Pillar of Yita

The dark, narrow tunnel seemed like an endless road. The thick walls isolated the bursts of cheering from the sports event outside, reducing it to faint noise that subtly seeped in.

On one hand, Ai Xiaoxiao felt an itch in her heart as she listened, but on the other hand, she was curious about their destination. She asked softly, ”Miss Hilveld, how much longer until we arrive?”

Hilveld turned her head and gave her a smile, ”Soon, Little Princess.”

”Ah, please don’t call me that like Tangtang does, it’s so embarrassing,” Ai Xiaoxiao said with a red face, ”Just call me Xiaoxiao, Miss Hilveld. Why does it sound like the event is still ongoing outside?”

”Perhaps.”

”Do you think they might have taken my cousin?”

”No,” Hilveld chuckled.

”But why do we have to wear these veils, they’re so dirty—” the latter seemed like a curious baby.

The voices ahead suddenly became clearer, as if the surrounding walls thinned, allowing the outside noises to penetrate more clearly. Ai Xiaoxiao distinctly heard the cheers of many people, making her instinctively close her mouth.

After a while, she asked softly, ”Are we heading for the stands?”

Ai Xiaoxiao recalled having a similar experience once when she went to watch a game with her parents.

She remembered it seemed like a ball game.

”No.”

”Ah?”

In the VIP box, only a few nobles remained.

The Old Dwarf raised his frost-colored eyebrows and forcefully tapped his combat axe on the floor, shaking his head at the chaotic scene outside, saying in a muffled voice, ”These fellows are really getting worse. Look at what a mess they’ve made of a perfectly good match?”

He sighed, ”By Tarot, this is truly a disaster.”

The Old Bishop, Tirioan, smiled slightly. The teachings of Ouli inclined toward tradition and authority. Regarding the conflict between the New King, the Prime Minister’s faction, and the southern nobles, he understood that it was best not to get involved.

Among the three, only Tada Ritualist remained silent.

Tirioan noticed the latter’s unusual behavior and turned back to ask, ”What’s wrong, Ka Cuilan’s friend?”

Tada Ritualist slowly shook its giant, toad-like head, a shallow light floating in its olive-shaped pupils. When it spoke, its heavy voice trembled as if from deep within its throat:

”Gentlemen, I just sensed a slight disturbance in the Shining Sea.”

”What?” The Dwarf was taken aback and turned to ask, ”Is there finally another omen? Quickly, what does it symbolize?”

Tirioan also looked at the other party.

But just then, the Dwarf suddenly jumped up from his seat as if pricked by a needle. The Old Bishop watched him grab his combat axe with both hands, looking towards the box entrance and shouted, ”Who’s sneaking around? Come out!”

The next moment, the box door was pushed open.

A tall figure and a short figure appeared there, both wearing gray veils. Beneath the veils, only a pair of bright, smiling eyes belonging to a young girl were visible.

Hilveld then removed her veil and smiled softly at the Old Dwarf, ”Mr. Kalin, do you remember me?”

Kalin Steelbrow was momentarily stunned, not yet reacting.

But the Tada Ritualist beside was already lifting its head to look at them.

...

Luo Hao wiped a layer of sludge from his hand with a look of disgust, then smeared it on the wall.

He lowered his head to sniff, his face instantly showing an indescribable expression, his mouth opened, and he dry heaved for a moment. Then he turned back, looking at the layer of black smoke gradually dissipating on the ground.

”I’m never going into the sewer again.”

”I swear.”

He muttered to himself.

But involuntarily recalled that scene from earlier, wondering what that sudden ripple was, though it undoubtedly saved his life.

As for the Dragon’s Claw henchmen, they weren’t so lucky, for in battle, when one side is fortunate, the other is doomed.

Luo Hao threw the Void Crystal in his hand to the ground. These disposable mana storage crystals made by Elementalists were indeed useful but also expensive. Luckily, for show, he had exchanged one with personal points from the military supply depot before the mission.

”I’m never fighting in the sewer again.”

”I truly swear.”

He repeated, looking at his filthy, stinking mud-covered self, unable to stop feeling nauseated.

The Dragon’s Claw henchmen, as rumored, didn’t drop anything but the abundant experience points almost leveled him halfway.

But this couldn’t calm his grieved heart in the slightest. He looked around, only to realize he was lost. His Communication Crystal had been discarded at the beginning, leaving him helpless. He tried to recall and remembered passing through a thick Stone Gate in his panic.

He thought for a moment and then looked toward one direction.

”Could it be this way?”

...

”Is it time for the shift change already, so soon?”

The young Alchemist, holding Pudra’s authorization letter, smiled and replied, ”Not yet, but after the match, the Heart of the Tower needs to be activated, so my mentor sent me to check in advance.”

The High Order Craftsman checked the document, then turned to unlock the Door Lock, before turning back to say, ”Be careful, don’t mess with anything inside, especially that Crystal. Lord Sonan put a lot of effort into it. If you break it, he’ll kill you.”