The black sun hangs high

Chapter 125 "Temple"

The last few rat-man priests and guards were squeezed into a small corner. As the power of the raging rats continued to increase, there were very few rats that could be commanded and directed by the rat-man priests. With the continuous advance of the large rat tide, they lost their last room to struggle.

Despite the relentless onslaught of deadly magic clearing the surrounding rat horde, the boundless rat tide, fueled by the power of the raging rats and General Bernhardt's forceful orders, gradually coalesced into a terrifying behemoth. It devoured the mutated plants in the garden, consumed the corpses of the fallen guardians, assimilated and eliminated the rats that formed the last line of defense, and then, treading on the dark green flames and darting bolts of lightning unleashed by the rat-man priests, advanced towards the magical barrier erected by multiple priests.

When the blind rats died and disappeared, they created large, dense clouds of magical mist. This white mist drifted and almost completely blocked the view of a large area.

However, it was outside this drifting magical mist that Vilin, who had already broken free from the entanglement of the plants with the help of the rats, regained her footing. Within the Law Committee, the special magic that all spellcasters were required to learn and inscribe began to be rapidly constructed.

The magical "Brain Spike," specifically designed to target enemy spellcasters and provide continuous protection, was completed in the blink of an eye. As the two magical runes were perfected, a translucent spike with a magical capacity far exceeding that of usual pierced into the deepest part of the fog, following Verin's will.

The instant she hit her target, she felt as if her head had struck something hard—this was the inevitable result of the "Brain Spike" spell, because the essence of this spell is to use the caster's magic and spirit to directly and forcefully collide with the target!
However, the results of this initiative have been remarkable.

Although several rat priests continued to pour out their magic, the individual responsible for maintaining the protective ritual was momentarily stunned when hit by the "brain spikes." It was at this moment that the rat swarm finally found a breakthrough. The scurrying rat that had come to the vicinity did not let this opportunity pass. Although it did not understand magic, it was able to use its instincts to find the weakest point in the enemy's defense.

It nimbly leaped over a ring of green fire spreading along the ground, and before it even landed, three long tails with sharp barbs and insidious magic twisted together, like a spiraling longsword, forcefully stabbing towards the weakest and most vulnerable part of the magic barrier in its field of vision.

The defenses were completely breached.

Hugh did not take advantage of this opening to fire Hound's Fang bullets at the group of targets. Although one bullet would have been enough to take them all out in this situation, he only had two Hound's Fang bullets left, and only two of the wolf fang tattoos on his wrist still had color.

There was no way to reload these bullets in a short time, so he had to leave room for other enemies and unexpected events that might occur next.

Now, his attention was completely drawn to his summoned creatures.

After consuming the divine blessings within the bodies of several rat-man guards and priests, the magic power within the running rat reached its peak once again. This time, the changes were no longer limited to the expansion and growth of its size. Through the magical connection between the two, Hugh successfully captured a strange idea of ​​his summoned creature amidst the incredibly chaotic messages.

It felt a little itchy on its head.

In fact, Hugh did see that there seemed to be some strange light and shadow on Sniggy's head, but the magical mist kept swaying, and Hugh couldn't see it clearly.

Soon, as the second "brain needle" hit its target, the rat swarm overwhelmed these last resisters, and the divine blessings that their bodies possessed were ruthlessly taken away by Sniggy.

Upon receiving Hugh's command, the running rat immediately returned to his side. It was clearly very uncomfortable, and its thoughts and ideas were in disarray, indicating that those forces were having a continuous effect on it.

Hugh saw that Sniggy was constantly scratching its head with its claws and tail, and on either side of its head, two translucent magical horns were faintly "growing"...

Hugh quickly stopped Sniggy's actions. He carefully observed the pattern of the two horns and discovered that it was a unique feature belonging only to the Earth Mother Goddess.

However, these two horns were not physical objects; they seemed to be illusions formed from a high concentration of magic. Sniggy's claws and tail could even pass through them, and the fur connecting the two horns remained smooth and even, without any abnormalities.

"You'd better not let it move around."

Vera walked over along the garden path, handing over the revolver that Hugh had thrown down earlier, and advised, "I don't know much about the magical creatures topic, but it seems to be at a very 'critical' stage right now. If we mess around with it, it could cause some irreversible damage."

Hearing Verin's words, Hugh had no choice but to forcefully give the running rat a command and use two ordinary tricks that could suppress its senses for a short time to calm it down. Even so, its constantly wagging tail indicated that it was not truly comfortable at the moment, as the force was constantly stimulating it.

The entire underground garden has been completely destroyed. As the rampaging rats relaxed their suppression on the level of power, the rats that had been forcibly recruited have now fallen silent. They either stayed where they were or burrowed into the inconspicuous darkness with their fellow rats. Only a portion of the rats that had been completely assimilated by the power have returned to the group.

Hugh was very satisfied with the results of this "recruitment". Unfortunately, this was the limit of the number of rats that Sniggy could control. If he could control and absorb all the rats in the entire underground world, then Hugh would have a terrifying rat army.

He reloaded the revolver, slung it over his shoulder, patted his blood-stained clothes, and looked up at the huge cave at the end of the underground garden.

Hughes didn't think the battle was completely over, because he felt that the defenses in the underground garden were somewhat weak. The ratman priests and guards weren't as powerful as he had imagined, and their magic was even somewhat depleted, as if something had been drained from them.

“We found no trace left by any other family members.”

Alexandra's voice came slowly: "We can't be sure whether they have completely 'disappeared' or... something else has happened."

"You'll find out once you go in and take a look."

Hugh examined the enormous cave in front of him, which exuded a wild and untamed atmosphere: "Anyway, the core of the secret ritual is inside. We've come all this way, we can't just turn back."

Upon hearing this, Wei Lin's expression immediately became subtle.

She always felt that something was off about that statement, as if saying it would bring some kind of inexplicable and eerie misfortune.

However, at this moment, Hugh had already taken the lead and walked towards the darkness. She sighed helplessly, pinched a magic crystal to replenish her magic power, and quickly followed after him.

...On either side of the cave entrance stood two stone statues whose images were already very blurry. Hugh carefully examined them and concluded that the two statues should actually be two guards, but due to their age, the details of the statues were difficult to see. Even their faces were only a blurry outline, making it impossible to determine whether the two statues depicted humans or rats that once worshipped the Earth Mother Goddess.

Just as Hugh had guessed, what was set up here was not a real cave at all, but a hall with its entrance gate disguised as a cave.

It could even be called a small temple.

Here, he saw many structures that would never be used in conventional architecture, such as enormous stone pillars, ceilings made of a mixture of magical crystals and ordinary stone, and huge murals that had been transported from somewhere and embedded directly into the walls...

In his own past professional terms, everything here clearly carries a "narrative" function.

Every detail, every structure, and every part was meticulously crafted. Their age was so ancient that they were unrecognizable. Both Hugh and his companion could sense an ancient aura that did not belong to modern human civilization. This aura bore a resemblance to the scene Hugh experienced in the rat swarm's dream.

"It's truly spectacular."

Vera looked around greedily, so excited she was almost jumping up and down.

She was certain that all the traces in this mysterious hall were important evidence that could shock and shake the entire history of Vaan. Those traces would not lie. Any professional magic scholar would find that the age of these stone pillars and murals far exceeded the limits of human cognition, and this discovery could lead to an inevitable conclusion.

Before the humans of Vaan established themselves and learned to record history, there existed one or more highly developed and incredibly prosperous civilizations, and these civilizations must be the source of that lost magical knowledge.

Hugh was also observing everything around him.

Just like all the intelligent civilizations he knew, the builders who constructed these stone pillars left behind a variety of images on their surfaces. They were not human; some resembled wild beasts of the mountains and forests, some were as small as house mice, and some possessed the characteristics of multiple known magical creatures... But without exception, they all clearly possessed extraordinary intelligence. They wore magnificent clothes and held all sorts of tools or weapons.

The further you go in, the fewer stone pillars there are.

The animal carvings on the surface of those stone pillars gradually became more figurative—they were no longer a mixture of various land animals, but gradually approached the same kind.

Hughes began to find familiar animal images.

Cats, dogs, cows, or deer.

Of course, images of lizards and snakes can also be seen.

“The murals depict all sorts of animals… I have never seen any of them before, but you can tell that they are very similar to some of the animals in Vain today.”

Vera softened her voice, as if afraid of waking the inhabitants of these ancient paintings: "Dragon lizards, earth dragons, and snakes, their appearances haven't changed much, perhaps they are related by blood?"

"All these animals are facing the same direction, as if they are worshipping a god, without disturbing each other, and it's quite special..."

Vera hesitated for a moment, but still uttered the word: "Devotion?"

Hughes agreed with the other party's statement, and responded: "Judging from the name and title, Mother Earth is an important object of worship for all land animals and civilizations. It is completely understandable that such murals appeared. Perhaps the painters at that time wanted to express the state of countless animals worshipping Mother Earth in ancient times."

As he spoke, he pointed to the stone pillar beside him: "The carvings on the stone pillar are different from those in the murals. These figures are clearly individuals from certain civilizations. They should all have their own languages ​​and scripts, and have established tribes or even states."

Vera glanced thoughtfully at the distribution of the stone pillars, then asked, "Are there fewer of them the deeper you go?"

"Yes."

Hugh nodded slightly: "It's like showing the degree of intimacy. The figures carved on the stone pillars are of higher status than the animals in the murals. And the further in you go, the closer they are to the gods they worship, and the higher the status of the nation and tribe..."

As he spoke, Hugh quickened his pace and walked to the front of these stone pillars. There, he saw a particularly tall pillar standing alone, with many rats carved on it.

Priests wearing bone helmets, rat-man warriors wielding various weapons, and other rats domesticated for different purposes... Just by looking at this pillar, one can already glimpse the prosperity and complexity of that civilization, which was mainly composed of rats.

Sniggy followed quietly beside Hugh, enduring the "itch" on its head as it looked up and blankly observed the familiar yet unfamiliar images on the stone pillars. When it saw the three-tailed giant rat used as a war beast, it became noticeably excited and chirped a series of sounds.

"Watch carefully, study hard... This is your goal, understand?"

Hugh smiled and gave a word of advice, then turned his head and, using the magical vision of the messenger in the mirror, looked towards the deepest part of the hall.

He saw that in the middle of the innermost wall of the hall, there was an open door. It was pitch black inside, and even with the help of the Messenger in the Mirror, he could not see anything.

But he was certain that was his destination.

(End of this chapter)