Pillar of Yita

”Are there people behind us as well?”

Fang Hong just nodded slightly.

He lifted his head——

In the valley, a wind arose, the cold wind cut through the dark rocks like knives, swirling up bundles of snowflakes. On the airship platform, Miss Maid was using her metal gloves to sweep the snow off the deck.

She suddenly turned around, looking in a certain direction.

”Someone’s coming.” Bakins’ voice sounded a bit winded — the old sailor took a swig of alcohol, warming his body against this damn weather. He squinted forward as well, the howling wind causing his coat to flap loudly.

He tossed away the empty bottle in his hand — as if to confirm his words, a group of people emerged in the snowy wind, led by the Alchemist and the Dark Fairy Tale.

Even though the Dark Fairy Tale had heard that the other side had a giant Beast of Burden, when they first saw Mr. Greyrock and the swaying giant platform on its back, along with the airbag above as they traversed the snow, everyone couldn’t help but squint their eyes slightly.

”So big...”

This was the shared thought in the hearts of everyone from ’RO’.

They were not unfamiliar with the world; the larger floating ships called ’Twilight of the Gods’ possessed more than one — not to mention the flagship ice sea longship ’Nagilfar’ from the main guild of the Second World, second only to the massive floating fortress of the domestic Invoker Alliance’s Elite.

But there’s always a psychological expectation, and since they had previously designated the other as a Free Adventure Group, just like Sophie, when they first saw Mr. Greyrock and the platform on its back, they couldn’t help but be stunned.

As a possession of a Free Adventure Group, this Beast of Burden and platform were truly enormous.

The young Ranger was also taken aback, not expecting to bump into their target so directly; of course, this was due to the weather suddenly turning bad, with the wind and snow obscuring their perception.

Moreover, Yin Shi was using Construct Detection Magic, not life form perception, which resulted in them bumping right into the stationary Mr. Greyrock in the valley after passing through the snow.

After all, given their level, their scouting skills were still far from reaching supernatural levels, heavily influenced by their surroundings.

He took a glance at this platform, and since the woodcutters had gathered on the lee side of the valley, not a single person was visible below. He turned back, about to signal the others behind him to stop.

But just then, he suddenly paused, turning around again, just in time to see two figures stumbling out from the snowy wind on the other side of the massive Beast of Burden.

One was a young man holding a Magic Guided Wand, dressed in a tattered gray cloth robe, his hands blue with cold, but his other hand held onto a small girl, stumbling through the icy ground.

The latter appeared to be only five or six years old, wearing a black fur coat, with long jet-black hair, but the most striking feature was her pale golden eyes.

Her face was red from the cold, saying nothing, just tightly gripping the young man’s hand.

The two hadn’t expected someone ahead, and they came to a halt.

The young man finally saw clearly the attire and the insignia pinned on the collars of the group in front of him, and his already black and blue face darkened even more, almost squeezing out words from between his teeth:

”You are from Ragnarok...”

The Dark Fairy Tale was also momentarily stunned.

Upon seeing the young man and the little girl, he completely forgot about the platform beside him and all the miscellaneous things the Alchemist had entrusted him with. A wry smile appeared on his face, saying somewhat amusedly:

”It seems our luck is good today.”

He spread his hands.

The group behind him looked at each other in disbelief.

”Arrived without any effort.”

The Dark Fairy Tale then said to the young man: ”Friend, we are all Invokers; everyone has moments of mission failure, kindly hand her over —” His eyes moved to the little girl behind the young man.

The little girl also glanced at them but showed no fear, silently looking at the young man: ”Uncrowned...” Her voice was clear and small. The young man just squeezed her hand, indicating her to be at ease.

Then came a rustling sound in the wind and snow.

The little girl turned her head, just in time to see a Swordsman emerge from the wind and snow behind.

”Uncrowned, why did you stop,” the Swordsman dusted off the snow from himself, shouting: ”The City Defense Force is catching up—” he suddenly stopped speaking, staring in astonishment at the Dark Fairy Tale and others in front.

”Who are they...?”

”People from Ragnarok, here to find us.”

The Swordsman gaped, a look of despair crossing his face: ”No way, Ragnarok is here too, just to deal with us...?” His expression was exaggerated, but he quickly exchanged a glance with the young man.

The Swordsman instinctively took a step back, as if to flee, but suddenly with a concealed motion, he hurled the longsword in his hand fiercely at the Dark Fairy Tale and lunged forward, shouting, ”Uncrowned!”

The young man understood, raising the Magic Guided Wand in his hand, ready to cast a spell at the Dark Fairy Tale and his group.

But before his spell could be completed, a calm voice rang in his ear: ”Counterspell—”

The young man in the opposite team pointed at him, and the Ether Power gathered in his Magic Guided Wand dissipated instantly.

The young man felt as if his chest took a heavy blow, coughing and tilting back, hearing the little girl’s cry in his ear:

”Uncrowned...!”

In the next moment, in his shaky vision, he only saw the young man raise the Magic Guided Wand and heavily tap it on the ground. Suddenly, the ground shook, and a giant hand formed from beneath the snow, punching him away.

A gigantic glowing array, a towering ice snow giant was slowly rising from the array.

”Ice Golem...”

”Such a fast casting speed...”

The young man landed heavily in the snow, only now realizing that the opponent’s spell proficiency and level far exceeded his. He weakly glanced to the side, indeed seeing the Dark Fairy Tale sidestep to dodge the thrown longsword, then pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into his companion’s abdomen.

The Swordsman screamed and collapsed to his knees.

He clutched his wound, sucking in a sharp breath of pain: ”Intuitive Dodge...”

”Correct,” the Dark Fairy Tale replied, ”but you were so slow that the Intuitive Dodge wouldn’t have mattered anyway.”

The Swordsman couldn’t help but give him the middle finger with his blood-covered hand.

Yet the Dark Fairy Tale was unfazed, having seen such scenes countless times; he patted the Swordsman’s shoulder: ”Report to Milaila’s Holy Sanctuary, it’s quite far from here.”

Then he turned around, finally ordering others: ”Go bring that little girl here.”

The young man struggled in the snow, but the Ice Golem held him firmly, preventing any movement, and his Magic Guided Wand landed far away, several feet from him.

All he could do was watch as those people approached the little girl.

But at that moment.

A square empty bottle fell from the air, landing precisely by the Dark Fairy Tale’s feet, sinking into the snow.

The latter was slightly stunned, reflexively looking upwards, just in time to see a cold-faced Miss Maid on the platform above. Her hand was reaching behind, from where a faint ’click’ sound emanated —

The little girl slightly opened her mouth, also watching the scene.

”Sister Xiesta?”

In the wind and snow, she called out with a crisp voice.

...