The black sun hangs high

Chapter 256 A Meeting

In Sally's mind, the so-called "meeting" was a word that was very, very distant from her.

Back when she was a waitress in a tavern, she often heard related terms from the guests who liked to talk about current affairs. Sometimes it was about a meeting of officials in the city, sometimes it was about a meeting of scholars from Merlinle, and sometimes it was about a meeting of royalty and high-ranking officials from a certain country.

Therefore, she instinctively felt that this activity had nothing to do with her.

As for the conversations she occasionally participated in at school and in the military, which were initiated by a few or a dozen people, they were more like general discussions and not the same as meetings in her understanding.

But now, a venue that looked somewhat rough but was quite large appeared in front of her, and the attendees in the venue surprised her even more.

Officials and mages certainly existed, but they made up only a small part of the group. In addition, Sally also saw scholars dressed similarly to her teacher, goblins dressed as merchants, and elves dressed in the attire of plains nobles.

In addition, there were fishermen holding pipes, farmers with tanned skin and tall, strong bodies, and workshop owners wearing badges of certain associations.

"what……"

There were so many people that Sally felt a little nervous. She peeked around and then noticed that in a corner of the venue, there was a group of attendees who were about her age and dressed as college students. Their attire indicated that these young student attendees came from different colleges in different countries, and next to them stood a group of college teachers who were also exchanging ideas and discussing.

Sally was a little confused.

Based on her own understanding and experience, the so-called "meeting" was probably not related to a certain group of people in the venue, especially the fishermen, farmers, workshop workers with rolled-up sleeves and simple clothes, and crystal miners who, although they had cleaned themselves very well, still gave off a dusty feeling...

However, upon closer reflection, Sally realized that she didn't seem to fall under the traditional "meeting" category. Therefore, she quickly calmed down. Although her eyes still held intense curiosity, she didn't offer any opinions. Instead, she quietly followed her teacher and walked towards a certain direction in the meeting room.

Meyer was unassuming, and his appearance was nothing special. He was just an ordinary person among the diverse crowd. But Sally was different. She seemed to have a natural radiance that attracted attention. The moment she stepped into the venue, she had already attracted the attention of many people, and soon, someone shouted.

"Frey Meyer! Meyer! Come this way!"

Now, Professor Meyer could no longer keep a low profile. He glanced at the student beside him and saw that Sally seemed to be blushing a little, so he smiled helplessly. Then Meyer raised his hand and waved twice in the direction where his name was being called.

The two quickly arrived at the location where the shout came from. It was very close to the podium, and two seats had already been vacated. The person who had just shouted was sitting next to those two empty chairs.

This is a man wearing a single-lensed glasses, with slightly messy hair, and about the same age as Mayer. At first glance, he seems very serious, but he has a warm smile on his face. Rigor and arrogance, passion and restraint... these seemingly contradictory words can be perfectly integrated in him.

The man stood up, and Meyer took off his hat; the two then gave each other a tight hug.

Sally sized up the unfamiliar man, and her gaze naturally caught his attention. So, as soon as the man finished hugging Mayer, he looked over. The moment their eyes met, Sally couldn't help but shudder.

She felt that the other person's gaze was like two sharp and cold knives, hidden beneath that warm face, making her want to back away.

But the man averted his gaze in the next instant. He took a step back, invited Mayer and Sally to sit down, and then asked with a smile, "Your student?"

"Ah, yes, my student!"

Mayer turned to look at Sally, then smiled happily: "She's a smart and kind girl, and very strong. She's one of the very few who escaped from Seren."

"amazing!"

The man sitting next to Meyer nodded seriously, then placed his palm on his chest and introduced himself to Sally: "My name is Daswell, and I am a friend of your teacher Meyer. We met back in St. Steel, where we had some different opinions, but now we are comrades-in-arms."

Sally was still a little nervous. She asked, puzzled, "You mean comrades-in-arms?"

"Yes, comrade..."

The man who called himself "Darthwell" smiled again. He scanned the entire hall with eager eyes and said earnestly, "Everyone who has come here, and many more who couldn't, will become our comrades."

After saying that, he looked at Meyer: "It seems you haven't explained the specifics to your students yet?"

“You’re in too much of a hurry, Darthville.”

Meyer smiled and shook his head: "She's still young, just like all the other young people who believe in us and join us... So I think what she needs now is not the opinions and explanations I give her, but to observe with her own eyes and draw her own conclusions."

Darthwell was clearly a little helpless. He shook his head and laughed, "Alright, alright, you're still the same as before."

"But isn't that important?"

Meyer placed his hat on his lap, observing the people in the makeshift meeting room with the same eager gaze, before saying, “We’ve already proven in the past that they are capable of understanding all of this. Only when people truly understand the predicament we face, the looming threat, and the identity of the enemy, can they truly be determined to fight it. That’s the foundation.” “Yes, I agree.”

Darthwell nodded slightly, then sighed, "It's a pity that Markm is tied up and can't come here. If he could see the tremendous results of his efforts over the years, he would be all smiles."

"Ha, that's not necessarily true."

Meyer joked, "Knowing Markm as I do, he was probably clapping with glee when the furious Saint Steel royal family collected and burned the Torchbearer. That was exactly what he wanted. Those guys were scared!"

After saying this, the two people, who clearly hadn't seen each other for a long time, laughed at the same time. Their voices blended into the enthusiastic atmosphere of the venue, making everything seem even more harmonious.

Just then, the elf dressed in the attire of a nobleman from the plains, whom Sally had previously noticed, walked up to the podium. He stood in the center of the podium and clapped his hands lightly.

This elf was clearly a spellcaster; although his clapping was slight, the sound was extremely loud, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

The people in the hall immediately fell silent.

Seeing that no one else was speaking, the elven mage coughed lightly twice. Then, he adjusted the magical megaphone standing on the podium slightly, and after confirming that there was no problem, he nodded in the direction of Meyer and Darthwell.

Darthwell then rose slightly and whispered to Meyer, "I'm going up now."

“Go, Darthville, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard you speak.”

Meyer chuckled and patted his old friend on the back twice. Darswell immediately straightened his clothes and walked towards the podium amidst applause. Once he stood in the center of the podium, the entire venue was once again enveloped in a warm atmosphere. Darswell stood like a straight lamppost, under the spotlight, in the center of the podium, his sharp gaze sweeping across the entire room. Then he raised his hand and made a "quiet" gesture.

Then, the man with a unique demeanor addressed the people in the hall, saying, "Although the current situation is extremely serious, I am still very happy to see everyone here."

Darswell didn't waste any time with pleasantries; he immediately got to the main topic of the meeting.

"As you all probably already know, our world is currently on the edge of extreme danger, like a person blindfolded and with their ears plugged walking on the edge of a steep sea cliff. Even though we have made a series of efforts to remove the earplugs from that person's ears so that they can hear the sound of the waves below the cliff, they still cannot find their way and may still take a step into death."

"And that is why we are gathered here today."

Darthwell's voice was powerful and clear; he was clearly a skilled speaker who knew how to engage his audience. As he finished speaking, people spontaneously began to applaud once again, so Darthwell raised his hand again and pressed the applause down.

He continued, “Our conference is unlike any other event in a college, organization, or country that receives the attention of newspapers and journalists. It exists to solve real problems. I mean, not only the problems we are facing, but also our own problems.”

"How should we define ourselves? What should we do? How should we do it? And the question that everyone is probably most concerned about—what kind of enemies are we facing!"

Darswell's opening remarks ended quickly, and he continued, "I have seen many familiar faces. You have known me for many years when we were working hard for the miners of St. Steel. As time went by and circumstances changed, our goals and ideals also expanded... Now we finally realize what a terrible shadow is hidden behind the pain and torment."

"The Black Sun Society!"

Someone in the hall shouted, and Sally looked over in surprise. She saw a rugged-looking man, and judging from his accent, he should be a Saint Steele.

Darthwell nodded to the man, then continued, “That’s right, the Black Sun Society… But is the Black Sun Society the whole threat we face? I don’t think so. On the surface, they are no different from those ambitious figures in history who tried to control one or more countries and interfere in world politics. But if we look deeper, we will uncover a fact that almost no one wants to face.”

"What they seek is an ancient power that will completely overturn our understanding, a lost god that will completely destroy the rules governing the world and society, and a terrifying era that will completely destroy all civilizations in Vaan."

"I know that none of you here will readily believe what we have stated in the Torch Report, but all indications suggest that the ancient prophecy that the Black Sun Society has always believed in is gradually becoming a reality."

At this point, the elven mage standing to the side snapped his fingers, and a huge magical curtain descended behind Darthwell, projecting images based on magic onto the curtain.

Sally then saw many images from different locations in one of them.

She first saw the sea outside Emerald Harbor. The magical image recorded a very strange wave. In the absence of wind and in the clear weather, an amazing giant wave appeared inexplicably. Driven by this giant wave, many fish jumped out of the water in panic, and a fishing boat that looked fairly sturdy capsized in an instant.

"These are strange waves that appeared outside Cuiqing Port fifteen days ago. They even damaged the monitoring devices that the council had set up in the coastal area."

After Darthwell finished explaining, the scene changed rapidly. Sally couldn't help but clench her fists because she saw the very familiar city of Seren. If she could, she would like to ask the person recording the magical images to move the view closer so that she could further confirm the situation of this isolated city. However, the visual focus of the image remained on the sky.

Just as Sally was feeling puzzled, a brightly colored magical warning suddenly rose from the city. Strangely, when the magical light reached the sky, it suddenly trembled twice as if it had been subjected to some kind of violent impact. Then it exploded in the air, and the drifting magical smoke was completely torn into irregular fragments as if it had been slapped twice by an invisible hand.

(End of this chapter)