Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1425 - 980: The Black Wolf’s Divine Artifact, Frost of Sorrow
"Praise the Chief Divine! We have conquered the Hidden Serpent City and taken the fake god’s Holy Temple! ... The highest title has issued a Royal Decree to sacrifice all of the Divine Descendants of the Hidden Serpent... without leaving a single one, no matter young or old!..."
The bloody rainy night was filled with a death march, echoing in the fallen Hidden Serpent City. The first half of the night was a symphony of screams and burning flames, while the latter half was a silent death and flowing dark red. As the day broke and the morning sun rose from the Eastern Sea, the ancient songs vanished entirely.
In the ancient City-State, there were only devout praises to the Chief Divine, and cheers of victory! The Samurai’s praises and cheers resonated in this Eastern Holy City of the Totonac, intending to erase all "sacred" bloodlines completely!
"The Chief Divine bears witness! This head is burnt beyond recognition!..."
The flames of the Temple Pyramid had long been extinguished completely. Black Wolf Toltec stood at the base of the pyramid, holding a charred head in his hands. He examined it back and forth for a while with widened eyes before handing it over to the surrendered general Papu.
"Papu, take a look. You’re more familiar. Is this head the Seaside Chief Priest’s?"
"Uh! Black Wolf leader, I... let me take a careful look."
This surrendering general, Papu, held the head with surging emotions in his heart. He stood still, staring blankly for a moment, and his eyes gradually became moist.
To be honest, the Seaside Chief Priest Atcokoyotelzin personally promoted him from a fleeing Feathered Serpent Priest to the Naval Commander of Hidden Serpent City... Though there was consideration for balancing City-State power and utilizing fleeing tribes, to him, it was indeed great kindness and reward!
This revered spiritual leader ruled over the Eastern Totonac tribes for more than twenty years! His faith and will were unyielding like a rock, fighting to the death against the tide of the Mexica invasion for three years! Even till the end, this esteemed Chief Priest did not abandon the Holy City to escape...
"Blue sea teeth... sharp serpent fangs... three-colored gemstones... Feathered Serpent form... yes... it’s him!"
The surrendering general, Papu, lowered his head, forcefully opening the mouth of the head. He then focused on the sharpened serpent teeth, the embedded gemstones, and the specially engraved lines and patterns, as if he were looking at the waves of the sea. He identified it carefully for a moment, then suddenly became desolate, unable to stop the tears from flowing down.
"It’s... it’s you! ... Revered Seaside Chief Priest, ’The Revered One of the Sea and Land,’ Atcokoyotelzin... it’s you! Wuwu!..."
"Huh? Why are you crying now? Papu, what are you crying about? Do you miss those false old gods?..."
Black Wolf Toltec frowned and scolded furiously. He watched surrendering general Papu, whose true emotions were revealed with tears streaming, entirely bewildered. This old fox had betrayed the Naval Forces, surrendered to the highest figure, offered the Hidden Serpent City, and converted to the Chief Divine... He had done all these things, betrayed all that could be betrayed, and now, upon encountering the Chief Priest of the fake god and seeing a decapitated head, he couldn’t help but cry?
"Wuwu! Black Wolf leader... I, I don’t know... This... although this head is dead, it was indeed the esteemed one of the Seaside, the most revered Chief Priest! He was once the incarnation of All Gods on earth, worshipped by countless tribes, revered by all as a Saint!"
The surrendering general, Papu, tears in his eyes, filled with relentless sorrow in his heart, haphazardly argued in response. Hidden Serpent City had fallen; everything was over. The All Gods, whom he had believed in half his life, the Sun and Feathered Serpent he revered so deeply, from now on would truly be heading toward extinction in the Seaside Lands!
At this moment, even with flexible faith thresholds, he couldn’t control his sorrow, couldn’t restrain the shock and desolation of witnessing the destruction of once-believed faith and the demise of sanctity!
At this moment, only the priests and warriors of the Seaside Lands could deeply feel what the destruction of the Hidden Serpent Holy Land and the extinction of the Divine Descendants and priests meant for the faith of every tribe!
"Ah! I... I figured it out! This is Mana; it’s the Mana from this head! ... It... it sees the extinction of All Gods, the loss of everything at the Seaside, even the extinguishment of the final Holy Temple... It died with so much unwillingness, leaving only the most desperate curse to entangle! ... Therefore, this head, from its Divinity, birthed Mana, like the divine disaster of the North in legends, cold, despairing, and sorrowful!"
"Uh? Sorrowful Mana, like the cold snow of the North? ... From this head?"
Black Wolf suspiciously touched his head, looking at Chief Priest Atcokoyotelzin’s severed head, but felt nothing. He looked at the red-haired trusted aide, Chabo, beside him and asked in a deep voice.
"Chabo, did you feel it?"
"Uh? Leader, feel what?"
"Sorrow."
"Ha?! What did you say?"
"Sorrow... just sadness!"
"Uh... sad? Why be sad after winning?"
The red-haired trusted aide, Chabo, blinked, looked at the serious Black Wolf, and suddenly had an epiphany.
"Ah! Leader, I feel it; I’m so sad!"
"Hm? You feel it? This head really has mana?!"
"Yes! Leader... the army has entered the city, the warriors are looting things, grabbing women everywhere... yet I can only stay by your side, can’t grab anything... wuwu! I’m so sad, I’m sad to death!..."
"... Get lost! ... You can leave, the farther the better!..."
"Ah! I can go looting? Praise the leader!"
Upon hearing this, the red-haired trusted aide, Chabo, was overjoyed. He quickly rolled off, then wielding the bronze axe, sped towards the nobility district like the wind.
There, ruthless slaughter and looting were ongoing, and all the Divine Descendants and nobility, all past rulers, were destined to head towards the sacrificial altar... In the new order of the Seaside, there was no place for them. They would lose all their power, status, and wealth, and their lives and bloodlines would also be lost!
"Papu..."
"Uh... Black Wolf leader..."
Black Wolf turned his head, squinting his eyes, staring at Papu beside him, revealing a cold wolfish gaze.
"Ha! What mana from the head... you dare to deceive me?!"
"Ah! The Chief Divine bears witness! I... I haven’t!..."
"But I can’t feel it, and Chabo can’t feel it either!..."
The Surrendered General Papu, holding the head, felt the killing intent in the eyes of the Black Wolf and instantly panicked, even stuttering in his voice.
"Res... Respected Black Wolf Leader, you... you and your trusted aides are a pack that has been through countless slaughters, blessed by the mana of the God of Death! Therefore... you can’t feel the mana of this head!..."
"But... but, as the Chief Divine bears witness! ... Just summon any Totonac Warrior and let them see the head of Chief Priest Atcokoyotelzin... they will definitely feel the mana of the head and the sorrow it holds! ... I swear by it!"
"You swear? By your life?"
"Uh... I... I swear..."
The eyes of the Black Wolf were cold as he stared at the Surrendered General Papu for a while, making the latter sweat profusely, then turned his head to his trusted aide.
"Go, call the Forest Wolf!"
"Yes, Leader!"
"Praise the Chief Divine! He is supreme and devours all the old gods of the Seaside, reigning over the land, sea, and sky! ... The Chief Divine controls everything! Only by conversion to the Chief Divine can past sins be forgiven, and the soul, after death, can go to the Divine Kingdom!..."
As all the armies entered the city, the cleansing of Hidden Serpent City continued. The accompanying War Priest couldn’t wait and already lit the blazing Sacred Fire in the morning sun. Soon, the grand conversion ceremony would take place in the plaza before the pyramid. Solemn and bloody sacrifices, blood oaths, and conversion would rebuild all crumbling and despairing souls from this moment forth.
Amid the resounding chants of the Chief God Priests, the Forest Wolf, Mayakun, rushed in. The leather armor he wore was stained with blood, and there was fierceness and killing intent between his brows. Until he saw the Black Wolf Torc, that wolf-like ferocity was instantly restrained, and he obediently lowered his head.
"By the protection of the Chief Divine, we have taken Hidden Serpent City!... Black Wolf Leader, you called for me?"
"Hmm... Forest Wolf, come here!..."
The Black Wolf Torc slightly smiled and nodded. Then he took the dark head from the hands of the Surrendered General Papu, giving Papu a cold look, before turning and placing the head in Mayakun’s hands.
"Hold it!"
"Uh? By the protection of the Chief Divine! This... what is this? A burnt... head?..."
The Forest Wolf Mayakun held the head with a puzzled and confused expression in his eyes.
"Leader? This..."
"Hmm. As the Chief Divine bears witness! Papu has already identified it..."
The Black Wolf’s eyes were sharp, speaking calmly while intently watching the expression on the Forest Wolf.
"This is the head of the Seaside’s Chief Priest, Atcokoyotelzin..."
"Ah! What! This! This! ... This head is! Is it..."
Upon hearing this, the Forest Wolf Mayakun seemed to be struck by a spell, instantly standing motionless, murmuring a few incoherent words, and then quickly fell silent. He dumbly stared at the head in his hands, observing the blurry, unrecognizable features... yet seemingly once more seeing the divine embodiment he revered since childhood, the most sacred elder of the Seaside!
The mark of this belief was deeply ingrained in the hearts of the Seaside Warriors, binding their souls, even if only partially... To the Southside warriors of the Seaside and Jungle, unlike those free-spirited and untamed Wilderness warriors who wandered the edges of different beliefs, divine beings and divinity were the most important part of their understanding, having even become a part of life itself!
At that moment, faced with the deceased Chief Priest of the Seaside, their old faith finally dissipated completely, as though their souls had fully shed the old gods, truly, fully, embracing the Chief Divine...
"The Chief Priest of the Seaside... he has died? ... All Gods... All Gods are dead too?..."
Forest Wolf Mayakun stood still for a moment, then raised his head in a daze. Holding the scorched head of Atcokoyotel, looking at the Hidden Serpent Holy Temple covered in burn marks, tears suddenly flowed from his eyes, and he cried out.
"Dead! They’re dead! ... All the Gods are dead! ... And the Chief Divine has ascended to the highest!"
"Uh!..."
The Black Wolf widened his eyes, gazing at the suddenly crying and wailing Forest Wolf Mayakun, this fierce wolf he had trained personally, surprised in an indescribable way.
"As the Chief Divine bears witness! This... this head... actually has mana?!"
"Ah! I’ve decided, the head of the Seaside Chief Priest will be my most prized possession! Let me think, let me think..."
"By the protection of the Chief Divine! I have thought of it! I will make this head into a magic artifact, and embed it into my Legion Commander’s Longsword!..."
"And the magic artifact made from this head will possess the mournful power like the divine disaster of the North! Its name shall be... shall be..."
The Black Wolf Torc took back the head, pondering for a moment. He suddenly recalled a story that was once told by the prince to the trusted aides during leisure years ago.
In that story, there was a truly powerful, immortal tribal warrior who controlled the divine power of death! He tirelessly slaughtered and waged war, to annihilate any enemy daring to resist, to destroy all the old gods. The divine artifact in this warrior’s hand was precisely the longsword of a Legion Commander. And the name of that longsword was...
"’Frost of Sorrow’! Yes, like the divine disaster of the North, cold, despairing and sorrowful!"
At that moment, the Black Wolf loudly declared, eyes gleaming with a desire for slaughter, and a cold exhilaration emerged. Then, with a fierce pull, he drew the Eight-Sided Qin Sword from his waist and forcefully pressed Atcokoyotel’s head onto the sword hilt!
"Haha! The longsword of death, the sorrow of divine disaster! I will wield this mournful divine artifact, bringing the chill and despair of death to all enemies obstructing the Kingdom!..."
