Chapter 8: The Four Warriors of Yesteryear (4)
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After listening to Monroe’s speculations, Trissa fell silent.
If Aiven’s discovery of the noble emblem from the enemy boss wasn’t enough to prove that the mysterious fifth companion who conquered the Sky Tower with the Four Warriors was the White Wolf and the Green Leaf, then the next encounter Aiven had on the 70th floor with three powerful demon undead was a real kicker—it showcased that the Four Warriors were not just a quartet.
Their heads were mostly intact and could sport some facial features, and they all had the rare black hair found in the demon race. They seemed pretty miffed, thanks to Aiven’s efforts in taking down the boss at level 60.
As they charged toward him to engage in a fierce melee, Aiven could distinctly hear their roars about avenging their lord.
“Despicable Valentin!
Accomplices Cliff, Hardy, and Casey!”
Aiven was left flabbergasted when those names popped out of the undead’s mouths—names that were quite familiar to the people of the Empire.
Continuing in a narrator’s tone, Monroe unfolded the reminiscences Aiven had left behind him.
“Before our ancestor could even ponder too much on it, those three undead lunged at him.
He was doing his best to handle three at once, but soon enough, he found himself outmatched.
After all, Aiven was the Empire’s number one champion back in the day, unleashing incredible power as he fought and retreated.
But at that moment, the very undead boss he had previously defeated revived right behind him.
Facing the boss’s swift attack, Aiven barely dodged d*ath, narrowly escaping a decapitation from a weapon resembling a playing card.
He literally rolled and scrambled outta there.
He had given up on exploring the Sky Tower further; now, the greatest luxury he had was merely escaping with his life and returning to solid ground.”
Trissa was on edge, her mind racing. She knew Aiven had escaped and returned to the Empire, but her fists tightened as her nails dug into her skin, blocking out the pain.
“Wh…what happened next? How did Aiven escape?”
“Desperate, Aiven resorted to a move that would deal a thousand to the enemy but cost him eight hundred—that was a legacy left behind by the armored warrior Cliff.
The boss recognized Aiven’s martial arts right away, literally stomped him down, but curiously didn’t finish him off.”
“You’re saying our ancestor was captured?”
“Yep. Aiven didn’t expect these bosses to spare him, with the only price being to divulge everything he knew about the current state of the demons.
So, he began to share, day after day, whatever legends he recalled related to the Four Warriors.
Every time he mentioned the name of the Four Warriors, he could keenly feel the fury seeping out from those black-brown eye sockets.
On the fifth day of captivity, Aiven finally mustered the courage to ask what exactly the Four Warriors had encountered underneath the Sky Tower and why they bore such hatred for the group led by the mage Valentin.
The four bosses erupted in a collective rage, as if the mere mention of that name had triggered a primal anger and shivers among them.
After all, these were merely undead driven by subconscious instincts, lacking any normal thought processes.
Even though Aiven recounted the same details over and over, they demanded he repeat himself, and if he didn’t comply, they were quick to unleash curses and threats.
While they couldn’t offer a coherent explanation for Valentin’s actions back in the day, Aiven could sense their attitude toward him was getting worse.
He couldn’t stick around anymore.
Otherwise, he’d soon be six feet under, thanks to these undead.
After a few more days, he finally found a chance to escape.
He bolted like a madman, but soon the undead caught on to his scheming.
Especially the undead leader, who not only had a weapon like a poker card but could also constantly shift dimensions.
Fortunately, Aiven was skilled enough in escaping, being a top-tier athlete of the Empire—he managed to stay just ahead of the inferno-infused bosses.
Once he crossed into the area of the previous level, the bosses could only rage impotently behind him—no crossing that line!
Unfortunately, however, Aiven had gotten splattered with some hellfire from those bosses.
Even after extinguishing it, the hellfire left behind a sickening red mark that gradually expanded, gnawing at his life like a malignant tumor.
That was Aiven’s ticket to the afterlife.
Before he kicked the bucket, he recalled the roars of the bosses as if a never-ending nightmare was finally reaching its finale.
In his last moments, Aiven told his wife that if anyone attempted to enter the Sky Tower, they had to be stopped at all costs.
He had a feeling that these bosses would eventually break free from the Sky Tower, bringing unimaginable disaster to the Empire.
The noble class, being the bearers of the bloodline of the Four Warriors, would undoubtedly be the first to pay the price. Even the Four Warriors at their peak would probably melt before their wrath.”
Monroe paused, “That’s the account left behind by our ancestor with his life.”
Trissa was silent; without a doubt, her father’s speculation about the Four Warriors concealing the truth was based on Aiven’s experience at the time—especially that emblem of the White Wolf and Green Leaf, which confirmed there were indeed others accompanying the Four Warriors into the Sky Tower.
But why, after all that, did only the Four Warriors receive the Goddess of Destiny’s blessing while the nobles bearing the White Wolf and Green Leaf insignia ended up as undead, manipulated by the Sky Tower?
Some major event must have occurred that turned those with fragments of their past memories into such bitter enemies of the Four Warriors, particularly the mage Valentin.
This whole revelation scrambled her thoughts like a bomb had just gone off.
And Monroe’s speculations didn’t stop there.
“What surprises me is that upon your recent entry into the Sky Tower, you didn’t encounter those few undead from the White Wolf and Green Leaf.”
Trissa struggled to respond, “Maybe it’s because they’ve shuffled off this mortal coil and can no longer handle the guarding duties of the Sky Tower?”
Monroe shook his head. “It’s been four thousand years since the Four Warriors entered the Sky Tower. Up until four hundred years ago, those demons were still kicking—so how could they just vanish into thin air?”
Trissa gasped, “You mean, they left the Sky Tower before this?”
“Exactly, and that’s what keeps me up at night.”
“So, Lord Lin, as the embodiment of the Goddess of Destiny who oversees the Sky Tower, followed us to the Empire to track their whereabouts?”
Trissa reached that conclusion.
“That’s just one possibility.
To not only lead you into another world from beneath the Sky Tower but to also safely return you—it’s already god-like power.
If Lord Lin were truly a deity, she wouldn’t need to exhaust herself in front of you all.
The only explanation is that this was also a test from the Goddess of Destiny to her.
Luckily, she passed the test and became the Messenger of the Goddess of Destiny.
Gods don’t just drop down to the mortal realm, but as their messenger, she can wield divine power.
The entanglement between the Four Warriors and the White Wolf and Green Leaf nobles has persisted for thousands of years; I suspect that’s the reason the Messenger has come for.”
