The black sun hangs high

Chapter 156 The Sound of Sorrow
Hugh felt like he was swimming in a garbage dump.

This feeling was absolutely terrible, because his mental and magical strength was no longer what it used to be, which meant that he would not faint from the shock of these chaotic messages or the depletion of his magic. This meant that he had to face the torment of those chaotic memories and images in the most conscious state.

"By the goddess Mel, this is even worse than the underground room we stayed in before!"

Countess Alexandra was the first to express her dissatisfaction. As part of the metal discs, these Ernst family wills were now suffering similar torment, but for them, the impact was obviously more tangible.

Hugh didn't have time to deal with them. He left the tent and found a place to sit down in the open space outside. Then he closed his eyes and began to "digest" and "organize" the chaotic scene in his mind.

Fortunately, these Dark Abyss offspring who escaped from Seren were clearly only a small part of the vast being within the city.

In terms of the whole, its size is even negligible.

Therefore, Hugh did not fall into the long sleep and coma that he experienced when he was first attacked by the offspring of the Dark Abyss. After "resting with his eyes closed" for more than ten minutes, he used his previous experience in classification to roughly categorize these messy messages.

As before, fragmented information is first roughly scrambled into a pile, while relatively complete and potentially useful content is retained and further categorized.

The "Walking Forest" granted Hughes abundant magic, allowing him to handle the problem at an extremely fast pace.

While sorting and organizing, Hughes took a moment to direct his consciousness toward his metal disc.

He saw that within the metal disc, another ball of pitch-black liquid, condensed from the power of the Dark Abyss offspring, had appeared. Based on previous experience, this was clearly an opportunity to bring "evolution" and "growth" to magical creations such as the Mirror Messenger.

Sniggy the Rampaging Rat was clearly out of luck for this "evolution." Although the Touch of Calron also longed for this power, it did not show much desire because it had already "grown." Under these circumstances, Hugh naturally gave the opportunity to the impatient Messenger in the Mirror.

The moment this new power entered the metal groove, the Mirror Messenger began to change.

Its body, almost identical to Hugh's, suddenly exploded, turning into a thick black mist that filled the entire groove.

Just as when the Touch of Calron received this power before, magical light and shadow appeared at the edge of the groove amidst the surging mist. They began to move towards the next layer of the ring at an extremely slow rate on the metal disc, seemingly preparing to "light up and activate" the new groove.

"At this rate, it probably won't end anytime soon."

Hugh assessed the efficiency of the messenger in the mirror, then turned his attention back to those memories.

As he sifted through and examined the memories of these victims, Hugh gradually discovered a rather chilling truth—it was possible that the Dark Abyss descendant, disguised as a normal refugee, was not the only one who successfully escaped from Seren.

Individuals like it, which rely on human consciousness and identity and act through parasitism, are simply "outcasts" among the offspring of the Dark Abyss. These ancient creations, which are summoned, often hide in the sewers of Seren City to avoid the light of day and to search for more prey through those complex sewer pipes.

According to what I remember, when the magical disturbance swept through the entire city of Seren with the earthquake, the ritual site used by the Legal Committee to seal off Seren failed for nearly half an hour. During this time, it was completely unknown how many Dark Abyss offspring escaped through the sewers of Seren!

"This is really troublesome."

Hugh slowly opened his eyes, pulling his consciousness away from the mountain of memories. He stood up and took a water bottle from a female doctor who had been staring at him.

Hughes always responded to the kindness of others, so he smiled and expressed his gratitude to the young doctor.

He gulped down two mouthfuls of water, then grabbed the water jug ​​and hurried toward the council of mages.

The discovery in the memories of the Dark Abyss offspring was truly terrifying. From a personal perspective, Hugh should perhaps ensure that he can continuously "capture" these prey, since they can play a decisive role in increasing his magic and power.

However, the nature and scale of the Dark Abyss Offspring are beyond human control. Their infectivity, stealth, and growth and spread are all too exaggerated, something that magical creatures like the Shapeshifter can never match. Therefore, without much hesitation, Hugh told Klaus his conjecture.

"You mean that those who had contact with these refugees before, as well as the troops stationed near Seren, could all have been infiltrated by this monster?"

"Yes, they may have already escaped from Seren in large numbers... Judging from the current situation, it's not just our troops that may be attacked."

"Okay, I get it."

Klaus rudely interrupted Hugh, sighed, and said, “Mr. Hugh, you are a promising junior valued by Marshal Zeke and a talent valued by the Princess. But you may not realize that for the current Kingdom and Council, the hidden dangers posed by the Black Sun Society are still an unverified proposition. Unless we obtain sufficiently convincing samples and evidence, we can forget about persuading those old fogies!”

He raised his finger and pointed at the refugees: "Alfred should have already said it, right? Our purpose in accepting these refugees is to help Walter gain the upper hand in international public opinion, not for so-called humanitarianism and compassion. Now is wartime, and everything must be handled in the strictest and most special way."

At this point, Klaus sighed, "I know what you were implying earlier, but given our position and status, we are currently unable to communicate with the Delan army... I will discuss it with Alfred, but as for how to make a decision, that's beyond our control."

After saying that, he raised his hand and patted Hugh's shoulder: "Let's continue the screening."

……

Because of the unexpected events caused by the Dark Abyss offspring, this work continued until after 8 p.m.

During this process, the Hunter Corps and the Council made a new discovery: among the refugees, they actually found a "living specimen"—or more accurately, a specimen undergoing a "transformation." It was an old man among the refugees, whose arm was injured and barely bandaged with tattered clothing. When the doctors removed the clothing from his arm, they saw an arm that had been mostly eroded by a dark color. Although it still appeared to retain the shape of an arm, various strange organs and tissues were emerging from the depths of this color.

This time, the mages of the council did not give Hugh a chance to contact the old man. They almost immediately put this valuable "sample" under supervision. After putting several Demon-Suppressing Silver Shackles on him, they stuffed him directly into a transport vehicle, preparing to send him to the council's headquarters in Borden with the highest level of treatment.

Even a fool could guess that the old man's future was unlikely to be very bright.

The best outcome would be for him to be able to have his diseased arm amputated, like Schubert the elder, and continue living as a disabled person. But if luck is not on his side...

Hugh didn't speculate any further. As things stand, there were no other "infected" people besides these two, which was already a stroke of good luck amidst misfortune.

The remaining refugees were basically able to rest peacefully in Brownhill. If they behaved well and were found not to be spies from the plains, they would have the opportunity to start a new life in Brownhill or somewhere else.

After the refugees had filled their stomachs, Hugh had no choice but to carry out his original mission.

He had expected the Jaeger Corps to send him a difficult reporter, but to his surprise, it was Frey Meyer who came with paper and pen.

Meyer's appearance made Hugh feel much better. He told Hugh that there was no need to verbally guide these poor refugees; they should just express their true thoughts. He would control all the wording.

Thus began a very special interview.

A novelist known throughout Seren for his "special subject matter" works, accompanied by a medical professor who had fled political exile from St. Steel to Borden, begins to visit these refugees who have escaped death. Both are dressed very plainly, without any characteristics of the Waterl army.

Hughes wasn’t very skilled at interviewing, but fortunately, Mayer’s appearance and demeanor always managed to put the refugees at ease.

“My children are dead, my wife is dead… I’m all alone now.”

A emaciated man whispered his accusations to Hugh and his companion: "We blocked all the pipes in the shop, thinking the monsters couldn't find us, but then there was a shelling, the ground was blasted open, and they just crawled out from the cracks..."

A woman in her forties said, "The Legislative Council doesn't care about us, and the soldiers can't do anything about us either."

The child who had looked at Hugh with surprise during the previous examination said, "My father wanted to go out of the city to find food, but he was crushed by magic and died."

A young man with a wounded face bowed his head and pleaded, "Mr. Hugh, could you ask the army to save the others? Our apartment building is full of people my age, and many of them are your readers... But when the earthquake struck, the building collapsed, and many people must have died... Even if they didn't die, they have nowhere to hide, and those monsters will definitely find them and eat them."

Hugh gradually became numb to these words. He simply kept asking questions so that Mayer could record them. In the descriptions of these refugees, the apocalyptic picture of Seren became clearer and more specific.

In the last tent, Hugh saw a familiar face—a clerk from the Peace Newspaper. When he saw Hugh, he burst into tears.

“Mr. Hugh, we shouldn’t have written those articles, shouldn’t have printed them, shouldn’t have published them! We never imagined it would end up like this!”

This ordinary clerk clearly considered himself one of the culprits behind the disaster in Seren. No matter how much Hugh tried to persuade him, he could not remain calm. When Hugh asked him for more details about the city, he began to engage in slightly crazy self-harm under the influence of his agitated emotions. Therefore, Hugh had to use a spell on him to make him fall into a deep sleep.

After helping Hughes to lay the clerk down, Meyer couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Low sobs could be heard from other tents in the refugee camp. The people crying had been trying to suppress their voices, but this suppression and control eventually failed, and their sobs turned into loud wailing, which became uncontrollable.

Meyer gripped the paper and pen in his hand, his face devoid of any smile.

He didn't speak, but walked out of the refugee camp in deep thought, his steps firm and steady.

"Professor, what other thoughts do you have about the city of Seren?"

"This is probably not just a disaster for one city, it's a disaster for all of us."

After a long period of thought, Mayer gave a low reply: "But if we can't figure out the root of this disaster, it will happen again and again... It's really sad that it's not just the monsters or the Society that created this, but also us, all of us!"

After saying these words, Meyer quickened his pace and walked alone toward the field hospital.

Hughes didn't know how Meyer would view what had happened that day, but he was certain that tonight would be a sleepless night for Meyer.

Under the gaze of the cold starry sky, Hugh returned to his residence, and only then did he finally have the opportunity to focus on his spiritual world again.

Within the metal disc, the thick black fog in the Mirror Messenger's groove had largely dissipated, revealing a more detailed human figure. Compared to before, the Mirror Messenger now seemed to possess more physical details; his clothing had become more ornate and detailed, and his face had become clearer. Although overall it was still a black figure, when Hugh looked at it, he felt as if he were looking at a real mirror.

Sensing Hugh's gaze, the Messenger in the Mirror looked up from behind the desk, which now had many more "books" on it, and smiled.

(End of this chapter)