Faced with Evelyn's slightly flustered question, Herman could only feel both amused and helpless.
"There's no curse—just a warning meant to scare us." He hadn't sensed any trace of cursed power in the hall.
"They really like putting on a show."
Herman smirked faintly.
Unlike Evelyn, who was visibly uneasy before the towering statues, he simply stepped into the corridor without hesitation. Evelyn quickly followed close behind.
Whoosh...
A gust-like sound stirred the air. As Herman and Evelyn stepped onto the corridor, bright flames suddenly ignited on the outstretched palms of every statue.
In an instant, the once pitch-dark passage lit up as bright as day. Evelyn, startled, dropped her flashlight—it was useless now anyway.
"These statues..."
Still shaken, Evelyn picked up the flashlight and looked closer. The statues weren't the jackal-headed guardians of death she'd expected, but eagle-headed figures resembling the servants of the Sun God Ra.
"This isn't right."
Evelyn gasped. Her deep knowledge of ancient Egypt made the irregularity obvious.
Pyramids were meant to be resting places for the dead. Ancient Egyptians always placed statues of Anubis's jackal-headed servants in tombs to guard and guide the souls of the departed—they believed these servants could lead the dead into the afterlife.
At the same time, they punished tomb robbers with death. Because of this belief, tombs for both nobles and Pharaohs followed the same construction standards.
Attendants of the Sun God might appear in certain Pharaohs' tombs, but the majority should be dedicated to Anubis, god of the dead.
"This completely breaks with ancient Egyptian burial customs. It's a desecration of Anubis and... an unforgivable sin in ancient Egypt."
Evelyn murmured to herself, then suddenly froze, recalling what Herman had said earlier—this tomb was said to house a slumbering god.
"Could it be a god who despised Anubis?" she wondered, glancing back at the statues.
A startling thought began forming in her mind. Could the deity sleeping here be none other than Ra, the supreme Sun God of Egypt?
Otherwise, how else could one explain a tomb filled entirely with his attendants?
Evelyn drew in a sharp breath, staring at Herman in disbelief.
If that was true, then this sorcerer... wasn't hunting an ordinary god, but the supreme ruler of all gods!
Emotions flickered rapidly across Evelyn's face. Unable to hold back any longer, she was about to question him when—
"Don't come closer."
Herman lifted an arm and held out his palm behind him.
"What... what's going on?"
Still caught up in her wild speculation about him hunting a God-King, Evelyn began to stammer again.
If this really was Ra's resting place, things couldn't possibly get worse. Even after seeing Herman's overwhelming power before, she doubted anyone could defeat a god-king from myth.
"Does he even realize who might be sleeping here?" she thought anxiously, fearing his misjudgment could get them both killed.
There was no going back—she couldn't leave on her own. The path ahead might be deadly, but who knew if mummies still lurked behind them?
Evelyn knew her limits. Whether it was a Sun God or a mummy, either could easily end her life.
Compared to the uncertain dangers of retreating, following Herman still seemed safer—at least he'd be the one facing any threat first.
Fighting a mummy alone would be far worse. The thought of those creatures' appearance alone made her shudder.
"There are some small traps," Herman muttered.
He looked down at his feet. He was standing on a red-circled marking. On either side of it were black statues—larger than the rest.
But that wasn't all. Both statues had gems embedded above their eyes, glowing with a crimson light that radiated a sense of imminent danger.
"You're not about to crack, are you?"
Evelyn couldn't help but feel a pang of worry. If this truly was the Sun God Ra's resting place, she suspected their chances of survival—hers and Herman's—were exceedingly slim.
"Nonsense. I just think the creatures here have a fondness for stripping others of their power. It's nothing but a clumsy imitation."
Herman recalled the story of the Scorpion King, where Death God Anubis stripped challengers of their strength. But whatever existed in this tomb clearly wasn't Anubis. After a brief mutter of complaint, he stepped forward without hesitation, crossing the crimson circle.
Clang!
It was as if some hidden mechanism had been triggered.
Two blinding red beams shot out from the eyes of the statues flanking the circle, striking Herman squarely where he stood.
"You! Don't be so cocky! What do we do now?!"
Evelyn cried out in alarm.
"Heh."
Herman didn't collapse, of course. He could feel the red light washing over his body, trying to bind him like chains and seal away his power. But to him, this tugging and sealing force was laughably weak.
"My confidence comes with reason. Such feeble things dare to suppress the power within me?"
He snorted coldly, his tone filled with disdain. The divine power surging inside him erupted, tearing through the red light's force as effortlessly as shattering glass.
As the crimson glow that had clung to his body dispersed...
Crackle, crackle—
The eyes of both statues shattered in an instant. Not only did the ruby-like gems burst apart, but cracks spread like spiderwebs across the statues themselves.
Seconds later, their bodies could no longer hold together. The two statues crumbled and collapsed, scattering into heaps of broken stone across the floor.
"Up ahead lies the true palace."
Herman withdrew his divine power, golden light fading from his body as if he'd done something utterly trivial.
"You look like a little golden statue!"
Evelyn was once again awestruck by his power. When his divine aura had erupted, she'd nearly fallen to her knees in reverence.
"Hahaha, 'little golden statue' doesn't sound nearly as cool as 'Saiyan'," Herman joked, striding toward the end of the corridor.
A massive iron gate loomed before them, over ten meters tall and etched with intricate, ancient patterns that seemed to pulse with mysterious energy.
"Need to find a mechanism?"
Evelyn looked eager to prove herself.
"I can't wait to see what's been calling to me."
Herman stepped forward and pressed both hands against the gate.
With a powerful push, the colossal doors swung open. A radiant, golden hall came into view, gleaming with dazzling splendor.
But before Herman and Evelyn could even step inside to take in its beauty—
"Damned humans! How did you make it this far!"
A surge of crimson energy erupted, sealing off the space before them. Within the swirling red mist, a towering figure began to take shape.
"Mortals from the outside! Do you know where you've trespassed?"
The red mist condensed into a massive humanoid figure with the head of a crocodile. His piercing gaze swept over the two intruders before fixing on Herman.
"Stranger God! Leave this place at once, or I shall cast you into eternal slumber!"
The newly formed being had clearly recognized the divine nature of Herman's existence. His eyes burned with fury—but beneath that rage was something else: fear and concern, far deeper than what Imhotep had shown before.
"This is the resting place of my father, the god! You dare disturb the slumber of the King of Gods!"
The crocodile-headed god's roar echoed through the golden hall.
Hiding behind Herman, Evelyn's mind buzzed as realization struck her. She finally recognized who this being was.
A god of ancient Egypt—one of the mighty Ennead.
The God of Strength. The God of Evil. The God of the Desert. The God of Storms. The God of War.
Lord Seth.
"Oh my god!"
Evelyn gasped—not only because she had recognized Seth, but because she had heard his words: the resting place of the Father God.
Who else could possibly be worthy of being called Father God by one of the Ennead?
Sure enough—
The wizard intended to hunt down Egypt's supreme deity... the Sun God Ra.
...
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