The black sun hangs high

Chapter 251 Verine's Journey

Hughes's prediction was remarkably accurate.

This rather sensational proposal, which has come to the public eye, was indeed put forward under rather special circumstances, and the person who directly initiated the proposal was an old acquaintance of Hughes.

Finn, the mountain elf mage who serves as the highest magical advisor to the Kingdom of Walter and also as the steward of the Walter royal family.

As a veteran mage who is absolutely loyal to the Walter royal family and is known throughout the highlands for his ruthless methods, Finn's decisions are always decisive and swift.

Just as Hugh had guessed, he used the special secret ritual within the Highland Mage Council to contact Princess Sophia of Wotel in the afternoon and presented his views to her. After a brief discussion, Finn submitted the proposal on "completely resolving the hidden dangers in Seren City" to the Seren City Emergency Committee.

In private conversations, Finn expressed his more direct views to the head of the Emergency Committee, the mage Vika who managed the Public Magic Affairs Department of the Law Committee.

"Use every means to prevent the possibility of hidden dangers within Seren City leaking out."

"Use the most thorough means to eliminate the threat within the city in the shortest possible time."

“An even more alarming and unpredictable threat is brewing beneath our feet, yet we know very little about that threat itself, so we must not take any chances!”

Just hours after these messages were communicated to the Emergency Committee of Seren City, the Kingdom of Wotel, which has always been stereotyped as "warlike," issued a temporary ceasefire announcement. At the same time, the Hein Fleet, which has a close cooperative relationship with the Kingdom of Wotel, as well as the forces of many small highland duchies, also responded.

Only the Kingdom of Saint Steel, located in the frigid north, chose to continue advancing its battle lines under these circumstances.

For a time, the war and the situation in the plateau and plain regions seemed to have entered a new and delicate phase.

Within the kingdoms of Wotel, Delan, and Hein, large-scale searches targeting members of the Black Sun Society intensified. As more and more highly suspected individuals were identified by professional council mages or hermits of the law committee, people gained a new understanding of the Black Sun Society's infiltration capabilities. In the Kingdom of Hein, a council spellcaster even found a sculpture of a lost deity in the room of a high-ranking diplomatic official.

It seems that everything, which was originally shrouded in mystery, is developing in a clearer direction. However, for those high-level decision-makers who have the right to know, this actually means that the situation is deteriorating. After all, they now have to face more problems that they have never faced before.

A large number of research topics related to sorcery and magic that were previously discouraged have been restarted, and many scholars who had been neglected or even imprisoned because of such topics have regained the treatment and status they deserve.

Veraine Ernst was completely unaware of these changes taking place in the outside world.

She had been imprisoned in this magical cell filled with a large amount of suffocating silver for many days. Although the Highland Council did not interrogate her in any way, but only conducted the most basic questioning and recording, Vilin could not obtain much information from the outside world in this environment. She could only devote herself to the research on "The Poem of the Night".

Vilin's adaptability is among the best of all mages. After leaving the Fifth Hunter Regiment for a while, she seemed to have returned to her original self, the one who used to bury herself in books.
Her hair had grown quite a bit, although it hadn't returned to its original length yet, but it was long enough to be tied up with a hair tie. Because she was always confined to her room, her complexion had become quite pale, and she looked a little haggard.

But the brilliance hidden in her eyes did not change much; beneath her indifferent expression, her unique temperament still remained.

Late at night.

Weilin still didn't rest. She picked up her water glass at her desk and slowly sipped the refreshing drink in it. There was a lot of sugar in it, and she could feel the warm, sweet taste flowing down her throat and into the depths of her body. Every night, this warm feeling was one of her rare pleasures.

On the desk in front of her were still those obscure and difficult magic books, and on the pile of discarded papers beside her were a large number of magic runes that had failed. Logically speaking, if a mage had experienced so many failures, he should have been disappointed and exhausted. However, when the young female scholar in front of the desk put her eyes on these papers, her eyes behind her glasses became unusually bright.

Through her ongoing research into "The Poems of the Night," Verine has successfully identified some patterns, and through these patterns, she has arrived at a surprising conclusion that even she herself is not entirely sure of.

She believes that the so-called "Poems of the Night" is actually a disguise.

The poems written in the common language actually have two layers of meaning. When she reads them from the perspective of the common language, what she gets is a "horror travelogue" modified by the author's madness and disordered language. He describes his wandering in disordered time and space and the horrifying scenes he glimpses. This is also the public's direct impression of "Poems of the Night".

However, while reading these verses, Vera also discovered another hidden message: the special font used by the mad poet Aziv when he wrote this poem.

In order to identify this font, Verin specifically consulted many magical books related to writing, and finally she came to the conclusion that this font, which looks like messy lines, is actually a magical pattern that has been split, simplified and recombined many times.

The mad poet who wrote this strange poem may never have truly been mad; he was a true genius, a magical genius with astonishing perseverance.

Perhaps due to his own quirky sense of humor, or perhaps to keep a secret, he ultimately chose to hide those strange magics from a distant era within his writings.

The "Disorderly Sweep" spell that Virin inscribed on her magic book and gave to Hugh was the first result she deduced from these disordered patterns.

This astonishing discovery would actually be enough to make a Lake-level mage a senior professor at Merlinle, or even a famous figure in the world of Vain. But Virin's goal was not that. Through her conversations with Hugh and Mayer, as well as her previous experiences, she had gained a profound understanding of the Black Sun Society and the shadows lurking behind it.

"If people cannot uncover deeper secrets from the existing information, then they will have no way to deal with the crises that may erupt at any time..."

Now, when Vera closes her eyes, she always recalls the words she saw in the first draft of Meyer's article, and she also recalls certain words that one of her students had said, intentionally or unintentionally in the past, which she deeply agrees with.

The night's rest was short. Once the invigorating drink took effect, Vilin opened her eyes again. She stretched gently, tidied her slightly disheveled hair, and prepared to continue her research. But just then, the door to her room, which had been tightly closed, was opened. She turned her head and saw several spellcasters dressed in the robes of the Highland Mage Council standing in the doorway, accompanied by several black-clad soldiers from the Ymir Legion.

“Ms. Veraine Ernst, you don’t need to stay here any longer. Please pack your things and leave with us.”

Where are you taking me?

"This is confidential, madam... but I can assure you that you are not going to a prison or an execution ground. Please hurry up and pack your things; the vehicle is waiting outside."

Hearing these words, Vilin breathed a slight sigh of relief. She nodded, then raised her hand, allowing the Ymir soldier beside her to remove the Demon-Slaying Silver Shackles from her body. Immediately afterwards, an ice-blue mage's hand appeared and began to methodically and swiftly collect everything in the room.

She neatly placed everything, from books to discarded magical papers, into the boxes the soldiers had brought.

With everything prepared, Vilin walked out of the room accompanied by soldiers of the Ymir Legion. The council mage who was waiting nearby handed over the badges and credentials representing council members. His meaning was clear: from this moment on, Vilin would be able to restore her original identity and status.

Soon, Vera saw the vehicle she was to take.

That was a new type of vehicle created by the Kingdom of Wotel to cope with the latest forms of warfare. It was modified from the large steam transport vehicles of the past, with the carriages covered with hard metal plates. Most of these metals were mixed with a certain amount of magic silver. In addition, the craftsmen of Wotel also directly engraved the protective magic patterns that were previously only used on royal vehicles onto these metal plates, which gave the vehicles extremely amazing protective capabilities.

Even more terrifying were the two Karvan heavy machine guns, which were directly fixed to the top and rear of the vehicle.

On the battlefield today, this new type of chariot has become the best replacement for the cavalry of the old era. Those skilled horsemen can now only take on the tasks of flanking maneuvers, reconnaissance, and communication.

She only glanced at it before realizing that she had actually hitched a ride, because it was actually a huge convoy, with a large amount of supplies, weapons and soldiers being the most important components of the convoy, and she was just a bystander.

"What a big change."

Vera sighed softly, then stepped into the carriage. The council mage who had been there earlier followed her in and sat down directly opposite Vera, expertly gripping the overhead handle to make sure he was seated securely.

"Can we tell you our destination now?"

"Of course, ma'am."

This Valley-level council mage was over forty years old, but he acted very humbly in front of Vilin: "We are heading to a large stronghold between the rugged hills and Seren City to join the Seren City Emergency Committee... As for the order to release and deploy you, it will be issued directly by our royal family."

Villin was somewhat surprised: "The royal family?"

"To be precise, it was Mr. Finn, the royal butler, who believed that the committee needed a professional scholar, and you were the most suitable choice."

Upon hearing this, Vera immediately realized the unusual nature of the situation and pressed for details: "What exactly has happened recently? Is there any relevant log or intelligence? Newspapers would also be helpful!"

The other party was clearly prepared. Upon hearing Vilin's question, a mage immediately brought her what she needed.

Newspapers, magazines, some declassified intelligence and logs that had been declassified and allowed to be read, and even a specially prepared "Torchbearer Report".

Weilin paused only slightly when she turned to the "Torchbearer Report," and then quickly pulled out the internal daily reports compiled by the Council and the Legal Committee from these papers. In her own experience, these contents had the highest priority and were the most condensed.

The vehicle began to shake, but Vilin did not stop reading. Soon, she finished reading the mages' internal intelligence, and her brows, which had relaxed because of her newfound freedom, furrowed again.

After thinking for a few minutes, Veraine asked, "What exactly are the responsibilities of the Seren City Emergency Committee? If it's just about dealing with problems in Seren City, then the location of the outpost is not quite right."

“You are very perceptive, madam.”

The mage of the Law Committee nodded: "At the initial meeting, the Emergency Committee was indeed set up to deal with the problems in Seren City, but now, some stranger things have happened near the rugged hills. Mr. Finn and the other mages present believe that this situation is likely to further trigger anomalies in Seren City, so the two incidents must be dealt with in a unified manner."

“Rugged hills, rugged hills…”

Vera's thoughts raced, and then she realized something: "That crack that appeared during the earthquake... something happened to the crack?"

The mage sitting opposite him swayed slightly as the vehicle moved forward. He sighed helplessly and said, "We conducted a joint exploration of the rift with the Legal Committee. The first group of thirty members all went missing, including a lake-level mage and a sword-wielding hermit. The second group of volunteers consisted of elite spellcasters from both sides and Ymir soldiers. They also lost contact after entering the rift, and only eight of them returned safely. Moreover, their minds were clearly traumatized and they have not yet recovered."

"Fortunately, the second group of members who successfully returned brought back some amazing discoveries, which is the main reason why Mr. Finn specifically asked you to come."

(End of this chapter)