Divine smoke wafted gently, imparting a calming essence. Cheers resounded, enveloping the towering sacred platform.
However, even amid the fragrance of divine smoke and the shouts of tens of thousands of legions, Kuluka, standing high above, couldn’t find peace of mind. He felt an indescribable bitterness spreading from his heart to the corners of his mouth. His thoughts raced, his eyes flickering, and then he suddenly grasped the sacrificial Obsidian Dagger, pressing it against his own heart!
"Honored War God Elder!... You are forcing to leap into the bottomless Abyss! It seems, to maintain the Alliance and the Kingdom, I have no choice but to sacrifice myself, dying on this sacrificial platform!..."
"Hmm? Leap into the bottomless Abyss, sacrifice oneself?!..."
Hearing such words, Elder Azar of the War God furrowed his brows, genuinely finding it hard to believe. He really hadn’t expected that the Legion Commander before him, who looked like a monkey and hailed from the commoners, could clearly perceive the dynamics of political struggle and grasp the crux of this conflict!
"The political struggle between the God King and His Highness must always remain on the high ground of sanctity and tradition, maintaining a close master-servant alliance, fighting yet unbroken! The God King must apply pressure step by step, always ensuring His Highness remains as his wing, neither allowing the wing to grow into a truly threatening head nor breaking the wing with his own hands..."
"If this Kuluka insists on rejecting the God King’s investiture, defying the dignity of the Alliance and the High Priesthood... then the Alliance can naturally, with just cause, dispatch the Royal Legion to intervene in the expeditions of the Chapala Lake Region, and then take the opportunity to appoint several princes!..."
"Faced with such an inevitable trend, His Highness Xiulote can only hold his nose and acknowledge the Alliance’s dominance... After all, the Alliance holds the moral high ground, and this pressure only reduces the future benefits of the Kingdom, without directly infringing on its current state..."
"And if Kuluka accepts the investiture, the Alliance naturally has a series of ans to extend its influence into the Rivermouth County and the xica-composed First Spear Legion, even forcing Kuluka to secretly lean towards the Alliance..."
Elder Azar of the War God furrowed his brows, pondering silently. This was supposed to be an unsolvable open conspiracy, but this monkey Kuluka could find a path to life from a seemingly dead-end situation!
"If Marshal Kuluka of the Lake Sealed Country sacrifices himself, dying alongside the Strait Gold Clan Leader Pachjo at the Grand Festival of the Western Expedition... it would instead unite the powerful Lake Sealed Country and various City-State Nobles in shared hostility, forming a genuine alliance of mutual understanding! Ah, this!..."
"Chief God witness! If the Marshal of the Lake Sealed Country is forced to commit suicide, His Highness Xiulote would have justifiable grounds... He wouldn’t need to confront the King directly but could simply aim at the High Priesthood hosting the Grand Festival, or rather, aim at hosting the Grand Festival!..."
Thinking of this, Elder Azar of the War God was taken aback! If this worst-case scenario really unfolded, the bla for sacrificing Pachjo and forcing Kuluka to death would all fall on him!
And hosting the Grand Festival, he not only offended the local nobility and the Lake Sealed Country but also disrupted God King Avit’s centralized reform arrangents... If His Highness and the Great Nobility rebelled, the scapegoat to calm the "public outrage" would be none other than him!...
"Damn! Cursed Sun God Elder Tonaltiliu, the vacillating Chief God Elder Acap, and the slippery High Priest Uguel!... As I suspected, they pushed to host the Kingdom’s Grand Festival of the Western Expedition without any good intentions!..."
On the platform, Elder Azar of the War God pressed his lips together, montarily speechless. He recalled the scene of casting ballots during the High Priesthood eting, gnashing his teeth in hatred.
According to the decrees left by the elders upon death, the High Priesthood’s decision by casting ballots involved a four-priest council to implent resolutions and a twelve-elder priest council to veto resolutions, with a total of two rounds of casting ballots.
In the first priest council, the envoy to the Kingdom of the Lake was decided. Tonaltiliu’s first vote was cast for him, Acap abstained, and Uguel’s two votes were also cast for him. Thus, with three out of five votes, exceeding the majority, it was decided he would be the envoy.
This envoy role likely would offend His Highness’s faction, and it wasn’t a desirable task. Naturally, Elder Azar of the War God was also unwilling to accept. Being a respected Elder of the Priesthood in the contest between the God King and His Highness, he should patiently wait without diving in too deeply! Therefore, he imdiately requested a twelve-elder priest council to veto the previous resolution.
Among the four main and deputy priests of the High Priesthood, his influence was actually the greatest, with as many as four elder priests supporting him, which was five votes in favor of veto! The Sun God faction’s four votes opposed, the Chief God faction’s two votes abstained, and then High Priest Uguel, after counting the votes, smiled and declared his three votes as abstentions. The result was two votes short of the seven-vote majority needed for the veto to take effect. Thus, the four-priest council’s decision was validated!
This voting outco also clearly revealed the political landscape within the High Priesthood. The slightly weaker Sun God faction and the weakest Chief God faction had united against the strongest War God faction. anwhile, "deadwood" Uguel, as the highest-ranked High Priest, leisurely floated on the lake’s surface, indifferent to the turbulent waves beneath. He neither courted any elder nor took responsibility for actions, always casting the last vote and maintaining the factional balance within the High Priesthood, acting with utmost slipperiness!
"Damn! Acap, that fence-sitter! Previously he promised an alliance with , but now he is leaning towards Tonaltiliu’s faction!..."
Elder Azar of the War God gritted his teeth, montarily feeling stuck. This system of decision-making by casting ballots and the decentralized power of the elder priest council fundantally couldn’t stand up against the highly powerful God King Avit! The God King’s orders thus firmly outweighed religious decrees, even manipulating the elders to issue decrees directly!
And on this envoy task, King Avit had issued strict commands that neither the dignity of the central Alliance nor the plan for centralized reform should suffer any negative impact!...
"..."
Silence reigned on the high platform, leaving the two n staring at each other. The monkey Kuluka’s gaze was resolute, the Dagger pressed against his chest, his eyes betraying a determined will to die, like a statue ready to sacrifice for the divine. Elder Azar of the War God, on the other hand, had an uncertain look, intently observing Kuluka’s expression, as if assessing his determination to die.
As the two figures froze in their movents, the cheers below the altar gradually quieted down. The samurai and militia looked puzzled for a mont, and then started murmuring. This strange and silent scene at the grand festival seed unprecedented in previous rituals, leaving many to wonder what it truly ant...
"Haha! The Chief God’s witness! Marshal Kuluka, why such actions? The Sun God has tasted the blood of the Divine Descendants and surely requires no further sacrifices!... As you are an honorable noble of the alliance and the kingdom, and also the marshal of the western campaign, you must never perish now!..."
A mont later, as the noise below the divine platform grew louder, Elder War God Azar gritted his teeth and finally decided to be the first to compromise! He, born from the Divine Descendants of the alliance, was one of the most respected elder priests, second only to a re few. How could he, alongside a civilian-born legion commander, go for mutual destruction?...
"Ahem! Marshal Kuluka, His Highness is the heir of the alliance, the newborn sun, and this has never changed! The king always regards His Highness as his wings, and you, as His Highness’s great general, are a long feather on the Divine Eagle’s wings, and must not easily harm yourself!..."
Elder War God Azar changed his expression to a kind and amiable smile. He stepped forward, handpicked Monkey Kuluka up, and quietly took away the sacrificial dagger from him. Then, holding Kuluka’s hand, he raised both arms high, and made the prayer gesture of the alliance revering the sun, bringing another round of cheers from below the altar!
"Actually, the proposal I ntioned, to let the alliance lead the western campaign... was originally suggested by Lady Female Snake! Yet, the esteed God King still chose not to receive it, to preserve his vow to His Highness! His bestowing upon you, granting the divine banner, is rely to once again show the world the harmony of the two suns, the alliance and the kingdom working together!..."
Upon hearing Elder War God’s explanation, and seeing the other’s smile, Monkey Kuluka kept a straight face, nodding slightly. The tension in his heart stretched to the brink, and then suddenly released! At this mont, his legs couldn’t help but tremble secretly, his clothes soaked through from behind, feeling as though he had narrowly escaped death!
"Yes! Praise the Chief God!... The relationship between the God King and His Highness... must be inseparable! The alliance and the kingdom’s harmony... is unquestionable!... And it’s truly the Chief God’s blessing for us xica to have two suns, promising an infinitely bright future!..."
Monkey Kuluka forced a smile. He also raised both hands high, making the gesture of praying toward the sun, and shouted with vent-like fervor!
"Chief God bless!... Praise the king and His Highness!... The divine war of the western campaign will surely be victorious!..."
"Chief God bless!... Praise the king! Praise His Highness!... The divine war will be victorious!"
This was the xica Warriors’ call, impassioned and exhilarating.
"Chief God bless!... Praise Your Majesty! Praise the alliance’s king!... The western campaign will be victorious!..."
This was the Prepetcha Warriors’ call, even more fervent and devout.
"Mighty Chief God bless! Praise the Great Chief! Praise the God of Death, the Great Chief! Praise the Divine Monkey, the Great Chief!... Roar roar! Awoo!... Kill kill kill!..."
This was the call of the Canine Descendants’ banner teams, wild and unrestrained, accompanied by tiger roars and wolf howls.
Soon, the cheers below the divine platform once again resounded like thunder. The two n’s lowered conversations were also drowned in the cacophony.
"Marshal Kuluka, to be candid... I have co this ti with three tokens, along with the God King’s decree... the God King’s majesty cannot be tarnished, I certainly cannot return with these tokens untouched!..."
"War God Elder, I too speak frankly. The ennoblent you bring, I truly would rather die than accept it... Should I receive the honor, the future outco may not be much better than dying here in sacrifice! Especially considering His Highness’s kindness to ..."
As Monkey Kuluka devoutly prayed to the sun, his mind raced. In such an extre pressure situation, his agility was akin to a nimble monkey, once again finding a way to ascend the Divine Tree without looking at the sun above...
"Indeed... what the God King desires is the central authority, the supremacy of the sun!... As to whether I truly accept the ennoblent, becoming an honorable noble of the alliance, a legion commander... perhaps neither the God King nor the High Priesthood would actually care? Anyway, it’s just a ans to plant wooden spikes..."
"Ahem! The Chief God’s witness!... Marshal Kuluka... you are really... candid and sincere..."
Upon hearing, Elder War God Azar lightly coughed twice. The other truly erged from civilian ranks, unaware of the art of taphorical conversations among nobles and priests... yet his vision and judgnt were indeed precise, surpassing the vast majority of the alliance’s esteed individuals!
"Hmm..."
Monkey Kuluka blinked, eyes sparkling with liveliness. After a few seconds, he suddenly smiled slyly, like a Divine Monkey that had stolen the gold sculpture from the Divine Tree.
"Since that’s the case! I’ve thought of a solution! The three tokens bestowed by the God King, actually, can be dealt with separately! Just like this..."
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