Pillar of Yita

”Quick, get inside!” Tianlan shouted hastily.

The Pappalarians crouched as they ran, and the last one made it inside just as the elder Knight Diket swiftly closed the door. A glaring axe blade followed, piercing through the wood like a blade of frost, startling everyone.

”What the hell are these things?!” Parker exclaimed, holding his head as he fled forward.

”Corpse Executioners, level fourteen Undead Creatures, skeleton/semi-spectre subspecies, their attacks possess armor-breaking and necrotic effects, causing extra damage to armor and suppressing healing,” Gita replied breathlessly, bending over with her huge glasses slipping down as she frantically tried to keep them up with her hands.

”I know that, I was asking how they got here?”

”They were executioners serving Dolifen’s last Chief Praetor, Declan Groselle, who was born on Scepter Coast and inherited the local Nobles’ cruel and bloodthirsty traditions, commanding a group of executioners with strong family backgrounds,” Red Leaf answered.

”Oh, that’s just wonderful,” Parker said sarcastically.

Several Tabopolis Summoners Knights moved a cabinet to block the door, but to no avail; the axe split the door in a few strikes, cutting the cabinet in half.

”We can’t hold them off any longer, Red Leaf!” a Knight looked back and said anxiously.

”Go upstairs, the Undead can’t get into the mayor’s office.”

So, they abandoned their position and hastily retreated.

Fang Hong looked back just in time to see the bone giant wielding a massive axe bursting through the door, splintering the wood, the shards swirling like dead leaves in an autumn wind.

He turned to catch up with the others, asking, ”Sister Red Leaf, what exactly is going on here, and why are you here? And what’s with the Dragonfire Guild members?”

Red Leaf glanced at him with a look of dissatisfaction, snorting as if Fang Hong owed her thousands of dollars—her face was a portrait of frustrated expectations: ”Am I obligated to tell you as a member of the Knight Order?”

”Huh?”

”Hmph, do you think you’re too good for our ’little temple’ just because you made a name for yourself in Elpaxin?”

Fang Hong found the connection baffling, but he understood that Red Leaf was upset because he hadn’t given her a straight answer last time. Nevertheless, he couldn’t join the Tabopolis Oak Knights, so he turned to ask someone else, ”Miss Atira, how did you run into them?”

”When we arrived here, we encountered ’Big Sister’s’ people and had a clash with them; Miss Red Leaf came to our aid and broke the siege,” Atira replied succinctly, scrutinizing Fang Hong up and down. She also glanced nervously at his injured right arm and asked, ”Are you all right?”

Fang Hong replied, a bit embarrassed, ”I’m fine, Miss Atira.”

Red Leaf mocked, ”Just a flesh wound. This guy has more lives than a cat; I doubt he’ll die easily.”

Hearing this, Fang Hong couldn’t help but smile wryly, ”Miss Red Leaf, thank you for helping us, but this isn’t really how you recruit people, is it?”

”Don’t flatter yourself. I was helping Gita, not you. And don’t think you can get close to Gita if you don’t join our Guild,” Red Leaf replied sharply. ”By the way, you won’t stand a chance with her if you’re not part of our Guild.”

”Sister Red Leaf!” Gita blushed furiously and yelled annoyed.

Fang Hong felt as if he could smash his head against a wall.

The City Hall was a four-story building designed with defense in mind, looking like a small-scale Fortress from the outside. Its internal structure drew from Eteliria’s castle designs, using thick brick walls, spiral staircases, and arrow slits for easy defense and difficult offense.

Not to mention that Undead couldn’t enter the core area, Fang Hong thought that with the terrain, they could hold out for a good while even if they could.

The group made their way to the second floor. It seemed this wasn’t Sister Red Leaf’s first visit, as she led everyone confidently through a long corridor, into the mayor’s office through double doors.

Fang Hong surveyed the room—spacious with a floor-to-ceiling window not too far away, thick velvet curtains pooled on the floor, completely drawn; a desk sat before the window, strewn with various books, and on either side, there were tall cabinets for storing documents and files.

A thick layer of dust covered everything, as if weathered by the long passage of time, all belonging to another era.

In the center of the hall lay a carpet, upon which stood a brass Orrery, its surface equally dull and lightless; next to it, a skeleton lay on the floor, maintaining a prostrate posture.

Among the group, seven or eight were Tabopolis Oak Knights. Sister Red Leaf gave them orders, ”Everyone, take a moment to rest.”

She turned back just in time to catch Fang Hong’s gaze on the skeleton, ”That originally belonged to that Undead leader wielding the Scepter of Pride. If everything were normal, we could leave this place after defeating it.”

”If everything were normal?” Fang Hong raised his head, ”What exactly is going on here, and why did you come to this place?”

Red Leaf hesitated, still somewhat annoyed with the clueless young man, and muttered, ”Of course, someone asked us to come here.”

”A mission?”

Red Leaf nodded, ”A big mission. Our Guild took the commission, and we dispatched two teams to execute it. I wasn’t the main person in charge. They put me in charge to get some experience, but then this mess happened.”

Fang Hong thought of the Tabopolis Oak Knights’ Night Hawk he had briefly encountered in Grey Oak Square, whose casual glance had left a deep impression on him, ”Your team leader, isn’t he a Night Hawk?”