Pillar of Yita

However, Fang Hong could only examine the altar and its surroundings to see if he could discover any clues. He reached out towards the skeleton, but this time the half crown mark on the back of his hand showed no reaction, as if the power of Pale Glory had gone dormant.

Only the Ring of Golden Flame in his embrace was faintly warm.

He took out the Ring of Golden Flame again—the ring seemed to have absorbed some power from the previous transformation, glowing once more in the darkness like a layer of flowing lava.

Yet its light wasn’t as it once was, only seeming to seep gently from beneath the layers of rock, giving a sense that the flame was hidden.

At this moment, Fang Hong felt a slight trembling, as if a voice within his mind was calling for something, urging him to bring the ring closer to the skeleton. The feeling was like a mother’s call to her child, something he couldn’t resist.

And Miss Fairy seemed to notice this point as well, but did not speak out to remind him.

Fang Hong relaxed slightly, knowing Miss Tata wouldn’t harm him. Thus, he raised the ring, bringing it ever closer to the skeleton, until the Ring of Golden Flame lightly touched the right finger bone of the skeleton.

At that moment, Fang Hong felt like everything before him was being stretched, as if pulled into a long corridor, bringing wave upon wave of visions.

As if infinite scenes and memories flooded into his mind, yet he couldn’t see clearly, only watching as fragments of those scenes and memories seemed to all fall into an unknown abyss.

A complex emotion arose within him, one of mourning, yet of relief, with tears welling uncontrollably and a hysterical agony, making him nearly cry out.

But all these visions were merely a matter of an instant.

All the phantoms and emotions eventually transformed into an elusive sigh.

That faint sigh echoed in Fang Hong’s heart. He seemed to see a tall shadow, black hair, slowly turning away ahead, leaving him behind.

And deep in the darkness, only a pair of golden eyes shimmered.

Then all the visions vanished—

”Brother Ade?”

Fang Hong only heard a somewhat worried voice timidly calling beside him.

He then returned to his senses, finding Gita had come to his side at some unknown time, frowning at him. Fang Hong shook his head, realizing that everything before was merely a vision.

But he couldn’t help but look at the Ring of Golden Flame in his hand. The light on the ring had long since quieted, returning to its dim state, as if none of it ever happened.

Even the sense of tremor in the Mind World had vanished, and the Dragon Soul once nurtured in his Mind World seemed to disappear without a trace.

Only the inscription on the ring remained as it was:

’A powerful force is contained within—’

Fang Hong turned back confusedly and asked, ”Did you see anything earlier, Gita?”

”I only saw the light on the ring gradually fade, and Brother Ade, you stood there continuously, nearly ten minutes passed.” Miss Natural Historian shook her head gently, answering softly.

Fang Hong didn’t expect he had zoned out for ten whole minutes. However, from Gita’s description, at least the light emitted by the Ring of Golden Flame was not merely his own hallucination, suggesting that something indeed occurred between it and the skeleton.

Yet the wave upon wave of phantoms he saw last, what did they signify? The Ring of Golden Flame is the source of Dragon Witch’s Golden Eye and Strength, but it contains not only the power of Dragon Witch alone, absorbing parts of the divinity of Toragotos and the Lizardman God.

Fang Hong was unsure of everything that happened in Aimumu Fortress, whether it was related to Dragon Witch, to Toragotos, or to Lizardman God. Yet, what he saw last, those golden eyes should undoubtedly belong to Dragon Witch.

Was it Misu, or was it Nikopolas?

And why did the Ring of Golden Flame react with this skeleton’s remains?

Who was the girl in the painting, what relation did she have with Rogsel Family, and what had happened in Aimumu Fortress?

Fang Hong suddenly recalled the sorcerer-ghoul’s words: ”Everything happens for a reason—” the more he thought, the more he felt there was meaning hidden within the words, yet he was utterly clueless.

He remembered the scene he last saw and asked Miss Tata in his heart: ”Miss Tata, what do you think?”

Fang Hong knew that everything he saw, Miss Tata should have shared the experience. After all, Knight and Dragon Soul are essentially one, connected in emotion and thought, sharing joy and sorrow together.

Tata quietly pondered for a moment: ”I don’t really understand mortal emotions, Mr. Knight can teach me if you have thoughts. But the power in the Ring of Golden Flame before should belong to Dragon Witch.”

She continued: ”Those powers have now disappeared without a trace in your Mind World. But I feel they haven’t disappeared, rather become more perfect—I even have a premonition that you may soon see ’it’, Mr. Knight.”

”It?”

Fang Hong suddenly realized Miss Fairy was referring to the Dragon Soul born from Nikopolas’s dark power.

He couldn’t help but fall silent.

The power of Nikopolas always appeared with a negative aura, which is the inherent attribute of Dark Giant Dragon—and Toragotos and Lizardman Deity are not benign either, the ’existence’ born from the power of the three makes him truly unsure whether it counts as good news or bad news.