binnovel Chapter 943 The Rite of the Brave (The End)
Chapter 943 The Rite of the Brave (The End)
At the center of the ruins stood a tall, unremarkable stone tablet. However, as the group approached, golden patterns emerged, which were the runes that had been guiding them.
Ying and Safiel stepped forward and reached out to touch the stone tablet.
As before, fragmented memories resurfaced.
They saw someone slaying a dragon. The sharp blade sliced through the dragon's eye, splitting it in two along with the pupil, and then etched the dragon's golden mark onto it, like the shattered eyeball, gleaming with golden light and stained with blood.
The inscribed mark was not just one, but four, which were given to different places, either received by the dragon, buried, or swallowed.
In the fragments of his memory, Saffir saw the white jade plate lying at his feet, and also saw another identical jade plate, but that plate was obscured by shadows and could not be seen in its entirety.
She frowned slightly, but then she saw the shadow fold its wings, open its eyes, and reveal golden eyes. The black vertical pupils were faintly visible in the golden light. A desolate and wild sense of oppression came over her, but it only breathed on a strand of hair that fell over Saffir's shoulder.
"Magnificent, magnificent, the ten-thousand-year-old empire, Ochikanata!"
Through the shadows, she saw a throne, and in front of it stood a man who picked up a jade plate, slowly turned his head, and looked directly into her eyes.
A slight stinging pain came from her mind, but only for a moment. Her eyes sharpened as the scene in front of her suddenly collapsed.
"Whoa!"
A gasp rang out, and Saffir composed herself, casually pulling over little Paimon, who had been thrown back by her aura.
Little Paimon was pulled back by Saffir, avoiding the risk of falling to the ground, but he still touched his chest with lingering fear: "What happened? Why were I suddenly thrown like that?"
“Some annoying guy suddenly started staring at me, and I couldn’t help it,” Saffir said casually.
Paimon scratched his head, looking puzzled. "Really? I didn't see anything."
"It's probably just an illusion, it's alright now." Saffir shook his head.
Ying looked at the thing that had suddenly appeared in front of her and said, "Look at that, it's probably the token, right?"
After Ying reminded them, the others looked over and discovered a disc with golden patterns lying quietly on the ground.
Upon seeing the disc, both Carmos and Crestor's eyes lit up; their intuition told them that this was the token.
Saffir stroked his chin and nodded slowly: "The gold seal, engraved on the white jade plate, is undoubtedly the token."
"Yay!" Paimon exclaimed happily. "Thinking about it, we've done a lot today. Let's go back and have a good meal, and then take a long nap!"
Ying chuckled and tapped Paimon's little nose: "You just want to eat Saffir's cooking, don't you?"
Paimon put his hands behind his back, feeling embarrassed.
Saffir laughed too: "There aren't many people in this world who would make me cook for them personally. Paimon is probably one of the most prestigious people at the top, right?"
"Paymon's got real influence!" Paymon said, hands on his hips, looking all smug. "But before that, let's take this token to Manco and show it to him!"
No one objected to her suggestion, and the group immediately turned back.
Entering the ruins required overcoming numerous trials, but getting out was much easier. Saffir carried Krest in one hand and Karmos in the other, with the Wings of Holy Protection enchanting himself and Ying. With a flap of their wings, they flew outwards.
Soon, the group arrived at Manco's place. Although they had traveled very quickly, it was already getting dark when they came outside. Even so, Manco patiently sat there waiting for their return.
Paimon waved to him: "Manco, we're back!"
Manco smiled when he saw them return: "It's been a long wait. To be honest, the longer we wait, the more anxious I become."
"This shows you didn't take Lady Aurora's abilities to heart at all." Sapphire landed on the ground, his wings dissolving into tiny fragments of light behind him.
Manco chuckled, "I underestimated Lady Aurora. You seem to be in a good mood; it looks like you've found the token left by the Fire-Stealing Sage in the ruins, haven't you?"
“Of course, it’s easy.” Saffir winked at Ying.
Ying immediately took out the token she had brought and showed it to them.
"It really is the Ultimatum Plate! The legendary Ultimatum Plate is actually real! That's wonderful, I must record it in my research findings." Manco was quite excited upon seeing the Ultimatum Plate.
Paimon suddenly realized: "So this thing is called the Ultimatum Plate."
They only knew it was a token, but they didn't really know what it was called.
Manco nodded, reached out to the ultimatum plate, then quickly withdrew his hand: "No, no, this is Lady Aurora's spoils of war, how can I touch it so casually!"
Sorry, I got too excited. Apparently, this was something handled by the Fire-Stealing Sage's own son…
For a fleeting moment just now, I even considered keeping it for myself, as a family heirloom or something, haha...hahaha..."
Upon hearing this, Paimon quickly told Ying to put the things away, looking wary: "That won't do, we need this to save Krest and Carmos!"
“It’s alright. There are always things more important than family heirlooms, aren’t there?” Saffir didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. After all, besides morality, life also limits human behavior, and she just happens to be very good at dealing with that.
Manco gave an awkward smile and then abruptly changed the subject: "Yes, yes, of course. But to be honest, I only know of this one clue about the token. I really have no idea where the other one is."
“The other one is in Ochikanata.” Saffir already knew the whereabouts of the other one.
Upon hearing this, Manco was taken aback: "It's there... This is not good."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ying didn't quite understand.
Manco sighed softly, "Ochikanata...that's an ancient city ruin located north of the Flower Feather Society, across the sea..."
As he spoke, he glanced at Saffir with some regret: "I'm sorry, Lady Aurora, but frankly, there's nothing I can do to help with that place."
Because that place is not only forbidden territory for the tribes, but also forbidden territory for the Dragon Relics Research Association... It is said that many years ago, a member of the Dragon Relics Research Association was commissioned to investigate, but the result was like a stone sinking into water, and there was no news of it ever again.
Since then, our association has ceased to interfere in any matters related to Ochikanata.
“It’s alright, we can go there ourselves.” Saffir nodded. Manco leading the way here was enough. Ochikanata was still too dangerous, and there was no need to drag him along on his own.
As I said before, Manco is just an ordinary person, and going with her would only be a hindrance. There's no need for her to insist on dragging him along.
“Anyway, I have to thank you. Seeing the Ultimatum Plate was really important to me. No, I have to go back and write this down quickly…” With that, Manco turned around impatiently, took a couple of steps and then turned back again. “I wish you all the best, and I also wish Krest and Karmos can remove the mark of the Flame Lord’s Blessing.”
Goodbye everyone.
"Goodbye." Safiel and the others waved goodbye to Manco.
Manco left, and Saffir and his group also left; they were going to find a place for a picnic.
After much deliberation, I finally chose the office of Vulcan Mavica.
When she saw Safiel and his group kicking open the door and running in carrying large bags of groceries, Mavica almost lost her composure.
She walked over quickly, looking completely bewildered: "What's going on here...?"
"I'm tired after a long day, I'm going to eat something!" Saffir said, and put the food on the table.
Mavica understood this, but what she didn't understand was...
He poked the meat on the table; the springy pork belly bounced back out after being poked in. "Raw?"
“Yes, it’s raw.” Ying nodded matter-of-factly.
Mavica's lips twitched: "Are you planning to cook here?"
“I was thinking you have a torch here, right? You can just set up a pot on it and start cooking, that’s convenient.” Saffir said, taking out a large black pot and starting to look around for materials to support it.
Seeing that she really intended to use the sacred fire as a campfire, Mavica quickly grabbed Saffir's arm: "Stop, stop, stop! Saffir, what do you think Nata's sacred fire is?"
“All the myriad things in the world can’t compare to a wisp of cooking smoke, Mavica. The sacred fire is still fire, so why can’t it be used for cooking? You’re really out of touch with the masses,” Saffir said righteously.
Mavica was exasperated by her twisted logic: "No, there are so many places in Nata where you can start a fire and cook, why did you have to choose the office instead?"
"Leaving aside whether the Olympic flame can actually be used for cooking, even if it could, my place isn't well-ventilated. What am I going to do about the cooking fumes?"
"So you're not so opposed to cooking with the Olympic flame, are you? It's just that you don't want the fumes to pollute your office?" Saffir thought this made sense.
Cooking with a fire in a poorly ventilated room is absolutely insane; the fumes can blind you.
Mavica sighed, disbelieving that Saphir hadn't considered this at first: "So what exactly did you come here for?"
“We just received a token and we’re exhausted today, so I’m planning to cook a meal for these little guys myself. I saw you have nothing to do, so I thought I’d ask you to join me.” Saffir had already put the pot away by then.
She really didn't intend to actually open fire in the office; that was too abstract.
Hearing this, Mavica breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt a wave of helplessness. Why not just say it properly when inviting someone to dinner? Why do you have to do this performance art? It's so frightening and startling.
In the end, Mavica still arranged the dinner at the House of Weariness in the Olympic Arena.
To make things more exciting, she also invited Sitaleie and the captain.
When Cetalli heard that Saffir was going to cook, she immediately ran over with a bottle of wine.
The captain then notified Rosalyn, who had not yet left the area.
Rosalyn was worried about Beidou's condition. She knew that Saffir had taken Beidou with him when he went out today, so she rushed over to check on Beidou's state.
In her opinion, since Saffir was willing to cook a celebration, there must be no problem.
Then, Rosalind arrived at the House of Weariness and sensed two beings connected to her soul.
The first is Saphir, without a doubt, and the second is a small velvety pterosaur perched on Saphir's forehead.
Beidou naturally noticed Rosalyn's arrival. She raised her head and looked towards the kitchen doorway. A tall, blonde woman wearing a mask that covered half her face was looking at Saffir with a strange expression. To be precise, she was looking at the little velvet winged dragon on Saffir's head.
The man and the dragon stared at each other for a long time, and then…
"Pfft..." Rosalyn couldn't help but laugh.
For a short period afterward, everyone who came here could see the scene of Rosaline Cruzsica Loehafat, the eighth seat of the Fools' Executive, being chased and pecked on the head by an enraged little velvet pterosaur.
The captain was also shocked by this scene. After a while, he murmured, "As expected of the little velvet winged dragon that has received the blessing of the Flame Lord, its aura is indeed extraordinary."
"Are you sure you don't want to pull him up? I feel like Carmos might get hurt..." Paimon said with some concern.
The captain shook his head slightly: "There's no need for that. Loehafat wasn't angry at all. On the contrary, this little velvet dragon seems angrier. I wonder what it did to offend it."
The captain didn't understand, but he wanted to watch the show.
Rosalyn was feeling conflicted. She was happy to see that Beidou was alright, but she should have been worried about him in this state…
But the thought of that arrogant woman turning into this makes her want to laugh. The angrier the other woman gets, the more she wants to laugh. That's probably what a bad friend is like.
Fox Palace also arrived. Seeing the two of them bickering, she decisively chose to avoid them and went to the kitchen to help Sapphire.
With the help of the Fox Palace, Saphir's cooking progressed much faster, and in no time a sumptuous meal was prepared and served one dish after another.
The group sat down around the table, quietly waiting for the meal to begin.
As the Goddess of Fire, Mavica naturally gave another opening speech before the meal, and then everyone ate.
There's no need for further words amidst the clinking of glasses and lively conversation.
After finishing his work in the kitchen, Saffir took his seat and was then pulled aside by Sitrali to drink.
Unfortunately, the two-hundred-year-old girl was still too young and couldn't compare to the tens of thousands of years old girl. She was quickly drunk out by Saphir.
Seraphim tricked her into drinking two cups of kerosene, and she collapsed onto the ground, looking completely peaceful, unable even to act out anymore.
Mavica looked at Saphir, who remained completely calm and composed despite drinking so much, and her eyes twitched. She had a high alcohol tolerance, but she wasn't going to challenge Saphir to a drinking contest.
During the meeting, Saffir still asked the captain about the deal. The captain was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "You don't need to concern yourself with this matter."
"I don't care," Saffir said, pursing his lips and feigning indifference.
But she sighed inwardly, knowing that some things are simply unavoidable.
Seeing them speaking in riddles, Mavica interrupted and asked, "What's all this secret?"
“It’s an internal matter for our Fools,” the captain replied.
This statement piqued everyone's interest, and they all asked the captain to elaborate.
Of course, this is all a joke. After all, if it were really something that the Fools couldn't talk about, the captain wouldn't say a word.
The team leader was in a good mood and even cracked a joke: "The April Fools' Club is recruiting executive officers. Anyone interested can apply; the requirements are very lenient."
First: Do not commit suicide.
Second: Do not fight with the gods.
Third: Do not kill your colleagues.
Fourth: Do not try to become a god yourself.
Five: Do not touch the World Tree.
After he said this, many people smiled knowingly. These conditions were too outrageous; no normal person would agree to them.
Only Saphir's expression was somewhat subtle. Why did it feel like... every comment was targeting her?
What is the captain trying to say?