Chapter 244: Chapter 243: The Reason for the War, Abnormal Gods
「Five years ago, in Tewa Kan City, a divine oracle descended...」
The content of the oracle was supposed to be top secret, impossible to know.
But now, anyone in the Northern Territory with even a bit of social standing could guess at its nature.
The reason was simple.
The Tewa Kan people’s objective was just too obvious.
War.
After the oracle of the Eternal Hunting God descended five years ago, Tewa Kan City immediately initiated a war against Aino City and the other two major city-states!
And unlike the conventional wars of the Northern Territory, which were fought to seize population, land, and wealth, this time, Tewa Kan’s war had a very simple objective.
—Slaughter!
All prisoners of war and citizens in the occupied territories, with very few exceptions, were offered by the Tewa Kan people to their deity, the Eternal Hunting God, in blood sacrifice rituals.
They killed everyone, regardless of gender, age, or status.
It was so extreme that even history’s worst butchers would have told them to tone it down a bit.
’Given the level of civilization in the Far South Continent, slaughter and blood sacrifice might be understandable, but...’ Su Ye furrowed his brow slightly as he read the information from Muer’s memories.
In addition to the slaughter, the Tewa Kan people would perform a ’termination ritual’ in the cities and towns they conquered.
In other words: they would completely terminate the entire city.
They shattered the throne, destroyed the temples, and erased the carvings.
Then, they would withdraw.
They left the city ruins to be overrun and consumed by wild vines and branches, letting them fall into desolate decay.
"Madness..." Su Ye murmured.
This was completely inconsistent with a traditional war of expansion.
From the actions of the Tewa Kan people, he could sense nothing but utter madness!
Even the Slaaneshi Demon Army from Warhammer, who worship the Blood God, were probably no worse than this... This level of intensity was a first for the city-state wars of the Far South Continent!
Without a doubt, this was the change brought about by the oracle of the Eternal Hunting God five years ago!
’Hmm... an abnormality in the gods?’
Su Ye stood upon the wind, his black robes fluttering, his gaze shifting slightly.
He continued to read the memories.
According to Muer’s memories, although the brutal and bloody methods of Tewa Kan City’s war had provoked widespread resistance, its overall progress was still extremely smooth.
Five years.
In that time, the Tewa Kan people had already wiped out two of the three Aino city-states!
Now, only Aino City itself was left, struggling to hold on. But after losing several major battles and suffering heavy losses, Aino City had been forced to relinquish most of its territory...
This situation would have been reasonable if Tewa Kan City had deployed Tier Four combatants.
After all.
The hearts and minds of the people were only one of the many factors that determined the outcome of a war.
Beyond popular support, there was a whole series of other factors: logistics, training, organization, war machines, and so on...
Brutal, bloodthirsty armies that acted like beasts devouring men, sweeping across the land undefeated... Such things were quite common in the ancient societies of Su Ye’s previous life!
History was filled with countless butchers and executioners who were remembered as famous generals and gods of war!
And in this world, because of the existence of supernatural power, the influence of popular support was weakened even further!
The top-tier combat power on each side was the decisive factor!
If Tewa Kan City had deployed Tier Four combatants, then no matter how much hatred Aino and the other cities felt, no matter how fiercely they swore to resist, it would have been useless.
But the problem was...
"They didn’t deploy any Tier Fours?" Su Ye raised an eyebrow in surprise.
The King of Tewa Kan City did not lead the army himself.
He had only dispatched a few of his Princes to conquer the lands.
These Princes were around quasi-Tier Three in strength, with only one having reached Tier Three Mid Stage.
’So, the Tewa Kan invasion force was close in strength to the three Aino cities?’
’And yet the war was a complete rout, totally one-sided?!’
Su Ye’s Divine Sense stirred, and he quickly found the answer within Muer’s memories.
"The Divine Techniques stopped working?!"
The cultivation of a temple Priest was similar to that of a cleric from a Western fantasy world. Besides casting spells using their own Spiritual Power, they could also pray to their gods to be granted Divine Techniques!
Of course, the number of these granted techniques was strictly limited, and they could not be restored on their own.
After a Divine Technique was used, the Priest had to wait until the next day and pray piously to regain it!
However... the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks!
Compared to the power of the Divine Techniques, these limitations were nothing!
When a Priest was granted a Divine Technique, its power was usually a small tier higher than their own spellcasting abilities!
For example, a Tier One Low Grade Priest could cast a Tier One Mid Grade Divine Technique several times a day.
This was a significant boost to their personal combat strength!
And the advantages of the Divine Technique system didn’t end there...
The number of Official Priests who had entered a tier, equivalent to cultivators, was relatively small.
But apprentice priests who hadn’t yet entered a tier were not nearly as rare. After undergoing priestly training and deepening their piety, even as mortals, they could also cast a few low-tier Divine Techniques...
A breakthrough from nothing to something!
Su Ye’s eyes flickered as a thought flashed through his mind. ’No wonder so many ordinary soldiers participate in the wars of the Far South Continent...’
’After the apprentice priests buff them with Divine Techniques, these ordinary soldiers can threaten even tiered Official Warriors and Official Priests just by sheer numbers!’
Using powerful individuals as the core, with apprentice priests buffing large numbers of ordinary soldiers—this was the model of warfare in the Far South Continent.
However, in this war, that model had been rendered useless.
Five years ago, the Priests of the three Aino cities discovered to their horror that the gods had stopped responding to their prayers... They had lost the ability to cast Divine Techniques!
It was like pulling the rug out from under them!
Having lost their Divine Techniques, the combat strength of the three Aino cities plummeted!
But Tewa Kan City could still use Divine Techniques... Whether in conventional battles or clashes between the strong, the three Aino cities were completely crushed!
’Did the gods of the three Aino cities also experience an anomaly? To stop answering prayers... does that mean they’ve fallen into slumber, or... have they perished?’
Su Ye mused. It seemed the Eternal Hunting God wasn’t the only deity to have undergone an abnormal change.
Five years ago.
The Eternal Hunting God sent down an oracle, madly craving blood sacrifice and slaughter.
Meanwhile, the other gods seemed to have fallen into slumber, or perhaps had even perished...
"So... what exactly happened?" Su Ye frowned.
According to Muer’s memories, the Far South Continent had been very peaceful five years ago... Even rival city-states that frequently fought one another had taken a rare break to rest and reorganize.
"So..."
"Is it because this Warrior’s status was too low for him to have access to high-level information?"
Su Ye wondered, murmuring to himself in confusion.
"Five years ago... Five years ago..."
As he was lost in thought, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Su Ye!
His eyes widened in realization. ’Could it be... because of me?’
’After all, if I calculate the timing carefully... isn’t that exactly when the chaos in the Immortal City ended, when I killed the Blind Saintess and destroyed the Reverse World?!’
