Then, a huge boom resounded through the sky.
A crack appeared in the blue stone at the top of the whip.
Seeing this, Tlaloc looked stunned, as if he couldn't believe it.
But Favia didn't care about her. He rushed forward and grabbed the black-haired girl's wrist. Tlaloc reacted and quickly stretched out his other hand to try to catch Favia, but the silver-haired young man was faster. He used his left foot as a fulcrum and his right foot was like a dragon rising to the sky.
Before the astonishment on Tlaloc's face disappeared after he was knocked into the sky, a trace of tragic blood had already spread from the wound on his chest.
It was undoubtedly overwhelming violence.
To be fair, Tlaloc had fought as hard as he could.
But in fact, as the magic world says, the battle between mysteries is over before it even begins. This is the form of existence.
Specially estimated time, destroying the ships on board, utilizing the power of the sea, etc.
However, what Tlaloc did not expect was that this human ignored all the above rules and used all means to abuse and trample on her.
Despite this, Tlaloc did not back down, and put aside his serious injuries and planned to continue fighting.
Because she absolutely could not tolerate the existence of someone who could destroy the Aztec Empire setting foot on this land—
Before that, a slight violent vibration from the ground not far away was transmitted to the two of them.
"Wait for me."
Tlaloc clenched his hands and restrained his rage: "I will definitely kill you, stranger. I will not forget your face and the taste of your blood. No matter how long it takes, I will definitely reappear in this world and devour your flesh."
I guess it was really unbearable for her to have a battle that she should have fought to the end interrupted like this.
After she finished speaking, the surrounding environment returned to its original state in an instant. The blood on the ground quickly dried up, and the dark clouds above the sky dissipated at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if nothing had happened.
Then, when Tlaloc was about to dissipate, Favia rushed over again with an expressionless face. When he clenched his fists and chopped through the air again, a high-pitched sound like the friction between steel and iron was produced.
The fist was close, approaching Tlaloc's eyes.
In the end, it came to an abrupt end.
"Then I will wait patiently. I hope you can be stronger than you are now. Of course, please do better in sneak attacks, okay?"
"...you bastard—"
Favia smiled slightly at the black-haired girl who finally showed anger as it dissipated.
Afterwards, he stayed quietly on the shore. Not long after, Bawan Xi, who was on the boat, also successfully drove the boat to the shore.
In addition, there was a group of people who came quickly from the dense forest, wearing clothes that seemed ancient to the Europeans in the 16th century.
The skin of these people was mostly light black, so Favia knew that they were from the Aztec Empire.
However, Favia felt a little surprised because he could actually understand what they said even though he had never learned it.
Bawan Xi, who was standing by, was confused by the chattering noises made by this group of inexplicable people.
Not long after, a man who was obviously a leader, with a face that was both somewhat vicissitudes and somewhat innocent, stood in front of Favia and asked:
"Are you the messenger of Quetzalcoatl?"
231: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (5k5)
In 1519, there were still many tribes in Central and South America, but most of them were dependent on the dominant Aztec Empire.
The Aztec Empire was originally just a tripartite alliance formed by three major city-states. As time went on, after the Aztecs' former master, the Tepanix, was defeated, the city-states led by Tenochtitlan became the dominant force among the three parties. When Favia arrived here, the other two city-states had already become its vassals.
Before the great battles of Tlaloc and Favia on the coastline, in the capital of the Aztec Empire, a dark-skinned man stood in the royal palace near the center of the city, overlooking the center of the empire and everything that was gradually becoming stronger in his hands.
The streets and squares of Tenochtitlan are neatly arranged, and the city is square. The center of the city is a complex of buildings dominated by the 35-meter-high pyramid Great Temple, which enshrines the rain god Tlaloc and the war god Huitzilopochtli.
The central square is surrounded by high walls and palaces. The city has more than 10 kilometers of waterproof dikes and two stone troughs to bring fresh water from the land into the city.
The man's name was Montezuma Zocoyotlán, which means Young Montezuma. The most widely known translation of him is Montezuma II, the ninth ruler of the Aztec Empire. It can be said that the reason why the Triple Alliance became the one-man show in Tenochtitlan was all due to his credit.
When resisting the rule of the Tepanec people, the three cities of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed an alliance, which is the prototype of what is now called the Aztecs. The status of the three cities was mainly reflected by the division of spoils of war at a ratio of 2:2:1. In this sense, Tenochtitlan and Texcoco were equal.
As time went by, Tenochtitlan surpassed Texcoco. Tlacopan, the weakest state, was a fence-sitter. So, in this situation, Mong II took advantage of the death of the ruler of Texcoco and used his power to appoint his sister to marry the nephew of the deceased king of Texcoco to become the ruler of Texcoco. When other candidates were gathering troops to seize power, he personally led his troops to stop them and won the throne of Texcoco through negotiations.
In addition to this, Montezuma II's military achievements were also extremely strong. When he was still a prince, he became the head of the "Four-Man Committee", the central military department of the Aztec Empire. He can be understood as the Aztec version of the Grand Marshal.
He then spent eight years continuously attacking the Zapotec, Mixtec, and Tlapanec peoples in the south, allowing the territory of the Aztec Empire to continue to expand rapidly in his hands, until 8 when only a few city-states with rather small territories in the south retained their independence.
Under Mongol II, the empire was divided into thirty-eight provinces, and he sent officials, accompanied by military garrisons, to ensure that taxes were paid, to uphold the laws of the land, and to serve as magistrates in case of disagreements.
These provinces were divided according to their functions into strategic provinces that focused on military functions and were managed by imperial troops, and tribute provinces that focused on economic functions and paid tribute to the central region.
Management, law and the military intervened in local areas. Although the rulers of each city-state still nominally held the title of decision-maker, in reality this power was stripped away by this combination of measures. Such policies deepened the centralization of the empire and were a manifestation of the empire's progress.
It can be said that Montezuma II was the one who pushed the Aztec Empire to become the "true empire in Central and South America"...if this ancient empire would still exist in the future or even survive longer.
At this moment, Montezuma II withdrew his gaze from the Great Temple dedicated to the rain god Tlaloc and the god of war Huitzilopochtli. In this room where he was the only one in, there was a rather decadent atmosphere.
In fact, generally speaking, any Aztec would be happy to be in this room where the empire discusses policies, and it is only the eyes of Montezuma II who create such a decadent atmosphere.
"Quetzalcoatl..."
Montezuma II murmured this, but for some reason he felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec name for the feathered serpent god Kukulkan.
"Quetzalcoatl, when will you return? Please come back soon."
Almost no Aztecs could see the area atop the Templo Mayor, and it was probably impossible to recognize it.
Because the Great Temple is a temple dedicated to the God of Rain and the God of War. Even though the Age of Gods had passed for many years, Montezuma II, who became the ruler of the Aztecs, could still feel that there was some power stored in the temple that was far more powerful than any of the priests in the empire.
Montezuma II remembered the words passed down from generation to generation saying:
The power of God can hold the whole world in the palm of your hand.
Although the gods have left, the arms of the gods are still scanning the entire world. This is the ability to know things in the distant beyond that are originally unknowable.
Having said that, Montezuma II also understood that the power of the past was gone, or could no longer be exerted, and these ancient things could only be abandoned...but he couldn't do it.
Yes, it is impossible. Montezuma II knew that he could not do it. He could not change the "human sacrifice" that everyone in the empire had long been accustomed to.
Whenever the great temple flashed a light that only the ruler could see, it meant the beginning of another human sacrifice.
For the Aztecs, the "sun" is the most important existence. In Aztec mythology, the world was created and destroyed four times. Each time a new sun is created, it illuminates the whole world.
So in order to keep the sun shining on mankind, they created the custom of regularly offering human blood and hearts to the sun. In order to continuously replenish the offerings for living sacrifices, the Aztecs had to constantly fight to obtain captives as offerings in the ceremonies. For this reason, wars often broke out between cities, which were called "Crown Wars". Once they had obtained the number of captives they needed, they would begin to sign a ceasefire agreement.
But this was exactly what Montezuma II found difficult to accept. In 1516, the Aztec Three Cities Alliance captured a warrior alive when they launched a war for a festival.
According to the rules of the War of the Crown of Honor, any warrior captured alive must be taken back for human sacrifice. This is an acceptable fate for the defeated warriors, because in the Aztec concept, it is glorious to offer one's strength to the gods.
But Montezuma II did not want to let the warrior die, so he pardoned him. But the warrior was unwilling to do so. In 1517, he helped the Aztec army fight against Tarasco, the western power of Central America at that time, just to thank Montezuma II for his appreciation, and captured a large number of Tarasco prisoners. However, he still asked Montezuma II for a glorious death. Montezuma II could only arrange a duel. The warrior was finally killed after defeating more than ten opponents in a row and was "freed."
In fact, the reason why Montezuma II was unwilling to kill him was not only because he valued his talent, but more importantly, during that war, he, who was already accustomed to participating in the battlefield, saw the eyes of his enemies -
The look was full of pure disgust and hatred, not towards the battle, but towards the people of the Aztec Empire.
Although this kind of look was not strange on the battlefield, Montezuma II had a premonition that if this continued, the Aztec Empire would be destroyed by the surrounding tribes that they hated because of years of war.
Therefore, this made him, who already believed in Quetzalcoatl, look forward to the day when Quetzalcoatl would return even more.
According to Aztec mythology, during the secular period when the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl ruled, the world was peaceful and life was rich and peaceful.
However, under the conspiracy of Tezcatlipoca, the incarnation of the black sun, Quetzalcoatl had to give up his rule and leave.
"Hey, where are you going?" he asked maliciously, "Why are you leaving your capital?"
"I am going back to Trabalan," Quetzalcoatl said, "and you know why."
“I feel like I don’t know.”
"...I must return to our Maya," Quetzalcoatl replied, "and one day, you must return there too. Then, after I have given you a good beating, I will come back here!"
"Then go on your merry way," he said, "but I hope your bird-brain will work better by then!"
"You are a bastard who only knows how to destroy, bloodthirst and fight, and sacrifice your life..."
"You have a broken head. You know what it means to fight bravely, indulge in pleasure, and die fiercely. You'd better disappear from my sight if you don't want to bleed. This world doesn't need people who can't get hurt. This is a world where everyone has to pay a price. This is a world where everyone will sacrifice."
Then, Quetzalcoatl came to the seaside, boarded a huge golden boat as big as a palace towed by sea snakes, and sailed towards Trabalan.
"...One day, when I come back from the sea, I will deny all this."
The reason why Montezuma II was a believer of Quetzalcoatl was not only because he wanted to abolish human sacrifice, but also because the original belief of the Aztecs was Quetzalcoatl.
The ancestors of the Aztecs came from a place called Aztlan in the north. According to legend, they followed the instructions of Quetzalcoatl and went south to Lake Texcoco in the Anahuac Valley.
When they came to the island in the middle of the lake, they saw an eagle holding a snake in its mouth resting on a cactus. This image told them that they should build a city here.
It is for this reason that Montezuma II hoped that the mythical 'day of Quetzalcoatl's return' would come soon, so that he could use this legend that has been passed down to this day to smoothly abolish human sacrifice in the empire.
It was noon, and above the vast, blue, unchanging sky hung the sun, which never changed.
Suddenly, Montezuma II felt an ominous premonition all over his body, and it was a feeling that he couldn't stop no matter what.
Confused, he subconsciously looked in the direction of the ominous premonition, and then he gradually realized something -
Something unknown was coming to the eastern seashore, and the heavy rain under the dark sky unique to that place was the most effective proof of it.
"Could this be..."
Montezuma II was speechless.
After a while, the imperial priests and high-ranking officials who learned of this situation came here and waited for his orders.
Montezuma II glanced around and saw that all the high-ranking priests and high-ranking figures had gathered there.
"What do you guys think?"
"King, according to the oracle of the Lord God of War, God requires us to kill the visitor."
Before some ministers could say "set up a special intelligence room to listen to reports and be more cautious", the old priest of the Great Temple spoke first.
"I see, is this the prophecy of the God of War..."
Hearing this, Montezuma II narrowed his eyes slightly. As a ruler, he could naturally see that this sentence was not said by the priest in the past based on the empire and his personal ideas, but was conveyed based on the words he heard from someone who could not be refuted. This could be seen from the fanaticism on his face.
How should I put it? Montezuma II knew that it would be best to listen to this advice calmly, because it would avoid a certain degree of unrest.
What if—he thought.
Just now, from the window of the palace, I saw the inhuman changes on the distant coast.
What if, even though the Age of Gods has passed, Lady Quetzalcoatl has returned from Maya just as she said?
What if this is the oracle spoken by Lord God of War because he doesn’t want Lord Quetzalcoatl to come back?
What if the one there is indeed Lord Quetzalcoatl who can eradicate human sacrifice and bring peace?
──The answer is right there.
The sun's light once again shone through the skylight, and Montezuma II looked at the Great Temple.
Tlaloc, the rain god, as the sun of the Third Sun Age, brings gentle rain and angry fire from the sky to the world. A god who is equal to water is described as fire in many disasters. Such examples are actually not uncommon in Aztec mythology.
For example, Quetzalcoatl, as the god of wind, possesses the godhood of agriculture and rain, and Smoky Mirror, as the god of night, can become the sun and possess the godhood of war. In Aztec mythology, when a god has a high degree of belief, people will continue to add new legends for him.
In other words, the diverse divinity and legends are actually a reflection of its lofty status.
The God of War's left hummingbird. Out of respect for the god of war, the Aztecs sacrificed more than 20,000 people to him every year. For the warriors of Central America, being able to die gloriously in battle and become a sacrifice to God was an honor and supreme thing.
According to the belief, after a glorious death, they will become followers of God, gathering on the plains every morning to welcome the arrival of the sun god with delicious food. After doing this work for four years, they will receive a higher gift and will be reincarnated as birds and butterflies, returning to the world, drinking nectar every day and flying freely.
For this reason, the Aztecs accepted this bloody ceremony frankly, because in their common sense of the world, this ceremony was a common interest and a sacred ceremony for selecting suitable candidates.
but.
What if someone doesn't want to die like this at all?
Yes, Montezuma still remembered that although there were many people who died voluntarily, there were also people who hated him for it.
In the silence, Montezuma then turned and looked towards the sea.
"In the past, when Quetzalcoatl left, she said something. I don't need to explain these things to you."
A look of tension flashed across the faces of the priests present, and they also understood what Montezuma II meant.
