And the latter seemed to maintain some kind of tacit agreement, orderly retreating from the relic. Fang Hong did not know exactly what had happened, but he could guess that the two sides must have reached some agreement.
This left him somewhat conflicted.
He did not know whether he should follow these people and leave the relic or look for others. More importantly, he did not know how many of the Morning Dawn Star members were still alive, and the thing from below seemed to still be pursuing him.
It was just then that he caught a glimpse of a flash of gold from the corner of his eye, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared from the nearby relic.
Again! Fang Hong felt annoyed in his heart. Ever since he left that temple, that thing had been relentlessly on his tail. He did not know whether it was a Silver Forest Spear or a Jiefulite Red Cloak Team's Alchemist behind that Clockwork Fairy. Either was possible.
Whatever the case, they were up to no good, and Fang Hong could clearly perceive how difficult they were to deal with.
He almost instinctively hid in a blind spot of his vision, and the Clockwork Fairy in the sky immediately spun around in confusion, looking somewhat at a loss. But unlike before, after a moment it seemed to sense something and shot straight toward Fang Hong's direction.
Fang Hong's eyebrows raised in surprise.
He was all too familiar with the Clockwork Fairy; no ordinary person would take such an inefficient route. A chilling premonition suddenly rose within him—there must be another Observer nearby, informing the enemy about his location.
Almost instinctively, he rolled forward. A lead bullet struck where he had just been standing, leaving a mark on the stone wall with a puff of smoke and dust.
Without another thought, nor looking in the direction of the attacker, Fang Hong immediately took off in another direction and disappeared within the firing window.
The distant shooter watched this scene, momentarily dumbfounded.
"Damn, such keen senses," he sighed. Packing up his still-smoking rifle, he grabbed a Crystal Pendant and input, "Kaka, give me the position, this guy is no simpleton."
A line of text immediately popped up. Kaka sent an emoticon showing distress: "He's too strong, I can hardly keep up with him. It's like he knows where I'm going. I need someone else's help."
"Don't panic," the Gunslinger replied: "Others are on their way. Move to the 7 o'clock direction to intercept him."
Kaka: "Okay, I'll try."
Desperately running forward, Fang Hong felt the icy air choke his lungs, carrying a salty, metallic tang of blood. Stones flew past him, and he hadn't gotten far when the ground suddenly heaved upward, flipping him through the air.
Fang Hong landed hard, with blood soaking through his robes and forming splotchy ink stains. He heard several mocking laughs up ahead, and shaking his somewhat groggy head, he saw two people standing on the slanted ground behind the faint mist.
A warrior, holding a Scottish Greatsword, and a Wanderer, toying with a dagger in his hand, its blade emitting a faint blue glow.
The two people stood not far from him, looking at him with a somewhat mocking air.
"Ha, no need for such formalities," the Wanderer laughed: "We didn't plan to let you go anyway, little mouse from Morning Dawn Star."
Fang Hong clenched his fists, his hair sticky with either blood or sweat on his forehead. Now alone, he could only rely on himself. As he watched the two approach, he suddenly raised his right hand, the rings of the Silver Rail on his glove unfolding.
He shouted, "Attack!"
"Careful, he's a Combat Artisan!"
Kaka's voice came from above.
Clockwork Fairy II model—Fang Hong looked enviously in the direction behind the mist, admiring the flying thirty-thousand Lycel. The warrior's expression changed, and he immediately pulled his companion back—Combat Artisan, that wasn't to be taken lightly, known as the lesser Dragon Knight.
But the anticipated attack did not come.
The warrior was bemused for a moment, then heard the Wanderer beside him urgently yelling, "Are you stupid? He's gone!"
Looking up, he realized that Fang Hong had long since risen and was running away in the opposite direction. The latter's movements were so decisive that in a blink, he had created a distance of over a hundred feet. "Damn!" the warrior exclaimed, realizing he'd been duped, and ran after him in a fury.
Fang Hong soon found that his plan was futile; compared to combat professions, life professions were far too inferior. He glanced back for only a moment and nearly had his soul scared out of him. The warrior was almost at attacking range, his face's bulging veins clearly visible.
When it came to agility, the warrior was nowhere near the Wanderer, but in a straight burst, the latter was outclassed. Thus, the two maintained a distance, one ahead of the other.
With no other choice, Fang Hong could only try his luck once more, raising his hand, looking back and shouting, "Attack!"
The warrior, furious and smoke practically coming out of his ears, roared with a swing of his sword: "Do you think I'm an idiot?" But before his words could finish, the ground beneath Fang Hong's horrified gaze suddenly bulged violently.
In a deafening roar, stones scattered as a large built dragon soared into the air, its steam whistle shrieking sharply, countless metallic blades gleaming under the moonlight. The warrior did not even have time to scream before becoming a mist of blood.
The Wanderer behind stood dumbfounded, stuttering as if he'd seen a ghost:
"Dragon... Dragon Knight?"
...