The black sun hangs high

Chapter 149 Frenzied Winter
Bellis has probably really gone mad.

When Hugh left the dungeon accompanied by Ymir's soldiers, he was rolling around in the filth of his cage, dragging his chains and shackles, muttering incomprehensible words, most of which were the names of gods that no one had ever heard of. He was praying to these ancient and distant deities.

In Hugh's view, Bellis's behavior was both foolish and ridiculous.

Of course, it's also a bit pitiful at the same time.

He suddenly realized a problem, a problem concerning the Black Sun Society and its members.

Despite the organization's immense antiquity and its ongoing efforts to resurrect and revive lost deities, there are significant differences between its core members and the recruited lower-level members.

No matter what miracles the Black Sun Society can perform for its members, they cannot fundamentally change or reverse the mindset and patterns developed by someone who grew up in the typical environment of Vanne.

Simply put, even though basic members like Bellis have come to believe in the Black Sun Society's rhetoric and abandoned their past beliefs, when faced with those ancient and unpredictable deities, they still instinctively follow their past thought patterns.

They would pray, asking for protection and blessings from deities they didn't actually know, and when they were in dire straits, they would long for them to lend a helping hand.

However, having seen Theseus, the many strange scenes and creations within the Dream Sanctuary, and glimpsed the shadows of the past in the dream of the rats, Hugh knew better than them what kind of beings those so-called ancient gods were.

Just like what Hughes said when he attacked Bellis—they don't care.

For those who still possess humanity, desires, and emotions, and who yearn for a glance from the deity they believe in, such emotionless neglect is the greatest harm they can suffer.

"It's really ironic."

Before getting into the car, Hugh glanced at the garden where the terrifying dungeon was hidden, a complex emotion flashing across his face.

There was mockery, and there was also disappointment.

As Theseus had said in his dream, the Black Sun Society was not as powerful and terrifying as he had imagined. They were still a group of people, and although their goals were inconceivable and they were capable of doing a lot of crazy things for them, the flaws and instabilities inherent in humanity still existed within their organization.

However, at the same time, the Black Sun Society is now clearly pushing forward the entire war regardless of the costs and consequences.

The Kingdom of Saint Steel in the north has clearly become a disaster area.

"Professor Mayer's clues, Bellis's testimony, and the unusual activity on the Isa River front these days... all of this is enough to show that the Black Sun Society's influence on the Kingdom of Saint Steel has expanded to an unimaginable extent, and their infiltration of the country may have even penetrated into the royal family."

Through the car window, Hugh gazed at the deep night sky of Borden: "Now, the Black Sun Society doesn't care about revealing their whereabouts and thoughts at all. Compared to the past, their behavior now can be described as confident and arrogant... It seems that they are really confident about what will happen next."

Hughes had a thousand reasons to believe that something similar to today's shelling would happen elsewhere.

The Black Sun Society will certainly not give any nations any room to stop their wars.

The anomalies that occurred in Seren were merely an "appetizer."

Late at night, Hugh entered the Dream Sanctuary, wanting to ask Theseus for confirmation on some matters.

It's fate, prophecy, and the so-called "messenger with a thousand faces" again, which makes it hard not to think of Theseus, since these concepts are all related to his self-introduction. However, just as if knowing that Hugh was coming to "demand an explanation," Theseus simply disappeared this time.

Hughes strongly suspected that this guy had only gotten up and slipped away the moment he entered the Dream Sanctuary.

Because his usual computer was still stuck on the pause screen of a strategy game, and there was a Notepad document in the corner of the screen.

Hughes curiously opened the document and discovered that it contained a message left by Theseus.

"If I'm going away for a while, don't contact me if you need anything, and definitely don't contact me if you don't need anything."

"Prioritize maintaining mental and physical stability. Do not make any dangerous attempts, including 'sacrifice' in the dream sanctuary, until you are confident that you can accommodate more 'guests'."

"Improvisational performances are great, keep it up."

Please don't delete my save file, [heart emoji]

These words silenced Hugh.

The four sentences were full of flaws, especially the inexplicable "heart" at the end... It almost made Hughes imagine Theseus speaking to him in a female voice.

However, this advice does have some merit.

Because Hugh originally intended to see if there was anything he could "exchange" for, but judging from Theseus's words, he seemed to believe that his current body had reached a certain limit, and continuing to exchange and accept new creations and abilities under such circumstances might lead to some unpleasant consequences.

Hughes sighed. He had nothing to say to Theseus, so he turned and left.

Before the gate that connects reality and dreams, Hugh stopped. This time, he turned his gaze to the tightly closed door. Sensing his gaze, the black mist characters he had seen countless times immediately appeared on the door.

"The Crown of the Black Sun..."

Hughes softly uttered the word, and Bellis's words gave him a new understanding of the concept for the first time.

“Bellis said he saw my arrival, rebirth, conquest, and coronation in his ‘prophetic dream’… So he means that in the prophecy, I will eventually become the god worshipped by the Black Sun Society and receive the so-called crown?” “So, in the Black Sun Society’s so-called prophecy, I will eventually become their leader?”

Hugh shook his head. He had no liking for the Black Sun Society and scoffed at the cause they pursued. He didn't know what the future held, but as things stood, he didn't agree with the so-called prophecy.

"We'll see."

He sighed, then strode to another door, stepping into the abyss of communication with reality.

……

The year 2699 in the Catalan calendar, on the day of the Winter Solstice.

News of the shelling of Borden has spread throughout the country.

Although neither the royal family nor the government has provided any official explanation, the claim that "the plains nations intend to dampen the people's enthusiasm for war in Votel" has already spread widely among the population.

So on that day, as the winter festival began, the people spontaneously organized themselves and launched a large-scale parade.

Restaurants selling Tranquility-style food and shops selling all kinds of Tranquility-specific goods decisively chose to close on this day, and some prudent shop owners even promptly removed related billboards and signs.

No one wants to suffer additional losses in this wave.

The beer halls were packed with people, and bands playing rousing and majestic music were everywhere. Bards took to the streets, and any performance of a story about the soldiers of Walter or the history of past wars would earn them plenty of money and applause.

The sale of war bonds was in full swing, and envoys from the plains kingdoms fled in panic as people surrounded them. The soldiers of Borden even had to protect them to ensure their safe evacuation from the Kingdom of Wotel.

This is a large-scale celebration that has replaced the Winter Festival.

During the march, the exhilarating fervor easily infected everyone. At that moment, people seemed to have returned to ancient times, and the relationships between people became simple and direct. Many rifts in life in the past seemed to be eliminated. There were no individual disputes, no hostility, and everything seemed to become a whole.

"Declare war! Declare war!"

Amidst the spreading emotions, it seemed everyone was raising their arms and shouting. Perhaps there were still residents in the buildings on both sides of the street who were terrified of the war and the future, but none of that mattered anymore.

The invisible hand gave the slowly rolling stone ball a powerful push, and the unstoppable, heavy sphere immediately unleashed unprecedented power, crushing its way down the slope toward the Goddess Plain.

A large crowd had gathered outside Ernst Manor.

They were either retired veterans or admirers of Zeke Ernst, the Three-Clawed Falcon. They chanted the names of the Three-Clawed Falcon and the Ernst family, eagerly hoping that the legendary commander and the legendary family would shine in the upcoming war.

Veraine has always been a very calm and rational person. As a scholar who has been immersed in academic and magical research for a long time, she is very uncomfortable with all kinds of fanaticism. Therefore, when Hugh entered her study, she was casting a soundproofing spell on the windows and walls.

"The teapot contains a refreshing drink with some sugar added. Pour it yourself."

Their attitude towards guests remains consistent.

The only change is that Veraine no longer addresses Hugh as "Mr." This could be because the two are already very familiar and she's too lazy to be polite, or it could be that she feels she needs to act like a teacher.

Like herself, Veraine's study was not decorated in much way; when Hugh looked up, there were only books.

Everything was very clean and orderly. Numerous magical signs purchased from alchemy shops were hung on the bookshelves, clearly indicating what kind of books were placed on each shelf or in each area. Special devices made by the council and some alchemy workshops were also installed on these bookshelves. The metal pipes fixed to the bookshelves would periodically spray a certain amount of magical mist onto the bookshelves, which kept the magical books in optimal condition.

The magical black cat that Verine had summoned through the skull was sleeping high up on the bookshelf. When Hughes looked over, it opened its eyes slightly, and after recognizing a familiar face, it meowed softly before stretching its body.

Hugh didn't come here today to receive lessons from Virin. Previously, thanks to the many memories and experiences accumulated in his body, he had already completed the learning of a large number of basic stream-level spells at an extremely fast pace. His next focus is on some spells and rituals that need to be used flexibly in a battlefield environment. These things require repeated practice, and the teacher's guidance and instruction alone are far from enough.

Hughes didn't stand on ceremony with Verin either. He deftly used his mage's hand to retrieve a clean cup from a nearby cabinet, poured himself a refreshing drink, and then asked, "It seems there's been a new discovery?"

By this time, the soundproofing magic was complete, and the noisy and chaotic sounds outside the window were immediately blocked out. Verine then went to the desk, and with her mage hand, pulled a thick notebook from the bookshelf and handed it to Hugh. She then clapped her hands, and the magical cat on the high shelf immediately jumped down nimbly and quickly snuggled into her arms, purring happily.

"The discovery beneath Ernst Manor successfully convinced the council, and they finally agreed to open some of the sealed books to me and other scholars... I specifically consulted the direction you mentioned."

As Violet gently stroked the black cat's back, she said, "These books were actually collected by the Legal Committee from all over the world in the past. They were once banned by rulers and branches of the Legal Committee... It turns out that your judgment was correct. The traces of ancient gods have been gradually faded away by people over a long period of time."

"What kind of books are they? Magical tomes like 'The Poems of the Night'?"

"No, more of them are adventure logs or historical records made by some scholars, and of course, some are research notes left by mages who specialize in studying evil magic."

Seeing that Hugh had opened the notebook she had handed over, Vera continued, “In fact, traces of those ancient deities and their families have been constantly being discovered and recorded, but the Legal Committee’s control over such records is too strict… You may not believe it, but the most recent sighting of an ‘abnormal magical creature’ happened sixty years ago, yet very few people know about it, and Merlinle and others didn’t even handle it according to normal procedures.”

"Isn't that a bit outrageous?"

"The most reasonable explanation is that there were members of the Black Sun Society within the Legislative Affairs Commission, and these members may have been intentionally or unintentionally blocking relevant information."

Vera sighed, "Our understanding and knowledge of the lost gods was forcibly cut off before we even began."

(End of this chapter)