Hidden among the crowd, Byron initially waited to watch the good show unfold. He had successfully poisoned all the Gold in the Imperial City. Besides him, the legitimate heir of the Empire, anyone who took the Gold would completely lose all happiness.
Holy Relic: Azkek's Cursed Coin:
They were born from a catastrophe that occurred at the beginning of the Great Nautical Age. At that time, during an invasion by the People of Castilia, the Aztecs presented a stone chest containing 882 Aztec skull Gold Coins to a group of colonizers, hoping they would stop the massacre of their people. But the leading general, greedy and ruthless, ordered the extermination of the tribe even after receiving the Gold Coins. In response, the Dead Souls of the Aztecs laid a curse upon the Gold, ensuring that anyone who took even one coin would suffer a permanent punishment akin to that of the "living dead."
Byron extracted one of the skull Gold Coins and used it as a medium to curse all the Gold in the city. This contaminated all the Gold with a similar "living dead" curse. Colonizers who took the Gold could eat and drink to maintain their existence but would, like walking corpses, never again feel any happiness in the world. Those of weak will might not last long before taking their own lives, even if the Church of the Creator proclaimed that those who committed suicide would not attain salvation.
Exemption conditions: 1. Return the Gold to this city of Gold in the middle of the lake and personally kill a Thief who stole the Gold, using his blood to cleanse the Gold of its sins. 2. Obtain the permission of Byron, the heir to the Empire and owner of the Gold.
So Byron watched as the Hightins expeditionary force beside him prepared to fight for the Gold, but he was in no hurry. Go ahead, take it, take it. That Gold isn't your fortune—it's your death money.
But before they could set off, cries of "Monster!" and "AAAH! AAAH! AAAH!" erupted from the rear of the group, along with wantonly scattered severed limbs. Byron turned his head and saw a tall, dark figure rampaging through the Hightins expeditionary force, as if meeting no resistance. Where it passed, those Pirates and colonizers fell neatly to the ground, as if they were harvested wheat. But it clearly targeted its killings. Those whose hands were stained with the blood of the Aztecs were more likely to be attacked; logistical personnel who hadn't killed anyone were spared even if they bumped into it.
"Damn it, that's... the Bone Gnawing God?!" Geronimo, standing beside him, exclaimed in horror at the same moment. The elder clearly recognized the attacker.
The Bone Gnawing God sprinted on horseback and, in just a few breaths, had already cut through the troops, reaching the lakeside where the high-ranking members were located. This also gave Byron and the others a clear view of its appearance. It was clad in a filthy deerskin war robe, with black maggots squirming within its body. Its head was a ghastly white, terrifying skull, wielding an Obsidian saw-sword known as "macuahuitl" and an Obsidian spear. It rode a skeletal warhorse, its mount wrapped in tattered ropes and stone caltrops, its nostrils flaring sparks. From a distance, one might think it was the Wild Hunt Knight riding a skeletal warhorse, returned for another kill.
But this was indeed not the Mad Hunt, but the Curse Spirit born from the Castilian massacre they had heard about in Tarascan City, their first stop upon arriving on the island. Geronimo's words still echoed in Byron's ears: "During that time, the Bone Gnawing God, like bone-adhering maggots, roamed the vast rainforests day and night, killing all outsiders who had the blood of the Aztecs on their hands. It had become the guardian deity of the Aztec Empire."
It was said that decades ago, it had been killed once by the Military Chaplain accompanying the Castilian army, using the Holy Relic: Fragment of the True Cross. The Cross that once crucified the Creator was naturally of unfathomable Might. Yet, the Curse Spirit truly was immortal and indestructible.
Now, a similar massacre of its own kind was taking place. Moreover, the core tri-cities of the Aztec Empire had been simultaneously wiped out, which prematurely awakened the Curse Spirit that had been dormant for decades. Carrying the boundless fury of the Aztecs, it began its Hunt anew.
"Damn it, run! Even a Third Order Transcendent wouldn't be a match for this monster."
In truth, the Bone Gnawing God was not ranked higher than The Bury-the-Dead Plague Doctor. But their methods of killing were different, which also determined the level of threat they posed to outsiders. The Plague Doctor was a strategic-level Bizarre, possibly capable of completely eradicating a civilization, but it wouldn't actively pursue and kill a few strong individuals. As long as one was immune to the smallpox virus, it was entirely harmless. The Bone Gnawing God, however, was tactical-level. Its killing range was far less extensive than the former; even if allowed to kill indefinitely, it could not exterminate all outsiders. Yet, its threat to Transcendents was far beyond that of the Plague Doctor.
The entire expedition army scattered in panic. To perform the Blood Sacrifice to Mother of Creation, Lilith, the Swarm, whose members' hands were already stained with the blood of the Aztec people, suddenly dispersed, transforming into countless locusts that surged into the sky. However, Major Newman by his side didn't have such an ability and shuddered violently under the gaze of the Bone Gnawing God. Am I going to die? he cried out in his heart.
But then he heard Byron and Bill shout in unison, "Don't even think about harming His Excellency the General!" Then, they positioned themselves to Newman's left and right, blocking his front. He was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes. "Very well, if I don't die today, I'll help you get positions as high-ranking officials, reduce taxes, smuggle arms... I'll even give my daughter to you in marriage!"
While others were scared to death, and Bruh was somewhat nervous, only Byron was fearless, even with a hint of a smile. One of the Shaman Mask's abilities was Divine Emblem, which allowed him to empathize with Death God Apuche and borrow a portion of His Authority. As Death God Apuche was dragged from his altar by his followers and transformed into the immortal and terrifying Bone Gnawing God, this ability essentially became a way to communicate with the Bone Gnawing God. The outcome could be good, or it could be bad.
If this had happened before Byron became the heir to the Empire, he might have truly needed to gamble. But now, merely by standing there, he caused the Aztec Empire's guardian deity, the Bone Gnawing God, to unconsciously veer away. It swerved past their location and plunged into the lake, continuing its massacre towards the Imperial City. There were simply too many targets here with blood feuds against the Aztecs, and the Bone Gnawing God, which killed according to fixed rules, targeted the largest concentration.
Soon, a storm of blood and gore erupted in the Imperial City across the lake, accompanied by countless cries of shock and screams.
"The Imperial City is cursed; we can't stay here any longer."
"The Bone Gnawing God has awakened, run for your lives!"
"..."
Most people had not yet realized that the Gold was the problem. They just thought this land of the Aztec people was cursed and fled with the Gold they found, desperately trying to escape the city. The expeditionary army, having narrowly escaped calamity, didn't dare to linger and also turned to flee.
In the midst of the chaos, Byron bent down and picked up an inconspicuous deerskin pouch that someone had dropped, tying it to his belt. It was Beatrice's Storage Curio, the Snake Skin Bag:
"This appears to be a pouch sewn from speckled snakeskin, capable of freely changing its form, including but not limited to color, material, and size. The maximum exterior dimension can be: 45 centimeters * 25 centimeters * 35 centimeters, akin to a carry-on suitcase; the minimum being: 10 centimeters * 9 centimeters * 1 centimeter, resembling a wallet. The true volume inside is 5 meters * 5 meters * 5 meters, with a maximum load limit of ten tons, which means it can only hold about ten cubic meters of freshwater."
Inscription of severance: "Python Swallows Elephant."
The one who returned it was Alvin, who had adopted the guise of "Falcon."
Upon receiving this treasure, Byron's heart was set. Setting aside the value of the precious storage device, the series of insidious assassination techniques it enabled were already brewing in his mind, such as loading it with ten 32-pound Carronades... Now, it contained a portion of the most valuable Gold items from the Imperial City, but compared to what remained, it was still but a drop in the ocean. Besides, it also held Cortes's Arcane Object: Dancer at Will, and the Holy Relic: The First Overseas Colonization Decree of the Great Voyage Era. Just these items had already reached the storage limit of the Snake Skin Bag, preventing him from taking any more Gold.
What's more regrettable is that the original 882 Aztec Gold Coins weren't here; they had been taken away by the group of colonizers who completed the massacre. Those coins have even more magical effects—not only drawbacks but benefits as well. Much like Redbeard Edward's treasure, they can forcibly lock the holder in a state between life and death, granting immunity to all physical attacks. They're useless against powerful Transcendents, but among ordinary Pirates, they are undoubtedly a Divine Artifact. I do know their whereabouts; I just haven't decided whether to go after them.
Legend has it that the stone chest containing the coins was plundered by Pirates along the way. It fell into the hands of Flint, a famous Pirate on the high seas. If one only mentions this name, many might not recognize it. But if one speaks of Silvergold Island, which appears randomly on the open seas every prime number of years, that is known far and wide (Chapter 69). That island is indeed the treasure hideout of the Great Pirate Flint. Coincidentally, Byron has a treasure map leading there, and the island is due to appear next this very year.
However, when Byron saw the worried faces of Geronimo and his grandson Wayne Dote, he immediately realized that the most pressing issue now was resolving the smallpox Plague!