Pillars of Ita

Rain suddenly poured down from the sky, washing over the broken walls of the city, gathering into streams, flowing through every bluestone slab in the streets and alleys, as if washing away the filth of the city.

Carandil stopped and let the rain fall on his body and shoulders, soaking his long silver hair and wetting his pointed ears. The water splashes formed a layer of mist that soaked into the fabric of his coat.

His gaze pierced through the rain and looked at the towering giant tree in the sky. The growing branches were becoming still and suddenly stopped.

More and more people noticed this scene. The gray creatures like a wave stopped in front of the position. They seemed to be collectively trapped in a state of stillness, twisting their torsos in pain.

The heavy rain created a tense atmosphere and people dared not even breathe. The army of disaster branches was about to break through their defenses, but what conspiracy was the other side planning?

Until a dull crack was heard in the sky.

People couldn't help but look up and see the towering shadow on the horizon curling and shrinking, a pale area on the surface of the giant tree expanding rapidly, and the branches of the disaster tree fell off one by one wherever it passed, as if it was falling apart.

It finally made a low roar, and a cracking sound came from between the tree trunks, breaking in the middle and slowly collapsing from the sky like a cloud.

The ground shook in the direction of the port, and the gray creatures in front of the formation fell down in large numbers like a harvested wheat field. The impact of the air flow mixed with rain rushed towards them, hitting everyone in the face.

But people were reluctant to even blink as they watched the scene in disbelief.

The silent sound of rain seemed to be narrating something silently. There was no more fighting, screaming, collision of weapons, or slashing of swords. The port fell silent for a while.

Only the raindrops fell on the ground, making a rustling sound among the gray corpses.

The hands of the guards holding their swords were even shaking slightly. The rain flowed over their helmets and through their breastplates, like a hand, gently wiping away the blood.

The muscles on their faces were tense, and even with their mouths wide open, no sound came out, as if they were afraid that even one more syllable would bring the horrible scene back to them.

After standing there in a daze for a moment, people finally reacted. A feeling of relief for surviving the disaster arose spontaneously and occupied everyone's heart.

But there was no ecstasy or shouting. Everyone couldn't help gasping for breath, as if enjoying the breath of survival. Many people even closed their eyes and let their tears mix with the rain.

At the last moment, a miracle visited this land.

Most people don’t know that there are people silently making contributions behind the scenes. They only know that they have won and the disaster trees in the port are withering and dying on their own.

The barrier covering the city is gradually dissolving, and the gray earth is regaining vitality bit by bit under the washing of rain.

People raised their hands, and the rain emitted a faint green light, which was the mercy from Lady Nature.

"Long live Ms. Aimeya!"

"Long live the Giant Tree Hill!"

Fanny looked at the shadow in front of her in disbelief. Linseya stood there, standing in the rain, smiling at the girls just as she had done in her lifetime.

“Lin Seya!” She rushed over and tried to hug the other person, but her grasp was empty, as if she had passed through an illusory shadow.

The girl in the shadow nodded to her gently, it was time to say goodbye.

Goodbye, Fanny, and give my regards to Meryl.

Farewell, Giant Tree Hill. Farewell, my old companions. But our best efforts were not meaningless, and at the last moment, fate still favored her.

She turned around slowly, and somehow she remembered a lot of things about the past and her companions, but the most profound memory was the shadow that supported her during those painful days.

She didn't know when she started dreaming about him.

"I will seek justice for you, Miss Merrill."

“All sacrifices are not in vain.”

Yes, you did.

Thank you, Mr. Ed.

Fanny had already cried bitterly in the heavy rain. She tried to hold on to the phantom that no longer existed, just like holding on to a ball of air. Under the stone slab, there was only a withered ash branch.

But beneath the dead branches, there is a hint of new green sprouting in the rain, and the cycle of life and death continues endlessly.

At that moment the girl finally understood what was happening.

A miracle happened.

But Mr. Ed, Meryl and Her Royal Highness the Princess did it all.

……

A gloomy gaze was looking at the chaos in the port through a window of the city hall. When the heavy rain fell, he let out a soft "huh" sound from his mouth, and the sneer on his face gradually disappeared.

It looked like it was going to fail again. The Silver Wind Watchers had prepared so much but still failed in the end. Two high-level puppets were sacrificed, but the Soul Eater Lord Amatos still failed to break through the plan of the Saints.

K shook his head slightly. If that was the case, then he could only wait for that moment to come. However, this time it was not without gain. Although it was difficult for mortals to detect what happened in the sea of ​​light, the moment when the twelve stars shone together had been confirmed, and the Holy Grail of the Elves should soon appear in the world.

K swept his hand across the window frame, then turned and walked back. Since the plan had failed, there was no need to stay here any longer.

However, there are still some documents in the parliament that need to be destroyed. He likes to finish what he starts, because details often determine success or failure.

He planned to go down to the parliament hall and take away some clues left by the speaker before others noticed the place, in case someone noticed the existence behind it.

Just as K turned around, he suddenly felt a sense of alarm. He subconsciously moved to the side. The wall next to him made a crisp sound of breaking, and a gray branch burst out from there like a sharp thorn.

If he hadn't dodged, the spike would have left a hole in his body. But what K noticed was not the gray spike, but the vines growing along the wall, with arched branches forming a door.

The door opened and a man jumped out and landed in front of him.

The boy who was a few years younger than him stood up and looked at him, his dark eyes flashing with a calm light.

The boy was wearing a grey alchemy coat and the iconic silver-white magic gloves. His hair had grown longer over the years and was tied into a bun at the back of his head.

K looked at the other person in surprise, but then smiled, "It turned out to be you."

It was this young man who defeated the blind god Deca in Istania, but he finally understood how a mere mortal could have the power to defeat the dark saints. It turned out that Aimaya and that woman had chosen each other.

K looked at the young man with a teasing look, "You think you can be fearless just because the saints chose you, but it's a pity that you know nothing about this game."

"You thought you won," he shook his head, "but everything has just begun, the best is yet to come."

K glanced around and saw that the other party had blocked the only road leading to the parliament hall. He felt a little regretful as it seemed there was no way to sort out the lost documents.

But it was no big deal. The Speaker thought he had the upper hand over them, but in fact he could only cause some minor trouble.

He didn't intend to waste time with the other party. Although he was just a young man with only three or four years of experience, he was worried that the movement here would attract the dragon knight.

K said this, then stepped back, broke open the window of the tower behind him, jumped out, and tried to escape from there.

But when he retreated, Fang He confirmed the other party's identity - it seemed to be the answer given to him by Elaine (Luminya).

But he did not chase after her immediately. Instead, he turned back and whispered, "Thank you for bringing me here, Miss Linseya."

It’s a pity that no response came from behind the withered door, and the girl’s ghost had long since disappeared.

Fang He sighed slightly, turned around, and stretched out his hand towards the direction of the broken window. Under K's astonished gaze, the rain gathered into a silver-white mecha arm and grabbed him as he fell.

"White Knight!?"

"You are the Silver Level—"

K's eyes almost popped out of his head. He suddenly thought of something and shot out a grappling hook in mid-air, trying to use the grappling hook to dodge the attack.

But the hook shot out from the muzzle and hit a transparent object in mid-air, which fell down amid sparks.

K stared at the flickering ball of fire in that place, which took the shape of a girl, grabbing his grappling hook and spitting out a flame to destroy it.

Then he felt his body tighten, and was grasped tightly by the platinum hand. With a 'boom', the arm pierced through the outer wall of the tower and came in front of Fang He.

Pin him to the ground.

"Who are you and what is your relationship with the Brotherhood of Shadows?"

Fang He looked at him coldly and questioned him. He tore off the emblem on his shoulder and threw it in front of K. The emblem showed a dagger that nailed a butterfly to death. K stared at him intently, coughed twice, and coughed up blood. He broke two ribs. Fang He lacked patience and sympathy for the mastermind who killed Lin Seya and killed more people.

"You know a lot," K smiled twistedly, "but what do you think you can get from me?"

As he spoke, he grinned and bit open the metal button between his teeth, allowing the deadly venom to seep under his tongue.

But Fang He noticed this immediately. He walked over and pried open the other's mouth. K struggled and clenched his teeth.

But Fang He just raised his hand, and the arm that was suppressing K immediately pressed the other person to the ground with two fingers, and then twisted one of his arms with his thumb and index finger.

With a "click", K screamed immediately. Fang He took the opportunity to pry open his mouth, took a look, and then took out a syringe and stabbed him in the back of the neck.

K groaned and immediately rolled his eyes.

"The three-phase poison of metal thorium. You are performing this in front of an alchemist. Aren't you looking down on us a little too much?"

Fang He stood up, looked at the man lying on the ground like a dead dog, and said coldly:

"This is a Type XII-I alchemical antidote. It's a pity to use it on you, but I have a Type XIV that's more effective. If you have any other poisons, you can try it."

K said nothing. In fact, although the poison did not kill him, it had destroyed most of his body functions. Even if he did not die, he was just barely alive.

Fang He didn't waste any words when he saw this, and immediately raised his hand, intending to break the other arm of the opponent. But before he could exert any strength, K finally couldn't help but call him back.

"and many more……"

K made a gurgling sound in his throat, like a dying animal. The poison had damaged the nerves under his tongue, making his voice sound unclear.

"...What do you want to know... Was the Silver Wind Warden behind all this? There are people from the Council and the Alliance involved. I can tell you everything I know, even the part about the Dark Lord..."

"...But these are existing facts. The speaker left behind a list. The information on that list is much more complete than what I gave you. It is in the parliament hall below..."

But he shook his head, "...What else do you want to know? You don't need to bother with the plan of the Dark Saints. Those behind you will only know more details..."

"...They are one and the same, and they know each other's plans very well, or are you interested in the purpose of the Dark Saints and us? But in fact, you already knew... didn't you, about the prophecy, the place where the twelve stars shine together, and the Holy Grail of the Elves..."

"...and the moment when the star of disaster descends."

K groaned in pain, he didn't expect that he would fail in this place. His fighting ability was not high in the organization, but it could not be said that an ordinary Silver Rank could defeat him.

The reason why I failed for a moment was because I was too careless.

First of all, he didn't expect that the other party would have such strength. More importantly, the power that Fang He had previously possessed was not something that an ordinary silver-level person could possess.

He immediately sensed that it was some kind of divine power, that there was at least one god watching what was happening at this moment from behind the scenes.

That could be the new lady of apoptosis

He secretly cursed his bad luck. He should have guessed that the other party appeared in this place because he had performed the duty of being chosen by God - Amathus actually forgot about him.

K said this while panting, then raised his eyelids and stared at the other person.

"I know you have a magic box in your hand, but it is useless to me. I can guarantee that what I said is true. You can verify it in the documents of the parliament...Dragon Alchemist, Ed, please give me a quick death..."

"Magic Box?"

Fang He took out the silver box from his arms and threw it in front of K: "You mean this? You know it. What on earth is this?"

"A device that can extract starlight... made of materials from another world," K answered. "The extracted starlight is actually annihilated. They gave a lot of these things to their believers to use against those crucial people."

"Killing off influential people without a sound and replacing them with shadow men?"

K nodded.

Fang He tried the magic box on the other party, but it didn't work. K told him in a hoarse voice that it was because this thing was originally the work of the devil.

The Dark Lord created them and gave his followers a blessing so that they would not be affected.

“…You can find a way to unlock it,” K said breathlessly, “but that won’t be done in a short time. You should know that I can’t hold on until then…”

He said it frankly.

There is indeed no intention to keep them, because those things are not important in the first place, and the plan has been on the table since the beginning.

Because disaster is about to come.

After the failure of the Linoril Council, it was meaningless to hide these conspiracies. As for the Alliance, what he knew, the other side also knew, and what the other side didn't know, he didn't know either.

But Fang He shook his head. "I don't know. Your injuries are nothing to me. You forgot that the person in front of you is a high-level alchemist who also has some knowledge of potions—"

K finally panicked and shouted hysterically: "…What else do you want to know?"

Fang He said coldly: "Do you know someone?"

"Who?"

Fang He walked over, leaned over and whispered a name in the other person's ear.

K's pupils suddenly dilated, and he twisted his neck, trying to see Fang He's face clearly, "...it turned out to be you, it turned out to be you..."

"The one they chose turned out to be you..., the clue... was broken, and everyone thought... that you were missing..."

"Your parents..."

An extremely strange look suddenly appeared on his face, and the most important sentence was stuck in his throat, turning into a series of meaningless gurgling sounds.

K's eyes widened, and the expression on his face became extremely terrified at that moment.

Fang He felt a sense of alarm when he saw this scene, but before he could react, the power of the Eternal Emblem had already unfolded around him.

The warning force field pushed him away, and the next moment a large amount of black liquid gushed out of K's mouth. The black liquid flowed out from his mouth, ears, eyes, nostrils, and even his limbs like a shadow.

They engulfed the man in an instant, then ignited black flames. The raging flames burned K's body to ashes almost instantly.

Fang He was almost shocked for a moment before he reacted. He rushed over and touched the ashes with his hand, and then his face turned extremely bad.

After the black flame burned, no trace of starlight was left.

The other person is dead, completely dead.

Although his reason told him that this person should be a Chosen One, in theory the Chosen One would be wiped out from this world and would also leave at the other end of the star gate.

But as he looked at this strange scene, a voice in his heart seemed to tell him that the other party was really dead and wiped out from both worlds forever.

Why is this happening?

What kind of power was that just now? It was definitely not a poison. He didn't even feel any information about the flow of ether from it.

Instead, he felt a familiar breath from the strangeness of Cang Zhihui in his body.

In fact, it was that one sign that allowed the predictive ability he obtained from the Eternal Badge to take effect in advance, pushing him away from the other party.

The black fire was not actually aimed at K, but at him. If his early warning ability had not been effective, it would not just be one person who would be reduced to ashes.

Fang He looked at the ashes on the ground and suddenly felt cold all over.

He had actually guessed where that power came from.

“…That is the power of another Dark Saint.”

A voice came from outside the tower. Fang He looked in that direction vigilantly, only to find that the person who appeared there was the Dragon Queen Alessa, whom he had not seen for a long time.

But the other party's eyes were also on the ashes. "It seems that they have noticed you, Ed."

"What exactly did you ask him just now?"

...(End of chapter)