"Sister Xuan, can you come to Lanthanor at 11:30 AM tomorrow? It's really crucial that you do. I have something very important to tell you."
As Xuan got this sudden message on her communication trinket from the King of Lanthanor, she froze for a few seconds, as her mind had gone blank.
The King of Lanthanor was definitely the most interesting man she had ever met. Even though she hadn't met that many men in the first place during her life, she could tell that there was something…special about him.
She had first gotten interested in him when she had gone on that journey in Lanthanor to find out his past.
His struggles, his achievements, his dreams-all of these resonated with her on some level or the other.
She had also been an outcast, and she had had to grow up alone while scorned by her entire village as they were all afraid that she was the incarnation of something evil.
She had never been able to help it. Whenever her ability acted up, her vision would first go dark, before she would realize that she was floating in the air, as if she were some ethereal spirit.
She would always look at a scene from above, and whatever she saw would always be hazy.
However, she would be able to make out a few details.
Also, whenever she focused, one or two very specific details would always appear much sharper than the rest, differentiating themselves and standing out to her, as if to inform her that they shouldn't be ignored.
Only, many times, even these sharp images would flicker and shift between multiple things.
One dead body could become 5, or 5 could become one.
Lastly, according to what she had been told later by the Matron, every seer would enter a half-asleep state during their vision during which they would continuously recite what they were seeing.
She had been told that seers came to aid the land in dire times, and that this was a mechanism set in place to make sure that the visions would never be forgotten or mistaken for something they were definitely not.
She had always had many questions. What caused seers to be born? Who put these mechanisms in place? Why did they do so?
Sadly, no one knew the answers.
Hidden under her skin, she would always carry a special trinket that was able to identify when she was having a vision by checking for signs.
When it did, it would immediately float out and broadcast her image and voice to the Matron, who was always in possession of the receiver.
This was something devised by the sects of old, where the belief was that every vision was crucial to save as many lives on Angaria as possible.
Many said that she was blessed to have this ability, as it meant that she was talented enough to smoothly become a Champion. Unlike those with Red and Gold comprehension level who were said to be able to become Champions, but were in fact, only eligible to increase their comprehension through the right means to become capable of reaching the Champion level, her path was smooth, like a river that flowed through the land with no obstructions. She would just have to absorb Energy, and she would automatically grow stronger and stronger.
It was only after a few seconds that Xuan finally regained her senses and quickly replied, "Yes! I mean, y-yes, I'll be there, King Daneel."
She had been itching to leave the sect and stretch her limbs anyway, and she had already gotten permission from the Matron for a brief excursion.
With her heart fluttering, she wondered what the reason could be for the King calling her.
The Matron was the only mother she had ever had, and she had taught her that those of the Goddess's Sanctum would always ask for what they want boldly, instead of feeling shy or awkward.
Hence, she had gone ahead and told the King of Lanthanor how she felt about him.
Could it be that that method could actually have worked?
….
The next day, at sharp 11:30 AM.
Standing outside the main gate that led to the Palace of Lanthanor, Xuan couldn't control her excitement.
For this meeting, she had even dumped Molan by trapping the woman with a pile of Ker Gems and a promise that she was just training in the next room over.
She had even worn the best dress she had: it was an enchanted gold gown, with embroidered birds that looked like they would take off into the air at any moment.
"Sister Xuan! Thank you so much for making it!"
Seeing the King of Lanthanor walking out of the large main entrance with a smile on his face, Xuan was just about to smile and go forward before she felt that something was wrong.
For a split second, she felt as if something was trying to invade her mind.
In fact, if she hadn't been distracted by the appearance of the King, she was pretty sure that she could have defended against it.
However, the feeling left as soon as she felt it, leading her to think that she might have imagined it because she was quite stressed right now.
Yet, when her vision suddenly began to go dark the next second, she finally realized that she was having a vision.
No! Not now!
She complained inwardly, but as always, her sight went dark before the eye-shaped trinket at her waist lit up and floated into the air before pointing at her.
….
Meanwhile, in a room in the hidden levels of the Central Tower.
The Matron of the Goddess's Sanctum, a person whose post was equivalent to that of a sect leader in other sects, was currently standing respectfully with her hands joined together in front of her navel.
Her head was slightly lowered, and if anyone from the Goddess's Sanctum, or for that matter, from any of the Big 4 saw her at this moment, they would shudder with shock on seeing an Exalted Champion, a woman who stood above all, bowing in front of someone.
That someone was sitting in a royal manner on a chair that looked more like a throne.
She had a glittering tiara made from what looked like Ker Gems on her head, and although she didn't look old, one would be able to tell that this was someone who had experienced the passage of many decades of time.
Even though her skin was smooth like that of a 20-year old's, it was her eyes which gave away her wisdom and age.
She had a beautiful countenance, but the frown on her face was enough to signal that she was in a very bad mood.
"Damn those old fogies! Why can't they just put their differences aside and increase the danger level?! Isn't age supposed to give one more wisdom? Why is it always like the opposite has happened to them?"
"Mother-"
"Quiet. I really thought the vision from Xuan would be enough. Actually, maybe I was just hoping for it. Damn them!"
As the Matron shut her mouth and looked down again, the room became filled with the grumblings of the seated woman, who was not acting at all like someone who had lived for over 300 years, and had at least 300 more to experience.
Beep!
As this sound suddenly echoed in the room, both women widened their eyes before looking at the triangle-shaped trinket that floated up from the Matron's waist and expanded to become a display trinket.
It showed the image of a beautiful girl wearing a pretty golden dress, and she was held in the arms of someone who was wearing red robes.
The girl's eyelids were closed, but her eyes could be seen rolling around and pressing on the eyelids occasionally, as if she were having a very bad dream.
As the two women waited in silence with expressions of slight fear mixed with hope for good news instead of bad, the girl began to speak in a halting voice.
"….a round stone room with no windows, no! There's one window, through which I see the sky…"
Between each utterance, there was a pause that varied between 3-5 minutes.
"…9 hazy figures…what are they doing? Are they sleeping?...No! They're dead!..."
"…No, no, I see one who is still alive, a man with long, brown hair…he's looking around the room and…smiling? I think? He did it! He did it!..."
"…the Church-descending on the sect…the Church! They're killing everyone! Rivers of blood! Headless bodies! Limbless children! Everyone, dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dea-…"
As the girl kept repeating the last word over and over again for at least 10 times, with the strength of her voice going down with each iteration, the 2 women in the Sect of Hedon stared at each other with horror on their faces.
Taking out a communication trinket, she was about to send an urgent message, but she realized that there was a message waited for her, that she had ignored because she had been too caught up in the vision from the seer.
"We're beginning 20 minutes early-this kid is being too impatient. Come at your leisure."
What?! How could Angaria itself be so unlucky at this moment?!
There was no more time for messages. Gritting her teeth, the woman in the chair closed her eyes for a brief moment.
The stone floor that was below the chair cracked, and a heavy pressure enveloped the entire room, making the Matron fall to the ground.
Outside the sect, a pink aurora appeared, and all those who were near the Central Tower got an odd urge to kneel and worship that they couldn't resist.
Crack!
With a sound like that of a wood beam being cracked in two, the Hero-level anti-teleportation broke, letting the woman vanish from her place and reappear in a round room with a single window.
"STOP AND GET OUT OF HERE! THIS MEETING IS A TRAP TO KILL US!"
Hearing this loud proclamation, various reactions could be seen from all of the people in the room, but none was stranger than that of the person sitting at the head of the table, Ashahell.
A frown which contained deep anger and desperation flashed across his face for the briefest of moments, before it was replaced by one of determination.
There were tea glasses present in front of all those in the room, and it seemed that his was the only one that was untouched.
Taking advantage of that split second of time when the others were busy teleporting away, he raised the glass and drank half of it.