The black sun hangs high

Chapter 403 Hidden in the Dust
When he discovered that the Atmir Moonbringers in the sky had broken free from the ritual's control and were beginning to swoop down toward Watchtower, Kizlov's mood was not greatly affected.

He even smiled.

Kezlov had been aware of the many troubles and hidden dangers brought about by Hugh Ernst. He paid more attention to the negative impact of this "thorn" than anyone else in the Black Sun Society. The fundamental reason was that he could always catch a feeling very similar to his own from the actions Hugh Ernst took.

Rational, cautious, and patient.

Just like those raiders who can hide in mounds of earth or gravel for days to catch their prey, they can lie dormant in harsh environments for a long time in order to achieve a specific goal and kill their prey, and in the process, they discard all unnecessary emotions and feelings.

All indications suggest that his previous actions have dealt a severe blow to the infiltrators, and the loss of these elites is destined to be extremely tragic. Yet, even under these circumstances, Hugh Ernst has managed to perfectly conceal his whereabouts.

This made Kizlov, who always liked to be in control, very uneasy.

As a core member of the Black Sun Society and the possessor of those lost powers, he was well aware of the effects these powers could bring, and Hugh Ernst's past performance and choices proved that he was definitely not someone who would abandon such powers.

Therefore, Kezlov concluded that this despicable traitor of the ancient god must be secretly preparing some important and troublesome plan—he hoped to use such a bold action to force his opponent to make a choice: either expose himself in order to take action, or silently suffer irreparable and enormous losses.

Therefore, when Kuzlov sensed the same magical energy in the air that was similar to his own, he felt immense joy and ease.

He knew that the guy who was always causing him trouble had finally stepped out from behind the scenes and into the spotlight.

Although Kizlov didn't quite understand why Hugh Ernst, with his patience, would suddenly take such a suicidal gamble, fundamentally, once he abandoned hiding himself and came to the front lines, all of Hugh Ernst's past advantages would vanish.

The Artmirs' loss of control was within Kizlov's expectations. He didn't particularly like these three giant eagles, mainly because they always prioritized satisfying their hunting instincts and ignored the magical rituals used to command and control them.

Seeing the chaos created by Atmir and his men, Kzlov frowned. He said to the members of the society who were with him, "Go, take over the ritual and get those three Moon Heirs back into the sky... After they leave, command the Yasharu to carry out the encirclement and annihilation."

Most of the members of the society who were following Kzlov had received "favors" from the Dark Abyss Court, and a considerable portion of their bodies and faces had turned into translucent dark shadows.

Unlike other spellcasters, the magical environment within Watchtower City does not cause them any harm or interference. The special environment created by the Black Sun Ritual makes them feel extremely comfortable and satisfied, which also makes the Dark Abyss magic that constitutes their bodies exceptionally active and powerful.

And now, they could all feel that strange sensation coming from afar—in a certain street, a kind of magic that seemed to be connected to them, yet was subtly different, was constantly vibrating.

It was like a cloud of mist that was full of provocation and was moving very fast!

It should be excluded, completely excluded, or it needs to be "purified" and completely integrated with the Dark Abyss!
Without any further orders from Kzlov, the Society members, who had already begun to transform into servants of the Dark Abyss, immediately came to the side of the Black Sun Ritual. Just as when they received the favor from the Dark Abyss, they stood in an orderly fashion beside the ritual, and their ethereal, twisted limbs dissipated into clouds of mist in the blink of an eye, intertwining with the huge black flowers on the ritual sculpture.

The next instant, the six-winged giant eagle pattern in the sky, which had become somewhat dim, suddenly became exceptionally bright. A strange, distant whistle echoed throughout the entire Watchtower City from somewhere. It sounded like the whistling of the wind, but upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the chirping of birds from another world.

As the whooshing sound swept over the flock of Yasharu birds, the noisy, chaotic giants froze briefly. But then, they sensed an absolute command within the whooshing sound that they could not disobey. They quickly gathered together and, following the instructions, split into several groups of varying sizes, swooping down in different directions.

The whooshing sound continued to spread and, in an instant, reached the giant eagle Atmir, which was busy chasing its prey.

The giant eagle that had been chasing the running rat stopped first. Its eyes on both sides of its head flickered violently, and it shook its head heavily twice. Instinct told it that the whistling sound it had just heard did not seem to be a real command from its god.

After a few seconds of hesitation, the giant eagle finally chose to submit, but just as it was about to flap its wings and fly back into the air, a piercing shriek that was completely unfamiliar to it suddenly came from another direction.

At this moment, the members of the Black Sun Society, who had once painstakingly sought to incite war and provoke violent conflict, finally experienced the true feeling of a shell whizzing past their foreheads.

With the guidance and calibration of the accompanying mages and the assistance of magical rituals, these powerful crystal cannonballs were suddenly launched from the Rock Lake Mine.

Thanks to the arrangements and preparations made by Hugh and others, these cannonballs not only successfully avoided the city defense ritual's blockade and obstruction, but also demonstrated unimaginable accuracy.

All the shelling locations and targets had already been repeatedly checked and detected by Hugh's magical rat swarm. In the list of shelling targets, experienced Wotel experts had even sorted these targets. As top-notch professional military members in Vaan, they knew very well which targets should be destroyed immediately during the shelling!

For the soldiers of Walter, this artillery barrage launched from behind enemy lines had a very special significance.

It is both revenge and atonement and repentance.

The shells that landed on important targets such as warehouses, command posts, and strongholds were a ruthless response to the Black Sun Society's shelling of Borden.

At the same time, it is also a silent repentance by these citizens of Votel for their country's shelling of Seren.

……

The violent explosion occurred near Hugh. Based on the precise coordinates he provided, the two shells performed their purpose perfectly, hitting the Black Sun Society's city defense command post in Watchtower City one after the other. Judging from the shockwave caused by the explosion, Hugh judged that even if the command post wasn't completely destroyed, it probably wouldn't be able to continue performing its original functions. As for how many people would die in this shelling, Hugh wasn't concerned at the moment.

Based on his previous understanding, most of the officers who were directly trusted by the Black Sun Society and entrusted with the command of city defense had already pledged allegiance to the Black Sun Society from the beginning, and some of them had even become members of certain societies!
Therefore, Hughes did not feel the need to show them any pity or mercy.

A slight tremor came from the spiritual world, and then the figure of the Mirror Messenger once again "fell" into its room. Despite being infused with Hugh's magic, the Mirror Messenger's abilities were ultimately limited, and it failed to escape the pursuit of another giant eagle.

However, this is very good news for Hugh at the moment.

With the return of the Mirror Messenger, Hughes finally regained control of his ability to transform his body into a black mist, which instantly diversified his escape methods.

He summoned a large number of Karron's tentacles, and in the chaos, these tentacles precisely hooked onto protrusions on the walls of nearby buildings, quickly lifting Hugh into the air and narrowly avoiding the pecking attack launched by the giant eagle Atmir from behind.

The moment he landed, Hugh's body exploded into a humanoid mist, which inexplicably "drilled" into the collapsed building ruins next to him, passed through the gaps and obstacles, and arrived on the street next door.

Artmir's senses were sharp; it was not deceived by the illusion before it. Its massive body slammed violently into the half-collapsed house, creating a horrific gap between the two streets.

However, when it followed the scent of its "prey" to that other road, it could no longer sense the other's presence—in that brief moment, all traces and scents vanished without a trace, leaving only the pungent smoke and dust filling the air.

The humiliation of being mocked filled the proud mind of the giant eagle, and it let out a furious cry that even drowned out the whistling of the crystal cannonballs.

However, Hugh did not go far.

He was hiding in a resident's house next to the street. His room was right next to the street, and there was an elderly couple who were huddled in the corner, too scared to make a sound.

With his unimaginable magical control, Hughes subdued and suppressed his agitated magic in the blink of an eye. He raised a finger and gestured for the trembling old man to be quiet.

Outside the window, the Artemis eagle, unable to find its target, paced back and forth restlessly. After forcefully flapping its wings against the surrounding houses and ruins, it finally took off again and flew towards the direction from which the scent of its prey had first emerged—clearly, it was still unwilling to give up on the prey's trail and thus decided to search again following the lingering scent.

After the giant eagle left, Hugh breathed a slight sigh of relief. He peeked out the window, glanced at the giant birds of Yasharu that were attacking from different directions, and let out a sneer.

He turned to look at the elderly couple, who were frantically pulling out a Black Sun Society flag to show their stance. He shook his head helplessly, turned around, and climbed out of the window.

"These big birds are still just as annoying as ever, and they have thick skin."

Theseus finally found an opportunity to chat with Hugh. He slowly let out a sigh of relief and said, "Now, the news of the valiant Baron Fiorlando's head-on confrontation with Hugh Ernst should have reached the ears of others by now... So, what do you plan to do next? Go straight to that old bastard, shoot him twice in the back, and give him a 'heart-opening' surgery?"

"No, this place isn't chaotic enough; it's far from being a battlefield. Given the current situation, they'll be able to stabilize it quickly."

Hugh squinted at the distance: "Once they stabilize their pace, our people will immediately become their next target, so I must take some further measures to distract them."

As he spoke, Hughes determined the direction and then began to move forward quickly.

The location wasn't too far from the Sea God Society's residence. Using his ability to "take shortcuts," Hugh quickly overcame numerous obstacles and arrived at the familiar Calron Mystic Sculpture.

His arrival did not trigger any alarm from the Karl-Jon Secret Society, thanks to the special favors provided by the Baron's old flame, Lady Chiara.

A member of the Sea God Society, who was on high alert, noticed Hughes, who looked disheveled and seemingly injured, and immediately greeted him: "Baron Fiorlando? What are you doing here?"

“Traitors and infiltrators have attacked us. Have you seen Hugh Ernst? He should have run this way earlier… Damn it, I need a healer!”

As he cursed, Hugh staggered into the protective range of the Karljung Mystic Art.

The rainbow-colored psychedelic light was very stable, which made the members of the society on guard lower their guard. Two of them immediately stepped forward to help Hugh, while the rest of the members began to mobilize people to search the nearby area.

A healing mage stepped forward, and as the healing magic was cast, the baron's rapid breathing calmed down considerably.

He raised his hand and grabbed the mage beside him with his blood-soaked palm, gritting his teeth as he said, "...There must be a traitor within the society. The command post of the Sharp-Beaked Owl Battalion has been destroyed. The shells hit there precisely, and I have lost contact with all the officers and soldiers!"

Under the worried and tense gazes of the learned mages, Hugh continued, "I need to use the communication device to contact other command posts now. Take me there quickly... Also, you'd better not leave the device's protective range. Those traitors will definitely not let this opportunity pass; they will surely launch an attack!"

(End of this chapter)