Original God's Dark Priest

The next day, Ying and her group arrived early at the headquarters of the Holy Flame Arena, which was a room in Mavika's house.

It wasn't that they were dragging their feet and didn't want to rescue Kazina immediately, but rather that the Kingdom of Night had been invaded by the Abyss, and the internal situation was unclear. Therefore, they were forced to rest for one night to be in the best condition to meet the challenges ahead.

This time, Ying, Paimon, Chaska, and Marani were traveling with them.

Iansan had arrived early to be with Mavica.

Ever since being subdued by Saphir with a single finger, Ianshan has been extremely worried about the safety of her Vulcan. Despite Mavica's repeated insistence that there was no need for such concern, Ianshan still came and remained vigilant at all times.

She also increased her training many times over. She no longer fantasized about defeating Saffir one day; she just didn't want to be so pathetic and vulnerable when she encountered the enemy again.

Entering the headquarters, Paimon spoke first as always: "We're here! We have to go rescue Katsina today, and I can't wait."

Ying then asked the question she hadn't had a chance to ask before: "What exactly happened at the Holy Flame Arena?"

“Well… it’s a bit complicated to explain in detail… well, I’ll just give you a brief description.” After a slight hesitation, Mavica decided to tell the whole story.

Saffir will come today; we'll run into him eventually, there's no need to hide it.

Through Mavica's account, everyone learned that the Fools had arrived, and that Mavica had actually offered up her own power.

Paimon and Luminous were shocked to hear that Captain and Saffir had attacked Mavka.

Ying's face was pale: "Why...why would Saphir do such a thing?"

“Safir? You mean Aurora?” Mavica was taken aback for a moment, then immediately understood. She chuckled, “She didn’t attack me; it was the captain who fought me.”

Ian Shan pouted. "But I got beaten up, and so did Ginitch." As she spoke, she rubbed her butt; the fall had been pretty hard.

“But she protected you from behind, didn’t she? It evens out.” Mavica actually spoke up for Saffir, which surprised everyone else.

Marani was more concerned about another issue than the others: "If the Fools find out that Lord Vulcan has lost his power, won't they take advantage of the situation?"

Mavica winked at her somewhat awkwardly: "So it's a little secret between us, don't tell anyone, or I'll be in trouble."

Ian Shan stood to the side, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.

Ying keenly sensed something was amiss. She looked at Mavica scrutinizingly: "That Safiel guy is very perceptive. Are you sure they don't know about this?"

“Uh… okay, actually she already knew. But she also said she wouldn’t take advantage of someone in distress.” Mavica felt particularly embarrassed. “Although I really want you to feel at ease, the reality is that our current situation is extremely unfavorable. Once the captain and the Shadow Priest change their minds, I will be powerless to fight back.”

This doesn't look like a reassuring situation at all.

As she said this, she looked at Ying: "I know what you're thinking. I won't be prejudiced against you because of your relationship with Aurora. In my eyes, you are you, and she is she."

I don't expect her to show us any mercy because of you. Anyway, since things have developed to this point, I hope you can focus on what you want to do. The rest... well, it might sound a bit arrogant, but leave the rest to me."

Ian Shan nodded in agreement, "Yes! I will also help everyone in place of Lord Vulcan, although my strength is very limited..."

"Haha... You're too modest, Ianshan. Your strength is already well-known, and you are the true pride of the Land of Wolu." Mavica comforted Ianshan, clearly seeing that the girl had been quite upset this time.

Outside the door, Saffir, who had already arrived, stopped his movement as he was about to knock and fell into deep thought.

She realized that she had inadvertently shattered the Dao heart of a prodigy. What a sin, what a sin!

However, Saffir wouldn't do anything special because of this. True geniuses are those who learn from their mistakes and fight on despite repeated defeats. If Ianshan were to become completely despondent because of this one failure, she wouldn't be worthy of the title of one of the Six Heroes, much less her ancient name: Uzowe (Power).

Listening to Mavica's words, Marani, who had been so determined to save Kazina, realized her own narrow-mindedness. Everyone was working hard and bearing the pressure for Nata's life or death, but her attention was entirely focused on her friends.

That's too narrow-minded. One person's life cannot be compared to the fate of a nation. They are not equal and it's unreasonable. Yet, she diverted a great deal of Vulcan's energy to save Katsina.

This is not advisable.

Maranie was a little disappointed: "Well, I'm a little sorry, you all have so many things to worry about, but I only care about my own feelings."

In an instant, Marani was overwhelmed by self-blame, but she gritted her teeth and refused to say the words of giving up.

She couldn't say anything more; she was caught in a dilemma, unable to make a decision.

Mavica, however, did not think Marani was wrong. She gently comforted her, "What is there to apologize for? Everyone has emotions, and I am no exception. I understand that feeling."

Now that we've found the ancient name for Katsina, let's get started. Follow me.

She didn't reprimand or scold, which is not what a leader should do. A qualified leader should offer advice at the appropriate time, correct people when they go astray, and stand up when everyone is in despair, with a firm and tenacious attitude to withstand all pressure, so that everyone believes that there is still hope, and that hope is among them.

Mavica led her people through a side door into a small room inside. After they entered, Saffir pushed open the door to the head office, looked inside, and finding no one there, simply found a place to sit.

Sitting here, she could still hear the conversation of the people in the inner room.

Paimon asked curiously, "Where is this place?" Then she noticed something familiar. "Hey? Isn't that Agaya's amulet?"

Agaia nearly died while dealing with the Abyss invasion of the Flowing Springs. With Luminous's help, her vital signs were stabilized, but she knew she was about to die, so she entrusted Luminous and Marani to give her amulet to Mavka.

I never expected that Mavica would put this amulet in this place.

Mavica smiled. "You have a good eye. Yes, this is where I store all sorts of souvenirs."

Marani looked around like a curious child: "This is the first time I've ever seen so many!"

The room was filled with all sorts of souvenirs, each one representing a bond and recording a piece of the past.

Most of their owners have passed away, their names becoming increasingly blurred on a tombstone. They will eventually fade into the distance with the river of history, until the current Vulcan dies one day, or completely forgets them, and they fall into silence, unknown to anyone.

Without exception, they were all once Mavika's comrades-in-arms, and the most radiant and dazzling people in her memory.

This is also a contingency plan that Mavica has left for herself. If necessary, she can burn all these mementos to ashes, and each bond will become her power. In this way, Mavica, as the God of Fire, can be reborn from the flames of these bonds.

To briefly wield immense power to do what is necessary.

However, Mavica will not tell anyone this.

This is the tacit understanding reached between these heroes and her. Even if they perish, in the very end, they can still become the strongest support for the God of Fire. Even if they are just a single object left, they can still repel ten thousand enemies.

"It seems like they have items from every tribe. It must have taken a lot of effort to collect them." Chaska roughly estimated that Lin Ling had dozens of items in total, encompassing the characteristic items of all tribes.

Mavica nodded slightly: "Yes, you can treat it as my hobby. In Nata, everyone grows up listening to stories of heroes."

Objects are the best carriers of memory, far more reliable than our brains.

She estimated the time and then said, "I still have some ceremony preparations to make. You can just take a look around and pass the time."

"I can tell you the story behind any item you're curious about."

In this respect, she was very generous and kind, unlike a deity.

Mavica is perhaps the most approachable of the seven gods, after all, the other gods are not so easy to meet, nor would they tell stories to others in such a friendly manner.

Wendy and Zhongli might do this, but what does that have to do with Barbatos and Morax? The people doing these things are just ordinary people, Wendy and Zhongli.

Paimon and Ying had heard other gods tell stories before, so they didn't see anything wrong with it.

Paimon was still a little excited: "Then we won't stand on ceremony!"

The group dispersed to examine the various items. Chaska stared at a cluster of fresh flowers in deep thought. These were not fake flowers, but real blooming flowers. To keep them alive, they needed to be watered regularly. Chaska found it hard to imagine that Mavica would have the time to water the flowers after a long day of work.

Marani looked at a batch of fishing gear and pondered. She found the fishing rods and baskets very familiar and felt like she had seen them somewhere before.

Ying and Paimon joined in, and Paimon's eyes lit up when he saw the fishing rod: "There's even a fishing rod! This is definitely something from the Flowing Springs!"

“Yes, that’s a fishing tackle set, belonging to a legendary angler named Matavaru,” Mavica replied. “I met him at a tavern, and he told me he was chasing a huge fish shadow and had devised a meticulous plan for it.”

I saw fighting spirit and hunger in his eyes; for him, the ocean was the battlefield where he staked his honor.

"Did he succeed later?" Paimon was very concerned about this.

Saffir, standing outside the door, shook her head slightly. She knew that if successful, this fishing gear would most likely not be here; instead, there would probably be a skeleton or a photograph of the catch taken by a phonograph.

Sending away the fishing gear also reveals his final unwillingness to accept defeat and death.

Sure enough, Mavica shook her head: "When I saw him again, he was covered in wounds because of that fish, he had been corrupted by the abyss..."

He killed the fish, but was also seriously injured and could no longer go out to sea.

He asked me, 'Lord Vulcan, did the fisherman who failed to bring back his catch win or lose?'

Mavica's tone was full of regret, as if she were seeing that blood-stained face all over again.

Paimon thought about it carefully, then said, "I think we'll definitely win..."

“I think so too. The experience is far more valuable than the trophies.” Mavica agreed wholeheartedly. “Later, he gave me the whole set of fishing gear, hoping that I could make good use of them.”

Everyone felt sorry for the story, except for Paimon, who had a peculiar perspective: "So, you can fish too!"

"Hehe, we can have a competition sometime." Mavica didn't seem to care about Paimon's mood-ruining remark and just said in a relaxed tone.

“A fisherman…” Saffir outside the door clicked his tongue. “From the perspective of a fisherman making a living, not bringing back any fish means going hungry, which is naturally a failure. But fighting the wind and waves and killing the big fish corrupted by the abyss can be considered heroic in Nata.”

Whether someone is successful or not cannot be defined by others. If a person doesn't have so many regrets and resentments in their heart when they die, perhaps they can be considered successful.

The abyss is truly wicked; it specifically breaks the wings of those who yearn for the sky and destroys the fins of those who roam the seas.

Soon, Luminous and Paimon noticed a golden belt. Looking at it, Paimon exclaimed, "Wow, a super huge belt! It's bigger than my head!"

Mavica further explained, "The land of Wolu has a tradition of physical exercise and strength competition, and this belt is one of the symbols of honor."

Perhaps to reinforce this impression, the original belt was extremely heavy; two people might not even be able to lift it. The problem is, even a very strong man would find it difficult to breathe under the weight of such a heavy belt.

“That’s true!” Paimon imagined himself wearing the belt; he might just land on the ground instead of flying.

Mavica smiled and continued, "So, the owner of the belt, Quitra, specially commissioned a craftsman to make a replica that looked exactly the same, but was much lighter. That's the one in front of you."

When he was with the company, he would use counterfeit items as protective gear to protect his lower back.

"Actually, he just wants to carry it with him all the time so he can show it off!" Paimon muttered under his breath.

Saffir thought so too. Showing off and being pretentious is everyone's lifelong pursuit. She was once asked a question: If you were given endless money, but the price was that you could never show off, would you still want the money?

Saffir thought the question was ridiculous at the time. Was showing off more important than money? Of course it was!

She then listed many advantages of being rich, such as being able to buy a big house, a luxury car, and eat all kinds of things that you can't afford on a normal day.

The other party replied that you can't tell anyone you bought a house, otherwise it's considered showing off; you can't drive a car either, because others will think you're showing off if they see it; and you can only eat your food by yourself, because sharing it is still showing off.

She retorted, quite indignantly, "Then I'll just recharge it into the game. That won't be considered showing off, right?"

"But isn't your purpose in spending money to take screenshots and show them to others, letting them know you're amazing? Isn't the essence of all this just showing off?" The other person's answer completely stunned her.

Her intuition told her that these were all fallacies, but she didn't know how to refute them. According to that person's theory, doing charity was just showing off, unless you didn't let anyone know.

Saffir disagrees, arguing that public charity itself has a positive guiding effect on society and cannot be entirely considered pretentious.

But she also realized that the resources needed to sustain a person's survival are actually very few, and that behaviors that consume a lot of resources are mostly just showing off.

The essential pursuit of human life is to show off; showing off is the primary driving force.

It was a ridiculous theory; in the end, that person got beaten up by Saffir and was silenced on physics.

She's not that shallow.