The black sun hangs high

Chapter 148 Collapse
In his past life experiences, Hugh has seen some people slide to their knees on the spot for various reasons.

However, this officer named Bellis was the first to slide to his knees so decisively, quickly, and thoroughly.

and……

The person the other person was kneeling to was actually himself.

This is not the kind of "slide kneeling" that is done out of fear, to please, to flatter, or to beg for forgiveness. In this guy, Hughes only felt a deep sense of piety.

At that moment, Hugh felt as if he had become a statue in a temple, and kneeling before him were believers who had witnessed the statue perform miracles.

Although this situation was strange, it opened a loophole for Hugh's conversation.

Hughes was silent for two seconds before asking, "Raise your head, Bellis... answer my question, which god do you worship?"

"I'll answer! I'll answer!"

Bellis shouted, but he remained prone and did not raise his head as Hugh commanded.

Hugh took a good look at him and then noticed that the man's body was trembling uncontrollably, and his face was covered with a distorted smile of ecstasy. At this moment, Bellis was clearly experiencing both extreme emotions of ecstasy and fear, which made him completely unable to control his body.

The next second, Hugh heard him call out his name in his hoarse, distorted voice.

"I follow Mother Earth, I am the son of the Moon Eagle, and a follower of the colossal hills... Praise be to the King of Fire and Scales..."

Due to severe emotional turmoil, Bellis's words were extremely incoherent: "But I am here, and I have seen you here! So fate has also favored me... I will forever follow the guidance of fate... Messenger of a thousand faces above, messenger above!"

"What the hell is all this?"

Hugh's face remained unchanged, but he couldn't help cursing inwardly.

This guy rattled off a whole bunch of unfamiliar terms, like "Moon Eagle," "Giant Hill," and "King of Burning Fire and Thousand Scales." Even Hugh, who could communicate with the Dream Sanctuary, had never heard of these terms before. Of all the terms Bellis used, the only ones Hugh could understand were "Mother Earth" and the last one, "Messenger of a Thousand Faces."

The former naturally refers to the Earth Mother Goddess who was once worshipped and believed in by countless terrestrial races.

And the latter...

Hugh narrowed his eyes, his thoughts racing, and then a sentence came out of his mouth: "Impressive... to worship so many gods at the same time, then do your actions live up to your beliefs?"

Under Hugh's deliberate adjustment, his tone became extremely cold, almost devoid of any emotion. As the magic within him circulated, an invisible pressure silently pressed down on Bellis, causing the fear within him to fully erupt.

Hugh could even hear his teeth chattering.

"If you increase the pressure a bit more, he might lose control."

A family soul who had once served as a law enforcement officer in the Kingdom of Walter, clearly experienced in this matter, cautiously advised, "I think it's gotten to the point. Tone it down a bit, or the scene will become unsightly and smelly."

"Thank you for the reminder, but he is, after all, a member of the Black Sun Society. I think we could go a little further to prevent him from lying."

Hughes raised his hand as he mentally responded.

Then a cold, icy tentacle of Karron slowly reached into the cage. It nimbly spun around, and then the sharp segments at the end of the tentacle pressed precisely against Bellis's neck.

The officer, who had joined the Black Sun Society at some unknown time and was prepared to dedicate everything to the true god, was finally forced to raise his head. He instinctively wanted to look away to avoid meeting Hugh's gaze, but the entangling touch of Calron gave him no room to dodge.

Then he saw a pair of chaotic eyes that flickered with black shadows.

Bellis could sense the peculiar aura emanating from the black shadows and thick fog—it was unlike any other magic, but rather resembled the rituals performed during gatherings within the society. The pressure exerted from those fog-like eyes finally pushed him to his limit.

“Belis, you should have seen... I am with the royal family of Walter.”

As Bellis trembled, he replied, "Yes, you are with them."

A strange smell filled the air, so Hugh immediately used magic to block out his sense of smell and said without changing his expression, "My situation is dangerous, so I need your help, understand?"

"I understand, yes... I understand."

"Then tell me everything you know, instead of waiting for those fools who believe in 'false gods' to continue tormenting you. Once you go crazy or die, you won't be able to help me anymore."

Inside the interrogation room, Hugh's voice, under the influence of magic, became ethereal and cold, like an echo in an ice cave. He intentionally or unintentionally showed the prisoner in the cage those "miracles" from ancient times, while constantly exerting a terrible sense of oppression on him.

From Bellis, Hughes obtained concrete information about the Black Sun Society for the first time.

……

Because of his family background, Bellis has one-quarter Saint Steel Northern blood, and therefore his beliefs differ from those of ordinary Water commoners.

As a soldier of Voltel, he worshipped the Great Eagle of the Highlands and the goddess Mel who brought magical miracles, but he also worshipped the god of life—a tradition of the Saint Steel people.

His adjutant, on the other hand, had a similar background to him.

In Wotel's camp, few shared a common faith. Their shared reverence for the God of Life forged a solid foundation for their friendship. Following the two campaigns against the highland ogres, they were both promoted and transferred to Borden's city defense forces. According to Bellis's vague description, Hugh learned that his initial days back in Borden were peaceful and boring, until his adjutant, who also had Saint Steel blood, invited him to a "fun" gathering.

The rest of the process was rather unremarkable.

The process, which so closely resembles a pyramid scheme, is so blatantly familiar that Hugh's opinion of the Black Sun Society has plummeted.

To avoid appearing to be deliberately interrogating, Hughes didn't press for details about how Bellis joined the Black Sun Society. Instead, he focused on understanding the Society's recent plans and actions.

In this regard, the Black Sun Society once again demonstrated its remarkable capabilities in infiltration, action planning, and execution.

Clearly, Bellis was not the only one among Borden who had been infiltrated and corrupted.

The acquisition and transmission of classified information, the selection of artillery targets, the transportation and deployment of old-fashioned crystal cannons and shells...

All indications suggest that the Black Sun Society accomplished all of this in just one and a half days, and the execution of the process reveals a strange yet rigorous "aesthetic."

According to Bellis, all he did was receive orders and carry them out.

As for the crucial tasks of message transmission and weapons preparation during this process, they were clearly carried out by others, but Bellis did not know who they were.

Under normal circumstances, at this point in the conversation, the speaker would realize that they are actually an insignificant pawn and experience some emotional fluctuations as a result. However, Bellis did not show any such reaction. When he was telling Hughes about these things, he appeared extremely excited. Rather than "explaining" his situation, he seemed to be "taking credit" for himself.

"I did it! I did it all!"

Bellis repeatedly emphasized that at this moment, he had completely forgotten his current situation and embarrassment, and kept telling Hugh about his "contributions." It was at this moment that Hugh asked, "So, you have seen prophecies about me?"

"Yes, we have seen your face, we have all seen it... It is a great prophetic dream, a blessing from the Messenger of a Thousand Faces, which allows us to glimpse fragments and realities of the future."

Hearing this, Hugh was slightly startled. He quickly memorized the information while maintaining a relaxed state of mind: "Oh? So what did you see?"

“I saw your arrival, your rebirth, your conquest, and... and your final coronation.”

Bellis recalled the fragments he had glimpsed in that "dream of ritual," his expression constantly shifting, his gaze wandering as if he had touched upon the ultimate truth: "We have all seen it! You will become the guide who leads us into the truth! You will become the only reality in this world of nothingness! You will become God!"

These words silenced Hugh.

He knew that Bellis was just an insignificant pawn in the Black Sun Society, and it would be difficult for him to truly access the secrets of the Black Sun Society. However, in order to ensure the loyalty and usability of its members, the Black Sun Society would inevitably continue to show them some "miracles".

The "prophetic dream" mentioned by Bellis is clearly one form of "miracle".

"The prophetic dream... It sounds like this is how the Black Sun Society obtained those prophecies."

Hughes pondered to himself, "So, in reality, they've been 'peeping' at fragments of the future in some way, using them as a reference for their actions or trying to push for their realization?"

By this time, Bellis had revealed almost everything he knew. He looked at Hugh with pleading eyes and asked, "Could you... could you grant me salvation? Or perhaps give me more true revelation?"

"you ask me?"

Hughes' tone changed.

At that moment, he withdrew the Touch of Calron, released the magical suppression he had placed on Bellis, and also dispelled the deep mist in his eyes: "Alright, I'll give you some 'true revelations'."

Hugh stood up from his squatting position, gently patted the hem of his clothes, and said in a tone different from before: "The truth is, you gave everything for a bunch of meaningless prophecies and a so-called society made up of human garbage and cancer, and you got nothing in return."

Amidst the rapidly changing gaze and expression of Bellis, Hugh said softly, "Be proud, Bellis. Everything you have done will cause this war to break out completely. Your life, your family, and your loved ones will become the most insignificant price in this process. But unfortunately, you will never see the Black Sun descend, and those gods you believe in... ha, they will never know you, nor will they care about your sacrifices."

He stared at Bellis silently, as if scrutinizing a useless piece of trash: "The Black Sun Society probably didn't tell you, did it? The gods you worship failed once long, long ago, which is why humans are now the masters of Vaan."

As they spoke, a mage's hand floated over, holding a piece of paper covered in writing between its fingers.

Hughes took the paper and waved it gently in front of Bellis: "You see, the prophecy has deceived you. I, the so-called 'miracle' within the prophecy, am not on the side of your god. Thank you for your testimony."

After saying that, Hugh took the detailed and abridged confession and walked towards the door of the interrogation room.

Amid Bellis's desperate and pitiful screams, Hughes pushed open the door, and the terrifying sound immediately seeped out through the crack, startling Princess Sofia, who was standing outside the door and was already somewhat drowsy. But then, the papers that Hughes handed her completely woke her up.

Princess Sofia quickly began to read by the light, then exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? How did you do that?"

Hughes asked expressionlessly, "Your Highness didn't have the steward use magic to spy on what was happening inside?"

Finn shook his head: "Mr. Hugh, even deep-sea level mages cannot make their magic penetrate these walls and doors made of sharded silver... If I could do that, then the war would not need any other soldiers or new weapons. I alone would be enough to bring Merlinler and into the territory of Water."

Hearing Finn's dubiously false words, Hugh could only chuckle awkwardly. He shrugged and said, "Of course, I reasoned with him and appealed to his emotions... In short, I didn't use any extreme methods. He's acting like this purely because he's scared."

Sofia has a very keen sense of smell. She detected some unpleasant odors and covered her nose with her hand. "Were you startled?"

"Yes, even members of the Black Sun Society can break down when their beliefs disappear."

(End of this chapter)