The Rock Shark, sensing the thorn at its back, futilely tried to dodge. Its limited intelligence discerned that this was something lethal. But it was futile. The second explosion occurred, and the sky surged with rolling winds. After a violent tremor, the massive body of the Rock Shark began to plummet downwards.

Fang Hong felt as though he had been punched in the face. His head was dizzy, and it took him a while to comprehend what had happened. He couldn't see his own condition; in fact, blood was spurting from his nose and eyes, his appearance was terrifyingly gruesome.

He realized he had still underestimated the impact of the explosion on the Core Crystal. The Fire Giants were a special type of Clockwork Fairy, but he was not. Even if he severed the connection with the crystal at the first moment, he couldn't avoid the backlash affecting his spirit world.

That sensation was indescribable.

For a moment, Fang Hong thought he saw his brain popping like popcorn, with white and red matter scattered all over the place. Fortunately, it was just an illusion, but the reality was not far off…

He lay prone on the ground, dizzy, wanting to close his eyes and just fall straight down. But he didn't dare, just gazing at his own palm as his nosebleed dripped onto it, splashing blood-red.

After an unknown period of time, in a haze, Fang Hong felt someone holding him—it might have been Tianlan, his mind still wandering on such irrelevant thoughts.

There seemed to be someone screaming in panic by his ear, and then he saw the blurry faces of Tianlan and Gita. Gita kept trying to wipe the blood off his face with her sleeve, but she couldn't clean it all off.

Her face was smeared with his blood, and it looked as though she was about to cry.

Fang Hong didn't know whose arms he was lying in. He just lay back, looking up at the blood-red sky. The giant beast behind him finally couldn't fly anymore; it slowly sank, its back ripped open with a long gash from which blood rained unceasingly as it tilted and crashed beyond the horizon.

A faint cheer was coming from the forest; as for the rest, it seemed he no longer needed to worry. He knew that the body of the Rock Shark had only a few thousand Life Points, its main defense coming from the hard outer layer.

And his own strikes had likely inflicted a mortal wound.

A long time passed before the buzzing in his head gradually quieted down. But the sounds around him seemed somewhat distant too. He felt a warmth and a familiar voice calling his name:

"Ade, Ade—"

It sounded a bit like his aunt's voice, but much gentler—and neither his aunt nor uncle would call him Ade. They would only beat him up for his recent outrageous antics, a mixed doubles match, and that annoying cousin of his would definitely be watching with a wrinkled nose, snickering secretly.

He felt as if he had been through a long dream, having seen some strange people, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember who they were.

Men and women, a whole array of them.

And when Fang Hong opened his eyes again, he saw the forest sky ablaze like fire, crimson like fine wine. The light of the setting sun filtered through the bronze tree crowns; myriads of rays flittered, birds flew back to the woods, and the forest was quiet like a silent poem.

The gentle light of all things in nature finally fell upon the face of exquisite beauty.

A face tinged with slight worry, compelling sympathy, with two golden eyebrows like willow leaves drawn together as if to make the silky sea-colored eyes beneath them speak.

From the depths of those eyes, a concerned expression shone through as if the unspoken greeting was clearly understood: "Are you alright?"

"Miss Hilveld?" Fang Hong was stunned for a moment before coming to his senses, "How did you get here?"

He noticed a coolness on his forehead, realizing it was Hilveld's hand there. The Elf Girl gave him a slight smile and withdrew her hand, saying, "It seems it's nothing serious, just a bit of a spiritual shock."

Fang Hong felt the lingering warmth from her palm on his forehead and couldn't help but blush.

Hilveld tilted her head, watching his reaction with a teasing look. She turned away, and Atira and Reed came forward; he heard the Elf Girl thanking Hilveld: "Thank you so much, Hilveld."

"It's Mr. Reed's healing abilities that were of great help; I just have a little bit of ability in spiritual power," Hilveld replied with grace and decorum, every move the picture of a well-bred young lady.

Fang Hong thought to himself, spiritual power? Is that an Astrologer? He had heard that the Astrologers of Eteliria excel in hypnotism and have profound knowledge in spiritual matters. And just like Ameya's Druid, this profession had some special requirements, so not many Invokers take this path.

As he pondered this, he couldn't shake the image of the girl's faint smile in the afterglow of the sunset from his mind—it was tranquil and elegant, setting his heart in turmoil.

Only then did Fang Hong realize he was still lying where he was, on the platform in front of his Carry House—the Lion People came over and squatted down, patting his shoulder with a paw: "I told them not to move you, human boy. As you know, injuries here are very troublesome, and we don't want to have to send you to the Holy Sanctuary for revival."

Reed said this while pointing to his head with his claw.

"My name is Ade, Mr. Reed," Fang Hong corrected.

"Alright, Ade," the Lion Man leaned on the Burden Beast beside him, standing next to Fang Hong. He fumbled in his pocket with one hand and pulled out a curved pipe, putting it in his mouth. Looking up with pale silver eyes at the distance, he said, "The sunset is beautiful today. You know, the evening glow is an old legend; Goddess Marlan bestowed it as a ribbon to reward truly brave warriors—since it's the color of blood, it complements you well."

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