Ra was the oldest god in the Ennead, and in folk mythology, even the gods were described as his descendants. But long before the establishment of the Ejyptian Empire, Ra had faded from the earth almost never appearing. For the Ejyptian Empire, the most important gods had been Isis, Osiris, Horus, and Seth.
In order to seize the throne, Seth had Pharaoh Merneptah declare the ancient Ra as the only god, while all other gods and divine emissaries were called neteru, and Set became the leader of the neteru, as well as the de facto king of the Ennead system who ruled over all the neteru. Merneptah’s reform in the name of introducing monotheism in conjunction with centralization of power had been a great success not long before.
But ever since the religious and political reforms of Merneptah had been carried out, only Seth had always appeared, and Ra himself had never sent down any oracle. In fact, since the establishment of the Ejyptian Empire a thousand years ago, Ra had not sent down any oracle at all, as if he was a non-existent god. This time, for the first time in the history of the Empire, the Pharaoh and the high priests of the Empire were shocked by the appearance of the oracle.
The content of the oracle was very simple. First of all, it told the Pharaoh and high priests that their so-called “blasphemous demon” was the former Supreme General Amon, confirming their suspicions. Although Ra revealed the identity of Amon, he did not indicate that he would perform a miracle to punish Amon, nor did he instruct the Ejyptian Empire how to deal with the matter in the name of the oracle, but left it up to the people to decide.
The god told the Pharaoh and the high priests that it was a matter between Amon and Seth, so they should let Seth settle it himself, while he himself would recall all the divine emissaries and stop looking for Amon in Ejypt. The Ejyptian Empire could announce this matter in its own way and decide for itself what to do.
Merneptah was at a loss when he received this oracle. He tried to ask more questions, but Ra no longer answered. So the Pharaoh convened a small secret meeting for discussion, where the participants were the highest divine authorities of the Empire together with all the elders of the Academy of Magic.
The elders of the Academy of Magic analyzed this simple oracle of the god Ra. Amon rushed into the shrine to destroy the statue of Seth, and the statue of Seth was next to the statue of Ra. Ra should be clear about this matter, but he did not show the slightest intention of intervention. In fact, the oracle even implied his dissatisfaction with Seth.
Ra meant to let Seth work it out himself, and if Seth was not willing to face Amon, then he should bear the consequences of being removed from the altar. The thoughts of the gods are indeed difficult for mortals to understand, but what should the Ejyptian Empire do? The first problem was how to declare the identity of the “demon”.
After a whole night of discussion, the Pharaoh finally made a decision. Since Ra did not tell the Empire what to do, the Empire did not need to announce the name of Amon, in order to prevent unnecessary unrest among the people. The authority of Merneptah’s rule and the divine prestige of Seth was already being seriously questioned. If the people were to learn that the “demon” was Amon, who was revered by all the people, it would be difficult to explain why, because everyone would question one thing in their minds – why would God Amon do that?
So the Pharaoh ordered that a proclamation be sent to the whole land of the Ejypt: “The great God of Heaven, Ra, has sent a sign that the name of the blasphemous demon is Satan. Satan is also the same demon that descended on the shrine of Isis a year ago in an attempt to bring disaster to the people of Ejypt. Maria, the greatest Adoratrice ever, received an oracle from Seth and sacrificed herself to defeat Satan with the power given by the gods.
Satan escaped and no longer had the power to plague Ejypt, but he was both cowardly and cunning and took revenge on the great Seth by the most despicable means, not daring to fight with the heroes of the Ejypt and the neteru, but only daring to sneak around and desecrate and destroy the statues of Seth. He invoked turmoil in people’s hearts, shook their faith, and sowed the seeds of the devil. The great God, Ra, has decreed that if people are not tempted by the evil deeds of the devil, they will be able to look to the light of the gods.”
The name Satan means “antagonist” and symbolizes the temptation of people who are not strong in their faith to fight against the gods. With the release of this announcement, the Ejyptian Empire finally ended the half-year-long martial law in the cities, and the magic formations in Thebes and Memphis also returned to their normal state, so the Ejyptian Empire finally found a way to get back on its feet.
In this half-year-long period, in order to protect the shrine as well as chase the demon, the Empire mobilized countless manpower and spent a tremendous amount of money and resources. Other than the fact that there were no casualties, it was no less than a large-scale war.
If Amon still wanted to cut down the statues of Seth, then let him go ahead and do it. 12 out of 24 statues of Seth in the cities of Ejypt had already been destroyed, which was enough for what he wanted to achieve, so it didn’t really matter whether the remaining half was destroyed or not. Since Ra had sent down the oracle, this matter should be handled by Seth himself.
The cities of Ejypt returned to their usual normal lives, but some changes had already happened forever. All the divine emissaries in the Ennead also returned to Aeru under the summons of Ra, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, all the divine emissaries were clear about the causes and consequences of the incident, and from a selfish point of view, they could actually understand why Amon had to do that.
Many of them had worked against Amon under Seth’s orders and used various ways to obstruct Moses from leading his people out of Ejypt. Some of the divine emissaries who had personally experienced that event also had sympathy for the clansmen of Duc and even started to admire Amon. Especially when Moses walked across the Red Sea, where the goddess Bastet suddenly appeared, the emissaries later learned that the cat beside General Amon was Bastet, who had fallen in the “judgment of fate”.
Amon could be said to have saved and treated a fallen divine emissary in the Ennead, and from a purely personal point of view, the divine emissaries had more good feelings towards Amon. As for treating him as an enemy, it was only for the sake of completing their mission. When Amon rushed out from Aeru, many of the divine emissaries only made a symbolic move and did not do their best to chase after him. Since they did not receive Seth’s orders at that time, they were not really that concerned with the matter.
Amon trespassed into Aeru to destroy Seth’s palace, which was considered an offense to the Ennead, and after that, he carried out a series of crazy actions in the main shrines of the cities of Ejypt, angering many emissaries. But the emissaries who had to give up the comfort of training in Aeru to perform the thankless job of guarding the main shrines also harbored complaints in their hearts.
These complaints were not mainly directed at Amon, since they could understand why Amon did that, but Seth’s behavior was incredibly disappointing. The entire Aeru and the Ejyptian Empire were being turned upside down, but Seth just chose to continue hiding! He should have had the courage and responsibility to face the consequences of his actions, rather than hiding and leaving everyone else to handle the mess.
The emissaries’ grievances against Seth were only in their hearts, and no one would openly say it. The almost forgotten god Ra finally spoke, and his oracle was in line with the hearts of the emissaries.
Interestingly enough, after the announcement of the Ejyptian Empire, the demon Satan never appeared again. People flocked to the shrine to pray and sacrifice to Ra, the god’s words restored the entire empire’s people to their former peaceful life, and as for the statues of Seth, since they were already destroyed, so be it. As a result, Ra’s reputation reached a peak in the Empire’s history.
The priests took the opportunity to proclaim the one true God, Ra, whose majesty even the demon Satan did not dare to offend. With just one oracle, the God of Ra restored the entire Ejyptian Empire to its former tranquility and calm from the half-year-long chaos.
……
Amon, who was named “Satan” by the Ejyptian Empire, did not receive the oracle from Ra, but when Ra sent down the oracle in the Ejyptian Empire, he met another god on that distant island, and the one who came to him was the former king of the Ennead, the broken-winged Horus.
It was early one morning, and the sun rose over the sea, coating half of the flowing clouds with a layer of gold. The breeze brushed the waves, and the sunlight sparkled upon the tip of the waves. Amon had just left the hills from meditation, and he came to the shore to look at the rising sun. The sunlight left a turbulent and narrow band of light on the sea, and not far from the shallows a few crabs crawled through, leaving shallow tracks in the sand. As the waves gently rolled in, the tracks disappeared again.
Amon was watching the sunrise on the shore, while Gabriel looked at the back of Amon on the top of the highest hill on the island, seemingly in thought.
Gabriel had been following Amon for the past six months, serving as only a watcher and guardian, and she did not appear openly if it was not necessary. So far, she has only appeared twice, once in Cape and once in Rosetta. Both times, it had been to assist Amon in his escape.
In fact, Gabriel did not expect Amon to do what he did. In her opinion, when they had first come to Cape, Amon might have done it in a moment of anger, but doing that continuously was too serious and dangerous. However, when Amon went from city to city, destroying the statues of Seth in the main shrines along the way, he obviously had a clear plan, even if it was an unbelievably crazy one.
If Maria could have foreseen what Amon did, she would have been extremely worried, but somewhat relieved as well. In any case, Amon should not have lost his senses. He was in a seemingly calm yet impulsive state, and he had created nothing less than an earth-shattering situation in the Ejyptian Empire, an act which put both himself and Gabriel, who followed him, in a dangerous situation.
Gabriel’s responsibility was to protect him and not to allow Amon to continue his madness in his seemingly calm state. After passing through the seven cities on the east bank of Lower Ejypt, if Amon still wanted to enter the city of Memphis to die, Gabriel would have stopped it. But at that very moment, Gabriel was finally relieved because Amon did not go to Memphis, but went south along the Nile River and headed straight to Upper Ejypt, catching all those who were waiting for him by surprise.
Gabriel could see that as the statues of Seth were destroyed one after another at the altar, bringing more and more shock to the Ejyptian Empire, Amon regained his true composure, or rather a seemingly impulsive composure. He did not stop his madness, but on the other hand, he had regained his wisdom and calmness. Although he was alone with his sword, it was as if he still commanded thousands of soldiers as he fought an empire by himself.
The encounter in the city of Rosetta was already dangerous, and Gabriel appeared a second time. Even if Amon still wanted to continue, there was actually no point in trying to force Seth to show himself. What he had done was enough, and even the divine emissaries in Aeru were alerted. Amon must be clear on one thing, he is doing all this for Maria and not Seth, and if he stubbornly deviated from his original intention, it would run counter to what he wanted to achieve, and it would certainly not be what Maria would have wanted.
At this point, if Amon had continued to attack other shrines, it would no longer hold any meaning, whether towards Maria or towards Seth, but simply becoming an obsession in Amon’s soul.
In the beginning, Gabriel herself was also in a state of anger, but following Amon all this way made her soul gradually calm. Now she looked at Amon’s back looking out towards the sea as if he was in a state of reflection. Was he moving further and further away from the true divine source, or getting closer and closer? Perhaps it was just a difference of a single thought.
Amon spread his arms towards the sea as if he was taking a deep breath and embracing something. At this moment, his movements suddenly paused, and he put down his arms and looked up in the direction of the sunrise, the sound of the surrounding waves seeming silent for a moment. In the light of the sunrise, the golden shimmering sea, there was a figure walking slowly towards him on the waves.
This person had appeared out of thin air, and Amon’s detection magic did not sense his presence at all. When he was witnessed, the man’s body seemed to blur for a moment, and with an incredible speed, he had stepped onto the shore and stood quietly a few dozen paces away.
Looking at his appearance, he seemed to be in his early twenties. He had a very handsome face, but his face was somewhat pale. He wore a golden robe and a high white crown, and the crown was decorated on both sides with red feathers which hung onto the shoulders. One of his sleeves was empty, and it fluttered in the sea breeze. Apparently, he had lost an arm.
Just as the man stood on the shore, Amon waved his right hand to silently stop Gabriel who was about to rush forward with her axe, and then looked at him and asked in a deep voice: “Horus?”
The visitor was indeed Horus. The town of Duc also once had a shrine of Horus, and Amon had seen his statue since childhood. There were usually two kinds of statues of Horus, one was the one in the center of the main shrine of a city, with the appearance of an eagle-headed man with two wings on his back, and the other was the one that showed a normal human face. The god in front of Amon looked pretty much identical to the second kind of statue, except that the body of the statue was longer and not missing an arm.
Horus was not surprised that Amon could recognize him, and he nodded slightly and said: “Yes, I am Horus, I have seen you from the crowd of the shrine, and also in the battlefield during a fierce fight, but never thought that we would meet in such a way today. Please don’t be afraid, I am here to guide and help you. God Amon of Salem, you truly have the temperament of a god, for you to remain so calm in front of me, I admire you greatly!”
As he spoke, Horus revealed a solemn and amiable smile, and his figure was gradually enveloped by a golden round light in the morning sun, looking mysterious and noble. Amon, however, frowned and said: “Horus, the fallen god. If you are looking for me for something, please put away that god’s aura, you don’t need to do that or behave like that in front of me.”
When Horus spoke, he released a divine aura in silence. Beings who have not yet transcended eternal life would usually be involuntarily stunned in awe. But Amon had already seen his fair share of true gods, the earliest of which was Inanna, and now he had even dared to strike down Seth’s statues, so such a gimmick did not faze him at all.
Horus was slightly stunned, and his smile became a little stiff, but he continued smiling as he asked: “A god comes with good intentions and is willing to provide you with help and guidance, don’t you welcome it?”
Amon said indifferently: “I just wanted to ask you to talk nicely. Since you are here, tell me why you have come.”
Horus waved his hand, and two wide chairs appeared on the shore, with large and luxurious umbrellas propped up behind them, and he made an elegant gesture, signaling Amon to sit down. Amon then sat down, and Horus asked again: “Don’t you want to ask me where I came from?”
Amon replied: “Actually, I would like to know more about where you went after you lost your throne. I know little about the news of Ennead. If you can tell me how to find Seth, I will express my sincerest gratitude!”
Horus finally couldn’t help but look a little depressed. As he looked down at a crab crawling by his feet, he said: “I went to the divine realm of Ra, and also came from there. Some time ago I had been in the realm to heal my injuries, but then Seth went back, so I returned to earth. I know what happened and I am well aware of what you have done. I have wanted to talk to you for a long time, but I did not want to return to the territory of Ennead, so I waited until today to have an opportunity to meet.”
Amon couldn’t help but hold the back of his chair and straighten his upper body: “Ra’s divine realm? What is that place? If Seth also went there, why did you leave again? Did you have another fight there?”
Horus shook his head somewhat helplessly before reaching out and stroking the empty sleeve as he said: “In Ra’s divine realm, one has to obey Ra’s will. Ra does not allow the gods to fight there, but I did not want to see Seth, so I refused Ra’s request for me to stay and returned to earth to heal my wounds instead. …You should be able to see that I have not recovered from my injuries. If we were enemies, I’m afraid that I can only escape back into that endless void if you were to strike with all your might at the risk of your life.”