Pillar of Yita

However, in consideration of them being benefactors to His Majesty, the King of Sand, the warriors of the Desert People were willing to turn a blind eye.

Fang Hong alone looked at this embarrassing fellow, wishing to toss him out.

Luo Hao stood guard by a row of corpses.

Corpses on the battlefield were indeed a rare sight—

To maintain the army’s morale, typically, neither sand thieves nor the regular army would enlist people without a chance of revival. Those with abundant starlight are often more valiant in battle, a lesson Eteliria learned through years of war.

Of course, in certain specific circumstances, such as in nation-devastating wars, when troop numbers are extremely limited, such regulations are often deliberately disregarded. For example, during the Battle of Bain thirteen years ago, when it reached its most intense stage, almost no army from any country allowed soldiers without a revival chance to leave the combat.

If the soldiers couldn’t retreat, naturally, the nobles couldn’t either; thus, that great battle is considered to be particularly tragic.

But the current situation clearly hasn’t reached that stage.

Moreover, that row of corpses could be called bizarre.

There were about a dozen of them, their attire completely at odds with those around them, neither resembling the Royal Guards nor the sand thieves. However, Fang Hong noticed their clothing with some surprise, as these people were wearing Earthlings’ attire.

”Invoker?”

He was taken aback, but Invokers don’t dress in this manner either.

Even tourists would change into Eteliria-style clothing before entering the Stargate.

Before Luo Hao could speak, he quickly approached, taking a closer look at these people’s appearances. What shocked Fang Hong more was that these people were not Invokers. Judging by their features, they were clearly local Istanian people. High noses, deep-set eyes, bronze skin, and most importantly, their almost faded irises showed some local characteristics.

That very faint purple was a major characteristic of Istanians. Even in Lavali’s light blue eyes, a faint purple hue could be discerned. The Istanian legend says it’s proof that their ancestors had some Xinsas Serpentfolk blood. Although no one can prove the existence of human-serpent hybrids, the touch of purple in their pupils is one of the typical traits of Istanians.

And this trait could be found on every corpse in front of Fang Hong.

Moreover, these corpses shared another similarity.

They all bore strange black markings around their hands and feet, like vine patterns coiling around their wrists and ankles. Some had lighter patterns, while others had deeper ones, the most extensive was on a middle-aged man with nearly half of his arm covered in such patterns.

Fang Hong originally thought they were tattoos, but he quickly realized they seemed to grow from beneath these people’s skin.

These corpses were truly bizarre to the extreme.

However, they seemed to have participated in the previous battle; each bore a Magic Guided Furnace on their backs. Fang Hong checked the model of the Magic Guided Furnace—Flame AEM-type, a common military artisan-type magic furnace in Osh. Compared to the Imperial Workshop’s products, it’s slightly inferior, but even in the Empire, not every army can afford the Imperial Workshop’s wares.

Only then did he lift his head to look at Luo Hao:

”What’s the deal with these bodies?”

”They appeared after the battle,” Luo Hao replied, ”At that time, we discovered Miss Affia’s whereabouts, a group of Blind Followers was taking her away from here, but these people suddenly appeared while we were in pursuit—”

”Suddenly appeared?”

”Yes,” Luo Hao nodded with lingering fear, ”they just appeared out of thin air on the battlefield... like some teleportation magic...”

”Are these people Combat Artisans?”

”Yes, they’re all Combat Artisans, and they have formidable combat strength...fortunately, Barbaltan’s Knight Order was with us...”

At this moment, Parker happily came back holding his spoils of war and chimed in: ”Yeah, good thing there were only about ten of them, otherwise I’d have to run. After such a big battle, picking up some spoils shouldn’t be too much, right?”

Fang Hong couldn’t be bothered with him, but his words made Fang Hong’s heart skip a beat.

He suddenly looked up and asked loudly: ”The King of Sand’s Imperial Knights are here, where is the King of Sand?”

His raised voice caught the attention of nearby Istanian knights.

Luo Hao was slightly taken aback: ”The King of Sand’s army defeated the sand thieves and is driving them away. He dispatched some Imperial Knights here to clean the battlefield, while he took Count Nulman ahead, but don’t worry too much, there are still many Imperial Knights around Barbaltan.”

”How many, is it?” Fang Hong immediately asked.

”About half, I presume.”

Half?

Fang Hong glanced around; there were only about thirty or forty Imperial Knights here, which meant there should be a similar number of them remaining.

He immediately asked again: ”And Miss Affia, in which direction is she?”

Luo Hao, slightly tense from his tone, pointed in a direction hastily.

”The Blind Followers took Miss Affia and fled in that direction; after defeating these Combat Artisans, His Majesty led others in pursuit—”