Original God's Dark Priest

Chapter 920, As Before

"Soldiers take it upon themselves to obey orders; from the moment they join the army, their lives no longer belong to themselves."

It may sound cruel, but it's true. Every ordinary person's romantic moments and beautiful scenery don't come for free; it's because someone is bearing the burden for them.

"Now, the entire territory of Nata has been invaded by the Abyss. As the commander-in-chief, I cannot abandon the civilians. If someone must sacrifice, then the first to sacrifice will be our Fools' soldiers." Saffir's tone was calm, but Ying could hear the weight in his words.

Ying felt a lump in her throat, and after trying to calm herself down, she asked, "They... will be alright, right?"

“Yes, everyone will be safe and sound. This is something I’ve been planning from the beginning, Ying, do you believe me?” Saffir asked again.

At that moment, Ying felt as if time had leaped back to when she first met Saffir, in the suite of the Goethe Hotel. Some naive travelers looked at the seemingly harmless, reserved Executor of the Fools and mustered all their courage to ask that question: "Can I trust you?"

This was a desperate question she asked, and the answer she received was: "That depends on how you interpret the word 'believe'."

Now, back to the question, the one asking it has changed to that gentle executive.

Ying was stunned for a moment, all her confusion and bewilderment vanished, and she nodded vigorously, even though the other person could not see her now: "I have always, always trusted you, whether in the past, present or future, you are the person I trust the most."

After she finished speaking, she heard happy laughter coming from the Cave Heaven Pass.

She seemed to see the gentle smile on the young executive's face.

All of this has never changed, and will never change.

During the time that Ying led the people back to the arena, new battle reports were sent to the central command room.

The captain had dealt with the monster that caused the landslide, and Sapphire ordered him to move towards the Holy Fire Arena to prepare for the upcoming attack.

Meanwhile, at Jingbi Mountain, Aida successfully met up with the people evacuating from Yanmizhu. Because Aida had been guarding the area, the people evacuating from Yanmizhu did not encounter any obstacles and could quickly retreat along the cleared roads to the Holy Fire Arena.

New news came from the Flowing Springs: because of a previous invasion, their water source had been contaminated, and the area, which was already weakly defended, had now completely collapsed.

Fortunately, with the help of Yumezuki and Yae no Miko, and with the assistance of Kosai-gumi, Uki-jin, and Uki-sha who were guarding the vicinity of the Flowing Springs, the Flowing Springs successfully evacuated and are now retreating towards the Holy Fire Arena.

Saffir, having surveyed the entire situation and confirmed that things were progressing step by step along the trajectory she had set, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

That's good. Once everything is arranged, we'll give it a good thrashing.

The number of abyssal monsters has exceeded 10,000, and the number of casualties has exceeded 100.

Upon hearing this news, Saffir narrowed his eyes. Just an hour earlier, the battle report showed that the number of casualties was only a little over thirty. In just one hour, the number had increased dramatically.

Even without going deep into the battlefield, she could intuitively feel just how strong the abyssal monsters' attack was.

She was somewhat inclined to take action herself, but Pal stopped her: "It's not the right time yet."

Saffir suppressed his chaotic thoughts and focused his mind, asking, "Does the Flower Feather Society have any intelligence on the Suspended Wood People?"

From the very beginning of the war, these two places lost contact. Beidou communication was cut off and they haven't been able to get in touch since. Mawika went to provide support.

The situation was slightly better for the Suspended Wood People. Most of their members took on the role of messengers, leaving few behind, which greatly reduced the risk of heavy casualties.

“Mavika has arrived at the Flower Feather Society, but no information has been sent back. As for the Suspended Wood People, Arecino and Kinich have broken through the barrier and gone deep inside, but haven’t come out yet,” Gulab reported.

Saffir clenched his right fist and gently slammed it on the table: "I have a bad feeling... I hope these people are alright."

"Don't worry, both Mavica Hokuto and Arecino are very powerful, nothing will happen to them," Pal reassured her.

Saffir sighed: "I'm afraid something unexpected might happen."

Her concerns were not unfounded; after all, the abyss is something that cannot be viewed through the lens of common sense.

After some time, Ying and her group successfully returned to the Holy Flame Arena, where they immediately saw the guards battling monsters, and a constant stream of people pouring into the arena.

Paimon's tone was no longer calm at first, but rather somewhat solemn: "There are really a lot of people gathered here, it seems we can no longer go out into the wild casually."

The situation continues to worsen, Ying, how are you? Can you still fight?

Ying looked at the monsters that kept appearing: "It's not a question of whether we can or can't do it now, we have to help."

After sending the caravan into the arena of life, she rushed out, wanting to muster her strength to participate in the battle.

But before she could even make a move, a small figure wiped out a large number of monsters with unparalleled speed.

The little guy's knife was taller than her, and every swing it could take away a group of monsters.

But the monsters kept coming in endlessly; no matter how many were cleared out, new ones would appear, their numbers never seemed to decrease, as if they could never be killed off.

"That person is... Jiang Li, right?" Paimon rubbed his eyes, somewhat uncertain.

Ying immediately ran to a position closer to Jiangli to share some of the pressure.

Jiang Li's combat movements were somewhat strange but not clumsy; each move had its own rhythm. She slashed out with her sword, using the momentum to hoist the sword onto her shoulder, making a charging motion, then suddenly leaped into the air, turned, and used the power from her waist to swing the bone-piercing sword she was carrying out again.

Her slashing movements weren't fast because her body was too small and her arm strength wasn't enough to wield the weapon, but the range of her slashes was extremely large because she used her waist to generate power each time. Combined with the special properties of her bone-piercing attacks, this allowed her to rampage through the horde of abyssal monsters.

Jiang Li, who had just finished clearing out a group of monsters, noticed Ying's arrival. She grinned, revealing her teeth, though her two upper front teeth were missing, making her look rather unsightly: "Oh, isn't this Sister Ying? We're fighting side by side so soon!"

Ying smiled back: "Be careful, if you get hurt, every single one of those people from Liyue will go crazy."

"They're far from being able to hurt me." Jiang Li slammed the blade heavily on the ground and took a breath.

Seeing how amazing the little guy is, Paimon was a little doubtful: "In my memory, Jiang Li was still a little kid I could hold in my arms... Is he already this amazing?"

"After all, several years have passed. I even started losing my baby teeth recently. Zhongli examined my bones and confirmed that my bone age is over six years old. I'm almost seven years old now, so don't underestimate me, little Paimon."

"Klee could solo kill the Ancient Rock Dragon Lizard when she was eight years old, so it's reasonable for Jiang Li to be killing Abyss Monsters at seven years old, right?" Jiang Li put on a very impressive look.

She was actually exaggerating when she said that, because this area was blessed by Sapphire, and anyone who fought here would receive the blessing of courage. With Sapphire's blessing of courage, killing abyssal monsters would be a piece of cake.

However, this does not mean that Jiang Li is now stronger than eight-year-old Ke Li. After all, if Jiang Li were to fight the Ancient Rock Dragon Lizard now, she would most likely not be able to win without the blessing of courage.

With everyone working together, this wave of monster attacks was successfully repelled.

People who have been fighting hard finally have a chance to catch their breath.

Only now did Ying have time to look around at the people, and then she spotted a familiar face—Utulunku, whom she had chatted with not long ago.

Seeing that the guy was still standing there unharmed, Ying felt that her efforts had not been in vain, so she went up to greet him.

Utulunku also saw Ying and nodded to her: "I've come to accept my fear, but I still have a question. If I die, will anyone remember me?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li, who was following behind Ying, immediately frowned: "What do you mean by that? What do you mean by 'what if you died'?"

"I'm just...assuming." Utulunku had witnessed Jiang Li's fighting prowess before and did not underestimate her because of her age.

Jiang Li said very seriously, "Never think about such things. Death is the most serious topic for a life. As long as you are alive, never think about what happens after you die."

“That’s right, whatever you do, don’t die.” Ying nodded seriously.

Paimon chimed in, "That's right, your life is important, please live!"

“My life…is very important…” Utulunku’s eyes seemed to be shining.

Jiang Li added, "Although this is our first meeting, please remember that we did not come into this world to die. Every day we spend in this world is because we are alive."

Although death is an inevitable end for everyone, giving up the struggle because death is inevitable is one thing, and fighting back with the determination to die is another.

If I were to die, I would do everything I could to make my death worthwhile, but even if there is only the slightest hope, I would want to live well.

Life is long, and there are many things waiting for us to experience. You are still young, and although I am not qualified to lecture you, I still hope you can understand that no matter what, life should always take precedence over death.

This is the privilege of the living; please do not give up your life.

Seeing this little girl, no more than six or seven years old, speaking so earnestly, Utulunku felt both absurd and enlightened: "I understand, thank you for giving me the answer again, I know what to do."

Utulunku jogged away, and Jiang Li, who was watching him leave, felt Ying's somewhat intense gaze.

She awkwardly turned her head to look at the blond-haired man: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

“Hmm…” Ying chuckled and shook her head, “I just suddenly feel that you and Saffir are alike.”

Jiang Li took a half step back as if she had heard a ghost story: "Don't joke around, would I be like her?"

“It really sounds like her, especially what she just said. I thought it was her.” Ying stretched and rubbed her slightly sore lower back. “Before you were picked up by Shen He, I happened to see her training the new recruits of the Fools, right there at Dunyu Mausoleum.”

Jiang Li frowned as she carefully recalled the relevant plot. She remembered that there was a similar scene in the original story. It was about a legendary figure named Tartaglia. His younger brother came to Liyue, and Tartaglia asked Ying to help take care of his brother. However, he had to complete the task because he lost a bet with his subordinate.

Afterwards, they received a batch of new recruits, and because Tok was nearby, the training was a mess, and the executive officer almost lost his dignity.

She couldn't help but react to the thought of Daliyah claiming to be the best toy salesperson in Winter Country.

That training session eventually turned into a live-fire exercise, where players had to manually control Tartaglia to fight against the Fools' soldiers.

That combined attack from Thunder Hammer, Ice Fat, and Water Fat...

Jiang Li couldn't help but rub her arms. That mission was quite difficult; she had lost several times before finally succeeding. She wondered how it would be this time, with Sapphire in charge.

Could this be another live-fire exercise? With Sapphire's strength, what could those fools possibly learn from live-fire training? They'd just get dizzy and confused; it would be utterly meaningless.

Ying pinched her chin and recalled, "She said that she once stepped onto a battlefield, a place that was very tragic and cruel. Many people died without even leaving their names. They were worried that no one would mourn them after they died, so they would sing a dirge for themselves on their way to the front line."

"Such a desperate battlefield, yet there is such a romantic group of people..." Jiang Li has also stepped onto the battlefield, but she doesn't think it's so hopeless at all, because she firmly believes that her side will prevail, so she is not afraid.

Ying continued, "Then she said that she did not expect her subordinates to be very loyal, and in special circumstances, she allowed them to abandon their missions and prioritize their lives."

At this point, she suddenly froze. Saffir had clearly said such a thing, yet he ordered the soldiers of the Fools to fight to the death. Wasn't that... a contradiction?

Has Saffir changed in the past few years, or has she kept some backup plan?

Ying knew that Saphir could resurrect people, but if the Fools suffered heavy casualties, her resurrection magic would be in vain, wouldn't it?

Jiang Li was unaware of these things. She simply nodded slightly and said, "To be honest, I know about that battlefield. I am a descendant of someone who survived that war."

"So the result is?" Paimon's eyes widened; she hadn't expected to hear the follow-up from Jiang Li's side.

Jiang Li smiled slightly: "We won. Even though the war spread across almost the entire country and nearly wiped out a generation, we still won. We drove out the invaders, built what we considered our own country from scratch, and gradually became stronger."

Before I arrived here, our country had already once again stood at the pinnacle of the world, just as it had for the past five thousand years.