Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong was slightly startled, then turned back. ”Bystander? Miss Hilveld, did you see something?”

Hilveld’s eyes, which were like shallow seas, reflected the lights in the hall, glowing faintly. She spoke with a hint of mystery, ”The past reenacted, isn’t that what the owner of this place wants us to see? The disaster that Dolifen once faced, the desperate recollections of those who lived through that catastrophe, lingering to form phantoms, become what we each see in our dreams.”

Fang Hong pondered for a moment, finding some sense in this theory. But was everything they experienced in their dreams really what the ghosts of Dolifen had seen and heard? He couldn’t help asking, ”But there are exceptions, like Gita’s dream, which was different from ours.”

Only then did he describe Gita’s dream.

”This dream reveals many clues,” Hilveld thought for a moment, then tapped her chin with her fair fingertips. ”First, we need to establish that every dream serves a purpose, a dream is the vision of its former master, showing what they want us to see, such deep-seated persistence must contain past hopes and regrets.”

”To survive.” Tianlan suddenly stated emphatically, and then repeated, ”She must have wanted to survive so badly, on that cold altar, I could clearly feel such a strong desire in her heart. That voice told me she didn’t want to die, that she still had unfinished business, but all I could do was watch, watch as both she and I slowly slipped into darkness and cold...”

”She so wished to live, but I could do nothing, I was powerless, Brother Ade, I’ve never been so scared.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks as her words tumbled out incoherently.

Atira approached and patted her back, comforting her a bit before she burst into tears and dove into the elf girl’s arms. ”Sister Atira, I’m so scared!”

”It’s okay, Tianlan, everything has passed,” Atira soothed her warmly.

Hilveld waited until Tianlan had calmed down a bit before continuing, ”That lumberyard must be an important place, at least carrying some sort of obsession from the person in the dream allowing Gita to see all this.”

”Could it be the Chris family’s lumberyard?” Fang Hong asked.

Atira shook her head, ”If I remember correctly, Chris said his family’s lumberyard was established after Dolifen was abandoned.”

”But if it was before Dolifen was abandoned, there would’ve been numerous lumberyards on the outskirts of this forest city, then it would be hard to pinpoint which one it could be,” Fang Hong said, shaking his head.

”But we don’t need to pinpoint which one,” Hilveld replied softly, ”For over a decade adventurers entering this Traveler’s Rest have seen countless fragments, but not every fragment is meaningful, we just need to ascertain that this phantom realm originates from the vision of those who lived through the disaster more than thirty years ago. However, the lumberyard described by Gita, so quiet and peaceful, seems a bit out of sync with the obsessions lingering in this city.”

”Not everyone saw scenes of apocalyptic chaos and carnage,” Atira finally spoke, ”What I saw was the everyday life of this city, I seemed to be in a square where people were having a celebration.”

”And what about Miss Xiesta?” Fang Hong couldn’t help asking.

”What Xiesta saw was similar to mine,” Hilveld answered for her maid.

Fang Hong looked toward Diket, who stood to one side, a senior knight who had arrived just a step before them, wearing battle gear that made him somewhat out of place among the other guests in the hall. He was looking up at the crystal fixtures on the ceiling, lost in thought. Only when Fang Hong inquired did he briefly describe what he had seen.

A bridge, people fleeing.

A bridge, people fleeing. This seemed to Fang Hong much like what Hilveld had seen—scenarios likely most experienced on the day of the disaster, so it was not surprising.

”Does anyone have any clues about that disaster?” Fang Hong asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

Among these people, Hilveld and Xiesta had seemingly witnessed the disaster most vividly. Yet according to the lady noble, it seemed as though an invisible force interfered with the phantom realm, allowing them to see buildings collapsing, flames rising, and people dying tragically, but nothing of what caused it all.

Fang Hong reflected on his own visions; they seemed to be the same. But he had another conjecture, ”But I believe the disaster at Dolifen might be related to the Dark Giant Dragon.”

”The Dark Giant Dragon?”

Only then did Fang Hong describe what he had seen. He mentioned the Oathkeepers—only these last dragon slayers still bore this title in the world. And what else could be related to them if not the Dark Giant Dragon?

”... Besides, if it is the Dark Giant Dragon, then many things make sense, like why the Dragon Worshippers would appear in this place, why Colin Ishurian would suppress the truth about Dolifen’s abandonment,” Fang Hong added.

”But didn’t Mr. Mazak say that Nikopolas was killed by the hero Xiuyuede more than a hundred years ago?” Tianlan, having wiped her tears, couldn’t help asking.

”But he also said that it would return,” Fang Hong replied, ”Remember, the Traveler’s Rest was also built over thirty years ago in the Traveler’s Swamp. Mr. Mazak also said something similar — thirty years ago, his grandfather felt the Ether Magic Power within the Dragon’s Horn stirring, concluding that Nikopolas had revived and thus came to Aquen.”