Pillar of Yita

He then realized the problem and hurriedly scrambled to his feet, indeed seeing that he had bumped into the Elf Miss. However, Miss Atira didn’t show any signs of annoyance but looked at him with concern, ”Are you alright?”

Fang Hong quickly shook his head, then understood that he hadn’t run into Miss Atira; rather, she had intentionally caught him. He felt an indescribable warmth in his heart, as only his uncle’s family had ever cared for him this way.

”Are you okay, Miss Atira?”

”I’m fine.” The Elf Miss got up, beneath her was a bed of soft vines. She looked at the vines and said, ”Lord Ameya will protect her believers, but as for you, you can’t be so reckless next time.” While speaking, her brow furrowed seriously.

Fang Hong nodded somewhat guiltily.

He then looked around and was relieved to see that the encounter with the Jiefulite knight seemed to be a coincidence—probably mistaking him for a Free Adventurer and thus attacking. Glancing once more at the pyramid, he saw the battle above had died down after the smoke cleared.

He didn’t see Baihua’s shadow, nor knew if she had left, which worried him, as she had stayed behind for his sake.

However, this was no place to stay for long. He saw the members of the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team regrouping atop the pyramid. They must have seen the direction he had jumped down to and would likely search this way soon.

After a glance in that direction, he led Atira into the Forest.

But naturally, the Forest was not absolutely safe either. The battle lines where the Rain Listeners, the Free Adventurers, and the Blood Oath Alliance were clashing had just reached this area. The lines of the three factions were intertwined, and although large-scale combat was hard to find, small skirmishes were still commonplace.

Fang Hong and Atira, being alone, were the most conspicuous targets on the battlefield, and they were constantly approached by others. Fang Hong was hard-pressed to cope, but fortunately, the Elf Miss was formidable. In the forest, the Druid’s strength was like a fish in water, managing to drive these people away.

However, the more enemies they dealt with, the more attention they attracted on the battlefield. Soon, a group of true experts came to them, and upon seeing this, Fang Hong couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

It really is true that adversaries are bound to meet. These people wore crimson battle robes and feathered tricorne hats, unmistakably members of the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team.

These individuals were clearly heading straight for them. Having seen Atira’s tactics before, they didn’t approach immediately. The front row of Gunslingers crouched and fired a volley. At a mere hundred feet apart, armor-piercing bullets could exert their greatest power, splintering wood everywhere. Even the wall of vines that Atira raised could not withstand a single shot, and a bullet pierced through the branches, hitting Fang Hong’s left hand. Although it did no damage, it shattered the propulsion system of his reinforced gloves.

”Dammit!” Fang Hong felt so pained that he would rather have been shot himself. After all, being shot would just mean drinking a potion. For a Combat Artisan, the requirements for combat conditions were not as high as for other melee professions. Once life points were recovered, the healing wounds would not seriously affect combat ability.

Nevertheless, the enemy’s caution made him wary. The Gunslinger’s skills were known for high power but low accuracy, yet at this range, they managed to ensure a first-hit accuracy even after shooting through Atira’s wall of vines.

Unless it was good luck, it had to be a matter of skill.

Moreover, looking at their well-trained manner, they appeared to be even more like members of Jiefulite’s Elite Corps. As far as Fang Hong knew, the number of Elite Members Jiefulite deployed in this battle was very limited—only the group that he had seen.

This discovery made him feel ominously that the situation was very bad, as it seemed they had been spotted by the other side.

As it turned out, he wasn’t too far off the mark. After a round of volleys, the Gunslingers didn’t immediately press the attack but continued firing, forcing him and Atira to retreat in a certain direction. It was precisely at this moment that a shadow was slowly forming behind them.

It was the Shadow Leap skill of Nightingale.

Shadow Leap normally made some noise, but in the hands of this Nightingale, it was silent as a whisper. If not for being in the forest, his attack might have taken Fang Hong and Atira completely by surprise.

Unfortunately for them, the Forest was the Druid’s home field.

The Nightingale had just landed when he felt something unusual under his feet. He cautiously looked down and was shocked to see numerous roots coiling toward him. It was then that he realized what he had stumbled into. He cursed his bad luck under his breath, but it was already too late. The roots had entangled his legs, pulling him off the ground and leaving him hanging upside down in mid-air.

On the other side, Fang Hong’s actions also caught the gunslingers completely off guard. Under the barrage of their scarce area-effect firearm salvo, they saw Fang Hong not retreating but instead charging directly towards them.

Had this guy gone mad?

Under normal circumstances, they would have surely riddled their opponent with bullets, but that wasn’t an option at the moment. Their intent was merely to intimidate Fang Hong and his companion, but when Fang Hong actually charged at them, the line of gunslingers found themselves in a quandary.

Should they shoot or not?

But before they could resolve their hesitation, a loud crash suddenly resounded from their side. A Vitex tree next to them toppled over in their direction. This unforeseen occurrence caught everyone by surprise, but these were, after all, elite members of Jiefulite. They immediately realized they were being attacked from the flank and instinctively turned their gun barrels.

However, they didn’t see anyone.

All they saw behind the fallen tree were two towering constructs rushing forward, one after the other. And before they could react, two Sword Bearers wielding dual swords charged into the crowd. With a flurry of dazzling swordplay, several of their number dissolved into white light.

”Type III Walker!”

Finally, someone recognized what it was, as if it had just occurred to them that they were facing a genuine Combat Artisan. But it was a moment too late. In fact, from the moment Fang Hong jumped from the pyramid, he had been controlling his Walker to meet up with him, and now they had finally arrived at the battlefield.

Fang Hong raised his right hand with a somewhat triumphant air. His headlong rush hadn’t been a gamble on the gunslingers not firing; it was to deliver an unforgettable lesson to these men with the aid of his Flexible Construct.

In one-on-one combat, he was no match for these warriors.

But with the help of the Flexible Construct, the true strength of a Combat Artisan was far more than the simple sum of one plus one. He pulled down his Wind Goggles, raised his fingers in succession, and under his control, both Sword Bearers simultaneously raised the blades in their hands.

Dual Control Sword Bearers.

All the witnessing Jiefulite members nearly thought they were hallucinating. It wasn’t that the concept of Dual Control Sword Bearers was inconceivable; the Red Cloak Team did have top-tier Combat Artisans after all.

But they were taken aback to see the two Sword Bearers simultaneously cutting off their escape route. They encircled them instead, their coordinated movements so in sync that they didn’t seem rigid like constructs at all but rather as if they were fighting living, intelligent adversaries.

Yet this was just an illusion.

Underlying this illusion was the handler’s exquisite skill. Synergistic control of Flexible Constructs in combat was not a profound art among Combat Artisans, but it relied heavily on well-practiced skills.

Such skills typically shouldn’t be possessed by a newcomer.

But Fang Hong didn’t care about that. He simply waved his hand.

Four brilliant arcs of light simultaneously swooped down.

He was in a hurry, indeed, anxious to end the fight before more opponents arrived—

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