"Click, click, click!"
The clockwork timer kept ticking.
"Click!"
At last, the timer's three hands returned to zero and stopped at the twelve o'clock position.
Midnight. Exactly twelve.
Somewhere beneath Shalin, Black Sun Castle.
Inside the Command Room, all mid- and high-ranking Black Sun Members were present.
Arthur Osheimer had pronounced dark circles under his eyes, making him look even more frightening than usual. He gave the timer a solemn glance, then took a deep breath and looked at everyone. "The time has come. We haven't received an order to abort, so it seems the Black Sun Project can proceed to the next step."
"Agreed," said Robert Albert, a senior Black Sun Member.
"Agreed," said another senior Black Sun Member, Hancock Von Neumann.
"Agreed..."
Then the third, fourth, fifth... all gave the same response.
"Very good. Unanimously approved. Then let's begin."
Osheimer nodded and, without further nonsense, strode to one wall of the Command Room. He pressed a hand against it and infused it with mana.
Magic runes swiftly lit up across the wall's surface. The next moment, it slid apart to either side, revealing three keyholes and two number dials.
Osheimer took a silver-white key from his robes and inserted it expressionlessly into the left keyhole. He turned it three times to the left, then three times to the right, stopped, and stepped aside.
Robert Albert stepped forward, produced a golden key, and inserted it into the left keyhole. He turned it one and a half times to the left, then four and a half times to the right, stopped, and stepped aside like Osheimer.
Hancock Von Neumann stepped forward, took out a black key, inserted it into the middle keyhole, turned it five times to the right, and stepped aside.
After that, another senior Black Sun Member, Rudolf