The black sun hangs high

Chapter 423 Transformation

Hughes looked particularly disheveled when he left the Dream Sanctuary this time.

The main reason was that, before leaving, he finally couldn't help but ask Theseus that strange question that had been hidden in his heart.

"I'm just curious, is there some kind of relationship between you and your advisor... uh, something other than the 'teacher-student' concept?"

Theseus gave his answer to this question.

He kicked Hugh twice, the terrifying impact sending Hugh crashing into the portal connecting reality and dreams.

Hugh's intuition and perception told him that Theseus was not actually annoyed by the question; he simply did not want to answer it.

In many cases, not answering is itself a form of answer.

After all, Hugh had clearly seen that Theseus's subtle actions when facing Mel's shadow were enough to prove his true inclinations and thoughts in certain aspects.

However, these truths themselves no longer have any real value, since Mel has long since passed away, and what appeared in the Dream Sanctuary was merely a faint shadow.

Such a shadow was destined to offer no help whatsoever to Hugh and Vaan's own situation.

As Theseus said, she was really just a simple symbol and beacon, a vessel that could carry some emotions.

The terrifying howling sounds over the wasteland had greatly diminished, and the vibrations caused by the "sludge" were gradually receding. But after these deadly and greedy noises left, they were replaced by an extremely oppressive silence.

Hugh stood up and quickly checked the protective ritual he had set up in the hideout. He was surprised to find that, although the cave he was in had not suffered any direct impact from the beginning, the solid magical lines and models had shown extremely exaggerated damage in just a few hours.

Clearly, in this wasteland belonging to the Dark Abyss, the extremely chaotic environment and the corrosive magic brought by the many different Dark Abyss creations are enough to have an extremely terrible impact on conventional magic under the rules of Vaan.

"Even with my current control over magic, this situation has already occurred. If other spellcasters were to accidentally wander into this place, they might not even be able to maintain a stable ritual."

Hugh frowned as he quickly repaired the protective magic around him, and then quietly observed for a while.

He then discovered that these magical lines and models, which had just been fully restored, began to fluctuate again after a brief period of calm.

Through his own magical vision and perception, and through repeated verification, Hugh finally confirmed that even those magical models known for their stability and solidity could not be maintained for long in the Dark Abyss.

What's more troublesome is that after those "muds" in the sky passed by, the magic in the wasteland became even more chaotic. Through experiments, Hughes discovered that he couldn't even maintain a simple lighting trick for more than five minutes!
Once the specific time limit is exceeded, the regular magic that constitutes the trick will be completely assimilated by the surrounding environment into an out-of-control turbulence.

"Even with protective magic, it's still like this. If it were outside, it probably wouldn't even last a few seconds."

Hughes pondered for a few seconds, then snapped his fingers, summoning the black mask that shared the same origin as the messenger in the mirror.

As Hugh put on the mask, the special Dark Abyss magic circuits immediately began to grow and spread within his body. Accompanied by waves of stinging pain, these special and cold channels took shape in his body, and the magic power similar in nature to the Dark Abyss Mist began to flow and circulate within them.

Theseus's words drifted over slowly: "Hmm... your reaction was pretty quick. I guess those two kicks you took weren't for nothing; at least they made you more sober."

Hugh ignored the guy's sarcastic tone, glanced at the ordinary magic trick floating beside him that was on the verge of collapse, and said, "The conventional magic models don't seem to be very universal... I remember that although they would be interfered with before, they could at least maintain stability."

"Nonsense, this is the biggest 'dumping ground' in the Dark Abyss. There is no pattern to the magic power in this area. You thought you were doing alright before, but that was just because you were lucky."

Theseus sneered: "The only thing capable of maintaining basic operations in a place like this is the power of the Dark Abyss itself. I don't need to teach you the simple principle of 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do,' do I?"

Perhaps because of the awkward question Hugh had asked him earlier, Theseus's tone and attitude were very unfriendly, even carrying a subtle sense of sarcasm.

In the past, this attitude would have always infuriated Hugh.

But now, he can completely view his sarcastic remarks with the same perspective he would have when looking at a "little devil".

After receiving a positive answer, Hugh immediately began a new round of experiments.

As the cold, dark abyss magic within him began to be mobilized, a black mist emerged from around Hugh's body, and then he began constructing the "illumination trick" once again.

In an instant, the dark mist gathered into a perfect sphere at Hugh's fingertips.

It perfectly retains the most basic characteristic of "lighting tricks," emitting a bright light the moment it is formed.

However, unlike regular magic orbs of light, under the influence of the Dark Abyss magic, the luster emanating from this translucent black sphere always carried a sinister feeling, as if these ominous rays of light themselves would devour and absorb the surrounding temperature.

"Yes, that's about it. But if it's just for an experiment, ordinary magic tricks will suffice."

Theseus's reminder echoed in Hugh's mind: "This is not Vaan. Do not arbitrarily apply these magic powers to other magic models... The environment has changed, and the formula must also be changed."

Upon hearing this, Hugh immediately stopped what he was doing and cautiously asked, "What would happen if I did that?"

"It depends on the specific situation."

Theseus replied, "If it's some ordinary magic that isn't too complicated, it will at most cause only minor mental damage. But if it's a complex, large-scale destructive magic, the result might be no different from a 'hand-made' magic explosion."

Hughes frowned and asked, "So, if I want to use magic normally in the Dark Abyss, I have to figure it out all over again, bit by bit?"

“It’s not really about starting from scratch. The knowledge and foundation you’ve acquired in the past are still useful… The key is how to adapt and accommodate the power of the Dark Abyss using those conventional models,” Theseus said. “However, when thinking about these problems, you’d better discard those conventional formulas and models and instead trust your intuition and perception. Sometimes, step-by-step calculations and reasoning will only harm you.”

Hearing this, Hugh's expression turned strange: "Judging directly by intuition without logic and calculation? What is this? Another form of 'my power of thought'?"

"Ha, you can understand it that way too."

Theseus chuckled: "As you know, the rules of the Dark Abyss and Vaan are completely different. Although magic exists extensively in both worlds, the driving forces that mobilize it are entirely different. In this place built up with endless negative emotions, being too rational is sometimes a bad thing... If you can turn yourself into a pervert or a madman, your chances of escaping here will greatly increase!"

At this moment, a strange wave swept across the ground from afar, followed by a terrifying roar that shattered the silence of the wasteland, adding a touch of distortion and eeriness to this already oppressive burial ground.

The roar was clearly not simple. Hugh felt a slight tremor in his mental world, and the surrounding magical rituals were also impacted by the roar.

While using a small amount of Dark Abyss magic to urgently repair the cave's defenses, he asked Theseus in his mind, "What is this thing?"

Theseus explained slowly, "Don't be alarmed, it's just a 'Nightmare Bear' that was startled awake from its slumber... It's a little grumpy when it wakes up, but nothing else."

However, after saying that, he paused and added, "But the awakened 'Nightmare Bear' always has a huge appetite, and it should soon start looking for something to fill its stomach."

"So I should hide here a little longer?"

"Its senses are much sharper than those 'muds.' If you stay here, you're no different from a delicious canned food."

For a moment, Hugh was speechless.

Theseus's meaning was clear: he was advising him to set off as soon as possible.

However, the thought of the situation outside the cave and the strange mountain that was still some distance away made Hugh's scalp tingle. Just as he was about to ask Theseus if he had any good advice on "getting on his way," the other man spoke up instead.

"If you're worried about getting around, try checking your coat pocket... feed that stuff to your pet mouse, and it should solve a lot of problems."

Hugh readily agreed. He raised his hand and patted the sides of his tattered trench coat, quickly pulling out a strange object the size of a palm from his left pocket.

This is a sandwich cookie.

Or rather, it's some kind of bizarre object resembling a sandwich cookie.

It looked severely moldy, with a layer of nauseating dark fuzz covering the surface of the cookie, and the filling in the middle had a greenish sheen that made it unappetizing. The mist emanating from the cookie indicated that it was definitely a special creation kept in the Dream Sanctuary.

"...It doesn't look like anything edible at all."

Hugh held the soft, fluffy sandwich cookie in his hand, remained silent for two seconds, and then turned his gaze to the scurrying rat hidden in the groove of the disc.

Sensing its master's gaze, Sniggy immediately realized the situation was dire. It barked twice, instinctively trying to shrink back, but Hugh ruthlessly pulled it out.

As a magical creation that was absolutely obedient to Hugh's will, the Running Rat had no way to disobey any of Hugh's commands. Despite its extreme resistance, it finally opened its mouth "with tears in its eyes" and let Hugh stuff the strangely shaped "sandwich" into its mouth.

The moment it touched the tongue of the running rat, the "cookie" from the Dream Sanctuary changed its appearance.

Hughes saw that the thing came to life in the blink of an eye. With a violent tremor, many sharp limbs grew out from the "filling" of the "cookie," transforming it into a strangely shaped insect.

Like a parasite eager to cling to its host's body, it gripped the tongue of the running rat tightly with its ugly, tiny limbs, and thrust the barbs at the ends of its limbs fiercely into the center of the tongue.

This change came extremely suddenly, and at the same time, it caused terrible pain.

The poor, frantically running rat almost lost control at this moment. It tumbled and jumped violently on the ground, its limbs twisting and turning, its three long tails lashing wildly at the cave floor and walls. However, it could not make a sound at this moment, and could only let out rapid panting sounds from its throat.

Hugh jerked his head back, dodging the tail that swept across the fleeing rat in its unconscious struggle. He retreated to a distance and asked, "What exactly is that thing?"

"No name."

Theseus said calmly, “If I had to put it into words, they are some small insects in the Abyss that specialize in decomposing and collecting soul remnants... They are not much different from those ‘sludge’ in essence, except that the Abyssal power deposited in their bodies is quite concentrated, so they are more suitable for using to carry out some, well, deep modifications on the followers of other gods.”

As they spoke, the rat's struggles began to slow rapidly.

After wriggling a couple more times, it lay down on the ground and stopped moving.

Hugh rushed forward to check on the situation, only to find that the "sandwich" that had previously secured him to the running rat's tongue had disappeared. Instead, a strange, circular mark had appeared on the running rat's long tongue. It looked like an ugly, black circular brand, and black mist was constantly emanating from its twisted, irregular lines, flowing along the tongue and throughout the running rat's body.

"Click..."

A crisp cracking sound rang out, and when Hugh looked up, he was surprised to find that the two curved horns growing on the head of the running rat had developed fine cracks.

As Theseus said, a profound transformation had begun.

From this moment on, it is likely that it is no longer a member of the Earth Mother Goddess's kin.

(End of this chapter)