Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong looked at the girl and asked, ”Elisa, what exactly happened?”

The elder twin sister averted her gaze somewhat evasively and whispered, ”We were attacked earlier.”

Fang Hong furrowed his brow slightly, ”You were?”

Elisa bit her lip, nodded softly, and glanced at the people standing behind Fang Hong.

”They are from the Silver Weslan; you must know them, now they are our allies,” Fang Hong turned his head and looked at Dianmo Ran Qingzhu and Xi, along with the leading knight, as he introduced them.

Dianmo Ran Qingzhu immediately approached with a broad smile, ”Hello, beautiful lady, my name is Dianmo Ran Qingzhu.”

Sophie, watching the scene through the Light Page, grinned and typed with her slender fingers in the channel, ”Dianmo, isn’t the lady pretty? Want me to introduce you to her?”

The latter immediately coughed, awkwardly retracting his hand.

She then chastised him resentfully, ”Can you not be so embarrassing?”

Dianmo Ran Qingzhu immediately cried out in protest, ”Your Highness, Princess, seeking a refined lady as a worthy companion is always right, isn’t it? We are decent young men with normal inclinations, and while you, Princess, are indeed a beauty and pleasing to the eye, you have Xi, and heavens be my witness, we are still single.”

”Haha, Dianmo, don’t drag us into this,” the knights, with a strong desire to survive, immediately retorted, ”The Princess never stopped you from finding a girlfriend, but look at how embarrassing you are, I’m ashamed to say I know you.”

”Damn,” Dianmo Ran Qingzhu wished he could flip off these men, ”No loyalty, I suspect I have a bunch of fake teammates.”

Sophie also laughed, ”Actually, everyone is right, look at Mr. Xiaya? He is way better than you.”

But Dianmo Ran Qingzhu, unabashed, didn’t take it to heart, ”Mr. Xiaya is a big shot, I’m obviously no match for him, what’s so strange about that? Plus, I don’t think we’re that different, Princess, you must be seeing through a lover’s eyes, right?”

Sophie’s face darkened, she glared at him, grinding her teeth, ”Seeing through a lover’s eyes, well said, wait until you get back and I’ll teach you how to write that—”

”Hey hey, miss, it was a joke! Of course, I know Xi is the only one in your heart, really, wait, wait, Xi what are you doing, ow, teammate attack—!”

Fang Hong watched these people bantering in the team channel, then turned to Elisa. Fortunately, the elder twin sister hadn’t noticed the oddity among the group and just nodded lightly at him, saying, ”Mr. Ade, follow me, I’ll take you somewhere.”

She glanced at the ruins behind her, indicating cautiously to Fang Hong who then noticed a large building shrouded in shadow; he remembered Elisa had emerged from there before.

Elisa seemed somber, turned, and led the two members of the Rain Listeners in that direction.

Meanwhile, in the team channel, the discussion about his alias resumed; evidently, someone noted Elisa’s reference to him as ’Ade.’ Fang Hong’s face darkened, feeling that his false identity had only had negative effects on him.

After some contemplation, he realized this false identity had indeed never yielded any positive results since Dolifen; whether it was Wu Di or Sophie, none had been deceived by these people’s observations but rather became a dark chapter of his own history. Better to let this embarrassing false identity sink into the river of history hereafter.

Whoever brings it up again, just fight them—

Fortunately, the people from the Silver Weslan didn’t care much about this minor detail. After all, in Eteliria, who doesn’t have a few aliases? Since an ID isn’t always hanging over one’s head, and with Sophie sidetracking them, the minor storm passed.

Fang Hong heaved a sigh of relief and caught up with Elisa, asking, ”Where are we going?”

A large, partly open stone gate appeared ahead of them, looking quite massive, making them feel somewhat minuscule beneath it. Illuminated by the dim torchlight, the shadow of the huge building behind it was visible.

Elisa stopped in front of the gate, looked at him worriedly, and whispered softly, ”Everyone is in there, our guild’s people and others from the local adventure groups of Fenris—even the people from the Blood Oath Alliance and the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team...”

This wasn’t unexpected for Fang Hong.

But after a pause, he still asked, ”How did you end up with the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team?”

Elisa bit her lip again, ”I’m sorry, Mr. Ade, because the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team was willing to call a truce with us momentarily. Everyone was attacked, so... so we temporarily allied ourselves together.”

”You don’t need to apologize to me,” Fang Hong shook his head, ”That’s a decision made by your guild, and I certainly understand. Relations between guilds aren’t so straightforward; you shouldn’t feel as if you owe anything.”

Elisa was taken aback, then said softly, ”Thank you.”

Then the two passed through the stone gate, entering a long corridor. At the end of the corridor, Fang Hong found himself inside a vast coliseum, its downward tiered structure with rows and rows of stands filled with people bearing torches; their attire vaguely visible from afar and near.

Hundreds gathered, and thus they didn’t draw much attention as they stepped in; undoubtedly, the core of the crowd was the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team, along with representatives from other guilds and adventure groups.