The black sun hangs high

Chapter 58 Snowfall
Hugh's memories of the outside world are limited to the moment his body was "taken over".

He then fell into a state somewhere between unconsciousness and wakefulness.

He could vaguely make out the sounds coming from all around him, and he could also vaguely feel the vibrations and collisions, but all of this seemed extremely unreal, as if it were a scene from another parallel world, another vague dream.

However, he felt like a passerby in his current body; he couldn't truly integrate into it, nor could he exert any real control over his limbs and senses.

However, his mental world was incredibly active and clear at that moment.

A wealth of information was accumulating in his mind.

The jumbled memories he was forced to accept because of touching the black, viscous monster were constantly colliding and piecing together... At this moment, Hugh even felt that he had become a freak who could grow by devouring other people's bodies and absorbing their memories. He could extract a lot of knowledge that he had never been exposed to before from those fragmented images, call out many names that he had never heard of, and recognize countless unfamiliar faces.

He knew that when he was exhausted, Theseus, who had been hiding in his consciousness, had indeed solved his biggest problem at the moment, but at the same time, he had also left himself with some new problems and hidden dangers.

Hugh really couldn't figure out what this guy was thinking or planning.

After all, among the titles Theseus possessed, there were serious ones like "God of Fates" and bizarre ones like "Weaver of farces"... His motivations, methods, and patterns of doing things were completely unfathomable to ordinary people.

After being freed from Theseus's power, the Mirror Messenger returned to its original form. It obediently stayed in the magic slot, staring expectantly at Hugh, as if waiting for his reprimand.

Hugh had nothing to say about this guy.

He now strongly suspects a connection between this mirror emissary and Theseus, given its similar form and behavior, and the fact that it had indeed recently become the vessel for the power of the "Lord of a Thousand Faces".

"Tell me honestly, what is your relationship with him?"

Hugh asked the messenger in the mirror a question fiercely, but the other shook its head at a rapid pace, as if it had no intention of answering Hugh's question at all.

After trying different methods, Hugh gave up on continuing to question the messenger in the mirror. He knew that he now had to prioritize dealing with the chaotic forces and information crammed into his head and body, which had seriously affected the connection between Hugh and his body.

The process wasn't too complicated; it was like organizing files and documents that were randomly piled up on your computer desktop at work. Hugh attempted to categorize these messages from different individuals.

Once this kind of work starts, it never ends.

In his current state, Hugh had no awareness of the passage of time; he could only speed up his movements to end this drowsy state as quickly as possible.

Hughes quickly "piled up" those memories belonging to farmers, workers, and merchants.

Soldiers, police officers, and guards are grouped together.

The most important remaining part belongs to scholars and mages—the memories of these victims are very easy to identify because their memories are filled with a large number of books, texts, and magical formulas.

As for those scattered, indistinguishable memories belonging to snakes, insects, rats, and ants, Hugh simply swept them into a corner. He had no interest in understanding how these creatures spent their days.

As he sorted through the jumbled information, Hugh felt his connection with his body becoming stronger, and now he could clearly sense changes in his surroundings.

He was certain that he had left the sewers, because there was a faint scent of incense in the air, and he was lying flat, seemingly being bounced up and down with the movement of the vehicle.

He didn't hear anyone's voice; it seemed that Veraine, Sally, and the others weren't around, or perhaps they weren't talking or exchanging words at the moment.

Left with no other choice, Hughes had to continue his unfinished work.

Now he feels neither tired nor aware of the passage of time; all that accompanies him are those chaotic and fragmented memories.

Shug focused his efforts on tackling the memories belonging to scholars and mages, and as he continued to search through and organize these complex memories and knowledge, he finally made a special discovery.

In a certain memory, he saw a "familiar face".

Hughes recalled that this face had appeared on the stage on the day Putrin gave his speech at Lowell Square; it was Putrin who was hosting that event.

However, this middle-aged man was also a mage with astonishing magical skills, and he may have already reached the level of a lake-level mage or higher. Yet, this spellcaster with such a promising future resolutely entered House No. 37 and used himself as the most crucial ritual key in that bizarre sacrificial ritual.

The black sun pattern on the middle-aged monk's clothes revealed his origins.

"The Black Sun Society... It seems that everything that happened in Seren City was indeed part of their plan, and the Black Sun Society most likely made many contingency plans in advance. Therefore, even if the goblin mage Marcel, who had essentially betrayed the society, made such a move, the Black Sun Society could still achieve its goals through another plan."

As Hugh recalled the strange ritual texts he had received, and combined them with the prophecies of the Black Sun Society, he finally glimpsed part of the truth behind the Society's plan.

"Judging from the final result, the biggest goal of the Black Sun Society's trip was to carry out this sacrifice and successfully summon that strange black monster... The city of Seren, as the place where the war broke out and ended, was designated as the place of sacrifice. The shapeshifters were regarded as 'crippled offspring' because of their own characteristics. The blood of incompetent descendants is very likely to refer to the blood of the princes and nobles who participated in the celebration ceremony."

"As for the celebration of the ignorant, it must refer to the common people who participate in the celebration."

"And in the end, just an empty shell..."

Hugh's thoughts suddenly came to a standstill at this moment.

Based on the black, viscous monster's desire to touch him no matter what, its desperate attempts to erode his body and mind, and the incantations it repeatedly chanted during the erosion process... "Damn it, so the empty shell mentioned at the end of that passage is me?"

Just as Hugh was seriously questioning himself, a strange noise came from the side. Hugh immediately pulled his attention away from his mental world. In the darkness with a little light, he felt as if someone had opened the window next to him. A cold wind blew in, and a chill slowly drifted down and landed on Hugh's eyelids.

Perhaps because the obstacles preventing him from waking up had been largely removed, or perhaps because the coolness provided enough stimulation, Hugh finally slowly opened his eyes.

Then he saw the bright daylight, the swaying carriage and windows, and the slowly falling snowflakes.

Of course, he also saw the familiar face that was crouching by the window, staring intently at him.

"How long... have I been lying here?"

Hugh tried to speak, but his voice was so hoarse it sounded almost inhuman.

"It's been seven days, Mr. Hugh. The Gin Moon is over, and now it's the Snow Moon."

Veraine Ernst's voice was as cold as the wind outside the window, yet it also trembled slightly, like the slowly falling snowflakes.

She quickly raised her hand and closed the car window a crack.

……

On the last day of Gin month in the year 2699 of the Kal't calendar, news of the deaths of Prince Havid and his queen spread throughout the Lovi Plateau.

Meanwhile, the series of unusual magical events that have occurred in the "City of Peace" Seren have also come to the attention of the Legal Committee headquarters, Merlinle.

"A horde of assassins launched a terrifying attack on the prince's convoy, but in the end, several staunch believers of 'Delan Supremacy' used some special new type of firearm to disable the protective ritual on the prince's vehicle, and the prince and queen died on the spot!"

"A terrifying magical creature, resembling black sludge, is active in the city of Seren. It roams through every crevice and pipe, preying on the people as food. As required by the Legal Committee, Seren will remain under lockdown, and the Legal Committee members within the city will pursue and hunt down the target!"

"Melinle and the mage representatives' visit to the Kingdom of Walter was blocked. The newly appointed Walter Foreign Minister questioned the Legal Committee, arguing that the committee's continued blockade of Seren was an obstruction to the Kingdom of Walter's efforts to recover Prince Havid's remains and investigate the murderer!"

In the days following the "ceasefire celebration" that had become a joke and a disaster, all sorts of news and messages spread throughout Vaan. Unlike the news of the past, this time everyone sensed an imminent danger in these messages, so they spread even more rapidly, reaching even the distant Eastern world.

Amid this extremely tense atmosphere, the already unstable border area experienced several clashes. Intelligence provided by the Kingdom of Delan and its several vassal kingdoms indicated that within three days, multiple groups of unknown composition brazenly crossed the border and launched extremely malicious attacks on some military camps, outposts, and even logistics warehouses located in the Delan frontier area. This resulted in the destruction of several outposts and warehouses, the deaths of nearly a hundred people in the attacks, and even the disappearance of two officers!
According to eyewitnesses and survivors, these attackers possessed astonishing combat skills. They would often launch surprise attacks from unexpected directions, and after succeeding, they would quickly leave under the cover of magic.

But that wasn't the end of it. People soon discovered that several gathering and training camps belonging to the Kingdom of Delan, including Lone Wolf Ridge and Gray Pine Forest, had suffered devastating attacks. The Lone Wolf Ridge camp was completely destroyed, and none of its garrison members survived.

The Kingdom of Delan immediately launched a serious investigation, but the military of the Kingdom of Wotel, the prime suspect, refused to take responsibility for the series of events.

Thus, on the fourth day after the arrival of the Snow Moon, the political alliance composed of the highland kingdoms directly rejected the proposal for equal dialogue initiated by the Legal Committee. Following this, a statement of condemnation jointly issued by the three kingdoms of Walter, Hein, and Saint Steel was presented to everyone.

Meanwhile, all the Legal Commission branches located on the Lovi Plateau announced that they would cooperate closely with the Plateau Alliance.

So this time, even Merlinle remained silent.

Although the Legal Council did not want to appear weak in the face of the alliance, the divisions within Merlinler and the organization were already very obvious, and the departure of a large number of elite members had caused extremely serious damage to this ancient and powerful mage group.

For the first time, the proud spellcasters realized that their influence over the world had been severely diminished.

However, everyone underestimated the Kingdom of Walter's fierce attitude towards the "Seren City Incident".

Snow fell on the 5th of the month.

After issuing that stern statement against the Kingdom of Delan, the Legal Council, and the independent government of Seren, the Kingdom of Walter immediately issued new demands. While all newspapers and magazines were still hotly discussing the death of Prince Havid, a large number of articles, reports, and interviews led by prominent figures in the Kingdom of Walter were immediately published.

Under the onslaught of these messages, even the people of various countries on the Goddess Plains were saddened by this incident. The young people lamented Prince Havid's noble act of prioritizing the evacuation of the people even in the face of assassination threats, while the girls shed tears after hearing the love story between the prince and his commoner wife.

In such circumstances, even the most steadfast supporters of Delan began to have doubts and waver.

Amidst this overwhelming wave of public opinion, the Kingdom of Walter seized the opportunity to make further progress.

They strongly demanded that the Legal Committee immediately allow the Kingdom of Walter's army to enter the area surrounding Seren and directly participate in the investigation and trial of the mastermind behind the Seren assassination. The Walter people believed that any public official who made attacks on Prince Havid and the Kingdom of Walter under the current circumstances, regardless of whether they belonged to the independent government of Seren or the Legal Committee, should be immediately dismissed and expelled.

Furthermore, the ministers of Votel proposed that the Kingdom of Delan should strictly supervise and control those societies and organizations that are detrimental to the relations between the two countries. Among them, the Tricolor Brotherhood, which is most closely related to the assassination case, should be the first to be disbanded, and its members should be held accountable and severely punished. Moreover, the "Delan supremacy" concept, which is regarded as the core ideology of the Tricolor Brotherhood, should be completely eradicated from all areas!

In the approaching cold winter, people were talking closely about the strange little town that stood where the plateau met the plain.

The successive political clashes completely dominated people's attention. Apart from the grassroots law enforcement officers, almost no one remembered that the city of Seren, which had been closely associated with peace and stability in the past, was still under strict lockdown, and the "terrifying magical creatures" mentioned by the law committee were still running rampant in the city.

For the vast majority of ordinary people, the city of Seren is very, very far away.

Therefore, they naturally felt that war was also far removed from their own lives...

(End of this chapter)