Affairs Office.
"Caelus, we're here."
A young girl from the People of the Springs pushed open the heavy doors, several others following close behind.
After entering the Affairs Office, the girl blinked her red eyes and curiously looked around the room.
"Mualani, what are you looking at?" Paimon asked in confusion after following her inside.
Mualani gave an embarrassed smile.
"Ever since Caelus became the Pyro Archon, I haven't come to the Affairs Office even once."
"I used to wonder if Caelus was hiding something from me and that was why he wouldn't let me come here to play. But after looking around, there doesn't seem to be anything like that."
Mualani laughed lightly after finishing her sentence.
"The time I've personally spent in the Affairs Office isn't even as long as the time Mauvika has spent here. Even if there were any personal belongings here, most of them were probably left behind by Mauvika," Caelus said.
To someone who did not know the situation, like Mualani, Caelus simply sounded as if he was complaining about how much work Mauvika had been doing lately.
But to the Traveler and the others who had just learned the truth from Mauvika, the meaning sounded very different.
"Is the Pyro Archon testing us to see if we already know about Mauvika's plan?" Lumine thought silently.
In her understanding, the current Mauvika was only someone temporarily authorized to issue orders on behalf of the Pyro Archon under special circumstances. At most, she was sharing some of the Pyro Archon's workload.
If her experience from five hundred years ago as the former Pyro Archon was not counted, then the amount of time Mauvika had spent in the Affairs Office should have been far less than Caelus.
Caelus deliberately saying this now seemed like a test to see whether they knew the truth about Mauvika.
Therefore, Lumine nodded slightly toward the Pyro Archon, signaling that she already understood Mauvika's situation.
Caelus felt a little confused.
He had been focused on talking with Mualani and had not paid attention to the Traveler's thoughts at all.
Seeing her suddenly nod like that, he truly had no idea what she was thinking.
Fortunately, Kinich spoke up at that moment and steered the conversation back on track.
"Lord Pyro Archon, did you call us here for a specific reason?"
They had followed Mualani's judgment and slipped away to the Affairs Office while everyone else was busy dealing with the punishment of Tepepan and Tamuin.
From the way the Pyro Archon treated Mualani, it was clear that her guess had been correct. The Pyro Archon really did have something to discuss with them.
Seeing Kinich help move the conversation forward, Caelus gave him an approving glance before continuing.
"I believe all of you heard what I said earlier in the Arena regarding the fact that Kaiulani cannot be resurrected through the Ode of Resurrection."
"Yeah," Paimon said, clenching her tiny fists and frowning angrily. "And those two terrible guys were slandering Kaiulani. That was just awful."
"Luckily Lord Pyro Archon gave them a proper beating. I feel much better now."
After saying that, Paimon laughed in satisfaction.
"I felt a little better myself after beating them," Caelus said with a faint smile.
"However."
The smile disappeared as his expression became serious.
"What I actually want to tell you is that there is still hope for Kaiulani to be resurrected."
"What?!" Mualani's eyes widened in shock. "Caelus, didn't you say earlier that Kaiulani couldn't be resurrected?"
"I said she couldn't be resurrected through the Ode of Resurrection. That does not mean she cannot be revived through other methods," Caelus corrected.
He then carefully explained the entire plan, including the method originally used to save Kachina, to Mualani and the others.
"I never expected there to be such a method to resurrect fallen warriors," Kinich said while stroking his chin thoughtfully after hearing the explanation.
"If there is a method like this, does that mean no matter how many people in Natlan are killed by Abyssal monsters in the future, they could all be resurrected?" Paimon asked in surprise.
In truth, she had not understood most of the details. All she grasped was that they needed to run around looking for certain people, then enter the Night Kingdom and pull someone back out in order to revive Kaiulani.
"With my current strength, I cannot achieve something like that," Caelus replied.
"In fact, the only reason we can resurrect Kaiulani is because we are relying on the rules of the Night Warden War."
"The Abyss has already begun to influence the Night Kingdom, making it impossible to simply use the Sacred Flame to bring Kaiulani back directly. Because of that, we must rely on more complicated methods."
"But in essence, we are still making use of the rules of the Night Warden War to bring back a fallen warrior."
"Huh?" Kachina said with a confused expression. "But Lord Pyro Archon, you also said earlier in the Arena that Kaiulani did not participate in the Night Warden War, which was why she could not be resurrected through the Ode of Resurrection."
"I lied to them," Caelus said with a faint smile.
"Lied?"
Not only Kachina, but all the girls inside the Affairs Office stared at him with stunned expressions.
"In reality, the erosion of the Night Kingdom by the Abyss has already reached a very serious level," Caelus explained.
"Even during a normal Night Warden War, there is no longer any guarantee that fallen warriors can be resurrected."
"It is that serious?" Mualani quickly realized something and asked anxiously.
"Caelus, is that why you wanted to suspend the Holy Night of the Return of Fire and the Night Warden War?"
If the Ode of Resurrection could no longer bring the dead back to life, then the people of Natlan would naturally lose their enthusiasm for the Holy Night of the Return of Fire and the Night Warden War.
After all, if dying meant staying dead forever, then sending warriors into battle would be no different from simply sending them to fight Abyssal monsters.
But if that happened, the people of Natlan would lose the faith that sustained them.
The honor they once cherished like priceless treasure would become nothing more than empty words.
Not only that, without the Holy Night of the Return of Fire to select warriors to fight the Abyss, each Tribe would have to choose their own fighters.
At first this might not cause problems.
But over time, the Tribes would inevitably begin to argue over casualties and responsibilities. Eventually those disputes could develop into deep divisions.
If the Six Major Tribes were no longer united, it would become a catastrophic disaster for Natlan, which was constantly threatened by Abyssal monsters.
"No matter how many people questioned you, you refused to give them an explanation."
"You even used force to make everyone accept your decision."
"Was it because you did not want the Six Tribes to lose their unity that you chose to bear all the blame and resentment yourself?"
Mualani looked at her childhood friend with deep concern in her eyes.
Recently, she had heard more than once the dissatisfaction of her tribespeople and companions toward Caelus.
At the time, she had also felt that Caelus's actions were somewhat excessive. Even if suspending the Holy Night of the Return of Fire had truly been necessary, he should have explained the situation clearly to everyone.
But after learning about the current condition of the Night Kingdom, she finally understood.
Caelus had been trying to prevent the Tribes from falling apart.
He had been trying to prevent the people of Natlan from losing their faith.
So he forcibly suspended the Holy Night of the Return of Fire and silently carried all the blame himself.
...
This fanfiction is completed on p@treon
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Join disc0rd link in synopsis.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.