The black sun hangs high

Chapter 216 "Performance"

On this new day, Hugh noticed that the Dark Abyss Spawn seemed to have become much more active in the city of Seren.

Normally, once the light turns bright, the Dark Abyss Spawns would return to the underground or their dark hiding places as quickly as possible. But today was different. Hugh had sensed active Dark Abyss Spawns near the road more than once, and their numbers and scale far exceeded those of the past. It seemed that they were trying to use their sheer size to fight against the bright light.

In some streets, the scattered magical rat swarms even helped Hugh discover some astonishingly large groups of offspring—seven to eight times larger than the usual scattered individuals, and when fully spread out, they could almost fill a small section of the street.

In other corners, Hugh sensed a group of offspring hiding in concealed places, ready to attack any passing prey.

This is hardly a good omen.

The survivors in Seren would probably never have imagined that these monsters, who have always been afraid of fire and light, would actually begin to try to overcome their weaknesses.

For Hugh, this discovery confirmed the threatening words he had received from the Dark Abyss Spawns the day before during his direct confrontation with them.

For the Dark Abyss's offspring, who are still learning human thought but not yet fully, the idea of ​​"you eat me, I'll eat you" is an extremely simple and easy-to-understand concept, and they are indeed practicing this principle.

In the limited wisdom and simple thinking of the Dark Abyss offspring, since Hugh is brutally hunting their own kind, they should retaliate. The form of retaliation is to actively attack the surviving groups in Seren and extend the hunting season.

But in fact, this behavior is somewhat "childish".

Because the survivors in Seren do not simply relax their vigilance during the search just because it is daylight. Everyone who has survived in Seren until now, even a child like Malena, knows that caution and carefulness are the basic principles for survival.

The survivors may indeed suffer some losses at the beginning of this change, but as a race with sufficient intelligence, they will be able to perceive the key to it in the shortest time and make timely adjustments, just like the countermeasures they came up with after encountering the "death tide" of the Dark Abyss offspring.

Through the continuous hunting of the Dark Abyss offspring over this period, Hugh has gained a deeper understanding of these strange and flawed creations.

He could even glean emotions like confusion, helplessness, and irritability from the fragmented memories belonging to his descendants.

According to Hugh's understanding and judgment, although the Dark Abyss offspring currently possess intelligence, their ability to utilize it is ultimately not quite there.

In many situations, even a massive entity can behave like a willful child.

However, this should never be a reason to abandon vigilance and caution. No matter how naive or ridiculous their attempts may be now, they can always be considered a form of growth. If they are allowed to accumulate and try endlessly, serious problems will inevitably arise.

This large-scale "search and capture" operation, which spanned the entire city of Seren, did indeed have a significant impact on Hugh's progress. Although he was able to transform into another person entirely using the black mask derived from the Mirror Messenger, he had to rely on the Running Rats to move at high speed within a city.

Once the running rats appear, they are very likely to attract the attention of the Dark Abyss offspring, which will then trigger a large-scale encirclement and hunt initiated by them.

Left with no other option, Hugh had to try applying that special dark abyss magic to the running rat.

The giant three-tailed rat was immediately enveloped in a thick fog. Hugh then discovered that this magical fog, which was closely related to the Dark Abyss, seemed to be able to conceal the rat's aura and power fluctuations to some extent.

This power can even be perfectly used to "assassinate" the offspring of the Dark Abyss. Enveloped and covered by this kind of mist, the offspring with keen senses are completely unable to detect the enemy's approach!

Having solved this thorny problem, the sprinting rats once again ran rampant through the city of Seren.

Influenced by the Dark Abyss magic, its movements became even faster, and it ran with almost no sound. This reminded Hugh of the eerie scenes when the court hounds moved. He wanted to find the hounds and ask them about the secrets, but after consuming a large amount of Dark Abyss power essence, the ferocious beast became somewhat lazy. It remained lying in place, unresponsive to Hugh's calls and questions, with only its long tongue occasionally twitching.

"What's wrong with everyone from your Dark Abyss? They all have such big tempers?"

Helpless, Hugh could only grab the messenger in the mirror and complain. This guy was busy reading in his room, but the book was also shrouded in thick mist, so it was impossible to know what he could possibly read.

Upon hearing Hugh's question, the Mirror Messenger employed the classic "three-piece set" of shaking his head, spreading his hands, and shrugging his shoulders.

Faced with these stubborn fellows, Hugh had no choice but to give up. After all, he had many things to deal with, and it was unrealistic to try to get to the bottom of everything under the current circumstances. Since this magic was helpful for the moment, he could only let it go.

And so, the giant rat, shrouded in deep light and mist, continued its frantic run along the road. To the few survivors who had already emerged, the running rat was nothing more than a blurry, terrifying black shadow darting through the center of the street. After it passed, it even left a faint magical trail in the air...

If this were the old city of Seren, this scene might have become a new legend of terror.

……

Around noon, Hugh finally arrived at his destination again.

After completing his reconnaissance of the surrounding area, he immediately dismissed the running rats and restored his appearance to normal. However, he preserved the special magical ritual that was engraved on his flesh and bones, as he needed this special dark abyss magic to cover up his identity and explanation.

A figure is now standing at the very spot where he was ambushed by the Brotherhood of Three Colors.

He was wearing a monk's robe from the Legal Affairs Committee, though he had removed the identification markings. To keep warm, he also wore a heavy overcoat over the robe, which looked somewhat incongruous.

At this moment, the Black Sun Scepter had already given Hugh a very clear response.

The tricolor brotherhood magic advisor standing in the middle of the street, waiting to meet with Hugh, held a high position within the Black Sun Society, at least higher than the member infiltrating the Iris Guard.

Through the memories he had acquired, Hugh had been able to confirm the man's identity. "Berva, a mage with a Stream-level certification from the Law Council, entered Seren City before the Ceasefire Ceremony and participated in the work of the Law Council's branch... His actual magical level has likely reached the Valley level, but in order to conceal his identity and ensure the execution of the Society's mission, he has not undergone the corresponding magical examination and certification."

Hugh carefully processed the information related to this mage, Borg: "One of the members of the Dark Abyss History Society... He entered Seren City precisely to ensure that everything in the city proceeded according to the Society's plan. Within the Dark Abyss History Society, he is probably one of the most steadfast in his beliefs."

"And most importantly, he knew what 'Shug Ernst' looked like, and he was also aware of the prophecy that this identity carried."

After confirming these facts, Hugh immediately emerged from the shadows, removing the concealment of his magic and appearing openly in Bourwa's magical perception.

Sensing the approach of other spellcasters, Borgia immediately turned around.

As a mage, Burva's appearance was rather "unsatisfactory." He was tall and thin, and his face was not very fleshy. However, this ordinary face was covered with large burn scars due to the damage caused by magical experiments.

These scars could have been easily healed with magic, but as if he had some peculiar fetish or need, he deliberately preserved these large, ugly scars and even used magic to solidify them.

If it were just a burn scar, it wouldn't be so bad. However, the burns on Burva's face had severely affected his left eye area. It was unclear what kind of magical experiment he had conducted at the time. The area around his left eye socket had completely sunken in, while the eyeball itself was intact—making his eyes appear extremely protruding.

It looks exactly like a bead embedded in a lump of minced meat.

With such an appearance, it can be completely categorized as "anthropomorphic".

If a timid person were to see such an ugly face with severe ulceration in the middle of the night, they might faint on the spot.

Of course, for Hugh, who had seen countless inhuman creatures, this level of ugliness was rather insignificant.

This fellow's appearance was definitely considered handsome compared to the court hounds and the strange scenes that Hugh saw in the "giant ship" dream.

"Master Bovar!"

Hughes walked down the street with an extremely calm and composed demeanor. Thanks to his "careful and deliberate maintenance" beforehand, the sense of incongruity he exuded became particularly obvious.

Hughes walked slowly and leisurely, as if he were surrounded not by the mess of ruins, but by a bustling street or a garden path.

The strangely shaped metal staff in his hand, adorned with intricate patterns, tapped rhythmically on the ground with his steps, while magical mists originating from the Dark Abyss flashed around him and into his eyes.

A temperament highly similar to that of senior scholars has been successfully cultivated without anyone noticing.

Upon hearing Hugh's greeting, Bourwa was slightly surprised. He instinctively wanted to use his magical perception to ascertain the newcomer's magical level, but he found that his perception could not penetrate the other party's side at all, as if there was a natural barrier blocking everything.

Hubert was on high alert when Hughes finally came before him.

Then Hugh raised his hand and slowly removed the hood from his head, revealing his true appearance to Bourwa's view.

The instant the young face was seen, Burva's ugly face, severely distorted by burns, instantly changed—it became even more distorted.

The ugly mage opened his crooked mouth wide in extreme surprise, and then his bulging eyes overflowed with astonishment and ecstasy.

His eyes began to redden, and his limbs seemed to tremble slightly.

Seeing Bourwa's appearance, Hugh knew that his judgment was correct, because he had seen a similar behavior once when he was in Bolden.

Hugh remembered that when he appeared before the officer who had joined the Black Sun Society, the other man had a similar expression.

This mage, Börva, held a much higher position within the society than the artillery officer in Borden who was treated as a "disposable coin." He might be more calm and cautious in his actions, but he would certainly be more fervent in his faith in the lost gods and in the prophecies and miracles circulating within the society.

This is precisely why Hughes chose to appear in his true form.

How would a devout believer react if he saw the "miracle" he had created reappear before him?
Hughes was full of anticipation for this.

Seeing that Bourva remained silent, Hugh smiled, leaned on his cane, and said, "Master Bourva, I think you should recognize me, right? I don't need to introduce myself again, do I?"

"No...no need, repair..."

Börva stammered a bit, and it was clear that he was trying hard to think of a suitable title for Hugh's identity. However, this was something he had never considered before, so he stammered for a long time and was unable to say a complete sentence.

Seeing his state, Hugh immediately decided to strike while the iron was hot and give this guy another strong dose of medicine.

Relying on the memories stored in his mind, Hugh perfectly displayed the expression and demeanor of a "superior." He shook his head with some disappointment, then said in a slightly wistful tone, "I am not yet complete, so naturally I am not worthy of the identities and titles you desire. Therefore, you can continue to call me by my old name, or simply call me Mr. So..."

Upon hearing this, Bourwa's body began to tremble. This member of the society, who already possessed the strength of a valley-level mage, lowered his head. He could sense the dissatisfaction revealed in Hugh's tone. As the most loyal believer of the gods, he dared not look at Hugh's expression at all!

(End of this chapter)