Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

The night was falling, the salty scent of the tide lingering in the Taino people’s coastal village. The children who used to play were no longer seen under the coconut palms. The tribespeople’s cooking smoke had extinguished, and the fishermen’s boats lay decayed on the shore. This Taino village, once home to over a thousand people, seemed destroyed by some invisible curse, silent and chilling to the bone.

"Oh Chief Divine! Is this... the plague of the Evil Demon?"

Six Caravels were anchored at the shore but no warriors landed. Xiu Maoying frowned, looking at the deathly still village, his heart heavy with foreboding. Even Red-haired Captain Chabo had lost his usual smile. Holding up the Divine Eye Glasses, he observed the situation within the village carefully, his expression darkening.

"Owl Chief Priest! This village has died!... Clearly, it was full of people when we came here last month! Now, there are only corpses left!"

Saying this, Chabo handed the Divine Eye Glasses to Xiu Maoying, pointing towards the small slope outside the village.

"Chief Priest, look over there! There is a large cemetery and many unburied corpses!"

Xiu Maoying took the Divine Eye Glasses, focused, and the cruel scene of death suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Taino’s burial methods typically have two forms. Ordinary tribespeople are buried in pits, while respected chieftains and priests are placed on an altar in a side-lying or seated position to dry naturally or mummify.

Looking around now, the stone heap altar on the small slope held several chieftains’ corpses, with something shiny in their mouths, likely shell necklaces. These bodies were coated with red soil or saline soil, like dried seabirds unable to rest peacefully. Beneath the altar, numerous mounded grave pits had been dug, yet it’s unknown how many were buried. Further out, there were many fallen bodies, unburied, some even lying on the roads leading to the cemetery. More scavenging birds swooped in, some new ones joining, and others leaving once full.

"Oh Chief Divine! This village... has succumbed to illness?! How could this happen? How can the plague of the Evil Demon spread so fast?!"

Xiu Maoying watched for a moment, his eyes turning red. The small palm leaf bundles beneath the altar likely held children, probably the first to die. It’s a Taino custom to gently wrap a child’s corpse in palm leaves, layer upon layer, as if the earth is taking them back into its womb. The shallow grave pits likely contained the elderly and women, the second wave to perish. Those dying last, the strong men, were denied even the time to be buried by the plague, merely lying exposed to the wind. Their bodies lay at the mercy of birds and insect swarms, completing their return to dust.

The wind blew through the jungle, rustling the feathers on the stone tomb, while the Earth Mother Goddess remained silent. The plague not only claimed Taino bodies but also severed their ties with their ancestors. What remained now was a forgotten cemetery, with no provisions left to claim.

"Let’s go! We should continue north and move on to another village to see!"

The Kingdom’s fleet set sail again, moving from one lifeless village to another. After witnessing the same scene at the second and third locations, Xiu Maoying fell silent, and the Kingdom’s Warriors on board saw their eyes redden. If one or two instances were coincidental, three in a row proved that the plague had already spread on a large scale, most likely actively spread by the Evil Demon!

"Respected Xiu Maoying Chief Priest! The island’s plague has already dispersed. Please do not change the plan and do not land!"

"...Captain Kepili, then your original plan to support the island and raid the Evil Demon’s stronghold?"

"Chief Divine bless us! This is the divine war of the Chief Divine. As warriors, we can only advance, never retreat."

The Warrior Captain Kepili sent by the Black Wolf, with eyes fierce and calm as a wolf’s, replied serenely.

"Let us land here! We will bring food and water, avoiding the plague-stricken villages and proceed directly inland to the agreed location! Then, launch a relentless raid on the Evil Demon’s stronghold! Since the plague has spread, dying in the divine war against the Evil Demon is preferable to succumbing to the plague and dying in agony!..."

"..."

Xiu Maoying paused, dropping his eyes to pray sincerely for Kepili.

"Chief Divine bless us! May his great force protect the devout warriors, granting victory in the divine war and enduring the plague of the Evil Demon!..."

"Praise the Chief Divine! The Holy War will triumph!"

"Praise the Huitzilopo Great Divine Spirit! Kill the enemy, and there will be food!"

Accompanied by the Priest’s prayers, hundreds of Kingdom’s Warriors on the six ships, one hundred and fifty Canine Warriors, and thirty Taino Musketeers chanted their fervent slogans together! This time, the one hundred fifty Canines sent were the grassland barbarian soldiers transported thousands of miles to Cuba from the Red Crow Tribe-Totonac Alliance-Black Wolf Maya along the coast!

On the grassland, their lifespan is merely a few years. They lack much fear of death, only fighting fiercely under the name of the Chief Divine without utterances in Taino. The Kingdom’s Warriors brought these Wilderness Dog Descendants with a clear purpose, this raid allows no retreat; it’s a battle to the death!

"The Chief Divine watches over you! Go! Kepili, bring back the victory of the Holy War!"