The Story of Lanqi and His Nemesis

The room fell quiet for a moment. "Why is it just the two of you here at Boss Cat Restaurant today?" Toryardo picked up his water glass and glanced over his shoulder. Aside from the Pranay siblings behind the counter, only these two were sitting on the ground floor watching the broadcast early on a Saturday morning. "Tata was called over to the opera house, and Hubao is helping out at the temple. She's studying to become an ordained cleric," Lanqi replied. "Almis intends for Hubao to take charge of this temple of the Church of the Goddess of Fate in Ikerite. That way, as the Chosen Saintess, Almis will also be able to return to the Northern Continent whenever she likes," Sigrid chimed in between bites of her meal. "Almis still cares quite a bit about the state of affairs over on the Northern Continent. The west has been a chaotic mess for years, the central Theocracy is an airtight black box, and only the east is in somewhat better shape... Yet the root cause behind the dispute between the Protos Empire and the Kingdom of Asethelan still leaves lingering hazards. Farther north lie the Calamitous Wasteland, the Void Sea, and uncharted territories—places even more impossible to fathom." Whenever Sigrid spent time with Lanqi, she was always a chatterbox like this, able to strike up a conversation about anything and everything. "Ah, the Northern Continent. It's been a long time since I was last there too. I even miss my nemesis, Duke Morotian, a little bit." Toryardo gazed toward the north. That was the man who wielded the Original Slate - Undead, projecting an aura of oppression rivaling that of Askson—Grand Duke Morotian of the Protos Empire. "Does he even know you're his nemesis, meow? You vanished without a trace in the end, meow." Boss Cat, who had strolled past at some point, leapt onto the windowsill and fixed Toryardo with a question. "How could he not?" Toryardo retorted to the little black cat. "Meow..." Boss Cat merely looked toward Lanqi, saying nothing. "Lanqi, don't tell me you don't think Rasheal is your nemesis?" Toryardo paused, peering at Lanqi inquiringly. "..." Lanqi offered a polite yet awkward smile, at a loss for how to answer. "I'm sure you already have your answer," Sigrid said, looking past Lanqi toward Toryardo beside him. A figure like the Third Progenitor, Duke Rasheal, could hardly be called a nemesis of the Holy Polant Pope. Their dynamic was more akin to that of a captive and a prime minister. Or rather, Rasheal was Lanqi's spinning top. "Still, Toryardo, I recall that back at the parliament building, Duke Morotian shouted your name in the end. The intel you left behind dealt him quite the checkmate," Lanqi recalled. "See, what did I tell you! Even though I ended up drifting down to the Southern Continent, I still played a pivotal hand!" Toryardo grew smug once more. "You have to realize Duke Morotian was considered an apex powerhouse even across the southern reaches of the Northern Continent. Back then, even Loren wasn't guaranteed a clear-cut victory against him. In the entire empire, only Isis could hold him down." He boasted shamelessly of his achievements. "The little big sister is a hero from the Holy War era, after all—a comrade-in-arms of the Protos Empire's founding emperor. It's only natural she'd outmatch Duke Morotian. In this era, if you want to find someone stronger than her, you'd have to look further west or north." Ever since Sigrid had grown well-acquainted with Great Sage Isis, she often dropped by Isis's place. The last time she went asking Isis for medical help, she had even been booted right out the door. "So is the west more dangerous, or the north?" Lanqi knew far less about the Northern Continent's geography than either of them. His time on the Northern Continent had lasted a mere few months. Moreover, the intelligence about the Northern Continent circulating across the Southern Continent was almost always distorted, and vice versa. For instance, reports regarding the Ice and Snow Witch had never once been accurate. "The further west you go, the more dangerous it gets, and the same goes for heading north. But the west suffers from chronic upheaval, while the north is an expanse of the unknown. It's hard to judge which is truly more terrifying," Toryardo said, spreading his hands. Times had changed. The Northern Continent today bore little resemblance to the Northern Continent from over a century ago when the old Demon Realm still stood. "Either way, the west is somewhere even I'm unwilling to tread. As for the north, I visited once or twice, but fortunately didn't run into any real danger," Sigrid said, sharing her life experiences around a mouthful of toast. "I heard there are undersea ruins beneath the Sea of Abundance in the north, and an isle of secret treasures reachable only by navigating the Blind Frost Sea covered in drift ice. And is it true that a dazzling Golden Country lies hidden north of the Theocracy? What about the altar of the Child of God statue left behind by the Forgotten Folk on the South Sea Islands? And are there undiscovered secrets lurking behind the Elven Forest? Or taking an even broader view, didn't several ancient, lost eras leave behind stone monuments bearing differing interpretations of the thirty-three gods from the divine era? Have you been to any of those places?" Lanqi's curiosity was piqued, and he pressed Sigrid with eager anticipation. Loren had previously warned him never to travel past the Protos Empire further north. The single best landfall point had been the Protos Empire on the southeastern coast of the Northern Continent. Taking multiple factors into account, he and Hyperion had chosen the Protos Empire as the destination for their slate-seeking assignment. "Uh, I've heard of some of those. I'm no dedicated explorer, and aren't some of those rumors the Southern Continent's versions? People over on the Northern Continent might not even be able to substantiate them." Seeing Lanqi's eyes brimming with the urge to explore, Sigrid couldn't bring herself to crush his spirits. Rumors tended to warp as they passed from mouth to mouth. While there might be grains of truth among them, human fabrication was certainly mixed in as well. "If it hadn't been for the tight schedule and the Protos Empire's travel blockade back then, I might have managed to push a little further north," Lanqi murmured with a touch of regret. "Past the Protos Empire to the north lie the Purlin Empire and the Heidrun Kingdom. If you'd truly crossed the border..." Sigrid mused, "you might have found the wielders of the Original Slate - Lightning and the Original Slate - Barrier in the Purlin Empire." She raised an index finger in sudden realization. "Are those two very dangerous?" Lanqi was hearing of those two slates for the first time. Primarily, he had never needed them, so he hadn't bothered to inquire. As a local, Sigrid was far more adept at assessing the powerhouses of the Northern Continent than he was. "They are the Chief Archivist and the Grandmaster of the Order... While both are quite upright individuals, the Purlin Empire is plagued by far too much internal turmoil. They wouldn't have had any time to entertain seekers, and you could easily have been dragged into the empire's major crises." Sigrid poked her pancake with her fork, seemingly searching for the right words. "Compared to the Purlin Empire, where danger sits right on the surface, the Protos Empire is at least very secure on the outside. As things turned out, you're just far too good at stirring up trouble—you very nearly ended up as their President." She looked at Lanqi, evaluating him with utter speechlessness. Had Loren known Lanqi was capable of such feats when sending him off on his assignment, Loren might have thought letting him go to the Purlin Empire wouldn't have made much difference after all. No, wait. It would have made a massive difference. Loren simply hadn't realized back then that fate had already begun spiraling out of control. "To put it simply, with the Protos Empire's troubles, you could have stayed out of it if you didn't want to get involved; you stepped in of your own accord," Toryardo noted, knowing a bit about the matter himself. "But if you ever got entangled in the Purlin Empire, you could kiss any chance of extracting yourself goodbye," he warned Lanqi. As the three conversed, the footage on the screen on the first floor reached its final act. The scene returned to that desolate, crumbling sanctuary. Dusk's faint light filtered through stained-glass windows, drawing long beams through the dust-filled air. On stage, the demon governor stood clad in lavish robes, his emerald eyes brimming with grief and reluctant attachment. He reached out a trembling hand, yearning to embrace his beloved before him. "Before twilight descends and the rosy glow pulls us apart." "Before tonight comes to an end." "Before memories begin to fade." The demon governor's words to the half-demon lady sounded like an earnest prayer directed at the gods within the shrine. *Tick-tock, tick-tock.* The gears of the church clock tower turned. The bells of twilight were on the verge of tolling. And the figure of the half-demon lady—portrayed by Hyperion, who was in turn portrayed by Talia—appeared faintly ethereal in the white dress beneath the light. "Just what kind of mental state were you in that day?" Toryardo couldn't help but chuckle simply recalling what had transpired at the opera house by the end. "Don't bring it up." Lanqi pressed a hand to his brow, feeling a throbbing ache in his temples. "Making it off the stage alive was already a victory." "Mr. Successful Man Lanqi, I actually thought your performance was splendid, especially that very last scene." Sigrid grinned mischievously, deliberately reaching a hand out toward Lanqi's mouth as if holding a microphone for an interview. "That self-sacrificing gaze of yours made it look like you were truly ready to become a martyr for love!" Sigrid laughed outright, the memory of Lanqi's performance that day still vividly etched in her mind. On the magitech screen, the story of *Holy War Romance* reached its curtain call. The stage lights flared back on, and amidst thunderous applause, the cast walked to the front of the stage to take their bows. Hearing that familiar crescendo of applause made Lanqi's scalp tingle with dread. He knew the very next clip would show him dashing offstage after the show to make his "fervent confession" to Minel. "Let's change the channel," Lanqi suggested, trying to appear nonchalant. "Haha, bashful already?" Despite teasing him, Sigrid picked up the remote and decisively switched the channel. The screen jumped several times. Sigrid failed to find anything interesting. She paused only when the logo of the Hutton Times Broadcasting Company appeared on screen. This company was an independent media outlet based in the royal capital of Ikerite, renowned for its round-the-clock news and interactive current-affairs programming, making it a household name throughout the Hutton Kingdom. Not long ago, Antanas had officially signed with them to host her own show. "Let's just leave it on this," Sigrid said. "Antanas's show starts a little later. Hearing her voice makes the shop feel even more like old times." However, the show hadn't started yet. Currently playing on the screen was the music video for a song. The tolling of bells drifted from the distant recesses of memory, laden with a lingering trace of sorrow, before a soothing, steady piano and drumbeat entered, letting the melody flow freely. Though uncomplicated, the enchanting melody instantly captivated listeners, unconsciously drawing them into a long corridor of memory to stroll alone and reminisce over past days that could never return. Sigrid and the others clearly recognized the performer: Ranf, an artist contracted under the School of Magic Engineering of Ikerite. As the melody advanced, the emotion swelled layer by layer. The singing voice surged like ocean waves, utterly piercing, laying bare all the longing and unspeakable anguish. Yet as the lyrics filtered through line by line with pristine clarity, the expressions of the group in the restaurant turned distinctly bizarre. Paired with that poignant, tender melody was... surprisingly: "On that day in the city-state, explosions took flight ♫." "On that day the wolf girl snatched talents in broad daylight ♫." "On that day the slate promised to illuminate the dark, but brought calamity's blight ♫." "On that day the duel had just begun, then three demons leapt in for a fight ♫." "Your teammates all vanished, watching you take hits with delight ♫." "You woke up to find your head was nowhere in sight ♫."