The black sun hangs high

Chapter 117 The Roar of the Predator
Veraine had already left her chair.

At this moment, the servants who remained in the underground corridor on the fifth floor had all disappeared into the relentlessly advancing rat horde. The Ernst family members who were constantly fighting against the Mystic Rat horde were now completely on the verge of defeat. Faced with the endless horde of rats summoned by the Mystic Ritual, their numbers were negligible. Even with Virin constantly casting magic to cover and support them, their numbers continued to decrease.

As if seeing a glimmer of hope in eliminating the threat, all the rats that could be mobilized by the ritual have now gathered here. Apart from the dense swarms of black rats, there are also three members of the Black Sun Society who have been severely modified by the "Mother Earth" ritual.

Compared to the servants who had previously joined the rat horde in their assault, these three figures were clearly more special.

Perhaps due to the long-term transformation by the arcane ritual, they have completely transformed into "ratmen." Two of them are extremely strong, and they are even using weapons. According to Vilin's initial assessment, they should be shields and short swords infused with stun silver. Ordinary stream-level destructive magic can no longer easily take effect against such shields.

But behind them lies an even more dangerous entity.

It was a spellcaster, or rather, a spellcaster who had been transformed into a rat-like creature by a magical ritual. His head had been stretched into the shape of a rat by magic. Apart from a few strands of human hair remaining on his head and a spellbook symbolizing his identity hanging on his body, there was no trace of him being human.

Faced with this critical situation, Vera once again unleashed the lake-level magic etched in her memory.

As her magic rapidly depleted, the frigid frost once again covered a large section of the corridor, freezing all the rats to dust. After successfully casting the "Frosty Pool," the "Icy Cage" spell she had previously used to bind and kill enemies also came into play. Using the remaining frost and icy magic in the corridor as a base, numerous sharp ice blades "grew" out along the ground and walls. These sharp ice blades, like the ground cracking in an earthquake, continuously divided and devoured the overwhelming horde of rats, and kept rushing towards the three mutated ratmen at the back.

"Boom! Boom!"

The two heavy, demon-suppressing silver shields were slammed into the ground by the two strong guards. The sharp ice blades that had just emerged from the ground were smashed to pieces by the heavy shields in their hands. Although more ice blades came to them along the spreading white frost, the ice blades that were originally enough to pierce flesh could not penetrate the tough skin given to them by the "Mother Earth" at this moment.

That wasn't all. At the very back, the spellcaster, who had completely turned into a ratman, looked at the ice blades thrusting towards him and let out a strange, unpleasant laugh. In the next instant, dark, glowing runes appeared beside him, and a sturdy magical barrier was created out of thin air, easily blocking all the impacts for him.

Vera's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

She realized that the strange ritual might still hold some extremely special secrets, or that someone was deliberately manipulating it even now. This approach of using a large number of rats as cannon fodder to deplete the defender's magic and resources, and then launching a final attack after the situation stabilized, was really not in line with the ritual's own operating principles!

This is a decision that could only come about after incorporating the wisdom of living beings.

“A combat spellcaster at the Stream level or above… or even the Valley level.”

Weilin silently assessed the strength of the "ratman mage" in her mind. She knew that she could no longer hold back. Creating casualties was an unrealistic idea, and stalling for time was her most important goal at the moment.

She pursed her lips, opened the spellbook, and reached out to grab a thick stack of pages, about to tear them all off in one go, when suddenly a large swarm of rats emerged from the corner of the wall beside her. These were the fresh forces of the Ernst family's will. These rats, manipulated by the unwavering will of humanity, displayed an astonishing impact as soon as they entered the corridor. Before the swarm of ritual rats could grow in size, they decisively overwhelmed them, actually pushing the already precarious front line back along its original path.

"Thanks for your hard work."

A hand reached out from the side and gently took the magic book from Vera's hand.

Vera turned her head somewhat blankly, only to see Hugh holding a magic book, smiling as he looked at her.

She couldn't help but frown, not because she was dissatisfied with Hugh's behavior, but because she sensed a very unfamiliar and unprecedented aura emanating from him.

It was as if the person standing in front of him was not a spellcaster who had not yet been officially assessed as a stream-level spellcaster, but a magic scholar who was steadily moving towards the lake-level.

She felt a very clear sense of magical energy emanating from Hugh.

But how is this possible?

However, now is clearly not the time to ask questions, because the ratman spellcaster, who was transformed from a member of the Black Sun Society, has already begun to act.

Hughes saw the ratman spellcaster standing at the other end of the corridor raise his claws and claw forcefully scratch his face.

He tore open his own face, and a large amount of blood flowed down. Then he opened his mouth and uttered a shrill and unpleasant prayer and chant.

This was a ritual that Hugh had witnessed in his previous dream, but now it was no longer performed by those rat-man priests who were absolutely loyal to the Earth Mother Goddess, but by a mage who was a twisted and mutated human.

The familiar dark yellow light and shadows drifted forward like ribbons, first disappearing into the bodies of the two strong guards wielding swords and shields, and then burrowing into the rat swarm that was being pushed back.

The blessings from Mother Earth are revealed once again at this moment.

"It really does seem...familiar."

Hugh shook his head. He saw that the two guards' bodies had become stronger and more terrifying under the blessing of the lost god, and he also saw that the bodies of a large number of rats began to swell and their claws and teeth became sharp.

But compared to the blessings from the gods that one has "personally experienced," this is still pitifully weak.

Seeing that Bernhardt and Jacob, who were at the forefront, were beginning to retreat, Hugh immediately raised the Hound's Fang and began to aim. A slight pain came from his wrist, a sign that the magic bullets hidden in the wolf fang tattoo were being "loaded" into the Hound's Fang's magazine.

Hughes, succumbing to the "court hound's" rising hunting instincts, forcefully pulled the trigger.

The Hound's Fang, which once displayed its ferocious power in the Dream Sanctuary, finally roared deafeningly once again in this real material world.

The surrounding air rapidly contracted towards the direction of the Hound's Fang. After plundering a large amount of Shug's magic power, the special bullet containing the power of the Dark Abyss Hound sped towards the end of the corridor amidst violent vibrations.

The moment Hugh raised the Hound's Fang, a guard wielding a Demon-Slaying Silver Shield stepped forward. His appearance was now not much different from the warriors blessed by the Earth Mother Goddess that Hugh had seen in his dream, or rather, it was simply a reproduction of the traces of ancient deities.

Supported by the dark yellow blessing power, a chilling growl emanated from the head that had become indistinguishable from a rat.

The next instant, the Hound's Fang bullet collided with the heavy Demon Silver Shield.

However, no sound came from it.

The moment the bullet struck its target, the guard's burly body swayed slightly. Then, Hugh saw an extremely unusual, huge rectangular notch suddenly appear on the Demon-Slaying Silver Shield in his hand, as if the shield had been mercilessly cut by some kind of precise craftsmanship.

Further on, there was that burly body covered in tough hair.

The body, blessed by the Earth Mother Goddess, seemed to have become a wax figure melting under the high temperature. A strange and equally shocking wound pierced through the body hiding behind the shield.

It was as if what was shot out of the gun barrel was not a bullet, but a huge iron wedge!

Whether it's the blessing of the gods or the incredibly resilient body made by divine grace, everything becomes as soft as soil in the face of the Dark Abyss Hound's special power.

The second guard's shield and body were also pierced on the spot. This time, the power of the hound's teeth successfully took away the second guard's right shoulder - his right shoulder and most of his arm were completely annihilated by the hound's power. After losing the support of the power, the broken shield crashed heavily to the ground, crushing several rats that accidentally passed by.

The court hound, which had been lying dormant in the spiritual world of Hugh, finally revealed its special power. As the metal disc rotated, the strange hound's figure disappeared into the groove of the disc at the command of the messenger in the mirror.

Under the power provided by the "Mother Earth" ritual, the foremost guard did not die. He threw down his broken shield, gripped his short sword tightly, and seemed to want to continue advancing with his strong vitality. However, before he could take two steps, an extremely bizarre scene unfolded before Hugh and Virin's eyes.

Suddenly, a jet-black claw emerged from the strange wounds on the guard's body.

That was the figure of the palace hunting dog.

The bizarre wounds created by the Hound's Fang bullets seemed to become a passage for it to travel between two different worlds. As thick black mist spread, the figure of the court hound slowly "squeezed out" from the wounds on the guard's body. At first, it was just a sharp claw, but soon, its long, narrow head covered with countless red pupils slowly emerged. Throughout the process, the guard stood there blankly, as if he had lost the ability to move, letting his body become the gateway for the hound to access the real world.

The terrifying abyss creature slowly turned its body, its jet-black claws pressing down on the head of the mutated guard. Then, its mouth, filled with sharp teeth and tentacles, suddenly opened and bit down hard on the guard's head.

The head, which should have been as tough as steel, was instantly reduced to nothingness by the hound's gnawing. Through the senses that the hound had "shared" with him, Hugh could even clearly feel the terrifying process of it torturing its prey and using the whiskers in its mouth to drain all the power from its body.

"As expected... anything that comes out of the Dark Abyss is outrageously bizarre no matter how you judge it."

Hugh sighed inwardly.

This terrifying scene clearly had a huge impact on the ratman spellcaster standing at the back. Faced with this imminent threat, even though his mind, will, and body had been completely transformed by the Earth Mother Goddess ritual, a sense of terror that the ratman spellcaster could not comprehend at all suddenly took over his entire body the moment the court hounds appeared.

His remaining rationality and his altered instincts were roaring at him.

He realized that what appeared before him was most likely a "predator" that he was completely powerless to fight back against.

Driven by fear, a spell twisted by the power of the Earth Mother suddenly took shape. It was a chaotic, dark yellow light and shadow, resembling a magical claw made of mud and sand in the gloomy corridor. However, as the claw slammed down, the figure that had been gnawing at the prey's head and sucking its saliva suddenly vanished. The headless guard's body then became the target of the spell, and in an instant, it was torn to pieces by the terrifying claw.

Just like what Hugh had experienced in the Dream Sanctuary.

The hound's shapeless form slowly emerged from a corner. Perhaps because it had just completed a hunt, its body looked much stronger than before. Facing its prey, it was not in a hurry to hunt, but rather seemed to be toying with it, using its strange movements to dodge the magic that the prey was constantly releasing.

Looking at the scene before him, and combining it with everything he had seen in his dream, Hugh suddenly had a new understanding of the lost era filled with the gods' kin. Just like the three-tailed giant rat and the Touch of Calron that he had seen in his dream, those ancient creations that are now trapped in the dream sanctuary may have once been part of the real ecosystem.

And this Dark Abyss Hound was very likely one of the most terrifying hunters in Vaan at that time.

Judging from the current situation, those who worship the Earth Mother Goddess may have been on her prey list at some point...

(End of this chapter)