Pillar of Yita

”Come check this out.” Parker, gasping for breath, ran back and handed the item in his hand to Gita. It was a strangely shaped dagger that somewhat resembled a slightly curved hook, or perhaps the fang of a snake; its blade was made from cold steel, icy and grim.

”Did you see this on those people?”

Upon seeing the dagger, Gita’s face reflected fear, and she instinctively took a step back. Fang Hong, recognizing the expression on her face, understood that during her encounter with those mysterious attackers, she had seen the very dagger now in Parker’s hand.

He stepped forward, placed his hand on Gita’s back, and whispered, ”Don’t be afraid, we’re all here.”

The girl then came back to her senses, nodding with a pale face.”It’s this one.”

”This dagger is a Magic Guided Conductor,” Parker said, turning the dagger around to show the counterweight hammer end of the handle—it was embedded with a gemstone the size of a fingertip, green in color. ”The stone inside is hollow, probably containing poison. If it were connected to the corresponding Resonance Crystal and a Magic Guided Reactor through skill commands, it should be able to envenom the blade—though as you can see, this design is extremely clever. Even without a connection to a Magic Guided Reactor, its internal structure can still inject the poison, but that would be single-use.”

”This should be the lethal poison of the Scorpiontail Lion. Thankfully, they didn’t use it outright on Gita, or even gods couldn’t have saved her.”

”Parker, don’t frighten Gita,” Atira said irritably. ”And show some respect to the gods. Magic poisons are no big deal for Druids, not to mention Lady Ameya.”

”Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to clarify that I am quite familiar with the dagger, and I’m not lying to you. Look, this is how it works.”

As he spoke, he gestured with the dagger over his finger, but his hand trembled, flinging the dagger out. It sliced open a cut on his finger, from which a drop of glowing green poisoned blood emerged instantly.

”Ah!” Poor Papalarian exclaimed in agony.

”Parker!” Everyone cried out in alarm. Atira, her face changing color, rushed over, grabbed his plump, short hand, and was about to cast a detoxification spell.

But the Papalarian suddenly burst out laughing loudly, holding his stomach so hard that he nearly cried tears of laughter, nimbly stepping back and then shaking a green bottle at everyone: ”Haha, I fooled you, it’s just apple juice. You thought I was that foolish—ouch!”

Before he could finish speaking, he received a heavy slap on the forehead from the grim-faced elf girl, nearly staggering him to the ground.

Everyone stared at this jester, shaking their heads speechlessly.

Atira quickly took the dagger from the Papalarian’s hand and scrutinized it closely, her brow furrowing. Fang Hong also looked at the cloak fragment in his own hand; the dagger and a badge had appeared simultaneously in Dolifen—did that mean something? Could it be that the attackers who targeted Gita that day were indeed Dragon Worship followers?

The possibility made his skin crawl. How could the Dragon Worship Sect know about them? From Traveler’s Rest to Elpaxin, they had interacted with only so many people, and those who knew about the pin were even fewer—unless the Chairman of the Black Goat Commerce Association had leaked information, leaving only one other possibility—

He couldn’t help but glance at the others, his eyes meeting Hilveld’s somewhat pensive gaze as she quietly assessed the dagger. Noticing Fang Hong’s gaze, she cocked her head at him, feigning curiosity.

Fang Hong felt vaguely uneasy. After all, Hilveld was the most dubious of them all regarding heritage, having appeared out of nowhere, claiming to fulfill her father’s last wish—a reason that seemed far too flimsy.

Over the past few days, she had always been reserved and calm, occasionally displaying inexplicable melancholy and sighs, but never seemed like one to make rash decisions based on a frivolous reason.

Could it be her?

There indeed was such a possibility, but Fang Hong shook his head. He believed that basic trust within a team was fundamental, and blind suspicion would only worsen matters. At least for now, there was no confirmation that the owner of the dagger and the Dragon Worship followers were indeed colluding—because in that battle, there were clearly at least two groups involved, one certainly belonging to the Dragon Worship followers; as for the other, that Night Hawk being the owner of the dagger was still uncertain.

He couldn’t help but look towards Atira.

And the Elf Miss was also giving him a grave look, obviously both thinking along the same lines. Dolifen had not only the presence of the Dragon Worship followers but possibly even those who attacked them at the time—both parties evidently held hostility towards them, one of them even boasting a fourth-tier character.

A Night Hawk—

Fang Hong still remembered how terrifying that Night Hawk from Silver Shadow was, essentially overpowering the entire group of Morning Dawn Star by herself, while their own squad’s strength was much inferior compared to that of Miss Sicape—just to mention the two captains, Miss Sicape at level 27, Mr. Kroid at level 29, and most of the others being above level 15. Their group, on the other hand? Mr. Big Cat being around level 20 was the highest, and he wasn’t even currently with the team.