The cold moon.

The coldest month of Ansu has arrived.

The giant sun rises solemnly and slowly into the sky, and the huge sunwheel with a cloud-like halo floats with yellow-brown bands that look like wood grains, and the change of these colored stripes indicates one thing: the greatest cooling of the winter season is soon coming.

The sun, the largest celestial body in the sky and the most closely related to people's lives, experienced farmers can guess the approximate date and magnitude of the cooling based on the changes in the stripes on the sun wheel, and scholars have developed a method for deducing the overall climate of the next year based on the changes in the sun wheels.

San Sunil City, Wizard's District.

With a slight friction sound, the "Sun-Hunting Platform" on the upper level of the astrological tower opened its heavy and massive skylight, and the magic-driven lifting platform also stopped firmly on the top of the passage in the center of the Sun-Hunting Platform. Hugo and his assistants stepped down from the platform to the place where the sun wheel was to be observed, ready to begin their usual observations.

"Open the Filter Plate – Filter Mode III."

The old royal mage gave instructions to the assistant next to him, and at the same time beckoned to the bookshelf not far away, and the quills, parchment, inkwell, and other objects flew in and hovered steadily in front of him, while the assistant who received the order ran to a control node not far away and began to inject magic into the rune pillar.

Seeing the assistant's slightly reckless movements, Morgan couldn't help but shout: "Be careful!" The runes here are priceless! ”

The assistant hurriedly controlled the amount of mana infusion, and as the rune pillars around the platform brightened, a thin layer of light floated on the skylight used to observe the sun wheel.

A moment later, the magical brilliance condensed into a crystallization of light that seemed to be a substance, filtering the daylight outside the skylight into a mode more suitable for human observation. Hugo nodded slightly: the magic device built a hundred years ago is still in good working place today, and as the most qualified astrologer in this tower, the privilege of invoking this magic device has always been something he is most proud of.

The old mage stood beneath the layer of filters condensed with magical radiance, and looked up at the sun wheel outside the skylight, observing the changes in each stripe of color on its surface, while the quill and parchment floated beside him, writing at a rapid pace, recording all the data and patterns.

Other assistants also came to the observation position, recording the data they were responsible for, and a quiet and solemn atmosphere hung over the top of the astrological tower.

However, the atmosphere did not last long, and the silence on the observation platform was broken by a bewildered whisper of an assistant: "The red stripe at the bottom is shifted three degrees to the east? ”

Morgan? Hugo immediately glared at his assistant: "What nonsense? ”

"It's true! Teacher! The assistant said quickly, and then took out the last observation record while taking out the things he had recorded to the instructor, "Look, this is the last record - you have personally confirmed it." ”

Morgan? Hugo took the pages from his assistant, his eyes swept over them quickly, he was stunned for a moment, then read them more carefully, and then looked up again, his eyes fixed on the great sun in the sky without blinking.

"This can't be ......," the old astrologer muttered to himself, waving his hand to summon an illusion spell to calibrate the coordinates, placing a large reference mark around the image of the sun wheel on the filter, but looking at the results of the calibration, his shock increased, "No...... No way...... Such a massive shift...... This has never been seen before......"

"Teacher, should we report to Silver Castle?" The assistant cautiously asked, "This is an obvious celestial anomaly." ”

"Report Silver Fort now!!"

……

In the Dark Mountains, in the No. 2 Celestial Observatory, the young mage who was in charge of recording the changes in the sun wheel also put down the recording board in his hand in shock.

"Could it be that there is a storm on the surface of the sun?" The young mage muttered to himself, and he took a closer look at the data and patterns on the recording board, then looked up and looked at the image of the sun wheel through the large filter lens on the roof of the observatory, with a look of disbelief.

The companion on the side looked at it curiously: "Could it be that the historical record is wrong?" ”

"No, all data is observed and recorded in double copies," the young mage said as he stood up and walked towards the door of the observatory, "I'll go outside and take a look, and you can continue recording inside!" ”

He stepped out of the observatory and onto the platform connected to it, where the cold north wind swirled over the Dark Mountains, swept through the mountains and canyons, and whirred over the site, which had been built months earlier, making the young mage shiver as he had just come out of the warm chamber.

The young mage held up his shield to keep out the cold mountain wind, then took out the portable filter lenses, through which he carefully observed the great sun in the sky.

These astronomical observatories set up in the dark mountains are an outgrowth of the "Magical Nature" project led by Kamel, which aims to study the connection between the cycle of giant solar activity and changes in the magic of the natural world.

For a long time, Kamel believed that the magic of the natural world came from the giant sun in the sky, but because the whole world itself was shrouded in a powerful magical environment, it became difficult to observe the changes of external magic in this "shrouded environment".

The "Astronomical Observatory No. 2" is one of them.

These observatories are both used to detect changes in magic and observe changes in the sky, and because they are built high in the Dark Mountains, they even serve as a monitoring wall.

To be able to garrison such an observatory, the young mage was naturally the best of Kamel's many apprentices and assistants, but at this moment, this excellent young man fell into great consternation.

The giant sun still hung quietly in the sky, providing light and heat to this world as always, and it was probably impossible to see any change in it in the eyes of ordinary people, but for this young man, the sun in the sky had become extremely strange at this moment.

The young mage looked up for a long time without blinking, and even with the protection of the filter lenses, his eyes quickly became painful, and he had to lower his head, using spells to relieve the swelling of his eyes, and then began to carefully examine the parameters on the recording board in his hand.

At this moment, a strange low voice reached the young mage's ears.

The sound seemed to come from far, far away, it sounded like the thunder of a hurricane, and it traveled so far that it was already vague when it reached the ears, and the young man looked up at the strange noise, and his expression fell into a daze when he saw the source of the sound.

His gaze crossed the ridges of the Dark Mountains, over the dark forests at the foot of the mountains on the other side, over the corrupted plains destroyed by the demonic tides, and at the end of his sight, on the southern horizon, the entire wall of grandeur was shining several times brighter than before.

The low sound of wind and thunder came from the great wall.

“…… Goddess of Magic......" the young mage exclaimed in a low voice, then turned and rushed to the observatory, "Inform Master Kamal!" Notify the lord!! ”

……

Far south on the horizon, the glow of the Great Wall was like an aurora falling to the ground, and the light was several times stronger than usual floating there, with a breathtaking magnificence, and the unsettling sound of wind and thunder still continued to be heard—only much smaller than at the beginning.

Gawain stood on the observation platform of the Dark Mountains, looking into the distance and did not say a word for a long time.

In his mind, the alarm from the satellite monitoring system was still echoing:

“…… Warning, Abnormal Rise in Giant Planet Activity, Warning, Abnormal Rise in Giant Planet Activity......"

The changes in the magic of nature are closely related to the activity of the Great Sun, and according to what happened 700 years ago, the change of the Great Sun is very likely to indicate the approach of the magic tide, and the observation records of the Sirens also confirm this: whenever the magic tide rises, the first abnormal reaction must be the sun in the sky.

Time is running out...... Or is the time up?

Gawain turned off the alarm information in his mind and turned his head to look at the young mage beside him - in addition to his own "satellite spirit" who noticed the change of the sun for the first time with the help of the satellite alarm, this young man was the first person in the territory to detect the anomaly and send back the alarm, and the anomaly of the magnificent wall was also reported by this young man in time.

"How long has it been since the Great Wall made strange noises and lights?"

"It's been four hours now, my lord," the young mage said a little nervously, "but I'm only sure the strange noise came from four hours ago, not sure when the brightness changed—we'd been recording something else for hours before that, not looking at the Great Wall. ”

Gawain nodded, and from the young mage's report, he heard the rigor that characterizes researchers.

Behind Gawain, Herty and the others who came with him were all worried, and Amber was the first to hold back: "I said...... Isn't that wall going to collapse now?! ”

Gawain wanted to give a clear answer, but after a few seconds of thought, he could only shake his head: "...... I do not know. ”

Herty and Rebecca said in unison: "You don't know either? ”

"I can only be sure of one thing: the current strange noise and the increase in the brightness of the energy barrier are all manifestations of the surge in load on the Great Wall, it is under a lot of pressure at the moment, but the barrier has not yet broken, which means that the pressure has not exceeded the threshold, and according to the original design, as long as no new shock arrives, it will repair itself - but I am not sure that after seven hundred years of wind and rain, the barrier's security system will survive this test."

Rebecca swallowed: "What if...... Can't hold on? ”

"The Dark Mountains may be able to withstand the first onslaught of the Demon Tide, but the Aberrants will soon begin to try to climb over this barrier, and the best case scenario is that the chaotic magic energy in the Gondor Wasteland has been greatly attenuated in the past seven hundred years, and it no longer has the power to directly destroy the human world, then the South will return to the situation seven hundred years ago when Ansu first founded the kingdom - constantly fighting the monsters rushing out of the Demon Tide, engaged in a tug-of-war that will never be peaceful," Gawain shook his head, "The good news is that we now have the Magic Cannon and the Rainbow Light Device, The bad news is that elsewhere in the South, there are no more Cecil wolf cavalry, and there are no more death-defying priest stormtroopers and noble death squads. ”

Behind Hetty, a government department official couldn't help but whisper: "So we'd better pray it survives this ......"

"It's hard to say if prayers won't work, but at least we can't just wait," Gawain turned to look at Hetty, "The government department is in a state of emergency, ready to call in strategic supplies...... Towns that have installed large shields are now used as shelters...... Increased surveillance of the southern part of the Dark Mountains, with all observation points turning to the Great Wall...... Be prepared for propaganda, the security team is on standby at all times, and there can be no random ...... anywhere"

As Gao Wen's instructions were given one by one, everyone on the scene more clearly understood the seriousness of the matter, and in addition to this, they also felt a little relieved.

With instructions and arrangements, it is better than being at a loss.