"Praise the Main God! He has bestowed the sun's divinity, guiding the victory of the Western Expedition's holy war! So long as the divine banner of death is raised, the enemies of the Lake Chapala region can only die beneath the feet of the holy-war warriors!..."
The sun slanted west, sinking toward the west, like a sacred omen. And the grand festival of the Western Expedition was also nearing its final end. Amid the cheers of tens of thousands of warriors and Militia, Western Expedition Marshal Yin Kuluka knelt on the divine platform. He held the marshal's Scepter bestowed by His Highness, wore the Eagle Feather Helmet of the kingdom's nobility, and accepted from God of War Elder Yazar the Divine Banner bestowed in the Divine King's name!
"The god has departed! He has granted us the courage for holy war, and promised us victory in the Western Expedition! Go! Warriors of the alliance and the kingdom—trample flat the Lake Chapala region, and let all the city-states and villages there convert to the Main God! And in the end, capture the God-descendant of Chapala and offer the evil Feather Prince in a blood sacrifice!... Praise the Main God!"
"Holy war! Conversion! Captives! Blood sacrifice!... Praise the Main God!"
Tens of thousands of warriors and Militia let out rousing cries, the final chapter of the grand festival! Afterward, fifteen warrior battalions of two hundred men each shouldered two-and-a-half-meter spears, formed neat ranks, and set out westward downstream along the Lerma River. On both sides of them were two thousand Banner Unit tribal warriors carrying long Bamboo Bows, spread in loose formation as they scouted the front and both flanks!
These five thousand spear warriors and tribal warriors were the vanguard of the kingdom's Western Expedition, and along the river road they