The black sun hangs high

Chapter 269 Drastic changes
In this short period of time, that strange and inexplicable crack alone has caused extremely serious losses to the mages of the Law Committee and the Council.

The cost of training a qualified Stream-level mage is often much higher than that of training a professional soldier, while those Valley-level and Lake-level mages and scholars who serve as the backbone and can stand alone are even more important resources for various organizations.

In the past, under normal circumstances, if a Valley-level or Lake-level mage died in an accident during a mission, the branch of the Law Committee responsible for the matter would be under tremendous pressure and might even face an investigation by the Sword-wielding Hermits.

Now, more than fifty elite mages have gone missing, died, or completely lost their ability to act for various reasons. This situation is enough to make even the most nonchalant people in the Law Committee feel extremely nervous.

It should be noted that even the ongoing, astonishing war that has swept across half of Vaan would not have caused such exaggerated casualties among mages. On the battlefield today, apart from the extremely unlucky ones who have their skulls caught by artillery shells or the few cases of being "beheaded" by the enemy, the vast majority of mages who are wounded and captured on the battlefield are still treated well. The Mage Council and the Council also regularly organize and arrange the exchange of mage prisoners of war.

The scholars in the laboratory looked at the figures floating in the alchemical liquid, which, although retaining a basic human shape, had had their bodies, flesh, and internal organs replaced with magical crystals, and felt a chill run down their spines.

After an emergency round of statistics, they came to an even more alarming conclusion.

That is, the kind of power that can cause physical mutations and twist living flesh into magical crystals seems to be more effective against those who already have sufficient magical power in their bodies. In other words, it is more likely to affect mages.

After repeated confirmation, the scholars confirmed that in the camp set up next to the Great Rift, all those who showed severe symptoms were spellcasters, and all of them were mages of the Stream level or above. The mage apprentices who were responsible for recording, carrying supplies and other miscellaneous tasks were relatively less affected. Most of them only fell into a coma for a period of time, or experienced symptoms such as fever, confusion, and hallucinations.

Meanwhile, the soldiers stationed in the camp were largely unaffected.

When the magical anomaly occurred, only a very small number of them reported being briefly dazed, but they returned to normal within ten seconds, and were even able to work normally and handle all the abnormal situations.

This is a discovery that would terrify most mages.

The magic they once regarded as a gift from the goddess Mel now seemed to have become a terrible plague. Faced with that unknown and powerful threat, magic and magical power not only could not help them, but also caused their bodies to become twisted and diseased. This symptom had never appeared in the history of Vaan, and no one knew how to deal with it.

After initial observations, scholars have basically confirmed that this change directly affects the spiritual and magical levels. In other words, the power from the earth, in a way that the Venerables find difficult to understand, has imperceptibly and thoroughly damaged the mental state of the victims, distorted their cognition, and, based on the magic within them, has begun to rapidly transform and influence their physical bodies.

Based on this situation, the Seren City Emergency Committee has issued instructions—all members of the Stream-level and above mages who are currently stranded near the rugged hills, whether from the Highland Council or the Law Committee, must evacuate as quickly as possible. All ongoing magical affairs must be terminated immediately, and those that cannot be terminated must be handed over to the mage apprentices for final maintenance and handling. All matters related to the Rift will be taken over by the army.

Although these measures were all intended to protect the mages' own safety, for the mages who had played an important role in all affairs in the past, this was the first time they had been forced to leave their tasks and work, and to leave the area that should have belonged to them.

This, in turn, became a silent intimidation and deterrence for them.

Meanwhile, in the laboratory at the Emergency Committee's headquarters, more and more information was being successfully extracted from those humanoid crystals. These narrators, who still retained some consciousness but whose bodies were no longer related to flesh and blood, told the scholars of the Emergency Committee about the strange scenes they had witnessed underground through those distorted patterns and symbols.

The learned and mentally resilient scholars are almost driven mad by the torment.

They kept asking their "colleagues," who had already turned into magical crystals, about everything related to the underground fissures, but they always managed to give extremely bizarre and chilling answers.

One soldier from the Ymir Legion believed that what lay beneath the fissure was not soil and rock, but another deep, endless underground world, because he saw an incredibly brilliant and dazzling galaxy underground.

An officer whose body was half completely crystallized told the scholars that the team was attacked horribly on their return journey. They could not see the attackers, but they knew that invisible blades and claws were tearing through their defenses, slicing through the flesh of their comrades, and dragging the dead into the abyss.

Several humanoid crystals, formerly sorcerers, repeatedly emphasized through their patterns that they saw a huge, constantly flashing "eye" deep within the crack. They said that this "eye" was constantly watching everything in the crack and also peering into the world outside.

They say that is the true source of magic and power, the true origin of all the crystal veins in Vaan, the "heart" that connects countless blood vessels.

They say that is the "truth" buried beneath Vaan.

……

The Kingdom of Saint Steel is very, very far from the Rugged Hills. Even with the help of steam trains and magical railroads, it would take them nearly half a month to reach the Rugged Hills.

Now, both the Legal Committee and the Council have severed their intelligence-sharing ties with the Kingdom of Saint Steel.

Around noon, eleven hours after the magical anomaly officially erupted, the magical railway line supported by the Wotel royal family, the Ernst family, and numerous royal workshops ceased operation to the Kingdom of Saint Steel. A portion of the Wotel army, pre-positioned in the northern highlands, established new defensive lines and outposts in key towns along the kingdom's borders to guard against their former northern allies. After numerous meetings, negotiations, and heated discussions, the powerful fleet of the Kingdom of Hein completely ceased operations. Simultaneously, several important new capital warships began withdrawing from the front lines—the Kingdom of Hein believed its coastline required greater defensive strength.

The situation has changed so strangely that now, apart from the plain towns and regions that have been controlled by the alliance of the highland nations, everything seems to have returned to the state before the outbreak of war, and people seem to be even more restrained than before.

As the consul at the Wotter embassy in Saint-St., Müller has always maintained excellent relations with Saint-St. officials and the royal family. With his shrewdness and shrewd principles, he has won the favor of the upper echelons of Saint-St. society. On many occasions, Saint-St. even invites this ambassador from the neighboring country to attend important celebrations and events.

The Northern royal family even praised Ambassador Muller, calling him "a friend of the snowfields."

In fact, Ambassador Muller was not only a consul, but also an important spy and agent trained by the Ernst family and stationed in the Kingdom of St. Steel. In fact, the Kingdom of Water's embassy in the North has always been an important stronghold for the Water people to obtain intelligence and secrets from the North.

Müller had already developed a tenacious spirit and strong ability to withstand pressure during his early career, but now he feels extremely uneasy.

“These Northerners have gone mad! Their royal family has gone mad! Their army has gone mad! The followers of the God of Life have gone mad! The miners are going mad!”

Muller paced back and forth in his office, a newly compiled and reported document in his hand severely deformed from his grip. Numerous signs indicated that the Kingdom of St. Steel was facing some kind of extreme and drastic change, and the invitation that had suddenly been delivered to his residence that morning had brought Muller's mental pressure to its peak.

"We cordially invite you to attend the 'Flame of Life' ceremony at noon on the eve of the Winter Solstice."

The invitation was issued by the royal family of Saint-St., and in the corner of the invitation was the emblem of the royal family and the Cedar Scholars' Towers.

The so-called "Flame of Life" ceremony refers to the ritual performed at the end of winter, when the royal family of St. Steel and the Church of the God of Life select the most devout believers to go to the Royal Palace Square to continue the eternal flame of life—a flame of life that is said to have been burning since time immemorial will bid farewell to the cold winter of St. Steel in front of the people.

In the past, Müller would certainly have been happy to attend the ceremony, and he even met his wife at the "Flame of Life" ceremony ten years earlier.

But now, more and more signs indicate that this vast and ancient Northern Kingdom has been completely manipulated by the Black Sun Society. Coupled with the recent twists and turns, Muller finds it hard to believe the true intentions of the Saint Steel royal family in holding this event.

The clock on the wall chimed softly. Muller glanced up, then stuffed the paper filled with intelligence information into the round metal tube next to his desk. As his fingers touched the red magic crystal on the tube's wall, a simple fire spell immediately formed inside, burning the document to ashes.

He then picked up the invitation and his gaze lingered for two seconds on the emblem of the "Cedar Scholars Tower Complex".

Yetvich, the deep-sea mage of the Cedar Scholars' Towers, has always been a leader in the faith of the Goddess of Life among the people. However, Muller remembers that in the past, when the "Flame of Life" ceremony was held, Mage Yetvich always used his own snow owl mark, rather than the emblem symbolizing the entire mage tower complex. After all, the Cedar Scholars' Towers is a gathering place for the followers of the goddess Mel, and they never publicly participate in the activities of believers other than the goddess Mel.

Recalling what he had heard—that Master Yetvich had been accused and attacked by an angry mob the previous night—Ambassador Muller frowned. He then immediately went to the side of the office and skillfully opened a hidden compartment that was barely big enough for a person to crawl into.

Muller then immediately went to a giant eagle sculpture in the mezzanine—a special cryptic device meticulously processed by Finn, the royal butler of the Waterjet family, whose magical messages could be sent directly to the Waterjet royal family or to the three-clawed falcon Zeke Ernst himself.

After a brief moment of thought, Muller quickly wrote down his suspicions about the Cedar Scholars Tower and the Mage Yetvich. He then listed all the other newly gathered intelligence. After mentioning that he was about to participate in the "Rite of the Flame of Life," Muller trembled as he added a blood-red giant eagle emblem below the text.

Using this emblem signifies that spies and agents are heading towards a hopeless end; its very existence is tantamount to a condensed will.

The information was quickly transmitted through the cryptex. After a short while, the cryptex trembled slightly, and then a "reply" appeared before Muller's eyes. It contained only a few words of thanks to Muller and a rather brief address.

May the giant eagle soar forever.

Muller offered a silent blessing, then copied down the address, turned around, picked up the metal hammer placed beside the mezzanine wall, and smashed it forcefully against the base of the giant eagle sculpture, destroying its foundation as a ritual object.

After doing all this, the ambassador turned back to his office, summoned his old butler who had served him for ten years, handed him the note, and instructed him to immediately take his wife and daughters to this place. Then he tidied his clothes, left the embassy, ​​and boarded the steam vehicle heading to the royal palace.

Traces of last night's riots still lingered on the streets of Saint-St., with royal guards and mages patrolling everywhere. Every now and then, Muller could see civilians being stopped and questioned, or being pushed out of shops and residences. Needless to say, these people would soon be sent to jail.

At this moment, Muller noticed that the Northern mages who were traveling with the royal guard seemed to have changed their clothes once again. They should have been wearing council robes, but now they were wearing long black trench coats. These heavy black trench coats were simple in style and did not have many patterns. However, there was an unusually neat white ring in the center of the back of each trench coat.

(End of this chapter)