Pillar of Yita

But Eve only cried, looking at him.

On the other hand, the young man beside them, with a look of indescribable expression, lifted his head and glanced at him and Atira. He hesitated for a while before he quietly said, ”Don’t say that, friend... that’s a real devil, he has ways to steal your starlight... he is the Shadow of Death...”

Fang Hong was stunned.

His first reaction wasn’t fear, but to look at Miss Atira beside him. The Elf Miss visibly struggled after hearing this sentence, her pair of emerald eyes fixedly staring at the ’Wanderer’.

Her brother had died because his starlight was taken away—

However, the ’Wanderer’ didn’t mind the reactions of the three people, he just pulled Eve over to Fang Hong, pointing a finger at the latter: ”My daughter, if you don’t speak up, this young man will have to say goodbye to you forever.”

Eve shook her head, tears streaming down, and finally sobbed, ”I promise you... I promise you, please spare Mr. Ade...”

During the long dark years.

She met many people.

Those fleeting visitors, came and went. Some she forgot forever after they left.

But unlike the experiences in Idus, these people were not afraid of her, nor did they consider her the Woman of Calamity. Compared to the days of living in the Silver Sand Sea, the hundred years underground made her truly feel inner peace.

That was the little kindness Yoshude and Kalatu brought to her.

However, in the final moment after a century, she encountered a special person.

That person told her the origin of the Dragon’s Blood and the meaning of Yoshude’s family’s guardianship. That person did not treat her as a stranger, and in the dark underground, their relationship was more like special friends who had just met.

In a century, she had never truly experienced the meaning of the word ’friend’ from anyone other than Yoshude.

She could not watch Mr. Ade die in front of her.

Fang Hong watched this scene with gritted teeth, his head about to explode.

And the ’Wanderer’ did not look at him, merely nodded with satisfaction. Then he looked at the young man beside him, saying, ”Five years ago in Talas, you asked me for forbidden knowledge; I gave you everything, and you passed the scholar’s exam, becoming one of the youngest ever to do so.”

”Just as I said back then,” the ’Wanderer’ spoke slowly, ”I gave you honor, fame, and everything an ordinary person at your age couldn’t attain. Now, five years later, it is time for you to repay me.”

”You say I am a devil, but I neither want your life nor your soul,” he continued, ”Your research on the Dragon’s Ritual Text is now useful. Go and break the seal of Kalatu and Yoshude, then you will be truly free.”

The young man was extremely frightened in his heart; as a researcher of the Dragon’s Scripture, he knew exactly what this all meant. Unfortunately, he realized too late; had he known earlier, he certainly wouldn’t have accepted the other’s charity. Forbidden knowledge always comes at a price.

Fang Hong turned his gaze to the two of them, unable to immediately understand the meaning of their conversation...

And the young man was already walking forward, to the center of the pit’s square. It was originally empty, but he knelt down, lying on the ground, and fumbled the characters engraved on the slates from the dust one by one. As his hand brushed the silt, each character strangely emitted a glow from beneath the sand.

In moments, a circle of characters around the young man lit up.

After a while, he revealed a second circle of characters. As he moved outward, Fang Hong then noticed that those circles of glowing characters were forming a huge array on the ground. Yet, he had never seen this type of array before, almost certain that—it was not Alchemy.

The commotion at the bottom of the pit caught the attention of those above.

The combatants, some would occasionally pass by here, and seeing the light below, they slid down from the pit’s edge.

But every time they reached halfway, they suddenly fell down, losing consciousness and rolling down from above.

A few even rolled to the side of the Bone Dragon, which used its claws to swipe them over one by one, and then swallowed them whole, their life force turning into ashen light to replenish its body. However, the ’Wanderer’ merely glanced back at this scene and simply looked away again.

Then turned back once more.

Fang Hong silently looked in that direction. He had originally thought the Bone Dragon was part of Nikopolas, but upon a closer look, it seemed not to be so. Moreover, the more he looked, the more familiar it became—

It was at that moment that the young man completed the last character.

He looked sweaty towards the ’Wanderer’.

The Wanderer nodded in satisfaction, gesturing for him to stay in that place.

The young man knew he had caused a major disaster, lowering his head, he walked over, standing beside Fang Hong. And at this time, Fang Hong had already recognized him, he glanced at the young man and said in a low voice: ”Mr. Bunigu is looking for you, we are hired by him to rescue you.”

The young man was stunned.

He lifted his head, somewhat surprised, looking at Fang Hong—only to realize it was his own doing that caused Fang Hong to end up like this, and he couldn’t help but feel extremely apologetic, whispering: ”I’m sorry, for getting you into this predicament. Is Bunigu alright?”

Fang Hong shook his head.

He glanced at the ’Wanderer’ direction, asking:

”What is the Dragon’s Scripture?”

...