Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong knew that the battle within the forest was far from over. He had realized this when he had intervened in a combat zone earlier, seeing that the people of the Blood Oath Alliance vastly outnumbered the Rain Listeners.

However, he wasn’t familiar with the Rain Listeners, and naturally, if he was to help, he would start with those he knew better.

So, he pulled down his Wind Goggles and, with his left hand, picked up the Crystal Communicator and asked, ”Miss Elisa, where are you?”

Elisa was tending to the wounds on her sister’s arm, stemming the blood flow—which could also be described as eradicating the bleeding effect.

When she heard Fang Hong’s voice coming from the crystal, she was slightly startled and just about to reply, but Alice, by her side, beat her to it:

”We’re not sure, my sister and I are near the mouth of the valley. Can you find us, Mr. Ade?”

”The mouth of the valley, I understand.”

”Wait,” Elisa said, ”Mr. Ade, could you please help the other members of our squad first? They carry the topographical maps of this area.”

Fang Hong swept left and right through the air with his Clockwork Fairy and was slightly startled. He noticed that the movements of the Blood Oath Alliance people in the forest had changed.

In his field of view, at least three groups were retreating south along the valley. Theoretically, during a factional skirmish, no side would easily reveal its position unless—

Retreat.

Only with a coordinated, covered retreat would the enemy consider revealing their positions, obviously the Blood Oath Alliance knew their superiority in strength well.

But this was beyond Fang Hong’s expectations; the Blood Oath Alliance was retreating just like that. What were they playing at? He had driven off the enemy’s Combat Artisan, but there were only a handful of Rain Listeners left.

What kind of tactical logic was this?

Surprised as he was, he still immediately responded: ”Your teammates are safe now, but you might be in danger soon.”

”Mr. Ade?”

”The people of the Blood Oath Alliance are retreating toward the mouth of the valley.”

Upon hearing this, Elisa realized her situation and fell silent for a moment: ”...I understand, Mr. Ade. Please lead the others out first, Alice and I will find a place to hide.”

But Fang Hong shook his head: ”You can’t hide. This valley narrows toward the mouth, and there aren’t many places to hide once you’re out of the forest. Do you really think they don’t know where you are? That Combat Artisan surely noticed you already; you’re just not their tactical focus.”

Elisa clenched her fists: ”But—”

”Alright,” Fang Hong replied, ”don’t distract me, I’m coming to rescue you now.”

The voice through the communicator then went silent.

Elisa opened her mouth.

She turned back and saw her sister’s eyes gleaming in the darkness, conveying a sense of profound implication as if she had heard something quite significant.

”Did you hear that, sister?” Alice whispered.

”Hear what?” The twin sister, absentmindedly glanced at her short sword and asked distractedly.

Alice gave a mischievous grin: ”What Mr. Ade said, don’t you think it sounded super cool?”

”Did it?”

”Don’t let me distract you, I’m about to come and rescue you—” Her sister mimicked Fang Hong’s determined tone, slightly intoxicated: ”It’s so romantic, just like in the storybooks, he’s coming to rescue you, isn’t he?”

”Nonsense.”

”Ah, I get it, Little Alice must be a bonus, right?”

”Stop talking nonsense.” Elisa poked her sister’s forehead, not amused.

But she found that her tension had somewhat lessened.

Fang Hong left eight fairies hovering in the air above the forest, forming a comprehensive scouting network. His fairies lacked the advanced scouting plugins that Kaka had, but that didn’t matter; he might not have quality, but he had quantity.

His palm sank slightly, his fingers pointing downward, and in an instant, countless commands were sent to each Clockwork Fairy. The remaining fairies made a tight turn in mid-air, their wings drooping downward, drawing a neat downward arc as they dispersed into the forest.

What followed was a sight that would have made anyone’s jaw drop.

Maintaining eight ’Synchronous Satellites’ in mid-air simultaneously, Fang Hong planned individual paths for every Clockwork Fairy entering the forest.

They occasionally crossed paths, but overall they unfolded a carpet search from north to south along the forest in the valley.

But the forest obscured their vision.

Occasionally, someone would see a flash of golden light disappear into the darkness.

Lonely White Field put away the communicator, raised his head thoughtfully, and watched the Clockwork Fairies fluttering above the tree canopy. It seemed they were not hiding their presence, as if searching for something.

Since these creatures appeared, the Blood Oath Alliance people were indeed disengaging.

Their actions were not stealthy, instead carrying a somewhat deliberate message of intimidation. He could obviously understand this, but the intimidation lacked persuasive power, making him curious:

”Where did these Clockwork Fairies come from?”

He knew the Guild had recently welcomed a young Combat Artisan, but this didn’t look like his work; such a number of Clockwork Fairies made him think of those Second World Combat Artisans.

Then he thought of another person.

That Elite Genius Alchemist. Was this the Combat Artisan Elite had secretly sent to protect that young man from behind the scenes?