Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1819 - 1307: The First Sacrifice in Ainu Land

For two days, the pursuit after the great battle continued. The warriors of the Beiyu Clan fought fiercely with high spirits, swiftly chasing the retreating Ishikari Faction across mountains and fields. They pursued eastward for sixty miles until reaching the Hohira River, occupied by the Ishikari Tribes, before returning with the captives they had seized.

Next came the burial of corpses, and the inventory of captives and spoils of war. The elders of the Beiyu Clan began to sing songs of the departed, their mournful chants and harmonica echoing across the fields by the seaside.

"They have departed, drifting northward. They sink into the Sarufutsu River, descending to the deep riverbed. Ahead is pitch black, and behind is pitch black. Ultimately, they saw light, that is the world after death. They saw the loved ones of their past, living on the underground Maoshili Island. They saw the same river, its boats filled with fish and seaweed…"

"The dead dogs bark, welcoming new residents. If any living person arrives, they will be chased away by the barking dead dogs… No one can meet their deceased kin while alive. And after death, they forget the living world, forever living quietly underground…"

"Hmm? The Ainu People only have the underground Land of the Dead, without a beautiful Heavenly Divine Kingdom?…"

Zuwaro listened to the Beiyu clan's songs, noticeably pondering. The Ainu People believe all things have spirits, and their depiction of the afterlife is filled with simplicity and ignorance. After this battle, the gods of "the sea, thunder, and gold" have already shown their divine power, enough to shock the tribes. It is time to spread the faith of the Chief Divine under the name of the Heavenly Divine and mighty Divine Might, and introduce a more complete concept of the afterlife to the Ainu Tribes.

"Chief Divine bless! Zuwaro High Priest, we've tallied the casualties and captives… The Kingdom only lost two Rokube warriors, with a dozen lightly injured. Meanwhile, the Japanese left behind twenty-two bodies and eighteen captives, four of which are severely injured… As for the Beiyu Clan, about two hundred people died or were injured in battle. And the opposing Ishikari Clan suffered similarly, with two hundred dead or injured. Including minor injuries, we have left with sixty captives…"

At this point, Warrior Chief Tamikusa paused, a hint of excitement and anticipation in his eyes.

"Lord High Priest, are we going to hold a grand sacrificial ceremony and offer both these Ainu captives and Japanese captives to the Chief Divine?!"

"Sacrificial ceremony?… Hmm… We can hold a small ceremony to sacrifice a dozen severely injured captives while conducting a conversion ceremony for the remaining Ainu captives. Later, we'll transport them to the Shinnan Mountain Port on the Far North Peninsula or the new port on Kutadai Island. But the fourteen Japanese captives, for now, should be kept for greater use!…"

Zuwaro pondered for a moment before making his decision. As the nominal "Thousand Islands Great Tribe of Beiyu," there is a significant possibility of assimilating these Ishikari Clan captives. This aligns with the traditions between the Ainu Clans, similar to how the Ishikari Tribes invaded Beiyu territory, assimilating smaller Beiyu clans into their tribe.

As for assimilating the Japanese captives, it is far more time-consuming and challenging, especially as these captives are high-ranking warriors from the opposing side. Their most advantageous use is to demand "ransom" from the Japanese, possibly even establishing a trade route! Of course, the so-called "ransom" is not the Kingdom's mountains of gold and silver, but the truly needed things…

"Tamikusa, what about the other spoils of war? I see many iron armors from the Japanese and those escaped horses?"

"High Priest, we seized about twenty sets of Japanese iron armor. But these things are very thin and merely intimidating, lacking substantial material. They are constructed with wood and iron… We'll need craftsmen to carefully repair them, use leather or wood to patch up the punctured gaps, and still make do with them!"

Speaking of the Japanese doumaru, Warrior Chief Tamikusa shook his head. This so-called "iron armor" has far inferior defense compared to the Kingdom's cloth heavy armor, and it seems very cheap too—better let the Rokube hunters wear them! As for the horses…

"Chief Divine witness! Speaking of the horses, it makes me furious! High Priest, we captured five horses, yet as the Rokube hunters examined them, they found all to be male horses incapable of producing foals! Furthermore, four of the five male horses are castrated, leaving only the Jurchen stallion of the Japanese Great Chief for breeding…"

"Five male horses? Four castrated warhorses, only one stallion for breeding?"

Zuwaro's eyebrow raised, vaguely sensing something amiss yet failing to trace it clearly. He was not aware that the Kaozaki Family's warhorses were crossbreeds of Jurchen stallions and Kiso mares, ranking among the top across the Japan Archipelago. In the Kaozaki Family's stables, mares were usually kept for breeding herds. To produce even better warhorses, only the strongest and tallest Jurchen stallions were qualified for breeding. As for other male horses, they were castrated before being deployed as warhorses.

Zuwaro lacked understanding of warhorse training and breeding. Perhaps, only by heading west to the Western Sea Continent and finding the horse-breeding Shandan Jurchen could he unravel it all!

"Tamikusa, don't rush. We hold these important Japanese captives, we can demand their mares from the southern Japanese tribes… Bring reliable people and carefully interrogate the Japanese captives to uncover information on the southern Japanese! Apart from the old Japanese leader, feel free to use torture on others!"

"Yes! High Priest!…"

Warrior Chief Tamikusa's spirit lifted as he proceeded towards the captive's pen. But after a couple steps, he turned back and eagerly inquired.

"High Priest, what about the sacrificial and conversion ceremony? The warriors are all looking forward to it…"

"Chief Divine witness! Prepare for one day, the ceremony will commence tomorrow!"

Zuwaro solemnly assured, aware of the Kingdom's warriors' thirst for sacrifice and blood.

For in the warriors' understanding, only through the ceremonies led by priests, only through blood sacrifice… their deeds and glory can be acknowledged by the Chief Divine in the heavens, granting them the divine favor to survive battles victoriously, and even earn better afterlife treatment!

In actuality, this religious fervor drove these warriors to willingly traverse vast distances, conquering turbulent waters to reach the core of the Western Sea Continent! It felt like a covenant between the Chief Divine and the warriors, and as a priest executing the divine contract, he must satisfy the warriors' most important spiritual needs to gain their sincere loyalty and fearlessness in battle!

"Ignite the Sacred Fire, call upon the Chief Divine's name! He is supreme and almighty…"

"The God arrives, watching us with blood-red eyes!…"

The next morning marked a perfect day for sacrifice. Under the reverent gaze of the Beiyu Clan, amidst the fearful observation of the Japanese captives, the Kingdom's warriors erected the Divine Platform and set up the Chief Divine's emblem. Zuwaro personally ignited the Sacred Fire and held aloft the obsidian dagger towards the rising sun in pious praise.

Amidst the solemnity and grandeur, warriors and fighters knelt earnestly, and the Ainu clans also bowed their heads. Until two Rokube priest apprentices escorted the severely wounded captives to the sacrificial Divine Platform.

"Supreme Chief Divine! I offer you sacrifices from the Western Sea. Please, shower blessings upon the warriors fighting for you! Your glory will spread through the Western Sea Lands, reuniting all scattered Gummy People bloodline! And the Heavenly Divine of the Ainu is indeed your past incarnation!…" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Zuwaro shouted loudly, both in fluent Mexica language and less proficient Ainu language. Amidst everyone's excitement, horror, or shock, he finally took a deep breath, swung down the sacrificial obsidian long dagger, delivering the first cut upon Ainu Land!

"I offer this to you! My great Chief Divine! Only your mighty power can unite the tribes separated by thousands of miles into one Gummy People!"