"What a... what a horrific sight. Destroying a city so casually, slaughtering its people so mercilessly...
Even without Tezcatlipoca showing us the future, they had already..."
Tlaloc dropped onto the city's ruins and muttered to herself, her voice full of grief and anger.
The phenomenon replacement carried out by Tezcatlipoca merely altered the order of events, pulling something from a certain moment in the future and placing it into the present, like editing a piece of video.
When that segment of reality, cut forward into the present, came to an end, what had originally been happening could no longer be denied.
Or rather, Tezcatlipoca had no intention of denying it.
As a result, alongside the phenomenon replacement, there was also the great flood the Unity God had summoned down from the sky.
The flood submerged Mexico City, ruthlessly washing over the city that had already had a quarter of it destroyed by Marduk's Axe, and completely stripping away the prosperity it had built up over the past year.
Broken walls and shattered buildings were everywhere, along with the corpses of Ocelotl buried beneath ruins across the city.
Everywhere she looked, there was only desolation and decay.
Tears slid down Tlaloc's face.
But unlike her grief and anger, Tezcatlipoca wore a deeply satisfied expression.
"Ah, that was satisfying. Truly satisfying! Just from watching me demonstrate it once, they already understood how to deal with an even greater phenomenon. Was that the skill of that man, or the wisdom of his other half, that fairy?"
Tezcatlipoca savored everything that had just happened.
"Or perhaps it was only because the two of them together made it all seem so natural."
"Brother..."
Tlaloc looked at Tezcatlipoca in shock.
Faced with such devastation, he felt no grief and no anger. He was simply delighted.
"Still don't understand, Tlaloc? That is a modern god, a god born solely for humanity. Even setting aside all those messy missions, it is still an exceptionally outstanding existence."
Tezcatlipoca gazed in the direction Shiomi and the others had vanished.
"Destroying the phenomenon that had been brought forward and cutting that scene short ahead of time... I suppose even that was a little unexpected."
From the very beginning, the Unity God had intended to destroy ORT together with the phenomenon itself.
But even if the phenomenon collapsed completely, ORT would not disappear.
Tezcatlipoca did not know whether they had understood that.
If they really believed that amount of power was enough to erase ORT, then Tezcatlipoca would be even more disappointed.
After all, this had only been an appetizer.
Tezcatlipoca had already decided that, as the Omnipotent God, he would fight them properly and see their "war" for himself.
"By the way, what kind of expression is that, Tlaloc? Worry? Or something else? Hard to tell."
Tezcatlipoca looked at Tlaloc.
"If you have something to say, then say it. No need to hold back. We are siblings, after all."
"Brother, was that future we just saw real?" Tlaloc asked seriously. "Can it no longer be changed? Will our... no, will their city be completely destroyed?"
Although Mexico City had suffered a catastrophic disaster, there was still room to recover.
After all, it had only been a one-time flood. Given enough time, Mexico City could be restored to the way it was before.
Even this ruined temple could be rebuilt.
But...
"Yes. That's how it is. So what?" Tezcatlipoca replied with an indifferent expression. "These streets were always fated for that end. Aztec is a doomed nation. When it is time for warriors to die, they die. There is no need to change fate."
Of course, before the Unity God, there had been nowhere to run. In the blink of an eye, more than ten thousand Ocelotl had died in the flood.
As for how many died after that, even Tezcatlipoca did not know yet. That would have to be confirmed separately.
"That guy actually looks pretty impressive when he's facing an enemy."
Tezcatlipoca laughed.
"As expected of someone who received Marduk's favor. He's finally starting to look a bit like a god of war."
"Brother..."
Tlaloc asked carefully,
"Do you intend to deal with that Unity God mixed with a fairy by yourself?"
"You want to avenge Mexico City and fight them personally?" Tezcatlipoca raised an eyebrow. "Sure. Stepping onto the battlefield even knowing you'll die is also a warrior's way. When the time comes, using your full strength wouldn't be a problem."
"I... will think about it."
Tlaloc had not fully made up her mind yet.
The gap in their strength was already obvious.
A faint fear of the Unity God had begun to take root in Tlaloc's heart.
A god fearing another god.
A god without a myth of her own, without legends of her own. A god who existed only in the present.
"No need to rush. Do whatever you want. That's your business." Tezcatlipoca said calmly. "I am no one's ally. I am the ally of 'War'. Daybit's goal, Chaldea's goal, the wishes of the Ocelotl, the wishes of the Deinos... or even the anger you feel right now. I support them all. I won't interfere."
There were only two exceptions.
The first was Kukulkan.
That one stood in a position very similar to Tezcatlipoca's. To both of them, death and loss within Mictlan were trivial matters.
The second was that man.
His judgment had not yet ended. Whether or not such a being should be acknowledged, Tezcatlipoca intended to personally verify it.
Unlike the massive gamble he had placed on Daybit's objective.
This was Tezcatlipoca's own private matter as the chief god of Aztec mythology.
"Looks like it's over for now."
Daybit stepped out.
Within the replaced phenomenon, death was not real death. Even when the actual moment of that phenomenon arrived, anyone caught within it would not immediately die.
Knowing that was why Daybit remained so calm.
"You sacrificed two organs to carry out a phenomenon replacement like that, only for it to be shattered in an instant..."
Daybit made no comment on the result and simply asked,
"Do you want me to treat your body?"
"No need. This is fine." Tezcatlipoca replied. "Healing gods isn't really your specialty. If anyone should be doing that, it would be that man."
"Besides, I want you to complete your journey through the underworld in a better condition. Don't waste resources on something so trivial."
"I see."
Daybit said nothing more and turned to leave without hesitation.
"Mexico City has already ended up like this. I'll return to the base in the forest outside the city to prepare. Once you're done with whatever you're doing, come whenever you want."
Tezcatlipoca didn't look at him. Instead, he lit a cigarette, his expression full of amusement and satisfaction.
"I said it was a bet. At this rate, thanks to you people, I'm going to lose everything."