They dragged Ella all the way to Alfred's castle. The solid stone wall was originally the last line of defense used to hold on after the outer city walls fell and the street battles failed, but now it has been converted into an altar. Four torches were erected on the top of one of the arrow towers. When Ella passed under the city wall, she happened to see a prisoner of war being pushed up there.
"You are really lucky." Tesosomok said to Ella with a smile, "As a cultural exchange, please visit our sacrifice ceremony."
The prisoner was followed by five priests. As soon as he stepped onto the altar, four priests immediately rushed up and twisted his left hand, right hand, left leg and right leg respectively. During the fierce struggle of the prisoner of war, the remaining priest came to his side with a dagger. That scene reminded Ella of a live fish being pressed on a chopping board.
"Don't...don't...!"
The prisoner begged miserably, but could not arouse anyone's sympathy. The priest showed no expression as he quickly inserted the obsidian dagger toward the side of his heart.
The prisoner of war let out a blood-curdling scream, but because his heart was not stabbed directly, he could not die for the moment. His struggles became more and more violent and his screams became more and more painful, but to no avail. In the last period of his life, he watched in despair as the obsidian dagger circled around his heart until it cut the artery connecting it.
Finally, his body softened, and the priest skillfully dug out a whole bloody heart from his chest, lifted it high, and placed it on the altar. And his body was lifted up and thrown down from the top of the watchtower like garbage.
Blood stained the city wall.
Tesosomok looked at Ella with a half-smile.
Some things cannot be endured if you want to. Although Ella still tried hard to restrain herself, this inhumane scene made her teeth, shoulders, and even legs tremble slightly, and her cheeks and lips also became unprecedented. of paleness. This allowed Tesosomok to see through the fear deep in her heart at a glance.
"The ceremony is over, it's time to leave." Tesosomok deliberately urged Ella, "There is no need to linger here, you will be pushed there soon."
——We have to find a way to escape.
If you don't run away, you will die. You must find a way to escape from here. If you want to escape, you must escape...
This was the only thought left in Ella's mind. But as for how to escape, her mind was completely blank.
At this most critical moment, her brain failed.
"Didn't you hear me? Let you go!"
Chimalpopoka roughly pulled her forward. Ella was completely unable to delay even a little time here, and she didn't even have the strength to resist. Once her pace slowed down for a moment, her whole body would be dragged along the ground like a sandbag by Chimalpopo.
The castle door opened before her. The castle door closed behind her again.
Knowing that she could no longer escape, Ella had no choice but to pin her last hope on that duel. She tried her best to lift her chest up. Although the chance was slim, if she could win in the duel...
Of course, this little thought cannot escape the eyes of Tesosomok and others.
"Don't be afraid." Yinzikoatl comforted Ella softly in her ear, "On the duel field, our warriors cannot use magic."
Seeing a glimmer of hope in Ella's eyes, Yinzikoatl enthusiastically introduced her to the opponent who was about to duel with her. No matter how you look at it, he is just an ordinary Aztlan soldier, wearing cotton armor and a helmet, holding a short spear in his hand.
"Do I have to wear armor?" Ella flinched a little. She wasn't sure if she could bear the weight of the armor.
“You can wear any gear—as long as you own it.”
Looking at Ella's confused eyes, Yinskoatl added with a smile:
"However, we will still provide basic weapons."
A soldier came up and handed a small wooden stick decorated with feathers into Ella's hand. Ella checked around suspiciously, and after understanding that this was her weapon, her eyes instantly lost all brightness.
Looking at the almost desperate eyes, Yinzikoatl couldn't help but chuckle. He likes to see others despair, especially after giving them a little hope.
"Don't worry, there is a duel going on, and you still have time to prepare." He continued to "comfort" Ella, "As long as you work hard, you can always win. Everything depends on man-made efforts, right?"
It all depends on man-made...?
Ella held up the small wooden stick in front of her eyes with trembling hands. Apart from being decorated with feathers, it looked like a broken tree branch picked up casually from the ground.
Tesosomok and the others laughed wildly.
At this moment, a burst of Aztlan people's shouts and curses suddenly came from the duel venue, which made Tesosomoc's smile stop.
Because there was a door between them, Ella didn't know what was going on there. But the Aztlan people around him seemed to understand. Tesosomok frowned and asked the soldiers at the door: "Who is dueling inside now? Is it the captured warriors or the king of Britain?"
The soldier in question replied tremblingly: "Yes...that's Alfred."
"How many days is this?" Tesosomok scolded, "Obviously he is a sacrifice, but he wins every day! Chimalpopoka, you will do it yourself tomorrow!"
"Me?" Chimalpopoka flinched, "Tratoani, we can't use magic in the duel. If you allow me not to light incense..."
"If you use magic, what's the point of the duel process! Can't you just cut it off? But will the God of War accept such a sacrifice?" Tesosomok roared, "If you can't win tomorrow, then press Formal procedure, treat you as a sacrifice to the Sun God of War!"
"Tratoani, this is not appropriate!" Yinzikoatl hurriedly advised, "We are currently short of manpower and cannot lose Chimalpopoka because of this kind of thing..."
"You think Chimalpopoka will lose now?" Tsosomok shouted even louder, "Then why fight? How about just letting him go?"
The three masters and servants, who had been so proud in front of Ella just now, had a quarrel at the door.
While talking, the door opened. Alfred walked out under the escort of several Aztlan soldiers. Ella raised her head and met his eyes. At that moment, Ella trembled all over - there was no trace of depression on Alfred's body. His eyes were more like a lion out of its cage than a prisoner of war. The strong will contained in it was like a ray of sunshine penetrating into the abyss of Ella's heart, dispelling all the dark fear inside.
Alfred was unable to say a word to Ella due to the pushing and shoving of the soldiers. But Ella couldn't help but squeeze the branch in her hand.
"It's my turn... right?"
-Relax, Ella.
She said this to herself in her heart.
She has learned swordsmanship. People have to make progress. Although she is still unable to fight against magic, she must win in situations where magic cannot be used!
