"Black."
"Ah, I know."
Diablo understood that if Set was determined to escape, even with him and Testarossa working together, they wouldn't have full confidence in stopping him.
There was no helping it. After all, this opponent wasn't a newly descended Heretic God.
A god like him, who had descended centuries ago, had long since shed the frenzy and restraints of his early days.
Just as the Old Lord had said, he had already graduated from being a Heretic God.
Set was the same.
The constraints of myth had worn thin over the centuries.
Therefore, treating Set as the God of War and God of Slaughter described in mythology would be a grave mistake.
"Are you still going to fight me?"
"To be honest, rather than fighting, I'd actually prefer to talk with you two."
Look at him, clearly a villain in Egyptian mythology, yet he could now calmly talk with the two of them.
As for his earlier display of majesty...
That was simply because he hadn't known Diablo and Testarossa's strength.
After the fight, Set's mind had cleared a bit.
He understood well that there was no benefit in fighting Diablo.
Now that Testarossa had joined, the risk of defeat and forced retreat had only grown.
Compared to that, it was better to talk and see what the other party wanted from him.
"Are you really that God Set?"
"People change. Gods change too."
"You can't expect me to stay the same forever, can you?"
If a Heretic God still acted the same as in myth, then what was the point of rebellion?
"..."
The two didn't answer immediately, but quietly watched Set.
"Is that so?"
Seemingly silent and deep in thought, they were in fact communicating with Rin.
When speaking of villains in Egyptian mythology, one was Apophis, the world-devouring serpent, and the other was Set, who killed Osiris.
From that perspective, Set shouldn't hold any deep loyalty to Egyptian mythology.
"You are a god from Egyptian mythology, aren't you?"
"I was indeed recorded in those myths."
"In ancient times, they gave me the name Set."
"Moreover, I am also Geb, the God of Earth, and Anubis, the God of Death of the Underworld..."
This was the style of the Campione World. A god could have multiple identities, because over time, myths shifted and transformed.
"Then do you know where there are Divine Artifacts that can summon Heretic Gods?"
"You two..."
Set frowned slightly. He wasn't a fool.
After the two hinted at their intentions, he had already guessed something.
"You want to create a Campione?"
"Not to create, but to strengthen!"
"!!!"
Just one sentence nearly burned out Set's brain.
Strengthen?
What did that mean?
Set activated his spiritual vision.
In the next moment, his pupils dilated in shock.
What did he see?
A Campione.
A Campione was standing in the great desert, awaiting his descent.
"You're actually helping the Rakshasa King?"
"Are you crazy?"
Set couldn't understand it.
He couldn't comprehend why these two gods from other worlds would choose to cooperate with a Campione and help him seize Authority.
"This has nothing to do with you."
Testarossa replied coldly, "You only have two choices now. One, be targeted by us and return to myth."
"Two, find a scapegoat."
"..."
Good heavens. Set looked at the two in disbelief.
"What do you want me to do?"
Helpless, Set ultimately chose to compromise.
Two choices, but really only one.
He couldn't fight the two here. That would cause his Divine Kingdom to collapse entirely.
At that point, he would be exposed outside the Forbidden Land, and Rin would instantly lock onto his aura.
Campiones were the mortal enemies of Heretic Gods.
Once they met, a victor had to be decided.
In other words, if Rin locked onto him, Set wouldn't be able to escape through the Netherworld's teleportation.
Unless Rin let him go on purpose.
Otherwise, it would be an endless struggle.
"Summon the gods of Egypt."
"Let them descend as Heretic Gods."
These two requests didn't surprise Set.
Then the question became, how should he choose?
Should he summon other Heretic Gods, feed them to Rin, and make these three plagues leave quickly... or fight to the death?
"Who do you want to summon?"
"Osiris."
"Are you kidding me?!"
Set's expression turned furious.
"That's my beloved friend. My brother!"
Ah yes, a brother.
So beloved you wanted to chop him to pieces, huh?
"So?"
Hearing Set's reaction, Rin actually worried that he'd suddenly demand, "You have to pay more."
"I want to make a covenant with you."
"I'll help you, and afterward, you must never trouble me again!"
The location of a Divine Kingdom wasn't fixed.
Set had already made up his mind. Once Rin and the others left, he would move the anchor point of his Divine Kingdom to a place no one could find.
Then he would hide inside and wait until The Last King slaughtered all the Campiones of this generation.
As for revenge against Diablo and Testarossa... forget it.
They even helped him kill Osiris again.
He ought to thank them!
"Alright."
Rin didn't care about Set's life or death.
His divinity overlapped with Poseidon and Zeus, and Rin wouldn't obtain any useful Authority from killing him.
On the contrary, if he could trick a few more Egyptian main gods through Set, Rin wouldn't mind letting him off.
That was the benefit of dealing with old Heretic Gods.
They could talk.
Set was one of them.
Of course, the main reason was that the newcomers were too strong, and Set really couldn't beat them.
Otherwise, if an ordinary human had come here and talked nonsense, Set would have shown him the wrath of the Desert God long ago.
"But do you really have a way to summon Osiris?"
"Yes."
Set answered, pulling out a wooden box from somewhere.
Inside the box was none other than the only body part of Osiris that Isis hadn't managed to retrieve after he was dismembered—his male organ.
As for summoning other gods, Set had no confidence.
Only Osiris.
To reclaim his root nature, he would definitely respond to Set's summons.
(To be continued.)
Junkdog's Note: It's been a while since I dropped a new fanfiction. I'm thinking of dropping one soon, so if you have any you'd like me to check out, or maybe one that got abandoned, do tell me in the comments.