Pillars of Ita

As expected, the entrance was right below the village hall, leading to the elves' ritual site. Melfina told them that there was usually a holy well underneath, which was where the elves performed sacred rituals.

A dead white oak tree stood on the ground there. The surface of the tree had long been crystallized and covered with cracks. The two unicorn girls, Aloya and Merrill, showed expressions of disbelief when they saw this scene.

It's not like everyone had never seen the Gray Region before, but for a moment they couldn't accept that the sacred tree representing Aimaya could not escape this disaster.

A seal blocked the underground entrance. The elves sealed it in a unique way. It was a glowing wall.

Melfina walked forward and tapped the wall gently with her hand. The soft light on the wall seemed to sense her blood and quietly retreated, leaving a path.

"This is indeed the work of the Sacred Woods," Melfina said as she looked at the disappearing wall of light. "This is not alchemy, but a tradition inherited from ancient times that belongs only to the elves—"

Her words stopped abruptly.

The Elf Princess' gaze fell into the depths of the dark hole - the moment she opened her mouth, she realized something - this seal was actually for the inside, not the outside.

"Be careful--"

She wanted to warn others, but it was too late. The magic sword in the box was trembling violently, as if it was about to break free from the scabbard.

The young man held the sword with one hand, trying to say something, but a huge force had already thrown him away. Behind him, Fang He had already realized that something was wrong when all this happened.

In fact, the moment the wall of light faded away, he had already felt an indescribable sense of crisis in his heart. It felt as if an invisible hand had grasped his heart, and the heavy drumbeats fell on his heart, causing his heart to pound wildly.

Although the blessing of darkness had long since disappeared with the extinguishing of the sea of ​​light, the body's instinctive reaction still remained. He had experienced similar crises more than once, the last time being when he faced the mistress of the storm, the Naga Goddess Narsu, and the sense of crisis in his heart had also warned him madly at that time.

But every time before this, the intense feeling was not as strong as this time. Fang He saw that everyone was motionless, as if he had seen something indescribable.

The box was blown away by a huge force and hit Luo Hao, Luo Yu and others behind. The elf princess was still struggling, but one knee was half-kneeling on the ground.

The other people who were not affected seemed not to feel this scene. They were like puppets, staring straight in that direction.

It was as if the world was collapsing and time had come to an end. Fang He tried to get everyone to react, but he found that he could not make any sound, as if he was trapped in a nightmare.

The endless cycle of nightmare dragged him into a deeper world. The real world disintegrated in his sight. He looked back and saw that all his companions were swallowed up by a layer of surging gray fog.

The gray fog swept in from all directions, leaving only the small area where he stood. Looking up at the sky, it was also dark, and from time to time a flash of lightning thousands of miles long flashed from the void.

The hall disappeared, the dead holy tree disappeared, and even the entrance disappeared. He was standing on a dry and cracked land, surrounded by gray mist, and it seemed a little dark due to the lack of light.

The only light was the occasional flash of lightning in the sky, which was like flowing blood, bloody red, giving the entire earth the same color.

Looking at this strange scene, Fang He calmed down. He tried to sink into the world of his mind to contact Miss Tata, but found that he could not get through.

Miss Tata can be said to be living in the same soul as him. The relationship between the two is even closer than that of ordinary dragon knights. Distance cannot stop them unless there are other factors.

That is, this itself was an illusion, a dream, and everything he saw was in the dream, so he could not communicate with the fairy lady.

Nini is not here either.

Only this explanation can explain everything. He was clearly in the corridor below the elf village, so how could he suddenly appear in this place?

He didn't feel himself being teleported, and there was no teleportation spell that could teleport people to such a far place. This place didn't look like the Hill of Giant Trees, and it might not even be in Ataria.

After confirming his situation, although he was a little surprised that he had clearly seen through the illusion but had not yet woken up from this nightmare-like world, Fang He still tried to move forward.

Since traditional methods can't break this illusion, he has to try other methods. Staying where he is will not help, so he wants to see what exactly dragged him into this nightmare.

What is the other party's intention?
Fang He took a step forward, and the feeling of his footsteps hitting the ground was extremely real. The surface of the ground seemed to be cracked and completely vitrified, just like the scene they saw everywhere in the gray area. When he stepped on it, it made a fine cracking sound like sand, rustling.

But there was no forest at all, not even a crystal forest. All that was left over the plains was dead fog. Red clouds were surging in the sky, and flashes of lightning appeared from time to time, but the fog remained motionless.

There were some mountains in the distance that looked quite strange, as if they rose from the flat ground to form independent peaks. But when the lightning came, those huge rocks also emitted a strange luster.

Apart from the roar of thunder and lightning, the whole world seemed to be dead silent. There was no whistling wind, and only the occasional cracking sound under his feet. That feeling made him extremely uncomfortable.

Fang He remembered that he seemed to have seen a similar scene somewhere.

No, not one place, but two.

First of all, this place looks very much like the destroyed world of the filmmaker. The stars of the entire world seem to have gone out. After the starlight dimmed, only the endless void remained.

But the two are not exactly the same. First of all, they have similar skies and completely different lands. And this gray world and gray fog remind him of something else.

Before the Seven Seas Brigade headed to the Hill of the Giant Tree, they encountered a strange fog in Saint Xuan. The fog there was exactly the same as the one here.

Are there those bugs here?
Fang He couldn't help but think.

There was actually a huge stranded ship in the fog, but unfortunately they were busy dealing with an insect infestation at the time and did not have time to board the ship to find out what was going on.

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly discovered something appeared in front of him - it looked like a small mound, or like a person kneeling on the ground with a hunched back.

But when he got closer, he realized that it was an elf. The other person was wearing the armor of the Son of Light, and the pattern on it was somewhat similar to Melfina's.

Fang He was startled, and when he walked closer to take a look, he breathed a sigh of relief. The other person was not the elf princess, but an elf man, but he looked haggard and his original appearance could no longer be seen.

This man looked like a member of the Royal Guards of the Court of Radiance, because Fang He had already recognized the elven double-headed sword that had fallen to the side. Only the Knights Templar of the Royal Court would use such a weapon.

Why are there holy white people here?
Even though he knew that he was in an illusion, Fang He still couldn't help but ask questions. He had never come into contact with the elven guards of the Yaoguang Royal Court, and his understanding of them came entirely from books.

Not to mention a specific person.

So who could this person be?
He continued to move forward with this question in mind, but soon there was no need to ask such questions because he saw densely packed small hills appearing on the horizon.

And under each of those "mounds" there is actually such a person, and there are not only elves, but also humans and the Paparars.

Fang He gradually realized that he was walking towards the center of a battlefield, and all he saw were people who had died on this battlefield.

Then he suddenly stopped.

He saw corpses piled up one after another. Some were leaders of the Sons of Light, some were Silver Wind Watchers, and some were even obviously the Chosen Ones. However, the light representing starlight did not emerge from those corpses.

On top of the high wall of corpses, Fang He saw a man - to be exact, the corpse of a lion. It was wearing heavy Templar armor, and its broad and thick claws were tightly holding a greatsword that was broken in half.

Fang He recognized the big sword at a glance, and the bloodstained, flaming mane hanging from the hilt. The big cat man had one eye closed and the other wide open, as if he was still maintaining the state he was in when he was alive - the familiar gray-brown scar that ran across one of its eyes looked a little distorted because of its hideousness.

The dragon-slaying sword destroys the enemy.

Fang He clenched his fists and tried his best to control his emotions, because he was afraid that this was how the owner of the illusion wanted him to appear - to provoke his anger.

But the other party did succeed in irritating him. No matter who the other party was, a cultist, a follower of the shadow man, or something else, he always wanted to let those people know that some jokes were not to be taken.

But the anger was actually just Fang He's own comfort in his heart, because he sensed his own subtle fear - he had to tell himself that all this was fake, just an illusion.

But Fang He suddenly realized that he seemed to have never considered that one day the end of this world would come, and if the next round of disaster could not be suppressed, would everything before his eyes become a reality?

He looked at the body silently and walked past it.

Then he saw more familiar faces.

There were those from Princess Melfina, Arsana, and those familiar faces from Corin-Ishurian and even Oshur who had spent every day with him.

But the strange thing is that no one from the Seven Seas Brigade was among them.

Not even Sylvie was among them.

"This is how the same thing?"

Fang He was full of doubts. He knew it was just an illusion, but could it be that the illusion would care about his strongest thoughts? But if that was the case, why was Mr. Reid in it?

The scene ahead was becoming more and more tragic. The piles of corpses gradually formed a mountain. He had no choice but to walk to the top of the mountain. But halfway through, someone called him, "Stop, young man."

Fang He was slightly startled and looked back, only to find that the other person was also an elf with the same features of the Holy White Clan, but he was very old, like an octogenarian.

Generally speaking, it is difficult to see the traces of time on this long-lived race, but this elf is clearly an exception.

His hair and beard were all white, and he wore a gray-brown robe that was tattered and covered with patches, like an ascetic monk.

The old man was hunched over, using a broken spear as a walking stick, sticking it on the ground, holding a book in his other hand, looking down at him condescendingly.

Fang He couldn't see clearly what was written on the book, and could only look at the other party from a distance with some vigilance. There was an extra person in this strange illusion, and no matter how he thought about it, something seemed wrong with the other party.

"who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am," the old elf shook his head, "but you can't go any further, young man."

"Why?" Fang He asked.

"I will tell you slowly, but it will become unsafe here soon," the old man replied. "Come with me first, and I will take you to a safe place."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

After saying that, the other party leaned on his cane, turned around and walked back.

Although Fang He had some concerns in his heart, he really couldn't find anyone else to ask questions in this strange illusion. After hesitating for a moment, he had to follow.

The two men walked one in front and one behind. Although the old man walked slowly, Fang He found that he could not catch up with him no matter what. There was always a distance between them that seemed to never change.

After walking for a while on the mountain full of corpses, a small house appeared in front of them. The house seemed to be built with bones, which made Fang Yu feel creepy.

But the old man seemed to have gotten used to it. In this world full of death, you couldn't find any other materials except bones.

He pushed the door open, then turned around and motioned Fang He to come in.

Fang He hesitated for a moment, convinced himself that it was all just an illusion, and then pushed the door open. But after entering the door, the scenery behind the door was very normal.

There were tables, chairs, desks, bookshelves piled with scriptures, and a bed. If it weren't for the golden and red lightning that crossed the clouds outside the window and the piles of corpses, Fang He almost thought he had really entered an elf's study.

"Who are you?" Fang He certainly didn't think that this was real. The more ordinary the room was, the stronger the sense of contrast in his heart was. "What is your relationship with this illusion?"

But the old man did not answer. Instead, he slowly put the big book in his hand aside the bookshelf, then took out two cups and brewed two cups of tea.

He placed one cup in front of himself and one cup in front of Fang He, and then slowly sat down opposite Fang He. He raised his head and looked at Fang He through the curling white smoke:
"Illusion?" The old man shook his head. "If everything is not stopped, everything that is happening now is reality."

Fang He frowned, "You mean, this is a prophecy?"

A prophecy about the future?

Considering the Gray Plague that is currently occurring at Giant Tree Hill, and the third star of disaster that is about to descend, everything we see now may indeed be a foreshadowing of the future.

He couldn't help but ask, "So what is this place?"

"This is the Autumn Glade. Don't you recognize it, young man?" the old man answered. "At least it used to be. Do you see those rising hills? Those are the roots of the Sacred Trees—but there are no Sacred Trees anymore."

Fang Plover was slightly startled.

Only then did he recognize those mountains and was extremely shocked - no wonder he felt somewhat familiar with them just now - this was the autumn woodland, under the sacred tree.

Now that it has become like this, the Elf King's Court is naturally gone, so what will happen to the Hill of Giant Trees?

I'm afraid that Ravenril, Silverwind Harbor, and Sanshak no longer exist. This is not just the case with Tree Hill, but with the entire Ataria.

He was silent for a while before asking again: "What is this prophecy about? When will it happen?"

Fang He is not afraid of prophecy.

Ms. Roman had told him that there were many kinds of destinies, and that the glimpse into the future was only the one people saw, but it didn't necessarily happen.

"I don't know what time it is," the old man picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, shook his head and replied, "Perhaps time has no end in this nightmare. Yesterday, today and even tomorrow are all the same."

"Then how am I supposed to get out of this place?"

"I don't know either," the old man smiled and shook his head, "I have never considered going out because I don't want to go through it again. I am here just to study the sun."

"sun?"

"Yes, it's there," the old man said, looking out the window - as if there really was something in the clouds there.

But those empty eyes were filled with darkness, as if reflecting an abyss, and occasionally reflecting the flashing red lightning in the clouds.

Fang He followed the other person's gaze and found that there seemed to be something different in the dark sky. It was a sun, a completely black sun that did not emit any light.

It was like a black hole without an accretion disk, completely invisible to the naked eye. But endless ether was rushing in that direction, as if it was the last vitality of this dying world, outlining the outline of the disaster star.

"what is that?"

The feeling of uneasiness in Fang He's heart surged up again. He couldn't say when he had seen a similar scene - probably never, but he always felt that the scene was not unfamiliar to him.

He asked tentatively: "Bad Star?"

"No," the old man shook his head. "That is the Sun, young man. The Great Lord of Lights, King of Kings. It was there after the Last War."

"It is the last witness of this world, and will be its destroyer, from the beginning of time to the end of time, the last of the Dark Ancestors."

Fang He heard a rattling sound, and then he realized that his teeth were chattering unconsciously. He finally realized what it was -

That is the sun god Ori, as he appears after falling into darkness.

It's about the end of a world.

He finally couldn't sit still anymore. Even if it was just an illusion, this future was too suffocating. It was even more despairing than the end of the starry sky he had seen in Friston.

"Old man," Fang He couldn't help asking, "You asked me to come to this place. What do you want to tell me?"

"You are wrong, young man," the old man sighed, "It's not that I asked you to come here, but you should belong here. I feel something familiar from you."

He looked at Fang He, "Do you think this is what the world will look like in the future?"

The old elf shook his head again. "No, this is not the future, but the past. It happened long ago, before our history."

Fang He didn't quite understand.

But the old man said, "Young man, have you heard the story of the seven thrones?"

Fang Plover nodded.

"The Sinsas snake people pursued a black star and identified it as their destiny star. The destiny star sent envoys, one black and one white."

“That was the first generation.”

That was the first generation.

Fang He suddenly understood what the first generation was.

It is them, the Chosen Ones.

...(End of chapter)