The black sun hangs high

Chapter 369 The Secret in the Mine
Hugh was quite interested in General Bernhardt's ideas.

In particular, his idea of ​​using rat swarms to build an additional "underground city" beneath the enemy city perfectly captured some of the outrageous ideas hidden in his mind.

Of course, this is just wishful thinking.

Although the number of these magical rats derived from the will of the Ernst family is now far greater than before, they are not individuals with independent will like the running rats, but rather manifestations of a large amount of dark abyssal magic.

In fact, among the normal mages in Vaan, very few are able to simultaneously and accurately control and command a large number of magical summons. Generally speaking, such behavior is considered dangerous and impractical.

For both spellcasters and summoned creatures, the stability of the magical connection is crucial. Summoned creatures need a sufficiently stable magical connection to ensure their survival, while spellcasters need to actively maintain and improve the stability of the connection to prevent summoned creatures from going out of control and causing permanent mental damage to themselves.

From the very beginning, when she realized that the magic that Hugh possessed was closely related to the act of summoning, her teacher, Verin, repeatedly emphasized this point. At that time, she was very worried that her student, who had only recently entered the field, would be turned into a fool or a madman by the magic because of these issues.

Of course, she later completely gave up on this worry, because Verin discovered that Hugh was completely different from the concept of a "normal mage" on every level. He was so special that the theorems that had been repeatedly verified in Vaan were no longer effective in his case.

However, Hughes did not feel complacent in the face of this situation.

He knew very well that all his abilities were closely related to Theseus, the Dream Sanctuary, and the enormous metal disc within him whose origins remained unknown. If he lost the support of these powers, he could become a lost and broken soul at any moment and be crushed into useless rubble on the spot.

At this point, the growth of the magical rat swarm had gradually slowed down, and the power "stolen" from the Black Sun Ritual had been almost exhausted. So Hugh decisively stopped the expansion of the swarm and began to convey his orders to the Ernst family, who were in charge of commanding and controlling the rats.

He gave General Bernhardt a slight warning and to the family wills who hoped for further expansion of the rat swarm, and ordered them to consolidate their current lines and carry out covert infiltration and reconnaissance operations on the surrounding strongholds, large and small. Meanwhile, the more meticulous female family wills were placed inside and outside the Rock Lake Mine by Hughes to monitor and observe the members inside the mine.

The foremen, soldiers, a few remaining members of the Black Sun Society, and the miners were all included.

After completing these arrangements, Hugh finally had time to check on the running rat. Even now, it was still lying on its side in its territory, its three long tails casually resting on the ground, its fur seemingly a bit disheveled, and its eyes still flashing with a dark green light as always. However, its expression was not quite right; it didn't look like it had simply "eaten too much," but rather like it had become senile.

So Hugh tentatively stimulated Sniggy with magic, but the feedback was minimal. Although the magical connection between him and Sniggy was very stable, Hugh was basically unable to get any information about the running rat's current thoughts.

In other words, the running rat's mind was completely blank; it had neither thoughts nor emotions, so naturally it couldn't react to Hugh's probing.

"Something's wrong..."

Hugh frowned, immersing his consciousness into the mental world and arriving directly beside the running rat.

However, before Hugh could take a closer look, he sensed a strange, restless aura. Although its concentration was very limited, it was very real and present in the internal space of the metal disc. When Hugh tried to use his magic to come into contact with the residual power emanating from Sniggy, he immediately recognized the components of this strange aura.

Those are the traces of Mother Earth.

This surprised Hugh. In fact, after escaping from the vast underground world of the Ernst family manor, he had never encountered any other creations or traces directly related to the Earth Mother. Compared to the Dark Abyss Palace hidden behind the Black Sun and the ocean community that had begun to show obvious signs of recovery, this land deity, who was once able to rival the sea god Carron, did not make any new reactions to the rise of the Black Sun.

It was as if He, like most of the gods of that lost era, had completely vanished.

But now, Hugh has become aware of its presence once again.

Moreover, it happened on one's own summoned creature.

Hugh quickly recalled all the experiences of the past few days, and then focused his attention on the recently concluded Lost Ritual of the God of the "Giant Hill." It seemed that the ritual he had stolen from Baron Fiorlando's memories was the cause of the current situation.

"In other words, the so-called 'huge hill' and the Earth Mother Goddess that the running rats follow do indeed have something in common... Could it be that the Earth Mother Goddess, like Theseus, also has a bunch of random titles? Is 'huge hill' another name for it or some kind of incarnation?"

Hughes pondered for a long time. Although he had a general idea of ​​the direction, he was unable to verify it further. He couldn't even successfully reach the wandering will of the running rat.

Fortunately, Hugh doesn't need the Running Rats to help him with any tasks yet, and the will of the Ernst family, who also belong to the power of the Earth Mother Goddess, has not been affected. The old folks are still very clear-headed and reliable, and fundamentally, their power has been greatly enhanced. This is definitely good news for the current situation.

"I hope nothing goes wrong with you. It's really strange, you're always on the list of people who binge eat."

Hugh sighed and patted the running rat on the head before withdrawing his consciousness—Countess Alexandra, who was in charge of observing the miners' movements, had made some new discoveries and was urgently informing Hugh, hoping to share her perceptions.

However, Hugh missed some subtle changes in the running rat as he left.

Just as he shifted his gaze, two dark green lights flashed across the two enormous horns on the scurrying rat's head, which symbolized the favor and blessing of the Earth Mother Goddess. The lights flowed rapidly back and forth within the horns twice before gradually fading away, seemingly hidden deep within them.

……

Inside the cramped mine buildings, the miners, who had finally managed to eat a hearty meal, were talking quietly.

"That mage took some soldiers away, so the checkpoints shouldn't be as heavily guarded now."

A young miner said, "I secretly went to check out a few other intersections nearby while I was eating. The soldiers at two of the intersections have been withdrawn. They don't have enough manpower to keep an eye on so many places."

"Withdraw? Why would we withdraw?"

"Of course, it's to help that damn baron fix his damn fortifications."

Young people tend to have bigger tempers, and their language is naturally less refined. The other miners nearby didn't mind; they weren't deaf or blind, and they clearly understood what kind of person the new Baron Fiorlando was. Although Baron Fiorlando didn't seem as brutal as the previous Black Sun Society mage, the contempt he showed towards the miners was still very obvious. "If you ask me, these next two days might really be a good opportunity... perhaps even our last chance for a while."

A miner in his forties whispered, "That overseer with two scars on his face, he threatened me today. He said that in two days, the baron's army will be here, and this mine will be turned into a barracks. He also said he'd fill us all up in the mine shafts and get rid of us..."

"That beastly thing."

Someone cursed viciously, "Damn it, why didn't these guys get their heads crushed by the heavy cavalry on the front lines?"

"Wake up, there are no heavy cavalry anymore. Haven't you heard people say that the battlefield is full of big, heavy metal vehicles? I heard they rumble as they move. If he dies, he'll be crushed by these metal monsters."

"Stop talking nonsense. If you could get your hands on one of those metal trucks, we could storm out of the mine tonight, and maybe even crush all the guys blocking our way!"

"Wait a minute, don't forget what we're actually discussing!"

A thin, middle-aged man lying on his bed tapped the edge of his bed: "If cursing them worked, we would have already returned to Watchtower and met with our families. Why would we be here waiting to die?"

"There are other ways to see your family..."

"What's the plan? Tell me! You're not going to be like those idiots before, joining the... joining that society, are you?"

The miners were ultimately wary of the Black Sun and the Black Sun Society. In the rural areas of Saint-St., there was a common belief that "language and writing" possessed magic, so they dared not casually mention words like "Black Sun" behind people's backs, for fear of causing trouble.

"What else can we do? What other options do you have? Are we really going to fight them?"

The miner who had raised the objection spread his hands: "Alright, then what are we supposed to use to fight back against their magic and weapons? Pickaxes? Shovels? Or our fists?"

"you……"

"What do you mean 'you' and 'me'? Give me some useful advice! We've been here for so long!"

Both parties in the conversation were a little agitated, so their voices became somewhat louder. The tall, thin middle-aged man then tapped on the edge of the bed again: "Keep your voices down, do you want to be reported?"

After those words, everyone fell silent again. For a moment, only a few sighs could be heard in the room, making the atmosphere even heavier.

Just then, a knock came at the door.

"Tuk Tuk Tuk!"

The sound was very soft, but everyone in the room could hear it clearly. However, they did not take any action; instead, they exchanged glances.

Two seconds later, there were three more rhythmic knocks on the door.

The middle-aged man who had been lying on the bed sat up, gestured for the others to be quiet, and then asked, "Who is it?"

"It is me!"

A deliberately hushed voice squeezed through the crack in the door and into the room: "Open the door, you bunch of lazy dogs, do you want me to stand outside in the wind?"

Hearing this rather unpleasant curse, the miners in the room relaxed considerably. The middle-aged man also breathed a sigh of relief. He waved to the young miner who had been short-tempered earlier, and the latter immediately got up and opened the tightly closed door. A slightly hunched and thin figure then appeared in everyone's view.

The person who arrived here was none other than Hadra, the mine manager who had previously received orders from Baron Fiorlando.

The thin, elderly supervisor was quickly ushered inside. Interestingly, the miners, who had previously harbored many grievances against the mine managers, did not show any hostility towards Supervisor Hadra. On the contrary, after the door closed, the young miner proactively pulled up a chair for him.

"Uncle Hadera, please have a seat."

"Eh."

The old manager no longer spoke in the same tone he had when he was yelling outside the door. He glanced at the faces around him in the dim light, and his aged face became even more distressed: "I think you really should leave. Leave as many as you can... In short, you can't stay here any longer."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the miners inside the room changed. The middle-aged man approached Supervisor Hadera and asked in a low voice, "What happened? Why is it so urgent all of a sudden?"

"It's all because of that man, because of that newly arrived baron."

As Hadra spoke, he cautiously glanced around: "You don't have any rats here, do you?"

The middle-aged man nodded: "Don't worry, there aren't any... We checked beforehand, and there wasn't a single mouse. This little thing you brought us didn't react either."

As he spoke, he took out a tattered pocket watch from his pocket. If a spellcaster were to examine it carefully, they could easily identify its true nature—a small, disguised occult instrument that could, to some extent, interfere with nearby magic and evade magical surveillance.

"Listen to me, the new baron wants to establish his authority. He asked me to compile a list, probably to select some of you to deal with... or even execute. I have to give him the list tomorrow morning, so you must think of a solution quickly!"

(End of this chapter)