Pillar of Yita

”You know?” Sophie curiously asked her father.

”No one in the military at Stargate Port is unaware of this, and although it’s considered a secret, it doesn’t matter since you discovered it yourselves,” Su Changfeng shook his head, ”There’s another thing, that reef island is not on the usual shipping routes, and the closest port is Bishop Harbor, you understand what I’m saying, right?”

Sophie’s eyes widened in surprise.

The route from the Floating Reefs to Bishop Harbor, just south of Norsenica on Bain’s frontier, was not beyond her understanding. The series of clues from before and after had already allowed her to clearly see everything behind what happened thirteen years ago.

”Let me venture a guess,” Fang Hong, who was unaware of the father-daughter discussion, continued: ”Thirteen years ago, the Immortals attacked the Empire’s envoys, who were actually on a secret mission—not just anything, but transporting Sarus’ Holy Remains.”

”So the Divine Corpse didn’t just disappear, it ended up in the hands of the Immortals through the hands of the Empire. But the Immortals didn’t go far, many are puzzled why the Empire would attack the Ta Hess of Norsenica, but what if the Divine Corpse was transferred to them?”

A voice in Sophie’s heart was screaming, why would he think of these things?

Su Changfeng’s expression was solemn as he silently awaited the other’s final conclusion.

But Fang Hong was still unaware of all this, only continuing to say: ”Then it all makes sense, the Immortals used the Kingdom of Ishurian’s promises to the Ta Hess Lizard People to drag both Osh and the Kingdom into war. I don’t quite understand why the Avenquin Elves were involved, but it must have been related to this.”

At this point, he thought of Princess Briana and glanced at his Ship’s Officer, Hilveld, who also heard Fang Hong’s words, her head slightly bowed, a deep light flashing in her eyes.

”But I guess neither of the countries got what they wanted, and thus they were vague about the outcome of the war—because by the time the war ended, the Holy Remains were no longer in Ta Hess’s hands, which is the biggest reason for their subsequent displacement.”

”I should have mentioned this before, and you were there at the time——”

Fang Hong spoke eloquently, the darkness underground making the torchlight flicker, but the youth’s eyes seemed to contain a bright light.

”Toragotos himself said that he had been to Norsenica thirteen years ago, promised to offer shelter to the Ta Hess, and received the ancient blessing ritual from them. Let us guess, was that really all he got?”

”So... what exactly is he trying to do?”

”Assuming our guess is correct, then Toragotos’ purpose has essentially been revealed, he already has Sarus’ Holy Remains, what he now seeks must be Sarus’ Divine Strength—the owner of that name sealed deep here—Salrutaka’s power.”

He paused: ”Perhaps he is not yet a true Dark Giant Dragon, and I am also not sure if we could call him a Dark Giant Dragon, or rather—a Dark Deity, reborn since the last catastrophe?”

A terrifying silence filled the room.

”But is it truly so, has Lord Toragotos betrayed us?” A voice came from the darkness, Fang Hong turned around, finding it was Tainaric, the Lizardman Prince, who had been listening silently for a long time but only now spoke up.

”Though it’s just a guess,” Fang Hong was not surprised to find him here, merely replying, ”it’s not without foundation; at least the existing clues point heavily towards Toragotos’ suspicion.”

”I’ve thought it through carefully and realized I had overlooked this point from the start,” he continued: ”Toragotos is the master of Fenris, and the most influential being here, his protection of this place has a history almost as long as the Kingdom’s existence, his influence on Fenris has already permeated every aspect.”

”As the local Invoker, the Rain Listener Guild’s every move couldn’t possibly escape this old dragon; how could the Immortals’ contact with them go unnoticed by Toragotos unless it was orchestrated by him?”

”The higher echelons of the Rain Listeners are devoted to the Immortal to the point of mysteriously vanishing from the real world. It’s hard to believe there isn’t a powerful backer behind them making this happen.”

”Who else in Fenris could that be but Toragotos?”

”Furthermore, as far as I am aware, Toragotos has several classic appearances in the human world, the most widely known being a middle-aged human merchant fat man, but there are also a few lesser-known ones—including an appearance used in the Osh Empire.”

”That would be...” Sophie hesitated.

”The Raven.” Her father helped her answer the question,

Fang Hong was slightly taken aback, not expecting an official from Silver Weslan to know even this, truly befitting a high-ranking member of the Grand Guild.

He silently recalled that fleeting glance on the Lonely Bridge; he was next to Alice, watching from among the crowd those blood-red eyes—that bone-chilling coldness was not something an ordinary raven could impart.

He paused to look at everyone.

Then continued, ”And do you remember what that team of Adventurers told us before?”

”The dark-clothed people around that woman spoke with an indescribable voice,” Fang Hong thought for a moment, ”Looking back, I guess it might have sounded like this.”

He opened his mouth, pressed his tongue between his upper and lower teeth, then vibrated his vocal cords, and said.

”Sssss—”

”Sssss—”

But he suddenly stopped, looking back in confusion.

It wasn’t just him; everyone stopped, frowning and looking into the darkness nearby.

”Sssss—”

”Sssss—”

Although Fang Hong had stopped, a nearly identical sound was coming from the darkness, getting closer and closer. It was at this moment that Sophie suddenly felt a tremor under her feet, and Roman’s Holy Sanctuary seemed to shake slightly.

It took her a moment to realize it wasn’t just the Holy Sanctuary that had shaken.

It was the entire Fenris Isle that had quivered.

...