The black sun hangs high

Chapter 396 is very good, this is very good.
"Yes, his forbearance is truly beyond imagination."

Hugh, sporting the face of Baron Fiorentino, shamelessly praised himself.

In the past few days, he has begun to run wildly down the terrible road of "acting", truly achieving "shamelessness" on both concrete and abstract levels. And his performance has won him a considerable degree of trust within the Black Sun Society.

Although Krzlov is still using Fiorentina as bait, he is indeed pouring more resources into Hughes in order to make the bait truly "attractive".

In Hugh's own words, "Fiolando" has now been transformed by Kerzlov into the top spymaster of the Black Sun Society in the Watchtower area.

In the past few days, he even led a group of mages from the Black Sun Society and a group of members from the Sharp-Beaked Owl Camp to successfully break through a secret outpost of the Legal Committee located in the nearby mountains. Unfortunately, the members of the Legal Committee were unusually determined. Faced with the encirclement of the Black Sun Society, the secret agents trapped deep in the outpost resolutely launched a pre-prepared lethal magic ritual.

The incredibly powerful Merlinle and the Wall of Flames instantly covered a large area of ​​woodland. The surging magical flames engulfed two accompanying Society mages and a Sharp-Beaked Owl officer who was searching for important documents in the camp with his confidants. Naturally, it also burned all the spies hidden in the stronghold to ashes.

Fortunately, Baron Feorlando displayed extraordinary bravery. He forcefully used magic to resist the raging magical flames and stormed into the stronghold, successfully retrieving some of the secret documents that had not yet been burned.

These documents are extremely important to the Black Sun Society, as they reveal many of the dangerous infiltrators' plans and arrangements in the area surrounding Watchtower. Some of the letters communicating with those outside St. Steel further expose the attackers' thoughts and plans.

It was this incident that allowed "Fiolando" to gain more real power from Krzlov, and it was because of this that Hughes truly gained the qualification to participate in larger and more important plans.

After a few sneaky self-indulgent remarks, Hughes questioned, "Since we all know that guy is so cautious, how can we guarantee that we can lure him out?"

"Heh... Fiorlando, you are not a follower of the Moonhawk, so you naturally cannot understand the true power of its offspring and clan."

Tatiana, unusually, did not show any dissatisfaction when discussing these matters. She smiled and said, "Moonbringer Atmir, among all the Moonhawk's kin, they are the group closest to their god. The term 'Moonbringer' is not a title used to elevate their status, but rather the most authentic expression of their position and power."

“I once suggested to Mr. Kzlov that the Artmirs launch a surprise attack on the border of the Votels. After all, the giant eagle worshipped by those highlanders is actually the stupid and weak offspring of the Moon Eagle who have lost their power... If I could, I would really like to see the Votels collapse in front of the Artmirs.”

"You want Atmir to hunt down those highland eagles right in front of them? Good idea."

"Thank you, I think that would be interesting too."

Tatiana smiled and accepted Hugh's praise. She gently rubbed the patterns on the railing beside her with her palm and said, "Of course, killing the highland giant eagle was just a side effect. I think the Society should give those highlanders, especially their soldiers, a warning..."

"So far, we haven't made a move on that fragile border, which will obviously give the Water people some false sense of security, making them think that their defenses are impregnable, or that we don't have the guts to attack them... Ha, I think that's very inappropriate."

Hugh narrowed his eyes. Following Baron Fiorlando's previous views, he echoed Tatiana's words, saying, "We've discussed this matter several times before, and I agree. The Votel are overconfident in their army and new weapons. We need to completely shatter their foolish confidence before the conflict officially breaks out."

"This is your perspective as a soldier."

Tatiana's smile was incredibly sinister: "These Waterlings stubbornly follow the false god and their giant eagles on the plateau. This is a foolish and useless act. Since they call themselves the people of the giant eagles, they should abandon their false past and embrace a new faith when the true offspring of the Moon Eagles appear before them."

"So, which side should we target? Or should we attack simultaneously?"

"Unfortunately, the matter with the Water people will have to be postponed... Mr. Kzlov believes that we should prioritize dealing with those who have crossed the Isa River, especially those false believers who openly stood against us from the very beginning and incited more ignorant people to oppose us."

Hearing this, Hugh's heart skipped a beat. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "You mean the 'Dawn Society'?"

"Yes, there's no one else but them."

Tatiana nodded, a hint of disgust and hatred on her face: "Their lousy army has successfully crossed the Isa River and is close to our lines. They will have to pay the price for their recklessness and arrogance."

“I remember that Hugh Ernst was also a member of the Dawn Society.”

“That’s right, so the attack we’re going to launch on that army next is destined to be devastating… and the team that will be involved in this attack will be a special team, a team that will not cause us any damage, and is extremely powerful and deadly.”

As she spoke, Tatiana raised her hand and clapped it twice forcefully.

On the other side, a mage from the Black Sun Society immediately responded. He exchanged a few words with another person beside him, and then mobilized the magic in the occult sculpture next to him. A semi-transparent dark curtain appeared and slowly enveloped the open space where the three Atmir giant eagles were located.

Someone entered a huge warehouse right next to the open space—one side of which was connected to the outside world, while the other side faced Artmir in the open space.

A few seconds later, the metal gate facing the square slowly opened, and then Hugh heard a series of noisy sounds.

He was already very familiar with this sound; this hoarse and unpleasant cry came from the giant bird Yasharu.

Soon, nearly ten strong Azhar were driven out from the open metal door. These bizarre giant birds, large enough to be ridden as mounts, with beast-like heads and astonishing magical power, appeared incredibly small in front of the three Atmir. The moment they saw Atmir, these noisy Azhar birds immediately shut their mouths, shrank their heads, and then frantically flapped their wings, preparing to get away from these terrifying beings.

However, the semi-transparent curtain that had been covering the area beforehand, as well as the ritual site above the open space, prevented the giant birds of Yasha from escaping. Although they were able to fly into the air, they were unable to break through the transparent "membrane".

Hugh watched this scene with great interest, then turned and asked, "What's this?"

"Among the Moon Eagle's retinue, the Azaru always hold the lowest status. They are the slaves, laborers, and food of all the retinue and offspring. When the other wingless followers yearn to see the Moon Eagle, the Azaru serve as their mounts."

Tatiana explained softly, “In that distant and sacred past, the Asharu, though of humble status, were numerous… They were the cornerstones of the great kingdom of the Moon Eagle. Therefore, even after the Moon Eagle left Vaan, we can still call upon the Asharu from His distant kingdom through the rituals He bestowed upon us…”

Before they could finish speaking, these strangely shaped ancient giant birds had already descended. They clearly lacked a clear understanding of the situation before them. Faced with repeated failures to "break through," the Yasharu once again let out those extremely unpleasant and noisy cries.

This cry, however, led to fatal consequences.

The Moonkin of Artemis, who had been standing quietly in the open space, reacted impatiently.

There seemed to be some kind of invisible link between the three enormous Atmirs. They did not communicate at all, but at the same time they raised their heads with multiple pairs of strange eyes and looked up at the sky. Then, they opened their mouths at the same time and let out an extremely piercing scream.

Even standing outside that curtain, Hugh felt a sharp pain in his eardrums, and his thoughts became sluggish and muddled as a result.

Within this shriek, there was clearly some terrifying force that could directly interfere with and invade thoughts and spirit. Under its influence, the metal disc that had been hidden deep within the spiritual world by Hugh reacted, its rotation speed gradually increasing, and all the "residents" within it were awakened from their slumber.

The raging rat reacted particularly violently. As a member of the Earth Mother Goddess's kin, it showed obvious signs of panic at this moment. Hugh didn't need to ask to guess that in the distant past, the rats belonging to the Earth Mother Goddess were most likely the snacks of these Artmir Moon Heirs in their spare time.

Fortunately, the shriek didn't last long, because the giant birds of Yasha that were circling in the air had already been severely impacted. They lost their balance and fell to the ground. Two of them were immediately caught by Atmir, who raised his head. In the blink of an eye, the struggling Yasha were torn into pieces and disappeared into Atmir's big mouth.

The remaining Asharu did not obediently await their deaths. Although terrified, they still chose to fight back. Hugh saw that a dark, blood-red light covered the bodies of the Asharu. This blood-red light caused their bodies to swell by more than one size. As they flapped their wings, this ominous "blood" fell off and transformed into feather-like blades, flying towards the enormous figures not far away.

Hugh had seen this "hunting" method used by the Azhars before.

Those sharp, red shadows are actually a strange magic born from the magic power and flesh-and-blood rituals within the Azhars. They are extremely sharp and deadly, capable of easily penetrating ordinary walls and even, to some extent, piercing through the thinner, more brittle Silver Armor and Stream-level protective magic.

However, these incredibly powerful blades were now ineffective against Artemis. Hughes saw them crashing into the bodies of the three Artemis in rapid succession, the violent collisions producing a series of sharp cracks, much like metal bullets striking a solid metal bunker.

Artmir, the direct offspring of these Moon Eagles, has "feathers" that are as tough as metal and ore. Hugh even saw that when the Azhars came into contact with magic and these "feathers," obvious traces of magic surged rapidly on the patterns on Artmir's body. It was this power originating from their bloodline that gave these behemoths the ability to easily withstand external impacts and damage.

Hughes even felt that these patterns were somewhat similar to the patterns on his metal disc, both being incredibly intricate, complex, and interconnected.

Faced with these Yasharu who were only fit to be food, Atmir and his men were clearly unwilling to do anything more.

Once the Yasharu finished their attack, they slowly began to walk, either poking their heads out and opening their mouths, or pressing down with their claws. With just a few effortless movements, they tore apart the remaining prey.

What followed was a bloody feast.

However, after devouring all the Asharu, these terrifying giant eagles raised their heads and cast their sharp, cold gazes upon the surrounding sorcerers.

"It looks like they haven't eaten enough..."

"Atmir's appetite cannot be satisfied by mere flesh and blood. What they seek is valuable prey, a process of devouring the soul and body of their prey... I believe that the Dawn's army can truly satisfy their needs."

Tatiana turned her head and looked at Hugh seriously: "Mr. Krzlov has asked us to inform everyone in Watchtower of the existence of the Artmirs as soon as possible, including the direction of the attack and our expected outcome... Tonight I will have the Artmirs circling high above Watchtower to confirm the reliability of this propaganda. Everyone will see the divine power of the Artmirs, which is enough to surpass all war toys."

She raised her hand and pointed at Hugh: "And you, Fiorlando, you need to become the commander of Artemis, at least temporarily, the commander in name only."

"I understand."

Hughes smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, Mr. Krzlov, I'll take care of these things... It's been quite a while since the last gathering, and I think the residents of Watchtower will enjoy a grand speech."

“Very good, that’s very good.”

Tatiana nodded, and then she and Hugh laughed together.

(End of this chapter)