Chapter 738 – The Moon Rises (4)
***
【Your majesty. This is a report from the north.]
Capital of Azteca.
The center of the magnificent city. A voice reporting to the emperor resounded from the altar twice as tall as the royal castle. Emperor Yeo, who had a slave move the throne to the altar, shook his hand.
【Heard. That mobile fortress invaded the territory of the empire.]
【Yes. Those rebels who have already camped on the street that can be seen from the capital must be their boss.]
After Monsieur Chrelitl ate the Ortlawifer, Azteca gathered its subjects from all over the city-state to its capital.
It is Azteca that has ruled slaves—livestock—from the beginning with fear.
When the oppressors were gone, of course, an uprising broke out in the city-state.
【As if waiting for that uprising, the invaders that the spirits of the returned warriors spoke of are also heading south. Of course, they must have joined hands with Skolakiche and the mobsters.]
Of course, Azteca’s leadership did not know that this would happen and did not work.
A decision to the extent that the existence of the country would be difficult. But there were no objectors.
The final battle between his mother, Tonashilukatl, and the evil god is right around the corner.
Isn’t it a holy war that will influence not only Azteca’s national fortune, but also the human age itself?
Now that the battle of myths was approaching, the rise and fall of the world had no value.
In fact, she, the emperor, Naualli, would not have needed to be informed of the news of the foolish rebels gathered at this time.
If it weren’t for the unlucky strangers who appeared right before the final battle.
【The moving fortress came through the northern sea.】
【Sorry for the lack of reporting.】
【Done. It’s not like I can’t imagine what kind of thing it is. It’s an incredible piece of equipment, but shouldn’t we, who are closest to God, not believe that much?]
Nahuali reflected on the reported incident in the past few days.
【We didn’t pay attention to the defense of the north even because of that unbreakable dawn. It seems that you know that and are heading south through the North Sea.]
To Azteca, the northern region was a land of no interest.
There were not many city-states, and there was no need to worry about foreign invaders.
Isn’t the North Sea the home of a god on the same level as her mother, the never-breaking dawn?
An invader aiming for the capital beyond the realm of the gods? There is no way.
That is, until the dawn that does not clear, which is no different from that natural feature, dies.
【Knowing the death of the dawn that never clears, you boldly jumped over the North Sea. The monsters of the sea will be afraid of our compatriot Skolakiche.]
【Yes. I know that Your Majesty’s wisdom is correct.]
The smell of Skolakiche, where mother’s blood flows, made the marine monsters of this continent flee. It’s been that way ever since their mother and the unbreakable dawn fought in the past.
The invaders who were aiming for this landed in the north, where the border was originally shallow.
【Thousands of rioters waiting outside the capital will be ditches.】
The corps commanders who were allowed to climb the altar recited the thoughts they had prepared.
【We have carefully investigated, but there is no strong one among those reckless rebels. Not only that, it is reported that half of the soldiers wrapped in rags smelled ‘the same’.]
【It must have been something summoned by witchcraft.】
Nahuali immediately recognized the answer.
It is a treasure trove of warriors who can take on mana. Even her twin brothers and sisters smell different of mana, but there are thousands of beings who smell exactly the same?
Of course, this is not a normal life.
As they speculated, half of the soldiers who moved with the resistance of the city-state were Narmer-Nile golems concealed in cloth.
【The spirits of the warriors did not return to the Royal Hall. It seems that they were captured alive, or that their souls died without returning to their mother’s arms.]
Faithful subjects showed contempt and sympathy that could not be concealed.
The noble death of Maxima—Aztecan—warriors are saved by returning to their mother’s arms. Their hearts were scorched with hatred towards the invaders who blasphemed that death.
【For a moment, let’s honor our poor warriors.】
After praying according to Nahuali’s doctrine, they immediately uttered a passionate speech.
【Those invaders are thoroughly trying to defile this temple! The rebels sucking their fingers outside the capital’s walls must be decoys!]
【Predictably, the main force of the invaders will be the northern forces moving south. It seems that the report was delayed because there were only a few warriors left in the city-state.]
【Hmm.】
Nahuali stroked the scepter.
Looking at the current situation in the capital, the rebels of the dominated city-states were camped in the west, and the troops of the invaders were descending from the north.
It was an unprecedented situation in which the capital was besieged by the enemy.
In an ordinary war, the spread of such a plate would be a sign of ruin, but the situation was a little different in the Azteca Empire. This is because the form of country and national defense is different.
Aside from the slave-raising cities and imperial territory, Azteca was actually more like a confederation of city-states. Although the method of ‘union’ was a reign of terror.
【Couldn’t the invaders even stop the militia anyway?】
【All citizens, except for some who will manage the slaves of the empire, have moved to the capital.】
[It must have been heavy duty. It deserves to be pierced.]
【I apologize.】
【It was. It was my order.]
The corps commanders gathered in front of the stairs bowed even more.
【Since the warriors who will manage the city-state have withdrawn, they have revolted taking advantage of the void.】
Empress Nahuali snorted.
【There are very few people who truly obey us. It’s natural, since he didn’t even want to obey in the first place, but as soon as I let go of the leash, it looks like this.]
In this country, Maxika referred to a half-human, half-dragon who inherited her mother’s blood.
Therefore, all citizens are both citizens and warriors.
Among the Aztecs, few people were engaged in a livelihood.
Most of the country’s labor force is entrusted to the slaves of city-states subjugated by violence and fear, and all citizens, regardless of gender, are combat troops.
As a country, it was a broken operating system, but it didn’t matter.
Because this country is only faithful to the value of existence.
【However, look at their movements. No matter how many they are, they are not warriors of their countrymen who can be penetrated by the militia. Isn’t it too obvious to be a diversion operation?]
Rising from the throne, she came down the steps.
【The same goes for those poor rebels. Although they are lacking brains, I openly pushed them as bait, but did they obey me?]
【… Are you saying there are invaders hiding in that mob?]
【Not all invaders, right? However, he must have hidden a few strong players. They must have prevented our warriors from retreating and led the militia to gather.]
【Then the army that landed in the north must be a diversion.】
Nahuali smiled kindly and said as if to reprimand the minister who said so.
【If you look at it simply, it will be like that. Disguising himself as a bucketload of people, the powerful rushed like crazy among the militia. It’s not bad as a deception, but it’s a little lax.]
【… May your Majesty command this. We will simply follow orders.]
【Think about the enemy’s purpose. Aren’t they aware of the death of the dawn that never clears? You must have heard about us from Skolakiche and the mob.]
Isn’t it easier to understand if you assume that the enemy has a wise strategist?
【Even after seeing the fight of the evil spirits that shook the entire continent, they are rushing to this land. Even though running away is a natural decision. That means they know our purpose.]
Even feeling that fight, rushing to the land where the gods are about to fight?
It is not a rational judgment. The invaders wouldn’t even want to die.
If so, the reason he did such a foolish thing was because he had a reason to do so.
【Shaman.】
– Beans. Nahuali hit the floor with the tip of his long scepter.
【They will come to steal or kill the shrine maiden. I want to ruin this Advent ceremony.]
【… With the intention of stopping Mother’s coming?]
【Right. I realized that preventing the moon from rising on the ground or my mother from becoming perfect is more important than running away.]
【I will immediately strengthen the security of the altar!】
The corps commanders prostrated themselves and shouted.
The temple is nearby. Mother is at a disadvantage against the evil spirit who swallowed the unbreakable dawn.
Didn’t he gather his subjects in the capital to make up for that disadvantage?
How can the temple be ruined by low-level human fights ahead of the war between Mother and the evil spirit?
Nahuali nodded with a caring face.
【Do it within the line where the defense of the castle wall is not weakened. Also pay attention to anti-aircraft defense. In order to be able to shoot down invaders whenever they fly in the sky of the capital.]
【Yes!】
【Which side is the diversion, and what the enemy’s purpose is is not a point to consider. They can’t break through the walls and cross the city’s warriors to reach this altar.]
─Flutter. Clad in a flesh-colored leather cloak, Nau’ali walked behind the throne.
【I’m going to enter the advent ceremony right now.】
Behind the throne was a naked woman lying on her altar, bleeding from her wrists and ankles.
She is small in stature, but her features are mature.
The missing princess of Byznia. It was a shaman, a half-dwarf found by her warriors. She glared at Nahuali coldly, even though there was nothing strange about fainting.
【I don’t know if the stupid strategy meeting is over.】
【I did say something I didn’t want to hear. Wasn’t it news that we had to hurry through a long and complicated procedure? It must have been a sad story for you as a sacrifice.]
【Ha, disgusting.】
It was an unchanging attitude that has been treated with lavish treatment for close to several years. But Nau Ali only smiled, and she didn’t care about her cold reply.
Because humans in the outer continents did not understand this glory.
The honor of being a sacrifice to her mother.
【Do you know? Tonashiluctl. Why do I know how to speak the language of a country called Germania? And why is the language of this continent, Maxica’s, similar to Germanic?]
【I’m not even curious. Did you find her mother’s roots and study like I did?]
The princess replied by squinting her eyes.
It’s been years since I’ve been called that weird name after the normal name of Meiling.
Even if they are treated hospitably, it is the kindness of those who eat people. Even though I got used to the smell of blood and vomit over and over again at that tyrannical culture, I couldn’t get used to their way of thinking.
[Yes, I got it right. My mother is the existence that came from beyond the [Sea].]
Naualli stroked the princess of the outer continent. Whether or not she gets goosebumps at her touch.
【The gods that Germania serves, our mother, and other evil gods are close in origin. You dwarves do too. That’s why dwarves are compatible with our blood.]
【Clean your hands. And as a descendant of the Nidavellir dwarves, that’s something I hate to hear. Are you saying those disgusting snakes even came from Asgard?]
【To be precise, it is Vanaheim, the land of the Vanir gods.】
It’s not even funny. As the princess used her arrogance, Nau’ali waved her obsidian dagger.
【There is a concept of a divine seat. What [Authority] Is absolutely necessary before the power of God intervenes in this world.]
To put it briefly, God is a personified natural phenomenon, a being that corresponds to a concept.
Just as a person needs to breathe and have a beating heart to live, God also needed a ‘name’.
【If a god without a throne wants to intervene in the world, he will definitely need some kind of ‘place’. Like appearing in the form of someone else in a dream, or hallucinating a warrior before dying.]
If Nord had heard it, he would have had something to think about.
Talking to a family member in a dream, talking to a person wandering in the forest as a girl, or appearing in front of a dying warrior as the existence he imagined.
Gods who lost their thrones or whose thrones were destroyed had to borrow someone else’s name even when they existed.
[It is the same as the role of a play. If a person who cannot be assigned a role wants to appear as a character, he has to take the ‘seat’ of the existing character.]
When she said that, a shout came from far away from her.
Wow ah ah ─ !!
The roar of Maxica’s warriors and militia. Did the battle even begin?
Even the princess, who didn’t care at all whether the cannibals of this country were dead or not, was distracted by the shouts, but the empress did not blink and pressed her stomach.
Saaak…
Nau’ali’s obsidian dagger sliced through the princess’s ribs.
She felt chills at the lack of pain, but the princess maintained her pride until the end.
【So, the reason why I’ve been calling myself a mother for over a few years was to create that role? That’s a faith that’s not even funny.]
【You are free to laugh, but you are full of confidence. Can a mere human become a vessel of God? You are just a conduit. Rituals are part of that.]
In order to give her freedom and power to her mother, who is not from this world, she serves and serves the shaman she designated as her mother’s incarnation for many years.
In this way, Tonashilucatle is firmly established as the existence of the [Middle branch].
【Finally, if that incarnation offers you as a sacrifice… To her mother, who had to exist as a monster without being able to take away the throne of the ‘mirror that vomits her smoke’, she may be able to regain her freedom a little more.]
【… A mirror that vomits smoke (Tezcatlipoca)?]
【This is the god of the old Maxima. A god who died in Ragnarok. Because he destroyed his throne himself, his mother and the remaining two evil gods were not qualified to remain in this world.]
However, if it absorbs the moon floating on the ground, there is no problem.
Wouldn’t the result be the same whether waiting for the new seat to be emptied or creating a new seat? This Advent ceremony was the first button to begin the finishing touches.
【■■■■■■■■■, ■■■-■■■■■■■!!】
Raising the dagger, Nau’ali uttered an incantation. It was a language that the princess’s ears could not understand, but it was certain that something more important than blood was leaking from her limbs.
Wood deuk… !!
Scales rose on the princess’s hands and feet.
It was as if ants were breaking through the anesthetized flesh. She screamed silently at the feeling that something that others could not see or touch was changing from the inside.
【■■■─ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■!!!】
The dagger that sucked blood turned in reverse.
I’ve seen that action before. It was to insert a knife and cut the body, put a hand into the victim’s body, and extract the heart alive.
The ritual that made her princess vomit for the first time in her life was about to happen to her body. Lying on her altar, waiting to die, she opened her eyes wide.
At the unconventional reaction of the trembling sacrifice, Naualli also stopped casting the spell.
Could it have been the sixth sense of the emperor who inherited the strongest blood from his mother in this country?
Kaaaaang—!!!
As she looked up at the sky, someone had fallen onto the altar in broad daylight, which had been left open to see her sun. The figure collided with the barrier of her altar and clicked her tongue at the force of the repulsion.
“Tch, is it a barrier?”
【… Aggressor!】
Naualli stopped conscious and stunned. How did you find your way here? How long has it been since I ordered the corps commanders to watch out for the sky?
Nahuali did not know. The magic called
That
Nord sighed as he blocked the barrier that burned his flesh as soon as he touched it with the mana of beast return.
“Wow, you crazy bastards. The entire city wasn’t enough, so I put a barrier on the altar as well.”
To his astonishment, Nau Ali did not speak a language he did not know. You can find out why later. In any case, the invader had to be prevented from ruining his ritual.
“By the way, even if I set up a barrier for 100 days, it doesn’t mean anything at all, right? 【ᚱ(Raidō)】.”
But when she heard to take out her princess’s heart, Nord flipped through the gap in space and jumped over her barrier. There was no way that the true rune’s power, which even escaped the dimension, could be blocked by barriers.
“Search, Queen Reptillion—!!”
【Kuh… ?!】
Kaaang-!!!
After crossing the barrier, he blew away Naualli with [Gertur]’S herbivore, and with subsequent herbivores, the mana that bound the princess’s body was blown away with Brunac’s exorcism.
Whirik Whirik—! After spinning two laps in the air, he landed on a broken altar.
“Hello. I don’t know if you’re okay By any chance, how many fingers do you see?”
Then, he stomped her buttocks on the stone floor and waved her fingers in front of the eyes of the princess who was in pain. The princess blinked her eyes and stuttered the words of her hometown for the first time in a long time.
『Two, two?』
“Huh, you’re fine. You’re the older sister of Princess Yui-ling, right? Even with a cursory glance, she took out what looked like and put it in, so she knows it’s a rough fit. Ah, I haven’t seen the body, so don’t worry.”
“Uh? To?”
『I am actually a friend of your younger brother, but please accompany me for a while. Absolutely no kidnapping.”
He hugged the princess, who opened her mouth and looked at him with eyes wondering, ‘What is this bastard? She was filthy close-knit, but how could she be saved thanks to her clairvoyance?
“Me, Advent.”
Nord said as he draped her coat over the naked princess.
“Cool, sure.”
