Chapter 162: Sacrifice

"So… you mean we should destroy the Hu Ake Li Alliance? To save those Niksa Lan people?" the Red Dragon said hesitantly, "I've touched the power of those pyramids; the spells I release aren't as strong as Legendary spells, but they're enough to threaten him."

Damn, since when have these neutral dragons become as hateful as the good dragons?

Naimi Xisi tilted his head and said, "That's my reason for starting the war; after all, I can't say I'm doing it just to steal your treasure, can I? Then I'd be just like an evil dragon such as you."

After speaking, he looked at the Red Dragon with contempt, and the latter immediately stuck out his neck and shouted, "What does it mean to be like me? Neutral dragons are indeed hypocrites!!"

Juan Ce Long squinted at him and threatened, "Stop the nonsense. Do you agree or not?"

"Agree, and you can enjoy the spoils; refuse, and I'll beat you until you agree, then use your soul to forge an obedient puppet!"

Di Luo Na Ou's eyes widened at his threat, and he stammered, "Y‑you're even more evil than I am! I agree."

Naimi Xisi nodded with satisfaction; he was merely scaring the Red Dragon. If the other truly refused, he would at most cripple him to a third‑level cripple and then bind him with a Divine Oath to serve for five hundred years.

Well, he's still quite kind.

The Red Dragon, a creature without any moral bottom line, quickly forgot the threat and excitedly said, "So tell me, when do we start? I've been craving those cities for a long time; this time I'll loot their vaults completely! All the gold coins, all the gems, take them all!"

Naimi Xisi lazily glanced at him and said, "Nine to one split: I take nine, you get one."

Di Luo Na Ou wanted to erupt at once, but after seeing the faint green glow on Juan Ce Long's fingertip that had appeared at an unknown time, he obediently crouched down again.

Naimi Xisi flew to the mountain peak, gazing at a faint black dot far in the distance, his eyes darkened.

Pyramid? Perhaps; he indeed needs it.

But does he really need it?

Maybe he only seeks a pretext for himself.

Wa Luo Sang's brief words revealed a tip of an iceberg; the bloodshed already chilled the dragon's gall, confirming that humans are indeed the cruellest beings in the world, willing to…

Even the ten dragons of good and evil, who would decide life or death upon meeting, would never touch a single scale of a Young Dragon Stage.

At the mountain summit, Juan Ce Long clutched his talons, making a decision in his heart.

——

The Hu Ake Li Alliance, Tikaar City.

The city lies to the northeast of the Death Rainforest; it was from here that Wa Luo Sang and the others originally escaped.

Beyond the edge of the Death Rainforest, the Niksa Lan Basin and Tikaar City are roughly 1,200 kilometers apart.

Tikaar City occupies an important passage between Bopoer Mountain and Zata Mountain, making it a thriving trade city.

According to Wa Luo Sang, Tikaar City's main professionals were all sent to the front lines; they gathered a large number of warriors from surrounding towns to form an army, though many of the troops were untrained farmer militia.

These soldiers are virtually nonexistent to the two mighty True Dragons.

The only real threat is the pyramid at the city's center.

Naimi Xisi perched on the towering summit of Bopoer Mountain, scattering countless Spy Demon Eyes down the slope, hidden in the air to scout everything in the city.

Beside him, Di Luo Na Ou said boredly, "Does it have to be so complicated? I think a single spell from you could cripple the entire city."

Naimi Xisi gave no reply; with at least tens of thousands of Niksa Lan people in the city, he didn't want to bear such a heavy killing sin, which would immediately tilt his faction toward evil.

His vertical pupils flashed a dazzling white light as he surveyed every corner of the city through countless Spy Demon Eyes.

Street vendors, stone-built houses, guards wielding obsidian long swords, and women passing by with feathers in their hair.

The city's surface appears so normal and harmonious.

However, it wasn't until a Spy Demon Eye reached the city's central district, the plaza before the pyramid, that he saw a different scene.

The wailing baby, its helpless parents restrained, and an aged, decayed shaman raising a dagger toward the baby's chest.

The mother knelt on the ground, crying out in agony, "No! Please! Great shaman, I beg you, spare my child!" Her arm was twisted by the guard behind her into an impossible angle, completely dislocated. The shaman snorted coldly, lowered his dagger, and with a grim gaze said, "Spare?"

The shaman continued, "Do you think that offering a sacrifice to the Great Sun Incarnation Tizka is an insult? Damn heretics!"

The guard behind her, hearing the shaman's words, bent the woman's arm even harder backward, causing her to scream in agony; blood seeped from under both armpits as her arms were completely broken.

The onlookers nearby grew even more incensed, angrily cursing the woman.

"Please… please, Great… Tizka."

The woman wept bitterly; such sacrifices happen daily, yet she herself had once been among the surrounding spectators. She didn't understand why those false believers couldn't even sacrifice something as small as their own child, and she couldn't grasp why they would defy the deity over such a matter.

But now she understands.

She became a mother; as a parent, that heart once twisted by faith, hard and cold, softened when she saw the newborn emerging from her body.

She still recalls her reaction upon seeing the baby—she was stunned, then burst into a joyous laugh, gently cradling the child and stroking his wrinkled skin.

In that moment, she resolved never to let her child become a sacrificial offering.

!

But, in the end, it was her turn.

The great twin gods of Water and Fire each require every city to offer one infant daily; consequently, Tikaar City must contribute seven hundred thirty infants each year.

With such numbers, it was inevitable that it would fall to her.

The shaman's dagger rose high again as he fervently praised the deity of his faith.

"Great Sun Incarnation Tizka! Please gaze upon us, enjoy the offering, your humble servant is here, begging for your mercy! May the evil fire demon stay far from us, and may cool breezes and fresh winds endure forever in Tikaar!"

The mother lost all strength, closed her eyes, unwilling to witness her child being chopped into fragments.

"No"—the faint cry for help had already faded into the wind.

The shaman's dagger flashed a scarlet glow, a massive wave of evil demonic power surged from it; he clenched the dagger, ready to plunge it down hard.

Buzz—buzz—buzz!!!

The piercing buzz rang throughout Tikaar City, and the pyramid behind the shaman erupted in a dazzling flash.

He jerked his head up, his face darkened.

"An enemy has invaded! Damn it, is it that Red Dragon again? Didn't the wounds from last time teach him a lesson? How dare he come here to disrupt the Divine Ritual—truly courting death!"

The shaman immediately dropped the dagger, preparing to return to the pyramid; only he had authority to control the pyramid, and only the pyramid could deal with that Red Dragon.

The surrounding crowd dispersed in a clamor, the baby was left on the altar, crying and wailing nonstop, unattended.

No, there is still one person.

His father had already died, but his mother was still clinging to life; she used all her strength, struggling like a maggot to crawl to the altar, softly comforting the child.

"Don't be afraid, child, may Amaya save us"

She turned over, gazing at the azure sky; two huge black shadows, like mountains, covered the sky, as if deities had descended.

Hmm. The gods of Maztesike Continent are this evil; after all, the chief god is a lunatic like Zaerteke, how could the lesser gods be any good?

(End of chapter)