The black sun hangs high

Chapter 283 The Goddess's Farewell

It's just past 3 a.m.

Only twenty minutes had passed since the airship regiment first dropped the "Melfire".

Everything that had been arranged in the survivor camp seemed to have come to fruition, and the sacrifices of those warriors had been worthwhile. Once the airship bombing officially began, the pressure on the second line of defense was reduced to a minimum. Even though the number of Dark Abyss offspring was astonishing, they were unable to launch an effective assault on the survivors' positions despite the scorching flames.

Fortunately, these terrifying monsters seemed to be drawn to something, and very few of them continued to charge towards the south gate. Instead, many soldiers on the defensive line found that their targets were retreating in the same direction.

This is definitely good news for the survivors.

Even the soldiers on the front line knew that if they held on for just over an hour, they could join the evacuation team. At that time, they would have the opportunity to say goodbye to this terrible hellish city and reunite with their loved ones and friends.

However, within the survivor camp, some people remained in a state of high tension and anxiety.

Every time a violent explosion rang out in the city of Seren, Verin Ernst felt as if an invisible hammer was striking her heart.

Judging by sight, "Mel's Fire" had been placed near the Legal Committee's headquarters, which was the very place where Hugh had last sent out the magical signal.

She knew that Hughes had many secrets, and the power and magic he possessed were far more complex than she had imagined. Even the members of the Black Sun Society had to take him seriously.

But faced with such a war-level magical explosion, does he really have a chance to survive?

Vera had absolutely no confidence in this regard.

What truly frustrated Vera was the daunting task before her. Although the actual distance between her and Hugh was very limited, she had no way to conduct any verification and had to focus on handling her own affairs.

Just now, an unfamiliar convoy successfully arrived outside the city of Seren. They were in such a hurry that the vehicles were a mixed bag, with no uniform flags, and only a rough mark painted on the side of the vehicles.

People could vaguely make out that the pattern depicted an ordinary sun rising halfway up from behind dark mountains. This was the temporary emblem of the Dawn Society, used to symbolize a ray of dawn shining through darkness and despair.

This was certainly true for the survivors who had just left the city of Seren.

The people driving these vehicles clearly came from different backgrounds. Among them were many retired veterans, farmers who only knew how to drive large grain transport vehicles, and even mine drivers who were responsible for transporting crystal ore on a regular basis.

Many of them came from the Duchy of Burt, which was closer to the city of Seren, as a result of a joint appeal issued by the Grand Duke of Burt and the Dawn Society.

Thus began the massive evacuation. These survivors, who left the city of Seren in batches through the south gate, would be transported to a border town in the Duchy of Burt, which would serve as their temporary settlement, transit point, and refuge.

In fact, many countries, including the Kingdom of Walter and the Kingdom of Delan, are actively preparing. They have received the final message from the volunteers who stayed behind at the Rift Camp, and the ongoing magical changes in the environment prove that the entire Vaan is about to undergo the most thorough upheaval at dawn.

In this situation, to ensure one's safety, one must stay as far away from rugged hills as possible.

This poses an even greater challenge to those still living around the city of Seren. They can only vaguely hear from others that some kind of disaster is about to strike, but they have no way of predicting the scale and form of that disaster.

These survivors, heading towards the distance, could only watch helplessly as their familiar yet terrifying homeland receded into the distance. Sometimes they gazed at the blood-red sky, and other times they looked with complex emotions at the airships that were relentlessly bombarding Seren. As the most ordinary people in this world, all they could do at this moment was to pray silently and call upon the loving goddess who had been protecting all living beings since the name Vaan first appeared.

Will the goddess Mel respond?
Nobody knows.

Two extremely devout women sat in the back of an empty grain truck, chanting prayers they knew by heart without stopping. In one of their hands, they held a miniature statue of the goddess Mel.

"May the merciful god of magic protect us..."

"May the eternal goddess Mel grace Vain..."

However, just as they recited the last two lines of their prayer, everyone in the truck bed heard a strange, cracking sound. Puzzled, they ended their prayer and looked toward the source of the sound, only to see that the goddess sculpture held by the woman had completely shattered the moment the prayer ended.

"Huh? Huh?"

The woman was thrown into unprecedented panic. Instinctively, she tried to press her fingers against the cracked statue, but this slight movement triggered an even more dramatic change.

As if struck by some malevolent magic, the once intact and sturdy statue turned into fine powder with the slightest touch of a finger, and the powder fell from between the woman's fingers.

A cold night wind blew by, and the powder immediately floated into the night sky amidst people's panicked cries.

There was not a trace left.

……

Hugh wanted to thank the airship crew above him who were dropping bombs, but at the same time, he also wanted to curse them.

The three scattered "Melfire" crystal bombs saved him from being turned into fragments and dust the instant the magic explosion occurred, but the subsequent impact and intense heat plunged him into a state like the legendary purgatory.

The lobby of the Legal Committee, which Hugh had used as the last line of defense, has now been completely transformed into a world of flames.

Originally, thanks to Justina's efforts, the protective magic that Hugh had successfully expanded to the edge of the hall was instantly retracted by Hugh himself, who leaned against the towering statue of the goddess Mel in the hall and swiftly tore off the various pages from the Virin spellbook. With a brutal infusion of his own magic, various protective magical lights flashed around him, but against the surging flames, these magical lights often vanished almost immediately upon appearing. The Touch of Karron and the Dark Abyss Mist that Hugh summoned were also continuously charred or instantly dissipated in this extreme impact.

This is the result of the flames caused by "Mel's Fire" being severely affected and interfered with.

The lethal war magic rituals that Hugh had not previously activated, which were buried beneath the base, were also triggered during this devastating bombing. Although the power they unleashed could not compare to "Mel's Fire," the magical turbulence they caused successfully interfered with the spread of the flames.

Even so, Hugh's own survival was already difficult to maintain.

He felt as if he had been stuffed into a giant oven with no blind spots. He couldn't even breathe. Even if he used magic to create a tiny foothold for himself, he had to completely transform himself into a misty humanoid form. Only in this way could he avoid being roasted alive or suffocated.

Compared to Hugh, who was constantly trying to struggle, Justina, who was barely being protected by Hugh, was in a more difficult predicament. The raging flames almost caused her to lose all the Dark Abyss offspring that she had just assimilated. This spiritual break almost caused her to fall back to her most primal state on the spot.

The torment and pain inflicted directly on such a vast sense was enough to completely break down a "newborn" like Justina.

Fortunately, Hugh did not forget her at the crucial moment.

He forcibly used his mist to envelop Justina's true form and dragged her to his side. Then, he hurled several pages of healing magic onto her already disintegrating body. Although forcibly injecting life force at this moment would put her in the agony of destruction and reconstruction, it was the only way to keep her alive.

The Dark Abyss descendants gathered near the Legal Committee's headquarters have fallen completely silent. Faced with the brutal weapons that various countries have brought out at this stage, they still appear extremely vulnerable.

However, the flames continued to draw closer. In Hugh's repeated attempts and struggles, his spellbook pages and magic reserves were being rapidly depleted. What was once a thick spellbook now had only a pitiful few pages left, and most of the remaining spells were destructive, offering almost no help in the current situation.

In despair, Hughes reached out and tore off a page from a book that read "The Cold Pool" and threw it at his feet.

The icy cold immediately burst forth from within the pages of the book. As the magic that helped Vilin become a lake-level mage, its effectiveness was still undeniable. The magical flames that had been pressing against her were pushed back by the "Frosty Pool" at this moment, and the brief white frost also spread over the tall goddess statue behind Hugh.

Of all the locations of the Legal Affairs Commission, the statue of the goddess Mel is the most important and sacred.

As the core foundation of the overall protective ritual within the site, the statue of the goddess Mel was inscribed with numerous permanent rituals from the very beginning of its creation. This was one of the most important gifts that the mages of Melinle and his followers offered to the goddess of love.

Now, facing the raging flames and the white frost bursting forth "in front of" her, the magical patterns inside the goddess statue were finally activated.

Hugh, who was struggling and holding on, suddenly felt a special coolness. He stopped what he was doing in surprise and looked up. He saw a light blue curtain slowly falling on the tall goddess statue behind him.

In the blinding firelight, such colors appear both soft and beautiful.

Like a thin veil woven from water, it slowly drifted and enveloped the surroundings. In an instant, all the heat and scorching were dispelled, and Hugh could only see the magic on the pale blue curtain rising and dissipating in the flames.

The power of the goddess of magic, Mel, can be as fierce as a storm or as gentle as a clear stream.

At this moment, Hughes finally personally experienced the perseverance and compassion shown by this goddess.

Hugh stared blankly at the sculpture. In the pale blue magical light, the beautiful goddess, with her arms slightly outstretched as if wanting to embrace everything in the world, seemed to have truly returned to the world. As the magic within was activated, all the pressure around her was transferred to that thin magical veil.

It was in this environment that Hugh finally had the opportunity to check on Justine's condition.

At this moment, she had been completely turned into a lump of "mud" by the devastating blow. Hugh quickly "cut off" the necrotic and broken parts of her body, leaving only a small lump of the living parts.

Faced with Hugh's attention and touch, the slowly writhing, jet-black gelatinous mass gently extended a tentacle about the thickness of a finger and touched Hugh's palm, as if to tell Hugh that it was still alive.

Seeing this, Hugh quickly lifted Justine up. He took out his water bottle, drank the remaining water, and then put Justine inside. To ensure her condition, Hugh specially created some magical water to maintain her magical function.

As for whether the taste of this magical water was acceptable, Hugh couldn't concern himself with that.

There was nothing he could do now but lean against the statue of the goddess and slowly sit down, waiting for the fire to subside.

Time passed slowly amidst Hugh's anxiety.

The magic in the environment continued to change, and the dangerous boundary was getting closer and closer. Perhaps because of this anomaly, the destructive magic in the surrounding flames gradually dissipated, and the goddess statue that had been protecting Hugh finally exhausted its power.

The pale blue curtain became almost imperceptible, and as the power within the statue dissipated, shocking cracks appeared on the surface of the sculpture.

Finally, a fragment fell to the ground.

The goddess Mel's empty eye sockets stared straight ahead, where a frail figure, protected by protective magic, trudged with difficulty into the distance.

As if her own destiny had come to an end, she was destroyed behind Hugh; her slender arms broke off, and her soft, long hair turned to dust.

As a dark new era was about to begin, the outlines that had been etched for thousands of years gradually faded away.

The soft, crumbling sound was her final farewell to Vaan.

(End of this chapter)