“I see. You are the anomalies great Anat warned our leader might come,” Cihuacóatl said upon seeing the gods of Orniskem present themselves.
“I will repeat the question. Is Huitzilopochtli in Tollan?” Anpiel asked again, pointing the golden macuahuitl at the Chichimeca goddess.
“A golden macuahuitl?” Cihuacóatl asked, puzzled as she looked at Anpiel’s weapon.
Then the Chichimeca goddess closed her eyes and smiled.
“You passed the Trial of the Thirteen Heavens, without a doubt,” Cihuacóatl said, realizing that her rivals were quite powerful.
“That’s right, witch,” Menrva interrupted. “We have come to speak with your leader, the one we met in the Zacateco realms, and we will not take no for an answer.”
Cihuacóatl remained silent for a moment. Then she began to laugh.
“What is your answer?” Menrva asked again.
“I see. Three of you possess exceptional divine power,” Cihuacóatl replied. “One could say you can stand beneath the divine barrier without being diminished by it.”
Then Cihuacóatl descended to the ground and smiled at the gods of Orniskem.
“Do you plan to destroy not only the city, but this entire continent with your abyssal powers?” the Chichimeca goddess asked.
Ana then took a white spark from within her dress.
“I assume my pocket dimension should work now,” the Irish goddess said.
Ana dropped the spark to the ground, and all of Tula and Tollan froze in time beneath a range of bluish and dark colors. The few Caxcan soldiers who remained alive, who had not moved even when the divine battle began, were finally paralyzed, lost in space and time.
“What is this?” Cihuacóatl asked, surprised to see the entire great city and its surroundings covered by that bluish sphere.
“An alternate dimension,” Ana said. “Now we will have no limits when fighting with all our power.”
Cihuacóatl made an irritated face at the appearance of that phenomenon, but then she analyzed it more carefully.
“I see. It is like a dimensional shield,” she said curiously. “In theory, we should not be able to leave while under this phenomenon.”
“Exactly,” Ana replied. “We will all be trapped inside this world until I deactivate it or die.”
“However, teleportation is possible, correct?” the Chichimeca goddess asked with a smile.
“Pocket dimensions allow teleportation, but dimensional shields do not,” Ana admitted.
“Very well, then. I would like to invite you, the red-haired girl, and the girl in golden armor to Tamoanchan, the paradise of my lady Itzpapálotl,” Cihuacóatl said.
“To where?” Tania asked, confused.
Then three magic circles appeared on the ground beneath the three goddesses. The circles had the drawing of a spiral and several elements in the four corners. They shone with incandescent blue light.
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“Are these… teleporters?” Tania asked, confused.
But before they could say anything more, the three goddesses, Ana, Tania, and Menrva, disappeared from among their companions, who could do nothing to prevent it.
“They have been taken to Tamoanchan, from where they will never be able to leave,” Cihuacóatl confessed.
Fortunately, the pocket dimension continued covering all of Tula. Even though Ana was no longer present, the dimension would persist.
“You underestimate Tania and the others if you think you can hold them forever,” Anpiel said confidently to the Chichimeca goddess.
“Now they are in the hands of my lady Itzpapálotl,” the Chichimeca goddess finally said, and smiled.
“They’ll beat that bitch Itzpapálotl and come back safe and sound!” Epona shouted as she prepared to fight.
“Besides, you still have not answered us about Huitzilopochtli’s whereabouts,” Anpiel asked again.
“Our lord is currently in Tamoanchan with our lady,” the Chichimeca goddess replied.
Then Cihuacóatl pointed toward the largest pyramid in Tollan. Although they were still before the walls dividing the city of the gods from the city of humans, the great royal architectural complex could be seen from outside.
“Inside there, you will find a transporter to Tamoanchan. However, Huitzilopochtli’s generals will kill you before you ever reach it,” the Chichimeca goddess explained.
“You mean we gotta beat you together with your other buddies?” Epona asked with a smile.
“Since you have created an alternate dimension and the effects of the barrier have been nullified, we will also fight with all our power,” Cihuacóatl said.
At that moment, two enormous serpents appeared behind the goddess. They were dark, as if made of shadow, and quite large, large enough to tower over the gigantic walls of Tollan.
“I'll take ya meow!” Freyja shouted.
But at that moment, Tláloc took her by the hand.
“Wait. We are grateful that you came to help us, but…” Tláloc said, then fell silent.
“This is our city, and it would be wrong for us to sit and wait while you do all the work,” Xipe Tótec added, pointing his staff at the Chichimeca goddess.
“Are y’all sure?” Freyja protested. “You couldn’t beat her before, meow.”
“Now it is different. You have nullified the barrier with your alternate dimension,” Xipe Tótec replied.
“Yes. With all our power, this witch will not be able to defeat us,” Tláloc explained. “You fly toward Tollan’s main temple and head to Tamoanchan.”
The gods of Orniskem nodded and began moving forward. However, Tul remained standing, thoughtful.
“What is it, Tul-chan?” Susanoo asked.
“You two!” Tul shouted at the Toltec gods. “Where are the prisoners? Where is my kaansaj Ixchel?” she asked.
Tláloc and Xipe Tótec grew thoughtful. They could very well be in the dungeons beneath Tollan, but they did not know for certain whether they would be there.
“Oh, so you are a goddess from Mayapán. How did I not notice before?” Cihuacóatl said cynically.
“You must search beneath the main plaza. There, you will find access to the dungeons. It is possible that Ixchel and the other gods are there,” Tláloc said.
“All right!” Tul shouted, then turned to look at her companions with an expression wavering between pleading and determination.
Upon noticing that expression, that Tul needed to go search for her teacher, Epona smiled at the rabbit goddess.
“You don’t need to ask our permission for something like that, Tul,” the equine goddess replied. “Go on and free your teacher. We’ll head to that pyramid.”
Tul nodded and was about to fly when Susanoo stopped her.
“Mate, Tul-chan. Allow me to go with thee,” the eastern god said.
Tul was surprised by the eastern god’s proposal, but she nodded all the same.
“I do not understand why you think I will let you pass!” Cihuacóatl shouted furiously.
The two dark serpents that had appeared behind her hurled themselves toward the group of gods. However, both Xipe Tótec and Tláloc decapitated one each with their weapons.
“We will stop her!” Tláloc shouted. “Go on ahead!”
The gods nodded and left the three gods fighting behind them, flying over the enormous wall of the divine city.
Before them appeared a vast street surrounded by beautiful and sumptuous white-and-red temples, paved with volcanic stone. The smell of blood was so strong that Epona felt like vomiting.
“They must’ve made a brutal amount of human sacrifices, meow,” Freyja said in disgust.
“I suppose that means the fights will be brutal from now on,” Epona added, now a little more composed.
The gods then looked toward the great pyramid shining like a mirror at the end of the vast esplanade.
“That’s our objective! Let’s go over there, meow!” Freyja shouted, and everyone nodded.