare spell.

Even if it was damaged, he was still existing in a dream like state, between reality and nightmares, in a completely new form.

But that was the thing...

There was no one more accustomed to existing in bizarre forms than him.

He looked into the darkness besides him, and slowly began thinking about his existence.

His body, his soul and his spirit are all here, just changed and transformed into a dream realm version of him that had no perceivable end or beginning.

That said, Hugo still had his mind there.

It was the most dominant part of his being right now and the one he could sense the most.

’If I could expand it then surely I’ll overcome the influence of a mere corrupted devil...’

Luckily, he had a certain tool in his Arsenal capable of doing just that.

He was not under the influence of a mind attack but the principals of a dream hex should still be confined within his consciousness.

Hugo focused on his soul and summoned a memory, [The Crown of Falsehood.] And released a long exhale.

His plan was to use the [Supreme Mind] enchantment and overcome the authority of the corrupted devil by making his mind too vast for it.

The dream hex had been able to bypass [omni-mind] as it did not truly attack the mind, but instead put it in a dream... The two were similar, but extremely different as dreams belonged to a whole layer of existence.

Hugo did not have enough essence though... But his spirit body certainly did, being an Ascended Titan.

A spirit wraith manifested besides him, splitting his perception.

’The spirit body still works here... Good.’

Then he quickly activated the [Supreme Mind] enchantment, and as he did he felt his mind expand to become like that of a demigod, gaining a fierce power of its own.

At the same time, the spirit body’s soul cores were quickly drained of their essence.

The dark world of nightmares he was in cracked and crumbled, revealing an Aurora of beautiful colors.

At the same time, Hugo could perfectly perceive his body, now that the veil had been lifted.

He had to hurry, or else the [Supreme Mind] enchantment would drain all of his spirit body’s soul essence and his own, as well, leaving him weak and out of essence.

In the Aurora of colors he saw a vague silhouette.

’There you are....’

A spear materialized in his hands from the [Mechamorphic Asura], and he launched at the corrupted devil, stabbing the small being in the heart, and for a few moments, nothing happened until a very familiar voice graced his ears:

[Corruption purged.]

[DNA sample purified.]

[You have acquired an Essence Imprint.]

[Wake up, daemon of change.]

[Your Omnitrix is overflowing with power.]

[Your omni core is taking shape.]

Hugo released the [Supreme Mind] enchantment and dismissed his exhausted spirit body.

Suddenly, he woke up, and found himself in an empty room, filled with countless dolls and paintings.

On the ground was the dead body of a fairy like creature with sharp teeths and blue skin. Her wings were hideous and disgusting, made ugly by the curse of corruption.

It was stabbed by a black and blue spear, naturally.

’Rest well...’

This creature was the manifestation of an extinct species, so the least he could do was show it respect.

Something else was happening in the depths of Hugo’s soul.

His fifth omni core was taking shape once again thanks to the fragments he received from this corrupted devil.

Making him an Ascended tyrant.

The world crumbled, and Hugo was forced out of the pseudo trial.

***

Hugo fell to the ground outside of the DNA pods and exhaled, looking at the clear pod with a nostalgic expression.

’It has been a long time since I cleared a trial...’

And this one had brought him various benefits, ones that he did not even know about. It gave him insight and showed him that he possessed a connection to the other Omnitrix wielders of the ancient past.

Hugo did not have to do much fighting, in fact he didn’t do any fighting, which made him feel awkward.

’I suppose not all trials require flashy fights...’

Still he was thankful that this was not too troublesome, easy wins did exist in this world but they were few.

Getting up, he touched the surface of the Omnitrix and pulled out his runes to find his newest alien.

[Playlist #0:]

First imprint: [Chimera Sui Generis]

Second imprint: [Galvan]

Third imprint: [Piscciss Volann]

Fourth imprint: [Blessed Herald]

Fifth imprint: [Klyntar]

Sixth imprint: [Soul Serpent]

Seventh imprint: [Stone Saint]

Eighth imprint: [Dragon]

Ninth imprint: [Fulmini]

Tenth imprint: [Nemuina]

There it was... his first Transcendent imprint.

Hugo smiled, feeling proud of himself and opened the rune:

Imprint: [Nemuina] [codename: Pesky Dust]

’....’

The existence of a codename implied Ben Tennyson had possessed this alien, and named it... Pesky Dust.

Hugo let out a long sigh and cursed Ben Tennyson, wherever he was right now, for his terrible naming sense.

Imprint rank: Transcendent.

Imprint class: Tyrant.

The class of the imprint matched his current class, as it did not have any locked class.

Imprint description: [Born of the essence of nightmare, this species brings the darkest of dread. They are a living dream.]

’... That’s it?’

What did the last essence of nightmare even mean, in the first place?

No matter, Hugo was interested in this alien’s power more than he was interested in its history.

Imprint attributes: [Dreadlord], [Pretty Fairy], [Dreamwalker], [Dream.]

[Dreadlord] attribute Description: [This creature’s might grows the more it is feared.]

[Pretty Fairy] attribute description: [This creature’s abilities grow stronger the more they are loved.]

[Dreamwalker] Attribute Description: [This creature can travel through dreams.]

[Dream] attribute description: [This creature is a being born and made of dreams.]

’A lot of diverse attributes... It grows stronger when being feared, or loved... Not much of a synergy there.’

But it also was capable of traveling through dreams and nightmares, while also being one itself, something that he would need to study more in the future.

’Shadow creatures, nightmare creatures, dream creatures, spirits, souls... Just how many unique existences are there...’

That question was quite a dumb one, when Hugo thought about it deeply.

All creatures, including humans, were unique. Infact, a human with the right aspect could end up transforming into a completely new existence.

However that did not mean that certain classifications weren’t intriguing to learn about.

Imprint Abilities: [Dream Dust], [Mantle of Dreams], [Dream Minions].

[Dream Dust] Ability Description: [This creature can produce beautiful dust, which puts its inhaler to sleep.]

[Mantle of Dreams] Ability Description: [This creature is capable of creating the most beautiful of dreams, or the most harrowing of nightmares.]

[Dream Minions] Ability Description: [This creature can subjugate the dreams of other beings and turn them into its minions.]

’It can put people to sleep, create dreams and nightmares and transform the dreams of others into subjects if it can subjugates them... Good enough...’

The Abilities matched the description the Omnitrix gave, which made it perfect for Hugo’s plan.

He slammed his Omnitrix, causing his soul sea to quake. At the same time, in the outside world, the orb that he created around his physical body cracked and blue light ignited in its depths.

The dark ocean was suddenly engulfed in blue and a Transcendant being was being born.