Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

Arrows crisscrossed, and the corpses without armor fell from the city walls. Bright red marks smeared the walls of gray mortar. From afar, various shades of red seemed to perfectly merge with the volcanic rock palaces within the city.

Wooden ladders hooked onto the four or five meters high city head, and armored Mexica warriors roared fiercely, chopping with their bronze axes on the city head.

"Chief Divine protect! Die! Die!..."

After ten days of continuous harassment and shooting, the morale of Zapotec militia on the city head had already sunk to a low point. And the only two to three hundred warriors from Ant Mound City had long been targeted by the archers, shot to death with bronze arrows. When a group of tonsured guards climbed the corners of North City like furious jaguars, that overwhelming sweeping massacre finally became "the last corn leaf that broke the back basket."

"Ah! The city is broken... the ferocious Aztecs have slaughtered in!"

"It’s over! All over! Resting ancestors! We can’t guard your tomb..."

The evening sunlight shone through the plateau clouds onto the red-soiled palace walls. The slanted light fell like the last whisper of the Divine Spirit into the heart of the Zapotec Alliance. And then, the emerald green flood came, chopping all obstacles along the way into flesh and blood, until it reached the palace of Ant Mound City.

The palace of Ant Mound City merged with the low pyramid. And beneath the not-high pyramid was the ancient Zapotec Divine Descendant’s tomb carved full of owls, also the oldest relic of Ant Mound City. In the Zapotec culture, this symbolized the union of the divinity of life and death. The deceased Divine Descendant, living Royal Family, and Divine Descendant priest of royal origin would eternally rule the city-state.

From some perspective, this ancient Ant Mound City was a miniature Cholula Holy City, a theocratic city-state claiming "royalty," where Divine Descendants and priests’ powers merged. And similar theocratic noble city-states were found in Oaxaca Valley, including the equally ancient Mountain God City, Divine Tomb City, and the distant Deer Mountain City—a place the Divine King constantly yearned for in his southern expedition, Tehuantepec!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Chief Divine protect! Break this wooden door! The Zapotec Divine Descendant City Lord is inside!"

"Divine King orders! This head can be the hereditary noble’s reward! Rush in, chop off his head!..."

"Roar! Praise the Divine King!!..."

The Mexica warriors’ chopping bronze axes struck the wooden door of the palace. Their extreme Nava yells resonated from beyond the wall, a bravery and fierceness never seen by the Zapotec Divine Descendants. Warriors clad in heavy armor and thick skins holding golden weapons manifested like incarnations of volcanic demons, unafraid of war clubs, bows and arrows, and death, with only flames and greed in their eyes! Against these fearsome Nava warriors, the final resistance of dozens of palace warriors was evidently unsustainable for long.

"The day has finally arrived!... The re-emergence of Teotihuacan demons! Just like the panel prophecy of the ancestors..."

The priest city lord of Ant Mound City, Xhuini Yagui, recited a brief sacrificial poem in the most ancient Zapotec language. This millennial sacrificial poem had finally been fulfilled before this last generation of Divine Descendant.

"Becha (if) guirá (wind), lani (mountain) guixhi’ (saturated) ti (that) bido (sound)."

"The wind has filled the mountain, that last sound is called landslide."

"As it turns out, the sound of the landslide is the roar of the jaguar from the Nava plateau!..."

After saying this, Xhuini Yagui held up an exquisitely crafted obsidian bowl. The bowl was filled with emerald green juice, the poison named "Xhuini," "resin-scented mist." Then, he lit "Yagui," known as "Ancestral Fire," threw it onto the ceramic pot filled with peanuts and chia seed oil. Soon after, the "House of Owl King," full of tablets, cotton cloth, spices, and gold and silver, turned into a burning owl, with the volcanic rock palace amid green smoke swaying.

"Zaachila beela, xquidxi guirá."

"Zaachila is about to sleep, misty ancestor spirits tread the path..."

Xhuini Yagui drank all the "Xhuini," consumed by "Yagui’s" licking flames. And sometime later, his head finally was delivered outside the city, under the Mexica Royal Banner, to the hands of the two monarchs.

"Quite some courage indeed!..."

Divine King Avit held the charred head with one hand, observing the undamaged teeth and nodding slightly.

"Zaachila’s Divine Descendant City Lord, the second candle holder collected!..."

Then Avit threw the head to the accompanying bone craftsman, who respectfully withdrew. Afterward, he looked at Xiulote and, smiling, said.

"In ten days, this Ant Mound City was conquered! With only four or five hundred warriors lost overall... how is it?"

"Chief Divine protect! Your divine presence and generosity, Divine King, are the source of courage and fighting spirit for warriors! Ant Mound City has been conquered, and thus the heart of this giant wolf of Oaxaca falls into the hands of the Alliance! Station a thousand troops here, then the fertile Tlacolula Valley in the heartland of Oaxaca will thoroughly fall under the control of the Alliance!"

Xiulote smiled and saluted, with some fondness on his face. The Alliance’s invasion into the interior of Oaxaca went more smoothly than anticipated. The Zapotecs were truly weak! And these armored royal main forces, carefully selected by Avit from across the Alliance, showed their worth. It seemed that the twenty thousand royal elite had the combat power of his eight thousand kingdom Imperial Guards!

"Haha! Xiulote, in this Ant Mound City, we’ve captured a year’s worth of food for twenty thousand people! These Zapotecs city-states are much easier to fight than Mixteco people and far wealthier too! With enough food, besides the thousand-man camps in each city-state, we can send another group of envoys, recruit a royal legion, and enter Oaxaca!"

Avit nodded with satisfaction, his smile as brilliant as the sun. The desire for conquest burned like fire. Almost without hesitation, he decided to expand the scale of the conquest, summoning more alliance forces!

"And the Asar Lineage, let Little Montezuma send two thousand men to join the Royal Legion attacking the coast. Have them move quickly along the Mixteco Coast, pressing onto the coastal Zapotecs!"

"By the way! Transport more food from your fief in the lake to support the coastal legion! Once the campaign to conquer the Zapotecs ends, the naval forces general in charge of food transportation will also be bestowed with the title of Honorable Nobility, in the Coastal Zapotecs!..."

"Yes! As you wish! Divine King, teacher!..."

Xiulote respectfully bowed his head, lost in thought. It seemed that the progress of the Oaxaca war was smooth, further fueling the Divine King’s ambition.

If the previous declaration to conquer Deer Mountain City was merely a political slogan, then the current military preparations clearly indicated an intention to push six hundred miles further, to the legendary Deer Mountain City. And after reaching Deer Mountain City, would the Divine King aim even further, to conquer the easternmost parts of the Coastal Zapotec tribes, and Wet Water City near the Highland Maya?...

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and when Xiulote lifted his head again, he met the gaze of Avit. Avit looked at his student, pointed to the fields outside of Ant Mound City, and said softly.

"The Chief Divine’s festival, the sacrifice of the Divine Descendant and the great conversion... Xiulote, you shall preside over it!"

"Yes!"

"Xiulote, after so many sacrifices... do you feel tired?"

"..."

Xiulote was silent for a moment and simply said.

"Under the protection of the Chief Divine! Teacher, I am used to it. If there is a sea of blood after death, perhaps I would be submerged at the bottom, with not even my head above water!"

"Haha! Your heart still wavers. As a sacred monarch, we shall ascend to the red Divine Kingdom, how could we fall into the abyss? As long as the grand Empire is forged, even if the blood of these Divine Descendant Nobility flows, what harm if even my divine blood is shed?!..."

On the hill outside Ant Mound City, Divine King Avit said as much. Then, he waved his hand, a meaningful smile on his lips as he looked at Xiulote and said deeply.

"You and Alisa, are you not going to have more children... I can only distribute the Zapotecs’ fief to the alliance warriors! However, your hosting of festivals and divination deciding cases are meritorious. Although there’s certainly no fief in Oaxaca, I will not be stingy with other rewards! Tell me, Xiulote, what do you desire?"

"Ah? Rewards for me?"

"Of course! I am your monarch. Since you have achieved merits with me, I will naturally reward you richly!"

"Ah..."

Xiulote blinked, seeing the regal expression of Avit, his mind swirling with myriad thoughts. A moment later, he showed a desirous expression, smiling as he spoke.

"Praise be to you! My Divine King! Then... I’d like some gold and silver! Mixteco is rich in silver, and both gold and silver are abundant in Oaxaca; the alliance’s spoils of war have also yielded much. I wish to build a gold and silver statue of myself in the Palace of Wind in the Lake Capital City, probably four to five tons will suffice!..."

"Haha! You want some shiny gold and silver? To make a statue of yourself?... Haha! Sure, no problem!"

Avit’s mouth curved into a smile, pleased with the answer. With a generous wave of his hand, he easily promised.

"Then I’ll grant you a roomful of gold and silver! And for Alisa and your three children, erect tall gold and silver statues in the Royal Palace of Qinchongcan!..."

"Ah! A roomful of gold and silver?"

Xiulote’s eyes widened, his face showing astonishment. A roomful of gold and silver seemed like an exaggeration. But judging by the weight of five Alban Gold and Silver God Statues, it was at least 20-30 tons of gold and silver. When converted, that would be four or five million ounces of gold and silver! Such is the reward of the Divine King of Central America, who can easily forge divine statues with precious metals! And if this gold and silver were transported to the Western Sea...

"Yes! Thank you! Supreme Divine King! Honored teacher!..."

"Haha! Off you go! Ensure the grand festival in Ant Mound City is well-conducted! Once the army rests for a few days, we’ll continue southward, attacking Sunflower City fifty miles to the south!"

"Yes! At your command!..."

Xiulote bowed, and the bronze dagger at his waist glimmered with a fresh luster. The deep night was about to descend, awaiting the appearance of a new dawn. And when the sacred fire of dawn burned bright, the dagger would wear down, fade, until it was renewed again. Like the dagger, like the palace, like the sacred sculptures. Perhaps, like the Divine King too~~