Pillar of Yita

That was an Arrow-Tailed Kite.

Tianlan was the first to see the gigantic bird flying past the side of the ship from the lookout tower of the Seven Seas Traveler. The little girl was utterly frightened and shouted incessantly through the sound transmission tube.

”I see a big bird,” she screamed in horror, ”its wings are as big as a sail. Hurry, come out, is it going to attack us!?”

When Fang Hong pushed open the door from the captain’s room, he saw Bakins looking up in a certain direction in the mist, and others were coming up from below the deck.

”An Arrow-Tailed Kite.” The experienced old sailor turned around and said to Fang Hong.

Fang Hong knew of that creature—a giant raptor that preys over the Sky Sea, usually solitary and with a strong sense of territory—its adult level can reach above twenty-seven, growing to a third of the size of the Seven Seas Traveler, and it’s very intelligent, posing a significant threat to airships.

He didn’t expect that they would be so ’lucky’ to encounter this thing right away.

At that moment, the sound of the wind whooshed past, and Fang Hong looked up just in time to see the raptor fly over the top of the Seven Seas Traveler. Its enormous wings whipped up a vortex, with a wingspan of at least twelve meters long.

This giant bird swooped over the airship, with its two iconic arrow tails disappearing into the mist in the blink of an eye, the current it brought almost causing the Seven Seas Traveler to sway slightly.

Fang Hong gaped—

A fully grown Arrow-Tailed Kite, and seemingly larger than the ordinary ones, likely an elite individual.

”We’ve intruded into its territory,” Bakins remarked at this moment, ”Be careful, it might attack us next.”

”What should we do?” Ai Xiaoxiao’s voice trembled. She never imagined there could be so much danger over the Sky Sea, and the giant bird’s sharp claws and beak terrified her. With her eyes closed, it seemed like she had already envisioned herself being swallowed whole.

”Just shoot it down,” Parker said nonchalantly, ”with the crossbow cannon, don’t we still have one on board?”

But Fang Hong knew that suggestion was a joke. The crossbow cannon could never catch up with the speed of the Arrow-Tailed Kite, and it was mounted on the bow of the Seven Seas Traveler. The giant bird wouldn’t easily come into its firing range.

With the dense fog eclipsing their vision, the Seven Seas Traveler could hardly match the maneuverability of an Arrow-Tailed Kite. He glanced at the cannon seat at the stern, half wondering if only the magic guided cannon from the Artisan Association had been delivered, it would be of use now.

Also, the batch of combat constructs promised by the Princess was left behind at the Tansnier Crafting Association, and he originally thought that with the funds they had available, these losses could be ignored.

But he didn’t expect that even before arriving at the next port, they would encounter a situation where they needed these things—

In the last battle, he had nearly depleted his reserve of flexible constructs, and there were hardly any means left for combat now, though there were still some ’Silver Bees,’ they posed no real threat to the giant bird.

However, Fang Hong remained composed. He first looked at the mast and shouted, ”Tianlan, come down first, be careful, it might attack you.”

He quickly turned to Bakins and Xiangzi, saying, ”Mr. Bakins, you both go up, one on each side of the mast, see if you can try to attack when it comes—”

”No problem,” Bakins, being the experienced sailor he was, readily replied, drawing out a curved blade and climbing up the mast swiftly.

Xiangzi also nodded silently, appearing quite indifferent as he followed, staring in a daze at the mast.

Tianlan sheltered in the lookout tower, already scared out of her wits. Hearing Fang Hong’s words, she hastily yelled in agreement, though her expression suggested she was about to cry, ”How, how should I come down?”

However, Luo Yu looked up and said, ”Tianlan, you can just jump down.”

”Then I’m really jumping.”

Tianlan gingerly clambered out of the lookout tower, her little face paling as she looked down. But she was brave enough, closing her eyes and leaping outward boldly.

But at that very moment, with an eagle’s cry and the sound of wind, the massive raptor once again emerged from the side of the Seven Seas Traveler, flapping its wings and diving towards Tianlan, who was in mid-air.

Tianlan, hearing the sharp cry, had already opened her eyes and was so terrified she almost shrieked, ”Help!”

But Fang Hong had foreseen this scene, thinking that the cunning of the Arrow-Tailed Kite was indeed well-deserved. At that moment, a gunshot rang out behind him, and a burst of fire flashed through as a golden ray brushed past the giant bird.

The Arrow-Tailed Kite flapped its wings to avoid the shot—

It turned around mid-air and looked down, its pitch-black pupils reflecting the image of an incredibly beautiful madam holding a silver firearm, pulling the trigger as a golden shell ejected, smoking, to the ground.

But before it could decide to dive down again for retribution, Bakins on the mast bit his curved blade in his mouth, leapt forward with great force, and pounced down from the sky.

Towards the back of the giant raptor.

The Arrow-Tailed Kite clearly did not anticipate another person on the mast. Startled, it twisted its body to try and shake Bakins off its back mid-air. But the bosun grabbed its long feathers, pulling the curved blade from his mouth and readying it to stab down.

The dazzling silver light reflected in the eyes of the feathered beast, and at the last moment, a sudden idea sprang up; it maneuvered sideways towards the mast. While Bakins’ slash might well have sealed its fate—the collision with the mast was bound to be fatal for him.

”Mr. Bakins,” Tianlan shouted involuntarily when she saw this scene, having been gently lowered by Luo Yu’s Wind Feather Technique, ”Get out of the way!”

Fang Hong also shouted lowly, ”Mr. Bakins, get away!”

The bosun looked over, reluctantly abandoning his sure strike. He reached out, grabbed a crosswise cable, and swung back into the mast with a daring sweep.

The Arrow-Tailed Kite gave a triumphant cry and looked back, preparing to turn in mid-air once more, extending its sharp talons to pounce on the bosun. Birds like the Arrow-Tailed Kite were extremely combative and had a strong sense of vengeance.

But before it could turn halfway, Xiangzi suddenly took a sharp step and reached underneath the first mast, drawing a rapier in reverse, slicing through the cable with a flash of silver.

The sail furled up in the air and dropped down with a whoosh, enveloping the Arrow-Tailed Kite from above. No matter how cunning, this big bird couldn’t anticipate this scenario, and it got ensnared completely.

Its wings became entangled in the sail, causing it to lose balance and crash head-on into the bow of the Seven Seas Traveler. The massive impact nearly sent the airship tipping downward, groaning and leaning towards the bow.

Everyone instinctively grasped the nearby railing or cables, and Fang Hong reached out to catch Ai Xiaoxiao, who was sliding towards that direction in a daze, shouting at Luo Yu:

”Trap it!”

In fact, without him needing to say it, the moment the Arrow-Tailed Kite landed, Luo Yu had already raised the Elementalist Staff in his hand.

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