Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong continually switched the scenes in his vision—rain mixed with leaves struck his face in the dark, and lacking night vision, he allowed the Clockwork Fairy to fly low. Soon, he saw the scene he was looking for.

A dazzling bolt of lightning descended from the distant firmament, connecting heaven and earth, turning the whole world silver bright.

Amid the torrential downpour, several faces struck by panic came into view—twenty or thirty people were fleeing forward while incessantly looking back. They were moving past the bushes in the heavy rain, then the light faded, and all was silent once more, leaving only the sound of sparse raindrops.

Fang Hong was slightly stunned; the people, he saw, were unarmed and their attire didn’t seem like that of adventurers but rather resembled that of the local natives. These people seemed not so much to be running toward him and his party as they were fleeing from something in fear.

”What’s going on here?”

With a thought, he had one of the Clockwork Fairies hover, while the other three picked up speed, rapidly flying over the heads of these people and toward what lay behind them.

The Flapping Wing Machine sped up with a faint and piercing mechanical buzz, its four separated wings cutting through the rain, leaving behind thin trails of water.

Among the people on the ground, a young man looked up in confusion, stopping in his tracks. A hand clad in an iron gauntlet reached out from behind and patted his shoulder.

”Eior.”

Fang Hong was momentarily puzzled before realizing that it was a phrase in Suifenno, with the highlander’s distinctive nasal twang. It meant ”Keep moving—”; these were indeed natives, and moreover, a minority tribe living in Tarun.

The system automatically adjusted his language system, allowing him to understand the following conversation.

The one who spoke was the only person among the group wielding a weapon—a mature and resolute Knight with a two-handed sword slung across his back, his black hair flecked with silver, his gaze steady. He pushed the young man, and his segmented shoulder armor gleamed faintly with water light.

”Mr. Chief Protector, I just heard something.”

”It’s a squirrel.”

”That’s definitely not the sound of a squirrel, sir. It was above us, I heard it,” the young man said, a bit agitated.

”Enough, whatever that is, let’s move. Those things are catching up,” the Knight said, lifting his gaze to the dark treetops. Rain fell on his face, gathering into streams that flowed into his armor.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air from behind.

”They’re coming!”

The cry was as harrowing as the croak of a crow announcing doom.

The Knight pushed the young man aside, who stumbled several steps forward before turning back. In the downpour, hints of green luminescence emerged from the forest on the other side, coalescing into a sea, encircling from behind.

The Undead—

Fang Hong saw clearly now. The green specks were the hollow ghost fire in the skulls’ eye sockets.

He gasped—densely packed Undead had appeared in the forest, with so many floating ghost fires merged together to form a vast Sea of Light. Bones clustered close together, as if freshly crawled out from the earth. They were clad in tattered Armor, wielding rusted swords and longbows.

In the pouring rain, they steadily made their way through the forest, step by step.

How could there be so many Undead? Without a word, Fang Hong raised his right hand and spread his fingers; the Clockwork Fairies scattered and flew deeper into the forest. Overlooking the entire expanse, he saw countless skeletons, like a silent deluge.

”Mr. Diket!” the young man called out in desperation.

”Lead everyone away from here,” the Knight replied with composure, casting a glance at the young man. ”Move on, I promised your father I’d get you out.”

The young man hesitated for a moment, but understanding that staying was pointless, he looked back, gritted his teeth, and turned away.

Then, a feather arrow flew out of the darkness.

The Knight reached out with his hand and deflected the arrow. Several civilians, in absolute panic, ran past him, while on the other end of the forest, a uniform line of skeletal Longbowmen had emerged.

”This is bad—”

Fang Hong’s heart sank at the sight, and he hurriedly commanded the Clockwork Fairy to lower its altitude to interfere with those undead Archers.

But it was a moment too late.

The skeletal Longbowmen stopped right after stepping out of the forest, cocking their heads back, the luminescence flickering in their hollow eye sockets like ghost fire. They made a creaking noise, then lifted their longbows—

A piercing twang of bows being drawn grated on the ears.

The young man turned back and saw this, his face contorted in horror as he yelled, ”Watch out, Mr. Diket!”

The Knight looked over his shoulder and gave him a calm glance. Then he turned around, reaching back with his right hand and just touching the hilt of his long sword. He lifted his head, steadily facing the undead.

The skeletal Longbowmen released their bowstrings together. The longbows, powered by negative energy, were uninfluenced by the foul weather. The high-frequency vibration of the bowstrings even overpowered the sound of the pounding rain for a moment.

With a swish, a volley of broken feather arrows broke free from the rain, forming a rising wall shimmering with droplets, descending in a sweeping deluge.

The civilians were so terrified that they tripped and crawled.

Only the mature Knight stood unwavering, facing the enemy, gripping the sword hilt, and shouting, ”Divine Light, Divine Grace, God-Blessed—Barrier!”

A faint ripple spread out from him like wings, forming a hexagonal net with him at the center. The feather arrows struck it and were snuffed out in sparks of gold.