Pillar of Yita

But no one cared about what she was saying, everyone was frozen in place.

Sicape's hand stopped on Fang Hong's shoulder, not daring to breathe any harder, as she carefully shifted her gaze upwards, looking at the giant mechanical beast—its body still emitting a deep, thunderous rumbling, like a pulsing mechanical heart. Amidst the vast vibrations, the surrounding humans seemed even more insignificant.

A piece of collapsing wall fell beside them, the rubble clattering to Fang Hong's feet. Only then did he come to his senses, looking at the massive creature and instinctively raising the dagger in his hand.

With a rumble, the mechanical beast moved upward, its four pairs of dark red eyes lifted high, scaring everyone so much they all swallowed hard, Sicape's hand turning white.

But after a while,

it made no further movement.

Fang Hong exhaled in relief and carefully lowered the dagger.

Accompanied by the dull drone of the boiler, the giant metal head slowly sank in response to his gesture, the dark red eyes moving as well, their gaze fixed on the dagger in his hand.

It slightly opened its maw, the steel cavity filled with dark red gears, the colors of dried blood and rust.

"Give it to it," Sicape said softly.

"But... that's Miya's dagger," Fang Hong was in a dilemma.

"I knew it was that damned woman," Sicape's voice raised, "Throw it over now, do you want her to kill us all?"

And it was at this time that the situation changed again.

Fang Hong himself didn't notice, but fresh blood from the wounds on his blood-stained hand was seeping into the crystal. It was at this moment, in his upper left field of vision, that a strange entry appeared:

Dragon Knight System loading, self-checking host—

Then an entire set of interfaces fell like a waterfall. Page after page of windows opened in his vision, as if completing a self-checking process, countless data and figures reflected in the depths of his eyes, the UI he was very familiar with, it was the basic viewer of the Invoker.

But all of this seemed like an illusion, vanishing in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a single entry.

Dragon Knight System loading, self-check failed, host crystal not found—

Even that sentence faded from vision, disappearing like passing wind and sand without leaving a trace.

The whole process was completed in less than half a second, Fang Hong blinked, suspecting he had been hallucinating. "Did you all see anything?" he asked with some confusion.

Of course, the others saw.

But what they saw was the brightly glowing crystal dagger in Fang Hong's hand quickly losing its luster, becoming dim. The change in light was so great that Fang Hong reacted as well, turning just in time to see the dagger go completely dark.

The female Wanderer from the Silver Shadow suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "On your forehead..."

But a deafening roar forced everyone to cover their ears and even brought on nausea and dizziness. The space above their heads cleared, and the mechanical beast suddenly rose erect, towering nearly seven or eight stories high, looking down at each person from above.

Fang Hong held the dagger that had completely lost its glint.

The beast's four pairs of dark red eyes looked at him coldly, waving countless metallic blades, emitting a whistle like a steam horn from within, and then suddenly sank down.

"Take cover!"

That was the last sound he heard from Sicape.

Someone pushed him from behind.

All went black.

After who knows how long, when Fang Hong came to, he even wondered if he was back at the Starport. It was pitch black around him, and his body hurt as if it had been split open. He groaned and finally remembered what had happened.

At least this meant he was still in Eteliria. He could feel his heart thudding powerfully in the darkness, but his mind gradually calmed. Fang Hong tried to move; he was surrounded by rubble—it seemed like he was in some underground tunnel. Nearby water seemed to be seeping in, the dripping sound echoing.

He fumbled around but could no longer find his backpack. Fortunately, he still had a box of matches in his pocket. Lighting a match, the bright flame illuminated the dark underground, revealing a low corridor. The flame outlined every crevice between the stones, twisted roots growing down from above and sprawling on the ground everywhere.

When the flame burned down to his fingertips, Fang Hong quickly threw it away.

The light faded, and darkness returned.

It seemed like they were in a sublevel of a ruins building, as if they had arrived there with the collapse of the upper level, but the whereabouts of the others and that terrifying mechanical beast were unknown.

Fang Hong lit a second match.

The orange glow warmed the underground tunnel, but it cast long shadows of stones and roots. Fang Hong ducked his head and walked forward cautiously. These depths hadn't been trodden in many years, and as the light moved forward, he saw many colorful beetles moving under the roots, which was quite unsettling.

The sound of dripping water grew closer.

Suddenly, a pale face reflected in the light ahead, but the flame abruptly went out.

All went black again.

Fang Hong's heart pounded heavily as he fumbled to light a third match, and light flickered back to life. Indeed, it was Sicape. Most of her body was buried under rubble and dirt, her complexion deathly pale and lifeless, but she was still tightly gripping his large backpack.