Vito led the Legion contingent with religious certainty. He interpreted danger, death and every new sign as confirmation that Aclazotz wanted release. Soldiers and prisoners became acceptable costs because the promised return of the bat god made sacrifice sound like duty.
The Sun Empire’s party spoke more readily of knowledge and kinship, yet imperial habits travelled with it. A shared symbol or ancestral connection could become a reason to protect the Oltec, but also a reason to claim their land and decisions. Huatli understood how quickly reverence can be converted into policy.
Other peoples complicated the race. Malamet defenders judged newcomers through memories of earlier incursions, while mycoid forces demonstrated that the interior had conflicts unrelated to surface politics. The caverns were not an empty stage awaiting the expeditions; they were a world already in motion.