Chapter 2: The Oracle (5)
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Frost North Snow’s memories were scattered like confetti in Lin Nan’s brain.
After all, Lin Nan was no longer the original Frost North Snow, but a newcomer reassembled from her remains in the East Sea Underground Palace after she kicked the bucket.
Strictly speaking, they were no longer the same person; it was just that Lin Nan came with a lovely little memory package of the former Frost North Snow.
However, thanks to some covert maneuvers by the System, Lin Nan had taken over this body, becoming its new master. So, Frost North Snow’s memories had turned into a patchwork quilt of confusion. Unless triggered by specific circumstances, Lin Nan usually drew a complete blank regarding past events.
Like this time, for instance—when snow swirled around, the warmth felt like spring, and everyone was kneeling in front of her, calling it a divine miracle—her thoughts shot back thousands of years to when she, as a bona fide Messenger, had arrived at the Sky Tower.
Back then, the Four Warriors were the cream of the demon race and had set out to get stronger, abandoning their homeland in search of glory.
One fine day, they stumbled upon a tall tower standing alone in the wilderness.
In those days, the monster race hadn’t even set foot out of the Chaos Forest, and Black Stone City? Pfft, that was merely a daydream.
The Sky Tower stood solitarily in the desert like a beacon, and as long as there was no sandstorm, travelers couldn’t help but notice its lofty presence.
People would occasionally decide to venture into the Sky Tower, hoping to uncover its secrets.
The Four Warriors were among them.
But Lin Nan vaguely remembered that when they first entered the Sky Tower, they weren’t just four; at least twenty folks were trailing behind them.
And then, poof! Only four were left—perhaps a casualty of the challenges they faced.
After all, the undead creatures guarding the tower were nothing more than the old corpses left behind by previous challengers.
Once resurrected, they morphed into the tower’s guardians; their grievances were evident, and they didn’t go easy on would-be climbers.
Among these familiar faces, she even spotted someone she recognized.
Xi?
He was from the same era as the Four Warriors!
No wonder, after she joined the Empire, she had yet to see any demon race members named with a single character. All other challengers besides the Four Warriors must have bitten the dust inside the Sky Tower, leading to Xi’s lineage being wiped out.
What puzzled Lin Nan was that Xi’s abilities were clearly no joke. How did he end up losing the chance to gain the blessing of the Goddess of Destiny to the Four Warriors, only to d*e with resentment, eventually reborn as a character card?
And here she was, the so-called “Goddess of Destiny” who granted the Four Warriors their powers—what in the cosmos was the connection between them?
Alas, just as pieces of her memory decided to play hide-and-seek, Lin Nan couldn’t stitch together the events of yesteryear. Maybe tonight, when she met Xi, all would be revealed.
“Stand up, everyone.”
Lin Nan casually raised a finger. Before anyone had a chance to react, it felt like a mighty invisible hand lifted them, and they all stood as if puppets on strings.
“Dean, hasn’t the graduation evaluation ended yet?”
Janet bowed and said, “Lord Messenger, please call me Janet. Yes, the evaluation has not concluded. Because of your presence, I was thinking of postponing the evaluation and waiting for your command to proceed.”
Lin Nan nodded, “Great! My command is to continue with the evaluation.
However, finishing the evaluation doesn’t mean the graduates can leave. Also, I’d like your next order: every Harpist still around the Empire, regardless of what they are doing or their status, must return to the Harpist Academy immediately.
A disaster is on the horizon.
The Muse wouldn’t want to see her followers perish in calamity—every extra person means extra strength.
No matter how chaotic the outside world gets, the Harpist Academy mustn’t lose its direction.”
“I understand, Lord Messenger. But… this practically involves all the nobles in the Imperial Capital, and many Harpists already have families. Making them abandon their husbands and children to return to the academy might…”
As a faithful follower of the God of Harmony, an order from the Lord Messenger should have been unconditionally executed.
Yet Janet, acutely aware of the Empire’s current state, couldn’t guarantee that the Lord Messenger’s orders would be carried out effectively. She feared that by the time Harpists were gathered, they’d barely make up one-tenth of the total.
If she failed to forewarn about these complications, she couldn’t even imagine the fallout when the Lord Messenger got angry.
Lin Nan waved it off casually, “No worries, let as many as possible come back.”
“Yes, Lord Messenger.”
Janet promptly ordered Lisa to get moving with this task.
In the office area, there were many women; while they weren’t Harpists, they worked for the academy. What’s more, Harpists in the Imperial Capital made up ninety-nine percent of the current total, so notifying every household should be a piece of cake.
Lin Nan’s goal was actually quite straightforward. While the followers of the Goddess of Destiny might outnumber Harpists, they were mostly ordinary folk with little fighting strength.
Her plan to showcase her harp skills at the Harpist Academy was simply to quickly rally a crew of her own in the Imperial Capital for those oh-so-critical moments.
After all, the Harpist Academy’s status was unassailable; even the Emperor couldn’t meddle with the dean’s appointments.
So, Lin Nan figured securing support from the Harpist Academy was the best way to establish herself in the Imperial Capital.
The snow continued to fall thick and fast.
Yet within the Harpist Academy grounds, thanks to Lin Nan, there wasn’t a single flake of snow in sight.
While the onlookers marveled, they proceeded with the graduation evaluations as per the Lord Messenger’s orders.
Edith and Trissa exchanged glances, still at it as the academy’s recognized former and current prodigies.
And it seemed that from the previous duel, Edith had an epiphany—something inside her heart was suddenly elevated to a whole new level.
She realized that was the enlightenment provided by the Lord Messenger.
Especially that unforgettable duet, whether it was the Lord Messenger’s harp skills or the collective power achieved by “Nightingale”—both made her feel the vastness of divine energy.
“Trissa, don’t think just because you’ve been with the Lord Messenger longer that you’re better than me. Ha! Just because you’ve been in a battle doesn’t mean you own those moves; I can already do them all.”
With Edith’s cunning intelligence, mastering an even simpler way to manipulate the harp wasn’t exactly rocket science.
Seeing the short string between Edith’s left thumb and index finger, Trissa couldn’t help but feel a spark of competitive spirit rise within her.
“Ha! You can’t just slap it together; let’s have a proper showdown then!”
Without further ado, the two marched shoulder to shoulder into another testing venue, leaving Konglif alone, bewildered in the wind.
This was the first time Edith had ignored him, and Trissa displayed total disinterest. Suddenly, Konglif felt like the two prodigies he had some connection with were drifting further and further away.
