Pillar of Yita

In mid-air, he deftly twisted his body and glanced in the direction of the Floating Ship. In just a blink, that three-masted sailing ship turned into a tiny black dot.

The next moment, he also fell into the cloud layer, and his vision went completely dark.

As a Dragon Knight, he naturally didn’t need to enter the airship to descend for battle. Qing counted to three, then activated the Magic Guided Reactor. From afar on the ship, a robust man could only see a flash of golden light shooting out from above the clouds, disappearing in an instant.

...

In the square hall, amid a haze of smoke and dust, several people were unreservedly coughing heavily.

They weren’t in a rush to chase Fang Hong, instead, someone first dragged out the person who was holding his tearful eyes, lit up an Illumination Crystal, and looked at his companion’s swollen eyes. The others couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

The person gritted his teeth and cursed a few times, but his words of attack were not directed at the cause of all this, Fang Hong, but at his unsympathetic comrades: ”Damn you all, if I hadn’t shot that arrow just now, would I have fallen for such a small trick?”

”Hahaha, what do you call this,” the others chuckled softly, ”All day hunting geese, only to have your eyes pecked out by one.”

”Seems like that little guy has some skill after all, Connor,” one person said with a laugh, ”That flashbang was thrown without a moment’s hesitation, that’s not a matter of level, it’s real potential.”

”Why don’t you ask him if he’d consider joining our guild.”

”Forget it,” the tearful man replied, ”just a little trash, I hit him with an arrow, he won’t get far.”

Someone walked over with the light of an Illumination Crystal, picked up the things Fang Hong dropped, looked at them, and couldn’t help but whistle: ”Look at this.” He said this as he tossed the item over.

The others, upon seeing it, their eyes lit up: ”Screeching Banshee, our opponent’s a Combat Artisan.”

”That person isn’t that old,” Nightingale said, picking up the Screeching Banshee, ”Earlier I caught a glimpse of him in the light, just a kid, and now I’m even more interested in him. Such a young Combat Artisan must be an Invoker.”

”Probably someone from the Dragonfire Guild,” the tearful man finally wiped his eyes and, with a snort, said: ”Are you sure you want to get involved with those people?”

Everyone was taken aback.

Then someone murmured: ”So what, the guild has collaborated with the Dragonfire Guild before, it was only after that incident that the higher-ups quickly severed ties. Money makes the world go round, do you really think anyone would find out so clearly?”

”Hush,” the leader shot them a glare: ”Enough talking, tired of guild life and want to experience life in the wild?”

Everyone fell silent.

At this moment, the Communication Crystal in Nightingale’s hand lit up, and he picked up the crystal. A crackling, intermittent voice came through: ”...can you hear me...?”

”...Damn it, the interference is quite bad, what the hell is this place,” Nightingale complained, giving the crystal a couple of hard taps, ”Didn’t they say it’s an anti-interference crystal, did the logistics people pocket kickbacks again.”

He picked up the crystal and asked loudly: ”...who’s on the other side?”

”I’m Qing.”

The hall instantly became solemn.

Although they were considered an elite team among the Descendants of Flor, they were not on the same level as the brigade members. Not to mention, the voice on the other end of the communicator belonged to the brigade captain, a Dragon Knight from the Second World.

Their breathing grew lighter by a few degrees, for this was a legendary figure they had only heard names of but had never truly seen. In fact, if not for the current situation where all the major guilds were calling back top Invokers to Eteliria, they might never encounter such figures until retirement.

The Communication Crystal crackled again: ”...I heard you guys had a little trouble over there, what’s the situation...?”

They looked at the broken Screeching Banshee.

The leader signaled Nightingale to bring the Communication Crystal over, and took it, replying: ”Team three, just a small issue, seems there’s a Combat Artisan in the tunnel, not sure yet if they’re from the Dragonfire Guild.”

Qing clearly didn’t care about the other person’s identity, only asked: ”Can it be resolved?”

The leader nodded: ”Not a big problem.” From previous encounters, it was clear that the opponent wasn’t particularly skilled, and moreover, was injured; it was only a matter of time before settling this.

”Good,” Qing acknowledged: ”Keep communication, deal with the issue first, then come back and rendezvous with me. I checked the map, the mission target should be closest to your area, be cautious of nearby Blood Shark Sky Pirates.”

The group nodded.

The leader didn’t waste words, just waved his hand, and Nightingale immediately dropped the Screeching Banshee and drew a dagger, heading to the other end of the hall.

The others followed suit one by one, with the last being the guy who was blinded by the flashbang, holding a crossbow, covering the rear. The group passed through the long corridor, soon seeing where it was cut off by the underground river channel at its exit—

Just like when Fang Hong first arrived, everyone present paused for a moment. But Nightingale reacted the fastest, being the first to jump down from the break, then crept along the shadows on one side.

Seeing this, the leader also gestured to the others, extinguishing the Illumination Crystal.

All around plunged into darkness.

And at that moment, they heard the sound of metal clashing, seemingly coming from around the corner ahead, followed by two rapid resonances of swords, interspersed with Nightingale’s low growl.

But after those few brief sounds, everything returned to silence, as if all sound suddenly vanished.

Everyone paused, then they saw Nightingale’s name dim out of the team channel.

...