The black sun hangs high

Chapter 98, Room 519

At this moment, Hugh finally understood what the "abnormality" Miss Hannah had mentioned earlier was all about.

It must be said that Miss Hannah's description was very vivid, because it really did sound like the "running" sound of some kind of creature, dense, rapid, and with a very clear direction of movement.

This was basically the same movement that Hugh had detected the previous night when Miss Elena was attacked. Now that Hugh was in the room, his perception of this movement became even clearer—it was rapidly climbing up the wall from the bottom of the manor hotel building. As the force and sound drew closer, the guests in Hugh's mental world all showed their agitated side.

The raging rat summoned by Hugh swung its tail violently, its fur bristling slightly, and its mouth opened slightly, revealing its sharp and huge incisors.

The reactions of these ancient artifacts from the Dream Sanctuary confirmed Hugh's earlier thoughts, and just as Hugh was pondering his next move, the sound suddenly grew louder—it seemed to be rapidly approaching the room where Hugh was.

"Huh? They came to us on their own?"

Hugh's eyes brightened slightly. He pushed back his chair and took two steps. As his magic circulated, the Touch of Calron and the shadow of the Messenger in the Mirror appeared on his body one after another. His left hand was gradually replaced by a ferocious, pitch-black claw, while in his right hand, the Hound's Fang, which he had recently acquired, appeared.

He was prepared to kill the other person in the room with the most violent means the moment the encounter occurred.

Sensing Hugh's feelings and thoughts, these creations, closely connected to the ancient gods, became incredibly excited. Like hunters eager to kill what they hated, they proactively revealed their power without Hugh giving any orders. The black mist of the Mirror Messenger flickered, the Kalron's Touch rapidly shook its sharp, segmented ends, and the Hound's Fang, as a "new member," shone with a dim light. The gun barrel even faintly emitted the howls and barks of the court hounds.

Known as a "hunting dog," it is now eager to show its claws.

Amidst their clamor, Hughes seriously doubted that if he were the one standing in the sewers of Seren City back then, he might actually have had a chance to eliminate that Dark Abyss offspring on the spot.

As for Sniggy, who jumped onto Hugh's shoulder and acted like a fox borrowing the tiger's power, he seemed somewhat out of place.

The commotion within the wall grew closer and closer, until it was only a few meters away from Hugh. Just as Hugh had placed his finger on the trigger of Hound's Fang, something unexpected happened.

In his magical perception, the invisible commotion within the wall suddenly paused, then immediately changed direction and headed towards a higher floor of the hotel.

Or perhaps...escape?

Hugh was stunned for a moment, but he immediately reacted and shouted angrily at the swaying Touch of Calron beside him: "You guys are too high-profile!"

The black tentacles, which had been inexplicably scolded, twitched slightly before obediently retracting into the void. At the same time, the Mirror Messenger and the Palace Hound also fell silent. Only Sniggy, perched on Hugh's shoulder, stood alone with his fur standing on end, looking extremely awkward.

Hughes didn't bother to discipline it anymore. He casually stuffed the mouse into his coat pocket, then grabbed the spellbook and two spell crystals from the table and rushed out the door.

The range that magical perception can cover is limited. Hugh could sense that the restlessness existing in the wall was moving away from his perception range at an alarming speed.

So he immediately ran toward the stairs.

"Sir, the floors above are for the ladies!"

A passing waiter saw that Hugh was about to rush upstairs and quickly reached out to stop him, but Hugh didn't bother to listen to him at all, pushed him aside, and then ran wildly upstairs.

The strangely fluctuating mass was moving so fast that it had already escaped Hugh's magical perception range the moment he paused briefly. Fortunately, Sniggy's sensitivity to this power was even greater than Hugh's, so it immediately pointed Hugh in the right direction.

"Fourth floor... fifth floor..."

The sudden appearance of a man in the corridor startled two noble ladies who were walking together out of the elevator. However, they immediately recognized this "star" of the family, and their surprise turned into charming smiles. But before they could greet him, Hugh had already squeezed past them with a dark face.

Behind him, several hotel guards and waiters caught up, but Hugh didn't care about their presence at all—the abnormal fluctuation had reappeared in his perception, and according to the feedback from his perception, the fluctuation had entered room 519 at the end of the corridor along the outer wall of the hotel!
Hugh immediately rang the doorbell of room 519, but when the bell rang, there was no sound from inside the room, as if no one was inside at all.

After confirming that his senses were correct, Hugh immediately picked up the spellbook. He searched through the dozen or so spells he had previously imprinted and finally tore off a page.

The Raindrop-level "Eliminate Lock" is an advanced version of the basic lock-picking trick, capable of cracking some complex and sturdy locks, as well as doors with basic security measures.

As the magic of the shogun was injected, the intricate magical patterns etched on the thick pages were immediately illuminated by the dark green light.

Following the method described in the magic textbook, Hugh pressed the page firmly against the heavy door of room 519, which was tightly closed. The magical luster that Hugh possessed began to flash rapidly. The next moment, with a crisp pop, the magical page that Hugh had pressed against the door exploded open, and the tightly closed door lock disintegrated on the spot under the impact of the magical power with corrosive properties.

Hugh shook his hand, which was numb from the magical impact, and then slammed his body forward, immediately breaking open the tightly closed door.

The moment he opened the door, Hugh knew he had come at the wrong time.

Because the air in the room was filled with the sweet scent of rose petals.

At this time, apart from a few people like him who are so busy that they forget to eat, most hotel guests have finished their meals and returned to their rooms. Ladies who are particular about their daily lives will also choose to take a bath and relax at this time.

Hugh knew that he had obviously arrived at this point in time.

Sniggy climbed back onto Hugh's shoulder, looking warily toward the bathroom, hissing incessantly, clearly having pinpointed the location of its enemy.

Hugh didn't rush forward. He slowed his pace, quickly casting a basic protective ritual on himself, which he had mastered through inscription magic. He hung the spellbook at his waist, his right hand free, his left hand slightly outstretched, and silently moved towards the bathroom. Because the room's occupant was taking a bath, the curtains in room 519 were tightly closed. Dim, soothing light streamed down from the magic lamp. This light, which should have been relaxing, only added to the eeriness of the room, which was clearly already in trouble.

Amidst the soft sound of running water, Hugh arrived at the bathroom door.

Then he saw a young girl sitting quietly in the hot water of the bathtub, hugging her knees, while many treated rose petals floated in the tub—this was the source of the sweet scent.

Under normal circumstances, such a scene would always make people have some wild thoughts.

But at this moment, facing this silent, blank figure sitting in the bathtub, Hugh felt only a strange and inexplicable feeling.

Sniggy continued to issue warnings, and Hugh's own magical perception was equally clear—the source of the strange feeling was in the bathroom, or even near the bathtub.

Strangely, at this moment, Hugh could no longer sense any trace of that unusual movement. It was as if it had completely gone into hibernation, without revealing the slightest sound. Even though Hugh had tried his best to enhance his magical perception, he still couldn't detect the slightest trace.

This greatly surprised Hugh, who had just fought against the "Palace Hounds" during the day.

"Could it be that the things existing in this manor hotel are even better at concealing their presence than something like a palace hound?"

Hugh narrowed his eyes.

He shifted his attention to the girl who was clearly not quite right—she should be alive, and with his senses working at full power, Hugh could even detect her heartbeat and breathing, but she was clearly in a very dazed state, which made her completely unresponsive to the outside world.

"No matter what, we have to find a way to get her out first..."

Hugh turned to look behind him, and after confirming that no one had followed him into the room, the Touch of Calron immediately appeared.

Although using tentacles to save people sounds incredibly far-fetched, Hugh did just that. The terrifying, jet-black tentacle immediately coiled forward, and under Hugh's control, it wrapped around the girl's body as gently as possible. Then, it slowly exerted force, preparing to pull this young member of the Ernst family out of the water.

Just as Hugh's attention was focused on the girl, the surface of the water, which was originally covered with rose petals, suddenly broke open, and something darted out of the water.

Hughes could see it clearly; it was originally a shapeless, "transparent" object, but once it came out of the water and came under the light, it suddenly gained color.

Now, Hugh knows where the target he was tracking was hiding.

It had been hiding in the bathtub, right next to the girl's body, waiting for it to approach.

"squeak!"

Sniggy was unusually excited at this moment. It leaped off Hugh's shoulder and deliberately collided with the black thing that broke through the water. In just an instant, the running rat engaged in fierce biting and fighting with these black shadows, but Sniggy was obviously at a disadvantage. It was forcefully knocked to the side, and several hideous wounds were torn on its body.

However, the running rat was no ordinary wild beast.

Its ferocity prompted it to take action at this moment. A corrosive and toxic mist slowly drifted out from Sniggy's splattered blood, enveloping the open space in the bathroom. Under the influence of this mist, the black shadows that had been gathered together gradually dispersed, and Hugh was finally able to see their true appearance.

"This……"

Hugh couldn't help but widen his eyes.

He never imagined that what he was pursuing would be this kind of thing.

They looked like rats, and a huge, densely packed swarm of rats piled on top of each other... Unlike the ferocious size of the running rats, these individuals looked very small, each only the size of a finger, but their numbers were extremely exaggerated. The way they swarmed together and surged rapidly was even more creepy. What was even stranger was that they seemed to have no eyes, and the sides of their heads were empty, with only black fur visible.

Seemingly aware that their presence had been discovered, even more rats emerged from every corner of the bathroom—in cabinets, clothes, the bathtub… even the sink drain. They were numerous and ubiquitous, and under Hugh's watchful eye, the swarm gathered together at an astonishing speed…

Hugh's mind raced, and in that instant he made a quick decision. The Touch of Karron was activated at full power, forcibly lifting the girl up and pulling her out of the bathroom with Hugh's steps. At the same time, the running rat let out a sharp screech, tearing off its own tail once more and using it as a makeshift alchemical bomb to throw at its "kin".

As the constantly writhing long tail exploded amidst the dense swarm of black rats, a large amount of corrosive mist burst forth. However, this force was unable to effectively kill the rats. They seemed to be able to adapt to this force; although their movements became sluggish, they did not suffer any damage as a result.

They continued to pile up and gather. Unlike the offspring of the Dark Abyss, these strange rats did not turn into a chaotic mass of slime. Instead, they maintained their individual independence. They were like a pile of parts, quickly pieced together under the influence of some will or force.

The running rat stared dumbfounded at its fellow rats before it.

With its limited intelligence, it is unable to comprehend everything that is happening before its eyes.

In just a few seconds, these creatures, which were completely out of the control of the running rat and even aroused its intense disgust, formed a tall, burly, pitch-black figure right in front of it.

It was exactly the same as the bizarre target that Hugh had previously destroyed with a revolver.

(End of this chapter)