Pillar of Yita

And it was in the depths of despair that a claw suddenly stretched down from above in the dark, azure and covered in scales. Fang Hong looked up and realized that Tainaric was hanging upside down from the cave ceiling, reaching out to him. Overjoyed, he swiftly put all his strength into moving towards that direction, grabbed with his hand, and firmly caught hold of the Lizardman Prince’s hand.

The latter pulled him upwards, and Fang Hong immediately felt himself leaving the water surface.

”Thanks!” he shouted, and after emerging from the water, his Rocket Fist was able to function normally again. Aiming in midair, Fang Hong fired the Flying Claw with a ’bang’, which securely latched onto a stalactite not far away.

Seeing this, Tainaric let go of his hand, and Fang Hong immediately activated the Magic Guided Reactor, tightened the rope, and flew towards that direction.

However, the underground river was damp, and the cavern ceiling was covered in moss and lichen. Halfway through his flight, the claw did not hold firm and came off, causing him to fall back into the water after losing his point of leverage in mid-air.

But, this back and forth had allowed him to gain distance from the pursuing Bone Fish swarm behind him.

The Corpse Tomb Demon behind them surprisingly pursued on foot through the river channel. Tainaric, seeing this, did not dare to linger and after a few leaps on the cave ceiling, disappeared from view in an unknown direction.

Fang Hong realized that he was on his own now, but before falling into the water, he had already spotted the riverbank. Holding the winch device as high as possible to avoid letting it submerge again, he fired the Flying Fist in that direction with another ’bang’.

This time, he did not aim for the claw to grab onto the sharp rocks directly, but instead let it fly past a horizontally extending column towards the river surface, used the momentum to swing to the other side, and wound it securely around the column twice.

Fang Hong subconsciously activated the winch to reel in the rope, trying to get closer to the riverbank, but what he didn’t expect was that the Corpse Tomb Demon had set its sights on his actions and suddenly tore off a stalactite to hurl in his direction.

The stone column did not hit Fang Hong, but it struck with precision against the horizontally extending column above the river, snapping it instantly and causing it to sink into the river below. The massive force even dragged Fang Hong down beneath the water’s surface.

Fang Hong cursed under his breath, quickly used his dagger to cut the rope, and as the tension released, he surfaced once more.

But no sooner had he breached the surface than he saw the White Bone Giant Mountain bearing down on him once again.

”Fuck!”

Fang Hong’s scalp tingled.

But it was at this moment, amidst the darkness, a low admonition was heard, and he saw the Elementalist he had seen before burst out of the water, tap the pitch-black river surface with her Magic Wand, and seemingly stand upon it.

No, it was ice.

As her wand touched the turbulent surface, a thin layer of ice formed, the currents fracturing the ice, but before it could be swept away, the ice began to spread further, quickly forming a Floating Island.

The girl tapped the ice surface lightly with her wand, and suddenly a pendant on her necklace shone with a brilliant blue light. In the radiance, she raised her hand, and an ice mountain instantly took shape, encasing the Corpse Tomb Demon within.

It was then that Fang Hong recognized, the necklace must be an item of the Pale Flame’s level or close to legendary, possibly enhancing ice elemental powers, and likely with a daily usage limit.

He had assumed that after casting her spell to immobilize the Corpse Tomb Demon, the girl would immediately leave.

However, unexpectedly, she stood her ground against the Corpse Tomb Demon, continuously channeling a stream of blue light from her wand to the ice mountain—casting persistently. Fang Hong was taken aback, realizing she intended to cover their escape.

Indeed, Sophie’s message in the communication channel confirmed his thoughts, ”Run!”

But within moments, a large crack appeared on the ice mountain. After all, the Corpse Tomb Demon was a Level 40 Elite monster; it was a miracle that a Level 15 Invoker could control it at all, and the idea of truly pinning it down was nothing more than a fantasy to them all.

Fang Hong saw the Elementalist girl stumble, falling off the Ice Island, knowing her chances were slim, and as the Corpse Tomb Demon was not yet fully freed, he dared not hesitate. He continued swimming forward.

And as the thunderous sound of water surged nearer, Fang Hong looked up to find himself approaching a waterfall. But it was too late for choices; the raging current thrust him forward without time for hesitation, plunging him over the precipice.

Fang Hong felt the world turn upside down before being smashed deep into the water. Fortunately, the water beneath was deep enough not to touch the bottom. However, as he ascended, he brushed against a reef, sending stars dancing in his vision.

He vaguely felt others falling from above, but had no time to see who they were; under the waterfall, the current was even fiercer, flipping him upside down and tossing him around until he finally caught a chance to break the surface for air.

Before he could fully exhale, a wave hit, dragging him back into the vortex. After a tumultuous experience, he had no idea how many reefs he had hit, only feeling pain in every bone.

A gash had opened above his eyebrow, burning fiercely, the depth of the wound unknown but surely bleeding profusely.

After an indeterminate period of being tossed back and forth, Fang Hong was exhaustively relieved to feel the current slow down. Even then, he lacked the strength to struggle and let himself be carried by the river, dimly seeing light ahead.