Pillar of Yita

If it were just a plain thief class, Nightingale, that would be one thing—

But Parker is also a rare flower among crossbowmen. Although it was tough, he quickly cranked the handle, pulled the bowstring, and then pulled the trigger.

At this moment, three ’Fortresses’ were moving through the billowing dust.

Since they appeared from the direction of the inn’s front door, they inevitably had to pass through the control area of the Morning Knights. Fang Hong understood that among the two Morning Knights’ undead attacking from that direction, the first was likely severely injured by Xiesta, and even if not dead, would be hard-pressed to recover combat strength anytime soon.

But the other had only bumped into the Wind Wall and temporarily retreated after being hit by Miss Hilveld, likely suffering no serious damage. His three ’Fortress’ Walkers could deal significant damage to the regular ghost guests and servants, and they were his trump card for clearing a path.

However, if faced with Morning Knights, even three against one, they’d be reduced to a pile of parts within minutes.

Therefore, Parker had to ensure that he kept their attention.

As the bowstring vibrated with a sharp buzz, the tremendous recoil nearly sent the Papalarian flying out, causing him to sit on the ground with a thud. The two short spears mounted on the heavy crossbow shot straight out, hitting the ceiling in that direction.

”Miss Atira, split the battlefield.”

The elf girl and Parker were no strangers to cooperation. She nodded, gestured with a hand, and massive vine roots, like a giant python, flew toward the center of the hall, but her target was not the two Morning Knights on the other side—without the element of surprise, she couldn’t do much against such high-level undead.

Her target was Iron Defenders under Hansen’s command.

”Mr. Hansen, make them hold their positions!” Fang Hong immediately reminded.

Hansen was startled but still conveyed the order: ”Hold your ground, do not resist!”

In the center of the hall, two Morning Knights effortlessly dodged the elf girl’s sweeping vines, while the Iron Guards, having stopped midway, were swept to the side.

It was at that exact moment that Parker’s crossbow bolts hit the ceiling of the hall, and with a faint pop, a pale silver net fell from mid-air.

Right on target, it just avoided the swept aside Iron Guards, ensnaring the two Morning Knights instead.

The strength of the ’Entangling Arrow’ skill depended on the Attack Power. While Parker’s Magic Guided Bow in cannon mode had a Skill Level of C, it enabled him to convert 10% of his Agility into power or accuracy improvement for every point. With thirty-seven points in agility, even if he converted only half, it was more than enough to double his actual Attack Power.

In such a case, controlling two Morning Knights for a short time was effortless.

But by doing so, the path to the inn’s front door was sealed tight. However, because the control was just right, Fang Hong’s three walkers were right on the edge of the ’Entangling Arrow’s’ range upon entering the inn.

Under Fang Hong’s command, they turned in unison towards the direction with the most undead, advancing while unleashing firepower. The narrow confines of the hall meant that within moments, the momentum of the ghostly assault had slowed.

Even though they were not yet safe, Hansen couldn’t help but be overjoyed at this sight. He quickly ordered his disengaged Iron Guards to fall back and protect the Gunslingers and Archers.

The suppressive firepower of the Archers and Crossbowmen was difficult to utilize in confined spaces, and Gunslingers’ burst and heavy fire needed close-quarters teammates for protection. But once the Iron Guards regrouped, the Gunslingers’ rate of fire immediately increased by a notch, swiftly replacing Fang Hong’s Fortress Walkers as the main force.

Fang Hong was glad for the breather and hurried to pull back his Walkers to reload, alongside Tianlan and Gita.

This was the troublesome part of the Fortress Walkers—when relying on a platform for combat, the ammo consumption was large but always readily resupplied. He alone could control the Clockwork Fairy to reload, but in the field, ammunition couldn’t be piled up somewhere for him to collect; it had to be distributed among the team and was much slower to replenish.

The team kept firing and retreating into the corridor as directed by Fang Hong.

Meanwhile, Fang Hong quietly observed the ghosts’ combat style—they were indeed very different from traditional ghosts. In this Phantom, these ’guests,’ nominally ghosts, occasionally displayed their true spectral nature by passing through walls.

But most of the time, within this Phantom, they seemed to be bound by a set of rules, behaving more like ’normal people.’ He had seen videos of Guilds fighting the undead, where ghosts were a headache due to their non-physical existence, popping in and out of existence unpredictably.

Fang Hong had an inkling that this was also due to the limitations of the Phantom itself—

Just like Miss Hilveld had said, Dolifen’s Phantom was a massive obsession, seemingly adamant about showing something to those who partake in the adventure. And for these ghosts living within the Phantom—past residents of Dolifen bound by the Phantom, they might not even be aware of it themselves.

Did these ghosts know the fact that they were already dead?

The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed, and today’s mission appeared illogical. They hadn’t obtained that brooch, nor had they seen the characters that should have appeared. Logically, they should have been in a state where the quest wasn’t triggered, yet they were inexplicably attacked by these undead.