"A person's strength can also be their weakness," Hanix said.
"A righteous person is strong because they adhere to their beliefs and avoid temptation, making them less likely to fall into traps. However, being unable to let go of certain things may cause them to miss opportunities and suffer a crushing defeat. Conversely, an evil person gains many advantages by using unscrupulous methods but may face public outrage for ignoring rules, ultimately leading to their downfall due to infamy."
"A person's advantage can entirely be their weakness. Their strong points can also be their weak points. I've seen many such people. They are extraordinarily talented in magic, but because of this, they excessively indulge their desires and are ultimately consumed by magic."
"A person can be both smart and talented, yet shortsighted and eager for quick success, without conflict. It's possible to be knowledgeable and accomplished in mysticism and magic theory, while recklessly exposing oneself to danger to gain greater power."
"Saphire possesses an astounding magic talent, rivaling that of the Supreme Magician, and yet his desires can devastate everything he's built."
"When facing the Supreme Magician, what keeps him on even footing is his powerful command of magic. Yet when facing the Little Wizard, what leads to his defeat is his own arrogance and greed. This simultaneously displays his strength and weakness, without contradiction or conflict."
Greed nodded. "Hanix indeed has a point. A person can truly be both strong and weak. For example, Iron Man is such a case.
It's undeniable that he is powerful, with unmatched technological advancement and research capabilities. But defeating him is straightforward—his anxiety nearly destroyed him.
The saying goes, character determines destiny. Two individuals with the same talents can become drastically different due to their temperament; whether calm or impatient, ambitious or not, whether they prefer conformity or independence.
If Saphire possesses both powerful strength and character, he ought to be the Supreme Magician. Conversely, if the Supreme Magician, holding great power, has a fragile heart, he might also become like Saphire.
They are like two branches on the same line of fate, the same cause yielding different results, reflecting the truth about magic—magic is wish fulfillment, and character is more crucial than strength.
Marvel's magic is borrowing power. Because of this, if you are not resolute and too greedy, you will certainly be led into a trap by the Devils. On the other hand, being resolute and immune to temptation renders the Demon God powerless.
"Indeed, that's how it is." Chris stood up and paced by the fireplace. "I've been pondering what kind of concept to convey to the children. Of course, broadly speaking, it's that evil cannot prevail against justice, and righteousness always triumphs."
"But if this isn't a magic movie, just a regular school film, we could still portray this theme. The protagonists perform acts of justice with their kind hearts, encouraging children to reject evil and champion justice. So, what's the unique aspect of magic?"
"Now I have a clue. Unlike other movies, magic is a new kind of power. It can be mastered and learned, even by very young children, similar to firearms in a society of ordinary people."
"If you get hold of a gun, what would you do with it?" Chris paused before continuing, "Would you use it to help others, or just shoot those you dislike?"
"We can't make a movie like this, where children use guns to shoot at people. It's far too straightforward, potentially prompting unhealthy imitation and cannot be released, parents won't let children watch it."
"But borrowing magic is different. Parents and children see magic as good and wonderful and won't realize that magic is similar to firearms. Good people can use it to uphold justice, while bad people can harm others with it, even more effectively than guns."
"Hence, we must use magic to teach children this lesson: When we obtain immense power, we should use it to make the world better, instead of harming our compatriots and the innocent—those who bully the weak will inevitably suffer the consequences."
"Following this theory, we should design Saphire as a negative example. He possesses incredibly powerful forces but doesn't use them righteously, overly indulging in using power to bully others or endlessly plundering resources, ultimately defeated by the Supreme Magician, suffering consequences."
"His weakness lies in his disposition, his strength lies in his magic power. Thus, Little Wizards can potentially exploit his character flaws to escape from his grasp, whereas grown Young Mages might feel immense pressure when facing such a strong magician."
"Let's proceed this way." Chris pounded his fist into his palm, but soon stopped and sat back down, looking at Greed, "Yet in this case, the character becomes much more complex. You need to simultaneously showcase his power and his personality flaws. Can you do that?"
"That depends on what you design as the biggest flaw," Greed replied.
"The lady has already said—arrogance and greed. Yes, these two traits are easiest to find in those geniuses. Because of their talent, they are arrogant; because they crave greater power, they are greedy. I believe these two are good, what do you think?"
"Absolutely no problem." Greed smiled at him and said, "Just as it happens, arrogance and greed are both here."
Chris borrowed the study to write the script. But it wasn't long before he emerged again, calling Greed inside.
"I'm somewhat lacking inspiration," Chris said, a bit troubled. "I'm currently crafting the encounter between Saphire and Mephisto. It's Mephisto's first appearance, and I want to portray his cunning and sinister nature. Simultaneously, I also wish to display part of Saphire's character traits..."
Greed thought for a moment, then said, "There really is something ready-made, something that just happened. This place is called Hampton, but it was anciently known as the Crown of Christ..."
Greed briefly explained the process of Mephisto creating the Heart of Darkness. This indeed gave Chris inspiration. As he wrote, he said, "It could be designed such that in a region under the devils' temptation, countless evils converged. And Saphire, seeking greater power, pursued them here, wanting to extract the evil for his use. And Mephisto discovered his talent, beginning to lure him into corruption..."
"No, no, no," Greed shook his head, "This makes it too religiously narrative, the whole Eden and Satan routine again. We can't blame Saphire's evil on Mephisto."
"What?" Chris was a bit confused, "If not Mephisto, then who? It's Mephisto who tempted Saphire."
Greed continued shaking his head, "Whether you want to highlight Saphire's greatness or evil, you can't make him look like an innocent who knows nothing, and even less of a victim. No environment's pressure, devil's temptation, or unfortunate childhood can be the root of his evil."
"Then what is?"
"He himself," Greed said, "because of arrogance, he has no sense of awe; because of greed, he is ambitious. All of this stems from his heartfelt thoughts, not from anyone's temptation or coercion."
"Moreover, if you want to set Saphire as the main antagonist, rather than Mephisto, then you need to let Saphire reveal a naturally evil that even devils fear, making Saphire the dominant figure in this relationship – he's the one who seduced Mephisto."
"Hmm –"
Chris stood there silently stunned. His mind was racing, his brain almost boiling.
Chris is just a director, not a screenwriter. Although a director can't be unfamiliar with screenwriting, he's not formally trained, so when it comes to character building and dramatic conflict creation, he's not that professional. He hadn't really thought of character building from this angle.
Can a human seduce a devil? Is this really feasible? Would the audience truly believe it?
Yet for some reason, when Chris imagined Shiller acting out these scenes in his mind, he found it incredibly persuasive. If he were the audience, he would also think that it wasn't the devil who seduced Shiller, but Shiller who seduced the devil.
But, the camera tends to dilute a person's aura, and the director's task is to use the camera to compensate for this dilution and even further enhance the actor's aura. This is also a challenge for a well-known director like Chris.
While Chris was pondering, some noise suddenly came from downstairs. Greed glanced outside the door, then said, "You keep writing, I'll go and take a look."
As Greed went out, he saw Mephisto downstairs. Not surprisingly at all, this jerk came to snatch the child.
Sarah was holding Little Blake, hiding in the back, Hanix was blocking the front, with Stark and Peter ahead. The kids were by the window watching.
Mephisto wasn't particularly arrogant. To be precise, he seemed quite bewildered and helpless. He looked at the baby in Sarah's arms with an expression saying, "What the hell is this?"
"Nice to see you, Mephisto." Greed leaned on the railing of the skylight, smiling down at him, "Glad to see this paternal side of you. Who would've thought devils could have family bonds."
Greed descended the stairs, all attention on Mephisto, not noticing Chris had already left the study and was standing at the doorway watching him while writing furiously.
Mephisto's expression looked as if he'd eaten something foul, and Greed had no intention of sparing him: "You must feel proud that you managed to have Heart of Darkness transformed into a human to deceive the Supreme Magician and sneak onto Earth, even coming to show off in front of me, letting me see your masterpiece as soon as I investigate."
"What a pity, a true human wouldn't have such a disgraceful devil father like you. Your relationship with him is the only flaw in his human bloodline. As your old friend, of course, I should help complete your plan and work. So I took action, removing that last bit of disharmony too. Look, now he's a truly perfect human baby."
"You…" Mephisto couldn't help but glare angrily at Greed, speechless, wanting to leave but feeling too embarrassed.
"I think you completely got the wrong method," Greed walked up to Mephisto, gazing into his blood-red eyes, saying, "Such crooked ways won't let you have offspring with human bloodline—why not try having a child with someone?"
"Oh, I forgot, for beings like you, to ignite the flame of a human soul, love is needed. Do you understand love?"
Mephisto fell into contemplation. And upstairs, Chris finally understood how humans indeed seduced devils.