Just as Herman gazed at the largest pyramid at the heart of the necropolis of Hamunaptra—
"The mummies! There are so many of them!"
Evelyn, who had just begun to recover from her earlier shock, suddenly widened her eyes and screamed in panic.
"God… please tell me this isn't real!"
Her face twisted in terror. More than anything, she wanted someone to tell her that this was all just a dream. Not just entering the necropolis of Hamunaptra—but everything since they'd left the small market town near Cairo. She wished none of it had happened. If she could just wake up and find herself back in her small room at the Cairo Library, everything would be fine.
That was Evelyn's silent prayer.
To be fair, the shock she'd experienced today was beyond anything she'd ever imagined. She swore she had never missed her dull, uneventful life as much as she did now. Life at the Cairo Library might have been monotonous, but at least in that city ruled by scientific rationalism, she'd never witnessed anything as chaotic as this.
"I had no idea the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt created so many mummy guards!"
Before her eyes, mummies were pouring endlessly out of the smaller pyramids throughout the necropolis. The swarming undead moved like a tide, their agility unnerving—scuttling across the ground on hands and feet, shrieking in sharp, eerie tones as they charged madly toward where Herman and Evelyn stood.
"This is insane!"
Evelyn tried her best to stay calm. She knew Herman was powerful, yet fear still gripped her.
All around them stretched a vast, dark sea of mummies. Who could ever imagine seeing something like this?
Staring at the advancing horde, Evelyn's face went pale yet again. She doubted even the largest armies of World War II could compare to this sight—it was more terrifying than any sci-fi movie she'd ever seen.
To be fair, Evelyn wasn't unfamiliar with mummies. Egypt's National Museum was full of them, and as a librarian in Cairo, she'd had the chance to examine many up close. Not only had she touched them, but with the help of connections and a bit of money, she'd even kept one hidden in the small room next to her bedroom. The old Evelyn had once found something oddly captivating about those ancient remains steeped in history.
Now, seeing an army of reanimated mummies, she knew she'd never feel that way again.
"You look like a frightened child."
Herman had noticed the massive swarm as well, but his expression remained calm. These weak mummies—even multiplied a thousand or ten thousand times—posed no threat to him at all.
From that, he could already infer something: the mysterious being inside the great pyramid must be in a weakened state. Otherwise, it wouldn't rely on sending out such worthless cannon fodder. The master of the power that even stirred the Death Law within him had to be capable of far more than commanding mummies.
"I'm not a child!"
Evelyn, true to her nature, first protested about her age before snapping back nervously,
"How could I not be scared? I'm not like you—I'm no super sorcerer! These are ancient guards brought back to life!"
It was clear she had mistaken the mummies for the necropolis's ancient sentinels. In a way, she wasn't entirely wrong.
"Ancient guards? Hmph. These pathetic things aren't even true undead. They're not fit to guard a pharaoh's tomb."
In Herman's eyes, invisible death energy surged. As he drained the decayed vitality from the approaching mummies, the thousands leading the charge suddenly stumbled and fell mid-run.
"Szzzz~"
Before they could react, black smoke hissed from their bodies. Their forms collapsed rapidly into heaps of black dust—within moments, waves of mummies had disintegrated into nothingness.
"Your magic… it's still so strange and unreasonable."
Evelyn didn't understand the power of death itself, but the sight before her left her stunned. Swallowing hard, she couldn't help but whisper her awe at Herman's "sorcery."
"Didn't I tell you? My sorcery is very powerful."
Herman smiled lightly, glancing back at her with a teasing look.
"Alright then, Mr. Omnipotent—please hurry up and deal with the rest of those horrifying things. Their half-human faces are too much for me."
Hiding behind him, Evelyn took several deep breaths. She couldn't bring herself to look at the mummies again—the uncanny valley effect made her scalp prickle.
"As you wish, ma'am."
Herman turned his gaze back to the army of mummies before him.
These mummies clearly possessed consciousness. At this very moment, having witnessed countless comrades annihilated by that strange power, their charging momentum visibly faltered. They stood where they were, restless and agitated, gaping with their mangled maws and unleashing an eerily terrifying howl toward Herman.
"Grrrhhh... Aaaarghhh~"
The mummies' harsh, piercing screams sent chills down Evelyn's spine, making her hair stand on end and her skin break out in goosebumps. To her ears, the sound was even more unsettling than nails scraping across a chalkboard.
"Roar~"
The cries were certainly unpleasant, but if one listened closely, one could hear unmistakable fear in those howls—like the sound an animal makes when confronted by a powerful predator.
Though the mass of mummies continued their incessant screaming, not a single one dared to attack again. The moment Herman's gaze settled on any individual, it would immediately scramble backward a few steps, its limbs twitching in unease.
Their intelligence wasn't on Imhotep's level, yet as guardians of the tomb, they possessed instincts no weaker than those of wild beasts. When Herman had acted earlier, the terrifying aura he released had filled every mummy with dread. They felt only the suffocating scent of death—a power that struck terror into every corpse and spirit, one that made them want to prostrate themselves in worship.
If not for the ancient contract binding them, they would have fled long ago. Because of that, none of the mummies dared to attack again. They remained frozen in place, screaming endlessly toward Herman and Evelyn.
Some of the mummies had jaws that drooped so low they nearly touched the ground, revealing mouths oozing with vile, slimy fluid. The grotesque sight sent Evelyn into a fit of terrified cries.
"Are these really people!?"
Evelyn pressed herself tightly against Herman's back, clinging to her only source of safety. In this situation, only the man before her could give her any sense of security.
"These creatures were once human too," Herman replied. "But after thousands of years, they've regressed into savage beasts their master never managed to tame."
After answering her question, he looked toward the mummy horde with clear impatience.
"So noisy."
The power of death flared once more in Herman's eyes. Within his unseen vision, a black wind of death swept across the tens of thousands of mummies.
In an instant, they shattered as if crushed by an invisible force, dissolving into fragments of black dust that scattered over the sand-covered city. The massive horde was obliterated without resistance.
"Alright, let's go see what exactly is drawing me."
After dispatching the mummies, Herman strode toward the city center.
"Wait for me! Wait for me!"
It took Evelyn a long moment to recover from her shock before she hurriedly ran after him, her every movement filled with panic. She certainly didn't want to be left alone outside.
The two soon arrived at the base of the massive pyramid at the city's center. On each side stood a statue of the Death God Anubis.
"Destroyed deity statues."
Evelyn circled the two statues, observing them in awe. "Along the entire route we walked, this is the only damaged structure in the city. Maybe it was poorly built, or maybe it was vandalized by tomb raiders."
While analyzing the situation, her mind instinctively leaned toward logical explanations.
To her, the corpses of gold prospectors scattered outside suggested that some had made it this far and damaged the Anubis statues. After all, for those greedy scavengers obsessed only with wealth, the idea of preserving relics was meaningless. They cared only for things that could be sold. Massive statues too large to move probably became their punching bags when frustration set in.
"Such precious artifacts... Oh, those damned tomb raiders."
Now that the danger had passed, Evelyn couldn't help but lament the destruction of Egypt's historical treasures.
"Or maybe," Herman said, "the one sleeping inside the tomb simply doesn't like Death God Anubis?"
"Impossible! In ancient Egypt, blasphemy was an unforgivable sin!" Evelyn instinctively refuted his words.
However, Herman's next reply froze her in place. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks, and her expression twisted in sheer horror.
"Blasphemy?"
Herman gave a faint, amused smile.
"What if the one committing such an act was also a god? When it comes to conflict between deities, there's no such thing as blasphemy."
...
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