Pillar of Yita

”Where did Rolin go?”

The staff seemed to just realize, but when they asked each other, all responded with a shake of the head. Earlier, in the chaos of the plaza, no one noticed where he went.

Only one person hesitantly replied, ”I seemed to have seen him leaving with Linen just now. Didn’t they come over?”

”No, we didn’t see him.”

Upon hearing this, Count Westwood Sibika’s face darkened with anger and he said, ”Do you mean to say none of you care about the contestants’ safety?”

Everyone couldn’t help but look at Fang Hong, thinking, how should we care? At that time, Rolin wasn’t the only contestant on the field; there was also him. However, with Rolin being Elfendo’s contestant, they truly had no idea where he went after the match, and for that, they bore undeniable responsibility. For a moment, no one dared to speak.

Ande, hearing this nearby, felt something was amiss and asked again, ”Did anyone see which direction they left in?”

”Could they have returned to Elfendo?”

The staff clamored among themselves.

Fang Hong was startled.

Although Miss Tata dismissed the possibility that the dark aura on Rolin was related to Toragotos, the fact that he sensed the presence of dark aura on him was undeniable. Admittedly, within dark auras, exceptions like his Dark Dragon Soul existed, but in such a situation, maintaining at least a basic sense of vigilance and suspicion was not unwarranted.

Moreover, Fang Hong was equally vigilant about his own Dark Dragon Soul.

He instinctively asked, ”What is the situation now within the Elfendo Spire?”

Others couldn’t help but glance at him.

Count Westwood Sibika frowned, hearing the hostility in his words, and replied, ”The core area is already under a state of alert, and without our joint hand order, no outsiders can enter the core area.”

”Should we call the guards to ask?” Someone suggested.

Ande nodded.

Count Westwood Sibika, also worried about his student, agreed to the suggestion. However, when someone was sent to fetch the guards from Elfendo to inquire, they received the same unknown answers. Elfendo had three entrances, but none of the guards had seen Rolin or others.

Ande then called the City Defense Force guarding other directions of the plaza, but the answers were almost identical; they hadn’t seen such a young man.

Upon hearing this, the count gasped and angrily said to the guards, ”Can a living person just disappear into thin air!?”

Ande calmed him, saying, ”Alright, it’s no use taking it out on them, it’s not their responsibility either.”

He couldn’t help but look at Fang Hong, only to see the latter thinking about something, so Ande asked a few Invokers nearby, ”Does anyone have his communication ID?”

But the Invokers all shook their heads:

”Rolin didn’t have many friends usually, only Linen was close to him.”

”Then where’s Linen?”

”Can’t get through; his Communication Crystal is off.”

Count Westwood Sibika’s face was grim.

His bigger concern was for his student’s safety. Rolin might not compare to Fang Hong, but in his mind, this outstanding young man, whom he received from Ye Hua and brought out of Idus, was truly considered his student.

People are not senseless, who can be without emotion; he greatly hoped this young man could inherit his mantle.

The count’s face slightly paled. He looked around, but no one on the scene could tell where Rolin went.

Everyone was merely speculating, and the clues gathered were still fragmented—

Just then, Su Changfeng finished arranging the tasks for the Combat Artisans and walked over. Seeing everyone’s expressions, he couldn’t help but ask, ”What’s the matter?”

Fang Hong seemed to snap back to reality.

He glanced at this military ’big shot’, naturally unaware of the relationship between him and Sophie, only vaguely feeling something familiar about his voice, but couldn’t recall from where.

But he wasn’t in the mood to dwell on this, and only looked toward his teacher. Ande saw his expression and understood his intentions, so he immediately ordered all unrelated personnel to step back, leaving only a few Grand Artificers and Luo Yu’s group at the scene.

Fang Hong took a deep breath and began to describe the situation he perceived at the banquet yesterday.

Of course, he chose to omit the part about the Dark Dragon Soul and the presence of Miss Tata; after all, Ande had advised him before this not to reveal these secrets or anything related to the Zero-Type Crystal to outsiders.

In fact, not even Phales knew he had a second Dragon Soul.

After hearing this, Su Changfeng frowned and asked, ”Do you suspect Rolin is connected with the Dragon Worship Sect?”

Fang Hong shook his head, ”I can’t be certain, but the fact that he had a dark aura is undeniable. At such a critical moment, I just believe maintaining basic vigilance is necessary.”

If this was before the competition, Fang Hong saying this might have been ridiculed. But now, people were compelled to take his opinion seriously, as in the world of craftsmen, everything depended on strength.

It was only Count Westwood Sibika who stiffly remarked, ”Does that mean you know a lot about the Dragon Worship Sect?”

Fang Hong recognized the hostility in his voice.

But he had anticipated this question long before— in fact, before the competition, the Noble Lady had already planned for the Q&A session post-competition, although neither of them expected the situation to develop as it had—thus, Fang Hong calmly replied: