Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong asked again: ”Did we win?”

His voice was so hoarse that it startled even himself, and Fang Hong looked around, but didn’t see the shadow of the Wanderer.

The scene that had transpired earlier seemed like a phantom to him, as if he had just awoken from a dream.

”I suppose we won,” Eve replied with shimmering tears in her eyes. ”He has already left.”

”He just left, that’s all...”

Another wave of dizziness hit him. Fang Hong reached up to support his forehead, murmuring in slight regret.

But suddenly he remembered something and said to Eve before him: ”Oh, Miss Eve... I’ve finally understood what happened a hundred years ago.”

Fang Hong seemed to recall everything he’d seen beneath the City Hall, with the clues gradually becoming clear in his mind. He eagerly organized his words and said: ”I think I also know why Lord Yoshude didn’t destroy the Dragon’s Golden Eyes and left the Dragon’s Heart here...”

”He wasn’t imprisoning you.”

”Because he did not break his promise to you.”

”...Did you forget? What you were waiting for here wasn’t him. You had already awaited his return; what you waited for here was the complete resolution of the Dragon Witch incident—”

”That was your covenant with him, wasn’t it?”

Fang Hong felt as if his throat was about to split, almost forcing out the words with all his strength, ”You waited for so long a time, yet never gave up; did you even forget your original purpose?”

The girl then nodded through her tears, ”Yes, I remember now, Mr. Ade. I promised Yoshude to use all the remaining time I had, in this long darkness, to atone for the wrongs I caused.”

Some time unknown to him, the sounds on the battlefield gradually died away.

The Descendants of Flor seemed to have achieved final victory, as some people wearing two-colored war robes appeared on the edge of the giant pit. They stood in that direction and shouted loudly below: ”Who’s from the troop down there? If you don’t answer, I’ll take you as Sky Pirates?”

But before the voice fell.

A dark-haired middle-aged man turned around, casting just a faint glance in that direction. He gently raised his magic wand and those men immediately stood frozen like puppets.

The middle-aged man seemed worried that those people standing there might draw more attention. He thought for a moment, then waved his hand. A flash of light passed by, and those people vanished instantly. Fang Hong saw this, his gaze involuntarily sharpening—a teleportation spell of any sort would be at least a Seventh Ring or higher High Rank Magic.

And anyone who could use it so casually would at least be a Superior—a term for those returning from the Second World.

He originally thought the Sorcerer-Ghoul was the one who had subdued the Wanderer, but now it seemed that might not be the case.

However, that thought only flashed through his mind. Fang Hong then turned to look at the girl.

Eve was choking as she spoke: ”Thank you, Mr. Ade—”

”Yoshude forgave me long ago, and it turns out I forgave him too, only during this endless time, I even forgot who I was. After all, the lingering soul, in this dark underground, has stayed far too long; I should have gone to find Yoshude already.”

At some unknown time, the first light of dawn appeared on the horizon.

The pale sunlight crept over the rim of the pit, little by little, spilling onto the pit’s bottom. It passed through the girl’s body, making her wraith-like presence appear more translucent, almost like it would evaporate.

Fang Hong saw this scene and was slightly in awe.

He couldn’t help but ask: ”Miss Eve... you...?”

Eve nodded with tears in her eyes—she seemed to feel true relief seeing that Fang Hong did not transform into a dragon as she imagined. Although Fang Hong’s appearance was still somewhat ferocious, she didn’t feel that way at all.

The girl’s heart was filled with peace: ”You did it, Mr. Ade, the answer I have been waiting for a century was handed to me by you.”

”...I finally recalled the whereabouts of the Holy Sword Galapeya; Yoshude indeed already had descendants. Thirty years ago, I even met them once.”

”The girl looked very much like Yoshude—her name should be Misu, right?”

”She told me that she would go north with her brother to find the person truly prophesied—the Light’s Crown is about to appear, and the history of the Oathkeeper Clan ends here.”

”They also told me that I am actually that prophesied Terminator—the ancient legend was never wrong—and I will be the last Dark Giant Dragon. The era of the Dark Giant Dragon ends with the name Evril-Nikopolas.”

”After that,” the girl smiled slightly, tears shining in her eyes, ”it will be your story.”

Fang Hong looked at her.

He knew this was the best ending for the girl because she was finally going to find her love, the one she missed for a lifetime, awaited through a century’s light—it brought peace in this moment.

Yet he couldn’t help but feel a little reluctant— even selfishly asking: ”But Miss Eve... the Wanderer isn’t dead yet... He will come back, surely? Has your covenant with Lord Yoshude really ended?”

The girl nodded with a smile.

”Yes.”

”Because I found a better answer.”

”I’ve seen the end of that ancient time, the reenactment of the Light’s Crown.”

”I waited for you, Mr. Ade.”

Half of her body had almost disappeared.

Yet Eve still reached out her hand, as if she could really touch Fang Hong’s face—through the sunlight, gently pausing there, fingers softly grazing his cheek.

”You are me, you are Yoshude, you are the one we’ve all been waiting for, Mr. Ade,” her voice was gentle, much like the underground, that dark and winding melody—like a thread of dawn, piercing the darkness of one’s heart: ”Close your eyes, Mr. Ade.”

”I have a final gift for you.”

Fang Hong gazed at her fixedly.

He could see the pleading in the girl’s eyes.

Though reluctant, he nodded and closed his eyes.

In that instant, he seemed to hear a soft sigh. That gentle sigh felt like it traversed an era, from the past prosperity of Idus a century ago to this desolate ruin, questioning him:

”Mr. Ade, are you a friend of Eve’s...?”

Hearing this, Fang Hong could no longer hold back, a slight flutter of his eyelids, as if dust entered his eyes. The next moment, he suddenly opened his eyes wide, but only heard a soft ’ding’, and saw a silver, somewhat crudely made ring roll to the floor.

Yet before him, the light of dawn had fully crossed into the pit bottom...

The sky was faintly white, the bright sunlight illuminating the desolate land from a hundred years past.

Silently and eerily.

And before him, where was the shadow of the girl?

Fang Hong merely saw, the Elf Miss quietly walked over to him, crouched down, and picked up the ring.

Then she straightened up, holding the ring in her hand, her jade green eyes looking at him quietly.

Fang Hong saw this, unable to contain himself. He only felt a sting in his nose, choking back words: ”Miss Atira...”

”Miss Eve, she...”

”Has she already left...?”

...