The reeds along the Nile's banks rustled softly in the morning breeze.
A riverside shoal thick with reeds stretched before them, the river surface shimmering under the morning light. Yet this peaceful scene was shattered by commotion along the shore.
A crowd of curious citizens had gathered nearby.
A ring of temple guards had already formed, spears in hand and expressions solemn. They blocked all onlookers from approaching. At the center of the riverbank, several priests dressed in dark ceremonial robes surrounded a corpse covered with white cloth and chanted something under their breath.
"An eerie female corpse."
Ian stood at the edge of the crowd, narrowing his eyes as he observed the disturbance ahead. At least twenty temple guards formed a human wall, their bronze spears crossed to seal off the entire riverside. Fine beads of sweat covered their bronze-toned skin, glittering beneath the rising sun. Yet their grips remained steady as stone, clearly the mark of rigorous training.
"Step back! Sacred rites must not be profaned!" one guard shouted sharply, his spear tip dangerously aimed at the fishermen standing closest.
Ian noticed that the runes engraved on their armor were different from the usual ones. Instead of the common Eye of Horus, the runes bore three overlapping circles with a star-shaped pattern at the center.
Ian had initially intended to approach directly.
However, the tight blockade made frontal access impossible.
After quickly scanning the surroundings, he spotted a dense patch of reeds upstream that was secluded enough to escape the guards' line of sight. He moved toward the concealed area and silently cast the Disillusionment Charm once more. His figure gradually blended into the air, dissolving like morning mist.
"The Disillusionment Charm is truly a magnificent invention."
Carefully bypassing the guards' perimeter, Ian used the reeds as cover and silently approached the ritual's core.
Once closer, he held his breath and observed carefully.
The priests sprinkled a silvery powder across the white cloth covering the corpse and traced an intricate magical text. The runes shimmered faintly blue, their twisted, ancient lines radiating an unsettling pressure. It was unmistakably the site of a ritual.
However, the civilians outside the perimeter could see none of this.
At the center of the riverbank, five white-robed priests formed a pentagram, placing the female corpse at its center. The lead priest held an obsidian dagger and carved complex symbols into the body's exposed abdomen.
With every cut, fine golden sand seeped from the wound, glimmering with an eerie metallic sheen under the sunlight.
"Sealing runes?"
Ian's pupils contracted slightly; he recognized parts of the inscriptions. Sealing runes were typically used to suppress powerful evil spirits or contain dangerous enchanted artifacts.
But this was only a mortal corpse.
Why use such extreme measures?
Ian shifted silently, attempting to view the symbols more clearly, but the angle was poor. He could only make out fragmented lines that resembled a variant of an ancient language or perhaps fragments of a star chart.
Even stranger, each time the priests completed a symbol, they looked up toward the sky simultaneously, as if confirming the positions of the stars.
They were visibly tense.
The leading priests frowned deeply, their eyes revealing rare solemnity and fear. They treated the corpse not as a victim but as an extremely dangerous entity.
Ian tried to move closer, hoping to see the full structure of the runes or overhear their whispers. But the priests stood tightly packed, forming an impenetrable human wall. There was no gap through which he could slip beside the body.
"No, these aren't just sealing runes."
His wand grew faintly warm within his sleeve.
The structure of the runes differed from any sealing magic he knew. Instead, they resembled the inverse application of a summoning array.
Just as he searched for another way to get closer, the priests suddenly stopped simultaneously.
The eldest removed a small bronze vial from his robes and poured black liquid onto the corpse's forehead.
The moment the liquid touched the skin, every carved mark ignited with golden light. The corpse's mouth opened on its own, and a strand of blue smoke drifted out and condensed in midair into a vague humanoid shape.
This spectacle was visible even to the civilians outside.
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
The guards immediately tightened their formation, turning their spears outward in unison and forcing the crowd to retreat several steps. Ian seized the opportunity to move behind a crooked palm tree and lightly tap his temple with his wand.
"Enhanced vision."
His sight sharpened instantly.
He could clearly see the face forming within the blue smoke. It was the dead maid herself, but her expression was grotesque. It was utterly different from the peaceful corpse below. It was as though they were two different people.
Her mouth moved soundlessly as if accusing someone while the priests raised protective talismans and chanted exorcism spells in unison.
What shocked Ian most was the mark on the corpse's left wrist.
As the spells continued, three concentric circles began seeping golden liquid. The eye-shaped symbol at their center slowly rotated, and fixed its gaze directly toward the temple.
"Make way! Move aside!"
A harsh shout exploded from the back of the crowd. Ian turned and saw the Scepter Priest striding forward with four elite guards. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. A child who failed to move in time was kicked aside by a guard. The boy's mother did not dare protest but clutched her sobbing child tightly.
The moment the Scepter Priest saw the female corpse, all color drained from his face.
He clenched the scepter so tightly in his gaunt fingers that his knuckles turned white. The sun disk at its head trembled and emitted a faint humming sound. For a brief moment, his pupils constricted violently, and his body shuddered.
In only a moment, however, he regained his composure, replacing his expression with one of solemn compassion. When he spoke, his voice carried its usual authority.
"This unfortunate soul has desecrated the sacred river and must be taken to the temple for immediate purification!"
He announced loudly, his voice amplified and intimidating.
"Her soul has been corrupted by defilement. She must undergo purification rites at once to prevent the spread of evil!"
At that moment, the priests finished inscribing the magical texts and began sealing the white cloth layer by layer with specially prepared metal strips and talismans, as though handling a fragile yet deadly artifact.
The ritual ended abruptly, almost hastily.
As the priests packed away their instruments, Ian noticed the youngest priest trembling so badly that he nearly dropped the bottle containing the black liquid. The elder priest shot him a fierce glare and whispered something. The young priest's face instantly turned ashen.
At the priests' signal, the guards immediately wrapped the corpse in white cloth soaked with potion.
The temple personnel moved with swift efficiency, roughly dispersing the last stubborn onlookers. Using a specially designed stretcher, they lifted the sealed corpse and quickly retreated toward the temple.
Forced to step back, Ian concealed himself deep within the reeds and watched helplessly as the body was carried away.
Just as the Scepter Priest turned to leave, Ian noticed a subtle detail.
The priest appeared to casually adjust the hem of the maid's skirt. In that brief motion, he swiftly pinched off a tiny piece of fabric, so quickly that it was nearly imperceptible. Then, as if nothing had happened, he slipped the cloth into his wide sleeve.
Ian's mind immediately began racing.
That action was no coincidence.
Why would the Scepter Priest secretly take a piece of the corpse's clothing? For research? Or to conceal something?
As the crowd dispersed, murmurs buzzed like a swarm of bees. Several bold residents whispered to each other about the bizarre scene they had witnessed.
Ian overheard two fishermen speaking behind him.
"Did you see it? That golden sand..."
"Shut up! Do you want to be sent to the mines?"
"But this time is different. They've never found a body before..."
…
The discussions continued.
After most people had left, Ian walked to the spot where the corpse had been found. He crouched down and pretended to have stomach pain while carefully examining every inch of the ground.
The reeds were still flattened where the body had lain. Fine golden sand was scattered across the soil, glittering like broken pieces of gold in the sunlight.
He was about to collect a sample with his wand when he noticed a faint blue glimmer within the sand.
"What is this?"
Carefully brushing the grains aside, he revealed a tiny blue crystal no larger than a needle's tip. Without sunlight striking it at precisely the right angle, it would have been impossible to notice how small it was.
The minuscule fragment emitted an unnatural sheen.
Ian delicately picked it up and placed it in his palm.
The moment his fingertip touched the crystal, a familiar warmth spread through him, the same sensation he had felt from the replicas in the temple chamber and in the mad old man's possession.
He recognized it immediately.
This was not a natural mineral.
It was an artificial imitation... a counterfeit fragment of the Eye of Ra.
According to legend, the true Eye of Ra was a holy relic formed from the Sun God's power and capable of dispelling darkness itself. These replicas, however, were mass-produced by the Temple for unknown purposes.
"A counterfeit fragment of the Eye of Ra..."
Ian slipped the crystal into a hidden pocket within his sleeve, his brows tightly furrowed.
The maid's corpse.
The golden sand in her eyes.
The counterfeit divine-eye fragment.
The priests' abnormal tension.
These clues spun through his mind yet refused to form a complete picture.
The Temple's reaction was deeply suspicious. Their urgency in sealing the corpse, even employing sealing runes, proved they understood the immense danger behind it. However, the fact that the Scepter Priest took fabric from the body suggested that the Temple itself was not unified. Someone might be carrying out a hidden plan.
Rising to his feet, Ian scanned his surroundings. After confirming that no one was watching, he quietly retreated toward a more secluded bend in the river.
The reeds there were taller and denser, and the current flowed more slowly.
It was the perfect place to cast a spell.
Ian placed the blue crystal in his palm and lightly tapped it with his wand.
"Reveal essence."
The crystal rose into the air and began to slowly rotate. Silver light streamed from the wand tip, flowing around the crystal and gradually exposing its internal structure.
From the outside, the crystal appeared pure blue; however, inside, it was filled with black, filament-like strands identical to the contaminated fragment he had seen in the temple.
Even more astonishingly, when the analysis spell reached its third phase, the crystal suddenly projected a blurred image.
A dark chamber.
There were seven crystal containers arranged in a circle, each one holding a floating human brain. At the central pillar, a blue fragment pulsed rhythmically while golden threads continuously transmitted an unknown substance into the brain.
The image cut off abruptly.
With a sharp crack, the crystal split in two and fell back into Ian's palm, its glow fading slightly.
Staring at the fragments, Ian suddenly understood the meaning of the mark on the maid's wrist.
The three concentric circles represented the arrangement of the containers.
The eye at the center symbolized the fragment being worshiped.
The people of the Temple were attempting to create more than an artificial Sun God.
They were also trying to create divine artifacts.
"What utter blasphemy... This is madness on the brink of destruction."
In the distance, a horn sounded, announcing the approach of noon. Ian put away the crystal fragments and cast one last glance toward the temple. The magnificent complex shimmered with golden brilliance beneath the blazing sun.
Yet, to his eyes, it seemed shrouded in an invisible black mist.
Not even sunlight could penetrate it.
"Looks like I'll have to visit the temple again tonight," Ian murmured to himself, his fingers unconsciously brushing across his wand.
Ian murmured to himself, his fingers unconsciously brushing across his wand.
The maid's death, the golden sand in her eyes, and the counterfeit divine-eye fragment.
These clues were like scattered pearls, and he was close to finding the thread that connected them.
As Ian turned and left the riverbank, he failed to notice a string of unnatural bubbles rising from the water behind him. A shadow resembling a human hand flickered beneath the surface briefly before vanishing into the murky current.
Farther away, a small bird perched silently on a palm tree, its intelligent eyes fixed on Ian's departing figure.
When Ian pushed open the wooden door of the Golden Palm Feast Hall, morning light slanted through the colored ceramic bead curtain above the entrance. The light cast mottled patterns across the stone floor.
He chose a low table by the window and tapped the tabletop three times, summoning the owner to bring him another breakfast, making up for the meal he had not properly enjoyed earlier.
"Finished watching the excitement?" The one-eyed proprietor asked quietly as he set down steaming fig bread. "Temple informants are everywhere in the city now."
"Not exactly a pleasant spectacle," Ian replied with a faint smile as he sliced the bread with a specially prepared knife.
Though the knife appeared ordinary, it was plated internally with mithril and capable of detecting most common poisons.
The aroma of the bread, mixed with the sweetness of honey and cinnamon, spread through the air, perfectly masking the faint magical fluctuations emitted by the blue crystal hidden within his sleeve.
The Feast Hall was noisier than usual.
Three linen merchants sat in a corner, nervously glancing toward the door. Two washerwomen whispered intensely; their clay cups were empty but untouched. Even the normally loud fishmonger sat silently, tapping the table repeatedly with his thick fingers.
"...They say the golden sand inside the eyes moves..."
"...My cousin in the guard said the maid's tongue was..."
"The High Priest personally ordered the family who handled her clothing burned out of their home. They were taken away, too. No one knows if they'll come back."
Fragments of conversation drifted into Ian's ears.
He calmly dipped bread into honey, pretending great interest in the freshly served date porridge while quietly surveying the entire hall out of the corner of his eye.
When the third group of customers hurriedly paid and left, the door curtain lifted again, letting in a breeze that carried the scent of the river.
A woman entered.
She wore the linen dress of an ordinary merchant's wife, yet her gait retained the unmistakable rhythm of a priest. She had shed her black robes and now wore a Thebes-style beaded veil, but the runes on it still flickered faintly in Ian's vision.
Just as he had expected...
...the Black-Robed Woman approached through the crowd.
And sat down across from him.
"The river fish soup here is quite good."
Ian pushed an empty bowl toward her. Bronze met stone with a crisp sound.
The woman did not touch the utensils. Beneath the table, her fingers formed a peculiar hand seal. Instantly, the surrounding noise grew muffled.
It was a simple silencing charm, but the casting method was unmistakably of the Heliopolis school.
"You saw it last night, didn't you? The situation inside the temple."
As she spoke, the colored beads of her veil trembled slightly.
"Those containers. Those connected brains. And..."
Her voice dropped, sharp as a metal.
"That thing that is awakening."
(End of Chapter)
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