Chapter 121: Mall Shop!
NQSC was the most beautiful city on Earth, vastly exceeding the beauty of the other siege capitals. Tall buildings climbed high into the sky and dug deep into the ground, joined by aerial bridges and tunnels into a complex maze of reinforced alloy and graphene composite. The white monotony was occasionally broken by fake trees and grass in brilliant colors of green, yellow, orange, and red.
Everything appeared clean and bright. There were large screens displaying beautiful vistas of breathtaking landscapes that had not existed on Earth since centuries ago, as well as propaganda projections that had been masterfully designed to brighten the mood of the citizens.
The crosswalks were crowded with endless streams of people, with the occasional PTV appearing from time to time. There were hundreds of millions of people who called this place their home. They could only survive and flourish here, shielded by the colossal outer barriers, protective air filtration systems, and powerful Awakened.
Hugo was currently in one of the trams, which were magnetic trains used as public transportation by most people in the city. He was wearing a cap, a light blue jacket, and black pants. He had gotten himself a mouth mask as well, just to hide his identity.
Today was his vacation day. Well... One of him, at least.
His other persona, Lugan, was currently in in the Dream Realm right now, specifically in the Stormsea, battling against harrowing abominations underwater alongside the new recruits of the house of night.
But either way, Hugo decided to dedicate today to resting and exploring the city.
Looking from outside the tram's windows, Hugo saw many billboards displaying ads with Effie on them, others with Kai and Nephis on them, and dozens of other well-known Awakened. He was not there, naturally, because he did not participate in such public events. However, that only seemed to make him even more sought after by the public.
Reaching his station, Hugo calmly exited and looked around.
He was at the city center right now, not far from Sunny's house.
The city center did not only have a housing district, but it also had a large entertainment and shopping districts fit for both Awakened and mundane people alike.
Hugo currently possessed a ton of credits in his account, so he had a lot to spend.
As he was walking towards the shopping district, he couldn't help but feel a strange feeling in his chest, looking at the people going about their lives.
Seeing all of those people happy, seeing families together, and friends together... He couldn't help but feel anger.
Why did those people, with high citizenships and money, get to live better than the ones in the outskirts ?
Hugo was not from the outskirts, but that did not mean he did not feel bad for the people suffering in that hellish place. He did blame the government in a way, but there was supposedly 'Nothing' they could do to help the people of the outskirts.
After experiencing much of the horrors of the world, Hugo ended up developing an egalitarian-like behavior. He thought all humans were equals, and naturally, all humans should receive proper treatment, care, and be given the same opportunities without exception, no matter their social class or even their ranks in the path of ascension.
'Vacation day and I'm already thinking like this...'
Hugo seemed fine on the outside, but he truly was not alright.
He was stressed, tired, and dealing with a growing list of problems.
His head constantly ached the more he experienced the world's weight, making think about all sorts of things. To make it worse, He still carried trauma from everything he had been through and more importantly, he was still haunted by the events of his second nightmare.
Specifically, what Paradox, the Spirit of Time, had said to him.
Sunny must lose his fate to ensure the survival of the world, and Hugo needed to play a role in manipulating him toward that goal alongside a certain someone.
That someone was none other then song of the fallen, Cassie...
Hugo was certain that Paradox had referred to her, she was also the one he had addressed back in the second nightmare, no doubt thanks to the gift of foresight her sacred aspect granted her.
Hugo had noticed how strange the blind seer acted around him and Sunny, especially during their sorcery lessons.
She always seemed... Fake, as if trying to push them in certain directions through normal words and actions that no one else would have given a second thought.
He himself was not willing to go through with that madness... But Cassie... Well, Hugo did not know if she truly was willing to go through with it, but he knew one thing...
Cassie was unpredictable and dangerous, Very, very dangerous.
What made it so much more intense was that he did not even know what breaking fate would entail. He knew it was to save the world from a certain outcome, but the consequences of such a task were definitely going to be catastrophic...
There were consequences to meddling with the world, Hugo, who had experienced being a god once, knew that more then anyone.
suddenly, he found himself at his destination, he had been lost in thoughts so he had not noticed a thing.
'I got distracted.'
The place was a bookstore, housing thousands of physical books, novels, and articles about the world.
There was Awakened media, mundane media, fantasy, romance, and everything one could think of.
Seeing this, he smiled a little.
'Let's save the world another time.'
Hugo entered the shop and went deep into the romance section.
Romance novels in this generation were simply incredible, as the authors do a brilliant job at exploring and fleshing out their characters.
Fantasy series nowadays were less remarkable in comparison. They centered around the Awakened society, with the main characters constantly going on adventures in the Dream Realm and the waking world, slaying nightmare creatures.
The arcs had a simple format, which was: Mc kills nightmare creature, another stronger one appeares, mc can't kill it, mc trains harder and conquers a nightmare, mc combes back stronger and kills it.
This would go for hundreds of chapters, without the authors exploring the power system or the aspects of the main character properly.
Hugo had enjoyed this genre back when he was mundane. But after experiencing the life of an Awakened and surviving the horrors of the Dream Realm, fantasy novels felt boring, repetitive and utterly unrealistic.
The main characters were way too overpowered for their rank, and that was coming from him!
So, romance was simply superior in terms of enjoyability.
He heard online that there was a new big hitter in the romance industry, called "I Accidentally Seduced the Northern Duke," which had an interesting concept, not to mention it also has a classic light fantasy world!
'There it is!'
Finding the novel, Hugo quickly shot his hand forward to grab it, but suddenly, a gloved hand beat him to it, grabbing the book even faster than he could.
This had shocked Hugo. After all, he was an Ascended. No one of his rank or lower should be capable of outspeeding him...
The only ones capable of that were Saints, but what were the chances of finding a Saint in this place?
Turning his attention to the side, Hugo's eyes narrowed.
There, standing just a few feets away, was a tall figure, roughly his height. A woman, from the look of it but she was even more covered than him, wearing a black hoodie, dark pants, gloves, glasses, and a mouth mask...
None of her skin was showing as if she was allergic to light...
That wasn't what caught his attention, though, instead It was her shadow.
He hadn't sensed her before because he wasn't paying attention, but now—with his shadow sense activated—he felt it.
Dark, vast and unnatural...
'Her shadow... She's a Saint.'
More than that, using his Titan consciousness, he was able to feel her presence.
She was clearly suppressing it, but it was definitely there, her presence was vast and oppressive, like the lightless expanse of a boundless, dark ocean.
It reminded him of his [Stone Saint] form and the shadow saint.
Sensing the sinister Saint, Hugo's hand Instinctively shot towards his Omnitrix, ready to slam it and transform but the Saint grabbed his hand moments before he could do that.
She squeezed it slightly, before saying in a Darkn voice:
"Don't even think about it."
Hugo smiled hesitantly... This was bad, very very bad.
He naturally would be able to fight a Saint under normal circumstances, although Hugo was not sure he would win against one, he could at least escape or deal them a deathblow... but now he was in the public.
A Master like him clashing with a Saint here could level miles of the city in all directions.
And now, he couldn't even transform into any of his speedster or ghostly aliens to escape.
His tether needed concentration and time to be used, which he had none of right now.
"...Who are you, and why are you following me?" Hugo asked the saint, trying to distract her with words.
Strangely, the woman's body language changed a little.
"What? Brat, do you take me for a fool? And here I thought valor's assassins were the best there was in two worlds..."
Now it was Hugo's turn to be confused.
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not a valor assassin, I'm not even a part of that clan! If anything, I should be the one asking, why is a Saint following me around?"
The Saint seemed offended by this.
"Me? Follow you? Boy, do you know who you're talking to?"
"...No, not really. Do you know who you're talking to?"
"What?"
Both of them removed their mouth masks, and suddenly their eyes widened.
The saint seemed to recognize him, which was only natural. Every major power in the world knew about him by now.
"You... Paragon of Purity... To think I would get to meet you so soon.." the mysterious Saint said.
She had beautiful alabaster skin, which was almost enchanting... But that didn't change one important thing.
Hugo looked at her with a dubious expression, now that she was without her mouth mask.
"I have no idea who you are."
——————
How many people had gotten the opportunity to have coffee with a Saint in their lives?
Naturally, the number must be very small.
But how many people had coffee with two different Saints on two separate occasions?
Well, Hugo did not the exact number but was one of those people today.
He sat in a neat cafe in the shopping district, holding a hot cup of tea in his hands. Across from him sat a woman with alabaster skin, still wearing her mouth mask, covered from head to toe In her hands was... A strawberry drink.
This was Saint Revel, one of humanity's most mysterious Saints, even less infamous than Wake of Ruin himself.
He and the Saint had gotten into quite the misunderstanding.
"So, to recap—you were buying a romance novel and had no idea I was there, making our meeting was a pure coincidence?" Hugo asked, still baffled by this entire situation.
There were two books on the table, both copies of "I Accidentally Seduced the Northern Duke," which he and Revel had bought.
Revel nodded. "I should be the one asking that, but yes."
The Saint's tone was not friendly, as she clearly didn't enjoy interacting with people. She seemed in a hurry to leave, but oddly enough, she had indulged Hugo in this conversation.
'Perhaps because she needs info about me? Clan song must be searching for a way to get me before valor...'
"I see... Well, I apologize for any inconvenience, Saint Revel. It truly was not my intention to trouble you... But do you really enjoy romance novels? Not that I'm making fun of you for that, it's just that seeing people who enjoy this stuff in the Awakened community is very rare..."
The antisocial Saint looked at him for a while, before turning her head around for some strange reason.
"...Yes, romance novels are an interest of mine. But more importantly... Why are you interested in them? You're a man..."
Hugo looked at the Saint with a deadpan expression.
Did she really just say that?
"Excuse me if this might sound rude, but you do realize what age and year it is, right? Gender stereotypes have been dead for like a few centuries by now."
It was true that a lot of men did not enjoy romance media, but that did not mean there were no males who did. People should be allowed to enjoy whatever they wanted, as long as it wasn't something truly abominable.
"...I see... Do you happen to have read any other books of the genre?"
The Saint asked curiously, making Hugo shiver.
Was she trying to make small talk?
"let me see... There's 'My Bias Got on the Last Train.' 'Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story.' and 'Iseop's Romance.' Those three are my favorites, mainly because they have a very interesting male and female leads who clearly have chemistry together."
The Saint's eyes widened behind her sunglasses, as she slammed her hands over the table, causing cracks to appear on its surface.
Hugo paled. Did he somehow offend her?!
"You read 'Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story' too?!"
'...She's really just a fan?'
Revel saw how much of a mess she had made and returned to her seat calmly, not at all emeberassed.
Hugo coughed a little, then said:
"Yes, it was a very pleasant story. Although I'm sad it ended. It's one of the best in the industry in my opinion." Hugo said.
Revel nodded as she said:
"The plot twist was the best part in my opinion, as the female lead..."
Saint Revel went on to talk for a full half an hour about the novel, going into details about the characters, the aesthetics, the lore, the story and deciphering it like it was some ancient textbook.
Hugo, even though he was baffled by this situation, did enjoy Revel's company—they had mutual interests, after all.
Eventually, the Saint stopped and looked at the time on her communicator and sighed.
"I must leave now... Talking with you was... Not bad. I wouldn't say it was pleasant, but you are not as annoying as most people I know." the Saint said calmly, picking up her book.
'Wow, she's a whole different person when not talking about books.'
Though Hugo did find interacting with her pleasing, infact he would even go as far as to say that he liked her company...
He was likely going to encounter Saint Revel in the future, due to the fact they were both champions of humanity... But that was going to take a while.
And even if they met again, They would probably not have the chance to talk about their shared interests.
"Hey, Saint Revel... If you don't mind, can we exchange contacts? I'd like to discuss novels with you if you're interested..."
He almost immediately paled after saying that, feeling the Saint give him a dirty look.
'Idiot! Why did I say that?!'
Hugo expected to be slapped to the Dream Realm, but strangely, the Saint simply extended her hand with her communicator in it.
"Here, give me your communicator."
'...That worked?'
He was still baffled by this entire thing, but he extended his arm, putting the Omnitrix over her communicator and exchanging contacts.
She eyed his watch for a moment.
"Interesting thing you've got there... It smells... Oddly familiar for some reason..."
With those ominous words , the Saint simply disappeared. She didn't even bother going away, instead, she simply pulled on her tether and returned to the Dream Realm.
"... I can't believe it... I actually got the number of a saint..."
It was the third saint he had gotten the number of, which was... Unbelievable.