Mavuika nodded slightly, her eyes flickering with approving light as she said to the Traveler: "Traveler, as expected, you can understand my thoughts."
Paimon furrowed her brows somewhat worriedly: "The current Lord Pyro Archon doesn't agree with your plan; if we push it forward forcefully, he won't have any objections, right?"
After all, that one was the Pyro Archon.
From what Kachina and the others said, he would even directly act against his own compatriots.
For them, who weren't even Natlan people, he probably wouldn't show any mercy at all.
Mavuika gently shook her head, a faint smile appearing at the corners of her mouth: "No, after becoming the Pyro Archon, Rios handed over many tasks that should have been the Pyro Archon's responsibility to me, and also granted me great authority."
"When he's not present, my words can even be regarded as the Pyro Archon's words."
At this point, she paused, a contemplative expression flowing in her eyes: "Thinking about it, he should be hinting that I can continue to carry out my own plan."
Otherwise, it couldn't be explained why Rios gave her such great authority.
It couldn't be that he didn't want to do the Pyro Archon's work, so he handed all the troublesome matters to her, right?
Hearing Mavuika's analysis, Lumine nodded seriously and said: "Indeed, the two don't conflict."
Just as the other said, regardless of whether Mavuika's plan succeeded or not, in the end, there would be a decisive battle with the Abyss.
The current Pyro Archon Rios's strategy was to seize the time to enhance strength, but they could also use this time to accelerate the awakening of the six heroes, which wouldn't interfere with the other's plan.
Mavuika said gravely: "In this period, I have privately helped three Natlan heroes who inherited ancient names to awaken: Xilonen of the 'Children of Echoes,' Kinich of the 'Scions of the Canopy,' and Iansan of the 'Collective of Plenty.'"
The plan had only been completed halfway so far; three more heroes needed to be awakened to gather the numbers.
Natlan could hold out for at most another year; the time left for them wasn't much.
"So Kinich is also one of the six heroes." Paimon was somewhat surprised. "He never mentioned this to us."
"This is what I asked them to keep confidential." Mavuika said with a smile. "The more people who know about Natlan's impending destruction, the easier it is to cause unnecessary panic."
At that time, forget resisting the Abyss and awakening the six heroes—even pacifying the panicked Natlan people would be a massive undertaking.
"So, as long as three more heroes are awakened?" Paimon asked.
Mavuika nodded affirmatively: "Correct, and one of the heroes who needs to awaken is someone you know."
Paimon tilted her head, counting on her fingers: "Kinich is already awakened, and Rios is the Pyro Archon, so it can only be either Kachina or Mualani."
She suddenly widened her eyes, guessing: "Could it be Kachina?"
Mavuika chuckled lightly and shook her head: "Hehe, actually, it's Mualani."
Lumine and Paimon were surprised; they hadn't expected the one who needed awakening to be Mualani, whom they'd only met not long ago.
"How should she be awakened?" Lumine asked concernedly.
Mavuika clasped her hands together over her chest, explaining seriously: "The implication of Mualani's ancient name is 'unity'; to awaken, it should also require triggering something similar to 'unity.'"
Paimon scratched her head in confusion and said: "But Mualani seems like the type who's very easy to make friends with others."
A person like that should understand the importance of unity the most, right?
Mavuika sighed, her brows slightly furrowed: "That's exactly the problem. Up to now, Mualani still hasn't awakened."
She looked toward the Traveler and voiced her guess: "I think it might require someone from outside Natlan to establish a relationship with Mualani to help her awaken."
Lumine nodded thoughtfully: "So, we who aren't Natlan people are the best choice?"
"This is my personal idea; it might not be accurate." Mavuika said.
Afterward, she gazed at the Traveler, her tone gentle but serious: "Traveler, this isn't forcing you; it's just my personal request. If you're unwilling, you can also pretend not to know about this matter."
"I'll give it a try." Lumine said.
Paimon tilted her head doubtfully: "Can't we just tell Mualani directly?"
Mavuika gently shook her head: "Some things, if pushed too hard, might even backfire—just like forcibly making two people become friends doesn't necessarily birth true friendship, right?"
Paimon had a sudden realization: "That makes sense."
After finishing speaking about her plan, Mavuika smiled slightly at the Traveler and asked: "Traveler, is there anything else you want to ask me?"
At the same time.
From the players' perspective, three question options appeared on the screen in front of them.
This was the questioning segment that occurred when playing the main storyline and encountering the local god or big figures like Neuvillette.
Question one: Why did the current Pyro Archon shut down the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame?
"There could be many reasons." Mavuika said. "I once investigated and know that Rios's parents died in the Night Warden Wars."
"Their teammates at the time all sacrificed themselves too, so they couldn't be revived with the resurrection poem." A trace of sympathy flowed in Mavuika's gaze. "Perhaps he wanted no more sacrifices to appear, so he decided to shut down the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame and the Night Warden Wars."
[Parents ascending to heaven, boundless mana?]
[This backstory is way too classic.]
[miHoYo-style plot though late but arrives.]
[Holy crap... is this the real reason?]
[No wonder he's so insistent; he doesn't want anyone else to go through the same pain.]
[Suddenly understand him; if it were me, I wouldn't want to see people going to die either.]
[He isn't unaware of the importance of traditions; he understands the pain of loss too well.]
[The Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame is glory to Natlan people; to him, it might be a scar.]
[But Natlan is inherently a nation of war; does avoiding it help?]
Question two: Your view on the current Pyro Archon?
"Although some actions are a bit hard to understand, he's a Pyro Archon who can be felt to be thinking of the people."
"When formulating the plan 500 years ago, I considered that if it were someone else as the Pyro Archon, they might not agree with the plan, so I decided to come to 500 years later and have myself serve as the Pyro Archon again to execute the plan."
At this point, Mavuika smiled helplessly: "I didn't expect that after crossing the most difficult 500 years, in the end, I lost to Rios in the competition."
[Damn, won the resurrection match but lost to the debut-at-peak newbie.]
[This is a good thing; it means the Pyro Archons are getting stronger.]
[Strongest in history vs strongest of today.jpg]
Question three: Do you think the current Natlan can resist the Abyss?
Mavuika thought cautiously: "Hard to say; from the current situation, Rios's power far exceeds mine from back then, and Natlan's combat strength is also stronger than 500 years ago, but the Abyss might not necessarily be standing still."
"However, Natlan people have never fought based on odds of victory."
"Just like 500 years ago—even if there's only a sliver of hope, we will fight to the end."
Mavuika said firmly.
Looking at the red-haired woman's expression, Lumine suddenly felt that this Pyro Archon from 500 years ago and the current Rios actually resembled each other in certain ways.
Both using their own methods to protect the people of this land.
"We'll help."