The black sun hangs high

Chapter 330 "Gathering"

In some ways, present-day Vaan still bears similarities to the world ruled by many lost gods and their retinues.

This is especially true for those beings who are accustomed to acting in accordance with power and instinct.

Even now, Hugh still doesn't know much about the internal power and workings of the Dark Abyss Palace. However, through the many fragments of memories from the Mirror Messenger and the Palace Hounds, he has come to understand that the terrifying creatures living in the Dark Abyss and on the outskirts of the Palace actually adhere to a simple and straightforward set of survival rules.

This coincides with the views of the Brahman followers who follow the other ancient deities.

Most of the time, these diverse and powerful clans are like participants in a vast natural arena, constantly staging life-or-death battles with their astonishing vitality and fervent, primal emotions.

The hounds from the Dark Abyss Palace may act differently from these familiars, but as ruthless and efficient hunters, they can also derive maximum pleasure and satisfaction from killing and hunting.

Its characteristics have been fully revealed in its past performance and in its recent life-or-death battle with the Dark Abyss Spider.

Even during his rest for the first two nights, Hugh could hear the unconscious growls of this terrifying beast, whose nature was being further unleashed, even in his dreams.

It yearns for battle, for new prey, and for a suitable place and time to unleash its excess energy and bloodlust.

Now, the court hound's wish has been fulfilled.

Although the ship, constantly rocked by the waves, is not the most ideal hunting ground, and the ever-splashing cold spray can easily bring unpleasantness, the ferocious giant hound, as a hunter of the dark abyss, already knew the answer the moment it came into close contact with these deep-sea visitors.

Through a magical connection with the court hounds, Hugh learned that he was now certain that the strange groups that had attacked the Windless Fleet were the echoes of a sea deity from a bygone era.

"Hunting them...avoiding the crew on board as much as possible."

Hugh knew how formidable these enemies were and understood the brutal nature of the court hounds. Therefore, he neither forcibly controlled its actions nor gave orders such as "protect the other crew members." Instead, he allowed it to focus more on the battle at hand.

As for whether others will suffer harm in the process, that depends on their own luck.

The instant the command was given, sharp, steel-like limbs immediately extended outwards from the hound's back, looking as precise and cold as parts of a large machine in a workshop.

Heavy, dark mist swirled and surged around these limbs, and any blood and flesh that touched this mist, whether from the mutated fish or the dead crew, would be devoured in an instant.

"Oh!"

As these limbs pounded forcefully on the gunboat's deck, the hound's massive and slender form vanished from its spot. The next instant, it burst forth from a shadowy corner on the other side of the deck, its disproportionately large mouth agape to its limit. Its prey was a slightly smaller, mutated beast, a creature of some kind of large oceanic fish.

A profound sense of satisfaction flooded into Hugh's brain as the sharp teeth closed.

Through the senses and strength of the court hounds, Hugh can fully resonate with the emotions it feels when it successfully hunts down its target.

In that clean and crisp bite, he could even recreate in his mind every detail of how the Dark Abyss Mist gnawed away at and eliminated those swollen chunks of flesh, and completely eroded the life force contained within them.

For the soldiers and commanders inside the gunboat cabins, trembling as they peered through the windows at the deck, the scene before them was even more terrifying and bizarre.

Their hearts were pounding, their breathing was rapid, their clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and the new firearms they held were trembling slightly.

These ordinary people have no way of seeing what's happening on the deck outside.

The moment the palace hounds leaped out of the crevice, the deep mist quickly spread onto the deck of the gunboat. This black mist might not be as deadly as true dark abyssal magic, but it was extremely effective at obscuring the vision of ordinary creatures.

Faced with this situation, the soldiers could only hear low, terrifying roars, while the mages, who possessed magic and the ability to sense things, successfully perceived the turmoil and horror deep within the mist.

There, something was engaged in fierce fighting and slaughter.

Although the perception was very vague, the sense of terror it conveyed prompted the mages to promptly warn the other soldiers on the gunboat—if they wanted to save their lives, they should not easily go up onto the deck!
If they could see through the fog, they would surely be very glad they made those judgments and decisions.

After successfully tearing apart two giant fish that were trying to board the gunboat, the hound, having tasted the traces of "life color" and "community consciousness" within its prey, completely unleashed its true nature. In this state, even Hugh could not fully restrain or control it.

The Dark Abyss Spider's limbs and strength have given the hound a completely different way of moving than before. If it was a sneaky and unpredictable ambush predator in the past, it can now move flexibly between the shadows and the front lines of the battlefield.

With their incredibly hard and powerful pincers, hounds can move freely in complex environments and use them to pierce and tear the flesh of their targets. When necessary, they can even overlap to block and neutralize the opponent's counterattack.

Initially, the hounds were clearly not fully adapted to their new physical structure, but as the killing continued, the two very different methods of action began to merge rapidly.

Just a dozen seconds ago, a group of giant fish, already severely injured, tried to abandon the deck and retreat back into the water for shelter. However, before it could even dive to the surface, a dark abyss rift appeared out of thin air above it. Immediately afterward, sharp, dagger-like pincers pierced out from the rift, precisely piercing through the remaining tumor on the giant fish's body.

The power of the Dark Abyss, like a deadly poison, was poured into the flesh filled with the will of the community and the power of life in the blink of an eye. Just like before, everything that supported the giant fish's life was destroyed in an instant, and all the valuable things within it, whether power, will, or fragments of memory, were plundered and absorbed by the hounds at this moment.

But then, these special communities of life once again demonstrated their unpredictable and erratic characteristics.

When the hound, having once again completed its pursuit, cut through the fog and reached the other end of the gunboat's deck, it encountered not a ferocious, deformed sea monster.

Numerous supple tentacles, unlike anything Hugh had ever seen before, suddenly emerged from beneath the sea. Their surfaces were covered in numerous suckers, which allowed them to cling tightly to the sides of the gunboat and begin rapidly advancing towards the deck. These tentacles were not controlled by any troublesome sea monsters, but rather by "flesh balls" the size of human heads, modified by the collective will of the group.

These fleshy spheres are essentially countless fish with highly proliferating flesh—their bodies are filled with wildly growing flesh and tissue. Although they still retain some basic fish characteristics, the torn scales and fins seem insignificant in front of the twisted chunks of flesh.

The sharp chelicerae easily severed the tentacles clinging to the deck and the edge of the gunboat, but these grotesque and hideous fish did not stop their actions. The tentacles growing from their backs continued to use their suckers to attach to the gunboat and try to push these fleshy balls onto the deck.

When the palace hounds destroyed the few deformed fish that managed to reach the deck, a large amount of blood immediately gushed out.

Unlike the blood that was easily submerged by the mists of the Dark Abyss before, this time, Hugh sensed a much richer life force within it. It seemed that the concentration of life energy within this blood was a completely different concept from before.

Moreover, as the blood flowed out, Hughes received an extremely strong and clear sense of disgust from the palace hounds.

Within these bloodlines, there seems to be a force capable of resisting and eliminating the power of the Dark Abyss, and arousing the hatred of the Dark Abyss court's creations. This is not the first time such a situation has occurred, but unlike before, this time the will of the community clearly hopes to use these forces to delay the actions of the court hounds and achieve some new objectives.

Similar scenarios occurred on other ships, including the Windless.

Hugh, who was on the deck of the Windless, discovered that the sea monsters that had been driven back by the ship's firepower and emergency protective rituals had returned. Ignoring the damage, they kept throwing small, swollen individuals at the ship. These individuals would either be smashed into a pulp by the protective magic or be crushed by the quick-reacting soldiers after falling onto the deck. However, the blood flowing from them was unusually bright and glaring.

Another swollen, monstrous fish was tossed into the air, and naturally, it crashed into a mangled mess of flesh and blood during the ongoing protective ritual. But this time, a considerable portion of its psychedelic blood successfully passed through the magical shockwaves in the protective ritual.

Hughes swiftly summoned his Mage Hand, precisely catching a small amount of blood in mid-air.

When these flesh pieces, shimmering with a peculiar luster, were brought before Hugh, he immediately noticed something unusual about them.

The shimmering colors represent the life colors manipulated by the will of the community. However, these "life colors" are currently in a state of extreme agitation, radiating outwards like highly unstable magical crystals.

This peculiar state caused their power to be consumed at an alarming rate. In just a few seconds, the power within this flesh and blood was completely exhausted. During this process, Hugh noticed that the protective ritual on the ship was constantly flashing, which meant that their power had caused some interference and damage to the ritual fields that had an isolating effect...

"Clap!"

With another crisp sound, Hugh quickly turned his head. This time, he saw half of the deformed, incomplete sea bounce on the deck. Although it exploded into minced meat under the pressure of the ritual field the next second, the power hidden inside swept over the surrounding people and objects at an extremely fast speed, and then disappeared into nothingness in the shock of the ritual field.

At this moment, Hugh finally vaguely sensed the group's intentions.

Their behavior may appear suicidal, or as pointless harassment and attack, but in reality, they are conducting reconnaissance.

The forces that were constantly dissipating within the fleet were essentially invisible "eyes," serving as their means and bridge for observing, learning, and understanding these creations of the Vanian civilization.

Amid the cheers of the surrounding soldiers who had successfully repelled the monster's attack, Hugh's expression darkened visibly. He realized that his understanding of the will of the community was still far too lacking.

The battle that is taking place tonight is the first real clash between these ancient marine creations and the new era of terrestrial civilization.

The community clearly underestimated the current state of the Vann civilization.

Those complex consciousnesses probably never anticipated that in today's world, those once defeated and humble races would be able to wield so many terrifyingly powerful forces.

Everyone, including Hugh, underestimated these invisible entities capable of modifying the bodies of sea monsters.

They are truly intelligent, capable of thinking, learning, and growing rapidly, which are potential threats.

Compared to them, the crippled offspring who had destroyed the city of Seren appeared so foolish and naive.

Realizing that they could not achieve their goals with their current strength and tactics, the terrifying group lurking beneath the sea immediately changed their strategy. They abandoned their attack on the crew of these ships and instead began to probe and observe the ships and the various weapons and magic they carried.

In order to achieve this, they are even willing to give up and sacrifice a portion of their own power, and take advantage of the gaps in their collapse and dissipation to obtain more information.

On the other side of the gunboat, ferocious palace hounds tore open eerie cracks in the black fog and nimbly slipped into them.

On the deck of the gunboat, blood filled with psychedelic colors was slowly flowing. The power in this blood had completely collapsed under the influence of the Dark Abyss Mist, but Hugh knew that before those powers completely disappeared, many details of this gunboat had been incorporated into the vast memory bank of the ocean community as the "color of life" spread.

Having grasped this crucial information, how will the power that once controlled most of Vaan under the name of Calron change?

Hughes couldn't explain it either.

Sorry, I've been playing Baldur's Gate 3 like crazy these past few days.

They have absolutely no concept of time and are unaware of its passage.

The last time this happened was when I was playing Divinity: Original Sin 2...

I'm dizzy ORZ
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(End of this chapter)