Chapter 64: Black Sky (2)

< 64 : Black Sky (2) >

The tower in the inner city.

There, Rex was staring blankly at the city.

Even though he had become a count, he felt unreal about his position.

Next to Rex was Palios, the knight who had been protecting Rex for a long time.

When Evan left his post after completing his mission, Palios took his place.

Palios looked at Rex’s back as he gazed at the city and asked.

“Did you really have to go that far?”

There was a hint of resentment in Palios’s voice that reached Rex.

Palios’s words made Rex’s face uneasy.

Even after Rex became the Count of Meyer, Palios swore loyalty to him as promised.

But he seemed to dislike the process.

When Rex ascended to the countship, the Countess of Meyer and Max Meyer were executed.

Thanks to that, Rex was able to consolidate most of the power, but it was inevitable that some resistance would pop up.

“Do you resent me?”

“...I resent myself for not being able to protect the prince then, and the count now.”

“You know it couldn’t be helped.”

“But if you had spoken up... couldn’t you have spared them?”

“How can I leave them alone when Max’s faction is still intact?”

A deal with the devil.

That was a fitting name for this deal.

Rex was able to become a count thanks to the deal he made with the Cult of the Evil God.

And in return, the cult took over the entire inner city of the count’s territory.

The cult’s followers were watching Rex from every place in the inner city.

And in the underground of the count’s territory, a mysterious altar was being built.

“They call you a bishop, but have you become a full-fledged follower of the evil god?”

“It’s just a pretense.”

“Then...”

“They need an excuse to bind me.”

“Are you happy living as their puppet?”

Palios’s sharp question pierced Rex’s ears.

The term puppet was not wrong.

Rex’s decisions required the approval of Roan, the archbishop, without fail.

And yet, he had become a count and was living a comfortable life without the threat of death.

Was he supposed to be dissatisfied with this life?

Rex gave a bitter smile at his own appearance, which had become a fat livestock.

“Palios, I want to tell you something...”

As Rex was about to say something to Palios.

Something strange started to happen around Rex.

Boom——.

A loud noise that tore his ears started to echo.

Rex quickly covered his ears as the noise that seemed to burst his eardrums rang out.

But the unidentified noise that echoed in his ears penetrated his hands and reached him.

“My lord! What is that...!”

“Ah...”

Palios, who also covered his ears, looked at Rex and shouted loudly.

But Palios’s voice was buried by the huge noise and didn’t reach him properly.

Boom——.

The noise didn’t stop and continued to echo in the sky.

At the same time, the sun that rose in the sky also started to turn black.

The repeating noise.

And the darkness that began to descend.

At the same time, people’s screams erupted from the entire inner city as the strange phenomenon occurred.

“What, what is this...!”

“Aa, aaaaah—!”

“Th, th, this is...”

Some people were running away to escape from the descending darkness.

Some people were covering their eyes to avoid seeing the dark sky.

Some people were crying and wailing to the sky with their ears plugged.

“Sn, sniff... save me!”

“The sun, the sun is turning black!”

Boom——.

Boom——.

The irregular noise that echoed under the screams gradually subsided.

As the sound diminished, Rex took his hands off his ears.

Palios also lowered his hands that covered his ears as the sound faded.

But despite that, the darkness that began to spread over the city continued to thicken.

The sun that turned black retracted the light that shone down on the ground.

Rex looked at the sky with a horrified expression as the light slowly disappeared.

“A black sun...”

A black sun rises under the black sky.

The moon and the stars lose their light completely, and the vast sky is filled with darkness.

A disaster that he had never seen before in his life.

The darkness that covered the world completely began to scatter a deep silence.

In the world that lost its light under the dark sky, Rex only felt the presence of Palios standing behind him.

“...My lord. Do you know anything about what is happening now?”

“A black sun. The symbol of the evil god.”

“The symbol of the evil god...?”

“I have a vague memory of reading it in a book once.”

The day when the sun loses its light.

And the day when the mad beasts lose their reason and go berserk.

A long time ago, he had read a book about the evil god.

The thick darkness that he saw before his eyes was a horrific scene that only the evil god could create.

A huge fear of the evil god rose in Rex’s chest as he looked at the sky.

“Palios.”

“...My lord.”

“Do you think we can fight against such a being, as humans?”

A world where nothing could be seen in the darkness.

Only the torches lit by the soldiers barely entered their sight.Fịndd new updates at novelhall.com

If this phenomenon lasts for months, the crops and fruits in the holy city will not ripen properly.

It could cause a huge food shortage in the whole holy city.

Especially if the black sun also rises in the southern grain belt of the empire, it would be difficult to get food support from the empire.

It was a matter that could lead to the starvation of many people in the holy city.

The opinions of the elders on this matter began to pile up from here and there.

“We need to find out how long the black sun will last.”

“What about wrapping the holy city with a holy barrier?”

“How can we solve the problem by covering only the holy city when the black sun covers the empire as well as the holy city?”

“If that doesn’t work, we can ask for food support from the Hegros Kingdom...”

A plan to create a holy barrier that covers the entire Crossbridge.

A plan to research the duration of the black sun.

And a plan to receive food support from the Hegros Kingdom across the border.

All kinds of measures came out in the conference room of the Holy Palace.

As the conversation leaned towards food support from another country.

Revels, who had been listening quietly, looked at the elders and opened his mouth.

“It’s difficult to get support from the Hegros Kingdom.”

“Sir Revels.”

“Even if we put aside the food situation of the Hegros Kingdom, there is the beast rampage phenomenon under the black sun.”

The phenomenon of beasts going berserk whenever an eclipse occurred.

The elders who attended this meeting also knew it well.

Revels’s words also seemed to be expected, and the elder who brought up the food support answered.

“Can’t the elites from the holy city take care of the food transportation?”

“It’s hard to transport enough food to feed the whole holy city with that manpower.”

“What’s the point of having the holy knights if they can’t even do that?”

“The holy knights are the force for the defense of the holy city. We can’t allocate all of them to the transport operation.”

As before, an argument began between the elder and the knight commander.

The elders and the knights, who were so hostile to each other that they were called enemies.

It was very common for a dispute to arise between the two organizations over the same issue.

The elder frowned at Revels, who brought up the defense of the holy city.

“You always talk about expanding the holy knights, but you haven’t even secured enough power yet.”

“There is a limit to the size that can be maintained with the current budget of the holy knights. If we lose our core force, the defense capability of the holy city will decline.”

“Can’t the elites from the Holy Land take care of the food transportation?”

“That’s not enough to feed the entire Holy Land.”

“Then what’s the point of having the Knight Order if they can’t even do that properly?”

“The Knight Order is the main force for the defense of the Holy Land. We can’t assign all of our personnel to transport operations.”

As before, an argument started between the elder and the knight commander.

The elders and the Knight Order were not on good terms, to say the least.

It was very common for them to have disputes over the same issue.

The elder frowned as he saw Revelz bring up the topic of the defense of the Holy Land.

“You always talk about expanding the Knight Order, but you haven’t even secured enough manpower yet.”

“There is a limit to how much we can maintain with the current budget of the Knight Order. If we lose our core forces, the defense capability of the Holy Land will decline.”

Revelz shook his head as he brought up the budget of the Knight Order in response to the elder’s words.

The elder’s face grew redder as the conversation dragged on.

He had thick veins on his neck as he spoke to Revelz.

“Then how do you propose we solve this situation?”

“If we don’t find a way to deal with the Black Sun fundamentally, we will eventually suffer huge losses.”

“Do you know how to solve the Black Sun fundamentally, Revelz?”

“Isn’t that a problem that the theologians of the Holy Land should research?”

“If that was possible, why did The Great Famine come in the war 200 years ago?”

“It’s been 200 years since then. There are many elders who are from brilliant theologians, so there must be many good solutions.”

The Knight Order and the elders started to pass the buck to each other about the problem.

Whew.

Holy Emperor sighed as he watched the two people arguing in front of him.

He had seen this scene many times before, but he couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable seeing them fight even in an urgent situation.

They were races that could never be bound by one name if it weren’t for their faith in the goddess.

His deep voice echoed in the conference hall as he let out a sigh.

“Enough! Be quiet.”

“Yes, Holy emperor-nim.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As soon as they heard Holy Emperor’s voice, the elder and the knight commander who were quarreling closed their mouths.

Holy Emperor’s gaze turned to the knight commander who was nearby.

He had stepped forward to settle this matter himself.

He gave a new order to the knight commander Revelz, who faced him.

“Lord Revelz.”

“Yes.”

“Make sure you prepare the troops to transport the food.”

“But, for the defense of the holy land...”

“That’s an order.”

“...Yes. I understand.”

The emperor’s gaze turned to the elder.

The elder who had been arguing with Rebels was a scholar who had gained fame before becoming an elder.

He looked at the emperor with an anxious expression.

The emperor gave him an order as well.

“Also, gather the theologians of the holy land and conduct research to solve the problem of the black sun.”

“...Your Majesty.”

“This is also an order.”

“Ah, I understand.”

“Elder Antonio, you need to prepare an envoy to send to the Hegris Kingdom.”

“I understand. Your Majesty.”

The noisy meeting came to a halt with the emperor’s words.

The emperor, who had organized the situation, looked at the elders with a serious face.

There was a mountain of work to be done, as he had convened the meeting for an urgent purpose.

They could not afford to waste time arguing over the same thing.

The emperor’s stern voice echoed in the meeting room again.

“This is a serious matter, so I will consider any plausible suggestions even after the meeting is over.”

“Yes.”

“Then, for now... let’s deal with the next agenda item.”

Under the rising black sun.

The meeting at the imperial palace continued without a pause.