Pillar of Yita

Accompanied by falling stones, a sizable opening finally appeared between the collapsing rocks. The opening gradually expanded and formed a passage wide enough for one person to walk sideways through. Fang Hong and Rolin each used Alchemy to create a column to prop it up, preventing further collapse.

Rolin clapped his hands and turned around, saying, ”You first or me first?”

Fang Hong glanced at him, worried he might play some trick, and replied, ”Let Miss Atira go first, then me, and you last.”

Rolin did not object and just nodded.

He then immediately started coughing violently, bending over, and even had to support himself against a nearby wall to stay upright. After he finished coughing, Rolin took a deep breath, showing Fang Hong an apologetic expression. However, his face was extremely pale, nearly bloodless, looking as though he might collapse at any moment.

Fang Hong found it odd seeing him like this, as he had never seen the Invoker in this state; at the Fanric arena, he once thought Rolin was a Native. He silently observed for a while before asking, ”Are you alright?”

Rolin shook his head, indicating he was fine.

”Did you get hit by some curse?”

”Not exactly, just the necessary cost for Strength.”

”Strength?”

”You’ve probably heard those legends, the dealings with ’Demons’, involving a heavy cost but granting extraordinary Strength.”

”Demons? The Demons in Eteliria are symbolic, right? You mean the dark All Saints?”

Rolin shook his head again, ”I mean the real ’Demons’, which you haven’t seen; the dark All Saints are merely their henchmen.”

Fang Hong found it hard to believe, as he had never heard of such a notion before, but there was also the possibility that Rolin was deliberately misleading him, and he couldn’t be sure. He paused for a moment, ”Then what kind of Strength did ’they’ give you?”

Rolin stopped and didn’t speak for a while before finally saying, ”...Promise me one thing, Mr. Ade, and in return, I will tell you this secret.”

Fang Hong looked at him.

”Do not tell anything about what happened here to the outside world for now.”

”For now?”

”Within twenty-four hours.”

But Fang Hong shook his head, ”I don’t make deals with Cultists, you should be aware of the principles in the ’Stargate Declaration’.”

Rolin laughed, ”Principles can be flexible; this secret is very important to you all.”

”But to me, the principles of the ’Stargate Declaration’ are above all else.” With that, Fang Hong realized he couldn’t let Rolin lead him around. He turned around, passed through the corridor, and helped Miss Atira, who was sitting there. Elf Miss looked at him and whispered, ”You did the right thing, Ade.”

Fang Hong gave her a smile.

He carefully supported his ’sister’, carrying her to the edge of the crevice, where she could lean against the wall for support. When Miss Atira passed through the opening, she looked back at him, signaling him to be cautious with her gaze.

Fang Hong nodded slightly, indicating he understood. He watched as Miss Atira laboriously went through the narrow passage, disappearing into the darkness not long after.

He turned back to glance at Rolin and walked toward the opening himself. But suddenly, Rolin called from behind him, ”Ade.”

Fang Hong turned back warily.

Rolin reached into his coat and took out a small item from his windbreaker.

The object was diamond-shaped, a perfect octahedron, resembling two pyramids perfectly joined at their bases. But the surface of these two pyramids was dull, like coated with ink, with faintly visible intricate patterns on it.

Fang Hong immediately recognized it. It was the kind of peculiar Clockwork Fairy - Black Star, he had seen in the Hall of Thousand Doors; he had once seen it used by Rolin at the Fanric banquet, but only once.

Rolin raised his hand, and the object floated with a ’buzz’, staying suspended a few inches from his palm. However, strangely enough, the exterior of the octahedron showed no visible power source, and it moved very agilely, unlike the cumbersome flight method of the Annihilator QV700.

This completely surpassed the current understanding of Alchemy. Although Fang Hong had seen it once during his time in the Phantom Realm, seeing it again still left him somewhat astounded.

Supporting the little thing, Rolin finally spoke, ”This is the power they gave me; guess what it is?”

Fang Hong looked at him in surprise. Since Rolin volunteered this secret, it didn’t count as a violation of the principles. After thinking for a moment, he replied, ”Is it Alchemy from the Numelin Era?”

Rolin shook his head, retracting the little object with a ’click’ and letting it fall back into his hand. He looked at the thing in his hand again before answering, ”It existed long before the Numelin Era, and it’s not considered Alchemy.”

”You mean it’s a creation by the Xinsas Serpentfolk...?”

Fang Hong looked at him and shook his head, ”But as far as I know, the Serpent People indulge in Magic and disdain in these side paths. They don’t even need to rely on any external objects, and the only Magic Item left by the Serpent People Empire is just the stone slates engraved with ancient Magic Knowledge.”

In fact, such customs were once mainstream among the Numelin Elves, but after all, the Elves aren’t the true Dragonkin and lack the ability to have Magic Power flowing in their veins. Therefore, they invented Magic Ornaments, creating the forging techniques of the Elf School to compensate for their lack of magic talent.