On the other side.
The "Scions of the Canopy" Tribe.
"If you want to recover an Ancient Name, I suggest asking Vichama for help."
Wayna, the leader of the Scions of the Canopy, recommended a capable person from the Tribe after hearing Mualani and the others explain their intentions.
"Vichama is a legendary Investigator in the Tribe. He is the most suitable person to track down Kaiulani's Ancient Name."
Kinich, who also comes from the Scions of the Canopy, agreed with the suggestion, but he still had some doubts.
"But I heard that starting a few years ago, Vichama hasn't been quite himself."
"Not himself?" Paimon blinked and asked curiously. "Did something happen?"
"A few years ago, before the current Pyro Archon took office, Vichama and his close friend won the Holy Night of the Return of Fire together." Mentioning the past, Wayna's voice grew heavier.
"Doesn't that mean they were supposed to participate in the Night Warden War?" Through the explanations from Kachina, Mualani, and the others, Paimon already had a basic understanding of Natlan's most important tradition.
"That's right." Wayna nodded and continued. "Vichama's friend died during the Night Warden War. Because of that, Vichama fell into deep depression and lived in sorrow for a long time."
"I see..." Hearing that it involved the death of a close friend, Paimon also felt a pang of sadness.
However, she quickly noticed something strange.
"Wait, that doesn't sound right!"
"Wasn't it said that after the Night Warden War, as long as at least one person survives, everyone who sacrificed themselves in the battle can be revived?"
"Vichama is still alive now, which means that battle should have been a victory. That comrade should have been able to survive too, right?" Paimon asked in confusion.
"Paimon, it isn't simply that one survivor can bring everyone back. The war itself must also be won," Kinich explained gently.
"B but..." Paimon scratched her head, looking even more confused. "But Vichama is still alive. If he survived, doesn't that mean they won?"
It could not be that Vichama had deserted the battlefield while everyone else died fighting the Abyss, could it?
"In reality, that battle was lost," Wayna said with a heavy sigh.
"Before the Night Warden War began, Abyssal Monsters suddenly attacked our Tribe, and Vichama was injured during the assault."
"The squad and the previous Pyro Archon both believed that Vichama's condition made it unsuitable for him to participate in the Night Warden War. They asked him to remain in the Tribe while the rest of the team went to subdue the Abyssal Monsters."
"However, the number of Abyssal Monsters that time was far greater than expected. Without Vichama's reconnaissance, the squad misjudged the enemy's numbers and were overwhelmed by countless monsters."
"Because the war ended in defeat, those warriors could not be revived by the Ode of Resurrection."
"Since then, Vichama has believed that his own injury, and the lack of advance scouting, led to the squad's complete annihilation."
Wayna slowly recounted what had happened.
"I didn't expect something like that to happen..." Paimon lowered her gaze, her voice filled with sadness. "Because he couldn't join the battle, his companions lost their lives. He must feel terrible."
"Situations like that used to happen quite often," Kinich explained.
"After the Holy Night of the Return of Fire was suspended, I once worked with Mauvika to subdue monsters appearing within Natlan's borders."
"Abyssal Monsters are numerous, and sometimes they even evolve or change."
"The last time I participated in a subjugation mission, the Abyssal Monsters transformed into the appearance of people we knew. They tried to deceive us and create psychological pressure."
"So even the elite warriors who emerge victorious from the Holy Night of the Return of Fire still face the risk of complete annihilation when confronting the cunning Abyss."
"In other words, after the Holy Night of the Return of Fire was suspended, Mauvika and I were initially responsible for subjugating the monsters. Later, the Lord Pyro Archon took over the task himself so that no one else would continue to be sacrificed," Kinich said calmly.
[Wait, the Night Warden War can actually end in total annihilation?]
[I thought that with the rule where the entire team could be revived as long as one person survived, they couldn't possibly be wiped out.]
[Looks like Natlan has plenty of tragic stories too.]
[No wonder the Pyro Archon suspended the Holy Night of the Return of Fire. He just didn't want any more victims like his parents or that Vichama guy's friend.]
[Wasn't it said that the Holy Night of the Return of Fire was suspended because the Pyro Archon discovered that the Ode of Resurrection was no longer working?]
[The Ode of Resurrection failing is one reason. Not wanting more sacrifices is another.]
[When I was reading Mualani's Character Story, it mentioned in Character Story 1 that before becoming a god, the Pyro Archon asked Mualani what would happen if the Holy Night of the Return of Fire was abolished.]
[At that time the Pyro Archon had not yet entered the Sacred Flame to receive the Inheritance, so he probably did not know that the Ode of Resurrection was failing.]
[So the Pyro Archon might have wanted to suspend the event from the very beginning, and the most likely reason is that he did not want more tragedies like what happened to his parents.]
[That's some detailed analysis, bro.]
[Seriously detailed.]
[The Genshin Impact 5.0 servers literally opened today. How are you already reading the character stories?]
[Character Story 1 is unlocked by default. The later ones require friendship levels.]
[Really? I'm going to check it right now.]
[But knowing the Ode of Resurrection is failing does not necessarily require becoming the Pyro Archon, right? Maybe he already knew the Ley Lines were weakening before he became a god, so he planned to suspend the Holy Night of the Return of Fire.]
[That's possible, but so far HoYoverse has not provided any evidence that the Pyro Archon knew the Ode of Resurrection had stopped working before ascending.]
[From a storytelling perspective, if Mauvika mentioned that Caelus might hate the Night Warden War because both of his parents died in it, then that detail will definitely show up in the plot.]
[Considering the current lore, the Pyro Archon's actions, and Mualani's Character Story, it makes more sense that the Pyro Archon wanted to stop the competition from the very beginning.]
[Honestly, instead of speculating here, we might as well wait a few more Versions. When the Pyro Archon finally enters the gacha pool, we will learn the truth.]
[Nahida and Furina both entered the gacha pool in x.2. Following that pattern, the Pyro Archon should appear in Version 5.2.]
[Just wait two more Versions and we will learn everything from the Pyro Archon's Character Story.]
[Can someone answer something for me? Why did the Pyro Archon initially assign Kinich and Mauvika to subjugate monsters after suspending the Holy Night of the Return of Fire, but later started doing it himself?]
[Maybe the Pyro Archon was busy with something at the time and temporarily handed the task to Kinich and the others?]
[I think there might be a deeper reason.]
[Kinich just said that the Abyss sometimes takes the form of loved ones, forcing warriors to kill enemies that look exactly like their friends and family.]
[And Kinich also said that after encountering that situation, he never received any more monster subjugation missions from the Pyro Archon.]
[I suspect that the Pyro Archon originally planned to leave everything to the powerful Mauvika and Kinich.]
[But after learning that Abyssal Monsters could transform into human forms, he didn't want them to experience the pain of killing people who looked like their loved ones.]
[So he chose to handle everything himself.]
[Wait... is this Pyro Archon really that kind of person?]
...
This fanfiction is completed on p@treon
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