Chapter 123 48. Lord of the Heavens
The team continued southward, and on the second day they passed a small satellite city that had once belonged to Talanxla. It had no walls, no hatching pools, only a few high bridges used to raise pterosaurs, now all collapsed.
The team discovered a large number of stone tablets in a secret chamber of a ruined pyramid. The contents on the tablets were somewhat useless to Dacus, the Umaq, from a practical point of view, but they were still somewhat useful to Lizardmen society. After all, preserving traditions is always a good thing, except for the bad ones, of course.
It records how the ancient saint Talanxla is respected by the Lizardmen society. Every four years, Talanxla holds a grand festival to celebrate her. The celebration usually lasts for two months and records the detailed steps of the celebration, including many ritual flights.
Pterosaur riders from various temple cities will form teams to show off and compete at festivals, performing various complicated and fancy flying stunts and competitions, and selecting ace pterosaur riders from the performances and competitions.
The event also attracted Skink tourists and pilgrims from many other temple cities, and sometimes the Slann would teleport in to watch the ceremony. Some Skink priests came under the pretext of visiting Taranxla to pay their respects, but most came to see the thrilling performances and competitions.
But all this came to an end with the coming of the Great Invasion, and the temple-city of Talanxla was destroyed. Such grand scenes never appeared again in the Lizardmen society that was entering a slow death.
"What about the World Cup and the Air Show Festival? Are there any firecrackers for sale?"
"Take it! We'll have to follow the instructions on the stone tablet when we hold it again." Dacius sincerely hoped that this festival would reappear on the continent of Lustria after thousands of years of silence. If this city, which he considered extremely insignificant in his grand plan, could once again hold a grand festival, it would mean that the continent of Lustria has truly been revived! There was still a glimmer of hope for the future!
Perhaps Tzeentch would like this change.
"Thank you for the gift from the ancient saints! Let's have snake soup tonight!" Dacus made a great decision standing next to the corpse of the Amazon python.
Flanais, Baine and Tiga have begun to cut the body of the Amazon python with spears. They inserted the spears into the scales of the Amazon python and began to push hard.
"Don't just stand there and watch, go and help." Daxus waved at the giant lizard Kami and said.
The Grass Python Hero, the Giant Lizard Kami, had been standing there idly, but upon hearing Darkius's command, he sprang into action, moving over to Flanneth's side to help push the Quetli Halberd. His presence saved Flanneth a great deal of effort, his speed slicing like a knife through butter. Furthermore, he was becoming increasingly clever, constantly cutting with the halberd's blade. He seemed to understand that using the sharp blade of the halberd would cut faster, rather than relying on brute force.
The cold lizards and the giant beasts gathered around the Amazon python's corpse, whispering to each other, drooling and discussing in low voices. They were already eager to eat, and if it weren't for the Amazon python's scales that they couldn't bite, they would have already started to show off.
The pterosaurs patrolling in the sky also began to land one after another far away from the giant beasts, and waited vigilantly for the leftovers after the giant beasts had finished eating, just like the vultures.
Now Daxus's team is full of factions and factions. The funny thing is that this faction is not within Duruchi, or between Duruchi and the lizardmen, or between the biological robots that follow the big plan.
Rather, they are among the comical behemoths. They will unite around Dacus, the ruler of the ancient holy triangle, the Ichi god Umak, but they also have corresponding contradictions, such as species, gender, habits and individual differences.
Fortunately, there is Da Zi Lao, a relatively smart giant horned cold lizard, who can restrain those stupid and dull little ones. Otherwise, the cold lizards would have fought with the giant beasts long ago. The giant beasts who have enough food and water will not take the initiative to attack the cold lizards under the face and restraint of Dakus.
Similarly, there is no knowledge that pterosaurs would land next to behemoths. The relationship between pterosaurs and the behemoths of Lustria is extremely unfriendly, because untamed wild pterosaurs usually feed on the behemoths' eggs. They will raid the behemoths' nests in the wild at ultra-low altitudes, and then fly them to high altitudes to drop the eggs, crush them and eat them.
Aside from the hairy ancient Triceratops, all the other beasts in the group were wild, and most of them had a real grudge against pterosaurs! It was only for Dacus's sake, otherwise the dump trucks would have already attacked the pterosaurs that had landed on the ground, and there would have been no hope of a happy family reunion.
Only the Cave Dragon is okay. It is neutral in the team and only obeys the orders of the Lizard Prophet.
"Maybe this is life? I can't do whatever I want." Daxus looked at Kallion jumping off the pterosaur in the distance and shook his head in thought.
As for this giant Amazonian python, it's a bit of a mystery. It was spotted and warned by Kalyon in the sky while it was wandering the Amazon River. At nearly 25 meters long, it showed signs of becoming a spirit, making it particularly conspicuous from the sky, visible to anyone with normal vision.
Despite receiving the warning, Darkus's team still chose to head south along the Amazon River. They had no intention of provoking the giant Amazonian python, but even if they did, they couldn't. They couldn't just go down the river and fight it on its home turf. And then, it did it on its own. Perhaps it was the confidence given by its scales or the serpent god Sotek?
And that was all. The team's assault was surprisingly bloodless, as the Amazonian python's scales were only slightly thicker, allowing it to strike with raw, unadulterated force. The Ancient Triceratops had no room for accelerated activation, but the Eternal Radiance Hengtian Instrument on the combat platform remained operational. Even with the magical power, the Lizardmen's weapons were unable to penetrate the Amazonian python's defenses.
But Daxus estimated that it must have suffered serious internal injuries. Finally, the grass python hero, the giant lizard Kami, jumped into the air and hit its head with the Oceanite Stone Crescent Shovel with great force, finishing it off. The overlord of the Amazon River disappeared inexplicably.
The battle was extremely fast. Franais and Baine, who were able to break through the defense, were in the center of the team. When they came over, there was no attack position left. Tiga had to stab a few times with the low-end version of the God Tarnks' spear.
"We won't leave today. Let's set up camp and peel off its scales. If the skull is not deformed, we can make a flag for the lizardmen. Then see if there is anything good on this stupid snake." Before giving the order, Daxus specifically asked Akadan. He didn't choose to ask Chupakoko because Chupakoko had never been to the south of Lustria.
At this time, Arkadan and the cave dragon were already feasting on snake meat. After receiving a reply that the snake god was the snake god, snakes were snakes, and his followers were lizardmen, not snakes, Dacius began to give orders.
Later in the journey, Dakwus finally understood the meaning of Talanxla being called the Sky City, and why the Flying Festival was held there. It wasn't because Talanxla floated in mid-air like a suspended pyramid, nor was it the floating city of Netheril in DnD or Dalaran in World of Warcraft.
But there were so many pterosaurs south of Tarnksla, the sky was filled with them circling. Daxus stopped the big guy and began to watch.
"My ancient saint! Sir, there must be five or six hundred of them." Walter said in surprise, pointing at the pterosaurs in the sky.
Aside from specific professions, the faith of the rest of the Duruchi is truly flexible. Almost a year after arriving in Lustria, Walter has abandoned the mainstream faith in Cain and embraced the Old Ones. But when asked which specific Old Ones he believes in, he simply shook his head, saying he didn't know.
"This is just what we can see. There should be more in reality!" Franais, who usually speaks very little, also began to express his opinion.
"They are all good things, but where can we find so many animal trainers and riders? And letting them all ride pterosaurs seems a bit of a waste of resources to me." Ryan has recovered recently, but he doesn't record things now, and he doesn't have a notebook to record.
"What if Kallion's helmet can be mass-produced? It doesn't require holographic vision, as long as it can expand the trainer's empathy range. Then the trainer can control a team of pterosaurs within a range!" This was said by Elmir.
Kallion in the sky was extremely confident. He was not afraid of being attacked by groups of pterosaurs, and he had already started flying towards the pile of pterosaurs.
"Yes! I think we can actually design a frame on the back of the pterosaur and carry a harpoon crossbow for air-to-air and ground-to-ground shooting." Ryan and his wife began to show off in unison.
Alyssa didn't participate in the discussion. After six months of studying the theory and practical application of magic with arguably the world's most powerful mage, her magical skills had improved significantly. She had been practicing her Gul Wind control and was currently injecting it into the Spring Fruit Egg. She could feel the life within the egg becoming increasingly active with time and the infusion of Gul Wind.
"What if there's a chaotic fight? How can the animal trainers accurately empathize?" Walter suddenly asked a question, ending the heated discussion.
"Let's go, there will always be a way, right?" Daxus did not participate in the discussion, but looked at the pterosaurs and Kallion in the sky, listened to the discussion of the Duruchi, and gave orders when the discussion was almost over.
The team passed by several temporary settlements of the Skinks. They came from various temple cities, most of them from the Moon City, Taraxlan, and a few from the easternmost City of Rebirth, Huta, as well as the Misty City, Slanmupek, and the First City, Itaza, further south. These Skinks set out from the rainy season and calculated the time to arrive here just right.
Several rivers and lakes converged here, filling the area with wetlands filled with fish. These fish attracted schools of pterosaurs to nest in the surrounding areas, and the hungry pterosaurs began to hunt.
Dacus stood there for a long time comparing the stone map he had found in Hesiota, because according to the stone map, these lakes and rivers should be further north, closer to the satellite temple city. Finally, he concluded that the geographical environment had shifted over thousands of years.
There are many behemoth egg bounty hunters and riders without pterosaurs in the temporary base. The bounty hunters are here to look for eggs, and as for the riders without pterosaurs, they also follow the bounty hunters to look for eggs, lend a hand, and then see if there is a chance to steal one or get one by stealing it.
Or perhaps someone attempts to obtain a pterosaur of their own through chance, but most return disappointed, or even lose their lives here. Wild adult pterosaurs usually ignore Skinks, instead looking for an opportunity to catch a Skink high in the air and then throw it back down, thanking the ancient Saint Ich for this gift.
Chance refers to those melodramatic adventure stories, such as encountering a poor, lonely cub, or an injured and immobile adult pterosaur being cared for by a skink...
"Is this place located on the spiritual vein network?" Daxus asked Akadan who was standing next to him. He wanted to rest and stretch his muscles a little.
"This place is on the edge of the spiritual vein network. It's not there after crossing this river." Yakadan closed his eyes and began to sense carefully. After a moment, he nodded and pointed to the Amazon River in the distance.
"Ryan! Chupakoko! And you! Stop swimming and come up!" Daxus pointed at the giant lizard Kami who was already soaking in the wetland and shouted.
"grown ups."
"What's wrong, Umak?"
"Carry the Raven Banner and the Hesiotar Sun Banner and inform the Skinks stationed nearby to gather at our camp tomorrow morning. No later than the deadline!"
The current giant lizard, Kami, has replaced the previous giant lizard carrying the Hesiota Sun Banner and has become the new standard-bearer, holding the banner in his left hand and a shovel in his right. As for why he was chosen, it was definitely not because Darkius was fickle, but because he would protect the banner before battle and would not swing it at the enemy.
Daxus held up a monocular and watched a pterosaur in the distance begin to dive down. The pterosaur's hind legs dipped in the water for a moment, and then quickly pulled themselves up again. The pterosaur's hind legs were already holding a large fish of unknown species.
"Yes, sir!"
The next day, Daxus was woken early. With the exception of the Skinks that had traveled far and hadn't returned the previous night, almost all the other Skinks had arrived. The Skinks from various Temple-Cities began to hiss and chatter, some questioning their fellow Skinks in their groups, trying to extract any useful information, but the Skinks themselves were also baffled.
Daxus did not do morning exercises today. After finishing his breakfast and tidying up his appearance, he appeared on the open field, stretched out his hand to the skin lizards and pressed it to signal them to be quiet.
After a while, all the spirit lizards present fell silent, looking at this hot-blooded creature in confusion.
"I am Umak of the ancient saint Ichi! I will call some pterosaurs down later. As for whether you can have your own pterosaurs, it depends on you!" Dacus's desire to perform came up again at this time, and he spread his hands and said.
"O my Ancient One, praise Umak!"
The Skinks stared at Umaq in amazement, but after a moment they reacted. The atmosphere suddenly became noisy, and the Skinks began to jump, hissing and clacking in praise and excited discussion.
Darkius took off on a pterosaur, carrying the Spicazuma Horn. Caerleon and several of his family's beastmasters flew around him, protecting him. Fearing Tzeentch's influence, he chose not to fly high, but to stay in a very delicate position, so delicate that even if he fell, he would be safe. At most, he would just need to change his clothes, as he had the Horn.
The fishing pterosaur spotted Dacus mid-dive and paused after a pause. It was in a bad state at the moment, and the sudden stop after a rapid dive made it very uncomfortable, but it quickly recovered and began to follow Dacus.
Before Daxus blew the horn, a group of pterosaurs were already following him.
"I think I am also the Lord of the Heavens, right?"