The black sun hangs high

Chapter 223 Justine
In a hospital room at the Legal Committee's headquarters, Hugh saw the unconscious female mage, Justina.

Although many people describe the members of the Dharma Committee as ruthless machines who strictly execute Merlin's orders, in reality, they are still ordinary people with emotions and needs. These monks take great care of their colleagues who are seriously injured but have not died.

Even with the current severe shortage of conditions and resources, the female mage who was ambushed by the Black Sun Society still received very adequate care and rest.

The room used to house the mage Justina was converted from a temporary rest room. The mages thoughtfully prepared a warming magic ritual to protect their colleague from the cold. Inside and outside the ward, there were special rituals to stabilize the flow of magic. These rituals were specifically designed to deal with some magical diseases and plagues. When the flow of magic is slowed, the development and spread of these diseases will also be delayed.

However, Hugh knew that such mystical rituals required an enormous amount of magic power and magical crystals; at least within the entire city of Seren, only the headquarters of the Legal Council could sustain its consumption.

The moment Hugh stepped into the clean and tidy hospital room, he felt a familiar presence.

Then a confident smile appeared on his face.

He had encountered this aura countless times before—it was a kind of obscure magic originating from the Dark Abyss Palace that lingered in this ward.

The mage Justina was nearly thirty years old, with a gentle appearance and a strong scholarly air, perfectly matching the common imagination of a magical scholar.

Unfortunately, due to her prolonged coma, this charming female mage appeared extremely thin, her brown hair had become very dry, and her face was as pale as paper.

Just like old Schubert who was attacked by the Dark Abyss Spawns before, the mage Justina's body was also fixed by layers of Demon-Slaying Silver Shackles. Under the bright light of the Crystal Lamp, Hugh saw that Justina's left arm was completely covered by flowing black color, and this color seemed to have the tendency to break through the Demon-Slaying Silver seal and further erode other parts of her body.

Unlike the other Dark Abyss offspring that Hugh had seen before, these black gelatinous substances that had successfully eroded Justina's left arm remained active, but they did not exhibit any features such as eyes, mouthparts, or limbs like their counterparts. At the same time, unlike the clump of offspring that had "grown" on old Schubert, they did not show any aggression when Hugh approached.

"..."

Hugh stared at the dark shadow and narrowed his eyes.

The female mage leading the way was clearly a friend of Justina. After receiving Gent's orders, the female mage acted very actively and enthusiastically. Although she could not completely trust the wild mage in front of her who was only in his twenties and was still wanted by the Legal Committee, as a spellcaster who had been trapped in this city for a long time, she still chose to place her meager hopes on Hugh.

But now, Hugh's expression made her somewhat uneasy.

"Mr. Ernst, is it... very troublesome?"

"It's not exactly troublesome, I just find it a bit strange."

Hughes frowned and stood beside Justina. He lowered his head slightly and then used his mage hand to move the two crystal lamps above him so that the light source would be closer to Justina's mutated left arm.

Immediately afterward, under the astonished gazes of the two accompanying mages, Hugh suddenly began to channel his magic power into the two crystal lamps. With ample magical support, the already bright crystal lamps immediately emitted an even more dazzling light. Under this light, the black gel that had maintained the normal outline and shape of the arm finally began to change. It started to tremble and twist slightly, as if trying to escape the light.

But that's all.

Unlike the other offspring of the Dark Abyss, this black gel, which had completely assimilated the mage Justina's arm, still possessed the characteristic of "photophobia," but its reaction was clearly abnormal.

"The light is already this intense... and this is still the only reaction we're expecting?"

Hugh stared at the "arm" that was still trembling slightly, filled with confusion. He looked up at the two mages beside him and asked, "Could you tell me in detail how these symptoms of Mage Justina developed?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the arm that looked no different from the offspring of the Dark Abyss: "Was it always like this? Did it undergo any other changes?"

"I'm sorry, I only started taking care of her recently..."

The female mage looked at her friend's pale face and dry lips, shook her head helplessly, and her expression turned bitter: "Originally, it was our healing mage who took care of Justina, but not long ago... Anyway, after that, I took over taking care of her."

"However, I visited Justina twice when she first fell into a coma."

The female mage recalled carefully: "I remember that at that time, Justina seemed perfectly normal. She was just unconscious, had a fever, and occasionally talked in her sleep... all related to her previous research. There were no problems with her arm either, until the third day after I started taking care of her..."

"what happened?"

“It was nighttime, and I was about to give her some water when suddenly the skin on her left hand started to change.”

As she spoke, the female mage couldn't help but shudder. Clearly, the scene at that time was quite eerie, making these mages, who were used to magical experiments, feel very uncomfortable.

She described it as, "It was like her skin was starting to dissolve, first her forearm, then it spread to her palms and wrists... I quickly notified the others, and they brought the Demon-Slaying Silver Shackles to put on her. Then we discovered that these transformed black substances looked very similar to the monsters outside, so Genet had us bring these magic lamps and shine them with strong light..."

"Until now?"

Yes, until now.

After listening to the female mage's description of Justina's illness, Hugh became even more confused. The process of Justina's "illness" was really strange, at least it was different from the cases he knew. Judging from her symptoms, it did not seem to be a simple disease caused by being "infected" by the Dark Abyss offspring.

Hugh took a chair and lay down on the edge of the bed.

Justina did receive extremely meticulous and considerate care. Although she had been unconscious for quite some time, her body and clothes were still relatively clean. While examining the arm, Hugh asked, "I'm curious, when you first saw the changes in her arm, didn't you think about... dealing with her?" "We did."

Another male mage accompanying them replied coldly, "There has been a heated debate, and many people believe that Justina may have become a new 'monster,' but the Hermit Gent rejected our proposal."

Hugh was quite surprised by the other party's answer. A sword-wielding hermit would actually go against the majority opinion to protect a patient who could become a huge threat at any time. This was completely different from the sword-wielding hermit group that Hugh knew. Logically speaking, these most loyal and rigid believers of the goddess Mel would never let such a filthy existence go unpunished.

“The Hermit Genet believes that, regardless of who our enemies are, since they are determined to strike when Justina is making progress in her research, it means that Justina’s research direction and results may be correct… In the current situation, we should do our best to awaken her and find out the conclusions she has drawn from those monsters.”

"A rational judgment."

Hughes nodded, approving of the hermit Genet's decision.

However, before Hugh could finish speaking, a deep voice came from behind: "Now is not the time to praise others, Mr. Ernst!"

The two mages accompanying Hugh quickly stepped back, and then the fully armed swordsman came to Hugh's side with heavy steps. He looked at the thin body lying unconscious on the hospital bed and seemed to sigh.

Gent stood beside Hugh, looking down at the young mage, and said, “Our discussion is over. Most of our people believe your actions and motives are credible, and since you brought the head of a traitor, we will not be your enemy for the time being... But that does not mean we will believe what you say.”

Hugh laughed: "So, you mean I have to treat Ms. Justina?"

“Mr. Ernst, if you can revive the mage Justina, then we can assume that you do indeed have some understanding of those blasphemous powers… and this is the true foundation for our cooperation.”

Hugh nodded, then said, "Alright, I must make this clear beforehand: treatment is possible, but there's a high chance that Mage Justina's left arm cannot be saved. Even if she regains consciousness, she will lose this arm forever."

Genet nodded heavily: "To be tainted is to trample on our faith. Go ahead and remove it. If you succeed and we have the opportunity to leave this dead city, I will personally submit an application to Merlinle to remove your arrest warrant and help you submit a formal application for mage status to the Legal Committee."

"It's good that the wanted poster was removed, but as for the one after that... I think there's probably no chance."

……

After all the "unrelated people" in the room had left, Hugh began his "surgery" work once again.

However, this time, his magical skill level was vastly different from before, and he no longer needed to be as timid as he had been.

Unfortunately, this time he had no "surgical assistants" he could trust. He had to prepare the protective rituals and the healing magic to ensure the patients' survival himself.

After about ten minutes of work, everything was ready.

Hugh closed Virin's spellbook, and a thick mist of the Mirror Messenger immediately surged from his body, enveloping his eyes in the same deep mist, making the flow of magic in everything before him clear.

With the aid of his magical vision, Hugh immediately discovered that the mage Justina's diseased left arm was also constantly drawing magic and life force from her body, and some kind of faint magical circuit had been constructed by these dark gelatinous substances.

Upon seeing this, Hugh immediately raised his right hand, and a sharp short sword extended from his palm, covered by the mist from the Dark Abyss.

This is the "scalpel" he will use next.

As the "scalpel" approached, the diseased arm finally showed a new change. As if sensing a strong threat, it began to twist violently and tried to detach itself from Justina's body.

The unconscious mage was clearly in great pain; she frowned, her body began to tremble, and she let out a painful groan.

Hugh deliberately waited two seconds, and after the dark, gelatinous mass severed its magical circuit with Justina, he quickly brought down his short sword. With his precise judgment, the special blade easily severed the connection between the chaotic gelatinous mass and the mage's body. Immediately afterward, the dense Mirror Messenger mist wrapped around it, completely isolating the two.

The Messenger in the Mirror had been waiting for a long time. With a command from Hugh, the black mist emerged from the darkness and tightly enveloped the writhing, struggling black gelatinous mass. In just a few seconds, it was absorbed by the Messenger in the Mirror and turned into a pool of black water.

The "surgery" was over almost instantly.

Hughes turned the lights back on and quickly channeled his magic into the prepared pages of healing spellbooks. A rich life force gushed forth from the spell patterns like a fountain and enveloped Justina's frail body like a gentle mist.

Under the continuous nourishment of healing magic, Mage Justina's breathing became steady, the wound on her left arm began to heal, and the "Walking Forest" power within Hugh's body also told him that the weak female mage before him was gradually regaining her vitality.

So far, it seems that everything is going well.

However, Hugh did not show a satisfied smile after completing the task, because just now, the Mirror Messenger who helped him complete this special operation suddenly handed him a somewhat complicated message.

The message contained a variety of emotions and thoughts from the messenger in the mirror.

It felt confused, bewildered, and... disgusted.

The reason is that it believes the mass of things it just swallowed wasn't the essence of the Dark Abyss at all, but rather more like a useless pile of waste and garbage...

(End of this chapter)