Pillar of Yita

”So, do you remember now? Nikopolas, what is this—”

Fang Hong lifted the object in his hand.

In that moment, a very dangerous omen flashed through Nikopolas’s heart, ”Throw it away!” it screamed, and its claw came pressing down on Fang Hong, but it was at that moment a golden light burst forth from Fang Hong’s hand.

The Dark Giant Dragon cried out in pain, withdrawing and retreating. It looked at its own paw in disbelief; the skin of its palm was split open, its flesh turned over, and a patch had actually charred.

Looking at Fang Hong in disbelief, it cried out in a high-pitched voice, ”That strength is...”

In Fang Hong’s hand was a ring.

It shimmered with a fierce golden flame, like a slowly flowing ring of molten lava, so dazzlingly brilliant even in this fire-laden environment—that ring still stood out as exceptionally bright.

Fang Hong had actually seen it before.

So had Red Leaf.

That’s why the latter couldn’t help but cry out, ”The Ring of Golden Flame!”

”How come it’s in your hands!” Nikopolas also cried out in shock, its voice filled with an unbelievable fear.

Fang Hong only looked at the retreating giant dragon, the ground rumbling and shaking, yet he held the ring and pressed closer without fear, ”It was here thirty years ago, have you forgotten?”

”No!” Nikopolas’s eyes flickered with extreme fear, as if just by Fang Hong holding that ring close to it, it could cause it immense harm, and it couldn’t help but scream in agony, ”Take it away, I don’t remember anything... ”

Fang Hong stopped.

In his hand, he held a palm-sized package, which had completely burnt through from the inside, revealing a small box.

The box was still intact, aside from being charred.

Inside the box, there should have been a ring-shaped object.

It should have been there—

He shook his head and casually tossed the empty package on the ground, and as all the light converged to one point, the ring in Fang Hong’s hand burned even brighter, like a dazzling sun.

”Don’t come any closer.” Nikopolas lay on the ground in agony, wailing.

”We all know the legend.”

Fang Hong said.

”After the Dragon Slayer killed the evil dragon, his descendants forged a ring from its eyes.”

”That ring is called the Ring of Golden Flame.”

”But the rumor never mentioned that the evil dragon was the infamous Nikopolas, and the Dragon Slayer’s name—”

”Was the hero Yoshude.”

Fang Hong looked at the ring in his hand before finally saying, ”This is your vessel, isn’t it, Dragon’s Golden Eyes.”

”A hundred years ago Sir Haggston took it from the side of Yoshude and brought it here. Your believers harnessed its strength to choose sacrifices from among the innocents.”

”But you never imagined, thirty years ago, someone took it from these ruins.”

”And this Phantom Realm, it erased all memories about it.”

Fang Hong and Nikopolas stood far apart, almost at opposite ends of the square.

Red Leaf, from a distance, could not hear what they were saying at all, but she could only stare dumbfounded as Fang Hong stood before Nikopolas, who looked utterly terrified.

But not far away, there was a sudden rustling as a blood-covered person crawled out from the ruins.

That was Luen, whom Fang Hong had saved.

His face smeared with blood, he looked at the ring in Fang Hong’s hand, his eyes flickering with a faint light—surprise, astonishment, disbelief, memory, and a determination to believe.

Nikopolas finally seemed to reach its limit.

Cornered by Fang Hong, it bared its fangs thinking of striking back, but suddenly its pupils shrank to the size of needle points and it screamed, ”Ah, it’s you again—you despicable woman.”

It screamed as if gone mad, ”It’s not like that, that’s not...” and then madly slammed into the side of a district, toppling several houses engulfed in flames.

This sudden turn of events surprised everyone, and Fang Hong only heard Miss Fairy’s somewhat anxious warning in his mind: ”Be careful, Mr. Knight, psychic shock—!”

Looking up, he saw the entire Phantom Realm shatter from Nikopolas’s slam.

There was a long crack in the sky, with large fragments breaking off and falling down.

The whole Grey Oak Square seemed to be sinking, bulging on both sides, dipping down in the middle, as if forming a giant quicksand trap.

Fang Hong stumbled and nearly fell into the center of the vortex; he struggled with all his might to grab onto something and stand up.

But when he raised his head, he couldn’t help but freeze—

Fang Hong saw the entire Phantom Realm slowly collapsing, it was like a fragment of a world suspended in the void, or a shard of a broken mirror, sliding into a boundless dark abyss.

It was a disaster that human strength simply couldn’t resist.

He looked around, but he couldn’t see Lady Misu, Diket, Luen, Red Leaf, or Parker; nor did he know where Hilveld and Miss Maid had gone.

In his sight, there was only chaotic scenery, collapsing houses, rocks fragments, falling flames, and some miscellaneous objects, even including some human corpses.

Nikopolas was nowhere to be found.

But he distinctly felt the ring in his hand becoming heavier, dragging him towards the abyss below, and in the murky shadows of the deep, it seemed there were innumerable figures.

He didn’t know if it was his own illusion—