Although xico City was a city Tezcatlipoca had built through authority, Daybit, as both its Master and co-conspirator, was not always inside the city.
Most of the ti, he and Tezcatlipoca acted separately.
Even missions like the earlier attack on Storm Border had been decided by Tezcatlipoca alone.
Or rather, only the Smoking Mirror with the epithet of the Unpredictable Wind could make that kind of decision.
"Brother-sama, the Second Underworld has cald down, and the Oceloh can travel back and forth without issue now. There is no longer any need for you to make personal arrangents. Shall I have Izcalli resu the assault on Chichen Itza and the Deinos?"
Tlaloc walked up to the altar at the top of the temple and addressed Tezcatlipoca, who was standing there admiring the view.
"Don't bother. Izcalli knows what to do." Tezcatlipoca remained unmoved, only giving his sister a sidelong glance. "More importantly, how are your injuries from before?"
Tlaloc knew he was not asking out of concern. He was evaluating whether her combat ability had been affected.
"My wounds have healed, but the healed areas still ache faintly." Tlaloc sounded frustrated. "That was my failure. Please punish , Brother-sama."
"A failure? Don't be ridiculous. That simply wasn't an enemy you could handle." Tezcatlipoca laughed in amusent. "If you're still not satisfied, feel free to try again however you like."
Tlaloc caught the implication in his words. "Brother-sama, are you saying Chaldea is going to attack here?"
"If I were Chaldea, and I wanted to reach the Ninth Layer to find that thing, there's no way I'd ignore xico City on the way." Tezcatlipoca said.
"Then I'll have Izcalli strengthen the city's defen..."
"For example, right now." Tezcatlipoca turned around, his expression gradually growing serious. Behind the sunglasses, his eyes showed a trace of displeasure. "They snuck into xico before they'd even gathered everything they needed. So they really are after this place. Ignoring what I told them takes so nerve."
"What?!"
Tlaloc was stunned.
At that sa instant, a sharp killing intent rose behind her. The biting cold in it was enough that even a goddess like her could not afford to be careless.
A corner of the sun was suddenly eclipsed by sothing.
A vast shadow fell across xico City, across the altar at the top of the temple where Tezcatlipoca and Tlaloc stood.
An axe.
A gigantic axe, so enormous that even Tlaloc was not sure she could have wielded it, was aid directly at the temple.
It was too late.
There was no mistaking it. It was a divine Noble Phantasm, already in motion.
The Oceloh in the city who saw it had no idea what was happening. They thought Tezcatlipoca was displaying a divine miracle, and in his wrath was about to destroy the city itself.
All they could do was drop to their knees, raise their hands high, and beg forgiveness.
Knowing there was no way she could stop it, Tlaloc could only move sideways at the final instant before the huge axe ca down, barely slipping out of its path.
The temple, a full sixty ters tall, was split straight down the middle by the gigantic axe.
The shockwave continued extending backward, spreading all the way to one side of xico City's walls.
With that single strike, the entire temple began to co apart and collapse beyond control. Enormous bricks and stones rained back down into the city, kicking up dense dust and deafening crashes.
Standing atop the collapsing temple, Tezcatlipoca wore an expression of almost ecstatic delight.
"Not bad at all! So that's Marduk's axe, the weapon of the Surian god of war and king of the gods?" He paid no mind to the temple collapsing beneath him, instead staring at the blade still close at hand. "Even just once, I'd love to fight that guy!"
"Brother-sama!" Tlaloc landed near Tezcatlipoca, checking to make sure he was unhard.
But Tezcatlipoca was completely unbothered. He even reached out as if to touch the axe.
"Even with my protection, this temple couldn't survive a single blow from this thing! Excellent. Beautifully retro. Compared to nineteenth- or twentieth-century weapons, this kind of thing really captures the primal nature of war!"
"..."
Once she realized Tezcatlipoca was fine, Tlaloc was left with a heavy sense of defeat.
If she had tried to et that blow head-on out of pride, it would have inflicted severe damage that she could never recover from.
Even if her Spirit Origin had sohow escaped destruction and she had not been forced into total withdrawal, she still would have been unable to fight anymore.
That was the power contained in a single strike from the Unity God.
The temple kept collapsing with thunderous noise, and the Oceloh in the city fell into brief confusion.
Fortunately, every Oceloh in the city was a warrior. Rather than panic, they threw aside what they were doing, seized their weapons, and rushed toward the temple.
The temple was the symbol of Tezcatlipoca's blessing over the city, and now it had been destroyed by a single strike.
That ant sothing major was happening here.
Either xico City was no longer loved by its god, or an enemy was attacking the great god Tezcatlipoca.
Whichever it was, the Oceloh had to gather at the temple at once and await the outco.
Knowing that, Izcalli took the lead and charged ahead, becoming the first to arrive near the still-collapsing temple.
"Tezcatlipoca! Tlaloc!" Izcalli shouted.
"You're too loud, Izcalli. There's no way sothing at this level could take Brother-sama's life. Hurry up and prepare the Oceloh for battle."
Tlaloc's calm voice ca from within the ruins.
Before the dust had fully cleared, rain began to fall from the sky, swallowing up the thick clouds of debris and gradually restoring visibility.
This was Tlaloc's way of announcing her presence, and her tone made it sound as though she was not concerned in the least.
"Rain, huh... never mind. Sunny or rainy, it makes no difference. Your rain can't affect that one anyway."
Tezcatlipoca stood atop the ruins, soaked through but without a trace of dirt on him.
With a gaze that was both cold and feverishly excited, he stared at Unity God Morgan, who was standing atop a tower near the temple. His voice was calm, but tinged with displeasure.
"I told you, didn't I? I said to co back after gathering all the authority. Anyone who ignores the teachings of Tezcatlipoca, even a young new god, still has to be punished."
"That was rely sothing you decided on your own. If xico City were not standing in the way of our pursuit of the Alien God, then perhaps we could have listened to your request." Morgan looked down from above, surveying everything on the earth below. "But since you insist on standing in our path, then the outco is obvious."
"Good. Any enemy blocking the way should be cleared out completely. Whether that idea is yours or that man's, I have no objections." Tezcatlipoca said. "Since you've shown up here of your own accord, that ans you've already resolved yourself, right?"
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