Pirate Kingship

Chapter 419 - 336: Skull No.1: The Fallen Heavenly God Itzamna

Chapter 419: Chapter 336: Skull No.1: The Fallen Heavenly God Itzamna

While Byron and Catherine were discussing the seemingly peculiar Tayapan, people in this very city-state—which adjoined Torrent Fortress—were also discussing Byron.

In the embrace of grand architecture such as the Pillar Hall Palace, ball courts, markets, the Warrior Temple, and the Astronomical Observatory, stood a colossal twelve-level pyramidal structure. It was only one level shorter than the highest-grade thirteen-level Sky Ladder Pyramid from the Taya Empire era, which had once enshrined thirteen Crystal Skulls. It even towered three levels above the nine-level Feathered Serpent God Pyramid of Chichen Itza City.

Atop the pyramid, a temple dedicated to Heavenly God Itzamna, chief of the thirteen principal gods of the Taya pantheon, was dark and profound. On either side of a magnificent, half-human, half-dragon Divine Statue, there stood two high-backed stone chairs.

On one of the chairs sat a Great Shaman named Calakmul, wearing a five-colored feather garment and a five-colored feathered headdress. On the other chair sat the newly crowned King Teotihuacan, known as the "Snub-nosed King." He wore a colorful woven belt and was bare-chested, his robust, bronze skin adorned with many turquoise ornaments.

However, both rulers bore non-human characteristics. Great Shaman Calakmul had a green Dragon Horn growing on the left side of his forehead, and his left eye had transformed into Dragon Eyes. The latter’s changes were even more pronounced: he had two rows of six dagger-like blue Dragon Horns on his head, both his eyes were cold golden vertical pupils, and his cheeks and shoulders bore blue scales.

This was clearly a symptom of irreversible beast transformation resulting from the excessive use of the Multicolored Dragon Lizard spirit. They were, respectively, the green dragon lizard representing the wind attribute and the blue dragon lizard representing the water attribute from the Multicolored Dragon Lizard. This type of beast transformation followed the same principle as foreign colonizers collecting various beast spirits through Black Sorcery and mass-producing all kinds of otherworldly creatures. It indicated a deviation from Human Nature that was difficult to reverse.

But whether it was the city-state nobility, shamans, and senior warriors lined up from the base of the Divine Statue to the entrance of the temple, or the middle-aged tribal leader kneeling in the middle, all of them bowed their heads slightly to show their reverence. Clearly, it would be a grave mistake to think their beast transformation symptoms meant they were weak.

The thunderous and oppressive voice of King Teotihuacan, the "Snub-nosed King," echoed repeatedly in the vast temple:

"Lakamha, the Governor of the Kingdom of Hightens, the Torrent Castle Baron, sent envoys today. They demand severe punishment for you, the chief culprit. They also demand we compensate them triple the losses. Do you realize what you did wrong?"

Kneeling on the ground, the "Dragon Lizard Warrior" Lakamha, who had also led the attack on the coal transport ship, bowed his head even lower, his face filled with terror, and said, "I’m sorry, my King. Following your orders, we scouted the maximum coverage of the enemy’s Law Network, calculated the timing of the river cargo ships passing through our territory, and even the number of guards on the ships. To avoid leaking information, we specifically brought wizards from our tribe to seal the local spirits, rendering all conventional communication methods ineffective. We just didn’t expect Torrent Fortress to add an air patrol team at the last minute. They were equipped with firearms far superior to the standard foreign trade versions. If it hadn’t been for that meddling Crown Prince Wayne Dote from Chichen Itza City, I could have seized them, their precious ironware, and their munitions without anyone being the wiser!"

He added through gritted teeth, "That traitor Wayne Dote of the Taino People will surely go to Hell sooner or later! And those bastards from Chichen Itza City and Uxmal City! Not only have they never thought of driving the outsiders from this land, but their entire clans have also converted to follow that foreign ’Father of Healing.’ They all deserve to die! They don’t deserve to be ranked alongside us, Tayapan, as one of the three great city-states! My King, my biggest mistake was underestimating the enemy’s strength and failing to kill Wayne Dote and those ’Eagle Spirit Warriors.’"

It was obvious that this attack was not a momentary impulse by a small tribe. Instead, it was the will of the city-state’s king, Teotihuacan, the "Snub-nosed King," and the entire upper echelons of the city-state.

At this moment, the various levels of city-state nobility, shamans, and senior warriors in the temple also voiced their agreement:

"Your Majesty, Chief Lakamha is right. This is our Taya land, and we must drive all the outsiders out."

"We need not follow rules with the outsiders. Taking their iron equipment by force is also to prepare for the upcoming Crown War. Heavenly God Itzamna will remember their deeds."

"Only Tayapan is the legitimate heir to the divine favor of Heavenly God Itzamna and the Taya civilization. The others are unreliable. Only by relying on ourselves can we restore the Empire to its former glory."

"As long as we can use this Crown War, which is sweeping across the island, to reunify the Taya Empire, we can then seize the chance to annex the already fragmented Aztec, unite the strength of 13 million Taino People, and drive all the colonizers out. We might even use their shipping routes to strike back at the Silver Continent, sacrificing their kin to Heavenly God Itzamna."

Among the three great city-states—Uxmal, Tayapan, and Chichen Itza—the situations varied. Uxmal City had initially faced the most critical epidemic; after its residents survived the disaster under the leadership of their new king—Byron’s informal disciple, Mictlantecuhtli—their faith in the ’Father of Healing’ became exceedingly fervent. In Chichen Itza City, Geronimo, who had originally served as Captain of the Guard of the Temple, was crowned King after the royal line ended, and Wayne Dote became the Crown Prince.