Pillar of Yita

”It’s nothing, maybe bats or Night Owls,” he replied, ”Don’t get distracted, the target might be just ahead.”

Fang Hong made his bee swarm fly a bit higher, somewhat surprised by his counterpart’s keenness — but when the woman spoke, he recognized her as the owner of the voice he had heard earlier, seemingly searching for someone or some people.

What truly surprised him was the attire she wore, he had seen that style of the war robe before — ”Twilight Guild’s people?” Fang Hong was slightly taken aback. He harbored preconceived suspicions about these people, inevitably linking them with past events.

What would ordinary people come here for at this time? And judging by their setup, it wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment decision like theirs.

Fang Hong quickly collected himself, turned back, and gestured to Gita and the Big Catfolk to lower their voices. Then he used gestures to indicate, ”Twilight’s people, my feeling is they’re up to no good. Let’s sneak over to check the situation, there’s a Combat Artisan and a Night Thief over there.”

The Big Catfolk used hand signs to ask him, ”How to deal with the Combat Artisan?”

”The counterpart might not be on the front line, finding them would be unrealistic; the Combat Artisan’s control range could reach several kilometers. We can penetrate through their blind spots but approaching them indeed would draw attention, I’m afraid.”

Fang Hong replied, after all, they weren’t Clockwork Fairies — they couldn’t fly.

But Gita gently breathed in and whispered, ”I might have a way.”

”What did you say, Gita?” Fang Hong couldn’t hear her clearly at first due to her soft voice.

”I said I have a way, Brother Ade.”

”Then give it a try, Gita.”

Miss Scholar nodded slightly, opened her Magic Guided Book, lifting it with a small hand, and the invisible wind surrounded the silvery tome, suspending it in mid-air.

She placed a hand on the pages, uttering a few syllables that sounded obscure and difficult to understand, then pointed forward:

”... those peculiar creatures we encountered while passing through the mountains of the Tarun Area, they were both rocks and living beings, even a peculiar ecosystem...

——684,1,10, ’Ecology of the Tarun Area’”

In Gita’s gentle narration, in the direction her snow-white fingertip pointed, the forest shook violently. A gray-white rock shook off soil and roots, rising from the earth, gradually forming the shape of a massive rock puppet. The commotion behind clearly drew the attention of the people ahead — the Combat Artisan might not hear the situation on the battlefield, but the Nightingale reacted first.

”What’s happening behind?”

She shouted loudly into the Communication Crystal.

”Which direction?”

”Southeast of me.”

The Alchemist immediately dispatched a Clockwork Fairy to fly in that direction, and upon seeing this, Fang Hong promptly pulled Miss Scholar and the Big Catfolk into the shrubs, quietly advancing north.

In the midst of their vision, the gray-white Rock Giant visibly captured the Alchemist’s full attention, causing him to overlook the situation across the river in the undergrowth.

Only a moment later, a voice of mild surprise sounded from the crystal: ”A Rock Giant, be careful, Ruin, it’s near you. How did you provoke this thing?”

”Keep quiet,” a voice from the silent Ranger came through the crystal, rising from hiding among the tree branches, lifting a Longbow, and shooting an arrow at the gray-white Rock Giant. But the shot was terribly off mark, striking a large tree near the Rock Giant instead.

Gita hadn’t anticipated there was a Ranger hiding there, and witnessing this instinctively moved her small hand over the pages, but Fang Hong had already stopped her in advance:

”Don’t move, he’s testing you.”

”The Rock Giant is a very special Elemental Creature, it lacks the ability to perceive the external world on its own, but it symbiotes with Winged Lizards, through a unique connection they can sense everything around them.”

”Winged Lizards have poor vision and hearing, relying on their keen sense of smell to act; if you had moved just now, you would have exposed the fact that the Rock Giant was summoned by someone.”

Fang Hong whispered.

Gita’s face turned a bit red; she actually knew these things but didn’t react in time. ”Sorry, Brother Ade.”

”No need to apologize,” Fang Hong shook his head, ”Being able to summon a Rock Giant in this place is already perfect. Fairies, Winged Lizards, and Tree People often appear in this area; they won’t suspect much beyond that.”

”But my Magic Power won’t last long.”

”It’s already enough.”

The Tree People’s Ranger gazed at the Rock Giant, only then did he put down the Longbow, said to the pair on the other side of the crystal: ”I’ll handle this thing, you two keep an eye on the target, don’t reveal ourselves.”

Then he leapt from the tree, raised his bow again, and shot an arrow at the Rock Giant. This time, the arrow did not miss, striking the Rock Giant’s chest directly, causing its massive form to sway slightly. A few Winged Lizards crawled up from behind, resting on the shoulders of the gigantic creature.

The Ranger, upon seeing those Winged Lizards, completely relaxed; some Elementalists can summon these Elemental Creatures, but they cannot conjure the symbiotic Winged Lizards. He placed his hand to his mouth and blew a sharp whistle in that direction, then swiftly retreated.

The creature has tough skin and flesh; he didn’t intend to truly waste his arrows on it, only needed to draw it away from this area.