Pirate Kingship

Setting sail from Byron and Catherine's core territory, Great Tayman Island, and continuing westward for 600 kilometers, is a day and night's journey for the Golden Deer. This route leads to a vast, crescent-shaped island—Yucatan Island.

This island covers an area of 2,300,000 square kilometers, over 10,000 times the size of Great Tayman Island. It is also the largest island in the western Bantaan Archipelago.

When the first Castilian colonizers arrived, they almost believed they had discovered an entirely new continent.

This place is a colossal treasury brimming with wealth: Spice forests, gold and silver mines, and abundant corn, beans, and cocoa, generously gifted by Nature.

Naturally, this also nurtured a copious population.

The brown-skinned Tenor people of the Bantaan Archipelago established two Native Empires: the Taya Empire and the Aztec Empire, which confronted each other, one to the north and one to the south.

If one were to draw an east-west line from the Tayman Archipelago, it would pass directly through the border of these two great empires.

Yucatan Island is also one of the islands closest to both empires.

However, naturalists and historians have cataloged all the known countries of the explored world. To this day, none have discovered any nation that truly embodies the concept of a centralized, unified empire.

Both the Aztec Empire and the Taya Empire, much like the Old Continent's Holy Silver Empire, were empires in name only. Essentially, they were just large, loosely-bound federations with relatively unified cultures and languages.

The difference between the three empires lay merely in the varying strengths of their supreme rulers' city-states; effective long-range control over their various city-states was a challenge for all of them.

「On this day.」

South of the border between the two nations, in the center of Chichen Itza City—the largest city in the Taya Empire, its name meaning "at the mouth of the well of the Itza"—stood a massive, nine-tiered square pyramid. It was surrounded by grand architecture such as columned halls, ball courts, markets, Warrior Temples, and an Astronomical Observatory.

This pyramid was only one tier lower than the highest-ranking thirteen-tiered Pyramid in Taya civilization, which once housed the thirteen Crystal Skulls.

The exquisitely engraved feathered serpent patterns on the pyramid's body indicated the "God" worshiped within: one of the chief gods of the Taya civilization's beliefs, the Feathered Serpent God Kukulcan.

SCREECH!

As a series of shrill eagle cries that could shatter stone resonated, gigantic eagles, each with a wingspan exceeding three meters, rose from the Nobility residences throughout the city.

Each circled the Pyramid three times before landing at the entrance of the square Temple atop it.

Shaking their feathers, they astonishingly transformed into agile indigenous men and women.

They were a group of Eagle Spirit Warriors, corresponding to the Ladder of Glory, at least Second Order Professional Rank.

Some carried a few young people on their backs, seemingly outstanding juniors from their families.

They wore distinctive native textiles, had vibrant raptor feathers in their hair, and were adorned with nose and ear ornaments made from turquoise.

A few wore clothing clearly made from Old Continent linen, equipped with fine steel swords and even Flintlock Guns.

Evidently, this was not a group of isolated primitives.

Everyone silently entered the Temple of the Feathered Serpent God and took their respective seats in a square stone hall. Most bore grim expressions, weighed down by heavy thoughts.

THUD!

An elderly shaman, wearing an opulent feathered headdress and draped in a colorful feathered robe, struck the ground fiercely with a Serpent Staff carved with the image of the Feathered Serpent God and inlaid with a Crystal Skull.

His eagle-sharp, amber eyes swept over every fellow clansman present. With a resentful voice, he said, "You all must have heard about the ordeal our Princess Kyate endured, as well as two other princesses from the southern Taya City-States, when they were to be wed to the Aztec Empire ten days ago. A Third Order Eagle Spirit Warrior barely escaped with his life from the Aztec Royal City to bring us the news, bringing us only this terrible news. Tell me, what should our city of Chichen Itza do?"

No sooner had his words fallen than the hall erupted in a blaze of righteous anger.

"The Aztecs dare to commit such acts; they clearly no longer desire peace! They have blatantly told us that regardless of whether we kneel and beg for mercy, they intend to carry the Crown War to the bitter end. Sooner or later, they will send all of us to the bloody sacrificial altar to be flayed and have our hearts cut out!"

"Revenge! For the Princess and His Majesty the King, our city of Chichen Itza must take revenge on the Aztecs!"

"..."

Soon, only one voice remained:

"Revenge!"

The group of youngsters permitted to attend the meeting, especially, had eyes nearly blazing with fire as they thought of their princess's fate.

Among these "eagles," there were indeed "doves" who advocated for peace, but the Aztec Empire's actions had completely cornered them. There was no longer any possibility of reconciliation or compromise with the enemy.

And no one could have anticipated that just ten short days ago, the attitude of everyone present, including their now-deceased King, had been quite different.

A group of Aztec Tiger Warriors had arrived suddenly with gifts from the Emperor, requesting that the city-state's King, Calhua, marry his daughter, Princess Kyate, to their Emperor.

With the exception of most of the young men in the city-state, all the seated Nobility, shamans, and King Calhua himself had gladly consented.

Although the princess of Chichen Itza was a renowned beauty, their Taya Empire had long since disintegrated into warring factions. If marrying off a princess could bring peace with the mighty Aztec Empire, even short-term peace, it would be entirely worth it.

However, what they did not know was that by that time, the Aztec Emperor had already "ascended to the heavens" and merged with Xipe Totec, the Guardian Spirit holding the highest status among the many deities the Aztec Empire worshiped.

The "marriage" of the princess to him involved her being skinned and offered as a sacrifice!

King Calhua had initially set off in high spirits to attend his daughter's wedding banquet. But during the marriage ceremony, he was horrified to discover that the skin of his beloved daughter, his precious pearl, was being worn by a shaman wizard who danced in the wind.

The other two princesses from the Taya Empire, who were also "married" to the "late Emperor," suffered the same fate.

Three young women, as beautiful as flowers, met a gruesome and tragic end.

If it weren't for a Third Order Eagle Spirit Warrior among the King's entourage, it would have been utterly impossible for anyone to escape and bring back the news.

The old shaman presiding over the meeting once again struck his Crystal Skull-inlaid Serpent Staff. Addressing the outraged crowd, he said in a deep voice, "The central city-state of our Taya Empire was destroyed long ago by internal conflict, and our political structure completely disintegrated. Over a hundred city-states that spoke the same language and worshiped the same Guardian Spirits became fragmented. Despite having a full 3,000,000 people, we are but a plump target for anyone to take a bite out of.

"In contrast, since the founding of their nation, every Aztec Emperor has ceaselessly waged wars abroad, never ceasing their territorial expansion. Now, they have nearly 10,000,000 people and 371 affiliated city-states. An endless supply of tributes sustains the Tenochtitlan Royal City, inhabited by a staggering 250,000 people—the largest city in the entire Bantaan Archipelago. How can we in Chichen Itza seek revenge alone? And by what right can we do so?"

Everyone was silent.

In the distant seas, unprotected by the Silver Law, stronger Source Tides surged. Forbidden zones, where no living person dared to enter, were everywhere. And their ancestral spirits, Guardian Spirits, Totem Poles, and even the tallest Thirteen-Tiered Pyramid, all had a very limited protective range. They simply could not form large, expansive safe zones.

A city-state centered on a single city was their best option, often called a "one city-one state" system. On the vast lands, they were like disconnected points, separated by even vaster primeval jungles and forbidden areas.

The Taya civilization had roughly 100 cities, which formed the basis of their city-state nations. These mostly consisted of a central city allied with surrounding tribes and small towns. The supreme ruler was a hereditary Monarch, followed in rank by shaman wizards, Nobility, warriors, merchants, craftsmen, peasants, and slaves.

Besides the people of Chichen Itza, there were the K'iche', Q'eqchi', Pikomshi, Pokomam, Uspantek, Kaqchikel, and Ch'orti'. Each city-state had its own interests. If it weren't for the ever-watchful gaze of the northern Aztecs, they themselves would have started fighting long ago.

The Aztec Empire, though also disunited, was still far stronger than them.

Given Chichen Itza's current geographical position, forget revenge against the Aztecs; disaster seemed imminent.

Seeing the silent crowd, knowing they had no suggestions, the Great Shaman shook his head and continued:

"I do know of a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. The Aztec emperors of past generations have been too despotic and brutal. The war tributes they demand are not just from us; the city-states within Aztec territory also suffer deeply.

"In particular, for some unknown reason, the blood sacrifice rituals recently held in the Royal City have been on an ever-grander scale, all starting at ten thousand people. This has incited hatred among many kings within the empire.

"Yesterday, an Anti-Aztec Alliance approached me. They claim to have hired a group of fair-skinned outsiders, aiming to strike directly at Tenochtitlan Royal City. And it's not just any outsiders, but the regular army of the Kingdom of Castile, the mightiest among them.

"I believe this could be our best chance for revenge."

Meanwhile, this explained why the Kingdom of Castile chose this moment to launch a war of annihilation, according to the news Byron received.

Before the others could voice their opinions, a young voice suddenly called out urgently in the hall, "Great Shaman, we cannot collaborate with the Kingdom of Castile! In the Old Continent, it is the superpower that initiated the Great Nautical Age, wielding numerous powerful Holy Relics and called the maritime overlord by other nations. They're even stronger than the Aztec Empire!"

Normally, a young person would not have the right to speak here. Everyone in the hall turned to look in the direction of the voice.

Behind an imposing, dignified elder, a figure lifted the linen cloak he was covered with, revealing a native youth.

However, he was dressed in Old Continent attire, starkly different from his peers, with a bandolier across his chest and waist bristling with seven or eight Flintlock Guns of various lengths. The only native adornment was a pendant around his neck: an eagle's beak, seemingly worn semi-transparent from much handling.

"You are... the grandson of Geronimo, Captain of the Temple Guard... Wayne Dote? Weren't you captured by an outsiders' Slave-catcher Team? You actually managed to escape and return?!"