Meanwhile, Tul was healing Ana, who had fallen unconscious because of Tania’s attack. The rabbit goddess was administering medicine to the Irish goddess’s lips.
“It is incredible, Tul, that you learned how to resurrect because you broke the barrier,” Tania said, having arrived together with Epona.
“It is only a basic remedy,” Tul clarified. “But I am happy I can be useful.”
Epona then turned to look at Menrva, who was still being embraced by Freyja while the Norse goddess remained lying on the ground.
“Epona,” Menrva said, her voice somewhat choked. “I cannot imagine the horror you experienced when you died against Anat,” the Etruscan goddess said.
Then Menrva looked at her hands, which still would not stop trembling, and closed her eyes.
“I only heard its voice and felt a horror I had never felt in my life,” the Etruscan goddess said. “But just then, I felt its presence weaken, and Tul pulled me out of there.”
“Did you see it?” Epona asked, frightened.
“No,” Menrva confessed with a relieved smile. “But I do not want to know whether I would still have my sanity intact if I had stood before that being.”
Tania then approached the goddesses and smiled.
“That witch was going to hand you over to the being that had possessed her,” the Punic goddess replied.
“Do meow think that goddess could control those creatures from the Beyond?” Freyja asked, confused.
“No, the complete opposite,” Tania replied while rubbing the back of her neck. “I think she was only being manipulated by those things like a puppet.”
“She had been dead in her consciousness for a long time,” Epona sighed, and then she thought about what would have become of her if Grandmother Spider had not exorcised that creature from her being.
Ana immediately regained consciousness and sat up in alarm.
“You fucking salamander, you bitch!” the Irish goddess shouted furiously and tried to attack Tania with her fists, but Tul stopped her.
“Wait, ch’úupal!” Tul said, confused by the Irish goddess. “What is wrong with you?”
“You almost killed me, you bitch!” Ana continued shouting furiously at the Punic goddess.
All the goddesses looked confused when they saw that Tania did not react to Ana’s words. How was it possible that Tania had tried to kill Ana?
“If I had not acted quickly and without hesitation, that butterfly goddess would have killed you, crow,” Tania said calmly. “Her death butterflies were weak to fire.”
“And did you have to do it that strong?!” Ana kept shouting.
Tania then began poking Ana’s chest with her index finger.
“Crow, I appreciate you a lot, but if you get in my way during a fight, I have to take whatever measure is needed to win,” Tania said, annoyed, while continuing to poke Ana with her index finger.
The Irish goddess understood that she had been a hindrance in the previous fight and lowered her head.
“Thank you for saving my life,” Ana replied in a choked voice.
“Well, let us be thankful it did not go any further,” Tul said with a smile.
At that moment, Menrva quickly stood, freeing herself from Freyja’s arms.
“We cannot lower our guard, girls,” the Etruscan goddess said, somewhat agitated. “We still have that hummingbird king we found in the Ball Game.”
“Even so,” Tania said, “I do not think he is the type of person who would attack from behind.”
Epona nodded, but that did not fully convince Freyja or Menrva.
“Indeed, elder brother Huitzilopochtli would never attack a group of beautiful maidens in such a cowardly manner,” a voice was heard throughout Tamoanchan.
Then, in the sky, a very bright light appeared, and Huitzilopochtli materialized when it dissipated.
The hummingbird god looked similar to how he had appeared before Orniskem in Chicomóztoc. All his skin was painted blue. He wore a green helmet with the head of a hummingbird and a headdress with green feathers and ornaments. On his torso, he had a light shield tied on to protect his chest. His lower body was covered with a loincloth, and he wore sandals with colorful feathers. In his right hand, he had a blue serpent tied around him, and on his left arm, a round shield with feathers.
“So you finally showed up, hummingbird god,” Tania said with an annoyed expression. “Do you think you are very clever for deceiving us in Chicomosto?”
“Chicomoztoc, you mean?” the god asked, confused.
Tania blushed and only snorted.
“Yes. Why did you not simply face us in that place and pretend to be a kind person, when you are only one of these barbarians?” she replied, annoyed.
Huitzilopochtli began to laugh.
“I never lied to you. I was truly waiting for your arrival,” the hummingbird god replied with a puzzled expression.
“Are we supposed to believe that bullshit?” Epona asked furiously. “We know about your dealings with Anat’s bitch.”
“We also know about the massive human sacrifices performed in your honor in that land called Aztlán,” Menrva added.
“And the fact that you did not tell us you were the man who conquered Tula, who summoned those horrible beasts,” Ana said, annoyed.
“Of course I have done all those things,” Huitzilopochtli said, “but not for the reasons you believe.”
“I hope you explain yourself properly,” Tania replied.
“Well, when I was born,” the hummingbird god said, “my sister, together with her hundreds of brothers, tried to murder my mother, and the only thing I could do was defend her, though it almost cost me my life.”
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Then the hummingbird god showed his arms. Beneath his paint, multiple scars could be seen across his entire body.
“I nearly died that day, but thanks to human blood transfusions, I have been able to live until this moment,” the god concluded.
“That is not true!” Tania shouted furiously. “Your ichor should heal your wounds, not the genocide of people.”
Huitzilopochtli fell silent and lowered his gaze to the ground melancholically.
“I cannot. I do not possess ichor,” the hummingbird god said. “My sister cursed me so that I would never be able to heal my wounds.”
“The wounds caused by my sister and her brothers eat away at me every day,” Huitzilopochtli continued explaining. “However, there is a great reason why I must not die, even if it is at the cost of my people’s blood.”
Tania fell silent uncomfortably. She knew that asking someone to kill himself before committing such barbarities was too much, even for her.
“I will not judge you for those actions,” Ana said to the hummingbird god.
“However, I know you are a reasonable person, and I am sure we can reach an agreement where you allow the people of Tula to return and govern their empire,” she added.
The Celtic goddess showed the place where Mixcóatl and Itzpapálotl had disappeared.
“She is already dead, so there is no longer any reason for you to continue this crusade,” the Irish goddess continued explaining.
“I am sorry, but there is no turning back now,” Huitzilopochtli replied as he gripped his shield firmly.
Ana made a gesture of disappointment at that answer. However, to everyone’s surprise, Tul knelt before the hummingbird god.
“King Huitzilopochtli,” Tul said with her face pressed to the ground. “You know I am a Maya goddess, and you know how hard it is for me to kneel before someone of your people.”
“There is no need for you to kneel before me, little one,” Huitzilopochtli said nervously.
“It is the only thing I can do to ask you for compassion for the people who live here and for their neighbors,” the rabbit goddess continued explaining.
Lifting her face from the ground, she looked at the hummingbird god with sad, pleading eyes.
“You are the only person who can end this madness. I beg you,” Tul said.
“We have come to ask for your help as the elder brother who introduced himself to us in the Ball Game,” Epona added.
The other goddesses nodded. There was no desire to fight the god.
Huitzilopochtli took a deep breath and stared at the group of goddesses.
“When I met Anat for the first time several years ago, she defeated me without any difficulty,” the hummingbird god said.
Tul stood while the other goddesses continued staring at Huitzilopochtli.
“I understood that although I was the strongest god in this region, in other parts of the world there would be far more powerful gods,” Huitzilopochtli continued explaining. “And that is why I wanted to meet you, because I knew you came from a place where gods can reach powers beyond anything I could imagine.”
“Are you saying the only reason you saved us from the Ball Game was because you wanted to face us?” Menrva asked, confused.
“Indeed,” the hummingbird god replied. “I myself planted beasts near you so you would grow stronger, since the level you had back then was still very low.”
Then Huitzilopochtli turned around and continued narrating.
“Did you not realize that the defenses in the ruins of Teotihuacán were very poor?” the hummingbird god asked. “I knew the Trial of the Thirteen Heavens was the only way you could become strong enough to face me.”
The goddesses were surprised and angry as they felt they had been used until this very moment.
“Why?” Ana asked, confused.
“I cannot explain it to you, but it is something I need to do…” the hummingbird god said as he raised his arm and pointed at Ana.
“Kuautlatoani (Emperor Eagle),” the hummingbird god recited, and from the serpent tied around his right arm, a burst of fire in the shape of an eagle emanated.
“Move, crow!” Tania shouted quickly, pushing her friend aside to receive the hummingbird god’s attack completely.
The other goddesses were pushed back by the shockwave caused by the gigantic explosion, which destroyed much of the world of Tamoanchan.
“Ch’úupal!” Tul shouted nervously as she saw the overwhelmingly powerful explosion erase everything around her, even creating a hole in the atmosphere.
But Tania withstood the attack in a defensive stance. When the smoke dissipated, the goddess was standing, her skin completely burned and covered in sores.
Then Tania smiled.
“That is what I expected from the gods on the other side of the world!” Huitzilopochtli said, excited.
“When could a miserable bird ever prey on a lioness?” Tania asked, gravely wounded and exhausted. Even so, the goddess returned the hummingbird god’s smile.
However, the Punic goddess was bluffing. The previous fight against Itzpapálotl had left her exhausted, and she had not taken medicine, since Tul had focused on Menrva and Ana. So she fainted, falling backward to the ground.
“Unfortunately, your friend Tania will no longer be able to keep fighting after facing Itzpapálotl,” Huitzilopochtli said.
Without wasting time, Ana and Menrva launched themselves at the hummingbird god. Ana carried Excalibur, and Menrva wore her golden centurion armor. But the god avoided both of their attacks without any difficulty.
At that moment, Tul shouted:
“Túulis Sak (All White)!”
She turned the entire exterior of Tamoanchan completely white.
Huitzilopochtli stopped Ana’s sword and Menrva’s spear with his bare hands, then quickly hurled them toward Freyja, who was also trying to attack the hummingbird god. The Norse goddess could not avoid the attack and was thrown together with the other two to the other side of the planet.
However, the rabbit goddess had prepared her strongest technique and tried to steal Huitzilopochtli’s life with it as she invoked:
“Sak Kíimil (White Death)!”
But the attack failed completely. The white sphere the goddess invoked in the god’s chest shattered, and that impact pushed the Maya goddess far away from his presence.
Ana, Menrva, and Freyja hurled themselves once again toward the powerful god. However, he raised his right hand toward the group of goddesses once more and made a burst of fire appear, crashing into them. After the explosion, the three goddesses fell to the ground, badly wounded.
At that moment, Epona’s scythe appeared at Huitzilopochtli’s neck, threatening to cut off his head.
“Surrender, or you are a dead man,” Epona said in a sinister voice while wielding her totema with the power of death.
“An ability similar to Itzpapálotl’s,” the hummingbird god said with interest.
But by using only his finger, he broke the edge of the weapon, so Epona jumped backward.
“I have always considered Itzpapálotl’s ability an offense against the world of the gods, so I will have to destroy you,” the god said as he slowly walked toward Epona.
“Menman selgheth (Soul Hunter)!” Epona shouted and made her scythe grow gigantic.
The goddess tried to split the god in half, but he stopped the attack with his bare hand.
“When you take your life to the extreme, you learn to defend yourself to the utmost,” Huitzilopochtli said, and by applying pressure, he destroyed Epona’s scythe again, causing will-o’-the-wisps to fall to the ground.
Then the god pointed his palm at Epona and murmured:
“Kuautlatoani (Emperor Eagle).”
Seeing how quickly everything had happened, Epona had no choice but to close her eyes and assume a defensive stance.
The goddess waited to feel the impact on her body, but nothing happened. Then she opened her eyes and saw the figure of a man in front of her.
He was a man dressed in emerald-green plumage. He wore a majestic helmet with the head of a serpent and several blue and red feathers emerging from his head. He wore a skirt of red and blue colors and a tilma with a shell tied around his neck.
The stranger was stopping Huitzilopochtli’s attack with his right hand without much effort. His brown hair could be seen fluttering in the wind emanating from the powerful attack.
“I do not know who you are, but thank you!” Epona said nervously.
“Do I look that different, Ep?” the man said with a voice the goddess recognized.
At that moment, she covered her mouth and looked at the young man with emotion.
“Rodrigo… is that you?” she asked, seized by panic and surprise.
“Indeed, Ep. I have returned from Cholollan,” Rodrigo replied. “I am glad to see I arrived in time.”
The attack disappeared, and Huitzilopochtli looked in surprise at the young man wearing an outfit that resembled a dragon with green feathers.
“So the rumors that you were Quetzalcóatl’s son were true,” Huitzilopochtli said.
“I regret to inform you that I am not his son. Only his heir,” Rodrigo replied.
Huitzilopochtli then began laughing, filled with joy.
“I always heard about Quetzalcóatl’s feats, but I was never able to meet him,” the hummingbird god said. “But now I have the opportunity to show you how strong I am.”
However, without moving the hand with which he had stopped the god’s fire attack, Rodrigo emanated a magnetic current that pushed the hummingbird god and knocked him to the ground without any difficulty.
“Whoever messes with my friends messes with me, Huitzilopochtli,” Rodrigo said calmly, and then he lowered his hand.
The hummingbird god quickly stood, very excited.
“I knew you would do it,” he said. “Finally, the final challenge I had predicted to overcome my limits: Quetzalcóatl.”
But Rodrigo expressed neither fear nor hatred. Nothing. Only a kind of boredom and melancholy.
“Unfortunately, I did not come to entertain you. I came to put an end to your cruel intentions in this place and to protect my friends,” the young tannin said calmly.