Pillar of Yita

Atira fumbled along the wall for a good while but found nothing. She retreated, frowning, with a hand clenched to support her chin, gazing into the narrow space of the cell in contemplation.

Fang Hong watched from behind for a moment, then asked: ”Is it behind this wall?”

Elf Miss turned to look at him and nodded gently.

”Miss Atira, let me try.”

Atira nodded again, stepping aside.

Fang Hong passed by her, feeling the cold wall with his hand, the rough texture under his palm carried a unique sense of time’s sediment. He searched for a while, then suddenly asked: ”Miss Atira, were those two skeletons always there?”

”Yes, so when you threatened them, I was somewhat surprised.”

”But why did they notice me?”

Atira softly reminded: ”Perhaps it was just your illusion, don’t think too much, Ade.”

”But...”

If he hadn’t killed those two people, how did they end up dead here?

Fang Hong’s memory kept flashing back to the previous scene, the positions where the two prison guards fell, matching perfectly with reality. Due to its peculiarity, it almost made him feel like he had traversed time.

Atira gazed at the Ring of Golden Flame in his hand, pondered for a moment, then replied: ”Perhaps, it’s something the Dragon’s Golden Eyes want you to see.”

”Dragon’s Golden Eyes...want me to see something?” Fang Hong paused. What did the Dragon’s Golden Eyes want him to see—the two deceased? What special significance did these ordinary prison guards hold?

Atira reminded him: ”Don’t forget, Ade. Within the Dragon’s Golden Eyes, there’s also a part of Nini and Eve’s powers, guiding you invisibly because they recognize you.”

Nini heard someone call her name and quickly turned her head to convey a sense of presence: ”Nini, here!”

Atira glanced at this little one.

She was engaged in a ’mortal combat’ with Miss Daisy, Miss Cat coldly pressing a paw on her forehead, preventing her from advancing despite her flailing hands. Yet, she wasn’t angry; she seemed to enjoy it.

Fang Hong glanced over, shaking his head.

He was still pondering why the Dragon’s Golden Eyes purposely showed him those two deaths. And Miss Eve’s words about being too late—what could be too late after all?

Suddenly, a profound light flickered in his eyes.

He suddenly thought, if not him, then who killed those two?

Perhaps this was what Miss Eve wanted to tell him—

Fang Hong thus continued to search while asking: ”Miss Atira, throughout this journey, what have you figured from everything we’ve seen?”

”You mean clues?”

Fang Hong nodded.

”There are some clues. The wanderer should be Nikopolas’s biological father, called ’Alte Erlingran’ by the Praetor Garcia and the Great Elder. But whether this name is an alias is uncertain, although the surname seems genuine.”

”Erlingran is the family where Sir Diket’s Archmage Kalatu hailed from, whose family head served as the Kingdom’s chief Court Mage a century ago.”

”Additionally, he is the true master of Aimumu Fortress,” Atira said softly. ”We can roughly understand what he did. Pursuing something that shouldn’t rightfully be his, cold-bloodedly sacrificing even his own daughter.”

”And Idus,” Fang Hong replied. ”This city, perhaps many within the city were manipulated, but they don’t deserve death.”

”As for the details Miss Atira is unclear about, I can shed some light.”

”He wasn’t only the master of Aimumu Fortress but also married a Grossel Family heiress, endeavoring to transfer Leifgard’s soul sealed in the Holy Sword Moa into Eve. His wife died tragically due to his actions.”

”I think that explains why Aimumu Fortress turned into ruins—”

”I once saw numerous peculiar Black Crystals underground in Aimumu Fortress and encountered a strange enemy akin to shadows. Upon defeating them, I obtained a fragment of the Holy Sword Moa from their corpses.”

”In retrospect, those Black Crystals closely resemble the crystal we previously saw at the ’Dragon’s Initial Scale.’ In Taliannia, crystals are magical power’s crystallization. Thus, the crystals might originate from similar magic power.”

”This magical power is Leifgard’s strength, the object that wanderer long pursued. Aimumu Fortress’s calamity stemmed from a magic power surge, when Leifgard’s power coursed through ’Alte’s’ wife’s body as a medium into Eve, the dissipated force not only destroyed Aimumu Fortress, killing all nearby life, but the remaining force also materialized into monsters akin to shadows.”

”Those monsters are actually fragments of the Dragon King Leifgard’s soul, although most of the power was absorbed by Nikopolas, the remainder was but very minuscule.”

As Fang Hong spoke, he involuntarily recalled the tranquil portrait of the young woman beneath Aimumu Fortress, realizing she was Eve’s mother.

The two bore completely similar temperaments.

He continued:

”Thus,’ Alte’ acquired an embryonic state Leifgard, inheriting the Golden Star Fire—a daughter with Dragon’s Golden Eyes. Though it’s unclear how he survived that catastrophe, he surely suffered considerable injuries, or else he wouldn’t have left behind the broken Holy Sword Moa.”