Pillar of Yita

”Mr. Ade?”

Fang Hong looked at her and replied, ”I’m here, Eve.”

”So, is Mr. Ade still the same Mr. Ade?”

Fang Hong heard this tone, both naive and slightly worried, and couldn’t help but feel a bit compassionate. He was silent for a while before answering, ”Of course I’m still the same person; I haven’t changed at all. Your strength and Four-Color Magical Power aren’t different from one another; they don’t affect me at all. If I must say, they are merely somewhat ’stronger.’”

”Is the Dark Force very strong?”

Fang Hong shook his head: ”It’s not the Dark Force that’s strong, but your strength.”

”Mr. Ade really didn’t lie to me,” Eve closed her eyes and smiled, but her frown made her smile look worse than crying: ”Mr. Ade is still the same Mr. Ade. The Dark Force doesn’t affect you at all; the Great Elder was wrong... ”

Fang Hong nodded, ”Of course he was wrong.”

”But I’m different from Mr. Ade,” Eve muttered, her voice almost inaudible: ”Perhaps I was born to be a bad person; the Dark Force is almost devouring me. I can hear it calling me, maybe just a little longer... ”

At this sentence, her voice suddenly became unfamiliar, low and cold, but she hurriedly shook her head and returned to her previous tone: ”No, I can’t become that—”

Fang Hong looked at the girl with a bit of compassion, the tragedy between people and dragons, as Mazak had mentioned, seemed to be truly playing out before him. But after saying this, he suddenly remembered that it was a century ago, the girl always suppressing the nightmare within her, yet ultimately transforming into the feared Dark Giant Dragon—the Dragon’s Witch, Nikopolas.

He was stunned.

He had seen that monster with eyes like the Golden Star Fire; could he imagine that it was the kind-hearted girl before him? Could he imagine it was the virtuous Lady Misu? What kind of power could bend the human heart to such a degree?

And how cold must a person’s nature be to ignore everything before them? The Dragon Worship Sect, in pursuit of selfish desires, no matter whether it was for any kind of power or for seeking eternity, how could they have the right to trample on the dignity of others’ lives?

A belief rose within him; no matter what, the Dragon Worship Sect could not be allowed to use it to create more tragedies. Back when Mazak spoke by the campfire, telling them the story buried beneath time and dust, he never thought of this.

The owner of the Traveler’s Rest, holding the sword handed down from his ancestors, only with a cold voice told that Dragon’s Witch—it was time for closure between them. And at that time, he couldn’t fully understand how much deep emotion was contained within those two simple words, ’closure.’

Including when he accepted the task of delivering the message, it was actually just to repay the assistance he received from the other party. Later, it was also for getting closer to the Dragon Worship Sect’s past plot, to help Miss Atira find the killer of her brother.

But now, standing in this place, listening to the increasingly quiet confession in the dark, and recalling all he saw in Dolifen—the thought in his heart involuntarily surfaced:

It’s time for closure.

What he saw before him was the girl named Evril-Nikopolas, but the tragedy between human and dragon was not restricted to just this instance. He bent down, half-kneeling beside Eve—R asked him why he was able to trigger this task line?

But Fang Hong actually understood in his heart that he hadn’t truly triggered it, and the reason he could reach this point was not because he was superior to his predecessors. It was just due to the words ’coincidence and opportunity.’ As if, in the unseen, he again heard the whispered murmurs of the Ghost Wraiths of Dolifen.

”Eve, don’t think about it; that’s not you.”

”Not me?”

”That’s the demon residing in everyone’s heart; only yours is carrying the sacrifices made by your ancestors for the sake of others,” Fang Hong replied warmly: ”The contributions made by the lineage of Oathkeepers are not unrecognized, as every document we see in later generations bears your names.”

”That’s the curse borne in your bloodline, but it’s not caused by you, but by the tears shed by heroes for others,” Fang Hong answered: ”Some may have forgotten, but Eve, did you hear? People do not hate you; they hate those who cause all of this.”

Eve lifted her head, although her eyes were closed, but the tears couldn’t stop flowing.

”Really?”

”Really, I know someone; his name is Mazak.”

”Mazak, does he have a connection with us?”

”He is a descendant of Yoshude, and it was from him that I learned all about you and Yoshude.”

”So Yoshude also has descendants, what kind of girl would fall in love with him? And, Mr. Ade indeed knows me—” Eve weakly smiled, but the smile was heart-wrenching.

”And more than that, Eve, Mr. Mazak also—”

But Eve shook her head, ”Thank you, Mr. Ade, it’s enough. I know you’re lying to me, but I’m still happy... because I may soon no longer be Eve, the demon residing in my heart is almost impossible to suppress.”