Pillar of Yita

”Hilveld.” Fang Hong suddenly spoke.

Miss Ship’s Officer’s eyes, which seemed to speak, looked over: ”Yes, what’s up?”

”Did you see that thing?” Fang Hong’s gaze was fixated in one direction as he spoke.

”Where?”

”Next to the building on the left side of the third exit of the plaza, at the height of the second floor.”

Hilveld turned her head in that direction, and just at that moment, a streak of fiery light shot across the sky, reflecting in her deep blue eyes under the night sky—Fang Hong saw her gaze flash, and she nodded. ”Is it a Clockwork Fairy?” Hilveld asked.

Fang Hong nodded.

What he mentioned was indeed a Clockwork Fairy hovering outside the eaves. He nodded and asked, ”Can you shoot it down from that direction?”

”It’s too far.” Hilveld observed for a moment and shook her head, ”If I had a long rifle, maybe, but I only have the gun that Miss Sicape gave us on hand.”

Fang Hong also knew that because of the handgun’s barrel length, it was difficult to accurately control the trajectory at this distance. However, after thinking for a moment, he answered, ”It’s not hard, follow me.” Hilveld couldn’t help but look at him with a bit of curiosity.

Fang Hong monitored the people from the Shadow Throne through an aerial view. They were approaching Enan-Medkaiser, but the latter was completely unaware and continued to inch towards the outskirts of the plaza. As for the Clockwork Fairy, it was focused on observing the movements between the two, seemingly forgetting the lurking danger.

Fang Hong carefully led his Miss Ship’s Officer around to the side and rear of the Clockwork Fairy, hiding under a fabric drape hanging from the third floor.

From there, they looked up and saw not far away a group of Gunslingers from the Shadow Throne using the flower beds around the plaza as barricades, launching an attack on the gray-robed figures in the center of the plaza. However, the other party also had Musketeers who spotted this point of fire, and both sides exchanged fire with muskets, causing smoke and fire to fill the air for a time.

Hilveld saw these people and understood Fang Hong’s intention. Her expressive eyes inquired with a glance, raising both hands to indicate ’going to rob’? Fang Hong nodded and took out his Screeching Banshees—his original Screeching Banshees had suffered losses at the Aimumu Fortress battle, leaving only the last three, all released at once.

He looked at these three wasp-like Flexible Constructs, internally lamenting the costly nature of the Alchemist’s profession. The cost of the Screeching Banshee was several times higher than that of a Clockwork Fairy, yet the losses were not frivolous.

But in many cases, to ensure a Combat Artisan’s safety, small to medium-sized Flexible Constructs served as consumables, and while large Constructs were slightly better, they also struggled in high-intensity combat.

It wasn’t just him—Fang Hong wanted to emphasize that point. He raised his hand again, the metal Control Gloves emitting a clicking sound, though this noise was insignificant in a corner of the battlefield. The three ’wasps’ flew up, like three pieces of dead leaves silently drifting towards the heads of the Shadow Throne Gunslingers.

The opponent’s Clockwork Fairy’s vision wasn’t in this direction and didn’t notice this scene at all. Fang Hong waited for a moment before gently clenching his fist—issuing the command to drop the bombs.

Some tiny, spinning metal pieces were thrown down. As they descended to a certain height, the Screeching Banshee’s timer activated—triggering a connection to a Crystal, from which an Ether Ripple emanated. Under the ripple, the Alchemy Array on the metal pieces was immediately activated.

So the array emitted a bright light, blossoming into a spray of dazzling flash powder, falling like glowing pollen, instantly covering a dozen feet range in all directions.

This pollen was inescapable, and the Gunslingers within the range cried out in pain, instinctively covering their eyes. The attack wasn’t lethal, merely causing intense pain and tears to flow, but meanwhile, the gray-robed Musketeers noticed the reduced firepower on this side, immediately seizing the opportunity to counterattack.

Bullets pattered like raindrops, showering the flower beds, causing bricks and stones to burst forth. Several Gunslingers from the Shadow Throne fell into pools of blood, dying without ever understanding how they were ambushed.

But wherever there is death, equipment will drop, and these ’cannon fodder’ participants generally wouldn’t bring their best equipment, with their plain white muskets being the easiest items to be discarded.

Having experienced the Battle of the Long Summer, Fang Hong knew these people’s tactics well. Watching the Gunslingers fall scattered to the ground, a flash of white light shimmered, and sure enough, a few muskets were left lonely on the ground. Among them were models of Type 7, Type 3, and even the classic Imperial Model 1440; though they were all plain, Fang Hong picked the best one—a ’Lightning Vsk-1’ from the Emerald Bird Workshop.

Before anyone else could recover their vision, he shot out a Flying Claw, clamped onto the gun with a click, reeled it back, brushed off the dust with his hand, and handed it over to the nearby Miss Ship’s Officer. Hilveld watched from the side, eyes twinkling with a slight smile: ”The Combat Artisan profession really is cunning.”

Fang Hong was speechless.

To kill several people for a single gun, he wasn’t sure if it was truly cunning. However, this was a battlefield, and on the battlefield, Miss Sicape was far more cunning than he was.

Hilveld took the gun, made a few adjustments, then nodded, indicating it was sufficient. The plain musket, though unremarkable in every attribute, was only going to be aimed at a Clockwork Fairy after all.

She slipped out from the other side of the fabric drape, raised the gun, and took aim.