Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong was using his Flying Claw to climb onto the roof of a nearby building when his reinforced metal glove snapped a square brick. The fractured brick rolled down, emitting a piercing sound. Fang Hong silently cursed his luck and looked around; the sound of the rolling brick was drowned out by the ongoing rumbling, and the Night Lizard People searching for him in a nearby alley did not notice the noise and quickly disappeared in the opposite direction.

He flipped over, his left hand wound had healed somewhat but was still weak and strained, and the area on his back where he had previously been hit still faintly ached. At that moment, the ground began to shake violently, so he hurriedly lay down. A third of the roof in front of him vanished amidst the shaking, engulfed in dust and smoke. He looked back once more; in the darkness, the giant skeletal figure seemed to rise even higher, the lightweb shimmering.

The intense trembling of the ground also interfered with the flight of the Dark Giant Dragon, so Fang Hong carefully concealed his Pale Glory, preventing them from discovering him. He glanced in the direction he remembered and felt he was not far from the Colin Ishurian Artisan Association’s drop point, then he got up, jumped off the roof, and proceeded in one direction.

He cautiously navigated through two or three streets, estimating that he was getting closer. After turning a corner, he suddenly saw a faint blue light flickering in the distant darkness. It was a beacon, and Fang Hong’s heart leaped with joy—it was at the end of that street. But suddenly, an indescribable voice penetrated his mind, a whispering song.

The song sounded distant but approached rapidly, as if someone was singing in the mist. The voice grew louder, accompanied by the sound of surging waves. Fang Hong sharply came to his senses, his hand reaching for the Lion Handgun at his back. Suddenly, a fearsome Dragon Head burst through the mist and the Holy Temple in front of him, like a giant ship cutting through the waves, charging down the street and blocking his path.

The solid Holy Temple collapsed loudly, square bricks tumbling everywhere, and the crumbling stones even grazed his face as they flew by. The seemingly ancient Dragon Head ship was invincible in the collision, not even its sails torn. It screeched and clanked up the street, stopping with a clang, its high sides studded with round shields bearing bizarre emblems of spiders, human heads, giant dragons, stars, and moons.

Then, several mysterious figures shrouded in tattered black cloaks climbed over the ship’s sides between the shields, wielding curved long daggers and jumped down in front of Fang Hong. The cold gleam of their deadly weapons naturally formed a semicircle, surrounding Fang Hong.

Fang Hong seemed to hear a voice penetrate his mind: ”Found you—”It was a sharp, metallic scraping sound, hostile yet somehow familiar. He momentarily lost focus, then remembered it was Toragotos’s tone.

He was right; these were indeed Toragotos’s minions.

Fang Hong took a sharp breath; he could now see beneath the hoods and in the shadows, the ghastly faces of reptilian horrors—Ta Hess, but hidden under the Shadow of Death, their purple muscles intertwined with black bugs crawling in and out, their hollow eye sockets were deep. They were the undead, reanimated from the kingdom of the dead.

These Lizard People were once the Ancient Temple Guards of Ta Hess, chosen from the bravest warriors, but now they were utterly lifeless, bode ill, and clearly did not intend to let him leave easily.

Fang Hong stepped back, plotting an escape in his mind, when suddenly in the darkness nearby, a burst of firelight appeared, accompanied by a roar: ”Cover fire!” A crisp volley of gunshots followed, and bullets whistled through the air, striking the ancient temple guards like a sudden downpour.

The spinning bullets did not cause much damage; these reanimated ancient temple guards stood like puppets, letting the bullets hit them, merely swaying slightly, but this somewhat impeded their advance, stopping them from moving forward.

The shooters, after a round of fire, immediately drew their curved blades and swords and rushed out of the darkness. Fang Hong could then see clearly that they were Hilde’s men, led by a tall man in black who commanded the others while charging forward: ”Go, block these freaks!”

”You...” Fang Hong was momentarily stunned.

”Run!” the man in black just turned back and yelled at him.

Just then, another group surged out of the mist, led by a mountain girl covered in blood—Xi, leading a group of Silver Vislan knights. She glanced at Fang Hong, then pointed her Long Halberd forward: ”Silver Vislan, charge!”

Behind her, the knights of Silver Vislan roared together, brandishing their swords to block the undead.

Following the mountain girl was an equally disheveled Dianmo Ran Qingzhu. Seeing Fang Hong, his eyes brightened, and he breathed a sigh of relief: ”Finally caught up!”

Fang Hong then realized: ”Dianmo Ran Qingzhu, what are you doing here?”

”It’s a long story,” Dianmo Ran Qingzhu said a bit breathlessly: ”We were trapped in the mist by these monsters, and if they hadn’t suddenly turned around to look for you, we would still be stuck there,