The Oracle

Before the monastery gates, two warrior monks stood guard on either side.

Yi walked over, bowed slightly, and paid his respects.

"Excuse me, are any of the elders within the grounds at the moment?"

The warrior monk sized up Yi, as well as Jia Ruo and Neeko behind him, before replying, "Four elders are present. Oh, and the Oracle returned a few days ago and is also here."

"Oh, then please inform them. Yi requests an audience with the elders."

"Are you the Wuji Sword Saint?"

"Mm."

"We shall go at once." The warrior monk didn't worry that Yi was lying.

No one dared to commit fraud within the Holy Land of Placidium, for they could not bear the consequences.

That Noxian General from years ago had a hand severed right here.

Placidium of Ionia does not tolerate desecration.

One of the warrior monks ascended the steps and entered the monastery's great hall. He returned shortly.

He bowed and said, "The Oracle invites you all."

Yi nodded his thanks and led Jia Ruo and Neeko up the steps.

"This is truly magnificent," Jia Ruo muttered softly.

From a distance, he hadn't felt it, but upon entering the monastery, he realized its grandeur.

Like other buildings in Placidium, Jia Ruo saw a giant tree in the center of the vast, open hall, serving as the monastery's main pillar.

The entire monastery was built around it, but the walls and ceiling were different. The monastery was constructed from neat white stone bricks.

Speaking of the ceiling, although the monastery was extremely tall, it had no other floors. Jia Ruo looked up and could see the dome about fifty to sixty meters above the ground.

"Taking nature as a model."

Ionian architecture was filled with natural grace and elegance, embodying the ethereal beauty of this land.

All the walls were fitted with huge floor-to-ceiling windows. The expansive open space allowed those within to constantly feel a vibrant sense of life.

A tall, beautiful woman approached. The Twin Dragons, symbolizing Ionia, coiled behind her head like a halo.

The visitor was the Oracle, the current Karma.

Karma was the manifestation of an ancient Ionian soul in the mortal world, serving as a lighthouse for the Spiritual Realm, guiding generations of descendants.

The last time her incarnation appeared was in a twelve-year-old little girl named Darha.

She spent her childhood in the highlands north of Shurima, strong and independent, always dreaming of life beyond the village.

But Darha began to experience strange, intermittent visions.

These scenes were peculiar—they felt like memories, yet the girl was certain she had never personally lived through them.

At first, she could deceive herself, but the visions grew worse, to the point where Darha felt she was slowly going mad.

Just as she thought she would spend her life in a sanatorium, a group of monks visited her village.

They came from a place called the Hall of Eternity, where the Holy Master Karma had recently passed away a few months prior.

The monks were searching for the old master's next reincarnated incarnation, and they believed it was within this village.

They conducted a series of verifications on everyone they met, but in the end, they had to leave empty-handed.

As they passed by the sanatorium, Darha leaped from her sickbed and rushed out to stop them.

She tearfully recounted the visions she saw, saying that the murmurs in her mind were the voices of these monks.

They immediately recognized the signs.

This was their Karma.

Scenes from past lives flooded into the new vessel.

That moment forever changed Darha's life.

She bid farewell to everything she knew and went to the Hall of Eternity to receive instruction from the monks.

In the years that followed, they taught her how to commune with her ancient soul, and the girl found her voice drowned out by the thousands of past life incarnations, each calling for ancient wisdom.

Karma had always advocated for peace and harmony, teaching that evil deeds would bring their own retribution and should be ignored.

But even after she had become Karma, Darha couldn't help but question these principles.

Some followers were perplexed by this.

She had already accepted the most sacred spirit of the Land of Birth—the "Spirit of Ionia."

Why, then, would she object to these self-evident philosophies?

As expected, when Noxus invaded Ionia, these beliefs were put to the true test.

As Noxus pushed further inland, claiming thousands of lives under its iron hooves, Karma had to face the brutal reality of war.

She could feel the boundless destructive potential buried within her soul expanding, and she began to ask herself, what was the point of power left unused?

(She) used to be urged by voices to remain in the Hall of Eternity, to comfort people and let disputes fade on their own.

However, a deeper truth compelled her to act.

This thought caused Karma immense pain, until she could bear it no longer.

She confronted a Commander on a Noxian Warship, unleashing Holy Wrath.

But this was no measured, single-target strike—she annihilated the entire crew of the warship in a single heartbeat.

While the Ionian people cheered this apparent victory, the Monks believed she had made a grave mistake.

She had disrupted the Harmony of the land's Spiritual Realm, shamed past Karmas, tarnished her own Immortal Soul, and even implicated the souls of her Followers.

They all urged her to cease causing further harm, even though they knew it might mean a lifetime of solitude, Meditation, and Penance.

Karma raised a hand, and all fell silent.

Though she could still hear the voices in her mind, it was the Spirit of Ionia within her heart that truly guided her... and even the Land of Birth itself stirred a will to self-preservation.

She didn't know if she was chosen for her strength of Courage and will, but she knew that sometimes Harmony came at a great cost.

Their world was changing, and true wisdom was not in resisting change, but in accepting it.

Though the war with Noxus was long over, many in Ionia had become willing to use violence to exact revenge, even against their Neighbor.

Karma resolved to do everything in her power to guide them toward a more enlightened path—toward peace if possible, and action when necessary.