The black sun hangs high

Chapter 352 "Miracle"

Although the information gathered from the memories of the Dark Abyss servants was extremely fragmented, after some effort, Hugh was finally able to gain a deeper understanding of the special nature of the Dark Abyss and its creations, and he also gained a better understanding of the upcoming "Great Hunt".

This level of intelligence isn't enough to bring any real advantage, but compared to the blank slate of the past, the progress it has made is already quite valuable.

After repeatedly reviewing and examining these fragmented memories countless times, Hugh finally confirmed that there was nothing missing. He then withdrew his consciousness and divided the Dark Abyss power, which no longer contained any information, into several parts, which he then threw to his Dark Abyss creations.

Although the total amount of these powers is very limited, their purity is much higher than that of the inferior powers that originated from the offspring of the Dark Abyss in the past. Although the Messenger in the Mirror and the Hounds of the Dark Abyss had not shown any desire for these powers before, when these divided provisions were presented to them by Hugh, they immediately and thirstily swallowed these powers into their bodies.

Hughes could even faintly hear the satisfied groans emanating from the messenger in the mirror.

Clearly, they would much rather "eat" these pure, high-quality foods than devour the defective products derived from the power of the Dark Abyss.

"If you perform well from now on, you'll have more and more opportunities... If you want to eat better, stop slacking off and taking it easy, understand?"

Like those leaders who are good at making empty promises, Hughes half-jokingly gave a few instructions to the guests inside the metal disc, and this action immediately triggered a series of reactions inside the disc.

Having just tasted the benefits, the court hounds and the mirror messengers naturally approved of this arrangement with both hands. Although the Root Clan, possessing extremely high intelligence and independent will, did not crave these powers, they also showed their enthusiasm at the opportune moment.

Since neither the Touch of Calron nor the black mask can speak, they use swaying and rotation to convey their thoughts and emotions.

The only one that's a little different is the running rat.

It looked pitiful, huddled beside the cave like a wronged pet, its three tails pointing listlessly at its mouth, as if complaining that Hugh had forgotten about it when dividing the spoils.

"Don't worry, you'll get a share."

Hugh smiled, and as his thoughts raced, a slightly smaller portion of Dark Abyss power appeared before the running rat. The former servant of the Earth Mother Goddess immediately let out a satisfied and joyful hiss, then pounced on its meal and began to feast.

After completing this rough but effective mobilization, Hugh intended to deal with the affairs of the Dawn Society, but before he could even look at a couple more pages of the compiled esoteric letters, several guests came to his door.

Leading the way was a sword-wielding hermit, dressed no differently from the others Hugh had seen in the hermitage—fully armed and equally imposing and cold. After entering the living room of the residence, he stood to one side, while a Dharma Council monk following behind stepped forward and showed Hugh his official Dharma monk credentials.

“Mr. Ernst, do you have time now? The head of the emergency office would like to meet with you… This is important. If you have other urgent matters to attend to, we can wait outside for a while.”

Based on the mage's credentials and the emblem on his spellbook, Hugh determined that this was a genuine Valley-level mage. Moreover, several different exquisite medals were also hanging on the cover of his spellbook, one of which was very special—in the center of a dark gold circular badge was a spellbook carved from emerald green magic crystals, and above the spellbook was a bright silver sword.

On his way to Merlinle, Hughes specifically consulted with Verine about many details related to the Legal Committee, including some internal rules and systems of the Legal Committee that were not known to outsiders, including matters such as honors and awards.

As Vilin had specifically mentioned, mages who served the Legal Committee for a long time and made significant contributions were often awarded special medals. The dark gold medal that this mage possessed was one of them, known as "Merlinler and the Guardian." A mage who possessed this medal often meant that he had saved the Legal Committee from significant losses during a mission, or had successfully captured important dangerous figures and spies.

In short, these medals are not something that ordinary people can obtain, and the honor system they belong to is completely different from the one used by scholars.

Specifically, it does have some similarities to the rules implemented by the Votel military system.

The mage who stepped forward to speak with Hugh did indeed exude a military air, but his tone was very gentle and his words were somewhat humble, which was completely different from the image of a senior member of the Legal Committee that people were familiar with.

Hugh noticed that when the mage asked him a question, the other two people behind him silently took two steps back. These two relatively young mages very consciously and professionally used a magical ritual to isolate Hugh and his companion, as if they were simply there to carry out a mission and did not want to eavesdrop on or learn more about the conversation.

With the magical ritual in place, Hugh made no attempt to conceal anything. He put down the documents in his hand and asked, "What exactly is this matter? Can you be frank?"

"The Emergency Office believes that the matter cannot be delayed any longer and must be addressed immediately, as it relates to those beasts... or rather, monsters you captured last night. And right now, you are very likely the one who knows them best!"

The monk said with unusual sincerity, "Of course, the Emergency Office respects your personal wishes and arrangements. We just hope that, in addition to other matters, you can pay more attention to some of the challenges we are facing."

"Of course."

Hughes nodded: "I also had some things I wanted to discuss with you, and I can leave now."

"That's great."

A smile finally appeared on the mage's serious face. He looked up towards the second floor and asked, "Where is Ms. Veraine? Could she come along?"

"Let her rest for a while. Besides, I should have provided enough help and advice in these matters. Perhaps you can send someone to find her again in two or three hours. By then, she should have recovered her spirits."

On this matter, the mage did not insist. He nodded quickly and then led Shug outside. Another young valley-level mage was left behind. This was clearly a gesture of goodwill towards the Dawn Society and Shug himself. Having an excellent spellcaster serve as a guard for the residence was a privilege that ordinary people would never receive.

After explaining the upcoming arrangements to the two members of the Dawn Society, Hugh boarded the Legal Committee's magical puppet carriage and began to quickly head towards the center of the inner city. "You can call me Belial. It's a pleasure to speak face-to-face with such a young legend as you."

Once aboard the carriage, the monk, who was already in his thirties, began to talk.

"Belial" is a very typical Saint Steel name. Within the Dawn Society, Hugh had encountered many Saint Steel members who used this name, so Hugh directly asked, "Mage Belial, are you a Saint Steel?"

"Yes."

The mage Belial nodded: "There are actually a lot of Saint Steel people in Merlinle and St. Steel. After all, Merlinle and St. Steel are not too far apart. When the Magic Crystal Trade Agreement was still in effect, the exchanges and interactions between the two sides were very frequent... at least that was the case among the common people."

Hughes nodded, then lowered his gaze to the dark gold emblem on Belial's spellbook and asked, "As far as I know, this kind of medal is not easy to obtain. Could you tell me more about it?"

"..."

When suddenly asked about this, a look of surprise flashed across Beria's face, but in an instant, that surprise turned into a deep bitterness.

He slowly lifted his spellbook so that Hugh could more easily examine the "Merlinler and the Guard" badge, and then Belial said, "Look, this badge is very new, isn't it... I only got it a month ago."

"When the previous war was about to end, the madmen of the Black Sun Society tried to disrupt the arrangements, so they mobilized a group of spies hidden within us. Among them was a relative of mine... a cousin of mine, with whom I had a good relationship, and we often drank and chatted together."

Beria's face showed a hint of helplessness: "I used to criticize him all the time, saying that he was loose-lipped and would easily leak secrets... and he really did leak a secret, right after he had been drinking."

"He revealed his identity as a member of the Black Sun Society to you?"

"Actually, no, we just talked about a few things that weren't within his job scope. These things should have been confidential... At first, I just thought he was being a blabbermouth again, but I didn't expect to find such a big problem after a simple investigation."

"Therefore, your unintentional discovery saved Merlinler from a series of disasters."

"Yes, that's right... But at the same time, I sent my cousin to a monastery, and after we dealt with the traitors within our ranks, someone spread the word about it. It was a terrible decision."

The mage Belial's face twitched twice: "I originally wanted to quickly bring my cousin's family out of Saint Steel, but it was too late. After the news reached Saint Steel, the Black Sun Society naturally took action..."

His voice trailed off: "I think Mr. Ernst could have foreseen the fate of that group of women and children, couldn't he?"

Hearing this, Hugh could only sigh silently.

He could certainly guess what the Black Sun Society did to these ordinary people. The methods they used to deal with their own people were so twisted and ruthless, so naturally they wouldn't show any compassion when dealing with those "inferior" ordinary people.

Belial put away his spellbook and lowered his voice, saying, "The situation is terrible. I'm not referring to the situation in Vaan, but to the morale of the entire Merlinle... There are far too many families of members of the Law Council who are left in the North. After the Black Sun Society began its operation, their families didn't have time to evacuate, and now it's impossible to contact them."

The mage Belial pressed his fingers on the dark gold badge as if he wanted to crush it: "Everyone is tense and in pain. We don't even know if continuing like this will kill our relatives and friends... The Black Sun Society is capable of doing these things. They probably already have our list."

"Although no one has said it outright, actually... everyone is quite desperate."

Beria glanced at Hughes: "Although it is inappropriate to say this, I personally really hope that you, Mr. Ernst, are a miracle bestowed upon us poor believers by the goddess Mel... really, I really think so."

Faced with Belial's words, Hugh remained silent, and Belial, the mage, also sensed the change in atmosphere, so he did not say anything more.

And so, in a somewhat somber atmosphere, Hugh arrived at the location of the emergency affairs office. However, the mage in charge of leading the way did not take Hugh to a bright conference room or office, but quickly turned to the back. After passing through layers of magical rituals, two heavy metal doors, and several checks, Hugh finally entered his destination.

This is a huge, enclosed room filled with flowing magic, and the light of various mystical instruments flickers incessantly in the air.

These translucent magical afterimages divided the corners of the enormous room into a dozen or so equally sized "circular cells," and confined within these cells were clusters of twisted shadows that darted about.

These shadows were none other than the hunting dogs that Hugh had successfully captured earlier. Their bodies were still broken and twisted, but their condition seemed to have recovered considerably. Although these special magical cages could restrict their movements, they could not suppress their ferocious nature and the dark abyss power emanating from their bodies.

These crippled hounds did not stop moving because of their injuries. They kept emitting strange howls, and their figures kept "wandering" in the limited space. The cold and disordered power disturbed the entire underground room, which caused the mages stationed there great pain.

But the moment the door opened, the feeling of unease suddenly ceased.

All that could be heard was the gentle sound of footsteps and the soft tapping of a cane on the ground.

(End of this chapter)