The black sun hangs high

Chapter 349 Price
In this meeting, how many people genuinely wanted to solve Vaan's problem, and how many wanted to use the guise of solving the problem to gain personal benefits?
This is a very interesting question, but one that is difficult to fully understand.

However, the proposal put forward by the naval representative of the Kingdom of Hein is rather blatant. For those duchies with limited strength and considerable hostility towards the Kingdom of Hein, it is absolutely unacceptable to either expend resources to establish outposts around the Kingdom of Hein or to accept Hein's "protection" and "assistance" to establish defensive lines near their own ports.

Therefore, the speech quickly turned into a heated debate.

With the involvement of several dwarf representatives, the nature of the debate changed further.

Dwarves have always been like this; they are like the most powerful catalysts in all magical and alchemical experiments. As those completely unreasonable mouths begin to point fingers and hurl insults, even the most polite and rational person will inevitably be dragged into the quagmire of chaos.

Similar situations have been quite common in Vain's history.

The scholars and monks who rarely attended the meeting were still staring in disbelief at the chaotic scene before them, while the seasoned, experienced officials and politicians took similar actions—they temporarily left their seats and the meeting room, preparing to go to the banquet hall next to the meeting room for a short rest, or simply to go outside and smoke their pipes for a while.

Hughes reopened the meeting outline, glanced at the next few topics, and after confirming that they had no direct connection with the Dawn Society, Saint Steel, or the Black Sun Society, he gestured to the left and right.

Soon, Hugh and Vera quietly left the venue with some other attendees. Richard and some other members of the Dawn Society chose to stay. Although the practical significance of these topics may be relatively limited, they were tasked with accumulating intelligence and experience for the Dawn Society. Although the current scene was somewhat chaotic, it could provide a lot of reference for the future of the Dawn Society.

Outside the venue, Violet watched as Hugh took out a cigarette, and surprisingly, she didn't stop him.

Watching the wisps of white smoke rise, Vera felt for the first time the urge to "have one" herself. However, people kept passing by, greeting her and saying hello, which not only deprived Vera of the opportunity to "boldly try" it, but also left her with little time to have a normal conversation with Hugh.

After politely seeing off another Delan official who had come specifically to offer his greetings, Hughes stubbed out his cigarette. He smiled and used his magic to quickly dispel the smoke swirling around him, then quipped, "Being the center of attention must be annoying, right?"

“If it were scholars instead of officials who gathered here, I think I would enjoy this situation very much.”

Weilin rarely pursed her lips: "Unfortunately, they are not concerned with the proposals we mentioned at the meeting, nor with the soon-to-be-established academic committee, but with something else... How ironic, no wonder Merlinle and some mages said that ten academic presentations may not be comparable to the speech of one official."

"Just bear with it. Once the committee is officially established, there will probably be plenty of such 'opportunities'."

Hughes smiled and shook his head at her: "Putting everything else aside, in terms of appearance alone, you are probably more suited to speaking in public than most scholars in Vain..."

"Then I choose to pray to the goddess Mel, so that such opportunities will be as few as possible."

Weilin looked somewhat helpless and annoyed.

As they were talking, a figure hurried over from a distance. Hugh and his companion turned to look, only to find that it was the member who had stayed outside the venue to maintain secret communications with the Dawn Society's headquarters. At this moment, he looked quite serious and somewhat nervous, so Hugh took the initiative to ask, "What's going on?"

"A message has arrived from the Dawn Goddess... Our base has been attacked, and there have been some casualties."

Upon hearing this, Hugh's brows furrowed immediately, and he quickly asked, "How are the professors doing?"

"Fortunately, only Mr. Darthwell suffered some minor injuries."

Despite saying "it's alright," the Dawn Society member's expression was very serious. He added, "The attackers have retreated, and the situation inside the base has been stabilized. However, according to the description provided by the base, these attackers are clearly... clearly not normal. I think you two should take a look."

As he spoke, a piece of paper, still carrying the strong smell of magical ink, was handed to Hugh and Verin.

Meanwhile, some officials who were chatting and getting some fresh air outside the venue also received notifications from their countries. As a result, the conversations outside the venue quickly subsided, while the debates inside the venue continued to escalate.

A gloomy and oppressive atmosphere spread outside the venue.

This emergency report from the Dawn Society concisely described the general course of the attack.

The incident stemmed from the warning issued today by the Legislative Affairs Commission due to the anomaly of the black sun.

Even within the Akatsuki Society, there exists a group of members who harbor great hostility towards the Legal Committee. They may have either been harmed by the Legal Committee in the past, or they simply do not trust the Legal Committee's capabilities.

Others, it's because of youthful impetuosity.

These young people are always energetic. They are very sensitive to what is happening around them, and they will capture any slight movement and amplify it infinitely under the influence of their intense enthusiasm.

This time is no exception.

Although the Akatsuki Society was particularly strict in its discipline compared to other organizations, the effect of such restrictions and management was ultimately limited.

During the past day, about twenty new members of the Dawn Society were gathered together by the Dawn Society for looking up at the shadows in the sky for extended periods of time or on multiple occasions.

Darthwell himself presided over this matter. Compared to other core members of the Dawn Order like Meyer, he always had a tougher hand. No matter how dissatisfied these young Dawn Order members were, he did not show any hesitation.

Under his orders, a large warehouse was quickly emptied, and the Dawn members who had "committed the crime" were then moved inside. However, Darth Vader did not simply intend to confine them; he also specially deployed a group of healing physicians, mages, and fully armed soldiers to comprehensively "monitor" the condition of these Dawn members.

He even had two mages set up multiple layers of protection and warning rituals around the warehouse. Darthavel's preparations were not in vain.

Just over forty minutes ago, a riot broke out inside the warehouse where these Dawn Society members were being held, as described in the document.

“A ferocious beast, unlike anything seen before, silently infiltrated the warehouse. There may have been five to seven of them. The moment the attack began, it triggered almost all the pre-set protective rituals, while the means of alert remained unchanged and unresponsive.”

"These beasts, or 'magical creatures' as they may be called, should belong to the same species and possess astonishing intelligence—their targets are very clear: those who have been staring at the black sun for a long time."

"Our mages and soldiers attempted to rescue them and launched an attack on these beasts, but they were able to quickly vanish into thin air when faced with magical and firearm attacks... right before everyone's eyes, they merged into the shadows and soon reappeared from other corners of the room to launch a new attack."

Veraine was relatively calm at the beginning of the reading, but when she read the description of the attackers, her gaze involuntarily drifted towards Hugh.

She always felt that this so-called "beast" seemed a little... familiar?
"There were a total of twenty-one people locked in the warehouse. Only four of them were unharmed during the attack, three others were seriously injured, and the rest died on the spot... their bodies were bitten off and torn apart, or their blood was drained."

Hughes silently calculated the losses of the Dawn Division in his mind: "There were also some soldiers who actually looked directly at the sun but did not report it to their superiors. The cause of death was basically the same: they were killed without any precautions."

"In addition, the soldiers responsible for monitoring and protecting the warehouse also suffered considerable injuries... those strange, black beasts were even able to rush out from the blind spots of the stacked ammunition boxes and bite the soldiers' bodies."

Upon seeing this information, Hugh had already formed a basic judgment in his mind.

These so-called wild beasts, even if they are not the palace hounds, must be something similar to them, and the attack that occurred on this night is probably a harbinger of the "great hunt" that Theseus mentioned earlier.

"Because of prolonged direct staring at the black sun connected to the Dark Abyss Palace, they were marked by the hounds of the Dark Abyss Palace... Even though the Great Hunt has not yet begun, some of the hounds, as the 'vanguard' of the Dark Abyss Palace, have already begun to infiltrate Vaan."

Hughes looked up and nodded slightly to Veraine, who was looking at him, which was his response to her doubts and guesses.

After receiving Hugh's clear answer, Vera's expression grew increasingly grave. She quickly glanced around and saw that the officials who had clearly received similar notifications had varying expressions, and some of them were behaving extremely...

nervous?

Upon noticing this, Vera immediately tugged at Hugh, but before she could speak, Hugh had already alertly looked around.

At this moment, the metal disc in his mental world had begun to accelerate quietly, and the Dark Abyss creations, which had been "warned" once by Hugh and Theseus, were now also consciously entering a state of alert.

Especially the hunting dog, which had previously teetered on the brink of extinction, was now extremely proactive. As the metal disc began to spin faster, it ended its prone position and stood up amidst the drifting black mist.

"Be careful..."

Hugh whispered a reminder, and Vera nodded quickly, then clutched the spellbook she carried with her.

Seeing that Weilin was ready, Hugh reached out and grabbed the Dawn Society member who was about to leave. The member turned around in confusion, only to find that Hugh, who was standing under the crystal street lamp, had black shadows flickering in his eyes, and even his body surface began to vibrate with mist.

A buzzing sound came from inside.

That was the sound made when the magical ritual set up outside the venue was affected and interfered with.

This time, there was no need for Hugh to issue a warning. The two nearby magical megaphones began to emit a piercing loud noise, but the sound lasted for less than two seconds. Something flashed through the darkness, and with a crisp sound, the megaphone, made of metal and inlaid with magical crystals, was destroyed on the spot.

Immediately afterwards, a dense mist that Hugh was extremely familiar with burst forth near the venue. Its spread was astonishing. In the blink of an eye, all the bright crystal lamps went out. The whole process was completely silent and extremely smooth, as if a huge black bag had swallowed up the light.

Seeing this, Hugh's eyebrows shot up quickly. He knew very well that ordinary palace hounds would never have this ability. The only ones who could truly manipulate this Dark Abyss Mist were those who were closely related to the palace hounds and were known as "Servants of the Dark Abyss"!

Under the cover of the thick darkness, the sprinting rat, which had been "on vacation" for who knows how long, appeared beside Hugh. Its three tails lashed out on the ground, and its sharp eyes began to scan the darkness in the sky. On the other side, a figure with a body and appearance almost identical to Hugh slowly stepped out.

Faced with this situation, the Mirror Messenger clearly stated its judgment: its "kin" had appeared in this area.

Outside the venue, those who had intentionally or unintentionally stared at the dark shadows for an extended period of time paid a heavy price for their actions.

In the rolling black mist, a Delan official, who was desperately trying to escape back into the venue, tripped on the steps. He quickly got up and saw an extremely thin and strange shadow emerge from the right angle of the steps in front of him. Many dense scarlet eyes opened in the darkness and had a real "close encounter" with him.

No screaming, no struggle.

The thick fog rolled as the hideous maw opened and closed, and in the blink of an eye, half of the figure that had fallen on the steps was enveloped by the fog. One of the guards reacted quickly; he raised his crystal gun and pulled the trigger toward the darkness.

The fog dissipated with the deafening sound of gunfire.

However, the body that had been struggling and trembling had completely lost its upper half...

(End of this chapter)