The black sun hangs high

Chapter 56 The Dead's Invitation

Although Hugh had already witnessed many things beyond common sense in the Dream Sanctuary, he still felt an unprecedented shock when he saw these eyeballs emerging from the dark, muddy existence.

The magic disc in the spiritual world trembled violently, and then the interlocking gears immediately began to operate frantically. The dark green crystal, deeply embedded in the center of the metal disc, was now beating like Hugh's own heart, and streams of dark magic power were being transported into the surrounding magic grooves.

Hughes didn't know what this change meant.

He only knew that he was in big trouble.

That mass that completely filled the sewers and was constantly crushing and approaching in this direction was definitely beyond his current ability to deal with. What made him even more desperate was that he had nowhere to retreat—the sealing ritual site of Seren City had not yet been broken. Judging from the light and shadow blocking the passage, Virin would probably need a little more time.

But the enemy was already very close.

The two standing behind Hugh also saw the countless eyeballs that emerged from the crawling darkness, a scene that old Schubert and Sally, as ordinary people, had never imagined.

Even their most terrifying and unforgettable nightmares would seem heartwarming in the face of such a sight.

"All...all...all gods!"

Poor old Schubert stared blankly, his words coming out in broken sentences. He wanted to look away, but his gaze was drawn to the rapidly changing, distorted, and hideous sights. He was afraid that if he looked away, the darkness that defied common sense would immediately transform into an even more terrifying existence.

As for Sally...

The girl, who had always been very innocent, was completely stunned. The things in front of her not only brought her fear, but also made her feel nauseous and disgusted. The pungent, sour smell in the air made her gag.

The green eyeballs appeared and disappeared continuously in the darkness, like green bubbles rising from the swamp. Each eyeball seemed to come from a different individual creature, and they all seemed to have their own emotions and thoughts. When they were squeezed and burst by their "companions", they even showed emotions of pain and despair.

"what happened?"

Virin, who had been focused on breaking the ritual field, also sensed a terrifying anomaly. She felt her magic becoming chaotic, as if someone had cast a spell to disrupt her mind and thoughts. However, Hugh's voice came through.

Don't look back!

Hugh warned in a trembling voice, "Don't turn around, Miss Veraine... please speed up."

Having said that, he steeled himself and took a step forward, forcefully throwing out two inferior magic crystals for illumination. Immediately, a brighter light covered the dark passage, and the indescribable darkness became clearer.

Now, Hugh knows how his running rat was "sent" back.

Under the magical light, he saw a mass of black pus growing with countless limbs and organs, rolling forward along the underground sewer. This sight reminded Hugh of the shapeshifting worm mass he had seen in House 37.

However, compared to the monster before them, the shapeshifters that were quietly "digesting" their prey were already quite docile.

Hugh didn't have time to think about the connection between this thing and the shapeshifters. Seeing that it was already rushing towards them, Karron's Touch immediately burst forward. In the instant that the black slime covered the two illumination magic crystals, the black tentacles carrying dark green light and shadow made their first contact with the strange creature that also had an ominous shape.

This was the first time that Hugh had ever felt such a strong impact from the Touch of Calron!

It felt as if you were trying to stop an entire wall from collapsing with your palm.

Fortunately, the highly toxic corrosive power emanating from the dark green crystals demonstrated its advantage at this moment. The instant Karron's Touch collided with the black slime, large clumps of highly toxic mist exploded. The black slime, which possessed life and perception, immediately began to shrink and die upon contact with the mist. In just an instant, numerous indistinguishable fragments fell from the huge clump of liquid. After detaching from their main body, they seemed to lose all vitality. As soon as they fell to the ground, they completely merged with the ever-flowing, cold sewage.

Hugh took a step back from the enormous impact, while the Karron Tentacles extending from his palms stirred incessantly in the darkness ahead. The eerie slime attempted to devour and assimilate these magical tentacles that dared to attack and obstruct him. However, the hard keratin covering the ends of the Karron Tentacles became a natural barrier. Under their protection, these tentacles seemed to transform into sharp swords, constantly cutting the slime that dared to approach into pieces of varying sizes. Once separated from their main body, the scattered slime would quickly lose its vitality in the pervasive mist.

"Strange...this monster doesn't seem as powerful as I expected."

As he continued casting the spell, Hugh gritted his teeth and pressed forward. Faced with such a being, he had no room to retreat or maneuver. He knew that if he chose to back down at this moment, the black pus would immediately replenish itself, making it even more difficult to gain breathing space again.

While maintaining the Touch of Karron, Hugh raised the crystal gun and repeatedly pulled the trigger at the clump of slime. The powerful crystal bullets, upon hitting the writhing darkness, triggered small-scale magical explosions. The scattered fragments of magical crystals successfully tore open gaps and voids of varying sizes in the slime, but these defects were quickly filled in.

Left with no other choice, Hugh had to continue maintaining his magic.

However, just when Hugh thought this intense stalemate would continue, the shapeless monster suddenly changed its behavior. After emitting a series of sharp "whistles" once again, the black, sticky mass immediately shrank backward. It was extremely fast, almost instantly breaking free from the entanglement of the Touch of Karron. But it did not leave. In the dim light, Hugh could still see the shadows slowly wriggling in the sewers in the distance.

Although he didn't know what this guy was planning to do, Hugh immediately stopped casting spells. He took out a magic crystal from his pocket and began to try his best to fill his magic power gap.

"Hold on a little longer!"

Vera's voice came through, slightly out of breath. Clearly, the female mage had exhausted all her strength to open the passage as quickly as possible, but Hugh didn't have time to respond to her. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on the front.

That brief contact had made Hugh realize that whatever this lump of pus was, it was undoubtedly the most ferocious and greedy predator, as evidenced by the organs and limbs that had materialized.

"It really does resemble a shapeshifter... except it seems to absorb too much and too diverse stuff, from humans to beasts to insects... Damn it, I don't want to join you guys!"

Hughes took a deep breath. To his surprise, after witnessing the true form of the source of the crisis, he had become calm again. "The greatest fear comes from the unknown. That's really true."

He reassured himself slightly before speaking, "Don't be too scared. Although that thing looks frightening, it can still be harmed by weapons and magic! Wake up!"

Perhaps it was the image of Hughes successfully repelling the enemy with magic that gave old Schubert and Sally confidence, or perhaps it was the desire to survive that revived at this moment. They finally managed to regain their rationality. Schubert gritted his teeth and picked up the simple flamethrower, while Sally bit her lip and took out a bottle of alchemical potion.

Hughes let out a long sigh of relief, feeling the magic power flowing into his body from the magic crystal. His thoughts began to become clearer. He put away the crystal gun and instead pinched the last remaining alchemical bomb in his hand.

Although Hughes didn't believe that the dense hair could successfully block the ubiquitous slime, he thought that the magic contained within the hair might still cause considerable damage to this unknown magical creature!
While Hugh and the others were adjusting their state, the dark, slimy mass was undergoing new changes.

In the darkness, a large number of green eyeballs reappeared and arranged themselves, this time in a more orderly manner.

Sally trembled as she raised the magic lantern, and everyone saw a sight even more bizarre than the surging slime.

They saw one independent figure after another.

There were humans of all shapes and sizes, animals of different sizes and species, and many shadows mixed together, making it impossible to distinguish them in detail.

At the very front of this "group," Hugh saw a familiar figure.

It was a short, hunched, and elderly figure.

"Old Sergei?"

Hughes recognized the other person.

These shadows, formed from black slime, began to move toward Hugh and the others. They opened their mouths, but this time, instead of a piercing scream, they emitted a series of complex and strange tones.

Hugh's eyes widened. He realized that he could actually understand the sound. It wasn't a meaningless shout, but a language... Just like the black characters in the Dream Sanctuary, the sound was strangely transformed into a meaning he could understand and recognize the moment it entered his mind.

Those were ancient sacrificial texts, one after another.

"To our remains!"

"To offer the blood of future generations!"

"A tribute to the lament of fools!"

The jumbled messages filled Hugh's mind almost instantly, and these strange incantations seemed to contain some kind of special power. As they echoed, Hugh felt his thoughts begin to become disordered, and the state he had finally managed to calm down began to slide uncontrollably back into a state of agitation.

"Shut up!"

Amidst Hugh's furious rebuke, the tentacles of Karron swept forward once more, striking "Old Sergei" at the very front of the procession. His viscous black body was instantly torn to pieces, and his head, which barely retained its goblin-like appearance, crashed against the wall, yet it continued to repeat those ominous phrases without ceasing.

For Sally and Schubert, this scene was already close to their limit.

Thus, amidst extreme repression and panic, they made their own choices.

As Hugh had instructed, the young girl forcefully pulled out the metal plate separating the different liquids from the vial. She then shook the vial haphazardly a couple of times before throwing it forcefully towards the shadows in front of Hugh.

The alchemy shop's clerks were very honest; they didn't sell Hugh any inferior products. The mixed potion exploded the moment it hit the ground, and the explosion and flames immediately created a large gap in the dense black shadows.

Meanwhile, old Schubert let out a desperate and frantic scream. The thin and stingy tavern owner trembled as he approached Hugh, and he pulled the crude trigger on the makeshift flamethrower. The oil in the metal canister immediately gushed out and was ignited by the magic crystal embedded in the flamethrower the moment it left the nozzle. A thin tongue of fire immediately shot into the dense crowd of people.

Driven by the will to survive and the human instinct to fight against what we fear, the menacing black figures were successfully stopped for a time.

In reality, the simple flamethrower in old Schubert's hands was a weapon used to clear out and deter magical creatures in the sewers. The power of the flames it spewed was far less than that of those lethal magics. Similarly, the alchemical potions in Sally's hands could only provide some obstruction. Although each explosion could stop the advancing figures, it had no way to destroy the viscous substance.

The terrifying black shadow continued to advance. After the mass of black slime dispersed into numerous individual entities, Hugh discovered that even the corrosive mist he had spread could not stop their progress. Clearly, the strange life form, which was extremely similar to the shapeshifter, possessed astonishing intelligence and was not merely a beast that hunted on instinct.

The disturbing sounds continued to come. The giant-eared goblin figures that originally belonged to the Golden Boot Caravan had been completely destroyed by Hugh and the others' efforts to resist. But then, more unfamiliar figures walked towards them.

Among them were soldiers, police officers, civilians... and even dead spellcasters.

Those figures that were once swallowed up in the central square are now walking in the sunless underground waterways. Their faces are constantly festering, peeling, and reforming, and with each step forward, somber eulogies are recited from their mouths.

It sounds like these guys are extending a sincere "invitation" to their stubbornly resisting prey.

(End of this chapter)