Tyranny Of Steel Chapter 1257 Saying Good-Bye To An Old Ally



Berengar found himself standing amid the Aztec Empire's territories. Ages had passed since his last visit to these domains. His son Cualcoatl now stood beside him. Entering his seventies, Berengar appeared a decade or two younger yet sensed his end swiftly approaching. He figured eighty would mark his limit.

The toll from his early battlefield struggles might have worn him down. Or the injuries endured in trials to earn Odin's approval. Maybe it was merely fate's thread. Whatever the cause, Berengar understood mere years remained for him.

Though his aging body accelerated as divine blessings faded, he yearned to bid farewell to a longtime ally while still able. So Berengar traversed the globe to Mesoamerica's jungles, once again facing Teotihuacan's grand pyramid.

Berengar shouted with all his might toward a deity lost to history. His son watched, thinking dementia gripped him.

"Oh, great goddess of Teotihuacan. I have returned at last. Please reveal yourself to me and my progeny. We wish to pay our respects."

Raised in Germany, Cualcoatl held secular views on faith. Despite doubting his ancestors' gods existed, religion propelled the Aztec Empire.

So he mocked his father's words, assuming senility at last struck—until a voice echoed amid rising mist.

"So you have come to say goodbye to this goddess at last? Very well, I will hear your words, Berengar von Kufstein."

Mist engulfed the ruined remnants of that lost civilization, then vanished to unveil a pristine city untouched by ruin. Strikingly, no life stirred save for Berengar and his son.

Cualcoatl stared in disbelief at the miracle, words forming on his lips when his father prodded him onward.

"Come on, boy, I'm an old man. Certainly you should be able to keep up with my pace!"

Snapped from awe by his father's call, the Aztec Emperor hastened after the elder, who labored up the pyramid's steep stone stairs.

Within, Cualcoatl marveled at a stunning Mesoamerican beauty upon a throne, her ornate headdress nearby. Shock deepened as Berengar knelt before her like a servant. Realizing the cue, Cualcoatl knelt too, hearing his father address the otherworldly figure.

"Oh, great Goddess of Teotihuacan. My son and I have come to pay our respects, and I have come to personally say goodbye."

Melancholy shadowed the lovely goddess's features upon seeing Berengar's decline. Time ravaged him swiftly now that the mystic pool's gift ebbed. He seemed in his sixties, but she foresaw his true age—or worse—emerging in a year or two.

Averting eyes from his frailty, she gestured, restoring his youth to their first encounter's vigor temporarily. A seductive grin formed as she explained.

"I can only do this much for you, and it will immediately expire the moment you step foot out of my domain. But I definitely prefer the way you were the last time you visited."

In a crystal pool's reflection, Berengar gazed and grinned. Youth surged through him genuinely—not mere looks—reviving his twenties' prime briefly.

Cualcoatl gaped at his father's renewed vigor, speech halted as the man fluidly stood and thanked the goddess for her fleeting gift.

"To be young again, even if only for a day, is a great gift. I will treasure what few moments I have in this state. I apologize goddess, I should have made the journey earlier, but I knew that when I did it would be our last time meeting, and I could not bear the thought of leaving you all alone here, without having hope of seeing me again."

A bittersweet smile crossed the goddess's lips as she beheld Berengar's fatigued gaze, shaking her head while grateful he'd returned for this farewell.

"I truly never expected you to give any notice to someone as lowly as me. Yet I'm glad you've arrived to bid farewell. From your present condition, it's evident you have just a few years left at most.

Nevertheless, you've fulfilled your role in this realm, and the afterlife will bestow upon you a reward surpassing any I've seen granted to a champion throughout this world's history. Before long, you'll find peace in your personal paradise alongside all your dear ones. Maybe, should you desire it, I could journey to that realm and meet you once more."

Only now did Berengar grasp that such a feat was achievable, and upon hearing these words escape the Goddess's lips, he eagerly welcomed them.

"I'd love that. Without your aid, I wouldn't be standing here today. I've come to offer my gratitude and say goodbye. Once I step into the next life, I'd gladly share some moments with you. After all, you count among my numerous benefactors.

And for your information, meet my son, Cualcoatl. Recall the woman accompanying me on my prior visit? She's his mother. He now reigns as the new Aztec Emperor. Today, I've brought him so he can comprehend this world's truths and maybe settle the debt I owe you."

In shock, Cualcoatl stared at his father before voicing the thought that sprang instantly to mind.

"Father, what do you mean?"

Berengar laughed lightly at this, then placed a hand on the young man's shoulder, urging his son to settle the obligation he held toward the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan.

"I'm requesting that you use all your influence to make your people resume worshiping this goddess. Gods draw strength from their followers' numbers, which is why she fades from this world, much like myself. By weaving her into your faith, she could endure far longer—maybe forever. So, what say you? Will you help me with this?"

Cualcoatl glanced from his father to the goddess, then nodded firmly in assent. Aware now of the gods' true existence, he vowed to gain their goodwill by any means. Confronted by this stunning goddess, he dropped to his knees and began adoring her immediately.

"I, Cualcoatl, pledge to proclaim your glory, my Goddess, from today onward until my last breath."

A seductive grin curved the lips of Teotihuacan's great goddess as she ran her tongue over them, voicing her desires openly.

"Your boy is adorable. Mind if I have some fun with him?"

Berengar let out a chuckle in response before giving the goddess his reply.

"Provided he agrees...."

Cualcoatl lifted his gaze to his father and the great goddess of Teotihuacan, suddenly aware that he had been rejuvenated to his early twenties. The goddess advanced, took his hand, and murmured enticing words into the Aztec Emperor's ear.

"Prove your devotion to me...."

These words spoken, Cualcoatl trailed the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan into a secluded chamber, where he'd join Berengar's kin as the second to bed a goddess.

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Gratitude to all of you for backing Tyranny of Steel this far. Going forward to the novel's finale, releases will slow to one chapter daily. In the meantime, please check out my fresh novel Interstellar Age at https://www.webnovel.com/book/interstellar-age_26235247006730205, set to get my top priority henceforth. Many thanks for your steadfast support—I can't wait to keep creating stories for you for years ahead!