The black sun hangs high

Chapter 162 Spider
Hugh's sense of belonging and honor to the Kingdom of Walter and the Fifth Jaeger Regiment was not, in fact, enough to justify his volunteering for this action.

But as one of the people in this world most closely connected with ancient creations and deities, Hughes believed he had the ability to resolve this matter.

Especially when its potential hidden dangers have been foreseen, its necessity has been further enhanced.

Hughes didn't want to see anything like the upheaval in Seren City happen again.

If that monster, mutated from the offspring of the Dark Abyss, were to further harm or damage the alchemists he was protecting, or even Mayer himself, it would be even worse. Hugh could not accept that the people he valued and respected would become food for that kind of being.

Alfred and Klaus discussed Hugh's highly feasible suggestion for quite some time before reaching a conclusion.

They agreed to the proposal, but they wouldn't allow Hugh to act alone, so a strike team was immediately dispatched. This team was larger than before, and Hugh even saw several Ernst family spies among them who had previously revealed their identities to him.

These soldiers remained calm in the face of the mission they were about to undertake.

As members of the Jaeger Corps, they were both calm and furious when faced with a beast that dared to turn around and kill its own comrades.

They also maintained absolute trust in the judgments made by their commanders and the accompanying mages.

Unlike Alfred and the others who showed decisiveness, Vera was very dissatisfied with Hugh's decision. Of course, she did not express it, but simply threw her magic book into Hugh's arms with a dark face.

Needless to say, the number and types of magic engraved inside are far more professional than one's own magic book.

The preparation phase ended quickly.

Like the other mages who had gone with the assault team, Hugh had changed into a full set of equipment, including the special Demon-Slaying Silver Armor.

However, in order to ensure that his movements were not restricted, Hugh did not wear them completely, but only some of them.

After completing the preparations, the squad immediately broke away from the main force of the hunter regiment and searched the area where the assault squad had been attacked.

After getting away from the main force, the surroundings became quieter and the temperature seemed to drop considerably. To ensure that the soldiers could use their weapons properly, Hugh had specially imbued their weapons with a magical ritual that could block out sound. During the search and advance, they quickly discovered the traces left by the soldiers who had been attacked earlier.

They saw bloodstains and weapons left behind by the deceased.

The soldiers retrieved the lost weapons and then looked around warily. With Hugh's prior warning, some of the mercenary soldiers focused their attention on the high points of the forest, since both the Delan hunters and the previous assault team had been attacked from this direction.

“There was only blood, no bodies… The trail of blood ended there, something dragged their bodies away, and it dragged them up into the trees.”

A nimble mountain elf soldier leaped lightly from a tree branch and pointed northeast: "A lot of branches have been broken. It looks like that thing went in this direction. Should we chase after it?"

"No need, just do it according to the plan. It will come to us on its own."

Hearing Hugh's words, the mountain spirit was clearly surprised, because if a beast possessed enough intelligence, it would surely be able to distinguish which targets were traps and which were genuine prey...

However, the young military mage of noble birth was extremely certain about this point, so the elves could only regard this behavior as the arrogance and confidence unique to spellcasters.

So everyone began to slowly search northeastward, following the tracks in the woods, according to the pre-arranged plan.

Like any mage accompanying a reconnaissance team, Hugh stood in the very center of the group, holding a spellbook in one hand and manipulating a constantly swaying magic pendulum with the other. However, in reality, Hugh's attention was not on these things at all.

At this moment, his magical perception was fully activated, and as the power within Hugh's body, transformed by the "Walking Forest," successfully began to operate, the trees near Hugh seemed to be revitalized. The feeling of almost merging into the forest became even stronger, and each tree seemed to become an extension of Hugh's senses. Even the vibrations caused by snowflakes falling and hitting the tree trunks could be clearly transmitted.

This feeling of "having everything under control" is truly intoxicating, and when Hughes connects it to Theseus's description of the "Walking Forest," he becomes even more eager for the growth of this power.

"If I could truly bring an entire forest under my control..."

Hugh shook his head slightly, ending his brief reverie and bringing his attention back to the task at hand.

Everything was now ready.

Hugh's eyes narrowed slightly, and the deep mist of the Mirror Messenger emerged from the depths of his eyes. Two Calronian tentacles flashed past his feet, both simultaneously spreading their power and aura.

Based on his previous experience in the Brownhill Town refugee camp, Hugh was basically certain that the desire for increased power was the most basic instinct of the Dark Abyss Offspring. Therefore, he believed that as long as he released a little bit of power that was of the same origin as the Dark Abyss Offspring, these ancient creations, he would definitely be able to attract their attention!

The team moved forward slowly.

It seemed they had rushed to investigate as if their comrade had been attacked. At Hugh's instruction, the sharp-eyed, agile mountain elf soldiers would immediately report any new signs to him, making him appear more like the center of the group. After traveling for about ten more minutes, a deep roar suddenly came from deep within the metal disc.

The hounds from the Dark Abyss Palace had already sensed the danger.

"stop!"

Hughes abruptly raised his hand, and as he gave the order, his gaze swept towards the top of the trees ahead.

After everyone stopped, the forest became extremely quiet. Everyone held their breath and watched their surroundings intently. The hunters could even hear their own heartbeats and breathing.

"Crunch... crunch..."

At that moment, Hugh detected an extremely slight tremor in his magical perception connected to the forest. It was so faint and inconspicuous that Hugh almost mistook it for the natural sound of tree branches in the cold winter.

So Hugh immediately mobilized his magic power, trying to "catch" the source of the strange tremor directly, but before he could make a move, the tremor suddenly became clearer. Obviously, something was approaching the group!

At this moment, even without using his magical perception, Hugh could sense the unusual activity in the forest ahead. Trees were shaking violently due to external forces, and judging from the amplitude of the shaking, the size and strength of the object were definitely not ordinary.

"Prepare……"

Hughes issued a warning in a low voice, but before he could finish his sentence, a strong wave of crisis surged through his mind. At the same time, the commotion in the forest became more obvious—the invisible hunter no longer concealed its presence. In the blink of an eye, it had swept over countless trees and pounced toward the patrol team.

A startling sense of crisis made Hugh's scalp tingle, but he had already prepared for the possible attack. So, the moment the monster launched its attack, a magic page flew out of his hand, the magical runes engraved on it flashing rapidly.

The hunters in the group had already pulled the trigger based on their intuition and instinct.

With the aid of a magical ritual, the bullets silently left the muzzle of the revolver and flew into the empty air. Some of the bullets clearly hit something, and under the impact of the bullets, a huge, semi-transparent shadow appeared in the air, and its target was Hugh below!

The pages of the magic book burst open in the cold wind, and a cloud of magical smoke immediately enveloped Hugh's figure and the surrounding area. However, the smoke clearly could not stop the monster's attack. Under the horrified gazes of the soldiers, the beast, which had barely revealed its form, plunged two huge and sharp limbs heavily into the depths of the magical smoke. Its strength was so astonishing that it pierced through the snow-covered ground, making a piercing sound!

The deadly attack missed Hugh. In the next instant, his figure rolled out of the smoke, and several black magical tentacles appeared beside him, thrusting forcefully towards the monster. But the huge shadow spun rapidly, and these black tentacles were instantly severed by other invisible limbs!

The new revolver rifle prompted the soldiers to immediately launch a follow-up attack. This time, more bullets hit the target, and the monster's figure was finally revealed from its transparent state of concealment.

When the hunters present witnessed the monster's true form, even those with the strongest wills couldn't help but freeze in shock for a moment.

The people living in Vaan are already accustomed to the various forms that magical creatures can take. Among them are some with ugly or ferocious appearances, but as long as they have enough knowledge of them, they will not feel much fear when they meet them again.

However, what they were seeing completely overturned the soldiers' conventional understanding of magical creatures and beasts.

It appeared to be a spider, a spider as large as an ordinary steam vehicle, but upon closer inspection, it possessed many characteristics that ordinary walking spiders absolutely did not have.

Its body is black, and under the sunlight it has a repulsive sheen, as if it is covered with a layer of oil. However, beneath this translucent black oil layer, there are a large number of strange colors that are constantly writhing, looking like internal organs or flowing blood.

On the surface of these oil crusts grow countless green eyes, irregularly distributed, flashing with a nauseatingly cold light, as if everyone around them has been recorded in its recipe.

The giant spider's body structure is also abnormal.

Its bizarre body is covered with many asymmetrical and extremely exaggerated sharp limbs, as if a mad artist had randomly nailed a bunch of long, narrow knives onto an ugly sculpture. Even its back and the back of its body have similar segmented limbs.

Hugh's dodges and counterattacks directly attracted the attention of the mutated giant spider. With a push of its limbs, it immediately began to rapidly approach Hugh. Due to its special body structure, its crawling and forward movement did not conform to the activity patterns of ordinary animals. Its steps were extremely chaotic, but it was exceptionally fast. The two segments of its front body immediately retracted briefly and then quickly sprang out, stabbing fiercely towards Hugh.

As the spellcaster, Hugh displayed an astonishing act that the soldiers of the Fifth Jaeger Regiment had never seen before. As if he felt no fear at all, he leaped and pounced into the snow beside him, narrowly avoiding the two deadly sharp limbs while getting away from the cloud of magical smoke. At the same time, he cast a simple protective spell, and two semi-transparent magical shields immediately stood in front of him.

The soldiers had recovered from their fear of the monster and immediately gritted their teeth and continued firing. Some of the more experienced and quick-reacting veterans even rapidly adjusted the cylinders of their revolvers and began attacking the terrifying, twisted monster with high-powered crystal bullets.

The crystal bullets demonstrated their power the moment they hit the target. They successfully pierced the giant spider's black oily shell, and the bullets that penetrated its body immediately triggered a small-scale magical explosion. With a muffled thud, nauseating black pus gushed out!

Sensing the threat, the spider immediately turned around. Just as it was about to attack the soldiers who were firing, Hugh, who had been dodging, stopped and began to cast a spell. But at that moment, the spider suddenly turned around strangely, and the sharp limbs growing on its back stabbed out at an abnormal angle and posture. With two crisp sounds, the magical barrier erected in front of Hugh shattered.

Amidst the soldiers' horrified, angry, and desperate gazes, the limb pierced through Hugh's body with ease.

For some reason, the Demon-Slaying Silver Armor he was wearing was as thin and brittle as paper, offering absolutely no protection whatsoever...

(End of this chapter)