No one had expected that the god in charge of the Night Kingdom would be such a gentle person, almost like a mother cherishing her children.
"She feels a bit like the Great Shaman we met in the Night Kingdom," Paimon whispered quietly into the Traveler's ear.
"Indeed." The Traveler nodded slightly; she hadn't expected the Night God to be such a gentle person either.
"Rios, as long as you give the order, the Night God can reconstruct the leylines, and Natlan won't be massively invaded by Abyss monsters." The Captain strode forward to stand before Rios, his tone one of accusation: "Are you going to stop all of this?"
"Your plan could never have succeeded from the start, so how could I possibly stop it?" Rios said with a smile. "Why don't you tell the Night God now that you hope she reconstructs Natlan's leylines, and see if that works."
Hearing Rios's words, everyone turned in surprise toward the Captain.
They saw the Captain also looking up at the mystic source mechanism, deep in thought.
Before he could speak, the Night God took the initiative: "I am very grateful for what you've done for the people of Natlan, but unfortunately, in my view, only Rios has the qualification to represent Natlan in making decisions."
The implication was that without Rios's agreement, reconstructing Natlan's leylines would never succeed.
"Captain, I know the plan has failed, so it's inevitable that you're feeling some unwillingness," Rios said with a smile. "But we have our own reasons for refusing to reconstruct the leylines. Next, let Mavuika explain it to you."
"Me?" Hearing Rios mention her name, Mavuika gently raised an eyebrow.
"Among everyone here, your eloquence is the best, so of course it has to be you," Rios said with a smile.
"I think you're just looking for a chance to boss someone around," Mavuika said with a noncommittal smile.
Then, Mavuika recounted the conversation they had in the Parley Hall.
Reconstructing the leylines could certainly block the Abyss, but it would also greatly reduce Natlan's current combat power. Any slight mishap could lead to Natlan's total annihilation.
Moreover, if memory disarray occurred, it would be as if the people of Natlan had died once mentally—it would be even more not worth the loss.
"I stand by my view."
After hearing the explanation, the Captain didn't change his mind.
"Since the Night God requires your consent to act, then I have no need to continue."
With that, he turned and walked toward the cave entrance.
Ororon followed closely behind, leaving with the Captain.
"Is it really okay to just let Ororon leave like this?"
Paimon asked, somewhat worried.
"Ororon has his own convictions. He wants to save Natlan in his own way too, so let him go," Rios said, seeing it quite openly.
"But if Citlali asks about it later, just say Ororon sneaked away while we weren't paying attention—don't say I deliberately let him go," Rios said to the group.
"This is completely just trying to shirk responsibility."
Paimon crossed her arms and grumbled.
Unlike Paimon, who just thought Rios was trying to shirk responsibility, the Traveler believed Rios's actions had deeper intentions.
"There are still two heroes in Mavuika's plan who haven't awakened yet, and the Pyro Archon's attitude toward Ororon is also quite strange."
The Traveler pondered for a moment and realized.
"Could it be that Ororon is one of the remaining two heroes?"
The Traveler raised her eyes in surprise, looking toward Rios.
After their gazes met, Rios seemed to know her thoughts and nodded with a smile, indicating that the Traveler's guess was correct.
"Pyro Archon, what do we do next? Should we station a few people here to protect the Night God?"
After the Fatui left, Chasca raised the question.
"Next, we'll call Citlali and Xilonen over to research how to grant the Traveler an Ancient Name."
"Before that, if any of you have questions for the Night God, you can ask them now."
Rios said.
"Although my power is now mostly depleted, I can still answer some of your questions," the Night God's voice rang out.
"Don't worry, I'll replenish some energy for you right now." Rios placed his hand on the mystic source mechanism, and his entire body erupted with crimson light, channeling it into the mechanism.
"Does this feel much better?" Rios asked.
"Mm, it's much better than before—no need to reduce energy consumption through sleep anymore," the Night God's voice carried more vitality than previously.
"Then the Traveler can ask whatever she wants now," Rios smiled, then said.
"This outing took a bit long, so I'll go out first to check if any Abyss monsters have taken the chance to invade Natlan." With that, Rios walked out of the cave.
After he left, the Traveler stepped forward gracefully to the mystic source mechanism.
She did indeed have many questions she wanted to ask the Night God.
The specific questions were the same as in the original timeline, but at the end, there was one additional question.
[What did the Pyro Archon do just now?]
"If awakened in the ordinary way, I might have been in unbearable pain and instinctively cried out."
"But after activating the mechanism, Rios used some special method—even I don't quite understand it—to soothe me, allowing me to wake without that much pain."
The Night God answered.
"Even the Night God doesn't know the method the Pyro Archon used?"
Paimon asked in surprise. "I thought you knew everything."
Hearing Paimon's words, Mavuika smiled lightly: "Rios always comes up with some new tricks we can't understand."
"But as long as we know he's working hard for Natlan, how these things come about or how they're done—I don't think it matters anymore."
"If we pry too much, it might even displease him."
The Traveler mused inwardly.
Having traveled through the worlds and seen much, she knew some things were better left unpursued.
You can't investigate everything, after all.
On the other side.
After Rios emerged, he saw Ororon still standing at the cave entrance, though the Captain was nowhere to be seen.
"Aren't you going with the Captain?" Rios asked.
"The Captain said he can no longer stop the Abyss monsters' invasion and can only believe that your plan, Pyro Archon, will succeed—so there's no need for me to follow him anymore."
Ororon's tone held a faint sense of loss.
"Pyro Archon, before activating the mechanism, you specially made a Pyro elemental protective garment for me. And after activation, there really was a foreign soul trying to seize my body—was this something you had foreseen?" Ororon asked.
"You guess." Rios was too lazy to explain and simply let Ororon figure it out himself.
"Pyro Archon, your answer is just like a Bumblebee fluttering on my face, tickling both my face and my heart." Though Ororon's words were abstract, he also knew Rios definitely wouldn't give a direct answer.
But he had other questions to ask: "Pyro Archon, Natlan's leylines are in a terrible state. Can we really save Natlan?"
Ororon's soul was innately special, allowing him to sense the abnormalities in Natlan's leylines more acutely than ordinary people. That was precisely why he had joined the Captain's team, wanting to save Natlan in his own way.
But now that the Captain's plan had completely failed, he could only pin his hopes on the Pyro Archon.
For this question, no matter what Rios said, it wouldn't convince the other party. Only by demonstrating power that surpassed the Abyss could Ororon possibly believe they could ultimately defeat it.
However, Rios had an even easier way to answer without showing any power.
That was to throw the question back at him.
"If you can comprehend the meaning of the Ancient Name, then our success rate against the Abyss will greatly increase," Rios said.
"Me?" Ororon pointed at himself. "It's actually my issue?"