Pillar of Yita

The Dwarf’s beard trembled with excitement, making a rustling noise with his scale armor, and he shouted like a madman, ”Stand firm, stand firm! Don’t act like you’ve eaten nothing. Hold this wave back and I’ll double your wages, but if you can’t, we’ll all be losing money together!”

Crystals fell like raindrops onto the position, with sharp fragments hitting the Great Shields with a thudding sound. The Dwarf, wearing a Sentinel Helmet and carrying an axe, walked back and forth in this downpour, unharmed.

The disorderly minions crashed like waves against the embankment. The Iron Defenders retreated in unison by a step, while two Dwarven Rune Masters lit up spells, swirling flames falling among the monsters, forming two bright flashes. The explosion’s shock waves blew open a gap, making the Crystal Monsters retreat slightly.

Behind the crowd, an Avenquin Elf kept pulling arrows from his quiver, each arrow almost invariably taking down a disorderly minion, either piercing the eye socket or shooting through the throat. When he reached for the arrow the thirty-third time, he found nothing. Turning back, he realized the arrows had run out.

But then a quiver full of arrows flew over, and a human Ranger tossed over his own quiver, shouting, ”Use mine.”

”Thanks.”

The Elf took the arrows and nodded.

”Aren’t you afraid?” The human Ranger looked at him curiously and asked.

”What’s there to be afraid of?”

”I heard you’re a native.”

”Our understanding of life is a bit different from yours,” the Elf shook his head. ”Besides, in your terms, this is only a fifth of the Starlight, right?”

The human Ranger couldn’t help but burst out laughing, ”You’re really interesting, but the Captain definitely won’t think that way. I heard he invested a lot of money here, buying a lot of supplies, ready to make a big move. Does he look like a gambler who has lost his shirt? Haha, I heard you have quite a few jokes about Dwarves — they’re famous for being tight with money.”

The Elf gave a gentle smile, ”But he, like you, is one of the Holy Chosen.”

”That makes no difference; guess why he chose a Dwarf?”

But they suddenly stopped chatting because both received a communication request at the same time.

”It’s Tomorrow and them; weren’t they retreating to the Grey Forest?” the human Ranger checked the communication request and muttered in surprise.

Yet the two chose to accept it simultaneously, for on the battlefield, any delay in information could prove fatal. But within moments, they were both stunned in unison, as what appeared after joining the communication channel was not the anticipated Captain, but another message:

Columba invites you to enter the channel: Battlefield Communication, Channel Managers: Columba, Cuiye, Tomorrow, Shiya, TNA...

”It’s him...” Seeing the name, the human Ranger was subtly startled, as the long string of names and IDs of various team captains behind the channel manager also seemed to indicate what this temporary communication channel meant.

The channel was silent for a while, and then a deliberately deepened voice came through, mixed with interference noise:

”Everyone, the counterattack has begun.”

That familiar voice left everyone silent.

But instantly, a rough voice rang out: ”I say, you really live up to your name — standing us up and now talking nonsense?”

The Ranger wiped his face and recognized the voice was none other than their Captain, the hot-tempered Dwarf. Indeed, there’s truth in what he says, yet he always feels embarrassed having the Captain be so brash in front of everyone.

The Elf also let out a light cough.

Yet, spoken in crude terms, the other captains in the channel began to discuss until a rather calm voice spoke, ”Could you first tell us where you’ve been?” The voice wasn’t loud, yet it surprisingly calmed everyone down.

Fang Hong also paused, and for a moment, only some low background noise echoed in the quiet communication channel — in fact, besides Cuiye, few here knew where this mysterious craftsman hailed from, and that intentionally disguised voice contained little real information.

It was only after a moment that he spoke again:

”You will understand soon enough.”

Will you understand soon?

Everyone was slightly startled, even the rough Dwarf momentarily forgot to curse — what kind of answer was that, treating them like three-year-olds?

Yet at that precise moment, there came a subtle change in this underground world, barely perceptible yet persisting in everyone’s minds. They were slightly startled, but soon felt the source of this change —

At that moment, the battlefield was becoming quiet, all burning flames, shrill whistles through the air, dying wails, roars, all sounds disappeared.

It was as if a ghost had appeared on the battlefield, devouring every audible sound. In the auditory world, there was only emptiness left, all vibrations, whether high or low frequency, stopped. Yet in this silence, they heard another sound — a sharp, buzzing tremor.

The sound seemed to come from another world, sometimes deep, sometimes sharp, deep enough to be almost imperceptible, sharp enough to pierce the soul. Everyone couldn’t help but open their mouths wide, with visions seeming to fade into darkness.

They had heard such a sound not long ago, only now it was clearer.

And in that instant, another voice came from the darkness:

”Look up.”

It felt like an order, causing everyone to instinctively lift their heads, precisely at that moment — light was born, pure light emanating from boundless darkness, infinite, descending from the ceiling of the subterranean.

It was a flame, the Heart of Chongshan was relit, like a bright sun, even more dazzling than before.

And amidst this dazzling light, there seemed to be a dream-like new green. Fang Hong slowly lowered the Communication Crystal he was holding, looking up at the source of all light at the cave ceiling, which as always seemed to illuminate the subterranean Forest.

In his heart, an ancient voice was heard:

”Thank you, young human.”

”Without the Heart of Chongshan, I would have difficulty suppressing the power of the Crystal, but now all of this has room for restoration, I will clear your obstacles... but from here on, it’s up to you.”

An invisible ripple swept across the entire underground, it was the reviving power of Nature, the ground trembled, allowing the majestic life to slowly rise from beneath the soil, curled leaves with an enchanting green hue.

And robust vines unfurling and breaking through the rock layers, each like the long tail of a Giant Serpent, swung towards the disorderly minions on the battlefield, smashing them to pieces.

More delicate roots also rose from underground, entangling every lifeless crystal construct, immobilizing these monsters and squeezing into every crevice in the rock, causing them to crumble under the ceaseless force.

In the light’s range, the crystal monsters on the battlefield were falling one after another, as if another Guardian of the subterranean finally revealed its power.

It was the power of life, the given grace of Ameya, the grandeur of nature.

Each person was stunned.

...