Chapter 152: Mazteck Mythology

At the instant Ipa Na III was utterly dead, the pyramid seemed to be triggered by some condition; the huge transparent prismatic gem atop it lit up, and the entire underground cavern was then illuminated by its light.

Naimi Xisi saw on the far wall of the cavern a series of massive rock carvings that appeared to record battles among ancient deities.

The first panel depicts a voluptuous woman rising from the earth, clad in an ornate beast‑skin garment, her belly protruding, with a man made entirely of gold standing beside her.

The second panel records the birth of the child in the woman's womb: twin boys born on the same day are raised aloft by the golden man's hands, shining in the sun.

The third panel shows two youths; one is cruel and bloodthirsty, with a mountain of corpses piled beneath his feet.

The other child is far more curious: dragon‑like wings sprout from his back, his head transforms into a dragon's, and he stands behind the first, looking at the corpses beneath with disgust.

The fourth panel records the two children now grown into adults: the blood‑thirsty, brutal one retains his sanguinary tastes after coming of age, while the other has fully become a dragon, growing ever more repulsed by his brother's deeds and keeping increasing distance.

The fifth panel shows the long‑absent woman and the man whose body was forged of gold reappear, but in a terrifying pose: their heads are severed, their bodies scattered across the ground, and the child born from the woman's womb steps on their corpses, his eyes emitting demonic red light.

And that dragon has long vanished.

The sixth panel shows the man who killed his parents becoming the ruler of the gods; corpses of deities who refused to submit lie beneath his feet, with only Taiz Ka and Azul bowing their heads to him.

The dragon, however, stands opposite the gods; no one is beside him, yet a formless light sphere floats nearby.

The seventh panel shows the light sphere flickering in the sky as the gods kneel in agony; countless chains descend from the heavens, binding the gods, while the dragon remains free.

The eighth panel depicts the gods bound in the sky, with only the dragon roaming the earth.

The story ends here.

Unfamiliar with Mazteck mythology, Naimi Xisi was utterly confused by the story depicted on the murals; he shook his head, stepped toward the pyramid to investigate how to enter, when a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.

"You're puzzled, aren't you? Don't know what the murals depict?"

Naimi Xisi snapped his head up, glanced left and right, his gaze sharpening.

But around him was empty.

"No need to be curious; you've already seen me, when you set foot on this continent, my kin," the voice continued, and a faint, dragon‑shaped white light materialized before Naimi Xisi.

"Under Quarte's crown?" Naimi Xisi asked hesitantly.

"Exactly."

"Are you also a dragon?" Naimi Xisi voiced his greatest doubt.

Quarte chuckled lightly, "Before that, let me tell you a story."

"Feather‑clad beast, betrayer of the gods—these are the epithets the Mazteck beings have given me,"

"Except for the Paiite tribe living in the distant, isolated forest, I am the only god in the world despised and scorned by mortals."

The self‑mockery in Quarte's words made Naimi Xisi nervous, fearing the other might become enraged; he was also shocked at how the mortals of Mazteck dared to insult a god—these ignorant ants were downright foolish.

"But you know," Quarte's tone shifted, tinged with sorrow, "they once called me differently. 'Feathered dragon, the brilliantly colored guardian of virtue,' my people once revered me as."

"You must be curious, perhaps even secretly despise me? My kin? Why would I cooperate with you colonizers, why would I help you slaughter my own kind, my people?"

Naimi Xisi shook his head decisively, his eyes full of refusal: "Not at all, esteemed deity."

"Just kidding, who would admit their mind's gone soggy, though he truly had thought that earlier."

Quarte seemed unfazed, chuckling, "I had to do this; I've lost all hope. Perhaps only you accidental colonizers can save the doomed Mazteck continent."

"Destroyed?" Naimi Xisi felt a stir, suddenly recalling the prophecy about a savior.

"At first, the Mazteck continent had only two deities," Quarte began to narrate the story.

"The embodiment of the Mazteck continent—Mother of Life Mazteck, and the Ancient Father of the Gods Kuku Er."

"They are the parents of me and my brother—the War Messenger Zha Er Taike."

"From birth, I sensed the endless evil will that lingered around my twin brother, a terrifying, curse‑like malevolence constantly affecting his mind."

"As he grew, my brother Zha Er Taike became increasingly cruel and bloodthirsty, crazily inciting war across the Mazteck continent, reveling in mortal blood sacrifices, which enraged our parents."

!

"But Zha Er Taike knows restraint; facing the source of the gods, he chose to yield, leading my parents to think he had changed. Only I know it was merely a façade."

"The day he came of age was also the day I truly transformed into my real self; Zha Er Taike acted."

"He used despicable ambush tactics to slay the true forms of our parents who had descended onto the prime material plane, destroying their divine realm, exterminating their followers, thereby becoming the sole ruler."

"The Embodiment of the Sun—Taiz Ka—submitted to him, followed by the treacherous little one Azul; when the twin deities of water and fire also submitted, Zha Er Taike launched an endless divine war against the non‑compliant gods."

"The gods fell, only the submissive survived."

"After all the gods were dealt with, his target turned to me, his brother—the only god who saw through him, the only god unwilling to submit to his bloodlust."

"I gave up resistance, not stubbornly hiding in my divine realm; I knew my followers would eventually be brutally slain, and my realm would eventually be breached by him. I descended my true form onto the prime material plane, hoping to die on the same earth as my parents."

"Zha Er Taike, accompanied by the gods who had submitted to him, appeared before me; he intended to kill me before all the gods and erect his everlasting hegemony."

"Until that one appeared."

"The one whom no god ever knew, a recluse behind the scenes."

"The one who created the Tianyu Realm, a being that shines upon the gods."

"The Great One, God‑above‑God—His Majesty Ai O."

Finally, there is a suitable plot to slightly describe Ai O's grandeur.

(End of Chapter)