The black sun hangs high

Chapter 344 The Disturbance Within the Disc
The Mirror Messenger was pacing around in its "room," its face remaining as indistinct as ever. With its slightly hurried footsteps, traces of Hugh's features would occasionally emerge from the depths of these indistinct shadows.

Meanwhile, within the other metal disc spaces associated with the power of the Dark Abyss Court, dense shadows were constantly trembling.

The palace hound, which usually liked to rest in its own territory, had changed its posture. Like a member of a wolf pack that had heard a call, it raised its disproportionately long head high, opened its countless eyes that shimmered with scarlet light, and stretched out its sharp limbs that had grown from devouring the Dark Abyss Spider, scratching and scraping at the ground around it.

The Dark Abyss Mask, which was already fully connected to Hugh's spirit, also exhibited a strange reaction at this moment.

Hugh saw that the black mask, which always floated quietly in the mist, was now constantly changing its appearance—one by one, the faces hidden deep in Hugh's spiritual world were being revealed through this mask.

Hughes had witnessed a similar situation before the Black Sun was about to descend, except that at that time, the creatures of the Dark Abyss were more agitated and restless, rather than filled with intense excitement and anticipation as they were now.

Clearly, the impending anomaly is a completely different concept from the last black sun.

The Fate Roots, who were once terrified by the arrival of the Black Sun, did not show much fear or panic this time. However, they still showed considerable caution in the face of their obviously "ecstatic" neighbors.

They completely submerged into the depths of the spiritual lake where they resided, and carefully sealed off the surface of the lake using their own power.

This cautious attitude only changed slightly when Hughes came to "visit".

"Are you nervous? Are you worried that they might cause some damage to your community?"

Hughes seemed slightly puzzled: "Don't worry, even if they might get a little restless, they absolutely won't be able to escape my control..."

"Thank you, Master."

The chief of the Fate Roots tribe responded with utmost humility: “Since we are all servants serving our master, we should naturally trust each other and also trust our master’s judgment and power… However, in the past, the flash of the black sun often symbolized the beginning of the ‘Great Hunt.’ Maintaining concealment and choosing to hide has been our tribe’s instinct, and it is really hard to change.”

Upon hearing this, Hughes frowned. He tilted his head slightly, raising his gaze upwards to take in a portion of the shadows in the sky.

However, this simple action immediately triggered a disturbance in the dark abyss magic within Hugh's body. As if responding to some kind of call, this power flowed and surged rapidly within Hugh's body, and Hugh's eyes directly entered a state of magical vision.

Protected by this layer of Dark Abyss magic, Hugh saw that the ever-expanding dark shadow in the sky had undergone some new changes.

Over the past few days, Hugh had observed the black sun in the sky more than once. However, during this time, the thick and deep shadow had not changed except for growing and expanding. But now it was different. Hugh saw that this pitch-black mass, which seemed to be condensed in the sky, was being stirred by an invisible hand.

It formed a huge black vortex.

It was an abyss twisted by invisible magical lines.

In the central region of this abyss, something seemed to be gathering and flickering. Even with his magical vision, Hugh couldn't easily see through the true nature of the abyss's colors, or perhaps his instincts prevented him from exploring further.

At this moment, the sword-wielding hermits within the monastery had all set out. They were about to follow the orders issued by the Legal Committee and go to various locations to carry out different tasks. Hugh and Richard boarded a magical puppet carriage returning to the embassy district.

Having witnessed the anomaly of the black sun firsthand, Hugh turned his attention back to his mental world. He found the leader of the Roots of Destiny, who was still waiting for him, and continued to ask, "What exactly do you mean by the 'Great Hunt' you speak of?"

"The brilliance of the black sun is always changing; it sometimes declines and sometimes expands... and whenever it ends its decline or reaches the peak of its power, it will directly announce to the world... and launch a massive 'hunting campaign'."

The tribal chief slowly said, "We have divine revelation, so whenever the hunt begins, we choose to hide, allowing the tribe to avoid the cruel hunt and become the target of those hunters."

"The Hunter?"

Hughes repeated the word softly, glancing inevitably at the palace hounds in the darkness before asking, "So, have you personally experienced the hunt itself? Or have you actually witnessed the hunters?"

"Never."

The leader of the Root Clan quickly gave a negative answer: "We absolutely follow the revelation given by the gods, and for the sake of the clan's survival, once we begin to hide, we will no longer easily spy on the outside world until the gods' revelation descends again and reminds us that the hunt is over..."

"So, how long does each 'Great Hunt' last?"

"It could be very long, or it could be very short."

The tribal chief replied, “Sometimes, the hunters are active for only a few days, which is enough to wipe all the prey from the world, but sometimes the prey fight back and can hold out for a very long time... Using the time scale that you are familiar with, this process can even last for hundreds or even nearly a thousand years.”

"So you mean that no matter how long this so-called 'Great Hunt' lasts, the hunters will ultimately emerge victorious?"

Faced with Hugh's question, the Roots chieftain hesitated slightly, but ultimately answered truthfully: "That should be the case. Perhaps some prey do survive, but our knowledge is ultimately limited... In the long history of our tribe, we have not been able to find any specific cases."

Having asked all these questions, Hugh had no further questions for the time being. He then shifted his attention to the room where the Messenger in the Mirror was located. Sensing Hugh's approach, the pacing mist figure immediately stopped and "looked" in Hugh's direction, as if waiting for his command.

The powers of these Dark Abyss creations are all interconnected. As the Mirror Messenger reacted, the Palace Hound and the black mask also ceased their current actions. They all left their previous positions and gathered in the Mirror Messenger's "room." Among them, the Palace Hound seemed to sense some subtle emotion in Hugh. Contrary to its usual fierce and arrogant demeanor, it proactively lowered its head towards Hugh and pressed its massive body to the ground.

This slightly humble posture eased Hugh's emotions somewhat, so he looked back at the messenger in the mirror and the black mask, his gaze, carrying a clear warning meaning, lingering on them for two seconds, causing the massive metal disc to emit a slight hum and vibration.

As the tremor swept across the "territory" and "nest" of the Dark Abyss creatures, the dense black shadows that symbolized the power of the Dark Abyss court also trembled.

This was the first time since Hugh had possessed the metal disc that he had formally issued a clear warning to his creations who obeyed him.

From the emotions of these Dark Abyss creations, Hugh clearly sensed a disturbing undercurrent of "betrayal." It seemed that the Dark Abyss court still had considerable influence over them, which was exactly what Hugh wanted to sever completely.

Fortunately, the warning was very effective. Amidst the continuous vibrations from the metal disc, the Dark Abyss Creatures quickly broke free from their abnormal state. The black mask quietly floated back to the center of its room, and the court hounds returned to their territory, once again entering a state of dormancy.

The Mirror Messenger, with its most unique nature, seemed somewhat confused. As a being that also possessed considerable intelligence and even independent will, it seemed not to understand why it had experienced such heightened emotions earlier.

As they settled down, Hugh's metal disc seemed to return to its original form. The raging rat, which had covered its head with three tails, poked its head out again, cautiously observing its surroundings, but still dared not easily step into the territory belonging to the court hounds.

The Touch of Calron returned to its original activity. As the creation that had followed Hugh the longest and was the most "honest," it simply waved its body at Hugh as a greeting.

As for the roots of destiny, they remain hidden within the pool of spirit. Clearly, what frightens them is not only the commotion within the metal disc, but also the surging frenzy outside.

Although he had temporarily stabilized his "rear area," Hugh's mood did not improve. The strange phenomena in the sky and the information about the "Great Hunt" revealed by the Fate Roots clan made him feel very uneasy.

"According to the theory of the Roots of Fate, we are probably in the process of the Black Sun going from decline to strength... The so-called 'Great Hunt' may be a random killing of Vaan by those beings in the Dark Abyss Court during this process."

"So, in Vann now, who will become the target of those hunters?"

"An ethnic group? A country? Or..."

Hugh didn't have time to think too much. The carriage had already come to a stop, so he opened his eyes and got off the carriage first.

At the front gate, he saw Weilin, who had just gotten out of the car. They exchanged glances and then quickly walked into the house.

At this time, due to the emergency notice issued by the Legal Committee, the members of the Dawn Society who had gone out had all finished their visits and returned to their temporary residence in the embassy district.

Hughes didn't rush to hear their work reports or explain the strange phenomena in the sky. Instead, he called over all the members of the Dawn Society, including Richard.

At Hugh's request, all the members of the Dawn Society obediently lay down one by one on the living room bench, allowing Hugh to examine their eyes and mental state.

Fortunately, this group of Dawn Society members seemed to have quite good self-control; none of them looked directly at the strange phenomenon in the sky, and naturally, none of them developed any symptoms as a result.

As for Weilin...

Unlike the others, Hugh didn't ask her to lie down immediately. He had already carefully observed Vera's eyes when they met at the door. Everything was normal, and her magic was operating extremely smoothly.

After dealing with these potential problems, Hughes finally breathed a sigh of relief. He avoided Vilin's slightly veiled gaze and turned to a member of the Dawn Society, asking, "Has the meeting scheduled for this evening been cancelled?"

"We haven't received any notification yet. The Legislative Affairs Commission staff are all very busy right now. It will probably take another hour or two before they have time to deal with these matters."

Upon hearing this, Hugh nodded slightly. He then ordered everyone to remain indoors and contacted the Dawn Society's headquarters via a secret ritual to quickly inform Mayer and the others of the situation.

After making a series of arrangements, Hugh and Vera went upstairs together. They quickly exchanged their experiences and discoveries from that morning, and then Hugh made a decision.

He looked at Vera and said seriously, "I need to stay in the room... well, for a while, maybe anywhere from an hour to three or four hours. During this time, it's best if no one disturbs me, okay?"

Veraine showed no hesitation in response to Hugh's rather strange request. She didn't even ask what Hugh wanted to do before quickly nodding and saying, "I will help you maintain the magical rituals in the room and the residence, but try not to make it too long. If the people from the Law Committee come, you will still need to show up yourself."

"As soon as possible."

Hugh nodded seriously, then went into his room. Just two seconds after closing the door, he heard a reassuring magical hum, the sound of the protective ritual being completed.

So, Hugh casually tossed aside his trench coat, drew the curtains, and summoned the roots of fate that created the illusion.

"Theseus... I hope you won't disappear this time, and I hope today's events have nothing to do with you..."

Hughes silently prayed in his heart, then lay down on the bed.

(End of this chapter)