Pillar of Yita

Then, with a bizarre posture, they stared at them.

It was bizarre because the ghost guests, who had their backs to them, did not turn around. Instead, their heads rotated 180 degrees on their necks as their eyes stared straight at them.

This scene was so horrifying that even Gita yelped in fear.

The hall had become utterly silent—

Fang Hong was the first to react, grabbing Gita and stepping back as the Walker beside him buzzed to life, positioning itself in front of everyone. Then he turned his head and whispered to Hansen, ”Is this also part of the mission, Mr. Hansen?”

”How could it be?” Hansen was equally stunned. He had been on this mission more than once and though not every time did he manage to retrieve the three items from Dolifen, survival was never an issue. To be honest, adventurers generally agreed that this mission was not very dangerous.

But he had never encountered such a situation before.

However, he was still an old hand. While he was surprised, he was also instantly on the alert. Without a word, he drew his longsword. His movement was like a spark that set off a chain reaction, prompting the nearest tall and thin male-shaped ghost guest to suddenly let out a terrifying screech and pounce at them.

The piercing shriek made everyone involuntarily cover their ears.

However, Fang Hong clearly saw that the ghost’s nails became long and sharp in mid-air, like claws, and he instinctively wanted to order the Walker to attack. But the seemingly ordinary middle-aged adventurer reacted incredibly quickly, raising his shield to block the ghost’s claws.

Then, with a backhanded thrust, he pierced the ghost’s chest.

Normally, the ghosts of Eteliria, being spectral beings, have limited susceptibility to physical attacks, but Hansen’s sword seemed to strike a solid body, making the ghost guest let out a piercing scream. Fang Hong even saw it stagger back and fall, a narrow wound in its chest spurting blood.

”This...” Fang Hong was stunned by the scene, which completely contradicted his understanding of the undead—let alone ghosts, even skeletons, zombies, and vampires wouldn’t bleed when injured.

”Don’t stand there gawking,” Hansen turned his head and said, ”There’s something wrong with this mission. The people covering you need to get out first. Everyone inside the inn is an enemy.”

”But these—”

”These aren’t true undead; they are phantoms. In this phantom world, they are ’alive,’” Hansen replied with experienced ease. ”But be careful, dying in this phantom would still be real, so now we must figure out a way to leave this place.”

Before he could finish speaking, suddenly someone shouted from behind, ”Watch out, behind you!”

Then there was a loud ’bang’—

Everyone instinctively turned around, only to see the inn door burst inward from the outside. Amidst the billowing dust, pieces of the wooden door fell, and behind the collapsed door unexpectedly appeared a group of people who Fang Hong never would have guessed.

Cloaked in crimson, fully armored, their backs noticeably marked by the large Flamingo Seventeen Type KEM Magic Guided Reactor. These people wore full helmets that concealed their faces, showing only their eyes, and held standard Imperial Spears in their hands.

In Eteliria, only one kind of people dressed like this.

”Morning Knights!?” Fang Hong was shocked; wasn’t this part of Colin Ishurian’s Imperial Guard, one of the strongest forces on the kingdom’s surface, usually only the Royal Household and local Chief Praetors had the authority to mobilize them?

And they seemed to have ill intentions.

”Be careful,” as a believer of Ameya, Atira sensed something wrong immediately: ”These are also ghosts.”

”Wait, these are ghosts too?”

...