The black sun hangs high

Chapter 434 Unexpected Discovery
These fragments of memory from Vaan made Hugh feel somewhat uncomfortable.

It might even give him a strange sense of melancholy.

Through the memories of these dead from different countries, races, and ethnicities, Hugh can basically conclude that the great war that was forcibly interrupted by the rise of the black sun has now been fully continued.

Not only the Love Plateau, the Goddess Plain, and the North that he was familiar with, but also those Eastern countries across the ocean were not spared.

He could not only see the large-scale offensive led by the Dawn Society in these fragments of memory, but also the astonishing artillery battle that took place on the border between the Kingdom of Water and the Kingdom of Saint Steel.

In addition, surging waves, treacherous forests, remote villages... the flames of war are flickering everywhere in Vaan, and intrigue, conflict, and death are happening all the time.

To the east of the Goddess Plain, a serious coup occurred within two duchies, with their leadership completely replaced in just two days. Following the bloody purge, a swift offensive was launched against the Kingdom of Delan. Just as the Kingdom of Saint Steel had experienced before, the Black Sun Society once again demonstrated its astonishing incitement and control. These attacks from the rear also caused Delan to change its original plan to continue reinforcing the front lines.

On the other side of the ocean, the ancient empire that had maintained close trade ties with countries like Delan and Hein has completely collapsed. The successor of the empire is nowhere to be found, and organizations and sects that worship ancient gods and the black sun have become even more rampant. Furthermore, many bandits under the same banner have begun to rush into towns and cities to plunder at will.

The Kingdom of Water and the Kingdom of Saint Steel began an unprecedented large-scale artillery battle. Through the fragmented memories of the dead, Hugh sadly discovered that several young faces he had seen at Ernst Manor had perished in this battle.

In the Kingdom of Hein, just days before the naval offensive was about to begin, the Kingdom's Minister of the Navy, who was in charge of leading the fleet's operations, was brutally murdered in his bedroom. Immediately afterward, a massive explosion occurred in one of the Kingdom of Hein's most important ports. This "accident" caused serious damage to many ships docked in the port, and countless people went missing or died as a result.

Hughes could see many similar images from those fragmented memories, but to specifically deduce the events that occurred, he needed to accumulate a large number of memories and cross-verify them.

This also means that behind any event that can be successfully "derived" by Hughes, there is bound to be extremely shocking casualties.

The remnants of souls that frequently appear in the Dark Abyss Wasteland also prove this point.

Hugh had seen at least five clusters of soul fragments like the one that had attracted hordes of Dark Abyss creatures and even Nightmare Bears along the way. The frequent occurrence of such events in the boundless Dark Abyss Wasteland could only mean that death was extremely frequent in that world shrouded by the Black Sun, which allowed the Black Sun to nourish itself by absorbing those fragments of souls and wills.

What made Hugh even more anxious and helpless was the problem of the passage of time that he deduced from the memories of those fragments of souls.

In the past, Theseus had warned Hughes more than once not to try to apply his own preconceived notions to all developments, and now, that warning has become extremely sharp and real.

It was even a bit cruel.

In this unfamiliar world, Hughes was completely unaware of the passage of time. Time, the important measure he used to rely on so much, had now completely lost its original meaning.

Judging from his physical senses, Hugh initially thought he had only been in this godforsaken place for about ten days. However, after reading the memories in those fragments of souls, Hugh discovered that since he left Watch City and entered the Dark Abyss Wasteland, Vaan had actually lived for a full month, or even longer!
Even Theseus couldn't quite explain this, after all, the world was always filled with disorder and chaos, and no one knew whether the black sun would create a damn "time difference" in the process of attracting these fragments of souls.

After perusing a number of fragmented memories, Hugh realized that these scattered and outdated messages could not actually provide him with any psychological comfort while he was alone in a foreign land.

On the contrary, when he glimpsed the disappearance of certain faces and figures in those fragments, his emotions were inevitably affected and impacted.

What is happening is, after all, a war, and it is no longer just a continuation of the previous epoch-making war. Now, it is a bloody game that will determine the overall fate of Vaan, an absolutely unavoidable and terrible conflict that can directly determine the future fate of the participants in the war.

"The war that ends all wars?"

The familiar phrase popped into Hugh's mind, causing him to chuckle softly twice.

In another world he knew all too well, there was also a groundbreaking war that was given this name.

However, in just twenty years, a more efficient, terrifying, and bloody war slapped people hard in the face, turning that previous statement into yet another "hellish joke" that silences everyone.

The world that Vaan and Shug are familiar with today is naturally quite different. In that world, people at least don't have to pay a price for looking directly at the sky... The shadow of the black sun, the gods and their families active in ancient times, and the magic that is prevalent in every corner make everything more complicated and more unpredictable.

Intense magical disturbances appeared around them once again. Hugh turned his head slightly and saw a large number of violently twisting black shadows suddenly appear on a hill directly in front of him. These were yet another batch of soul fragments drawn here by the black sun.

"squeak?"

The question posed by the mad rat Sniggy entered Hugh's mind. It was seeking its master's opinion—should it bypass these tragic and desperate wills? Or, as it had done before, gather them all and plunder them?
Hughes sighed, then raised his hand and gently patted the running rat's back twice: "Let's go, let's go over there. After all, this is the only way we can find out about Vaan's situation..."

Through the close magical link between them, the running rat clearly sensed its master's low mood. However, it was ultimately just a loyal servant of Hugh and could not offer its master any further comfort or encouragement.

All it can do now is carry out orders and keep moving forward.

……

This time, the journey did not proceed smoothly.

Although the hill that was the target did not seem too far from a visual perspective, the chaotic nature of the Dark Abyss greatly prolonged this journey that should have been completed quickly.

An invisible turbulent current, directly affecting space itself, rolled indiscriminately across the wasteland. It severely hampered the judgment of Hugh and the Running Rats. Even the Running Rats, who had become true creations of the Dark Abyss, almost completely lost their way under these circumstances.

Fortunately, the instincts deep within him eventually kicked in, successfully guiding him back to his senses and leading him away from the terrifying turbulence. However, this also prevented Hugh from reaching the location of the soul fragments in time. By the time he arrived, the place was already a scene of utter devastation.

Almost all the debris cast down by the black sun had been devoured, leaving only a few weak "scavengers" who carefully gnawed at the discarded remnants of power, while also showing off to Hugh.

Clearly, these "scavengers" believed that the guy who had arrived even later than them was likely an even more timid fellow in the same trade.

It's truly laughable that they can't even get a hot meal from the scraps.

However, Hugh did not leave the devastated place immediately. He frowned as he observed his surroundings, extending his magical perception as far as possible into every crevice and corner.

Meanwhile, the scurrying rats were constantly sniffing their surroundings.

Both Hugh and the running rat noticed the unusual activity in the area.

Based on past experience, any place visited by a large number of Dark Abyss creatures will inevitably leave behind an exceptionally dense and obvious trace of Dark Abyss magic. In particular, ferocious predators such as Nightmare Bears, Claw Spiders, or Hounds will leave their mark directly after any successful hunt or prey.

This is a warning to other competitors, a call to our peers, and a bold declaration of our own position.

However, this area now appears excessively clean.

Here, Hugh couldn't find any obvious marks of Dark Abyss creations. However, the Running Rat found the aura left by two Dark Abyss Spiders near a hidden cave. However, these auras were now extremely thin and weak. If Sniggy hadn't been so perceptive, Hugh would have almost missed them.

"The traces here have been deliberately cleaned up..."

Hugh glanced at the frail creatures scavenging scraps. There were more of them than he had seen before. Clearly, they hadn't sensed any danger in the area, which made them act with audacity, as if they had made this place their "dining hall."

Hugh was naturally too lazy to fight these guys for scraps; he was more concerned about what had happened here before.

After a moment's thought, he took the spellbook from his waist and turned to a page. On this page, there were clearly intricate marks etched with magic. This was another spell that Hugh had deduced from "The Poem of the Night".

In Aziv's records, this magic was often used in conjunction with the previous "Wanderer's Campfire," the former serving as the foundation for setting up a temporary camp, while the latter was used to conduct a thorough inspection of the camp.

This magic doesn't even have a name of its own.

Fundamentally, it is actually a variant of Vaan's basic trick "trace detection," except that it targets the traces left by the creatures of the Dark Abyss, and the magic model is supported by the gloomy and chaotic Dark Abyss magic.

The patterns on the pages were not yet complete, but they were already sufficient to support basic magical operations, so Hugh tore off a page and infused it with Dark Abyss magic.

"?!"

Sensing the magical fluctuations, the "scavengers" looked at Hugh warily, but they did not feel any threat from the magic he was using, so they quickly returned to their feeding.

On the other side, dark purple magic patterns spread rapidly from under Hugh's feet, quickly drilling through the gaps in the bones and debris. The slight traces that Hugh had previously overlooked were now clearly revealed under their influence.

Hughes raised his eyebrows in surprise, because he discovered that there were a large number of footprints in this area!
Yes, footprints, and they were definitely not the footprints left by ordinary Dark Abyss creatures or scavenging beasts. They were numerous and uniform in style, their size similar to that of a human foot, but overall they were much narrower and longer, with sharp claws clearly visible at the front.

"squeak?"

Snitch approached curiously, raised its front paw, and gestured back and forth across the footprints.

The results are obvious.

These footprints are very similar to those of a running rat; apart from the difference in size, their basic outlines are almost identical.

As the magical patterns continued to spread, more details emerged. Hugh not only found these traces in this area, but also discovered traces of the use of magic, weapons, tools, and even traps.

At this point, the nature of the matter has completely changed.

Hugh's mood, which had been somewhat depressed due to excessive reading of memory fragments, was now quite encouraged.

He realized that a special group had just been here not long ago, and they were very likely closely related to the former Earth Mother Goddess Rat Swarm. Of course, more importantly, they were completely different from the creatures in the Dark Abyss Wasteland.

All signs indicate that they have a clear division of labor, know how to use magic and weapons, and know how to acquire power and cover their tracks. They even eliminated the two Dark Abyss Spiders that had previously occupied this place.

Just as Hugh was still pondering, a sharp explosion suddenly erupted from not far away.

Hugh looked up and saw that several "rocks" that were about to be touched by his magic patterns suddenly shattered. Then, several hunchbacked figures wrapped in some kind of tattered cloaks leaped out. They each held different types of spears or clubs in their hands, and these seemingly crude weapons were covered with a ghostly green light that Hugh was very familiar with.

(End of this chapter)