Pillar of Yita

”Let’s do it then,” Xiangzi thumped his fist into his hand, sealing the decision for everyone as if just the mention of combat could fire him up endlessly.

Fang Hong didn’t mind at all.

He picked up the silver Mirror Shield, an intriguing Magic Guided Conductor with its own Core Crystal, hence it didn’t need to occupy a plugin slot. It was also lightweight since it was merely an energy-storing magic item.

About an elbow in length, once activated, the shield could hover beside its bearer, blocking and reflecting back a single-target spell once. Its name was quite self-explanatory: Alpha Model Mirror Reflection Shield.

It wasn’t clear if there were Beta and Gamma models.

With a standard recharge rate, it could only be used once every four hours, and would exhaust all its energy after blocking a spell.

Among the four of them, only Fang Hong could wield it. The others’ Magic Guided Reactors couldn’t sustain such a heavy energy drain, including Xiangzi’s Magic Guided Conductor type reactor. Thus, without any objections, he claimed it for himself.

Meanwhile, Fang Hong turned back and asked Tainaric an additional question, ”By the way, do you understand the Dark Forces?”

”What do you mean?” the Lizardman Prince stopped and looked at him.

”What are the Dark Forces? I’ve only heard that the Dark Giant Dragon masters them, but the Dark Giant Dragon and the Giants both originated from the second Star of Calamity, Verdant. All history related to this is vague and unclear.”

After thinking for a moment, Tainaric hissed, ”Er Ata told us that the Dark Forces come from the darkness of the First Star of Calamity which descended upon us eight thousand years ago. Everything that happened then is now beyond reach, and afterwards, Xinsas was born. The noble Xinsas and the Numelin shared the land together, worshipping the Sun Gods until a thousand years ago.”

”When Verdant descended, the disaster of Aithelin occurred, and Isolin fell into moral decay. By that time, Xinsas had long been annihilated, and the Numelin, with the help of Andasok and the Alintasa (Fairies), salvaged everything. But to this day, the Dark Forces that spread across the land since then have never truly dissipated.”

”This force can twist the hearts of men, corrupt everything, is full of malevolent revenge, and totally incompatible with our world; it is our greatest enemy.”

”But don’t worry, my human brother,” the Lizardman Prince lifted his arm armor, patting his chest, ”The light of the Sun can dispel the darkness. Andasok is an ancient Guardian; I will protect you all.”

Fang Hong nodded his head.

There isn’t much information about the Dark Forces on Earth, because based on the ”Stargate Declaration,” the political entities of various nations and Eteliria reached a mutual understanding after recognizing each other’s laws and cultures.

This means that Eteliria’s mainstream cult is also illegal under the Stargate Declaration, so not many Invokers openly study the Dark Forces. Perhaps military forces of various countries conduct some secret experiments, but obviously, they do not publicize them.

It’s just that Dragonfire Guild and the Blood Oath Alliance’s continuous entanglements with the Dragon Worship Sect made him vaguely vigilant. Is the Spire and the Elf Holy Grail behind it really that magical?

And he had an uneasy suspicion, could this mean that some aspects of Eteliria’s influence have begun to infiltrate the real world?

Of course, Fang Hong was clear that this might just be an absurd thought; it was more likely a pursuit of profit. After all, the former scenario suggested a cult organization from a virtual game appearing in the real world.

What good would it do for Earthlings?

Passing through the narrow gorge, they would reach the sixth district, the territory of the Lord Soul Hunting Hound. Yet they did not see this creature, nor any other Chosen passing through here.

The architecture of the ancient Xinsas was perched on the cliff on one side, including the residences of past Nobles and a Holy Sanctuary, but the whole area was eerily quiet as if shrouded in a silent fog.

After passing through the sixth district, they encountered members of the Blood Oath Alliance again, the ’Bloodstained Ravens’, engaged in battle with a maddened Griffin. Probably alerted by previous warnings in the first zone, this group was significantly more vigilant.

However, Fang Hong did not intend to trouble these people; he did not have the time for unexpected complications, so he led the others to bypass these individuals directly.

The situation in District Nine and District Eleven was similar, except that the roads here were littered with Dragon’s Servants left behind by the Bloodstained Raven; Fang Hong glanced at his own combat experience and had actually already solidly surpassed level nine.

He just hadn’t yet decided which skill he wanted to learn.

District Eleven was a dense Mushroom Forest, which had once been the Xinsas Nether Thought Garden. Of course, in that era, the plants that grew here were the trees on the ground, not these giant grey fungi that dispersed spores.

Here they encountered a group of adventurers who were fighting with another team from the Bloodstained Raven over the local lord—the Grey-whiskered Giant Bear. However, the two sides fought fiercely, and the ’Grey-whiskered’, already on the brink of death from the Dragon’s Servants’ attacks, drew just a glance from Fang Hong, who did not stop but continued leading everyone through the area.

After passing through District Eleven, the further they walked, the less frequent the sporadic Dragon’s Servants appeared on the road. Noticing this, the group could not help but gain confidence, as this at least indicated that Fang Hong’s deduction was plausible.

For whatever reason, the people of the Blood Oath Alliance seemed to have not employed the Dragon’s Servants here.

Because they had not encountered any trouble along the way, it did not take long for them to enter District Thirteen, which lay adjacent to District Eleven and was also the final area marked on the map—the Noble Cemetery.

The tombs of the Xinsas Serpentfolk stretched out vast and seemingly endless like a giant valley, filled with towering, silent black Pyramids. They floated in mid-air, as if even in death, they were silently watching over these lands and territories.

Below the Pyramids, hovering far above their Obsidian bases, some of the bases had fractured in earthquakes, causing the Pyramids above to plummet into the valley and shatter upon impact.

The monsters here were some Undead Feathered Serpents, and the Ghosts of ancient Serpent Nobles, a rarity in the first seven layers, as they were not made up of Phantoms.

This place was remote and troublesome; typically, very few would come here right away.

But today, the valley was uncommonly bustling—

The four of them had not even approached the center of the cemetery when they saw an explosion of light blooming underneath a distant Pyramid, with vague figures in the center of the light, clearly involving not just the Blood Oath Alliance.

Fang Hong was slightly startled; it turned out that he was not the only one who had thought of the Blood Oath Alliance’s plan. But was it Free Adventurers or some other force? When he came closer, Fang Hong saw that the ones fiercely battling the Blood Oath Alliance were indeed the people of the Rain Listener.

And surrounded by the battling sides in the middle was a tall Giant God Weapon. The giant had three heads and four arms, ribs with wings, and in its four hands, it held an Obsidian Great Sword, shield, and spear. One head was a serpent, another a falcon, and the remaining a black panther.

It was one of the three Giant Spirits worshipped by Xinsas.

The battle between the two factions revolved around this giant, with both sides trying to get closer to it and inflict more damage. But no matter which side took advantage, they would soon fall behind due to the restraint from the other side.

Both parties tugged back and forth, but neither gained any advantage.

”Kukulkan’s Remains.” As soon as Tainaric saw this thing, his eyes narrowed and he said, ”Lord Toragotos is truly extraordinary, managing to replicate this Ancient Giant Weapon to this place. In Andasok, such Holy Remains are not common.”

Fang Hong naturally recognized it too—it was the regional lord of District Thirteen.

It was also one of the most difficult regional lords to deal with on this level.

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