Pillar of Yita

God’s Omen.

Sophie stood still, utterly astounded. She had never imagined that she would witness the birth of a Divine Oracle with her own eyes.

What, what’s happening...?

And the seismic waves emanating from the Green Dragon Mountain Range swept across Fenris Isle like a chilling shadow.

Traveling south along the mountain’s branches to the hilly areas near the bay, the dismayed manor lords watched as their wine racks began to rattle and their barrels rolled to the floor.

At the same time, the glassware in the cabinets and on the tables also started to dance, shattering on the ground like scattering butterflies.

But the shaking didn’t stop there—

In fact, it only grew more intense, and with a long, low moan, a massive windmill on the horizon finally collapsed under the strain, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Everyone who saw this screamed and ran out of their homes in a frenzy.

This scene was far from uncommon at this moment.

From above Fenris Isle, one could see a long crack running down toward Cloud Harbor, breaking the unpopulated land, creating cliffs, as if some enormous beast was slowly rising from beneath the earth’s surface.

Inside Cloud Harbor.

The warning bells had already been ringing.

The citizens rushed out of their houses, looking bewilderedly towards the center of the city—where stood a towering spire, the castle of their Guardian. When Cloud Harbor faced any disasters, the shadow of the Giant Dragon would appear there.

But when had they last encountered real trouble?

In fact, ever since the pirates around them had been taught a lesson or two, they no longer dared come near Fenris—in passing they would even make a wide berth around the port. Thus, it was hard for the people of Fenris not to feel proud, all thanks to their great Guardian.

That was why Cloud Harbor could be such a paradise.

But this time, they did not see the shadow of that legendary Green Dragon.

The ground began to tremble slightly. Was this an earthquake? But earthquakes were rare atop the sky islands, and the locals, having never experienced such tremors for what seemed like ages, were unclear about it. It was perhaps a memory from many generations back, remembered faintly only by some of the elderly.

People, unable to stand steady, stared in shock toward the direction of the bells.

Their City Hall.

It was usually more of a symbolic presence, a towering structure representing the rule of King Colin Ishurian with barely a few staff members inside, often just the old and infirm.

However, at this moment, the ’head’ of those old and infirm—a white-haired, bearded old man with one blind eye and a limp, supporting himself with a wooden prosthetic—stood as straight as a javelin atop the spire of City Hall, pulling the alarm bell with all his might.

On ordinary days, he was dubbed the ’Bare-Pole Commander’, the unnecessarily officious, despised Tax Officer, the Supreme Official appointed by the Kingdom of Ishurian to Fenris—second only to the exalted Praetor of Cloud Harbor.

Few knew the old man’s past.

But the Archbishop from the Milaila Temple knew that the old man was one of the many unnamed heroes of the Battle of Bain, at least until he left the battlefield, he was a Knight of the Kingdom.

That war left him with few memories.

The only remnant might be a son who slept forever on the battleground, and the loss of his leg and eye, ostensibly the medals of a hero granted by the conflict. His sole reward for his service was the unchanged position of Fenris’s Tax Officer for the past thirteen years, a post with little benefit.

Many thought the old man was senile, but the only cloudiness was in his blind eye, which was as dim as a dull wax ball. In his other eye, however, there was now a piercing and resolute light.

”How much time do we have left?” the old man asked, turning his head, his voice somewhat hoarse.

The Archbishop looked up at the man—actually, the alarm bell in City Hall could be driven by a whole Magic Guided mechanism, but due to years of disrepair, no one bothered to fix it, and it was no longer usable; otherwise, they wouldn’t have waited till this moment.

He shook his head, ”It’s too late, sir. The Sealing shows signs of weakening. Lady Milaila has just given a God’s Omen, telling all of us to leave this place as quickly as possible.”

”Fenris Isle...” the Bishop hesitated, ”I’m afraid it can’t be saved, I guess Lord Toragotos has already failed.”

”Then gather all the ships in the harbor, and evacuate the citizens as much as possible,” the old man sighed, ”Prioritize the safety of women and children. As for the young people—just tell them the truth.”

”It’s no use,” the Bishop said with a wry smile, ”Except for Lord Toragotos, they trust no one else. We don’t have that kind of influence. If we make the news public, it’ll probably infuriate them. They even joke that Cloud Harbor has only one Guardian, and they don’t even trust Lady Milaila.”

The old man climbed down the ladder, replying, ”Don’t worry, I will stay behind personally, showing them that we will not leave. Go and ask the young men, how many of them are willing to stand with me.”

He gave the Bishop a look with his murky prosthetic eye, ”This is to protect our families, I believe their decisions will not disappoint.”