The black sun hangs high

Chapter 182 Ultimatum
When Hugh successfully disrupted the Black Sun Society's gathering and escaped to the edge of the Black Forest with the invaluable Black Sun Scepter, the team that had previously received the Crystal Cannon and the wounded from the Society and embarked on their return journey finally reunited with the company led by Mage Klaus.

Upon learning of the Black Sun Society's actions and the series of consequences they had caused, Klaus's expression turned extremely grim.

As the leader of the 5th Jaeger Regiment's accompanying mages and the army's staff officer, Klaus realized the seriousness of the matter almost instantly.

The events that occurred in and around Black Forest Fortress not only meant that the rear of the Fifth Guard Regiment was no longer secure, but also that the military system of the Kingdom of Votel had been infiltrated. Under the current circumstances, the deployments and action plans of many legions, including the Fifth Guard Regiment, would be leaked.

While Hugh Ernst's decision has greatly alleviated the pressure on the 5th Juggernaut Regiment in the upcoming battles, no soldier or commander would want to have the terrifying uncertainty of the Black Sun Society behind them.

He felt a chill run down his spine, especially after learning that this elusive wild mage guild had brought such a massive magical creature as the Molten Earth Dragon to the Black Forest region.

Although magical creatures like earth dragons pose little threat to the army in the face of new weaponry and well-prepared crystal cannon positions, the sudden appearance of such behemoths behind the lines during a Delan Kingdom army offensive could very likely trigger a series of extremely serious consequences.

Faced with these extremely bad and even horrific circumstances, the disappearance of a member of the Ernst family with a special identity seems somewhat insignificant.

When this intelligence was delivered to Alfred, the major, who came from the Mookie family and had a good relationship with Hugh Ernst, fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

After carefully studying the terrain of Black Forest Fortress and its surroundings, Major Alfred decisively issued an order to send a company to search the area around Black Forest for any trace that might be related to Hugh Ernst himself. The spies and veterans who had been planted in the Juggernaut Corps by the Ernst family were among them.

This is their only chance now to atone for their mistakes and demonstrate their loyalty to the Ernst family.

Subsequently, several specially encrypted magical letters were delivered by the owls in the Hunter Corps—this was the only and fastest way for the Hunter Corps to transmit messages while in a state of magical silence.

Without exception, all of these letters were signed by officers from the Juggernaut Corps, including Alfred and Klaus. The letter owls responsible for delivering the letters received the highest level of treatment they had ever received. Under the joint operation of Klaus and Weilin, several protective rituals capable of withstanding crystal bullets and magic of the Stream level or higher were applied to them.

According to calculations provided by Vilin, under relatively optimistic circumstances, these owls will have the opportunity to reach the area south of the Black Forest between 9 and 10 a.m. and successfully deliver the letter to the "60th Infantry Regiment", the "4th Highland Gunner Regiment" and the "Augustin Royal Artillery Regiment", which have completed their re-equipment, as reinforcements.

The main content of the letter was simple and blunt: a request for artillery support.

Alfred hoped that the Waterl artillery, which had already arrived in the Black Forest region, would launch the most thorough and brutal bombardment at the coordinates given in the letter.

As for the letters themselves, they did not mention anything related to the Black Sun Society. In these letters, he simply summarized the matter as "the rear of the Jaeger Regiment was infiltrated by the enemy" and "the artillery positions were under serious threat."

After this group of owls delivered the letters, several of the most experienced and seasoned messengers in the mercenary group set off one after another. They carried other letters with them, and according to Alfred's orders, these letters needed to be delivered directly to the front lines of the Kingdom of Walter and conveyed directly to the Augustinian royal family through secret rituals.

This is a small privilege that Alfred enjoys as a member of the Mookie family.

As a "political animal" who also came from a large family in the highlands, Alfred knew very well that it would be of no benefit to directly involve the existence of the Black Sun Society in the current military situation at this moment, because according to the information brought back by Verin, this mage society did not have any real affiliation. It was even a chaotic entity, and Delan, Wotel, and even Merlinler were all their enemies.

In terms of military affairs, he only hoped to resolve the current predicament of the Jaeger Corps and achieve the predetermined strategic goals. As for the hidden dangers of the society itself, those had to be left to the royal family and the council to handle.

Of course, after learning about what was happening inside Black Forest Castle, Alfred naturally added the coordinates of Black Forest Castle to the letter. Regardless of whether Hugh and the members of the Black Sun Society were still inside Black Forest Castle after dawn, it would be bombarded by artillery fire.

Furthermore, Alfred made special adjustments to the personnel arrangements within the position, relocating a significant portion of the reserves, originally positioned in the third trench, to the vicinity of the artillery positions. They would simultaneously undertake the task of guarding and defending the rear of the position. If any suspicious targets appeared behind the position, these Karvan heavy machine guns, positioned at the rear, would immediately begin unleashing their firepower.

After completing a series of arrangements, Alfred wearily lit a cigarette.

He rubbed his temples in frustration, glanced at Professor Meyer's serious face in the distance, and sighed helplessly: "Shug Ernst... my friend, good luck."

……

Hugh was completely unaware of what had happened within the Fifth Regiment.

Even if he knew, he would probably wholeheartedly agree.

He wished Alfred could order the crystal cannonballs to pound the ground of Black Forest Fortress right now.

However, at this moment, he was unable to transmit his thoughts, because the warning signs in his mental world never stopped. However, Hugh did not know what caused these warning signs. This plain near the hills of Black Forest Fortress was very vast, and with the help of his magical vision, no one moving on this plain could escape his sight.

But no pursuers appeared, and even if they did, they should have been left far behind by the running rats long ago.

Its speed is completely different from that of ordinary warhorses and vehicles.

Even so, that strange sense of crisis clung to Hugh like a persistent ailment, making him feel extremely uneasy.

Now, the Running Rat, as a magical summon, was far more powerful and consumed far more magic than before. Even with the support of the "Walking Forest," Hugh couldn't supply it with magic indefinitely. After running for quite some distance, Hugh stopped beside a haystack left by the Delan farmers. He quickly dismissed the Running Rat, this "magic-devouring monster," and then hid in the shadows of the haystack. He took out the magic crystal he carried with him and began to accelerate the recovery of his magic. This night had been far too stimulating for Hugh.

Under the watchful eyes of several lake-level and valley-level mages, he suddenly launched a killing spree, successfully beheading several key members of the Black Sun Society before making his escape...

"I've never even considered something like this before..."

Feeling the magic power constantly filling his body, Hugh breathed a slight sigh of relief. Taking advantage of the brief moment when his magic power was recovering, he opened the spellbook again, turned to the last page, and began to observe the strange magic called "Disorderly Sweep" once more.

Just from the arrangement of these magical runes, Hugh was certain that this must be a spell related to a lost deity. In Verin's notes, it was mentioned that the mad poet Aziv had used it to escape the attacks of the "hounds".

Hughes’s intuition told him that the “hound” that the mad poet Aziv was hiding from was most likely the kind that lay dead in his own mental world, or at least one of its kind.

"Disorderly Wandering... Judging from its name, this spell seems to possess considerable uncertainty, and Verin also mentioned that this spell uses fragments of the user's memories as teleportation anchors... What does that mean?"

Hughes pondered the nature of this magic intently: "Could it be that it can send me back to some places I've been before?"

As he pondered this, he gently placed his fingers on the five-layered rings constructed of silver magic runes. As if sensing a similar power, these rings began to flicker slightly even without any magic infusion. The disc within Shug's spiritual world also seemed to resonate slightly, though only for a brief moment.

"Interesting... It seems that the volume of 'Poems of the Night' still has considerable value."

Hugh removed his fingers from the pages. He knew that this special magic symbolized Verine's hard work and dedication during this period, and it was very likely part of her important academic achievements.

For a scholar, the feeling of handing over their most important research findings directly to others as a tool is certainly not pleasant.

Hugh knew that this was enough to prove just how much his magic teacher, who was the same age as him, trusted him.

After a short rest, Hugh's mental and magical states were restored to some extent, but he did not rush to continue his journey. Instead, he quickly flipped to the middle of the spellbook and found the valley-level spell "Breath of Death" that he had used before in the underground of Ernst Manor.

He always had a particular fondness for magic that could form magical bullets and fire them using his personal firearms.

"Since the mages of this world don't like using wands, let's use guns instead... These things are much more useful than wands."

Thinking this, Hugh tore off a page from the book of the "Breath of Death" spell. With the infusion of magic, the page transformed into five black magic bullets filled with the aura of death, which Hugh loaded into the revolver he carried. Without the Hound's Fang, he had to ensure that he had a powerful killing method that he could use at any time!

After completing his preparations, Hugh got up to set off. However, at that moment, he saw a dim magical light suddenly appear beside a dilapidated house used to guard farmland not far away. The moment the light appeared, alarm bells rang in Hugh's mind, and the sprinting rat, which was closely connected with the power of the Earth Mother Goddess, let out a scream of surprise.

It sensed the operation of some kind of ritual or magic related to the Earth Mother.

The next second, Hugh saw a large number of strange patterns suddenly appear on the snow-covered ground. Under the effect of these magical patterns, the snow melted away in the blink of an eye, and the fertile soil was immediately exposed. The next moment, the land suddenly rose up on the spot, forming a small mound.

A magical cave appeared on the mound, and then several figures emerged from it.

Leading the way were three members of the Black Sun Society's Earth Academy. There should have been four, but one of the male mages had been pierced through the chest by Hugh's Karron Touch during the melee in the banquet hall and died instantly, so he couldn't possibly be here.

The twins from the Desail family of the Kingdom of Delan had cold expressions. They held magic books, and deadly spells were brewing around them. Behind the three of them, Herbert emerged from the shadows.

This man, the number two of the Black Sun Society and the head of the Earth Society, has now lost an eye. Hughes saw the green glow symbolizing healing magic swirling around his right eye socket, but the bites and claws of the court hounds contained a terrifying power unlike ordinary magic, which made it difficult for Herbert's injury to heal.

"Mr. Ernst, is this how you treat Mother Earth's retinue?"

Herbert's voice came over. At this moment, as one of the top spellcasters among Vaan, his magic power had spread out completely. Under the influence of the powerful magic power, the surrounding snow was constantly melting, and the soil under Hugh's feet was trembling.

However, the powerful mage did not attack Hugh immediately. His single eye flashed with a terrifying magical light, but his expression was not ferocious; instead, it revealed a sense of peace.

Hughes' fingers lightly flicked the cylinder of his pistol as he asked, "It seems you all want to negotiate with me?"

"This isn't about negotiating terms, but rather that I'm willing to give you another chance on behalf of the society..."

Herbert approached Hugh with the three members of the Earth Society, saying as they went, “Your ideas are obviously wrong, but the power you possess is absolutely real… You have indeed gained the favor of the gods we believe in, but that is no reason for you to act recklessly and hinder our cause.”

He shouted, "Return the scepter and return with me to the Society's headquarters. I will personally guarantee your safety and recommend you for membership in the Earth Society! This is your last chance!"

(End of this chapter)