Chapter 1728 - 318: A ‘Hostage’ Situation

The situation was about what he expected—noise from below was approaching, clearly, the enemy had already guessed their location.

The Shield of Lufu members looked down, all displaying anxious expressions, except for Xiangzi, who appeared indifferent. The young man adjusted his hat, holding a wand in one hand and a sword in the other, and walked up the stairs. The remaining people exchanged glances and decisively followed him.

Upon reaching the third floor, a row of knights suddenly appeared directly ahead, and they discovered Fang Hong and others at the same moment. They shouted loudly in the local language of Istania, drew curved blades from under their robes, and charged toward them.

"They're at least Level 20," Wu Xiaopang saw these suddenly appearing Desert Knights and was so scared that he nearly stumbled and fell, screaming into Fang Hong's ear: "Look at the tattoo on their right arm, the eagle and desert wolf are Great Knight symbols, and there's a scorpion!" His entire voice became high-pitched as he retreated backward.

Fang Hong couldn't understand the rankings of these knights, but he understood Level 20. He grabbed Wu Xiaopang to prevent him from retreating to the second floor in his excitement. But alone, he couldn't lead a ragtag group to confront more than ten Level 20 knights, especially since Luo Yu and Xiangzi were the same. He threw Wu Xiaopang over to Luo Hao and calmly left a simple instruction to the others.

The meaning was straightforward: "Run."

They were at the entrance leading to the third floor, in a corridor. At the moment those knights were charging from one end of the corridor, while the other end was still empty. After Fang Hong's words, everyone immediately escaped to the other side. But except for Xiangzi, none excelled in Speed, or their Level was too low, clearly making it unlikely they could outrun a well-trained group of knights.

Fang Hong looked up at the ceiling; the guards on the third floor were already mobilized, and those on the fourth floor were no exception. If the enemy entered the 'hostage' room they intended to seize first, it would be difficult. And misfortune rarely comes alone; soon Wu Xiaopang's complaint echoed back from the front:

"Boss, it's a dead end ahead!"

Fang Hong clutched the Golden Orb in his hand and shouted: "Luo Yu, Xiangzi, help me hold them off."

Luo Yu and Xiangzi stopped abruptly at the command, turned around, and positioned the Magic Guided Wand in front of them, while the other raised the Rapier to point at those approaching knights. But the magical light hadn't yet emanated from the wand and sword when Fang Hong raised his hand and released the Golden Orb.

A golden light shot forward.

At the same time, he shouted loudly: "Get down!"

In that instant, the main city of Bain Fortress's third and fourth floors seemed like a swelling fireball emerging from dark windows. After the bright Flash came a huge explosion, the shockwaves spread like waves; countless bricks on one wall loosened, then were swept into a dust storm.

The tower above the castle also cracked open and then teetered before falling...

Inside the corridor, another scene unfolded.

The previous explosion created a large hole in the ceiling ahead, and half of the ceiling collapsed just right to form a stairway. Fang Hong shook off the dust and climbed from the debris, looking back to see others rising and shaking their heads. The knights behind seemed more severely affected, as they hadn't had time to take precautions.

Must react before them—

Fang Hong's mind was still a bit dazed, the shrill sound from the explosion nearly forming a sharp whistle echoing in his ear canal, buzzing incessantly. Yet, he quickly realized the situation and struggled to get up, pulling beside him Wu Xiaopang.

Xiangzi and Luo Hao actually recovered faster than him; one pulled up Luo Yu, the other pulled up Swordsman ZXC, then they helped up the remaining Shield of Lufu members. Everyone glanced at the haze-filled corridor, where knights lay groaning on the ground.

This was evidently the best chance for their escape.

Xiangzi immediately led the way, charging through the fallen ceiling. He pushed with his hand and climbed up through the opening. Then turned back to help Luo Hao and the others up, and with assistance from above, Luo Yu, whose athletic ability was the weakest among them, was successfully lifted up, reaching the next floor.

Fang Hong himself climbed up using the Flying Claw without much effort; he got up and looked around—this was evidently the castle's final level, the fourth floor.

The explosion location differed little from his memory. He remembered recording the route previously with the Clockwork Fairy, so the chosen explosive spot seemed not much off. Having 'physically' penetrated through the third floor, they directly reached the fourth floor, which was already quite close to the target's location—

At this moment, inside Lavali's room.

In fact, when the first explosion was heard, a group of maidservants panicked and screamed.

Someone even knocked over the Magic Crystal used for lighting amidst the chaos, plunging the entire room into darkness. Just then, the second loud crash came—the sound of the tower collapsing, further intensifying the chain reaction, with screams and cries of terror echoing in the darkness.