Pillar of Yita

With swift hands and sharp eyes, he clamped down on the Lizardman's throat, forcibly dragging it several meters towards himself.

The Lizardman's body fell heavily to the ground, its neck limp as if boneless. Fang Hong saw this and knew the opponent was dead beyond doubt, so he let go and turned around again. At this moment, the last Lizardman had already reached him.

The opponent thrust a blade at him, and while others at his level might have panicked, Fang Hong felt no worry in his heart. Remembering his combats with Odin, he extended his right hand and grasped it.

The Lizardman's blade sparked against Pride of the Lonely King, its exquisite Magic Guided Conductor bending and twisting like scrap iron.

Seeing this, the latter was flabbergasted and wanted to withdraw the blade and retreat, but it was too late. Fang Hong's left hand clicked as he retracted the glove and then punched its chin. Due to the 'little toys' gifted by the big shots during training in Nevade equipping him, all plugins at full power, he punched the Lizardman directly into the air.

The Lizardman landed with a 'bang' on the ground, lifeless.

Only then did Fang Hong breathe a sigh of relief, unable to help looking at his own hands. This smooth combat style was something he definitely couldn't have done before.

As he relaxed and turned his head, he paused for a moment. He saw Cui Yu and Dill, who were supposed to be unconscious on the ground, staring at him with wide eyes—they were pretending to be dead just like him.

"You guys..."

"Are you a Combat Artisan?" Cui Yu couldn't help asking.

Fang Hong thought for a moment and nodded.

Afraid that he would kill them to silence, Cui Yu quickly said, "Wait, I won't tell anyone else." While Dill didn't speak, his expression was essentially the same.

But Fang Hong didn't care. He actually didn't mind whether they told others, as he hadn't deliberately hidden it anyway.

He just walked over and reached out to pull the two up.

Cui Yu was startled, but soon realized he was overthinking. He couldn't help but look at the latter incredulously, "You actually didn't have to bother with me when they attacked."

Hearing this, Fang Hong couldn't help shaking his head, thinking he wasn't as petty, "Then who would I find to participate in the tournament?"

Cui Yu's lips moved at this, but in the end, he didn't speak.

And the interlude of combat quickly ended. After the explosion, the City Defense Force swiftly arrived. And when they intervened, the few Lizardmen on the square immediately collapsed, scattering and fleeing.

But as far as Fang Hong was concerned, they probably wouldn't escape far—

Sure enough, the sudden explosion and chaos provoked Elfendo's high-level officials to fury, especially at such a public spectacle, as if it was a slap in the Southern Region Alliance's face. The higher-ups of Elfendo all showed no light on their faces, expressionlessly ordering a citywide search to capture the fleeing Lizardmen and the masterminds.

After the smoke on the square cleared, people finally managed to settle down after the previous shock. But the City Defense Force guarded all exits, not letting anyone leave.

Hawk-Beak Bean soon got the news, limping over to inform everyone—the tournament must continue as usual.

Fang Hong wasn't surprised. In terms of face, he could understand why the Southern Region Alchemist Alliance would make such a decision. It's already embarrassing to have a slip in the tournament; if it were canceled, the loss of face would be enormous.

Especially with representatives from the Artisan Association, the Southern Region Alchemist Alliance couldn't afford to lose face here.

As the Lizardmen were captured one by one, the chaos in the square gradually quieted down—though people were uneasy inside, under the officials' reassurances, they managed to believe that the explosion was just an accident.

"If it were on Earth," Mulan was somewhat dissatisfied with Elfendo's high-level choices, "most likely they would have evacuated the crowd first."

"But after all, this is Eteliria," Hawk-Beak Bean said, holding his head, "When in Rome, right?"

Though he suffered minor injuries from the explosion, with bandages wrapped around his head, it didn't hinder his enthusiastic spirit as he cheerfully shared unknown news from who knows where:

"Speaking of which, do you know the identity of the attackers?"

In a mysterious manner, he said, "I heard they came from Idus—you should have heard about it; Toragotos has already died at the hands of Sir Roban."

At this, Cui Yu couldn't help but ask back, "Are you saying those Lizardmen were Toragotos's henchmen?"

"What else?" Hawk-Beak Bean shrugged, "I heard they came to assassinate someone."

"Whom would they be assassinating in Fanric? Odin, Ye Hua, and Sir Roban aren't here, Hawk-Beak, you're spreading rumors again." Everyone was skeptical.

Hawk-Beak Bean laughed heartily, "I'm just passing on hearsay, can't be considered as rumors."

However, while he spoke without intention, listeners took notice. Fang Hong felt a slight stir in his heart, wondering if these Lizardmen came for a young man named Rolin.

This explanation sounded reasonable, but Fang Hong felt something was off. Those Lizardmen seemed to kill indiscriminately, as if they were simply causing chaos.

Suddenly, he thought of one point—if so, this young man named Rolin would have an even firmer position in people's hearts—after all, if not for him killing Toragotos, why would these Lizardmen come all the way for revenge?