Shiomi's words left the Dinosaur King deep in thought.
"Camazotz, huh. I'm not exactly close with that guy, but I've run into him before while protecting Chichen Itza," the Dinosaur King said. "I can share what I know, but there's a condition."
"Condition?" Scáthach lifted an eyebrow.
"You heard it on the way here. Chichen Itza has sealed off the route across the Great Plains that leads deeper down."
The Dinosaur King guided them toward the side of the altar that faced Mictlan's lower layers.
From the edge, with their heightened eyesight, Shiomi and the others caught a glimpse of part of the Second Netherworld, Istaauqui.
There was no vegetation at all. The Second Netherworld was nothing but dark, black stone and exposed mineral seams, a completely different sight from the First Netherworld, Tlatlauqui.
It looked far closer to what you would call the underworld, even hell itself.
More than that, even from here they could see how unstable the Second Netherworld had beco.
"The Second Netherworld… is collapsing?" Morgan pressed her fingers to her temple.
At the boundary where the Second Netherworld t the Great Plains, enormous chunks of rock were constantly breaking loose and tumbling down onto the plains below.
Wooden barriers the Deinos had thrown together could slow the spread of the rubble, but anyone could tell it wouldn't stop it.
If the Second Netherworld collapsed completely, the rock would spill outward. It wouldn't cause a flood like the First Netherworld, but a disaster made purely of stone could still bury the third layer where Chichen Itza stood, and even the fifth.
Compared to a deluge, it was the sort of disaster Chaldea could ignore and simply wait out.
But for Chichen Itza, it was an overwhelming catastrophe they couldn't afford to overlook.
No wonder the Dinosaur King had spoken the way he did in the forest yesterday.
"Wait." Scáthach recalled sothing. "Camazotz deliberately told us the 'Alien God' is in the Second Netherworld. Is this the 'Alien God's' doing?"
"No idea," the Dinosaur King said. "The Deinos are strong in a fight, sure, but that's for dealing with disasters head-on, or battling Ocelotl. In a situation this rotten, they're useless."
Shiomi folded his arms. "So you want us to investigate the Second Netherworld, figure out what the 'Alien God' is doing down there, and if possible stop the Second Netherworld from collapsing. That's what you an?"
"Exactly. That's the condition," the Dinosaur King said.
With the answer confird, Shiomi fell silent in thought.
"In terms of the end result, it matches our objectives," Morgan said. "If this ongoing disaster is connected to the 'Alien God,' then no matter what its goal is, we have to get close and take 'Equilibrium' back from it."
"My wife's right," Shiomi said with a nod. "The situation itself is a headache, but your condition isn't unreasonable. We'll agree. In return, you must tell us what you know about Camazotz, and where we can find him."
The Dinosaur King looked satisfied.
"Good. That's a solid response. I'll be watching to see how you perform."
As he spoke, he turned and walked deeper into the altar alone.
Scáthach called after him from where she stood. "Then, Blue Tezcatlipoca. Are you truly the King of this Lostbelt?"
The question drew a pause from the Dinosaur King, as if he were choosing his words.
"Strictly speaking, no," he said, standing before the golden solar calendar stone and studying its patterns. "I'm only the proxy for the King of the Lostbelt."
"Proxy?" Shiomi blinked, caught off guard.
"'If you don't want to be killed, then rule Chichen Itza in my place.'" The Dinosaur King's tone carried a weary edge. "That's the threat I got a year ago. I didn't have anything better to do, so I accepted."
Not because he was afraid of dying, but because he was bored enough to take the job anyway.
Blue Tezcatlipoca was probably another divinity that had manifested around the sa ti as Daybit's Servant.
Still, the scale of his Spirit Origin clearly wasn't on the sa level as the Black Tezcatlipoca's Grand specifications. He was only comparable to an exceptionally strong, conventional top-tier Servant.
"So you took over as the King of the Lostbelt just to kill ti," Shiomi said, thinking it over. "Then where's the real King of the Lostbelt?"
"Who knows." The Dinosaur King snorted. "That guy's head is basically empty. Heaven knows what layer he's ssing around on now."
It was obvious he had no intention of sharing more about the King of the Lostbelt.
Shiomi's group, and even Chaldea itself, simply didn't have the standing for that yet.
That was his attitude.
They could always force the issue, but that would an becoming enemies, turning the Deinos and Chichen Itza, who could have been allies, into outright hostile forces.
"Anyway, hurry back and get ready. There aren't many Deinos to begin with, and there are even fewer fighters who can actually work the front lines." The Dinosaur King waved them off. "The Second Netherworld is a complete land of death now. The only ones who can walk there are gods, or warriors who refuse to break."
"Warriors…" Shiomi murmured, thoughtful.
Their mannerisms didn't always match, but that preference for warriors was sothing the two Tezcatlipocas strangely had in common.
"I'll tell the fighters on the plains to take note. From now on, until Chaldea shows hostile intent, Chichen Itza won't treat you as enemies. And you can drop that clumsy disguise magecraft too. No need to keep it up." The Dinosaur King was clearly shooing them out now. "Move. The collapse has already been going on for three or four days. At this pace, in another three or four days at most, Chichen Itza will be buried under Istaauqui's rubble. Stop it before that happens."
Then, using the excuse that the Deinos priests would be returning soon, the Dinosaur King sent them away from Chichen Itza's Great Altar.
Back down from the altar, once they returned to Chichen Itza's streets, one question kept circling in Shiomi's mind.
"Why would the 'Alien God' destroy the Second Netherworld? With its power, wouldn't it be more dangerous for us if it simply defeated the other two holders and gathered all the authorities together?"
After he put it into words, Scáthach could only spread her hands.
"I can't answer that, my beloved disciple."
Morgan, however, raised a hand and pressed it to her chest.
"It's hard to say what kind of influence this authority has on different beings… but for the past two days, every ti I fall asleep, I end up dreaming of my husband's mories."
She sounded like she'd spoken on impulse, and as soon as it left her mouth, she seed to feel it was too emotional to be useful.
"Forget it," Shiomi said. "Neither my husband nor Scáthach needs to worry about that. Just focus on preparing for the Second Netherworld."
But Shiomi didn't dismiss Morgan's words.
Sohow, he felt like she'd accidentally brushed up against a real clue.
User Comments
0 comments from readers