Chapter 129: Ice

As soon as Hugh mentioned the word 'nucleus,' Marshal seemed to have been splashed cold water on his face. It looked like he had just seen a ghost as he faced Hugh.

Marshal did not think that Hugh would know anything about his nucleus. This was intimate information about his species, and Hugh just casually mentioned it like it was nothing.

It was then that Marshal's realized that he should not underestimate Hugh. He quickly shut his mouth up so that he would not speak to Hugh ever again.

Marshal immediately raised both of his hands in a defensive position against Hugh. He was now ready to fight, not talk.

Hugh was also getting tired of talking as he got ready to fight. He used his eagle eyes to keep an eye on everything Marshal would do so that he would not get blindsided.

Hugh activated his armor. Brown and silver liquid started to fill around Hugh's feet and enhanced his speed and kicking power.

Hugh did not waste any more time as he propelled himself towards Marshal. Hugh also transformed his hands into eagle claws so that he would have the most damaging attack he could muster.

Marshal stood in place as Hugh charged towards him. Hugh made sure to watch his moves, but it seemed like Marshal had no intention of dodging away from Hugh's attack.

After a few moments, Hugh finally reached Marshal. His claws were as sharp as steel and it could obliterate any material it came into contact with.

Hugh slashed his claws towards Marshal's body, directly aiming for the heart. Hugh knew that Marshal was only a host to the invader, so he planned to kill the host first.

Just as Hugh's claws were about to reach Marshal's body, the temperature around the room suddenly dropped a few degrees.

It became cold, and Hugh could see smoke under his breath. This change was too fast to even comprehend, so Hugh did not understand it at first.

Hugh's claws ripped apart the threads in Marshal's clothes, but it stopped there. It did not go any further as Hugh felt some resistance when the claws reached the skin.

*dink*

The texture and the sound of the collision did not seem like the claws hit Marshal's skin. It seemed like it collided with steel.

Then, Hugh looked at Marshal's body with his eagle eyes. Underneath the tears in his uniform, Hugh could see that crystals were forming in his skin.

To be exact, there was a layer of ice over Marshal's skin that acted as a barrier against Hugh's claws. It seemed to have been strong enough to resist any scratches from Hugh's claws.

Hugh was stopped in his tracks and he could not go any further. To mark things worse, Hugh suddenly felt a chilling pain in his claws as the ice started to spread towards Hugh's claws.

Hugh quickly retracted his claws away from Marshal's body, fearing that he would be frozen to death. If not for the hundreds of kilograms of fat underneath his skin, Hugh would feel a chilling cold breeze.

Hugh shivered as he stood in place. He looked around and saw that the whole place seemed like it was freezing. Ice crystals were forming on the ceiling.

Before Hugh could even understand the implications of this, Hugh suddenly felt a threatening aura coming towards him.

With the help of his eagle eyes, he was able to react properly before he got into real trouble. An icicle the size of a forearm was coming towards him at fast speeds.

He quickly ducked his head away from the icicle, and he was only barely able to dodge away. The icicle grazed his cheek and blood flowed out from the small cut.

Hugh realized that he could not take his eyes away from Marshal, so he decided to make some distance away from Marshal.

Marshal's powers were to reduce the temperature of an object. With this kind of information, Hugh knew that the best tactic possible was to maintain his distance.

If Marshal was not able to touch him, then Hugh would not get affected. If Marshal decided to throw some icicles towards him, then he would have enough time to dodge away.

Hugh quickly stepped away from Marshal while keeping his eyes on him. He was able to make it to the opposite end of the wall, but Marshal still did not make any move.

Hugh did not know if the invader was an idiot or not, but the most logical action that Marshal should take was to chase down Hugh. However, Marshal only stood in place as if he did not need to chase down Hugh.

Hugh furrowed his eyebrows as he felt a bad omen coming towards him. Just as he thought that Hugh saw Marshal raise his hand.

Hugh did not see anything in his hands, so Hugh thought that nothing will happen. However, Hugh suddenly felt a strong reaction in his gut. His instincts were telling him that he should dodge away.

Hugh had a hard time deciding whether to trust his instincts. He could not see anything that was dangerous, so he did not immediately react.

However, Hugh decided to trust his gut for now. Hugh quickly rolled away from his current position just the threat passed him.

Hugh suddenly felt a cold breeze passing beside him. He looked to where he was before, and he saw the wall suddenly turn into ice.

He also felt a chilling pain in his side abdominals as he realized that he was not able to dodge away completely. He looked down and saw that a part of his clothes was freezing. He quickly tore away that part of his clothes so that it would not affect the rest of the fabric.

Hugh suddenly realized something that gave chills to his spine. Marshal somehow used his Desire without touching anything.

This was unthinkable. This kind of Desire manipulation was only reserved for the second years. The first years were not supposed to be able to do that. It was physically impossible.

As far as Hugh remembered, the original Marshal was nothing special. He was ordinary, so Hugh could not think that Marshal would be able to do this.

This could only mean that it was the invader who was able to manipulate Desire like that. Then, he remembered what the invader has said before.

'We are strong. With one kill, we take their body and use it to our own. We can bring out its true potential better than anybody.'

If what the invader said was true, then it meant that invaders could unlock Desire's potential better than anybody.

Hugh got another chill in his spine, not because of the cold, but because of the implication of this fact. If the invaders could control even as small as ten people, then they could rule the whole world.

They would be able to use Desire better than the host. It was a frightening thought, and Hugh would dread fighting with a small army of them.

He now knew why professor Kain hated them so much. They would be a doomsday device that could threaten the whole world.

"Now you see our power?!"

Marshal could see the fear in Hugh's eyes. He was becoming more and more proud of his colony and he was becoming more impatient in hatching his brothers and sisters in arms.

Hugh was now in trouble. He had no place to hide or run away from the invader, so that meant that the only way to win was to fight up front.

Hugh decided to risk it all as he charged towards the invader with his claws. He was in a hypersensitive mode as he was taking attention to everything in his sight.

With his claws, Hugh decided to attack Marshal's eyes. The same thing happened as before as Marshal used a thick layer of ice as a protective barrier against Hugh's attack.

With every slash that Hugh took, Marshal had his impenetrable protective barrier. Hugh was also starting to feel slower and slower as time passed on.

It was then that he realized that the cold was seeping into his bones. His limbs were bringing harder and harder to move like it was being frozen alive.

Hugh knew that any more of his attacks would be useless, so Hugh had to pull out the ace in his cards. Without any further hesitation, Hugh decided to transform.

With just a single thought, Hugh started to burn his fats into pure energy. His body started to steam, and the cold was not enough to cook down Hugh's heating body.

Marshal could feel the difference in Hugh's body, and it truly shocked him. He had never seen this kind of thing before, so he was shocked and intrigued.

It did not take long for Hugh's fats to disappear and be replaced by healthy muscles. Hugh had become fitter than ever. He was now at the peak of his physical prowess.

Marshal looked at Hugh and felt the strength coming off from Hugh's body. He was terrified and envious at the same time.

"You will be a suitable host for my brothers."