The cold wave that had plagued Vann for so long was finally coming to an end, and on the seventh day of Vann's new year, the cold air began its final struggle in the realm of the kingdom of St. Steele, and all its power exploded, creating the last trace of chill before the temperature rose.

In the face of the Plains Coalition that is gathering at an astonishing speed, even the Black Sun Society, which has those strange powers and rituals in its hands, and is already summoning ancient creations, has to choose to stay away for the time being.

Through the royal family of St. Steele, they issued a directive ordering the army of St. Steele, which had previously been stranded east of the Issa River, to begin withdrawing and establish a new defensive line with Overwatch as a core stronghold.

The Kingdom of Hayne was somewhat ambiguous in its confrontation with St. Steele, but under the pressure of the general situation, their powerful navy also began to act, although the Kingdom of Hayne only used a small number of ships on the grounds of "the need to guard against threats in the sea", but when these heavily armed sea metal behemoths stopped in those delicate positions, the pressure exerted was already very obvious.

On the other hand, the Kingdom of Waterl was a little more conservative, and the highland kingdom known for its military notoriess was not as aggressive as it had been in the past, continuing its previous strategy of strengthening the blockade of the railway lines and consolidating the border with the Kingdom of St. Steele, and trying to accommodate those who had fled.

At the same time, there was a collaboration between the Council and the Vann Society of Magic, and an in-depth monitoring and study of the rugged hills.

Behind the scenes, the Kingdom of Wattle and the Judicial Council have launched an important secret plan.

Under this plan, a number of huge intelligence networks woven by different countries and organizations began to merge, the process was slow and difficult, after all, these collaborators were rivals and even mortal enemies in the past, and among these accumulated intelligence and strongholds, they had to make a selection, release some of them and promote cooperation, and the other part was kept as their own hole cards.

Luckily, some fresh blood was added to this difficult plan, and they were like an indispensable lubricant in the operation of the machine, so that the otherwise difficult cooperation continued.

It was a young institution called "Sword of Dawn", which lacked a background and a backstage.

Although it is fundamentally part of the Dawn Society, it is willing to accept multiple oversights at the same time, and has established itself as a relatively objective and neutral intelligence brokerage.

No one would question the composition of the members of the Sword of Dawn, and there are indications that this new organization affiliated with the Dawn Society is the most hostile to the Black Sun Society, including not only survivors of the Salem City massacre, but also "legendary experts" who have already fought fiercely against 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, with the help of the sword-wielding hermits of the Judicial Council and the Wattle agents, crossed Merlinle and the bay, and headed for the extremely dangerous hinterland of St. Steele.

Immediately after crossing the bay, this special team disappears, turning into a wind that blows into the cold background and completely merging with the dangerous world.

……

It was dim, cold, and cramped.

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

And now, with the Black Sun Society in control of all of Saint-Steele and the Black Sun hanging overhead, something new has emerged inside these crystalline mines.

A strange and subtle ailment is manifesting itself in the miners' bodies.

Either uncontrollable insomnia, which makes miners prone to mistakes in their work, or inexplicable dreams, the latter makes it difficult for workers who have finally been given a break to wake up.

In mines, the dangers of these two distinct symptoms are staggering, and when combined, the efficiency of these crystalline mines is degraded.

"There is something wrong with these crystalline mines...... I, I can hear them talking! ”

"It's haunted, and the mine must be haunted! I saw dead people's figures and faces in those ores! ”

"Let me go!"

However, in the face of these appalling rumors and the fierce reaction of the miners, it was naturally impossible for the crystalline mines that received the direct orders and commands of the Black Sun Society to let the miners leave.

Even in St. Steele, there has always been a "tradition" of miners using strikes, rebellions, and even riots to fight for their basic rights, but this time, the miners were too strong to face the heavily armed overseers and the mages of association who were accompanied by dark dogs.

Their every move, even every word they say, seems to be under extremely close surveillance.

In the Rock Lake Mine on the west side of Overwatch, there has been something that has made the miners extremely angry and frightened, and just in the past two days, a powerful miner in the mine who has organized several revolts in the past has been silently strangled to death on his bed at night.

A young worker who had worked as a handyman in a magical alchemy workshop recognized that the deceased had died of some kind of vicious and simple magic - the caster had created venom-filled blisters during the night, and the blisters had been directly enveloped in the deceased's head, and he had no time to make any sound, nor did he have time to struggle, because the venom would be quickly poured into his body under the effect of magic and take effect.

What was even more intolerable was that his family, from his wife to his daughter to his elderly father, were killed on the same night, and the thugs of the Black Sun Society brought his family's bodies to the mine and buried them together in front of everyone.

It was only at this point that it was recalled that a day earlier, the deceased had spoken out about the Black Sun Society inside the mines, and he believed that the miners in the mines should find a way to deal with the gloomy overseers and use their weapons to kill the mages of the Society, so that they could escape the mines and be reunited with their families.

In the process, he apparently also mentioned his family members who remained in Overwatch.

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

In the past, although the contradictions between the mines and the miners were always very intense, these contradictions were not unsolvable, and the two sides were always trying to achieve their goals in mutual temptation and concession.

But now it's different.

The violence of the Black Sun Society is difficult for the miners to fight, and their magical rituals have enveloped the entire mine and penetrated deep into the branches of the mines, where they have no way to discuss privately, hide weapons and tools, let alone take concrete action, under close surveillance.

The dark dogs with rat tails and a strange and sinister aura all over their bodies constantly patrol the mines, and some miners even see them brazenly burrowing into the mines, picking up the crystalline ore and starting to gnaw and chew, under their sharp teeth, these hard ores will turn into residue on the spot, and the magic in them will be sucked clean.

Under this all-round pressure, the miners' own survival became difficult, and when they came out of the mines, they had to face the cloudy sky and the overcast city of Overwatch in the distance.

They were all residents of Overwatch, and most of their families lived in that city.

Now, however, according to the faithful members of the Black Sun Society, Overwatch has become a city destined to be unfavored by the ancient gods.

The massive dome that should have shrouded the City of Watch had been shattered, which meant that the City of Watch and the area in which it was located were contrary to the ancient sacred rituals and beliefs, and that it was neither suitable for the "truth and truth" to settle down, nor to operate as a large city.

"It's only suitable to be used as a fortress, a fortress of war stuck in a traffic artery and given to fools to face off...... This is the punishment it deserves as a place forsaken by the gods, and it is the only role it can play in the present! ”

In response to the miners' questions of concern, the guards and overseers, who had fully committed themselves to the ancient faith, replied: "Rest assured, you and your families have not completely lost the opportunity, perhaps the problem is only the city and the land beneath it, and if you wish, you can always be accepted by the true gods like us, and witness the 'miracle' happen, and even touch it yourself!" ”

"I warn you, don't call them simply magic...... Magic is just a name for the power that the 'false gods' have bestowed on us in order to deceive us, and although it is still used, it can never represent its true meaning. ”

"If you want to understand it, then let go of your false stubbornness and the burden of stupidity on your shoulders, open your heart, and truly accept and embrace the reality that has been lost!"

Normal miners certainly won't believe what these cruel madmen say, but accidents happen.

A miner who was very worried about his family and longed to leave the mine and return home, under pressure from many aspects, finally chose to compromise, he approached the mage of the Black Sun Society stationed in the mine, and begged him to let him see the "miracles", in exchange for hoping that he would be given a vacation to visit his family.

Faced with such a request, the stern and ruthless members of the Black Sun Society simply and generously agreed, and the miner was led into a sealed room, and after more than half an hour, he walked out of the room slowly, but his face was no longer the tension, distress, and worry of the previous one, but a look that the other workers could not understand.

He seemed to be in a state of frenzy, his eyes lit up, and his tired and stained face glowed with a strange look.

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

In front of everyone, he knelt beside the Black Sun Ritual by the mine gates, and began to pray to the desecrated sculpture that he had not dared to look at in the past, and some of the workers he knew well heard his prayer.

To their astonishment, the miner's prayer did not seem to be in any of the languages he was familiar with, it was definitely not the local language of St. Steele, much less the lingua franca, but sounded like some kind of chant in meaningless syllables.

In just half an hour, he seemed to have completely forgotten his past beliefs, he had forgotten the fire of life, he had forgotten the goddess Mel, and threw himself into the arms of a name that ordinary people had never heard of before.

"It is the Lord of Burning Fire and the Lord of Scales who accepts your friends...... He is the true master of all the mountains, hills and minerals that once lurked underground. ”

The mage of the Black Sun Society smiled as the miner left the mine, as agreed to return to Overwatch to visit his family, and he had offered to bring his family with him to see the real "miracle" and feel the true power of the gods.

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

And when these struggling miners realized that the members of the Black Sun Society would really give many preferential treatment to ordinary people who joined the association, their psychological defenses began to collapse rapidly, and once this kind of collapse that occurred within the collective appeared, it became very difficult to reunite again.

"You should be glad that other mines may not be as lucky as here...... At least you are not so stubborn and stupid, and the doors of the gods are not closed to you. ”

After a dozen or so compromised miners had witnessed the so-called real miracle, the Formation Mage in charge of the Rock Lake Mine came to the rest of the miners and exclaimed, "Rejoice your good fortune, our gods have not given up on you, although they have been forgotten in the past......"

"Soon, an important figure from within the Society will be here, a senior scholar of the Society, a true messenger of the favor of several gods! If you want to experience and even receive the blessings of the gods, then seize your chance! ”

Under this frenzied speech, the miners, who were already wavering in their hearts, became even more wavering, and even those who had great resistance to the Black Sun Society in their hearts now fell silent.

They are not stupid, and they all know that going against the tune at such a time will only cost themselves and their families their lives.

Just like the miner before it.

(End of chapter)