Pillars of Ita

A deep dragon's roar echoed from the temple atop the mountain, shaking the walls, tables, and ground, causing a layer of floating dust to rise from them. The utensils on the tables trembled and jingled.

With a soft sound, a noticeable crack spread down from the stone pillar, and part of the ceiling collapsed with a roar, with rubble and quicksand rolling down from the breach.

The priest dodged the falling sand and came to the other side of the hall. Selgios stood in the collapsing hall as if nothing had happened, looking out the window.

The layers of creeping vine leaves were trembling incessantly on the stone platform, and the tangled vines and roots seemed to sense the same deep fear, curling up imperceptibly.

The layers of sonic booms swept across the city like ocean waves, and Selgios squinted as he watched the waves of sound sweep across the desolate streets.

He followed the sound to its source and saw a wing extending from the shadows atop the mountain peak.

The wing almost covered half the mountain peak—not only the two people on the tower, but almost the entire army of Rotao in the fortress, knights and soldiers, all saw this scene.

The wings had the characteristics of a dragon, but the feathers below were clearly distinguishable—the upper part of the dragon was covered with shimmering black scales, and below that were neat rows of long feathers.

Purple flames flickered beneath the smoldering feathers, outlining their sword-like edges, and the dazzling flames seemed to cast another shadow within the shadows.

The shadow had a long, dragon-like shape.

Its slender tail resembled a giant serpent from a dream, its long seven horns were like a burning crown, its pupils held up golden flames as if fire had fallen from the sky, its back was as high as a mountain peak, and its giant claws imprisoned the earth.

Its breath carries deadly poison and harbors flowing malevolent flames; the shadow beneath its wings is perpetually shrouded in a layer of smoke and dust that blots out the sky and envelops the entire world.

The once-mighty enemy now stands atop the mountain, just as it did countless years ago, spreading its wings and looking down at those tiny insects that dared to challenge its insignificance.

Ordinary soldiers were the first to fall into that golden gaze, as if stepping into a nightmare world shrouded in thick black smoke, forever shrouded in darkness.

Until a blinding golden flame pierced the darkness, the dragon slowly opened its pupils, like a spark falling from the smoke—the dragon's roar came from all directions, like a witch's shrill wail, making their vision go black—

They then witnessed the world heading towards irreversible destruction, with the gods seemingly defeated on an endless wasteland, mortals lying dead everywhere, sparks rising, and the flames of meteorites slowly piercing through the clouds.

Until that dazzling golden light, the dragon's eye, leaped down from the smoke-covered world, until the flames swept over everyone's head.

The entire world was burned to ashes and turned into nothingness.

An overwhelming fear gripped everyone's heart, causing them to instinctively prostrate themselves on the ground, as if to worship the source of that fear and beg for forgiveness.

The knights also experienced bouts of dizziness and had to cover the scrolls hanging from their armor plates with their hands. A dim yellow light seeped through their fingers, dispelling a layer of dust on the ground.

"Pull them up."

The tall, imposing commander of the ancient knights gave the order, but at the other end of the street, the monsters engulfed in purple flames did not stop their attack; instead, they became even more frenzied.

The knights pulled up the ordinary soldiers, and the monsters crashed into the front of the defensive line like a wave. Seven or eight ancient knights took to the air and threw a spear of light in that direction. The monsters in the shadows immediately screamed and disappeared.

"The streets are clear."

"Third wave of attack!"

The messenger's voice carried a hint of panic, and specks of flickering purple flame reappeared in the shadows, gradually coalescing and converging in this direction.

It was as if they had never died, burned to ashes and then transformed back into shadows, flowing to the other end of the street, gathering again in the shadows, endlessly changing and never ceasing.

Commanders from different regiments watched this scene with furrowed brows, and they all glanced at the female bishop beside them, but Beryl was looking at the faint dragon shadow on the mountaintop.

Her right hand, gripping the scepter tightly, had every knuckle drained of color from excessive force.

They were deceived. It wasn't Lebos's curse at all. There were only two dragons in the world with a strange seventh horn, which the Rotao people bluntly called the 'Black Root' or the 'Ominous Root'.

One of the two dragons was sealed underground through the twelve pillars of the stars. The saints of Miro used twelve different paths to pierce through the dragon's body, almost severing its life force.

On the other side, there is a close kinship with the first one; he is her biological father. Long before the Dragon Queen wreaked havoc on Aetaria, that shadow was one of the most profound calamities in this world.

Legend has it that it was killed when the Númerin elves lured it to the Wasteland, where an unknown hero beheaded it with the holy sword Moa and severed one of its horns.

The hero died in battle, and the dragon's blood seeped into the cracks of the earth. The holy sword disappeared without a trace, and after the elves passed away, no one ever saw this evil dragon king again.

Its name—

It is Lifegaard.

"They should leave this place immediately," Belial wanted to say. If that were the Dragon King Livegard, the artifacts of the Flamebringer's Oathhouse wouldn't be able to kill him.

She had already guessed that this was the place where Livegard was sealed, the place where he died. Even the Numelin elves could not completely destroy him, and could only use this fortress as a price to completely seal him here.

But an even more terrifying thought immediately came to mind: who was manipulating everything behind the scenes? Whose trap had they fallen into? What was the other party's purpose?
The bishop considered a crazy possibility, and the prophecy that had echoed repeatedly in the history of Rotao came to mind once again—Never forget the enemy who is gone.

They were fooled.

But if the Dragon King Livegard were to be resurrected here, it would likely mean the return of darkness, and mortals would once again face war with the dragons seven hundred years from now.

She turned around and looked at everyone around her.

"Lady Bellel." The knights also realized the critical situation, and many of them had already recognized the true identity of the evil dragon.

—The twisted seventh horn is too conspicuous, while the sixth horn, which is almost severed at the root in the myth, also marks its unique identity.

Beryl looked up at the sky. The enigmatic and unsettling magic circle was mostly complete, except for a corner in the southwest, where the edges of the magic circle were empty.

Three node arrays are still missing and have not yet been launched.

She had a vague idea of ​​what was going on, and said in a low voice, "Order everyone to hold on a little longer. We must move in that direction."

“Furthermore,” Beryl said suddenly, calmly, “I have one more request.”

“Ms. Beryl, please speak freely.”

The knights answered.

Beryl slowly began to speak:

"If things are hopeless, please ignite the sacred oath with golden flames. Do not forget the vows you made, and make yourselves part of the monster's nourishment."

There was a moment of silence on the battlefield.

But after a moment, the ancient knights and free knights present all nodded silently. Igniting the holy oath with golden flames was to turn themselves into ashes so as not to become part of that blood sacrifice.

People quickly reached a consensus.

The power of the Oath Court comes from the golden blood of dragons, and the dragon blood consumed becomes both part of the curse and the source of all blood magic. The Oath Keepers of Rotaor once used an ancient oath as a shackle to restrain the power of the dragon blood.

And this final shackle is the sacred oath of the Golden Flame—

To answer the sacred oath is to burn oneself, dragging the other into hell along with oneself before the monster in one's bloodline is born.

Every Oathkeeper has a way of restraining the power of their bloodline, and this is the path chosen by the Flame Tower.

This is also why the Golden Flame Oath became one of the Twelve Paths.

"Although some people have been seduced by power and lost their original intentions."

“But the oath of the Golden Flame must have its reason for being. Not everyone has forgotten their duty. I brought them here... I brought them here precisely to prove that.”

"Jin Yan's path still has the potential to become one of the twelve pillars."

Beryl looked at everyone around her, quietly lowering her eyelids. The determination in her eyes did not fade for a moment; instead, it seemed to hold a flame.

She handed the scepter to the knight in front of her, a young man with red hair, and said, "Renaard, pass on my orders and lead them to break through."

The knights were slightly taken aback before they realized what was happening: "Lady Bellel, what about you?"

She lowered her gaze again, looking at everyone. "If I hadn't covered your retreat, you probably wouldn't have made it there—but I'm not asking you to run away like cowards."

She stopped everyone from speaking.

"Remember, you have a responsibility—there, people are waiting for help."

“I suspect he has already figured out a way to break the deadlock. Leonard, I grant you command in the field. You will take my scepter and obey the orders of that holy son.”

“The Holy Son?” But Berel had already turned around, pulled off the outer robe draped over her armor, and looked up at the tower in the city center.

The woman's gentle gaze suddenly became as sharp as a sword.

"Gentlemen, dragon knights, there is a battlefield for dragon knights."

"Now that Ms. Marlan has made her decision, it is up to me to decide."

Selgios stood by the stone window, watching the city plunge into complete darkness, and saw the flames shooting into the sky. "She's here. I told you, your dubious magic array can't stop her."

"As a dragon knight, I know best the power of my kind. If I were to fight her, this fortress would be reduced to ashes in an instant, let alone that magic circle."

He said this without turning his head.

Behind him, Toragotos, disguised as a priest, was fiddling with the sacred artifact—but shook his head. “No, she won’t. She doesn’t understand the function of this magic circle; instead, she wants to protect it.”

"Because Livegard is sealed beneath this magic circle, do you think she would risk breaking the seal here easily? Of course not, she has placed all her hopes on that little guy."

Selgios turned around. "Aren't you worried that he'll ruin your plans again?"

“No, of course I’m worried,” Toragotos said. “I’m not worried that she will destroy the magic circle, but I’m more worried about the threat she poses to me, so please stop her.”

It looked at Sel Gios, “It’s time for you to make your move, Lord Sel Gios.”

As for that brat...

Toragotos couldn't help but chuckle. "According to the plan, the moment he activates the creation spell within the magic circle will be the moment our plan is complete."

"This is all thanks to you, Your Excellency the Great Explorer."

Sel Gios could easily detect the sarcasm in the other person's tone, but that was not surprising, as these beings who had fallen into darkness always harbored the same ill intentions towards others.

But he didn't care. Facing the approaching flames, he leaped out of the window and threw a sentence behind him, "Don't forget to make sure everything is foolproof, or that little guy might turn the tables."

Unreasonably worried.

Toragotos scoffed, dismissing him as nothing more than a shadow existing in history. What did it matter that he was a dragon knight? He didn't understand the principles of barrier operation at all.

However, the pain of Fenris's failure seemed to resurface once again, and after hesitating for a moment, Toragothos still stretched out his claws into the void.

In any case, as long as we have control of the central part of the magic array, we should be completely safe.

"Unless, that brat has the ability to rewrite the entire internal logic of the labyrinth—"

But the dragon, disguised as a priest, shook its head. Even if it was overestimating its enemy, the other side would never have the time to gather enough material to rewrite the magic circle.

A glowing rune appeared in its palm.

The flames on the horizon were streaking across half the city.

The dragon knight's aura almost instantly calmed the heavy pressure brought by Livegard's appearance, and the surging flames made Fang Zheng realize that the momentum that spanned half the sky came from another supreme being.

Golden shockwaves are tearing through the thick black clouds, creating irregular, jagged cracks in the sky and revealing the scene behind them—

The night sky filled with stars, and the starlight falling.

Loren looked up at the glittering stars and said with certainty:

“That’s Ms. Beryl.”

Fang Zheng had actually recognized it as well—the flames did not come from the city center or the direction of the tower, so they could only have come from another dragon knight in the allied forces.

The scepter bishop accompanying the Flame of the Oath.

Beryl.

The golden shockwave was sinking to the ground, and wherever it passed, the black tide that was impacting the knights' formation was instantly reduced to ashes.

Reid, the Paparallar, Luo Hao, and the others watched as the purple flames melted before them, seemingly swallowed by the endless light, their shadows vanishing into nothingness under the blazing sun.

Amidst a sharp hissing sound, the creature formed from the shadow disintegrated like sand, fell to the ground like dust, and finally vaporized into nothingness.

The cat-man unconsciously sheathed his sword, letting the soft light brush over every inch of his armor, like a gentle breeze passing by everyone.

He raised his head, silently gazing at the scene on the horizon, then gently closed his eyes. The braided hair on his chin jingled like the wind over the sacred white wasteland.

Listen, the wind will tell us everything.

"Because that is the sound of war."

He gently lowered his sword, placing the tip against the ground. Dust swirled around the crowd, and the temple was no longer filthy.

The sword inscribed with sacred oaths will not be wielded for the sake of flashing fire or flowing gold and silver.

All glory be with Marlan.

The boy turned around and looked at Fang Zheng, who was standing on the magic circle—Ms. Bellel had made her move, and unsurprisingly, the dragon knight beside the evil dragon would also make his move.

Two dragon knights will clash beneath the skies of Vo-Salastiel. Will Ed—no, His Holiness the Holy Son's plan still proceed as scheduled?
A voice told him he should trust Ms. Beryl, but another underlying thought kept rising: everything so far had gone exactly as she had predicted.

Or perhaps their plan is the only way to salvage everything?

But can they rely on those magic arrays that they've already torn apart?
As Loren was deep in thought, a series of commotions from ahead suddenly interrupted his train of thought.

He looked in that direction and saw knights dressed in the attire and robes of the Ancient Order of Knights appearing in the square in front of the temple—but the leading knight was not Belial.

Instead, he was a red-haired knight.

He actually knew the other person, the red-haired lion cub of the Gulmod family, Leonard, who was only one generation older than him, but was already the de facto successor of the Holy Sword Squad of the Ancient Order of Knights.

However, while he recognized Leonard, Leonard might not recognize him. Leonard simply held a crystal scepter aloft with both hands and walked across the square surrounded by knights.

Leonard raised his head, a strange light in his eyes, and looked at everyone in the temple—especially the young man on the altar.

He leaped off his mount, landing on the ground from his earth dragon's saddle. He then raised Belial's scepter high with both hands, bowed his head, and shouted towards the temple:

"The Order of Ancient Commandments, the Sword of Holy Commandments, the Silent Prayer, the Barrier of Proverbs, and the Anvil of Atonement, have come to pay homage to His Holiness the Holy Son on the orders of Lady Bellel."

"Is the one who received the sacred decree, the chosen one of war, the one favored by glory, as indicated by Marlan's teachings, resting here at this moment?"

Leonard's clear and powerful voice echoed in the silent square for a moment.

He looked up again. In fact, when he saw the group of free knights guarding the temple, he was already 70-80% convinced. But what really caught his eye was the big cat man.

A Secret Guardian.

Could it be that the holy son chosen by Marlan is really in this place?
On the high platform, Fang Zheng listened to the sounds coming from the square below. He was slightly stunned for a moment, but then he suddenly realized what had happened.

He turned around and looked at the shining stars in the sky.

Unexpectedly, at the last moment, Berel chose to believe.

Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that she chose to trust the judgment of a goddess in the dark.

Fang Zheng couldn't help but take a soft breath. Beryl had handed these people over to him, and the Ancient Knights had arrived just in time; he was about to confront Sel Gios—or rather, Toragotos—

The Seven Seas Brigade alone is somewhat insufficient.

“Then let’s see,” Fang Zheng couldn’t help but turn his palm over to look at a component inside his magic glove, and said to himself, “Let’s see how far this plan can go next.”

He certainly understood that danger lurked in the shadows.

Toragotos has come out into the open, but will the other dark hand lurking in the shadows really give up its ambitions so easily?
The arrival of the Imperials and the people of the Flame of the Primordial Court was already suspicious.

Aside from all that, was Livegard's advice to him truly just out of good intentions?
...(End of chapter)