"Wait? Wait until the three conflicts erupt even more violently? Wait until the Divine King's power is badly scattered? That will be our moment..."
Night lay deep. Reed Clan Chief Sintel sat cross-legged inside the tent, head bowed, silent. He was like an old wooden carving sunk in thought, wordless in the shadows for a long while before he slowly raised his head.
"Izel, are you certain that after conquering the Mixtec Cloud Land, the Divine King will continue his southern campaign? Are you certain the conflicts between the great nobles, Axayacatl's faction, the High Priest Council, and the Divine King and His Highness the Prophet will grow even fiercer?"
"May the Main God bear witness! I am certain!"
Mountain Clan Chief Izel looked grave and nodded solemnly.
"If the southern campaign is to end, it would only be because the Divine King's desire for conquest has been completely satisfied! But will the Divine King be satisfied?... If the conflict between Axayacatl's faction and the Divine King is to ease, it would only be because the Divine King takes the initiative to back down and withdraws the new divisions! But will the Divine King back down?... As for the High Priest Council and His Highness the Prophet, their thoughts are hard to be certain of, but behind them both stands a great crowd of people... In truth, they have no choice either. They cannot retreat..."
"And back to the southern campaign! In the Divine King's eyes, the southern campaign, the achievement he hopes to realize, actually has a standard: it must completely overshadow His Highness the Prophet and satisfy his supreme dignity!... But is it enough now? Is conquering only one Mixtec enough?... You must know, farther south, the final unconquered Nahua realm—the Zapotec Alliance stretching for four or five