Cold Moon.
The coldest month of Ansu had arrived.
The gigantic sun rose slowly and solemnly into the sky. Yellowish-Brown stripes that looked like wood grains floated on the humongous sun wheel with a cloud-like halo. The changes in those colorful stripes indicated one thing: the greatest cooling after winter was about to arrive.
The sun, the largest celestial body in the sky, was also the celestial body that was most closely related to human life. Experienced farmers could deduce the approximate date and extent of the cooling based on the changes in the stripes on the sun wheel, and scholars could deduce the overall climate of the next year based on the changes in the sun wheel. The observation of the gigantic sun had always been a very important part of the daily lives of the people of this world.
Saint Sunil City, Mage District.
Accompanied by a light friction sound, the 'Sun Chaser Platform' on the upper level of the Celestial Tower opened its thick and huge skylight. The magic powered lift also stopped steadily at the top of the passage in the center of the Sun Chaser Platform. Morgan Hugo and his assistants walked down from the lift and came to the position used to observe the sun wheel, preparing to start the routine observation work.
"Open the light filter — Filter Mode III."
The old royal mage instructed the assistant beside him. At the same time, he waved his hand at the bookshelf not far away. A quill, parchment, ink bottle, and other items flew over and hovered steadily in front of him. The assistant who received the order ran to a control node not far away and began to inject magic into the rune pillars.
Seeing the assistant's reckless actions, Morgan could not help but shout, "Be careful! The runes here are priceless! "
The assistant hurriedly controlled the amount of magic injected, and as the rune pillars around the Sun Chaser Platform lit up one by one, a thin layer of light also floated on the skylight used to observe the sun wheel.
A moment later, the magic light condensed into a layer of crystallized light, filtering the sunlight outside the skylight into a mode that was more suitable for human eyes to observe. Morgan Hugo nodded. Hugo nodded his head slightly. This set of magical equipment that was built a hundred years ago was still useful to this day. As the most qualified Astrologer in the Celestial Tower, the privilege of using this set of magical equipment was something that he was most proud of.
The old sorcerer stood still under the light filter made of magical radiance. He raised his head and carefully observed the sun outside the skylight, observing the changes of every colored stripe on its surface. Meanwhile, the quill and parchment floated beside him and kept writing quickly, recording all the data and patterns in the file.
The other assistants also came to the observation position and recorded the data that they were responsible for. A quiet and solemn atmosphere enveloped the top of the Celestial Tower.
However, this atmosphere did not last long. an assistant's exclamation of doubt broke the silence on the observation platform..... "The red pattern at the bottom shifted to the east by three degrees?"
"Morgan?" Hugo immediately glared at his assistant. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
"It's true! Teacher! " The assistant said hurriedly. Then, he handed the things he had recorded to the tutor and took out the observation record from the last time. "Look, this is the record from last time — you personally confirmed it."
"Morgan?" Hugo took a few pages of paper from his assistant, and his eyes quickly swept across them. He was stunned for a moment, and then looked more carefully. Then, he raised his head and stared at the giant sun in the sky without blinking.
"This is impossible …" The old astrologer muttered to himself. He waved his hand and summoned an illusion spell to calibrate the coordinates, setting up a large number of reference marks around the image of the sun on the filter. But when he looked at the result of the calibration, his shock only increased. "No … impossible … such a large-scale shift … this has never been seen before …" The old astrologer mumbled.
"teacher, should we report this to the White Silver Fort?" the assistant asked carefully. "This is an obvious astronomical anomaly."
"Report it to the White Silver Fort immediately!"
…
In the Gloom Mountains, in the second astronomical observatory, the young mage who was in charge of recording the changes of the sun wheel 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 murmured to himself. He took a closer look at the data and patterns on the recording board. Then, he raised his head and looked at the image of the sun through the large filter lens on the roof of the observatory. His face was full of disbelief.
His companion looked at him curiously. "Could it be that there is a mistake in the historical record?"
"No, all the data is observed and recorded twice," the young mage said as he stood up and walked to the door of the observatory. "I'll go outside and take a look. You continue to record inside!"
He walked out of the observatory and came to the platform connected to the station. The cold north wind was swirling over the Gloom Mountains, rolling through the forests and valleys, and whistling on the newly built station a few months ago. The young mage, who had just come out of the warm room, could not help but shiver.
The young mage put up a shield to keep the cold mountain wind outside. He then took out a portable light filter and carefully observed the giant sun in the sky through the lens.
These astronomical observatories set up in the Gloom Mountains were ancillary products of the "Nature of Magic" project led by Kamel. The purpose was to study the relationship between the cycle of the giant sun and the changes of magic in nature.
For a long time, Kamel had believed that the magic in nature came from the giant sun in the sky. However, the whole world itself was shrouded in a powerful magic environment, and it was difficult to observe the changes of magic in the outside world. In order to minimize interference and improve the accuracy of observation, Kamel presided over the construction of a series of observatories in the Gloom Mountains.
"Astronomical Observatory No.2" was one of them.
These observatories had the functions of detecting the changes of magic and observing the changes of the weather at the same time. Because it was built on the high ground of the Gloom Mountains, it even had the function of monitoring the Great Wall.
To be able to stand guard in such an observation station, the young mage was naturally one of the best among Carmel's many apprentices and assistants. However, at this very moment, this outstanding young man had fallen into a huge state of shock.
The giant sun was still quietly hanging in the sky, providing light and heat to the world as usual. In the eyes of ordinary people, there was no change at all. However, to this young man, the sun in the sky had become very strange at this moment.
The young mage looked up for a long time without blinking. Even with the protection of the light filter, his eyes soon became painful. He had to lower his head and use a spell to relieve the pain in his eyes. Then, he began to carefully check the parameters on the recording board in his hand.
At this moment, a strange low sound entered the young mage's ears.
The sound seemed to have come from a very, very far away place. It sounded like the sound of wind and thunder. It traveled so far that when it reached the ears, it was already blurry. The young man raised his head in the midst of this strange sound. After seeing the source of the sound, his expression fell into a daze.
His sight crossed the ridge of the Gloom Mountain, the Dark Forest at the foot of the mountain on the other side, and the Decaying Plain that had been destroyed by the Great Mana Tide. At the end of his sight, in the southern horizon, the entire Great Wall was shining several times brighter than before.
The low sound of wind and thunder came from the Great Wall.
"… The Goddess of Magic …" The young mage exclaimed in a low voice. He then turned and rushed to the observatory. "Inform Master Kamel! Inform the Lord! "
…
In the far southern horizon, the light emitted by the Great Wall was like an aurora that fell to the ground. The light was several times brighter than usual, with a sense of breathtaking magnificence. The disturbing sound of wind and thunder was still coming, but it was much softer than before.
Gwen stood on the observation platform in the Gloom Mountains, looking at the scene in the distance without saying a word for a long time.
In his mind, the warning from the satellite monitoring system was still echoing:
"… Warning, abnormal increase in the activity of the giant planet. Warning, abnormal increase in the activity of the giant planet …"
The changes in the magic power of nature were closely related to the activity of the giant sun. According to what happened 700 years ago, the changes of the giant sun were very likely to indicate the approach of the magic tide. The various observation records of the sirens also confirmed this point: whenever the magic tide came, the first abnormal reaction must be the sun in the sky.
Is there not much time left? Or is it time?
Gwen turned off the warning in his mind and turned to look at the young mage beside him. Other than himself, the 'satellite spirit' who noticed the changes of the sun at the first moment, this young mage was the first to discover the abnormality and send back the warning. The abnormality of the Great Wall was also reported by this young man in a timely manner.
"How long has it been since the strange sound and light of the Great Wall?"
"It has been four hours now, my lord," the young mage said a little nervously. "But I can only be sure that the strange sound came from four hours ago, but I'm not sure when the brightness changed. We have been recording other things for a few hours before that and did not look at the Great Wall."
Gwen nodded. From the young mage's report, he heard the unique seriousness of a researcher.
Behind Gawain, Heidi and the others were all worried. Hu Po was the first one who couldn't help but ask, "I say … that wall isn't going to collapse, is it?!"
Gwen wanted to give a clear answer, but after a few seconds of thinking, he could only shake his head. "… I don't know."
Heti and Rebecca asked in unison, "You don't know?"
"I can only be sure of one thing: the strange sound and the increase in the brightness of the energy barrier are the manifestations of the increased load on the Great Wall. It is now under a lot of pressure, but the barrier has not broken, which means that the pressure has not exceeded the threshold. According to the original design, as long as there is no new impact, it will repair itself. But I'm not sure if the barrier's safety system can survive this test after 700 years of wind and rain."
Rebecca gulped. "What if … it can't?"
"The Gloom Mountains may be able to withstand the first impact of the Demonic Tide, but the mutants will soon try to cross the barrier. The best case scenario is that the chaotic magic energy in the Gondor wasteland has greatly weakened in the past 700 years, and it no longer has the power to directly destroy the human world. Then the southern border will return to the situation when Ansu was just founded 700 years ago — constantly fighting the monsters rushing out of the Demonic Tide, engaging in a never-ending tug-of-war." Gwen shook his head. "The good news is that we now have the magic cannons and the Prismatic Light Device. The bad news is that in other parts of the southern border, there are no more Cecil's wolf riders, nor are there any more priests and nobles who are ready to die."
Behind Heti, a government official could not help but whisper, "So we'd better pray that it can survive this time …"
"It's hard to say if praying will work, but at least we can't just wait like this." Gwen turned around and looked at Heti. "The government office is in a state of emergency. Be prepared to mobilize strategic resources. Currently, the towns that have been equipped with large shields will be prepared to take shelter. Increase the surveillance of the southern part of the Gloom Mountains. All observation points will be turned to the Great Wall. Prepare for propaganda. The security team is on standby. Do not mess up anywhere …"
As Gwen issued his orders one by one, everyone at the scene clearly understood the seriousness of the matter, and at the same time, they also felt a little relieved.
Having orders and arrangements was better than being at a loss for what to do.
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