Pillars of Ita

The attacking fleet awoke in the silence of the early morning, the thick fog like icy water. Selgios walked ahead, his footsteps echoing in the air. Fang Zheng then saw one or two sailors from one or two ships pass by him.

With thick, short, bright red hair tied in a braid, he looked like a wild man.

He rested here for seven hours, but Luo Hao and the others had not arrived yet. During this time, Miss Scholar contacted him again. The good news was that the Big Cat Man and his crew had brought in the Seven Seas Storm, and the Shining Silver Coin was following behind.

He glanced down at his pocket watch. It was three in the morning, and the stars were still shining, only hidden behind the dense sea fog.

"Don't speak later. The people of the Flame of the Pivot don't trust outsiders."

Selgios turned around and reminded him.

Fang Zheng asked, "What's your relationship with them?"

"Allies, collaborators? We share a common goal. You know they also possess the power of golden blood and have always wanted to find the source of their magic. A ready-made dark dragon is the best target. As for whether their strength matches their ambition."

The great explorer shook his head: "That's actually none of my business."

Aren't you worried they'll affect your plans?

“Actually, no.” Selgios said succinctly.

Not long ago, he had already laid out his plan to Fang Zheng—the Cardinal's Oath Court plan was to have a cardinal activate a sacred artifact, and then use the artifact to wound it.

The sacred artifact could not kill a dark dragon, but according to the Knights' observations, a dragon-slaying sword had left a scar on the monster, and the wound was still bleeding to this day.

"As long as they can find a way to break that wound, they still have a chance to kill the other person."

"But what actually happens?"

"It can't be done."

They've already tried.

Or rather, they had already tried it in that past history, and the result was negative. The Flamebringer's Oath also had a dragon knight, and the two dragon knights together ensured the success of the plan.

But the dragon is still alive. At least in his time, the curse of dragon blood still spreads in the Gulf region. No new dark dragon was born from the dragon blood, indicating that there is another ruler above its source.

"It died once in the distant past."

"So you killed it again, but it's still alive, right?" Fang Zheng suddenly realized something.

But Selgios didn't answer. "Remember what I said," he said, having reached his destination and pushing open the door to a conference room. He hesitated for a moment, then turned back. "I'll tell you why later, but first we have to deal with our allies."

Fang Zheng nodded, glancing at the knight behind the door out of the corner of his eye.

The other person nodded politely to Sel Gios, but his gaze did not fall on Fang Zheng. "The bishops are waiting for you, Your Excellency."

“Mr. Sel,” a steady voice came from the conference room, “we haven’t actually been waiting long. We’re currently discussing matters related to that monster. You said you found an alchemist who can fix the Lock of the Mystery?”

The person who spoke was actually a cardinal.

The other party looked at Fang Zheng and was immediately disappointed:
"Excuse my bluntness, but this...sir, he's rather young. Alchemy is a skill that requires time to master, or is he merely a student of a master? In that case, his age—"

The cardinal's words suddenly stopped.

He stared at Fang Zheng as if he had seen a ghost, exclaiming, "This is impossible—!"

Selgios had intended to explain for Fang Zheng, but stopped upon hearing this unexpected remark.

Fang Zheng then saw the three people talking inside the room. In addition to the knight who opened the door and the speaker, there were two bishops. One of them was also wearing the robes of a cardinal, while the other was obviously more venerable, holding a jeweled short staff and wearing a Zoroastrian crown.

A cardinal with a staff. Fang Zheng's eyes twitched. It was a special crown, awarded only to the most core figures in the College of Cardinals. Although cardinals were all advisors to the archbishops, only seven staffs were issued in each period.

The woman was also looking at him. She had long, golden, flame-like hair, looked to be in her forties, and appeared quite dignified.

Why do you have the aura of a Dulu?

Fang Zheng was slightly taken aback, and suddenly realized that something was wrong. Gonzalez had previously given him a crash course on the Temple of Miro, and Duro was one of the titles held by Lady Marlan in the Lotao community.

This word actually means the Lord of War, Winds and Glory, a sword symbolizing freedom and justice. He possesses the will of Marlan because he was designated by the Knights of Ancient Order as the next Holy Son.

He thought it was just an identity, but he didn't expect that a bishop from the Flame of the Vows would recognize him at a glance. Before he could react, the bishop had already appeared in front of him in a flash.

What a great speed!

Fang Zheng was momentarily stunned—he was almost certain that the dragon knight from the Flame of the Pivot was very likely her.

The female bishop reached out and grabbed his wrist, but Fang Zheng couldn't react in time. However, Sel Gios, who was beside him, reacted quickly—the Great Explorer drew his sword and blocked the attack—but the next moment, a faint white light rippled between the two.

The radiance, like countless starlight, pushed Sergios's sword and the bishop's hand aside slightly.

"what?"

Both of them let out a soft "Eh." But only Fang Zheng reacted; it was the Mark of Creation. The White Knight's reaction was much faster than his. Quivenlar had told him that perceiving the White Domain was the power of imagination, and this was the first law of creation.

Within a white domain, nothing can be born before creation, therefore its reaction is always ahead of everything else. When the Flame Oath Court bombarded it, it was the perception of the white domain that saved its life.

However, Fang Zheng quickly withdrew his power. He did not intend to make the White Knight's arm manifest at this time. That thing was too heavy, and he did not want to cause any unnecessary trouble in this illusion of space and time.

However, the bishop had already retreated, her gaze fixed intently on the ascension mark on his forehead—it resembled a rising flame, within which was the emblem of the War Lady Marlan.

"Traces of war!?"

The two cardinals were completely stunned.

“The Holy...the Holy Son? But the Holy Son Ignis isn’t here. Who...who is he…”

Sel Gios sheathed his sword and glanced at Fang Zheng with some surprise. He was clearly not expecting the other party to have such an identity. Among everyone present, only he knew what had really happened.

Ignisius is the current Holy Son of the Flame of the Covenant, but Fang Zheng comes from the future.

His gaze was somewhat meaningful, clearly asking Fang Heng why he hadn't told him this. But Fang Heng just smiled bitterly, "You didn't ask either, and besides, even I've forgotten about it."

After all, Gonzalez hadn't told him there would be such a big show.

After the bishop withdrew her hand, her gaze softened considerably. She looked at the flames on Fang Heng's forehead that were gradually fading away and nodded. "Can you tell me what this mark is all about?"

“I don’t know, ma’am,” Fang Zheng shook his head and answered truthfully, “...but I do think I met Madam Marlan once.”

"The Chosen One".

The two cardinals gasped in surprise. But how could there be two chosen ones in the same era? They truly didn't understand this, and for a moment they didn't know whether it was good or bad, but it would most likely cause turmoil within the Oath Court.

Fang Zheng didn't care about the turmoil in their hearts, because this was just a fragment of history, and it wouldn't affect anything after the illusion ended. Besides, he really didn't know the origin of this mark; Gonzalez had only announced him as the next successor of the Knights, but hadn't told him why.

The commander did say that the lady had chosen him, but he never said that 'chosen' meant this. Fang Zheng couldn't help but touch his forehead—he couldn't see what was there, but he could guess what had happened.

Fortunately, the bishop didn't seem to mind too much. "Since you're the one chosen by Lady Marlan, there's nothing more to say. Caliban, tell them the results of our previous discussion."

Fang Zheng wasn't interested in the plan itself, so Selgios had already explained it to him beforehand. He only glanced once more at the jeweled scepter in the archbishop's hand.

The Blazing Court seems to take this plan very seriously, having even sent one of the seven scepter bishops. This is understandable, as they have historically been searching for the origins of bloodborne magic and attempting to truly tame this power.

However, this plan ended in failure soon afterward, and a major change occurred within the Oath Court. Subsequently, the Miro Palace had to order the sealing of all related materials, and blood magic ceased to be a mainstream path to advancement.

It seems that what happened back then is related to this expedition.

Vor-Salastil is a fortress built by the Numelin elves. Although the fortress has now fallen into the turbulent flow of time, it is not actually destroyed.

The plan of the Flame of the Vow is to try to reactivate the Lock on the island.

This magic circle, which once fought against the dark dragon, can still function effectively. The Knights only have one chance to activate the sacred artifact, so before that, they must ensure their attack hits its target—

Utilizing the existing maze locks on the island is a reasonable idea.

But the elves’ techniques were not so easy to replicate. Almost every step of the plan had only one chance, and the two cardinals argued their case on every detail.

Although Fang Zheng had proven his identity, one of the bishops still had doubts about his age. Sel shook his head. "It's alright, Ed has passed the test. Not long ago, I had him open the seal on the Moon Gate."

"That dried-up Fountain of Youth?" But Fang Zheng seemed too young; after all, this wasn't the era of the Chosen Ones. The cardinal hesitated for a moment. "But as for it, our people can do the same..."

"But Master Flamel is badly injured and still unconscious. We have no time left to try again. We must end this war before this evening."

The cardinal fell silent. “Then we need to add an extra layer of protection. We must have our people escort the Holy Son to a place close enough.”

Fang Zheng noticed that the bishop with the scepter had not expressed any opinion from beginning to end.

As he was leaving, he learned the other person's name—Beryl Loyo. He had never heard of this name before, but he didn't know much about the Flamebringer's Oath anyway. No one at the level of the Scepter Bishop was simple, let alone the other person, who was a Dragon Knight.

Perhaps three hundred years ago, this was a name that left a great name in Rotao, but the long river of history is enough to cover everything. In the past three hundred years, there have been hundreds of dragon knights born and killed in Aetaria.

As Fang Zheng stepped out the door, he thought of the question from before: "Mr. Sel, you still haven't told me whether your plan succeeded?"

Selgios gazed at the fleet shrouded in mist from afar. "Yes, the Blazing Court's plan was a success; we destroyed it once—"

"But it came back to life."

Each word is simple, yet cold.

Fang Zheng remained silent for a moment, already somewhat expecting this: "Mr. Sel, you've already guessed the reason?"

Sel nodded.

The dragon had died once, by one of the dragon-slaying swords, and its dying power dragged Vo-Salastiel into a temporal turbulence.

This is the legend of all this from the outside world, but in fact, it is still alive and forever bound to Vo-Salastil, becoming the eternal source of the Sons of the Gulf's curse.

“Perhaps the power of that time and space did not come from Lebos,” said Sel, “but from Vo-Salastir itself, whose disordered time and space endowed it with an almost eternal vitality.”

"As long as we don't kill it in every timeline it exists, it will be affected by other timelines and be resurrected once again."

He paused for a moment, his voice calm and composed:
"I think that's why it died by the Dragon Slayer Sword and then came back to life."

"So what should we do?"

"It's very simple. Go to every timeline where it exists and kill it at the same point in time. It dies at every moment in different timelines at the same time, so Lebos will never be resurrected."

"I'd like to ask, how many spacetime nodes are there in total?"

"As far as I know, at least three."

Sin'thorastil, the moment the dragon died wounded.

Three hundred years ago today, at the moment when the Son of Saltbone and the Flamebringer's Oath slew it.

The moment Catherine's father, the pirate king of Silver Chain, once again set foot on the island.

There are indeed three time points, but whether there are more, no one can say for sure. And just securing these three time points is already extremely difficult, let alone the fact that Selgios slowly revealed a reality to him:
"Even if we could travel to each of these points in time, we would not have the other two artifacts."

Fang Zheng remained silent. If that's the case, how then should they kill that evil dragon?
Besides, will the curse be lifted after the dragon is killed?

“But I have another plan,” the great explorer began, “but Ed, it will require your help.”

……

Fang Zheng watched as warships broke through the thick fog, and knights filed down the waterlogged gangways in the dim light of dawn, their armor clanging softly against each other.

Swords and spears swayed, like a slowly advancing forest. Dewdrops, like sweat stains on armor, clung to the opening and closing of the armor plates, and distorted faces were reflected in the gleam of the breastplate.

According to Sergios, this expedition will be victorious—

But it will fail.

After that, the Flame Tower will undergo a devastating transformation, and the Bell Tower will begin its countdown to destruction.

Neither of them deserves sympathy, but the expedition itself was not without meaning; every shadow left in this illusion has paid a price for it.

He watched silently as the people of the Flamebringer's Oath established a temporary camp at the landing point. The Ancient Knights' encampment was located in the core area of ​​the camp, near the Flamebringer's Oath. But the outer perimeter was mostly occupied by Free Knights.

The Temple of Myro governs the temples of Rotao. In addition to the Path of Oath, there are many other paths to advancement, such as the Ritual, the Stars, and War. After losing the Bloodline Spell, there are still twelve paths left, corresponding to the twelve pillars of the Starry Land.

The knights in the Rotao camp mainly came from two sources: the Ancient Knights and the Knights of Duro. The former need no further explanation; in this era, they also bore the responsibility of guarding the temple. The latter were Duro knights from all over Rotao—as mentioned earlier, Duro was the most honorable of the War Lady Marlan's many titles in Rotao, and the Knights of Duro were the sword in her hand.

Among these people were both old and young, some of whom were even younger than him.

They became free knights for many reasons, mostly for fame, or because they were descendants of knights from an ancient, impoverished family. Some were simply inspired to act for the sake of justice in their hearts.

Strictly speaking, the Great Catman Reid is also a Duro Knight.

Among these people, Fang Zheng saw a young man sitting in front of a tent, intently polishing his sword. It was a steel sword, possibly from the young man's ancestors, with Widmanstätten patterns from the iron-casting era engraved on its blade, complemented by mane and flame patterns.

It was a boy with curly hair, his long flaxen hair covering a pair of deep-set eyes, his pupils like a pair of sky-blue gems. Only when he noticed the craftsman standing in front of him did the other person raise his head.

A strange light flashed in the boy's eyes as he looked at Fang Zheng and said, "Oh, you're the alchemist who came with the Son of Saltbone. The bishop said that we should escort you to a place close enough to that evil dragon."

"We'll be walking through the city center and across the square later. Don't be afraid, this is how it is the first time you go to war. Stay close to me and don't panic. I'll protect you if anything happens."

Fang Zheng found this statement somewhat intriguing, but then gently shook his head.

This young man's strength is at most similar to Luo Hao's, and he can be considered a genius among the natives. Otherwise, it would be unlikely that he would have joined the expeditionary force at such a young age.

But how many such geniuses are there here? Did they survive until the end of the war and return to their homeland?
The war between the Aetarians and the Dark Dragon was brutal, long, and tragic. Those who died under the dragon's flames could never be resurrected, and those who were burned to ashes by the fire of Venus would even have their starlight turn to ash and fall into the dust.

That's why death is a harbinger of something beneath a dragon's wings.

The ancient proverb inscribed on the dragon's horns, "Never forget the vanquished," was not a jest to those who lived through that era, but a lesson learned through blood and tears. The mortals of Aetaria, after four hundred years of war, finally built their kingdom from the ashes—

Fang Zheng's gaze fell on the sword in the boy's hand. The blade under the strip of cloth reflected the gloomy sunlight, as if it could pierce through the surrounding mist at any moment. It was just a piece of ordinary iron—ordinary iron could not harm the dark dragon, but could only kill its minions.

But that's enough. A true dark dragon has an endless horde of minions. Unlike Nicol Bolas, which is just a shadow, it is about to engage in a fierce battle.

This is not surprising.

Wars against dragons are almost always brutal.

More than thirty years ago, during the Dragon Witch Rebellion, Corin-Ishri lost three cities and countless lives. Even the hero Joshua lost several companions and his lover.

But Fang Zheng remained silent.

His mind was only on Selgios's plan—

Is it truly impossible to kill a dragon?

He didn't have any sacred artifacts, but he did have the Dragon-Slaying Sword.

Since the end of the Age of Dragons, four of the five holy swords have been lost to the world.

Fang Zheng did know the whereabouts of the only remaining one—the Fairy Holy Sword Galapea.

However, the latter was of no use in this illusion, as Galapea was not present. There were two other swords, though—the half-unsealed Enemy Slayer and the Holy Sword Blacksteel in the box's hand; coincidentally, both were in their possession.

In fact, apart from the real Dawn Holy Sword, they had handled four of the five holy swords, including the already shattered Moa Holy Sword.

With the addition of the Dragon Witch and Toragothos, no one in the world knows the Dark Dragons better than them.

Fang Zheng raised his head, a strange realization flashing through his mind. Could it be that their appearance in this place at this coincidental time was actually an arrangement of fate?

He reached out and grasped the golden ring of flames on his chest.

But the cold ring could no longer give him an answer.

...(End of chapter)