The black sun hangs high

Chapter 144 The Roar of Death
Seeing crystal cannon shells falling in the city of Borden was a scene straight out of a nightmare.

Such a scene was so incredible that when Hugh saw the black dots trailing behind magic, a series of questions immediately popped into his mind.

"Where are Borden's protective magic devices? Where are Borden's city defense troops? Where is the Fifth Hunter Regiment? What are they doing?"

However, despite her thoughts and confusion, the black dots were falling too fast, so the Touch of Calron immediately appeared and swept her up amidst Sally's exclamation.

At the same time, Hugh opened his mouth and gave a warning shout to the others around him.

"Bombardment!"

Almost the instant his voice rang out, the magical alarms installed throughout Borden City sounded a piercing blare that echoed throughout the city. Amidst the alarm, Hugh quickly made a judgment and then led Sally directly to a corner far away from the Alchemist Physician Academy building.

Although Hugh didn't know why these shells were able to silently evade the protective barriers of Bolden, his intuition told him that this sudden bombardment was very likely related to today's large-scale conscription. In this case, staying away from those densely populated conscription sites was the best option!

Two breaths later, Hughes's judgment was confirmed.

The moment his magical protective ritual took effect, a projectile gleaming with magical crystal light crashed heavily into the Alchemist Academy with a whooshing sound.

The terrifying magical explosion directly impacted the road that Hugh had walked on to get here. The pale purple magical mist spread rapidly amidst the roar, and the violent impact destroyed everything near the impact point of the shell: statues, road signs, streetlights, vegetation... and of course, human bodies.

This is the true power of the Crystal Cannon.

When a high-purity magic crystal undergoes an uncontrollable violent reaction during a complex ritual and a violent collision, the resulting surge of magic power is enough to tear apart almost everything within the blast radius. Even old-fashioned cannonballs produced decades ago can cause enormous damage as long as the magic power of the magic crystal within them has not been lost.

The shockwave whipped up countless fragments of rock and debris. Hugh knew that his hastily set up protective ritual was insufficient to completely neutralize the impact, so the Karron Touches that had been binding Sally immediately released her and then formed a dark barrier in front of Hugh.

Not only the Alchemy Physicians Academy, but many places in Borden City were hit by artillery fire, including some important buildings. For a time, the roaring sound was continuous, almost drowning out the piercing magic alarm in the city.

In this situation, Hugh couldn't care less about others. Although he managed to withstand the aftershocks of the explosion with his protective ritual and the Touch of Karron, the metal disc in his mental world was still spinning, indicating that the danger was not over yet!

Hugh looked around, then opened his spellbook and tore off several sheets of paper inscribed with protective rituals. With the magic power surging within him, he quickly set up a simple ritual field beneath his feet that was far stronger than before. At the same time, with the support of the power of the "Walking Forest," the Touch of Karron unleashed astonishing power. It directly topped over several stone statues standing nearby and forcibly dragged them forward, barely forming a shelter that could withstand the impact.

At this moment, in the garden not far away, there were many academy students who had escaped the first shelling. They had never been on the battlefield and had never seen such a tragic scene, so they were all extremely panicked. In this situation, a mage who was actively building a defensive shelter became their first choice to rely on. So these panicked young people gathered around the corner where Hugh was and tremblingly hid in the "safe corner" built by protective rituals and stone statues.

Among these refugees, several were injured by the aftershocks of the explosion. The blood on their bodies brought Sally and the other students back to their senses, and they immediately began to try to stop the bleeding and bandage the wounds of their companions...

The metal disc spun faster and faster, so Hughes began to construct magical runes again, applying the magic used to reinforce buildings and positions to the temporary fortifications before him. Then he roared at all the young students who had hidden in, "Don't stand! Get down!"

For ordinary people, a mage's intimidating power is certainly sufficient.

Therefore, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and lay down as Hugh had instructed. Almost the next second, more black dots streaked across the sky, and this time, the targets of these crystal cannonballs were no longer scattered.

Their target is the Alchemist Physicians Academy, which serves as a recruitment site!
The howling sound and terrifying sense of oppression overhead made Hugh curse. He then prostrated himself on the ground, and countless Karron's Touches appeared. They forcefully filled the remaining gaps in the rough shelter and enveloped everyone present as much as possible.

After a few seconds of silence, a tremor and a deafening roar, powerful enough to shake the entire earth, arrived.

In the city of Borden, the residents, who were filled with fear after the first round of bombardment, watched in horror as those terrifying magical crystal shells fell precisely on the same area.

Seconds later, a large amount of magical mist caused by the explosion of these shells bloomed in the Borden Alchemy Physicians Academy. From a distance, these continuous clouds looked like a giant flower blooming under the clear sky.

Hugh couldn't see what was happening outside, nor did he care to, because one of the shells had landed in the garden where Hugh had been before, only thirty or forty meters away from where he was now!

The chaotic aftershocks of the magical explosion swept over in an instant. The moment the impact reached him, Hugh felt the stream-level protective rituals he had set up bearing indescribable pressure. The outermost layer of protection was torn apart on the spot, and then the other rituals on the inner layer took effect simultaneously. In the midst of the violent impact, the magical light stretched out in a continuous stream, while the crisp sound of magic breaking constantly entered Hugh's mind.

Trying to use magic that protects against ordinary types of attacks to resist the impact of crystal projectiles is simply too much of a stretch.

Therefore, after holding out for a mere two seconds, all the protective measures were destroyed, and the remaining shockwave, carrying a large amount of debris and junk, crashed into the temporary shelter that Hugh had erected.

The timid students screamed in terror, but most remained prone on the ground, clutching their heads and quietly waiting for the impact to end.

Driven by the magical explosion, any ordinary stone fragment will become a deadly bullet.

The sculptures that were meant to pay homage to famous alchemists in history became deadly bullets fired at their successors in the magical explosion. Hugh could hear countless fragments hitting him very close, and the Karron's Touches used to fill the gaps and gaps suffered heavy losses—even though they had hard black keratin shells, they were still incredibly fragile at this moment.

A sharp fragment of the statue pierced through a gap in the stone shield, shattering the Karron's Touch that blocked the gap. Like a spinning blade, it sliced ​​across Hugh's back and then embedded itself in front of a student. To be injured in this situation was pure bad luck.

However, after enduring the torment from the Dream Sanctuary, Hugh's pain tolerance was now much higher than before. Therefore, he did not move or make any sound. He simply continued to support the Touch of Karron with magic and took the time to reapply a protective ritual to the cover in front of him.

The aftershocks of the magic explosion finally subsided, and as he felt the metal disc slow down, Hugh finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to get up, someone reached out and pressed him down.

"You're injured, don't move around."

Sally's voice didn't seem particularly flustered, though it sounded slightly trembling.

She saw that Hugh's trench coat had been torn open with a huge rip, and blood had soaked through the garment. No matter how she looked at it, it looked like a huge wound that could kill someone.

Just as she was about to call for help from the others nearby, Hugh's mage hand floated out from the side. It deftly opened the spellbook, tore out a spare page of "Magic First Aid," and infused it with magic.

As a student at the medical school, Sally certainly knew how to use these pages, so she quickly took them and then slightly lifted the clothes on Hugh's back to expose the wound as much as possible.

"Ok?"

Sally paused for a moment.

Logically speaking, with this level of bleeding, the wound should not be small. However, when she opened the horrifying tear in the clothes, she found that the injury on Hugh's back did not seem as serious as she had imagined.

Although she found it a little strange, Sally didn't delve into it at the moment. She deftly folded the page that had begun to take effect in half and carefully placed it over the wound on Hugh's back. The emerald green color, symbolizing the healing magic, immediately enveloped the wound.

Feeling the cool sensation on his back, Hugh breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Since he successfully "harvested" the power belonging to the "Walking Forest" in the Dream Sanctuary, his physical condition has improved considerably.

As the quantity and stability of his magic power increased considerably, his body also seemed to have gained the vigorous vitality that originally belonged to the "Walking Forest." Under the current circumstances, as long as his heart continues to beat, his body will be able to receive a continuous supply of magic power and vitality.

The increased speed of wound healing is the most direct manifestation of this power.

Under the cover of healing magic, Hugh stopped suppressing the life force surging within his body, and the wound began to heal again. Feeling the tingling and itching on his back, Hugh knew that it wouldn't be long before the seemingly horrifying wound would be completely healed.

No more crystal cannonballs fell, and the sky over Borden returned to calm. When Hugh looked up, he could only see the magical traces left behind as they flew through the sky.

At this point, General Bernhardt, who had been serving as Hugh's "military advisor" during this period, expressed his opinion.

"These shells didn't come from outside Borden at all. Judging from the direction they came from, they are more likely to have come from Eagle Hill on the outskirts of Borden... which is also within the range of the city's secret ritual."

With Sally's careful help, Hugh stood up. He looked at the area shrouded in thick magical mist and exhaled. "So, you mean, these two rounds of bombardment actually originated from within Borden City? They bombarded themselves?"

"Although it sounds strange, it is indeed the case based on the trajectory of the shells."

General Bernhardt calmly explained, "And only this situation can explain why these crystal cannonballs were able to bypass the ceremonial field and fall directly into the city without any warning! However, judging from the current situation, the people in charge of the city's defenses have already arrived there."

The magical alarms in Borden City continued to sound, and the students, soldiers, teachers, and professors who had successfully avoided the shelling earlier had reappeared. The Fifth Guards and the Mage Council took over the area at lightning speed, and under their orders and command, all the alchemists were mobilized. Whether they liked it or not, whether they were afraid or not, they now had to help the Guards search for and treat the wounded as much as possible.

Sally was no exception. Under these circumstances, lunch and dates had to be postponed. After confirming that Hugh was alright, she decisively joined the rescue efforts with the other students. Hugh, after receiving gratitude and thanks from the students, also joined the spellcaster team temporarily organized by the council and began using magic to help move the wreckage of the buildings.

A disheveled man suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and when he got closer, Hugh realized that it was Alfred.

The young major was furious, but his anger subsided slightly when he saw that things were relatively orderly on Hugh's side.

"Damn it, their first round of shelling was just a ballistic test. This is exactly where they're going to hit... Those attackers are after our recruits."

Alfred noticed Hugh's torn clothes, so he pointed to the tear and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Minor injuries, already treated... What about casualties?"

Hearing this, Alfred shook his head, handed a cigarette to Hugh, and replied through gritted teeth, "The Jaeger Regiment's losses weren't too great. Only a few unlucky guys who were slacking off and smoking got hit on the head by shells, and that was the only other damage. But one of the recruitment points was hit by two shells in succession... Damn it, that place was full of citizens who came to send their loved ones to the army!"

(End of this chapter)