### Chapter 486 – Room 207, The Gate Room – First Trial – ‘Eternal Life and Resurrection’ (4)
—
– Park Seungyub
About five days since I fell into ancient Egypt, a place I’ve only seen in movies.
“…I want to drink cold water.”
“Me too.”
It’s been a while since Miro and I thought the same way. Given the situation, it’s only reasonable. It’s brutal hot during the day here, and there’s no fridge or air conditioning. In this era, “cold water” probably means something you’d only drink in winter.
“Hang in there.”
Considering we’re on a cart pulled by camels with servants, asking for cold water feels a bit greedy.
“This is from Aidia for us to eat.”
“…”
Miro handed me the bread Aidia had given her. I’m pretty sure it’s not out of kindness because I looked hungry, but because she doesn’t want to eat that stale thing herself.
Ancient Egyptian bread feels like you’re chewing on gravel—seriously! Those crunchy bits aren’t health grains; it’s sand.
“Here, you eat it.”
“No, you eat it.”
“…”
If the Pharaoh’s daughter is stuck with eating such garbage, I shudder to think what regular folks have to chow down on.
These days, I have only one wish. Please, let my turn be over so I can get back on the train!
“Wait! What? What is that?”
I thought Miro would be some terrifying admin agent before her resurrection, but she’s turned out to be just a giant scaredy-cat. Now she’s panicking over something—probably a scorpion or spider.
“You idiot! Look outside! The sky just went dark out of nowhere!”
And it really did!
I panicked and stuck my head out, realizing everyone was staring blankly up at the sky.
And when I turned my gaze upward –
I was equally stunned.
—
– Kim Sanghyun
As always, crises come without a warning.
Then, the clock in Room 207 freaked out and started spinning like it’s on caffeine.
In the cool evening breeze, the day suddenly darkened—it felt like an eclipse was happening.
If it weren’t for the mournful wailing from the sky, I might have believed it.
The darkened sky, with a grotesque skull pattern laughing maniacally.
People on the street flattened themselves in terror, some even kneeling down to pray to Malkab.
All at once, the situation began to sink in. The sick Pharaoh and the high priest who proposed he become Malkab’s apostle.
Once the Pharaoh accepted that proposal, things went south quickly.
Is it worth it to consider killing the Pharaoh in advance when you know this kind of thing will happen?
I snorted at the thought. Who’s the boss here, and how’s the script going? Just out of nowhere, you want me to kill someone?
What if the mayor I thought was an enemy in Room 206 was actually restraining the Demon King through human sacrifice?
“Phew…!”
This isn’t the time for that!
—
While moving toward the temple on the outskirts of the city to meet with Songyi, I unexpectedly ran into some familiar faces.
“Teacher!”
A fancy caravan pulled by camels with well-dressed people. Normally, this would draw curious looks from the citizens.
But right now, everyone was too busy chanting prayers in panic.
“Seungyub? Up front is Yumi. Oh, and Miro is here too—”
“What? How do you know my dad’s doctor?”
“Your dad’s doctor?”
It was obvious from those two words Aidia revealed her identity as the Pharaoh’s daughter, prompting a moment of surprised glances between us.
— Hahaha!
“Ahh! Malkab’s screams again—”
“Hey! This isn’t the time for chit-chat! Everyone, this way!”
Now’s not the time to worry about Aidia. I joined my comrades without hesitation and explained the situation.
“So, the Pharaoh became some strange god’s apostle?”
Miro looked pale, and Yumi was deep in thought.
“Oh no! I was hoping to take Yumi to help heal the Pharaoh!”
Seungyub’s despair echoed my own. If only Yumi had joined us just a day or two earlier—!
“Enough! This isn’t the time for regrets! Right now—”
Just at that moment, a woman who had been observing chimed in.
“It’s time we head to the palace and check on my father.”
“Aidia.”
“Suspicious. Miro, your sudden mention of Yumi? I felt something was off from the start, but now it really doesn’t sit right with me.”
Miro looked awkward.
“I’m curious about your relationship, but I won’t pry. We need to rush to the palace to see father!”
Seungyub and Miro exchanged looks of shock while Yumi did the same. With so many who followed decisions rather than making them, I was the one who had to steer this ship.
Aidia also looked my way as if reading the room.
— Caw! Caw!
“Pharaoh’s daughter, let’s confirm one thing. Is that in the sky the symbol of Malkab?”
“Indeed.”
“Malkab is Egypt’s god, isn’t he? I mean, isn’t he the god you worship? Why would a god do such a thing?”
“Our relationship with Malkab is more complicated than you think. The people might not know, but—”
“Complicated?”
“…”
“No time for this.”
“When the great Menes unified the Nile region, the Malkab cult resisted to the end. Eventually, the cult had to serve Menes, and in return, Menes recognized Malkab as the state religion.”
As my brain worked overtime, a plausible theory started formulating.
A sinister god force resisting the superhuman emperor until they couldn’t ignore each other – a co-dominance was achieved. The sacrifice of immortality by the cult to Menes might’ve been the result of this compromise.
In Menes’ heyday, the Pharaoh’s clan held the upper hand. But as time passed and that superhuman fell into the coffin, lesser descendants took over.
As balance shifted back to the cult, one weakened by illness finally succumbed to Malkab’s temptations?
“Please…. Doctor! We can’t waste time thinking! Let’s go see my father!”
The ominous sound echoed from the sky.
I didn’t know the specifics, but it was clear a terrifying event had occurred.
The cause was probably that Omar, who became Malkab’s apostle. We’d either need to kill him or turn him back, but we had to see Omar first.
“Let’s go.”
—
Upon reaching the palace, I was surprisingly met by Songyi. Turns out, I didn’t need to scurry out to look for her on the outskirts of the city.
Of course, meeting other comrades along the way wasn’t a wasted trip.
“Hesperia made us dance and sing, and—”
“Did she perform any ritualistic sacraments?”
“At one moment, Omar looked up at the sky and muttered something strange, then he suddenly turned into a monster! That lunatic—”
“Hey! Watch your mouth! Show some respect for the Pharaoh!”
“Who’s this?”
“The Pharaoh’s daughter!”
“Oh my.”
As we entered the palace, chaos unfolded before us.
“Grrr…! Haaak!”
“Please…. Just kill me!”
“Grraaaaaah!”
The soldiers, still clinging to consciousness, complained from their half-rotting bodies.
Many soldiers had already lost their minds, appearing as a necro-army!
Before we even got to see the Pharaoh, the half-dead soldiers surrounded us.
“What in the world is going on?”
— Clank!
“…This is the result of Malkab’s oath to forever protect the realm of the dead!—”
“Oi! Daughter! How do we get rid of this mess?”
“I don’t know! Aren’t you Malkab’s priest? Asking me?”
“Oh dear, these guys are beyond my help. They’re missing body parts!”
In this grave situation, when Yumi casually said, “I can’t help anymore,” the expressions of my comrades turned grim immediately.
Yumi can’t handle enemies that lack flesh.
Songyi’s bracelet is also inadequate for purging such an army of corpses.
My last flash of light has a long cooldown, so I can’t waste it on these insignificant enemies.
So we’re left with one option.
Soon, Miro grabbed my wrist with a serious expression.
“Teacher!”
I can tell she means it.
“Call someone appropriate right away!”
“Someone appropriate? What’s that?”
At this point, I can’t afford to care about Aidia’s opinion anymore—
— Click!
Suddenly, the air shimmered, and a girl strikingly similar to Miro appeared.
“…”
As always, Ahri wasted no time and jumped into action.
With the battlefield filled with undead soldiers, there wasn’t really time to hesitate!
“Everyone, get down!”
Without hesitation, everyone flattened themselves to the ground—
“What’s with you all?”
“Aah! Daughter! You too, just lie down!”
As Songyi and Miro forced Aidia down, Ahri clutched “the air” with both hands.
“Ha!”
A strange, ominous polyhedron floated, emitting a bizarre aura (威光).
As everyone’s eyes were captivated by the hovering shape, suddenly—
— Swish!
The undead soldiers split in half.
As if an invisible sword horizontally sliced through the world!
Can you really use this kind of polyhedron like that?
I assumed it would block access by creating an invisible wall.
In barely a moment, my cursed curiosity spun out several crazy hypotheses.
Did she swing an invisible wall like a colossal sword?
Or maybe twisted the space above and below?
Or…
“What’s the plan now?”
Oh!
Now isn’t the time for useless thoughts!
Ahri looks lost without understanding what’s happening.
“We’ll just take care of the Pharaoh, um, processing?”
“It’s not processing! I’m sure I can convince my father—”
“If you ignore my orders one more time, your upper and lower halves will become separated.”
“…”
With a single gesture, the half-god’s dignity silenced my objections.
Thanks to her, Aidia, who had been loud until now, went silent like a mouse.
“Let’s go. We’ll take off that Pharaoh’s head and see what happens.”
“Yikes!”
—
The events that followed were merely repetitions of everything that had transpired.
After taking down at least 100 undead soldiers, the adorned present Pharaoh—Omar—appeared, and Ahri cleaved him in two regardless of Aidia’s screams.
The difference between other corpses and Omar was that he started regenerating even in that state.
This nightmarish sight of Omar trying desperately to regenerate from scattered flesh made Seungyub and Miro feel nauseated.
Ironically, that repulsion wiped away Aidia’s feelings of love for her father.
“…This ain’t my father. Just a monster.”
“Good that you realize it now. So, you’re the Pharaoh’s daughter, huh? How do we get rid of this?”
“…”
At Ahri’s question, Aidia fell into deep thought while Miro offered a suggestion.
“Right now! The clock has Jinchul inside it!”
“Morning’s me, noon’s Kain, and evening’s Jinchul?”
“Exactly! With the power of those star fragments, we could kill this thing, right?”
“There’s a case to be made, but it doesn’t seem promising. Don’t waste Jinchul’s time for nothing.”
“What?”
Instead of responding to Miro, Ahri came up to me.
“Did you say Omar? He doesn’t seem like the boss.”
“Too weak, huh?”
“He got neutralized with an air slice and is now just a pile of immortal flesh. That’s not a boss.”
“So if not him—”
“Malkab? I heard that he’s the true culprit behind this chaos. Where is he?”
“…”
I don’t know. Thankfully, there was someone who had the answer.
“What are you all… another pantheon of gods or something? That’s fine. I know where to go.”
“Where?”
“To the royal tomb! The great Menes sleeps there!”
“Menes? Can he fix this mess?”
“…Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
Aidia didn’t seem too sure.
After a moment of thought, I figured out how Aidia arrived at the conclusion of “awakening Menes.”
Long ago, it was said the cult of Malkab finally surrendered to Menes by offering him a coffin.
What does that imply?
Even the one who casts curses, Malkab, who can darken the skies, had to face the dominance of Menes.
“….”
In reverse, awakening Menes to restrain the rampaging Malkab is like calling in a tiger to fend off a wolf.
At this moment, my intuition, honed in the hotel, kicked in.
This situation is a critical crisis, a turning point for choices.
In other words, this is “the most important moment” Kain mentioned!
— Flap!
“What’s this? An envelope? It’s Kain’s handwriting.”
“…”
I was a bit surprised to find two papers inside.
Fortunately, each paper was kindly marked with numbers 1 and 2.
When I unfolded the one marked 1, the following words appeared.
“1. Please respect the historical flow we know.”
“…Respect the historical flow? Kain, what the hell does this mean?”
“Seunghyun, let me see that.”
After examining it closely, Ahri soon ordered everyone.
“Let’s head to the royal tomb. We need to awaken Menes. Miro, you stop wasting my time and reverse summon now.”
I froze for a moment.
How can I interpret this note to connect with “let’s awaken Menes”?
Just then, Aidia responded.
“Is this… a document containing prophecy? Is it a revelation from the deity you worship?”
“…”
No one could answer that.
In an instant, I realized Aidia had made a surprisingly sharp observation.
—
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