Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1629 - 1159: The Third Clash—Life and Death!

"Almighty! Those natives rowing longships are actually wearing leather armor and carrying bow spears, at least 160 of them!"

"What! They didn't slow down? They're accelerating and charging over!... Merciful Holy Mother protect us! They're enemies! Enemies!..."

"Quickly! Quickly turn around! Get to the sea mouth, head for the deep sea!"

The vast "Great Water Bay" spanning several tens of miles constricts to just a few hundred meters at the sea mouth, connecting to the boundless Caribbean Sea. The bay is teeming with migratory fish, resting and sunning sea turtles, and startled, circling seagulls, brimming with tropical vitality. In contrast to the bay's abundance, the deep blue Caribbean Sea resembles a barren, expansive wasteland, flowing with silent desolation.

Vitality and desolation are separated by the narrow waterway of several hundred meters on either side of the sea mouth. However, for the two light sailing ships of Castile, as they are just about to turn their bows, raising full sails, three oar-sailed longships surge forward, blocking the way to the endless ocean! The line between life and death reverses at this moment!

"Ah! Almighty protect us! The sailing ships accelerate too slowly; the natives' ships have reached the sea mouth first... We can't make it!..."

"What? The natives' longships are charging straight at us! Damn it! Are they going to... board?!..."

On the two light sailing ships, forty Castilian sailors are frantically and fearfully shouting. The natives' three oar-sail ships have already rapidly closed in to within a hundred paces! Captain Pinzon harshly bites through his lip, lacking a moment for fear. With a trembling, piercing voice, he lets out a raven-like, grieving howl.

"Quick! Quick!! Light the fire, fire the cannon! Frighten off these barbarians!!..."

In the veteran sailors' haste, two 3-pound cannons are swiftly prepared, emitting two threatening thunderbolts!

"Boom! Boom!..."

At the bow, Puap grins a reckless, fierce smile. Facing the cannon's roar, he's entirely indifferent. Since the alliance's expedition against the Tarasco Kingdom began, this "divine power" of thunderbolts he has witnessed for about ten years. From initial divine fear and awe, crawling on the ground, to now becoming accustomed, he's not very afraid anymore.

He knows this "thunderbolt" cannon lacks accurate aim, doing well shooting at fixed fortresses and directly targeting large military formations. But wanting to hit rapidly rowing oar-sail longships on the shifting sea surface in a single round is completely impossible.

"Ha! One cannon, two cannons... only two cannons on the evil demon's sailing ships? Tsk tsk, they're not much stronger than the Kingdom's longships!"

The thirty Kingdom's warriors aboard the ship also remain unchanged in expression. On the contrary, the forty Taino oarsmen panic for a few moments before quickly being subdued by the warriors.

"Don't fear! Those are the evil demon's magic artifacts, unable to harm us! We are under the Chief's protection; He is watching us!"

"Row quickly! Accelerate! Only fifty paces left!... Further accelerate, use the ram to charge straight forward!"

"Chief Divine protect! Prepare the hooks! Board the ship and capture, sacrifice to the Divine!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

After a cannon round, two solid iron bullets plunge with a roar, creating two splashes far off, not even touching the oar-sail longship's extended oars. Chaos erupts on the two light sailing ships; all sailors draw their scimitars, forced into a life-or-death battle.

"Damn it! These brutes from out of hell! They're not afraid of cannons!"

"Why panic! Almighty protects us!... Ready guns, aim at the first longship! Without my order, no one is allowed to fire early!... Fifty paces... forty paces... thirty paces!"

The ships rapidly converge, within thirty paces almost able to see the opponents' eyebrows clearly. On the charging oar-sailed longship, the native warriors each displaying fierce expressions, their foreheads carved with flying bird marks. Observing this familiar carving, Captain Pinzon's pupils instantly contract, heart trembling, sensing the God of Death's presence vaguely. But he has no time to think further, merely using all his lung power to roar.

"Light the fire! Fire!!..."

"Bang bang bang!..."

Under Captain Pinzon's roar, more than ten flickering matchlock guns simultaneously fire towards the leading oar-sailed longship! Over ten indistinct lead bullets rapidly shoot forth, impacting three front-row oarsmen almost instantaneously!

"Sizzle!..."

"Ah!..."

"!...What devilish contraption!..."

A scream from close by, Puap squints his eyes, instantly engulfed in blood. He wipes his eyes down, examining his hand covered in red, glancing at the fallen Taino oarsman in front of him. Blood gushes from the oarsman's neck, spilling uncontrollably, unable to discern the injury, definitely beyond saving.

"..."

Puap freezes briefly, sniffing the blood's scent, seemingly inhaling the close brush with death. Two breaths later, his face suddenly flushes red, pulling out the Bronze Axe, freeing the dying oarsman, fiercely and violently roaring.

"Don't stop! Speed up! Chief Divine with me, Divine Power protects me!... Charge!!..."

"Kaboom!..."

"Crack!..."

"Chief Divine protect! Throw the hooks, board the evil demon's ship!"

The ear-piercing sound of splintering wood, the natives' fervent cries, accompanied by the wild shaking collision, reverberates throughout the "Pinta" light sailing ship!

The sailboat, which was accelerating, suddenly trembled and shook as if it were a carriage stuck by a stone, and its speed dropped abruptly. But after just a few breaths, there was another violent impact! The entire light sailing ship jolted violently, coming to a complete stop. Two Castilian sailors, who were nervously loading matchlock guns near the ship's side, even fell directly into the sea!

"Ah! Two native longships have blocked both our sides! We can't move!..."

"Quickly load the muskets! Shoot them dead!..."

"Oh Lord! The natives have thrown hooks, entangling the ropes on the ship! They're climbing up!..."

"Damn it! Cut the ropes! Quickly!..."

"Natives on both sides, so many natives!… There's no time! Some natives have climbed up!..."

"Merciful Holy Mother, save us! Save us!... Uh!..."

Dozens of Warriors of the Kingdom climbed one after another onto the ship's prow. Shining copper spears stabbed, and golden bronze axes swung, as if a reversal of the classical city-state era. However, bronze weapons, in the hands of veteran warriors, can still kill, and efficiently at that.

"Sizzle!..."

"Puff..."

"Ah! Ah..."

Soon, the spray of blood, like flying fish jumping over the waves, spilled and spread on both sides of the ship's side. A head that fell into the sea became a "fish" in the wave of blood. Puap grinned and laughed, splashed with blood all over his head and face. He tasted the flavor in his mouth and compared with the enemies he had killed over the years, finding that the blood of the evil demons didn't seem so different. Then, this killer rudely "spat" out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, lowered his blood-dripping bronze axe, looked at a headless body spurting blood, and cursed in the native language of Prepecha.

"Ha! You headless rodent dared to ambush me, Great Master Huitu?! Watch me chop off your ugly hairy head and throw it into the sea to feed the fish!..."

"Hmm! This smoking peculiar long tube, wrapped with a lit cord… Is this the evil demon artifact that ambushed me? The matchlock gun His Majesty spoke of?..."

Puap squinted his eyes, examining a Castilian long tube matchlock gun that had fallen in the pool of blood. The dark gun body, smeared with a circle of red halo, exuded a mysterious dark red, like a shamanic artifact left by a priest. And the lit match cord, once soaked in blood, flickered briefly and then went out. The paper-wrapped lead bullets were scattered everywhere, falling around the sailor's corpse, like a tribute to the dead...

"Pah! So thin and long, with a dangling string, what the hell is this messy thing?!"

Confronted with an unknown evil demon artifact, a moment of unease and fear flashed through Puap's heart. The screams of slaughter nearby, the shouts of warriors hacking, all seemed like fading noise in a split second, leaving only the red on that matchcord. But soon, this fear from the unknown was replaced by bloodier fervor, turning into the joyous smile on Puap's face.

"Haha! That one with the slanted hat and colorful clothes, constantly shouting, must be the leader of the evil demons on the ship!..."

"Roar! Get out of the way, all of you, get out of my way!… He's mine! It's a great merit granted by His Majesty!..."

"I want to duel him personally, and collect his full-bearded head! This is a trophy even the Black Wolf General didn't have!..."

"Come on! Let the Chief Divine witness! Let's decide the glorious life and death under God's attention!..."

"Oh Lord! You bunch of brutal Cipangu barbarians dare to attack the navy of the Queen of Castile, killing the kingdom's sailors! You'll suffer divine punishment from the Almighty!..."

"Good! Brave leader of the evil demons, even though I don't understand your words, your bravery on your face makes me very happy! This is the first duel between the leader of evil demons and the Main God Warrior!... Ahaha! As the initiator of the duel, I, the glorious Huitu Warrior Puap, will surely be recorded in the scriptures of the Priesthood, engraved on the holy stone tablet! Come on, let us not die!!..."

"Damn it! You barbarian waving a ragged bronze axe! You short and stout ugly Viking barbarian!... Ah! My rapier! My hand!!..."

Weapons clashed, fierce fighting still on the Nina, but the shouts of slaughter on the Pinta gradually ceased. On the scarlet deck, the bodies of a dozen sailors laid everywhere, with only a few managing to surrender. Meanwhile, the warriors of the kingdom, barefoot in the pool of blood, guarded the few remaining sacrifices while excitedly watching the duel at the ship's prow.

Captain Pinzon, wearing a flimsy captain's uniform, and Puap in full leather armor wielded crossed sword and spear. He struggled to one-on-one for a few breaths, but was no match for the veteran warrior, getting his arm chopped by the incoming bronze axe!

"Ah! Holy Mother! You barbarian! You... uh! Respected Xipangu Warriors… I am an envoy of the Kingdom of Castile! I am an envoy dispatched by the Queen!... I want to see your Chieftain… see your King!... Ah! No! Don't!..."

"Haha! Brave leader of the evil demons, even though I don't understand your words, the poem you left before your death has already been heard by the concerned Chief Divine! The Chief Divine must be pleased, seeing the sun so bright!... Go on gloriously to the Divine Kingdom!"

"No!!!"

Amidst Pinzon's terrified and desperate howls, Huitu Puap suddenly kicked him down into a kneeling position. Then, Puap pressed down on Pinzon's struggling head, exposing his sun-browned neck just like handling a "big fish" on the deck.

"Praise Vizilobositli! I offer you a sacred, unprecedented white-skinned sacrifice! I am your most faithful, bravest warrior Puap!... I plead for your blessing, grant me a glorious return to my long-separated homeland of the Lake Region!..."

The Huitu warrior earnestly prayed a few sentences, looked down at the "sacrifice" he held, and laughed excitedly. The smile was brilliant and sincere, just like the safflower of Prepecha Lake District. Then, he wielded his sharp axe forcefully!

Another bright red safflower instantly bloomed on the deck, painting with the vividness of Castilian blood roses...

"Haha! The first big fish of the evil demons, the first great merit of the divine war! It's mine, Puap!!..."

"Ahahaha!!..."