The black sun hangs high

Chapter 95 The Hound's Fang
The moment the revolver appeared in Hugh's palm, another groove in the second ring of the metal disc welcomed its new inhabitant.

And what appeared there was that strangely lurking and grotesquely twisted beast.

It lay quietly in the space of the groove, its long, strange head with dark red eyes that kept emitting bursts of light.

Just like the changes that occurred when feeding the Dark Abyss offspring, this magical groove housing the wolf beast is also connected to a central slot by intricate patterns.

This time, however, it is the messenger in the mirror who is being linked.

Compared to the Touch of Karron, which has difficulty expressing its own will and thoughts, the Messenger in the Mirror has a very clear advantage in this regard. So at this moment, Hugh saw that the Messenger in the Mirror seemed to be very happy and joyful. It actually walked out of its dwelling recess and came to the wolf beast's dwelling with a face that was very similar to Hugh's.

There was no conflict between the two. On the contrary, the ferocious and strange monster seemed to be extremely afraid of the envoy in the mirror. It lay prostrate in front of the envoy in the mirror and let the other party stroke its head and body.

Before Hugh could figure out the relationship between the two, an unfamiliar message slowly rose from the deepest part of his spiritual world. Just like in the past, this message slowly spread through Hugh's consciousness.

"The court hounds roam the courtyards, their pursuit never ceasing, their hunt never ending... This is your boundless hunting ground, praise be to the great, invisible wolf!"

Hughes silently repeated the strange words in his mind.

This wasn't the first time he'd heard the terms "Dark Abyss" and "Court."

"The Messenger in the Mirror resides in the very core of the Dark Abyss, as a servant of the 'Palace.' In the previous passage, the hounds, descendants of the 'Invisible Wolves,' also used the Dark Abyss Palace as their residence... It seems that both of them belong to the same system."

"These strange beasts, known as 'court hounds,' seem to have always been the defensive force of the Dark Abyss Palace. They act like true hunting dogs, tracking and capturing prey for their masters and the court. As for the 'great invisible wolf' mentioned at the end of that passage, it is probably some deity from a lost era?"

Hugh glanced at the Mirror Messenger and the hound who were having a close "exchange," but instead of interrupting their "reminiscing," he turned to examine the revolver in his hand.

Its shape is very unique.

At first glance, it appears very elegant, seemingly no different from the revolving crystal guns that nobles would carry around. However, upon closer inspection, one discovers that this weapon is not actually made of wood and metal at all.

The material that makes it up is actually a dull, dark purple crystal.

Like a low-key yet extremely precious gem, the dim light of the Dream Sanctuary could only barely penetrate its surface when it shone upon it, casting only a few blurry lines.

The overall structure of the gun was not much different from the revolver crystal gun that Hugh had used before. However, because the entire gun was made of those dark-colored crystals, Hugh was unable to find any engraved magical rituals on it. Instead, he found patterns and designs engraved on the side of the gun and on the revolver cylinder.

That was the image of the "Palace Hound"—a dark abyss beast with an extremely indistinct outline and a long, narrow head, crouching amidst the light and shadow of dark purple crystals. Its eyes flickered slightly, and on its body was a line of ancient text.

It is exactly the same as the text that seals away ancient creations in the sanctuary.

"Hound's Fang... Hmm, a simple and unpretentious name."

Hugh examined the revolver and continued to inspect its structure.

The cylinder is movable and has five chambers, but Hugh couldn't take out the bullets that were already loaded to examine them. He just felt that the color of these bullets seemed to be very similar to the "wolf fang tattoo" on his wrist.

Although it is made entirely of that mysterious crystal, the pistol is not heavy, at least it is very easy for Hugh to handle.

Hugh activated a little of his magic, and he felt the strange gun "connect" to his hand with the help of magic, as if the gun itself had become an extension of his arm, a part of his body...

So Hugh slowly raised it, aimed at the trash can at the other end of the corridor, and pulled the trigger.

A stinging sensation returned to my right wrist.

A booming sound rang out, but it didn't sound like gunfire at all; it sounded more like the greedy growl of a palace hound facing its prey.

The metal trash can was hit in an instant. Immediately afterwards, the disintegration phenomenon that had appeared on the court hounds when the "sacrifice" was completed returned. Hugh saw that the metal trash can was quickly disintegrated into equal pieces in the blink of an eye by some force he could not understand. Before these pieces could fall to the ground, they disintegrated further and finally turned into a pile of dust.

The collapse didn't stop with the demise of its goal. To Hugh's astonishment, he saw that this phenomenon was still spreading in all directions, from the wall next to the trash can, to the promotional posters on the wall, to the floor and the carpet on the floor, and even to the two potted plants placed nearby...

Almost in the blink of an eye, all of these things went through similar outcomes.

After a few seconds, the disintegration finally stopped.

Under the influence of this bullet, the wall and the ground were "eroded" by that force, creating an extremely regular cube-shaped indentation, as if someone had carried out an unbelievable project in that area.

Having witnessed the weapon's power firsthand, Hugh stopped trying it and withdrew his magic, causing the Hound's Fang in his hand to vanish without a trace.

Hugh rotated his wrist, and sure enough, one of the wolf fang tattoos on his wrist had faded. Hugh could feel that the faded tattoo was now continuously drawing magic power from his spiritual world, although the speed was very slow, it was definitely happening.

"That means there are a total of five rounds of ammunition, and each time you fire, you need to spend time and magic to replenish them..."

Hugh flexed his wrists.

He had a vague feeling that this "Hound's Fang" shouldn't just be a simple firearm, but it wasn't feasible to test its true function and limits at the moment.

Hugh was quite satisfied with the result of this round of "sacrifice." Even though "Hound's Fang" was still just a high-powered magical weapon using limited ammunition, its performance was enough to fill the gap in his current trump cards. Hugh glanced around at the desks that had been severely damaged in the previous battle. Fortunately, the fight with the "Palace Hounds" had not affected the containers holding ancient artifacts, which relieved Hugh slightly.

This was the first time he had ever engaged in such high-intensity combat and battles directly within the Dream Sanctuary.

He couldn't quite grasp this strange world that seemed to exist on a spiritual level, yet was also permeated with a sense of reality...

Hugh stepped out from the mess: "Alright, I still have one more problem to deal with. Hopefully, nothing else will go wrong."

……

The place where the "juvenile killer vine root" needs to be sacrificed is on the other side, near the computer that Theseus used before.

The computer was still on, and the game on it was still paused, but the guy still hadn't appeared. So Hugh stopped looking for Theseus's whereabouts and went straight to his target.

It was a huge flowerpot. Hugh remembered that a money tree used to grow there, but in the Dream Sanctuary, the money tree in the flowerpot had long since disappeared, leaving only a large pot of soil and pebbles. Hugh had even overlooked it when he first searched the Dream Sanctuary. It wasn't until he saw that the flowerpot also had those black misty characters floating on it that he realized that there was a secret hidden here as well.

Given the immense trouble caused by the "Palace Hounds" in the past, Hugh made thorough preparations before this round of sacrifices began. He not only imbued himself with basic protective rituals, but also summoned the Touch of Calron and the Running Rat Sniggy, ordering them to stand by. He even tucked the Hound's Fang, which he had just acquired, into his waistband.

He was prepared to engage in a fierce battle should the situation change drastically.

However, to his surprise, when he used his hands, covered in hard black keratin, to take out one of the young killer vine roots from the wooden box, the black mist sealing the large flowerpot actually dissipated on its own...

It neither required Hugh to "feed" it, nor did it directly decompose and absorb the killer vine roots in Hugh's hands.

Hughes frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "What does this mean?"

"It means you can just plant it directly."

A voice suddenly drifted over from afar. Hugh turned around in surprise and found that Theseus had somehow reappeared in front of the computer. He was as if he had never left, concentrating on operating the mouse and keyboard, his confused face "concentrating" on the computer screen.

"What are you looking at me for? I remember you used to keep plants at home, didn't you? Killer vine is no different from them."

Theseus's androgynous voice was languid, and Hugh was very suspicious that this guy, whom he hadn't seen for several days, was planning to play a prank on him. However, the flowerpot in front of him was indeed perfectly normal, and under the perception of magic, the soil inside was not abnormal at all.

"Tsk..."

Hugh clicked his tongue. He held the writhing, thorny vine root in his hand, which was constantly trying to grow spikes to attack him. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Should we plant both?"

Theseus waved his hand casually: "The more the better, that's a simple principle, isn't it?"

"walk slowly."

Hearing this, Hugh shrugged, accepting the suggestion.

Hugh did indeed keep some green plants at home, but those cute little plants were completely different from the twisting and vibrant roots of these killer vines in front of him. As a terrifying plant that preys on many magical creatures in the forest, even its young roots already showed a very frightening aggressiveness. As he planted them in the flowerpot, Hugh could even hear the sound of the sharp thorns constantly scratching the hard shell of his palm.

Although he didn't know the habits of the killer vine, he had heard of its strong vitality and adaptability. So he violently buried the two struggling roots deep into the flowerpot. Strangely enough, the moment they were buried, they immediately calmed down, as if nothing had happened.

However, the "sacrifice" that Hugh had hoped for did not occur.

After Hugh completed the "planting" step, the black mist that had sealed the flowerpot reappeared. However, this time it did not display any text indicating the conditions. Instead, it hovered quietly in front of him, seemingly serving only as a barrier.

That's all that changed.

The flowerpot looked very calm, at least much calmer than Hugh's mood.

"Stop looking, the progress bar won't speed up just because someone's watching it."

Theseus scoffed, so Hugh had no choice but to give up waiting. He casually dismissed the guarding Charon's Touch and the running rat, and then walked toward Theseus.

Upon getting closer, Hughes noticed that Theseus's appearance seemed to have changed slightly. Although he still looked like an indistinguishable shadowy humanoid, his tuxedo was somewhat stained, and the cuff of his right sleeve was even torn.

It looked as if he had been in a fight with someone somewhere.

This puzzled Hugh. As a self-proclaimed god who possessed unfathomable power, there was no reason for him to appear in such a form. Hugh could even see the black shadows that made up Theseus's body through the tears in his clothes.

Theseus didn't seem to care much about Hugh's scrutiny. He skillfully saved his previous game and then returned to the main menu to start a new game.

Surprisingly, Theseus did not choose any of the various strangely shaped races in the game, but instead clicked directly on "Humans" at the top of the list.

While waiting for the game to load, Theseus tugged at his tuxedo and explained, "I went out to experience life a bit, and this is what happened..."

(End of this chapter)