Pillar of Yita

When Fang Hong opened his eyes again, a wisp of flame ignited deep within them, as the Golden Star Fire surged from the depths of darkness. In the blink of an eye, his pupils transformed into a blazing gold color, long and narrow in shape, like the cold Dragon’s Eyes.

He looked at those Dragon’s Claw henchmen, as he had imagined, these ugly, non-humanoid monsters hesitated noticeably and began to retreat. ”Wait, what did you do?” R’s tone was noticeably uncertain because, through Fang Hong’s camera window, he could only see the reaction of the Dragon’s Claw henchmen.

The girl couldn’t see what was happening either, so she stood somewhat nervously behind Fang Hong.

Fang Hong wanted to test if Nini’s ability could affect these Dragon’s Claw henchmen, and if not, he would use ’I’m Not A Pigeon’. Fortunately, it seemed to work as, under his gaze, not only did the Dragon’s Claw henchmen retreat, but they also let out low sounds.

These sounds were different from previous roars, carrying a tone of fear and subservience. They slowly retreated, blending into the shadows, until they eventually disappeared.

Fang Hong watched the last Dragon’s Claw henchman walk into the shadows before letting out a sigh of relief. This way, he didn’t have to use that half-finished product—at his current level, maintaining the Dragon Soul combat form was still a bit of a stretch. Even with one of the three Elf Rings and the secret technique blessing of the Lizardman tribe, his mana value was difficult to maintain for more than a few seconds.

However, he immediately regretted it deeply, because if he had known this move was so effective, he wouldn’t have used those Fire Giants. Although the Fire Giants were modified from cheap Type I Clockwork Fairies, saving is a virtue.

He walked over to check the battlefield, and naturally, there were no spoils of war. Instead, several Ts-1 Stalkers were lost, causing him another bout of distress.

The cave finally quieted down again.

The girl’s gentle voice asked from behind, ”Did they all leave, Mr. Ade?”

Only then did Fang Hong realize it, as he was too focused on his distress and almost forgot the serious matter. He quickly replied, ”Yes,” and then after a pause, he added, ”But I can’t guarantee they won’t come back again. Are the materials to repair the seal nearby?”

The girl quickly nodded her head.

”Then hurry up, if anything happens, I’ll buy you some time.”

The girl dared not speak further and hurried forward, feeling around the tall crystal clusters, searching for something. When Fang Hong approached, he realized she was picking out some light gray crystals among the black ones, then knocking them down with a small hammer.

She seemed to ’hear’ Fang Hong approaching, and while carefully collecting the knocked-down crystals, she replied, ”The seal itself needs to be infused with magic to be maintained. These crystals were originally natural magical sources, but most have been corrupted by the Dark Force.”

”But there are still some that survived, and they make the best repair materials.” She sighed softly and added, ”It’s just that I’ve been here too long, and the crystals here are almost exhausted.”

Listening to the tinkling sounds, Fang Hong asked, ”Is there really only magic crystals in such a vast Idus?”

”In the past, some could be found in the ruins, but magical crystals also have immense attraction to roaming magic monsters and magic creatures, causing them to take some away, leading this place to become increasingly desolate.”

”What about outside of Idus?”

”There are, of course, but I can’t leave this place.”

”Why not?”

The girl brushed her ear hair aside, smiled, and said, ”Lord Holy Chooser forgot, Yoshude asked me to wait for him here.”

For the first time, Fang Hong felt that this Dragon Slaying Hero was a bit despicable.

Although he knew this wasn’t true, Yoshude would certainly not make such unreasonable demands on an innocent and kind girl, it was most probably the obsession left after the death of this girl named ’Eve’—

With the obsession unfulfilled, her thoughts would linger for a long time in this pitch-dark underground.

He thought for a moment and decided to change his approach: ”Perhaps I could help you bring back some magical crystals from outside.”

”Really?” The girl seemed a little surprised.

”Of course,” Fang Hong replied, ”as long as quality isn’t an issue, magical crystals aren’t exactly rare, and there are exposed crystal mine veins in the canyon.”

”Thank you so much, Lord Holy Chooser.”

”Oh, sorry,” she showed an embarrassed expression, ”...it’s Mr. Ade.”

’Even if you bring her magical crystals, it won’t do much good.’ R’s text appeared again: ’And within a few days, she will forget you. She’ll remember that someone came, helped her. But she will recognize you all over again, then repeat this task.’

’What about those magical crystals?’

’Of course, after those magical crystals are used up,’ R replied, ’Of course, you could offer her an endless supply of magical crystals, and others would never have to do this task again.’

’Is that possible...?’

”What else?”

R typed: ’Actually, I’m just giving you a hint, telling you that solving a problem doesn’t necessarily have to follow the rules, there can be alternative approaches.’

’Alternative approaches?’ Fang Hong was a little confused.

’What are you here for? To find the truth about the Dragon’s Witch, or to stop the Dragon Worship Sect’s plot?’

Fang Hong thought for a moment.

He had already found the Dragon’s Initial Scale, if he didn’t want to delve deeper, he just had to find a way to take it or destroy it to prevent the Dragon Worship Sect’s scheme from succeeding. Then, he could inform the military and let Colin Ishurian’s navy deal with those Blood Shark Sky Pirates.