Pillar of Yita

But the Morning Knight quickly raised her hands in front of her, and when the Light Cocoon struck her arm armor, the air exploded loudly, the ground shook slightly, and the dust rose as if defying gravity.

Her fiery red cloak swayed back and forth in the fierce wind.

The Female Knight lifted her head, and within her bottomless gaze, only a fiery soul burned intensely—

”Be careful!” Tianlan looked at the damage data of different colors and exclaimed, ”Her injuries are minor, keep attacking her gauntlets, their Magic Guided Armor is antiquated, and the armor’s durability is not high!”

Indeed, without needing her reminder, Atira and Xiesta had already noticed the cracks on the Female Knight’s gauntlets.

The Female Knight pulled her hands back, tearing through the air and cloak, scattering red fragments like flying dead leaves. She lunged forward, breaking free from Atira’s Thorn Technique.

”Twenty-two steps.” Elf Miss accurately reported her spell’s maximum range and the distance from their position.

”Agility above twenty-seven.” Gita used the Summoners System to assist others to her best.

Xiesta’s eyes flashed with a glint of blue, her left hand shifted in the direction the Morning Knight moved in the haze, and with a soft ’bang,’ another Light Cocoon shot into the lingering smoke.

Without uttering a word, she raised her right hand, another Light Cocoon closely followed by the first into the smoke, then a third, and continuous explosions echoed through the thickening dust.

The Miss Maid’s hands alternated striking, the Light Cocoons like drops of rain falling into the dust. The Morning Knight dodged four spots of light, but was finally hit squarely by the fifth, catching it with just her hand and stumbled from the blast.

”2 points of concussion damage, 24 points of armor durability loss, 4 points of shield loss,” Tianlan read aloud, ”Strange, there’s still a shield.”

The balance-lost Female Knight could only step back, but the sixth and seventh Light Cocoons had already chased her to her face, followed by an array of Light Rain.

Taking advantage of the situation, Xiesta relentlessly attacked. A pair of metal hoses connected the back of her arm armor to the Magic Guided Reactor behind her, linked to the cooling plugin above, but the circulating coolant was overheating, emitting wisps of white smoke.

The points of light almost formed a straight line—in an instant, explosions resounded.

”3 points of concussion damage, 29 points of armor durability loss, 4 points of shield loss.”

”1 point of concussion damage, 18 points of armor durability loss, 4 points of shield loss.”

”5 points of concussion damage, 44 points of armor durability loss, 4 points of shield loss—I can’t keep up.” Tianlan suddenly cried out, ”Ah, it hit the structure.”

With a ’crack,’ the Morning Knight’s gauntlet finally burst apart, revealing the ghostly pale face behind it, which showed a dazed expression, then was hit squarely in the chest by a Light Cocoon.

She was blasted away by the explosion.

”Ah, Sister Xiesta, your attack is so high!” Tianlan exclaimed in amazement, ”That’s a Level 20 opponent!”

”Not that high,” Xiesta withdrew her hands and replied unusually, ”Just because they’ve become undead, they’ve lost their combat experience from life and their strength has deteriorated.”

The two glanced over to where Mr. Hansen was, walls around the much-battled hall had collapsed in several places during the previous explosions, and the space was filled with pervasive dust, barely revealing that the battle in that direction did not look optimistic.

However, what Xiesta noticed was that there were only two Morning Knights in that direction.

This discovery instantly raised an alarm in her, and beneath her light purple hair, the tip of her ear twitched slightly. ”Be careful, Xiesta.” It was that most familiar voice to her, followed by the click of a suitcase latch snapping open and then a muffled thud from something being thrown to the ground—

A ’click’ of a hammer cocking sounded from behind, but the maid did not even glance in that direction, as if she already knew who was there, instead raising her right hand in the opposite direction.

There.

The smoke parted, and a towering figure holding a long spear was thrusting towards her, a look of shock apparent in the empty gaze beneath the Morning Knight’s full-face helm.

She saw a Magic Guided Gun.

Sleek and elegantly engraved, and held in Hilveld’s hand.

In the midst of the smoke, the noble young lady braced the gun against her shoulder, and its muzzle faced the Morning Knight emerging from the smoke, then she gently squeezed the trigger.

Flames appeared, and a spark burst in front of the chest of the Morning Knight.

But at the same moment, the latter also threw the spear in his hand.

”Third form, Wind Wall—” Xiesta clapped her hands together, her pleasant voice tinged with a mechanical tremor, the cheek-shaped metal plates on either side of her arm armor unfolding simultaneously, shooting forward a column of mist.

At the same time, the spear clashed with the wind wall, the immense force sending the knight and Xiesta flying out together. The former was flung out, disappearing into the fog at the other end, while Xiesta hit the ground hard and bounced up, rolling several times.

”Sister Xiesta!” Gita cried out in fright.

In the hall, a few ghosts suddenly turned and charged toward the maid on the floor. But Atira also turned around, waving her right hand, ”Nature’s force, aid me in repelling the enemy—”

The wall on the right side collapsed thunderously, a thick vine sweeping in from the outside, flinging the several low-level undead creatures out.

They tried to struggle to their feet, but before they could stand up, suddenly a gunshot rang out and half of an undead’s head exploded. It wobbled, then knelt and fell.

Tianlan turned around in amazement.

There, the Noble Lady, ever so suave, flicked her long hair and slightly lowered her gun barrel, a bullet tip clenched between her white teeth, cleanly pulling back the bolt, the spent bullet casing tracing an arc from the barrel as it spun out.

”Hi, Hilveld... Sister?” Tianlan stared blankly at her, then glanced at the opened leather case on the ground.

Hilveld then gave her a slight smile and swept the golden hair from her forehead: ”The family doesn’t really like it when I flaunt guns and blades. In their eyes, a daughter of wealth should bear a ladylike demeanor, but in times of crisis, one couldn’t care less—Tianlan will understand, right—”

”You, you, you... I, we...”

Hilveld elongated her graceful, pale neck, squinting as she looked toward the direction of the hall. Just as the ghosts were gathering together for the third time, a line of fire swept across from the left side of the hall. Standing amidst the smoke, was none other than Fang Hong.

The two looked back at each other, their gazes meeting in mid-air. Fang Hong appeared surprised, while the young lady simply nodded slightly and smiled at him.

But the first to open fire were actually Mr. Hansen’s Gunslinger men; they knelt in a line on the ground, pulling triggers one after the other, a blaze of gunfire and spinning bullets hitting the front row of enemies.

In the hall, the Ghost Waiters and guests had transformed into terrifying monsters, screaming and rushing forward. At the forefront was a young lady, but her pale face and pitch-black pupils had already stripped her of her enchanting charm, her long and sharp fingernails resembling those of the witch described in spooky bedtime stories.

A burst of blood bloomed from her chest, she staggered forward a few steps and fell painfully to the ground, tripping a heavy-set woman behind her and heavily pressing on her neck, unnaturally twisting her head to one side.

But the pitch-black gaze still stared directly at everyone.

Fang Hong shuddered at the sight. After commanding the Fortresses to suppress the ghosts charging at Xiesta, he immediately shifted his attention elsewhere.

He understood that the situation behind him was far from good. Miss Maid had temporarily repelled two Morning Knights but her own life and death were uncertain. Mr. Hansen and his men were merely struggling under the onslaught of the Morning Knights.

”Gita.” Without turning his head, he asked, ”Is there a basement in this place?”

”Yes,” Gita nodded, ”What’s the matter, Brother Ade?”

”Which direction?”

”To the southeast, I think, maybe near the kitchen?”

Fang Hong nodded, two Brass Spheres flew out from his hand one after the other, disappearing into the smoke. He glanced back, his expression devoid of any nervousness, just steadily stating:

”Mr. Hansen, if you trust me, everyone, please follow me now—”

Mr. Hansen turned around in surprise.

Then he saw three Fortress Walkers click-clacking out from the smoke, their dark gun barrels already aimed in the direction of the incoming ghosts. ”That’s...” The middle-aged man couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

...