Chapter 64: Everyone's Determination, the Battle at the Stadium of the Sacred Flame
The council chamber of the Pyro Archon sat in suffocating silence. The ambient phlogiston braziers flickered, casting long, dancing shadows across the heavy stone walls. Mavuika stood at the head of the table, her usual fiery exuberance replaced by a sharp, calculating edge. She skipped the pleasantries entirely.
"The situation is far more complex than we initially anticipated," Mavuika began, her voice echoing in the quiet room. "The Night Kingdom is experiencing an unmatched, unexplained upheaval. A highly targeted force from the Abyss is actively disrupting its foundational rules."
She leaned forward, planting her hands on the table. "It was during this exact upheaval that Kachina lost contact with us. Her Ancient Name has been obscured, or perhaps entirely shifted, by this abnormal power. It has completely severed my ability to accurately pinpoint her location."
Mavuika paused, her eyes darkening with a rare, deep gravity. "The Abyss... they seem to have devised a new method to deal with Natlan."
"They are no longer content with simple, direct erosion and destruction. Their objective has shifted toward something far more critical. They are targeting our very rules, specifically the soul-returning mechanism that governs sacrifice and resurrection."
"They intend to corrupt the system, sow chaos, and erode our people's trust in the rules themselves. Ultimately, they want to tear apart Natlan's unity from the inside out. Kachina's disappearance is likely one of their initial probes, a test of our defenses."
A sharp intake of breath rippled through the room. The sheer insidious nature of the Abyss's new strategy hung heavily over the gathered warriors.
Lumine's golden eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms, quickly processing the tactical shift. "So, their ultimate goal is to destroy the foundation of the Sacred Flame. If they can make the people of Natlan stop believing that unity can overcome anything, they can turn our hope into despair."
"Precisely," Mavuika nodded, flashing a brief look of approval at the blonde traveler's sharp intuition.
"Therefore, we face a dual challenge," the Pyro Archon continued, her voice ringing with authority. "We must maintain the stability of the Sacred Flame, protect the rules from further degradation, and preserve the public's confidence. Simultaneously, we must quickly find Kachina, thwart the Abyss's conspiracy, and prove the absolute power of our rules!"
"Then... what should we do?" Paimon asked. Though she clearly understood the gravity of the situation, her small face was scrunched up in deep anxiety.
Mavuika met the gaze of everyone in the room. "There is a method worth trying. You need to go to the Masters of the Night-Wind. There is a specific technique there capable of extracting Ancient Names directly from the Ley Lines. With that, I can use the connection between them to pinpoint Kachina's exact coordinates in the Night Kingdom."
"And after locating her?" Mualani pressed, her hands gripping the edge of the table.
"After locating her..." Mavuika's gaze swept slowly over Lumine, Mualani, and Chasca. "The next step is the most difficult. You will need to personally enter the Night Kingdom and bring her back. You will be directly facing the Abyss's erosion. It will be fraught with extreme danger."
Mualani did not even blink. "I have no problem with that!"
Lumine's response was equally decisive. "I'll go." She had already promised to look after Kachina, and beyond that, the young warrior was her little apprentice. There was no universe where she would leave her behind.
Paimon floated right up beside Lumine, planting her tiny hands on her hips. Despite her diminutive size, her eyes burned with an uncharacteristic, blazing seriousness. For a split second, the faint, ghostly silhouette of a towering, hyper-muscular figure flexed menacingly behind the floating fairy. "And Paimon is coming too! I'm really strong now! I'm not afraid of any stupid Abyss!"
Though her high-pitched voice carried a tiny, barely noticeable tremor, her determination was absolute.
Lumine smiled softly, reaching up to gently pat Paimon's shoulder in silent encouragement.
Mavuika looked at the fearless group standing before her. A warm hint of relief and deep appreciation flashed through her fiery eyes.
"Citlali of the Masters of the Night-Wind once created a specialized artifact called the Spirit-Sensing Stone," Mavuika instructed. "You need to find her and borrow this device."
From the corner of the room, Kinich finally spoke up, his tone calm and measured. "That artifact is no longer with the Masters of the Night-Wind. A few days ago, I personally transported it to the Scions of the Canopy. I didn't expect it to become so crucial so quickly."
He looked toward Lumine. "You can go directly to our tribal chief, Wayna. He will tell you exactly where the Spirit-Sensing Stone is secured."
After a brief exchange of logistical details with Lumine, Mavuika prepared to send the group off. She urged them to move swiftly, knowing that every single minute of delay pushed Kachina deeper into danger.
Just before they turned to leave, Mualani reached into her embrace and carefully pulled out a woven amulet. She presented it to Mavuika with both hands. "Lord Pyro Archon, Atea entrusted me to give this to you. She said, 'My thoughts and will are entrusted within,' and she hopes it brings you good fortune."
Mavuika reached out and took the amulet. It was incredibly warm to the touch, pulsing with a faint, rhythmic energy.
She closed her eyes, her fingertips gently caressing the complex woven surface. A familiar, vast aura of life flame surged into her senses, carrying a resilient and comforting heat.
When she opened her eyes, a remarkably gentle smile softened her features. "Atea... her flame feels even purer and brighter than before. Thank her for me, Mualani. And tell her that once this matter with the Sacred Flame is settled, I will absolutely seek her out. Don't let her forget her Spring-Mate. We need to share a good hot spring bath and catch up on everything we've experienced over the years."
Mavuika understood the unspoken message perfectly. Atea's decision not to deliver the amulet in person was a calculated move, meant both to protect the People of the Springs and to avoid distracting the Archon during a critical crisis.
Mualani nodded vigorously, a bright smile breaking through her worry. "I will definitely tell her!"
Filled with firm resolve and a burning concern for Kachina, Lumine, Paimon, Mualani, and Chasca bid farewell to the Pyro Archon and set off toward the territory of the Scions of the Canopy.
They had barely left the grand architecture of the Stadium of the Sacred Flame and started down the winding mountain path when a sudden, violent noise stopped them dead in their tracks.
Rumble—!!!
The very earth beneath their boots heaved. A muffled, deafening explosion tore through the air, sending violent tremors rippling through the massive stone structures behind them.
Before anyone could draw a weapon, two dazzling streaks of light erupted from the open-air center of the Stadium of the Sacred Flame, shooting into the heavens like retrograde meteors!
One streak was a deep, inky, abyssal blue. It trailed ominous black wisps of frost. Wherever it passed, the ambient temperature plummeted, freezing the moisture in the air into massive, jagged black ice crystals that hung suspended against gravity. The attacker was violently terraforming the battlefield, forcing the environment into a state of absolute zero.
The second streak was a fiercely burning crimson, pure, domineering, and radiating a heat that threatened to incinerate the very sky.
"What is that?!" Paimon squeaked, instantly darting behind Lumine's shoulder. She gripped the traveler's scarf with tiny fists, pointing a trembling finger up at the sky.
High above the stadium, the two streaks of light were clashing and intertwining in a blindingly fast, fiercely destructive aerial dance.
The dark blue light swept through the air, condensing into massive, jagged spears of black ice. They rained down upon the flames with bone-chilling, lethal precision.
In response, the fiery light adopted an even more violent, explosive posture. It transformed into a blazing meteor, roaring through the sky and shattering the incoming ice shards into glittering, harmless dust!
Every single collision erupted with a deafening shockwave, scattering blinding sparks and razor-sharp ice fragments across the horizon. The sheer kinetic force of their impacts sent massive plumes of smoke and dust billowing up from the Stadium below.
"Look at the Stadium of the Sacred Flame!" Mualani shouted over the roaring winds.
From their high vantage point on the mountain path, the group had a clear view of a massive energy vortex forming directly in the central arena.
The pitch-black power of extreme ice and the sky-burning flames were wildly tearing into each other, constantly annihilating and reforming in a chaotic storm of elemental destruction. The energy fluctuations radiating from the epicenter were so dense and oppressive that even the four of them, standing far away from the actual clash, felt a heavy sense of dread pressing against their chests.
"This feeling..." Chasca's brows furrowed deeply. She focused on the familiar, vast power radiating from the crimson light. "It's the Pyro Archon! She's fighting someone! And that dark blue power... it's overflowing with extreme, unnatural cold!"
"Another strong fighter?" Paimon gulped. "Who would be crazy enough to attack the Stadium of the Sacred Flame while the Pyro Archon is right there?!"
Lumine casually rested a hand on her hip, her golden eyes tracking the explosive clash above. "Isn't the Abyss supposed to be cunning and insidious? A loud, frontal assault on the Archon's home base doesn't fit their style at all. Could it just be the Fatui taking advantage of the situation again?"
The veteran traveler's casual guess hit the absolute truth.
The battle raging in the sky was exceptionally fierce, but the sheer intensity of it meant it could not last long.
Following one final, devastating collision that temporarily deafened everyone on the mountain path, the sky-burning flames suddenly surged. They expanded outward like a rising sun, erupting with an unmatched, blinding light and suffocating heat!
The oppressive black ice domain, painstakingly condensed by the dark blue light, rapidly melted. It was completely annihilated, vanishing like spring snow cast into a raging furnace before the absolute purity of the Archon's flames.
Finally, the crimson light completely overwhelmed the black ice, incinerating every last trace of its residual icy aura. All that remained was scorching, distorted air and the slowly dissipating aftershocks of raw energy.
The sky returned to its clear, vibrant blue. Only the massive scorch marks in the center of the Stadium of the Sacred Flame and the lingering clouds of smoke indicated the brief, thrilling, and terrifying confrontation that had just occurred.
"It's over..." Chasca let out a long, shaky breath, her tense muscles finally relaxing. "It looks like the Pyro Archon won."
Even though she had only been a distant observer, the suffocating pressure brought by that unknown Cryo user had made her heart pound against her ribs.
"That's great!" Paimon patted her small chest, still looking a little pale. "You scared me to death! I really, really hope there are no more surprises from now on!"
Perhaps Paimon's incredibly sincere prayer actually worked, or perhaps the Pyro Archon's swift, overwhelming resolution of the battle served as a terrifying deterrent to any other lurking threats.
Whatever the reason, the rest of their journey to the Scions of the Canopy was exceptionally smooth, completely devoid of any further twists, ambushes, or obstructions from the Abyss.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]