Pillar of Yita

Nicopolis showed no expression. ”Don’t be too smart for your own good. Don’t forget you also revealed your weakness just now—” She extended her claw, covered in black scales, and clasped the wheat-colored neck of the elf girl beside her, causing the latter to frown and groan in discomfort.

”You may not fear death, but if you don’t give me the item, I will kill your companions one by one.”

Fang Hong furrowed his brow, thinking this woman was insane. But outwardly he pretended not to care, and began to blatantly lie: ”Go ahead, you know very well that we can just revive outside.”

However, as he said this, he tried his best not to look at Tianlan and Gita, lest his expression give anything away.

Nicopolis indeed hesitated.

Seeing this, Fang Hong grew more confident, took a step forward, and pressed her further: ”If I’m not mistaken, you’ve been trapped in this phantom for thirty years, and this item is the key to your escape from this place, right?”

Nicopolis slightly withdrew her claw and looked at him with furrowed brows through her golden eyes.

In that brief moment, Fang Hong saw that a noticeable bruise had already formed on Atira’s neck. He subconsciously touched his own neck, realizing that she had been relatively ’gentle’ with him.

He glanced worriedly at the elf girl. Atira, touching her neck, shook her head slightly to signal that she was alright.

Only then did Fang Hong turn back and face the gold and red gaze. ”—So, Lady Nicopolis, it is you who cannot leave this place, but we can.”

”Enough,” Nicopolis cut him off coldly. ”Cut the crap. If you really disdain death as much as you claim, kill yourself now.”

Fang Hong was taken aback, not to mention he wasn’t truly fearless. What about Gita and Tianlan? He couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed, thinking how this woman always played her cards so unpredictably, bringing conversations to a dead end.

With such a nasty character, no wonder she ended up in this plight.

Seeing Fang Hong’s dilemma, Nicopolis smirked: ”What’s wrong, scared now?”

”Alright,” Fang Hong said somewhat helplessly, ”of course I’m afraid of dying. No one wishes to die if they can avoid it, but if there’s no choice, even mortals would choose to cut their losses. That’s a simple truth, you should understand that, right, Lady Nicopolis?”

”You, a mere mortal, dare to propose a deal with me?” Lady Dark Giant Dragon narrowed her eyes dangerously.

”Stop, stop, stop!” Fang Hong saw her clench her fist and move closer; clearly knowing what this violent woman intended, he quickly exclaimed: ”Lady Nicopolis, you can kill but you cannot humiliate. If you come any closer, I’ll kill myself. Mortals are very fragile, and I have a hundred ways to die instantly!”

Joking, although she couldn’t punch him to death, it would still hurt terribly!

But his words had a surprising effect. Nicopolis weighed her options, perhaps believing his claim about mortals being fragile since it was consistent with her understanding, and indeed she stopped.

She took a breath and tried to soften her expression a bit, saying: ”Alright, enough talk. Give me the item, and I’ll spare your life and grant you a small wish—what do you want, money, power, or strength? I can provide it all.”

But Fang Hong didn’t believe her sweet talk. He had seen another form of this Dark Giant Dragon at Traveler’s Rest and knew well what she was—fortunately, she was not aware of this.

However, he didn’t expose her. Taking a breath, he pretended to be tempted and said: ”Alright, I want money, power, and strength, but how can I be sure you are not deceiving me?”

”Of course, I am deceiving you,” Nicopolis thought. Still, maintaining a grim face and holding back her discomfort, she dryly replied: ”Do you think I need to deceive you, a mere mortal? In my eyes, you are nothing but an insignificant little thing?”

”Please,” Fang Hong sighed in resignation. ”Lady Nicopolis, we are both intelligent beings, so let’s not insult each other’s intelligence. If you really think I’m so insignificant, why are you discussing this with a face as if you’ve eaten something foul? You could simply crush me now and save us both some time.”

Nicopolis narrowed her eyes dangerously, grinding her teeth angrily, and eyed him, thinking about how she would twist his head off when the time came.

Although she didn’t fully understand Fang Hong’s words, like what ’insulting the intelligence’ meant, she could roughly discern his intention.

The Lady Dark Giant Dragon was silent for a while before asking in a raspy voice: ”So what do you really want?”

Her voice made Fang Hong pause for a moment. He realized her voice was similar to that malicious tone in the phantom. Was it Nicopolis’s actual voice? However, he felt something was off, the two voices were not completely the same.

But strange or not, he still answered her question: ”My first request is to let the others leave this place. This is a deal between the two of us, and I don’t want to involve anyone else.”

Nicopolis blinked, and the next moment appeared in front of Fang Hong, lifting him up by his arm. She looked at him with an extremely cold gaze, her golden pupils flickering with unprecedented harshness. ”You think I’m a fool?”