The sun is high

The cold wave that had troubled Van En for a long time was finally coming to an end. After Van En entered the seventh day of the new era, the cold air began its final struggle in the Kingdom of St. Steele, and all its power burst out. It creates the last hint of chill before the temperature rises.

Facing the plains coalition forces that were gathering at an alarming speed, even the Black Sun Society, which had mastered those strange powers and rituals and had been constantly summoning ancient creations, had to choose to avoid the edge temporarily.

They issued an order through the royal family of Saint Steele, ordering Saint Steele's army that had been stranded east of the Isa River to begin to retreat and establish a new defense line with Watch City as the core stronghold.

The Kingdom of Hain was somewhat ambiguous in its confrontation with St. Steele. However, forced by the general situation, their powerful navy also began to take action. Although the Kingdom of Hain cited the "need to guard against threats in the ocean" Only a small number of ships were used, but when these heavily armed ocean metal behemoths stopped in those delicate positions, the pressure they exerted was already very obvious.

On the other side, the Kingdom of Votel behaved slightly conservatively. This plateau kingdom, which is famous for its military, was not as radical as in the past. They continued their previous strategy and continued to strengthen the blockade of railway lines and consolidate their relationship with the Kingdom of St. Steele. borders and try to accommodate those fleeing.

At the same time, the Council cooperated with the Van En Magic Society and carried out in-depth monitoring and research on the rugged land.

Behind the scenes, the Votel Kingdom and the Legal Committee launched an important secret plan.

Under this plan, multiple huge intelligence networks woven by different countries and organizations in Van En began to integrate. This process was slow and difficult. After all, these collaborators were rivals or even mortal enemies in the past. Among the accumulated intelligence and strongholds, they must make a selection, release some to promote cooperation, and keep the other as their trump cards.

Fortunately, some fresh blood was added to this difficult plan. They were like the indispensable lubricants in the operation of machinery, allowing the originally very difficult cooperation to proceed.

It was a young organization called "Sword of Dawn" that lacked background and background.

Although it fundamentally belongs to the Dawn Society, it is willing to accept supervision from multiple parties at the same time and build itself into a relatively objective and neutral intelligence transfer station.

No one will question the composition of the members of the "Sword of Dawn". There are various signs that this new organization affiliated with the Dawn Society has the greatest hostility towards the Black Sun Society. Not only are there survivors who escaped from the Massacre in Salem City Among them, there are even "legendary experts" who have had fierce confrontations with the Black Sun Society.

In order to show their sincerity, when the war was about to break out again, a group of members of the Dawn Society had already crossed Merlinle and the Gulf with the assistance of the sword-wielding hermits of the Legal Committee and the Votel agents, and Heading towards the extremely dangerous hinterland of St. Steele.

After crossing the bay, this special team will disappear immediately. They will turn into the wind blowing into the cold background, completely integrating with the dangerous world.

…

Dark, cold, and cramped.

This is a typical feature of every crystal mine in the Kingdom of St. Steele.

But now, with the Black Sun Society having taken control of the entire Saint Steele territory and the black sun hanging high above the sky, some new situations have arisen inside these crystal mines.

A strange and subtle disease is manifesting itself in the bodies of the miners.

It is either uncontrollable insomnia or inexplicable dreaminess. The former makes miners very prone to making mistakes at work, while the latter makes it difficult for workers who finally get a chance to rest to wake up.

In the mines, the dangers posed by these two completely different symptoms are extremely alarming, and when the two are combined, the operational efficiency of these crystal mines drops further and further.

"There's something wrong with these crystal mines...I, I can hear them talking!"

"This place is haunted. There must be something haunted in the mine! I saw dead figures and faces in those ores!"

"Let me leave!"

However, in the face of these horrifying rumors and the fierce reactions of the miners, those crystal mines that accept the direct orders and command of the Black Sun Society cannot naturally let the miners leave. For this situation, the Black Sun Society seems to have expected it. , so they sent in supervisors who were loyal to them in advance and completely replaced the leaders in these mines.

Even in St. Steele, there has always been a "tradition" of miners using strikes, resistance and even riots to fight for their basic rights and interests. But this time, facing the heavily armed overseers and the association mages with dark dogs accompanying them, The miners are really exhausted.

Every move they make and even every word they say seems to be monitored extremely closely.

In the Rock Lake Mine to the west of Watch City, something has happened that makes the miners extremely angry and frightened. In the past two days, a man in the mine is very powerful and has organized several resistances in the past. The active miners were silently strangled to death on their beds at night.

A young worker who once worked as a handyman in the magic alchemy workshop recognized that the deceased died of some vicious and simple magic - the caster created a venom-filled blister at night and directly enveloped the blister. On the head of the deceased, he could not make any sound at all, and he had no time to struggle, because the venom would be quickly poured into his body under the influence of magic and take effect.

What is even more unbearable is that his family, from his wife to his daughter to his old father, were also brutally murdered on the same night. The thugs of the Black Sun Society took the bodies of his family members to the mine. They were buried together hastily in front of everyone.

Only then did people recall that the deceased had made remarks about the Black Sun Society inside the mine a day ago. He believed that the miners in the mine should find a way to get rid of these gloomy overseers and use their hands to Use their own weapons to kill the mages who formed the association. Only in this way will they have a chance to escape from the mine and reunite with their families.

In the process, he obviously also mentioned his family members who stayed in Watch City.

And this was probably the reason why he and his family were brutally killed.

Unprecedented high pressure has emerged. In the past, although the conflicts between mines and miners were always very fierce, these conflicts were not irresolvable. Both parties always tried their best to achieve their goals through mutual testing and concessions.

But it's different now.

The violent methods adopted by the Black Sun Society are difficult for the miners to resist. Their magical rituals have shrouded the entire mine and penetrated deep into the branches of the mine. Under strict surveillance, the workers have no way to speak privately. There is no way to hide weapons and tools secretly during discussions, let alone take practical action.

Those dark dogs with rat tails and exuding a strange and sinister aura are constantly patrolling the mines. Some miners even saw them getting into the mines unscrupulously, picking up the crystallized ore and starting to gnaw and chew it. Under their sharp teeth, these hard ores will turn into residue on the spot, and the magic power in them will be sucked clean by them.

Under this all-round pressure, the miners' own survival has become difficult. When they walk out of the mine where the sun is hidden, they have to face the cloudy sky and the shadow that always shrouds them in the distance. Watch City under a layer of haze.

They are all residents of Watch City, and naturally most of their families are settled in that city.

However, now, according to those loyal members of the Black Sun Society, Watch City has become a city destined not to be favored by the ancient gods.

The huge dome that should have shrouded the Watch City has been shattered, which means that the Watch City and the area it is located in are contrary to those ancient sacred rituals and beliefs. It is neither suitable for "the pursuit of truth and authenticity." believers settled there, it was even less suitable to operate as a large city.

"It is only suitable to be regarded as a fortress, a war fortress stuck in the traffic artery and giving those fools a head-on attack... This is the punishment it should accept as a place abandoned by the gods, and this is what it is doing now. The only one that can work!”

Facing the worried inquiries from the miners, the guards and supervisors who had fully devoted themselves to the ancient faith replied: "Don't worry, you and your families have not completely lost the opportunity. Maybe the problem is just that." This city and the land below it, as long as you are willing, you can be accepted by the real gods at any time like us, and witness the occurrence of 'miracles' with your own eyes, and even touch it yourself!"

"I warn you, don't simply call them magic... Magic is just a name given to those powers by the 'false god' in order to deceive us. Although it is still used, it absolutely cannot represent it. The truth.”

"If you want to understand it, then let go of your wrong stubbornness and stupid burden on your shoulders, open your heart, and truly accept and embrace the true scenes that have been lost!"

Of course, normal miners will not believe what these cruel lunatics say. However, accidents always happen.

A miner who was very worried about his family and longed to leave the mine and return home finally chose to compromise under pressure from many aspects. He found the mage stationed in the mine by the Black Sun Society and asked him to let him To see those "miracles", and in exchange, he hoped to get a vacation to visit family.

Faced with such a request, the members of the strict and ruthless Black Sun Society simply and generously gave the promise, so the miner was taken into a closed house. More than half an hour later, he slowly walked out of the house. When he walked out of the room, the previous tension, hardship and worry were no longer on his face. Instead, there was an expression that other workers could not understand.

He seemed to have entered some kind of feverish state, his eyes were shining, and his tired and stained face took on a strange look.

"It turns out this is a miracle, it turns out this is the 'reality' I don't understand."

In front of everyone, he knelt down next to the Black Sun Mystery beside the mine gate and began to pray to the blasphemous sculpture that he had never dared to look at in the past. Some workers who were familiar with him heard his prayers. of prayer.

What surprised people was that the prayer recited by the miner did not seem to be in any language that he was familiar with. It was definitely not the local language of St. Steele, let alone a common language. It sounded like he was using Meaningless syllables carry on a kind of chant.

In just half an hour, he seemed to have completely forgotten his past beliefs. He had forgotten the fire of life and the goddess Mel, and devoted himself with 120% piety to something that ordinary people had never heard of. In the arms of the name I said.

"The one who accepts your friends is the King of Fire and Scales... He is the true master who once lurked underground and controlled all mountains, hills and minerals."

The mage of the Black Sun Society smiled and watched the miner leave the mine. According to the agreement, he will return to Watch City to visit his family. At the same time, he has also offered to let his family come with him to see what actually exists. "Miracle" and feel the true power of the gods.

With the first one, the second and third will naturally appear soon.

And when these poor miners realized that the members of the Black Sun Society would actually give many preferential treatment to ordinary people who joined the society, their psychological defenses began to collapse rapidly, and once this collapse occurred within the collective, Appearing, it becomes very difficult to condense again.

"You should be thankful that other mines may not be as lucky as this one... at least you are not so stubborn and stupid, and the door of the gods has not been closed to you."

After allowing more than a dozen compromised miners to witness the so-called real miracle, the wizard in charge of the Yanhu Mine came to the other miners and said loudly: "Cheer for your good luck, we Although your gods have been forgotten in the past, they have not given up on you..."

"Soon, an important figure in the association will come here in person. He is a senior scholar in the association and a true messenger who has been favored by several gods! If you want to personally experience or even receive the blessings of the gods, then Seize the opportunity quickly!"

Under this kind of fanatical speech, the miners who were already shaken in their hearts became even more unsettled. Even those who had great resistance to the Black Sun Society in their hearts have now fallen into silence. .

They are not idiots, and they all know that singing the opposite tune at this time will only lead to the death of themselves and their families in vain.

Just like the miner before.