"Praise the sun?" Dudley wondered if he was experiencing auditory hallucinations. After freezing momentarily, he immediately turned to observe that particular Muggle.
Noticing Dudley's attention, the Auror questioning the man helplessly displayed a weary smile and explained, "This Muggle seems to have something seriously wrong with his mental state. He only knows this one phrase. No matter what you ask him, he just praises the sun."
"I genuinely don't understand what's so wonderful about the sun that deserves praise. Is this some Muggle religious belief?" another Auror commented with confusion.
"No idea, but we certainly can't extract anything useful from this person."
Dudley stared intently at that Muggle, his gaze continuously scanning over the man's form and behavior.
Praising the sun represented something only believers of the Eternal Blazing Sun would do. But this was the magical world, where no such deity existed. Especially since the person before him was a Muggle. How could he possibly be a devotee of the Eternal Blazing Sun?
Besides the possibility of being a genuine believer, the only other explanation was that he had come into contact with a sealed artifact from the Sun pathway, causing severe problems with his mental state.
This was the most common negative effect of Sun pathway sealed artifacts: compulsive, devout praise of the sun.
"Can I speak with him for a moment?" Dudley approached and asked.
"Certainly, but he only praises the sun," the Auror reminded him with a shrug before turning to handle other matters.
Kingsley glanced at Dudley curiously but didn't interfere.
The other Aurors were all occupied with urgent tasks. There were numerous Muggles present who required investigation, and afterward they would need to cast Memory Charms on them all. They could forget about getting any rest tonight.
"Hello, what's your name?" Dudley attempted to engage the man in conversation.
"I'm Johnson. Praise the sun," the man replied with a beatific smile, his gaze clear and his attitude utterly devout. If this encounter had occurred during daylight hours on a busy street, he would certainly kneel down and prostrate himself before the sun in worship.
"May I ask what happened earlier? Do you remember?" Dudley inquired carefully.
His tone carried subtle authority as he offered the man a piece of candy.
"Praise the sun," Johnson continued his repetitive praise, completely ignoring Dudley's question.
Dudley frowned slightly. In this condition, Johnson had most likely been in prolonged contact with a Sun pathway sealed artifact and had been severely affected by its influence.
While pretending to continue casual conversation with the man, Dudley activated his spiritual vision to carefully examine Johnson's condition.
Soon, being close enough, Dudley detected something distinctly unusual.
"Here, this candy is for you. Let me place it in your pocket," Dudley said, putting the sweet in his hand into the man's coat pocket.
Immediately, his fingers brushed against a warm ring. He calmly gripped it in his palm, then withdrew his hand smoothly.
Just then, the man who had been smiling and praising the sun frowned with obvious confusion. His expression showed genuine bewilderment, and his face was no longer flushed as before but had turned noticeably pale.
"Do you remember what happened earlier?" Dudley continued his questioning.
He could confirm that the ring was indeed a Sun pathway sealed artifact, but how had it ended up in Johnson's possession? After all, Johnson was merely a Muggle. If he had held this sealed artifact for an extended period, he would probably have died long ago and couldn't possibly still be alive now.
From Dudley's assessment, Johnson had only been in contact with the ring for a few hours at maximum.
"Praise the sun. I... I remember when I was checking in earlier, I met a very beautiful woman. Hehe, she asked for my room number and said she'd come find me tonight. Hehehe..." Johnson said while grinning foolishly.
"Beautiful woman?" Dudley's expression shifted slightly as he thought of the woman who had strangled herself to death.
"What did she do to you?" Dudley pressed for more details.
"Praise the sun. We hehe... she embraced me. She was so warm, so passionate... hehehe..." Johnson continued grinning stupidly, drool beginning to flow from the corner of his mouth.
"Thank you," Dudley nodded and withdrew his beyonder ability's influence.
He had roughly pieced together what had transpired.
"Hello, I also couldn't get any useful information from him. Please cast a Memory Charm on this man," Dudley said to an Auror nearby.
"See, I told you he only praises the sun," the Auror chuckled and approached them.
"Hehehe, praise the sun," Johnson said, continuing to smile and speak when he saw the Auror drawing near.
"Obliviate!" The Auror didn't want to endure more sun worship and directly cast the Memory Charm.
Johnson's memories were quickly extracted, and he looked around with obvious confusion.
"What are you people doing?" he asked with genuine bewilderment.
"Routine inspection," the Auror replied smoothly.
"Alright, can I return to my room now?" Johnson inquired.
"Yes," the Auror nodded permission.
"Okay, praise the sun," Johnson finished speaking and walked toward his accommodation.
"Even that didn't make him forget about praising the sun. Seems he genuinely loves solar worship," the Auror said with obvious exasperation.
Dudley smiled and turned to locate Kingsley and Harry.
In his pocket, the ring kept rotating in Dudley's palm. He could clearly feel the warm sensation radiating from it, creating an almost irresistible urge to wear the artifact.
"Sun Ring, probably a Grade 2 sealed artifact, not under official supervision. This is a golden ring that continuously radiates heat. When worn, it can boost courage, purify the heart, dispel severe cold, have strong restraining effects against vengeful spirits and zombies, provide immunity to fear, and expel evil influences."
"Extraordinary ability, Summon Holy Light: Summons sacred, descending, clear, brilliant, and pure warm light that purifies undead creatures and causes significant damage to other types of targets."
"Solar Halo: For companions within a twenty-meter range, effectively increases their courage, purifies evil forces within their bodies, lets everyone bask in the sun's warmth, and dispels severe cold."
"Negative effects: The wearer will constantly feel the sun's observation. As wearing time extends, the wearer will grow closer and closer to the sun until completely losing rationality, becoming a faithful believer of the Eternal Blazing Sun, beginning to praise the sun constantly, and finally staring directly at the sun until completely burning away their own life force."
"Sealing method: Store in complete darkness. When no one is wearing it, it must not be exposed to sunlight, or it will absorb solar energy and ignite everything in the surrounding area."
The complete description of the Sun Ring surfaced clearly in Dudley's memory.
Compared to the Soul Requiem Mirror, this ring was obviously far more dangerous to handle.
Johnson hadn't been wearing the Sun Ring earlier, but even brief contact had affected him severely and started his compulsive sun worship. Even the Memory Charm couldn't restore him to his original mental state.