One sentence.
It instantly turned Evelyn's fair face ashen once more.
"You... you mean... this tomb... contains an ancient Egyptian god?" Evelyn stammered, her voice trembling in disbelief.
Are you kidding me?!
They'd already encountered a mutant who claimed to be a god—one powerful enough to rival a deity! And now Herman was saying that this City of the Dead held not just mummies, but a real god—and that they were about to enter its resting place!?
At that moment, Evelyn realized this had nothing to do with science anymore.
Science, logic—all of it could go to hell. It was her stubborn faith in reason that had landed her in this nightmare of a place.
Gods of ancient Egypt... Had she known such beings truly existed, and that this journey would involve them, Evelyn swore that even at gunpoint she'd never have stepped into the desert to satisfy her curiosity.
"Give me a moment... just a moment."
She stumbled backward several steps, her legs weak. Dazed and short of breath, she clutched her pounding heart and glanced around, trying to find somewhere to sit and recover.
Perhaps her nerves were too shaken, or her mind too scattered—Evelyn accidentally stepped on a loose stone behind her.
"Ah!"
She gasped. Her legs gave out completely, and she fell backward toward the ground—her cheek heading straight for a sharp-edged rock.
For a split second, it looked as if Evelyn would be disfigured by her own carelessness.
"Can't you stay calm? You've seen plenty by now. Do you really have to keep panicking like this?"
Herman sighed and used his telekinesis, steadying her mid-fall and preventing what could have been a "Final Destination"-style tragedy.
He knew it wasn't just clumsiness. More likely, it had something to do with the mysterious presence slumbering within the tomb.
A power like the force of death—its unconscious emanations alone were enough to unsettle an ordinary human like Evelyn.
"Thank you... thank you..."
Evelyn felt a gentle force lift her upright, setting her back on her feet. The sensation was so strange that the scream caught in her throat never came out.
"I really need to catch my breath."
She steadied herself against the broken statue of Death God Anubis, found a stone block nearby, and sat down. Still shaken, she patted her chest, trying to calm her racing heart.
"Are we really going to... disturb a god's slumber? And do you even know who's buried here?"
Evelyn's question went unanswered.
Herman was busy examining the front of the massive pyramid, running his hands along the stone surface as if searching for something.
"Can you hear it, Mr. Wizard?"
Evelyn's tone toward him had changed completely. It wasn't just gratitude for saving her life—it was fear. The display of power he'd shown earlier made her certain that angering him might mean being buried alive right here.
"I'm not entirely sure who lies within," Herman said at last. "But I can tell you this—whoever it is, they're no ordinary being."
He seemed to find what he was looking for.
"You..." Evelyn began, but before she could finish—
Click.
As Herman turned a mechanism on the pyramid's outer wall, the enormous stone doors suddenly groaned and rumbled open.
"What's happening!?"
Evelyn screamed, jumping up in fright like a startled bird. Her wide eyes darted toward the pyramid's entrance.
There—
Two massive stone slabs slowly slid apart to the sides, revealing the darkness they had concealed. The pyramid's interior wasn't a corridor or grand hall, but a staircase of huge carved stones descending deep into the underground.
"See? I'm not just brute strength. I'm pretty good with mechanisms too."
Herman looked at the opened pyramid with evident satisfaction.
"Are we really going in?"
Evelyn asked timidly, her voice trembling.
"Of course."
Herman stepped forward and descended into the pyramid. The stone staircase spiraled downward, leading deep into the pitch-black depths of the earth.
Because of its spiral structure, sunlight couldn't reach the interior. From the bottom, cold drafts of air occasionally swept upward, carrying an icy chill that seemed to pierce the bone.
"Good heavens! You said a god might be sleeping down here! What we're doing is pure blasphemy!"
Evelyn hesitated, glancing at the silent, empty city behind them. The eerie stillness made her skin crawl, but in the end, she had no choice but to follow Herman.
The cold air within the passageway surged intermittently, making her wrap her clothes tightly around her, though it did little to block the bone-chilling wind.
"Didn't I already kill that so-called Apocalypse God?" Herman said indifferently, clearly dismissing Evelyn's concerns about "blasphemy."
He was a god himself.
A god who wielded the power of a God-King.
Even if he slaughtered every deity of ancient Egypt, it wouldn't be blasphemy—it would be a war among gods. The victor would simply be the one left standing.
"W-what!?"
Evelyn instantly thought of Apocalypse and fell silent. Right—she'd almost forgotten that the bold sorcerer she'd hired had already slain a god not long ago.
For once, the usually articulate woman was at a complete loss for words.
You're the boss.
So you must be right.
Thinking of what happened to Apocalypse, a sudden realization struck her, sending a chill down her spine.
Could it be… this wizard intends to slay another god here?!
A surge of terror washed over her.
Recalling what Herman had once said about powerful sorcerers who hunted deities across worlds, Evelyn became increasingly convinced her suspicion was right.
The wizard she'd hired… was likely one of those terrifying beings who took pleasure in hunting gods.
All that talk about finding the Book of Amun-Ra or the Book of the Dead—lies. He was really looking for ancient deities to hunt.
To be fair, Evelyn's imagination had grown considerably after everything she'd experienced. She'd managed to spin a wildly absurd yet disturbingly logical theory all on her own.
Still, as her mind churned with the thought, her attention was soon drawn to the murals lining the staircase walls.
The material of the walls looked the same as the stone steps, yet even after thousands of years, the painted murals remained vivid and colorful.
"Truly beautiful," Evelyn murmured, mesmerized.
The designs were intricate and elegant. Lines like twisting serpents wove together and flowed downward along the stairs.
Before she knew it, she and Herman had reached the pyramid's base.
There, the lines on both walls converged in a vast hall, meeting at its center—where a single desert flower bloomed across the floor.
Its vibrant colors looked impossibly fresh, as if painted only moments ago by a master artist. Not a trace of age marred it.
The moment Evelyn stepped into the hall, she felt the air change—it was as if the pyramid itself was alive.
Her gaze was quickly drawn to the front of the hall, where two long rows of massive black statues stood facing each other.
Before them stretched a long corridor, lined every few meters with pairs of statues standing four to five meters tall.
Their stern, imposing expressions gave the entire passage a heavy solemnity.
Evelyn, as an ordinary person, couldn't help but feel a deep sense of dread. It was as if the statues were watching her, and the thought made her skin crawl.
"Intruders who disturb the peace of this place shall be cursed to eternal damnation, their souls left to rot in darkness and nothingness."
Evelyn read aloud the prominent inscription illuminated by her flashlight, a strange chill rising in her chest.
The words didn't reveal what was buried here—only the horrific fate awaiting those who trespassed.
Once, she might have dismissed such curses as ancient superstition.
But now...
"We've probably already been cursed!" Evelyn cried, slapping herself repeatedly as if brushing away invisible dust. Deep down, she knew it was pointless, but she did it anyway.
"Wizard! Quickly—use your magic! Check if we've been cursed!"
She rushed anxiously toward Herman.
"We have to use magic to fight magic!"
Her tone was absolutely certain.
That kind of logic, in its own way, was… impressively sound.