Chapter 139: Mountain Battle

The mountain quaked slightly as the hordes of abominations descended upon the small human army.

Sky Tide was the first to act as she immediately assumed her Transcendent transformation, which was that of a giant bird of prey. Her feathers were white as the snow of Antarctica, her sharp beak and devastating talons forged out of lustrous, polished steel that could break the hardest of shells with ease. Her enormous wings were wreathed in thunderclouds, and bolts of lightning danced around her body like a radiant mantle.

She shot forward, leaving a trail of lightning behind her.

The Saint slammed through the sea of abominations, killing dozens of them instantly and injuring hundreds of them at once.

She was not here to deal with the minions, but instead she was here to slay the Tyrant.

Her talons drove into the Tyrant, which resembled a large, but strangely beautiful jade beetle.

The scene was beautiful enough to be a painting, as if an angel from heaven had descended to slay a dreadful abomination from th depths of hell.

The group, of course, could not sit there and marvel at the sight.

The first division, the special cohorts of Irregulars, split into three parts.

The first part was led by Soul Reaper. They moved like wraiths, moving in synergy with their leader and using their lustrous weapons to cut down the abominations.

Soul Reaper’s glaive was terrifying and deadly, decapitating Nightmare Creature after another. Her combat art was savage, yes, yet it was undoubtedly skillful, making sure every strike mattered and focusing on efficiency.

The second division, the cohort of Winter, was less brutish in their approach, as they all summoned a form of long-range Memories, ranging from bows, slingshots, or throwing daggers.

Winter specifically had summoned a beautiful grey bow and begun raining down arrows with unparalleled aim. Her Ascended strength made her formidable, and her arsenal of arrows seemed to be enchanted Memories, each having a different effect on their targets.

Her arrows never missed, not even once.

The third part, which was Sunny’s cohort, was nothing short of astounding. They combined the best parts of Winter and Jet’s cohorts, having both melee fighters and long-range combatants. They seemed to even have utility, as that Kimmy lady greatly enhanced their sights, highlighting the weaknesses of the abominations.

Hugo found himself moving alongside Sunny in the battle, with the two of them using their bare hands to smash the abominations.

Hugo’s arm opened into a mass of green tendrils, grabbing one of the beetles and crushing it entirely, shattering its durable carapace.

[You have slain a Fallen Beast: Stone Titan Flea.]

Without even stopping, he turned his attention to the next creature and spread tentacles from his arms, making them shoot out like missiles.

Indeed, the Chimera Sui Generis possessed many strange abilities at the Devil class. The imprint’s Arsenal of abilities included transforming parts of their bodies into tendrils, or to be precise, open them up as the body itself is simply one giant mass of tendrils. Their second ability was simple yet strange. It was laser vision, funnily enough.

It was more complicated than simply "Eyes shoots lazer" as his eyes held a strange bodily fluid capable of shooting red plasma.

But either way, Hugo used his brutish strength in battle, fighting more like a creature than a human.

This, too, was a Transformation of his battle art.

He had missed this feeling... Fighting like a savage beast. It reminded him of his days on the Shore.

He suddenly frowned, grabbing two of the beetles and crushing their skulls.

’What am I saying? I hated the Forgotten Shore...’

Shaking his head, he slit the throats of several abominations using his own hands.

To his side, Sunny had summoned a plated armor, which was apparently called [Undying Chain], around his Shadow Devil body. As for his weapon of choice, He used a beautiful translucent spear, cutting down the abominations, while at the same time, he used his extra clawed arms as weapons themselves.

His Shadow Dance was truly fascinating, allowing his body to shift between multiple battle arts at the same time, both savage and graceful, the edge of his blade bringing certain death with it.

’How beautiful.’

Lost in the beauty of Sunny’s battle, Hugo was momentarily distracted.

That moment was all it took for dozens of abominations to fall upon him. The beetle-like Nightmare Creatures leaped on top of him, using their mass to overwhelm him and cause him to fall onto the ground, buried beneath their weight.

Struggling to breathe, Hugo gritted his teeth as his eyes flashed crimson.

In the next moment, a flash of crimson light engulfed the world as a pillar of red beams pierced the skies.

The mountain of abominations that had fallen on top of Hugo was pierced by the plasma, completely evaporating the monsters.

[You have slain a Fallen Monster: Stone Titan Flea...]

[You have slain a...]

[You have slain a...]

He suddenly fell into savagery, engulfed by the effects of his Flaw and the [Promise of Madness] enchantment, using his laser eyes to target hundreds of abominations, scorching the cold planes of Antarctica.

Some of the Irregulars had to retreat away, afraid that they would be consumed by the terrifying beams.

When the beams stopped, he leaped into the sky and fell down hard into the horde like a comet, his body spreading into dozens of tendrils, each reaching deep within the bodies of the beetles, ripping them apart from the inside.

’This feeling...’

He accidentally tasted the blood of one of the abominations, swallowing it whole.

’It’s so...’

His tendrils grabbed one of the beetles and formed a slingshot, destroying multiple beetles using it.

’Mesmerizing...’

A Corrupted Beast was overpowered and grabbed by Hugo. He lifted the abomination into the sky and savagely ripped it in two.

[You have slain a Corrupted Beast...]

It was so easy to fall into blinding madness, to allow his deepest, most violent desires to come out and control his body, clouding his mind...

After all, was desire not the principle this world was built on?

Even the mighty gods had desired and acted upon those desires, so why shouldn’t Hugo do the same?

’Ah... But those are not my desires...’

A clear thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

His desires were being perverted and twisted by his Flaw and [Crown of Falsehood].

His desires, in their truest form, was to help people and use his powers for good.

One could argue that slaying abominations like this was good, and in a sense it was, but Hugo did not want to become a monster while doing so.

The monster meant in this case was not the physical description of his appearance or his abilities, but instead of his spirit.

It did not matter which form Hugo assumed, he still never wanted to become a monster...

Suddenly regaining his sanity, Hugo summoned [Nothing], shaping it into a sword this time. Augmented by the [Nameless Sun], the blade of mist cut down three abominations in half, before turning to impale two others.

Hugo made sure to not allow any of the abominations to get past him, as he was directly in front of Winter’s cohort, who likely wouldn’t be able to defend themselves if the sea of abominations reached them.

Of course, they could handle the Nightmare Creatures—they were veterans after all—however, Hugo would be glad to ease the pressure on them.

And to do so, he had to become an impregnable fortress, protecting the long-range warriors, who in turn shot down dozens of abominations per second, their attacks precise and deadly.

Not too far away from him, another warrior was utilizing a set of dark tentacles of his own. That was Sunny, using [Shadow Symbiote], wrapping it around his Transcendant Armor to tear apart the abominations.

Sunny used it in a much more deliberate battle style, choosing to place the Shadow on his back and allow it to tear down abominations, at the same time he himself—who was enjoying the boons of its augmentation and the augmentation of his shadows—was using his spear and hands to cleave through the beetles.

It was impressive how well he was doing, without even calling upon his other Shadows.

Soul Reaper, on the other hand, was doing just as much work as Sunny and Hugo—despite being more humanoid compared to the two of them—taking out much of the Corrupted abominations.

’No... She’s just as monstrous...’

If he had to describe Soul Reaper Jet in words, then they would be: a Creature in the form of a human.

If Sunny’s spear was a promise of death, then Jet’s glaive was death itself.

The ferocious warrior cut down a Fallen abomination with a single strike, while at the same time, turning around and using the shaft of her blade to impale the head of an Awakened Demon.

She moved towards another abomination with speed that should not have been possible for normal Ascendeds, and reached for her next victim, which was a corrupted creature.

Her battle style was brutal and domineering, honed and perfectly sharpened to achieve a single purpose—deliver swift death and utter devastation to her enemies. Though it seemed to lack flair and refinement, contrary to Sunny’s and Nephis’s battle arts.

’How peculiar... But I suppose it makes sense. Jet’s battle style is focused on killing creatures instead of battle... She is truly a killer, through and through.’

A thunderclap spread through the skies, and snapped hugo out of his thoughts, causing him to swiftly gaze upward as he ripped apart another beetle.

Sky Tide was engaged in a ferocious battle with the Corrupted Tyrant, with both of them soaring through the skies like missiles.

The abomination outclassed Saint Tyris,m by four classes, yet that did not stop the terrifying Saint from delivering the Corrupted Tyrant the beating of a lifetime. And yet... Despite all of those terrifying attacks, the jade beetle refused to die, as she too unleashed devastating attacks of her own, injuring the saint.

For now, their battle remained in a fragile equilibrium. The Jade Beetle and Saint Tyris were clashing in the sky, neither of them capable of striking down the adversary yet.

’I could help her, but the Irregulars are struggling with the beetles...’

Hugo thought. He could not leave his post, or hundreds of abominations would descend upon the Irregulars, and he could not send his shadow or Zed to fight them.

More importantly, soul reaper, who was their greatest asset in this battle was currently engaged with the corrupted abominations. She seemed to be struggling, as well.

So, hugo decided to summon Zed, but only so she could help him take down the minions of the Jade Beetle. Both of them were needed right now.

The blue wolf manifested from white sparks, immediately launching herself and biting the head of a Fallen Beast.

Then, her Nemetrix glowed dangerously as she grew in size. Her sleek alien hide became crimson and covered with black fur. Zed grew to resemble a huge Smilodon with sharp claws, a tail with a sharp hook at the end of it, razor-sharp sabers, a mane like a dire wolf and a small horn on the top of her nose, making her both menacing and terrifying.

She leaped through the battlefield, tearing down the abominations in rapid succession alongside Hugo, using her predatory powers to destroy the beetles.

With her, the tide of the battle, which had been slightly on the side of the humans, changed, giving the humans another massive advantage and even a chance to breathe.

Using this opportunity, Hugo moved to support Soul Reaper, intending to help her deal with the Corrupted minions while zed held his previous spot.

Those minions were not as powerful as the giants he had fought, being noticeably weaker and lower in class. Most were Corrupted Beasts, and only a few were Monsters.

Soul Reaper seemed to have already dealt with the only Corrupted Demon among them, but it had clearly taken a toll on her, as her movements, despite being fast and powerful, were slightly hindered by the wounds on her body.

With Hugo here, he allowed Jet to have a moment of repose, as he grabbed a Corrupted abomination from behind using his tendrils and tossed it high into the sky towards the Jade Queen, slamming it into its face.

The Queen screeched, grabbing her fallen minion and impaling it, before tossing it around like a broken toy.

The tyrant looked down at Hugo, ready to descend upon him, but before she could do that, Sky Tide’s talons plunged into her once again, leaving her no chance to do so.

Hugo was pleased at this, as he had managed to distract the tyrant long enough for tyris to do more damage.

"Focus, muscle head!" Soul Reaper shouted as she wiped the blood off her face, before glancing at Zed in the distance. "Nice dog you got there..."

Hugo used his laser eyes to burn the carapace of one of the abominations.

"Thanks, her name is Zed."

"I’m sure she’s lovely." she chuckled as she dove back into battle.

The two government Masters fought side by side, as they endured the tenacious power of the Corrupted minions.

Sunny, on the other hand, had used this opportunity to summon a magnificent warbow, and aimed it at the abominations.

Using his multitude of arms, his arrows hit their marks with precision.

Moments later, he took aim at the Jade Queen herself. His mighty arrows flew through the sky, made of thunder and slammed into the queen’s side.

They damaged her wings, allowing Sky Tide to have a slight edge in their clash.

It was not enough to take away the Tyrant’s main ability—its wings—but it was enough to give Saint Tyris another crucial advantage in this battle.

Using the window of opportunity created for her by Sunny’s arrow, she lunged into a recklessly committed attack without wasting a single moment. Slashing at the two untouched wings of the Jade Beetle with her steel talons...

After a long battle, Sky Tide finally managed to break them.

Then, she delivered a terrible blow with her beak and threw the abomination down.

Seeing the abomination fall, Hugo smiled and silently praised his friend for his cleverness.

Sunny, being the overachiever that he was, did not stop there, as a few moments later, he seemed to have thrown his spear—which was infused with white fire, likely from an enchantment—into the wounded Tyrant in a last-ditch effort to kill it.

Doing so made Sunny lose his main weapon, though that did not cause him to fall, as he had other methods of creating weapons. His [Shadow Symbiote] and his [Shadow Manifestation], and even without that, he could easily fight using his hands.

At that moment, something imperceptible changed on the battlefield.

The stone hive, which had been unified and deviously intelligent before, suddenly seemed to lose much of its coordination.

Hugo, as a terror, instinctively sensed what had happened.

The jade beetle had fallen and her minions, lost without their monarch, were overwhelmed by the forces of humanity.