The black sun hangs high

Chapter 127 Giant Beast
With ample mental preparation and the support of his growing strength, Hugh was not afraid of the scene and things that appeared before him this time.

But he was still shocked.

In the shadows of the deep pit of the altar, Hugh saw a large, writhing mass of "flesh".

They are clearly alive and belong to the same whole.

Compared to the chaotic and boundless physical form of the Dark Abyss Offspring, the colossal being before him possessed a very concrete and ugly form—on its hideous, mountain-like body, Hugh saw countless limbs pieced together and assembled by some unknown method. Some of these limbs were incredibly strong, while others were extremely weak and thin, but without a doubt, they were all "alive".

When the body they are attached to shakes or breathes, these limbs will naturally and unconsciously make movements such as swaying and scratching.

Compared to the offspring of the Dark Abyss, this is clearly a being that is more likely to enter the nightmares of ordinary people.

Based on Hugh's own knowledge and experience, this kind of monster that grows on a giant block of flesh and splices together a large number of limbs has a common name and title, which is "Abomination". This title can actually be used to describe anything that is hateful and disgusting, and the behemoth in front of him, which is obviously spliced ​​together from the torsos and limbs of countless living beings, fits this concept very well.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!"

Alexandra saw everything through Hugh's eyes. After a brief moment of shock and panic, the legendary countess of the past suddenly realized something. In a trembling voice, she said to Hugh, "That's them...that's them!"

"You mean, this lump of flesh is from those family members who went missing before?"

"definitely is!"

Alexandra stated with certainty, "Our powers have been combined, so I am certain that this is them, or at least that they are part of this monster!"

After listening to Alexandra's account, Hughes took a deep breath.

He moved two steps to the side, completely concealing his body in the shadows. His eyes darted around before finally settling on an experimental table located inside the deep pit.

This experimental table was clearly set up for this behemoth, and it was equipped with a full range of instruments, including glassware that could be used as mirrors.

The power of the Mirror Messenger began to take effect, and Hugh's thoughts and vision were extended by magic. After a moment, his will entered the surface of the translucent glass vessel, from which he was able to observe the terrifying monster in detail at a closer distance.

The main body of the "Abomination" in the altar pit was intact, and Hugh did not see any traces of "stitching" on it. After careful observation, Hugh successfully found a huge head at the top of the body - it was the head of a rat. Like other blind rats, this head had no eyes, and its fur had been peeled off, so it looked like a skeleton wrapped in flesh.

Just as Hugh was carefully observing, the altar itself suddenly emitted a low hum. Then, amidst a slight tremor, a blessing power belonging to the Earth Mother Goddess flowed along the heavy iron chains binding the giant beasts.

Within the magical vision provided by the Messenger in the Mirror, Hughes noticed that the benevolent power of these deities was constantly being poured into the beast's body.

This force was clearly stimulating. The behemoth began to writhe, and this movement caused the heavy, magic-inlaid iron chains to rattle. Under the influence of the divine grace, the mountain of flesh swelled slightly. Then, some of its weak limbs seemed to be strengthened to a certain extent, and they swung vigorously, as if celebrating their "rebirth".

However, the next second, the giant beast collapsed to the ground. With continuous vibrations and buzzing, more blessings were forcibly extracted from its body and poured back into the altar along with the iron chains.

This situation puzzled Hugh.

He originally thought that the giant beast bound by chains to the center of the altar was actually some kind of magical creature being "cultivated" by the Black Sun Society using the Earth Mother Mystic Ritual, just like the Dark Abyss Offspring summoned using a special ritual before, an important weapon that could be released into the outside world to achieve some goal.

But judging from the current situation, this thing seems more like a battery.

Or perhaps it is a kind of "transfer station" used to purify and transform power.

"The power of the Earth Mother Goddess is directly related to abundance and life... So the main body of this monster is actually a rat that keeps multiplying under the stimulation of the Mother Goddess's power?"

Hugh turned his gaze to the back of the behemoth, and sure enough, there were many fleshy tendrils lying on the ground, and a tail coiled in the shadows behind it.

The giant beast looked very weak; it lay quietly among the scattered bones, as if asleep.

After confirming that no other important information had been missed, Hugh's vision gradually returned to his own body.

"Judging from the current situation, it seems that the Black Sun Society has come up with an alternative method after discovering that the Earth Mother Goddess Altar cannot be repaired..."

Hugh silently made his judgment in his heart: "They must have used some kind of experiment or special magical ritual to carry out special modifications on those family members who were trapped here and who share the same power as the Mystic."

"They merged all the 'rebellious' rats together, and then used the power of the Earth Mother Goddess's ritual to catalyze them, causing their physical form to grow severely, transforming them from the size of ordinary rats into monsters... In this process, they may have also used many other 'materials,' perhaps animals, or perhaps some unfortunate victims who had been mutated by the ritual."

Hughes briefly shared his observations with the Ernst family members: "Therefore, they have most likely been forcibly transformed into the power source of this ritual. I don't know the exact principle, but based on the previous situation, they should be trying to extract the power that the ritual consumed in the past, or using this man-made behemoth to fill the gaps in the ritual and keep it running."

Hugh's deduction silenced Alexandra and the others, who exchanged a few words in Hugh's mental world.

This time, Jacob Ernst, who rarely spoke before and was closest to Hughes by blood, stepped forward and said in a heavy tone, “Child, we have a request. If your reasoning is correct, then we hope that you can get rid of it... or rather, get rid of them completely.”

The request was expected.

Moreover, his attitude was as ruthless and resolute as expected.

"I see."

Hugh nodded in agreement. In fact, from any perspective, he would try to stop the ritual from operating. Under the current circumstances, the simplest and most direct way to achieve this goal was to kill the giant beast that had been transformed into part of the altar. Having clarified his goal and thoughts, Hugh continued to descend along the dark shadows, and soon he reached the edge of the pit.

This place is covered with the remains of all sorts of creatures. These remains must have existed for a very, very long time. Many of them are now just indistinguishable fragments. These bones form the floor of the entire altar pit, and it is unknown how many of them have accumulated.

Considering that the entire altar was shaped like a large sacrificial pit, Hugh strongly suspected that countless bloody sacrifices had taken place here in the past, and on a very large scale. Judging from the stone statues, this ritual was likely unearthed by the Black Sun Society from the relics and documents of the lost era. However, the offerings they could provide were certainly not the creatures and their kin who worshipped the Earth Mother Goddess in the past, but rather ordinary people, livestock, or some captured magical creatures.

Some of the corpses, which had mutated through the power of the secret ritual and possessed a basic rodent-like form, were also among them, but these were ultimately only a very small minority.

"The Black Sun Society must have been using sacrifices to maintain the operation of this ritual in the past... Judging from the size of this altar and the scale of the sacrifice, controlling the Ernst family was probably just a convenient move for them. Their real goal was to use the influence of the Ernst family to cover up the sacrificial ritual and to use the power of the ritual to modify those selected important targets."

Hugh gently poked at a severely deformed skull with his toe. It should belong to a member of the society or an ordinary person who had undergone modification, because the skull had both human and rodent characteristics, and the changes were very incomplete.

"It seems that the Black Sun Society hopes to recreate and reproduce the beings that once belonged to that distant era through this long process of experimentation and sacrifice... After all, they believe in the Black Sun, so in the eyes of the members of the Black Sun Society, all beings that were once active under the Black Sun should be sacred."

Hughes slowly advanced through the pile of bones. It was impossible not to make noise during this process. Every step he took created a series of sounds, which naturally attracted the attention of the giant beast. It awoke from its deep sleep, and its huge, bloated body trembled slightly, like a terrifying worm.

Instinctively, it shifted its body slightly toward Hugh, a movement that tightened the massive chains binding its body. With a loud metallic clang, the ferocious-looking beast had barely taken two steps before the chains snapped, rendering it unable to move forward any further.

The limbs and flesh that had been supporting its body as it moved forward collapsed again, and it crashed heavily into the pile of bones. Some of the sharp bone spurs had even pierced its flesh, yet no blood flowed out, as if they had been stuck in a tattered bag.

The raging rat, which had been quiet for a long time, let out a soft chirp. Then, the blind rat carrying Jacob's will appeared on its back. After obtaining Hugh's consent, Sniggy carried Jacob and ran nimbly through the pile of bones. Soon it came to the side of the giant beast.

The behemoth was clearly aware of this. Although the size difference between the two was outrageously exaggerated, it still tried its best to turn its huge and ugly head around and let out a deep, thunderous roar.

The two sides began communicating in a way unique to rodents.

Hugh couldn't understand their language, of course, but through the magical connection and with Sniggy and Jacob's "translation," he was able to understand the content of their conversation.

"Mother...save me, save me..."

That was the sound coming from the giant beast; it was crying for help.

However, Hugh could not determine whether its so-called "mother" referred to the Earth Mother Goddess or the unconscious murmurs of the surviving human will in despair.

There is a huge difference between the two.

Jacob began his test by trying to pronounce the names of the souls lost here.

"Müller? Daniel?"

He kept probing, hoping to get some response.

However, the behemoth's consciousness was clearly extremely chaotic. It was merely repeating simple words and concepts, some of which were vague desires conveyed through magic, and others were expressed through heavy sounds emanating from its body.

Jacob did not give up. He continued to call out names and persisted in calling out, but his voice gradually weakened. Before long, he called out the last few names in deep disappointment.

"Andris?"

"Lorenz?"

"Imini?"

Just before he was about to give up completely, the behemoth suddenly reacted to the last name Jacob uttered. Its massive body trembled slightly, followed by a muffled sound, and this time Hugh received a very clear translation.

“Imini? Imini…”

It was repeating the woman's name, as if the name had successfully awakened some memories that had been almost forgotten in pain and torment.

The chains began to tremble again, and the ugly behemoth seemed to come back to life at that moment. It lunged forward twice, but this action accidentally broke several limbs that were spliced ​​together below it.

But the behemoth didn't care.

It repeated the name over and over, the chains rattling incessantly: "Save Imini, save Imini! Mother, save Imini!"

Of course, when these words came out of its mouth, they turned into a dull and terrifying growl.

Taking advantage of Jacob's silence, Hugh secretly transferred his consciousness into the metal disc. He asked the remaining family wills within the disc, "Imini is..."

The circular mouse hole was very quiet, and after a while, Alexandra's voice slowly drifted out.

"Poor Jacob, he must have regretted it so much for being buried with his wife."

(End of this chapter)