Pillar of Yita

In Fang Hong’s eyes, a bright flash was reflected. The light lasted for several seconds, seemingly never fading away, and then a massive shockwave swept from the source of the light, mingled with a storm of flying sand and stones. Almost everyone around him was blown away by the shockwave, flying several meters across the street. Only he stood still, as if rooted to the spot, like a nail driven into the ground, gazing in that direction.

The fierce wind tugged at his cloak, making it flutter noisily, akin to a banner of pale green waving in the wind. The explosion stirred up sand and stones, falling chaotically for a brief moment before stopping. In Fang Hong’s gaze, the northern area of Idus seemed empty, and beneath the ruins, there was now a deep crater.

In the live broadcast room, they were still discussing how cool he looked standing unmoving in the storm, while some people were asking about Sword Saint ’R’ and the previous situation with the young man. Fang Hong, focused, took out the Communication Crystal and asked, ”What happened?”

Static crackled on the other end of the Communication Crystal.

After a while, a hoarse voice replied, ”Is this the Qing team? Someone engaged here earlier, we couldn’t see what was happening clearly, and then the explosion occurred. Our team is nearly wiped out, and I’m not sure if there are other survivors from the other teams...”

”Hold on, others will come to rescue you.” Fang Hong put away the Crystal and looked again in that direction. In the live broadcast room, the explosion seemed enormous to the viewers, but to him, it held another significance. If the explosion was man-made, the power demonstrated was in no way inferior to his.

Perhaps even surpassed it.

Whether the owner of this power belonged to the Sky Pirates’ side or ’another side,’ it was not an auspicious matter for them. Now, in Fang Hong’s view, the Sky Pirates were slowly retreating from the battlefield, and the person who fought against him previously had disappeared without a trace.

It seems this unexpected explosion also caught the opponent off guard.

The party responsible should have nothing to do with the Sky Pirates.

Fang Hong certainly recognized the opponent he fought against earlier, the first mate of the Sea Serpent, a formidable figure ranked seventh among the Blood Shark Sky Pirates at Level 44. The Elite Native’s strength at the same level is often much higher than that of the Invoker, so even he, without using the Dragon Knight, would find it difficult to take down the other in a short time.

Moreover, he vaguely sensed another lurking presence, which should be the third figure of the Sea Serpent, the sniper Basque. A small place like Idus gathered two generals of the Blood Shark Sky Pirates, making it hard for him to believe there was a third key figure present.

Thinking of this, his gaze flickered slightly, and he once again picked up the Communication Crystal to issue orders to the teams preparing to head in that direction for rescue. ”There might be a third-party force on the battlefield, and the other side is highly skilled. Pay special attention to this person. If you see him, inform me immediately.”

While speaking, he signaled his assistant to find the live broadcast footage and upload the screenshots of Fang Hong.

The communication channel erupted with voices of acknowledgement.

At the same time as the explosion, Fang Hong realized something was wrong. The ground shook violently, the ceiling emitted a cracking noise under the strain, and cracks like a dense cobweb appeared, countless grains of sand pouring down through the cracks, landing atop both individuals.

Suddenly a loud crash echoed, a part of the ceiling finally gave way under the pressure, plummeting from mid-air. Fang Hong, stumbling, found his balance value hitting zero, and he fell forward. But in the next moment, he felt someone pushing him forward from behind, enveloped in a fragrant scent—the blossom fragrance of Laurel, which Miss Atira commonly used to scent her clothes. She carried a unique aura from Eimeya Temple’s Baimulin.

Both of them fell heavily to the ground, Fang Hong’s back hitting the ground, leaving him dazed. But he quickly heard the Elf Miss groan, and his mind snapped awake, realizing what had happened. Stretching out his hand, an Energy Angel appeared above them, raising her arms to create a dark blue Shield.

Rocks falling from mid-air collided with the Shield, immediately shattering into pieces, smaller stones scattered and fell onto Miss Atira’s back. But the Elf Miss remained silent, only holding Fang Hong tightly, lowering her body to prevent even a single stone from landing on her ’brother.’

Fang Hong felt deeply moved, but current circumstances left no room for him to ponder much—after the violent shakings, an invisible ripple seemed to sweep through the air, causing a silver sparkle to burst from the Energy Angel, and the dark blue Shield flickered before vanishing.

Fang Hong saw this scene and immediately understood it was a strong magick disruption interfering with the functioning of the Flexible Construct. He checked the system, confirming that all Skill icons for the Energy Angel were grayed out, appearing ashen.

This was a typical reaction of the Ether being drained in the region.

However, there remained some Magic Power within the Energy Angel’s Main Crystal, allowing minimal movement—perhaps the only good news. Fang Hong commanded the Energy Angel to slash away a sharp rock while hurriedly saying to Atira, ”Miss Atira, release me! This place is collapsing quickly, we must leave immediately.”