The morning light rises from the eastern hills, much like it erges from the distant Great River. The song of various birds fills the surrounding mountain forests, searching for early-rising insects.
At this ti, the tribal post station is both quiet and full of vitality. An open-air kitchen has a fire pit burning, and dozens of tribal teams are carrying baskets of food, preparing breakfast for over a thousand people. The food they are making is the simplest yet most filling: corn cakes, pumpkin porridge, and bean paste.
Among the transporting and busy tribespeople, a group of Red Hair Hunters and several Samurai from the Capital Region are also discreetly moving items, coming and going in a secret cellar. When all the covert transactions are complete, the leaders of both sides, Woodpecker Aitz and Red Hair Leader Mique, warmly bump shoulders. At this mont, they look at each other like true brothers.
"Brother Woodpecker! This westward expedition is ant to completely take down that Feather Great Chief! And that Great Chief, the tribal teams have fought with him several tis... He’s a Divinely Descended of so bird god, faster than anyone else!"
Red Hair Leader Mique grins as he reminds his newly acquainted good brother.
"So, I reckon you guys won’t have a particularly tough battle this ti, but you should expect to travel a long way! If you want to finish and return, it’ll take quite a while!"
"Ha! No matter what kind of Divine Eagle Descendant the Feather Prince is, with the kingdom’s two armies pressing, he will only face the outco of obediently offering sacrifices!"
Hearing the reminder from the Red Hair leader, Woodpecker Aitz isn’t too concerned. He is aware of the power of the kingdom’s God of Thunder’s mortar cannons, and this ti, there are a full eight cannons on the northward march! He reckons that in the Chapala Lake Region in the northwest, there is simply no City-State that can resist!
"Right! That... hmm... brother of the tribe’s pasture bean tree! Rember to send soone, together with my trusted aides, to et the steward brother at my manor in the Capital Region! Chief Divine’s blessing! Our future business will be big and expansive!"
"Good! Rest assured, I understand! Chief Divine’s blessing! Feel at ease on your journey!"
The morning sun rises gradually, and the archers’ camp of Tlaxcala sets off once more. As the group marches on the hills, they can already see the Rivermouth County town distantly at the skyline, but once they descend the hills, it disappears from view.
"Quick! Quick! Hurry up! By noon today, the Grand Festival will start!"
Woodpecker Aitz urges, personally carrying the great banner at the forefront. Fortunately, after descending the primary earthen road of the hills to the plain, there’s a paved secondary county road, allowing for a light jog. After running for several quarters, the Red Hair scouts dispatched by Rivermouth County encounter the marching camp. Then, under the scouts’ guidance, the archers’ camp finally arrives at the field outside the county town before noon, where the Grand Festival is held!
Outside the field, a seven or eight-ter-high wooden ceremonial platform already stands, with the Sacred Fire blazing. And the eight-thousand-strong army of Long Spears, four-thousand conscripted Canine Descendants Tribes soldiers, three-thousand village militia transporting grain, and these one-thousand tribal archers from Tlaxcala... together form a force of two corps, a large army of sixteen thousand!
"Eh! For this westward expedition, the northern main force only conscripted three-thousand village militia for transporting grain? It seems with the downstream grain transport along the Lerma River, sustaining the logistics has indeed beco much more convenient..."
Woodpecker Aitz ponders this while also observing two other thousand-man camps from the Alliance around the platform.
The first camp wears leather armor, thin and lean, with a compact build. There are many strong female warriors in the camp, and even the leading chieftain is a female warrior wielding a long spear. Woodpecker Aitz thinks for a mont and deduces that this must be the Alliance Naval Forces’ fleet. With the addition of the Alliance Naval Forces, they now have an overwhelming advantage against the Naval Forces in the Chapala Lake Region!
"The Alliance’s Naval Forces control the convenient waterways, sustaining the main army’s logistics..."
Woodpecker Aitz muses while glancing at another grim camp. The warriors in this camp wear the garb of Alliance Warriors, with imposing beast helts on their heads and black capes on their bodies. Looking closely, underneath the deep capes of the warriors are platinum-bronze cloth armors!
"Ah? A thousand heavy armored elites?... This attire, this is... the temple guards of the High Priesthood?!"
Seeing this batch of elite heavy armored warriors, Woodpecker Aitz feels a shiver in his heart. Temple Guards are elite warriors devoted to the Chief Divine, possessing extraordinary morale and combat prowess. Adorned in heavy armor, such elites would likely be the most formidable opponents on the battlefield!
"Hmm... so many heavy-armored Temple Guards!... Then today, it should be the Elder Priest Azar in charge of the High Priesthood’s military strength, the War God Elder, who has co?"
Thinking of this, Woodpecker Aitz stands on tiptoe and gazes at the high ceremonial platform.
At this mont, an Elder Priest wearing an Obsidian Feather Crown and elaborate ceremonial dress stands at the highest point of the platform, looking down on the assembled Rivermouth corps with majesty. His ceremonial dress bears thunderbolt patterns, definitely marking him as the War God Elder.
To the War God Elder’s left is a High Priest wearing a similarly dark ceremonial dress, likely the kingdom’s Priesthood’s Fourth-Level Chief Priest, Mawilo. To his right stands Kuluka, holding the Marshal’s Scepter and wearing the Marshal’s robe. All three stand straight and expressionless, with no visible conversation.
"Ah! The Elder Priest from the Alliance is presiding over the main seat of the festival? Indeed! Since His Highness Xiulote isn’t here, by sacred duty, it’s really the highest-ranking Elder Priest who should preside over this grand festival!"
Woodpecker Aitz strokes his chin, pondering the standing positions of the three. As a xica-born warrior from the Holy City, he vaguely feels sothing is amiss but can’t articulate it...
"The sun reaches its zenith, descending with fierce rays! The Chief Divine’s gaze observes, heralding the sacred festival’s comncent!"
By noon, divine smoke rises. The priests play ancient and solemn clay ocarinas and beat resonant drums. The grand sacrificial rite is also officially initiated! This type of war festival usually includes two phases: one is offering sacrifices to the Chief Divine, requesting divine guidance for the expedition; the other is the divination of the campaign, declaring ons of victory! Overall, such a grand festival must achieve the effect of boosting morale and inspiring the people. And after the festival concludes, capitalizing on heightened morale, the army will set out, officially entering the battlefield!
"Praise our god Huitzilopochtli! His power is boundless, supre and great. He is the sacred Sun and the Thunderbolt of war! He governs everything, from the past to the future, from life to death!"
War God Elder Azar has a solemn expression, his voice loud and passionate. He chants earnestly under the sincere gaze of tens of thousands, extolling the majesty of the Chief Divine! And when the opening sacrificial text is completed, War God Elder Azar lifts high both hands, facing the sun, and commands sternly!
"The sun shines at its peak, the god arrives! He observes us, awaiting the sacrificial rite!... He yearns for crimson blood and the bloodline of the Divine Descendants! Co!... Offer the most sacred sacrifice, the Divine Descendant of the Sun Bloodline!"
"Roar! Roar!... Offer up the Divine Descendant sacrifice! Blood sacrifice to the Supre Chief Divine!"
Hearing this, the tens of thousands of warriors and militia present reveal excitent and fervor. Among the fervent troops, Woodpecker Aitz pauses for a mont, then shows confusion.
"Huh?!... His Highness has already decreed replacing human sacrifices with animal sacrifices of wolf, deer, and fish, hasn’t he? Why is this expedition’s grand festival still a blood sacrifice?"
Then, as Woodpecker Aitz recalls the words of War God Elder, he feels a sudden chill!
"Just now, they said... a Divine Descendant of the Sun Bloodline? Ah! What?!... Which Great Nobility of the Alliance is being sacrificed?!"
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