Chapter 141: An International Meeting
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Merneith, the Princess of the Empire of the Sun, the largest country that emerged from the Ancient Egyptians in a parallel world.
They’re quite literally still the same ancient Egyptians; they talk in their ancient language, use their ancient letters with almost no changes, and everything... Except they have super-advanced technology that rivals magic or even surpasses it most of the time.
She arrived in El Cairo a couple of days ago from the Time Gate and has been helping the people, earning their respect and care. However, at the same time, many other "invaders,” or perhaps stranded people, from her parallel world arrived.
Inside giant, golden pyramids floating in the sky. They seemed to be neutral at first, only observing, hence why I didn’t act yet. I was too busy dealing with my own problems and doing my own things after all.
However, they crossed the line, led by a prince named Akhenaten, who hated Merneith and desired the Mechanical God she “stole” from her family back. He attacked El Cairo, using his own Mechanical God, a powerful machine capable of summoning and controlling Dark Matter, leading an army of almost a hundred “Divine Machines,” smaller yet still very powerful machines.
His attack ended, causing tremendous chaos in the city; several buildings collapsed, whole streets were destroyed, and there were over fifty casualties too. Merneith was trying to stop him and his army but ended up being caged in Dark Matter.
The Hunters from here were very strong; yes, they managed to hold back Akhenaten and his army for a while, but eventually they would have been overwhelmed as well.
After I received a call for help from the chairman of the city, I immediately came to help using a Doppelganger, bringing with me my disciples and testing their strength.
I also freed Merneith and helped her, earning her trust, while she also became slightly indebted to me. After that, she defeated Akhenaten and almost killed him.
However, in my magnanimity, I decided to spare him because Merneith asked me to heal him. That young woman is quite generous; despite that man trying to kill her, she still forgave him.
Apparently there’s a lot of fights between the politics of their original world, especially in the imperial family, with a cold emperor coupled with children that let their mothers manipulate them.
It quickly creates a very dangerous environment. Akhenaten’s mother apparently plotted the death of Merneith’s mother and has manipulated him into becoming the despicable young man he was.
Despite all of that, he was not an equal and had been confined in the prison of my Golden Pagoda for the moment.
Later, he will assist us in using the technology of his people for our own benefit, and every other person that was part of his fleet has been imprisoned if they weren’t killed already.
“Who is this bratty woman?” Mursha wondered, glaring at Merneith angrily because she tried to order me around. “Daring to order my wife to sit at your side? Who do you think you are?!”
I tried to quickly calm down Mursha; I didn’t want them to start fighting over nothing.
“Hah?! Who is this green-skinned brute?!” Merneith cried angrily. “You dare talk back to high royalty like me?!”
“C-Calm down!” I sighed. “Don’t fight, please. We’re in a civil meeting... Merneith, I would gladly sit down at your side, but I have a family I would rather accompany instead. So please behave. Also, Mursha is my lover, so don’t treat her badly.”
Mursha nodded, crossing her arms while blushing, proud of my words.
“That’s right! Bing Xue is my beloved, so don’t get cocky!”
Everyone remained in silence. Indeed, it was a bit embarrassing, if not awkward.
“Anyways, let’s get along.” I said. “Mother, sister, how have you been!”
I ran to my mother and my sister, hugging them and kissing their cheeks.
“Katherine, you’re back… and with quite the show with you this time,” sighed my mother. “Was the issue with Floor 2 solved?”
“Yes, everything is done for. That God is dead, and we’ve created a new God,” I nodded.
“Y-You talk about that so casually!” said Ruby. “But isn’t that insane?!”
"Well, you’ve already seen your big sister do plenty of insane things! Calm down, Ruby,” I giggled. “Anyways! Hello everyone, how have you been? My dear disciples, and... the hunters of El Cairo.”
“Bing Xue! It is an honor to meet you in person this time.”
A tall, brown-skinned man with short black hair and a muscular frame, wearing a white blouse and black pants, and with a big, claw mark-shaped scar in the middle of his face, greeted me with a warm smile.
He was nobody else but the chairman of the association of hunters in the city of El Cairo, Mohamed Khaled. He is a rather popular man all across this hemisphere due to his amazing strength.
“Mohamed! Thank you for the warm welcome,” I said. “I’m sorry if my disciples have caused any inconvenience for you.”
“Of course not; they’re well-behaved people,” said Mohamed with a nod.
As he greeted me cordially, the rest of the hunters also did the same.
“My, you’re even more dazzling in person, Bing Xue~”
A slender, beautiful black woman, with short black hair and seducing, bright blue eyes, wearing a colorful dress and many pieces of jewelry, especially rings, magic rings, greeted me with a pleasing smile.
This beauty was Heba Marwa, often known as “Queen of the Dunes," another S-Rank Hunter. She possesses the incredible power of controlling Sand; as simple as it is, in the middle of a desert, she has become a god-like magician.
In her last efforts to stop Akhenaten, she alone held him for several minutes, despite the tremendous difference in power between the two.
An incredible woman, both strong in magic and will, she’s the pillar of El Cairo, aside from Mohamed.
“You’re finally back on your real body, huh?!” A bratty young man groaned, eating a large piece of meat. “Well, just sit down and eat already; what are you standing there for?”
An angry-looking young man with long white hair, a slender yet muscular figure, wearing a black blouse and jeans, looking to be in his late teens, glanced at me with annoyance. His sharp red eyes emanated a slightly menacing bloodlust.
This brat was Ahmed Mostafa, known as “The Blood Beast Berserk,” another S-Rank Hunter. He’s a very strong young man, though his manners are terrible!
He truly needs some correction, perhaps a good education.
“Hey Ahmed! What are those manners?!” Mohamed roared angrily. “And I’ve already told you, put down your foot from the table!”
“Tch, so annoying.” Ahmed groaned while looking elsewhere, ignoring Mohamed.
Hahah, even in a place like Egypt, there are dynamics like these, I guess.
“Bing Xue! Welcome back! I’m so glad you’re here!”
Little Sara also greeted me; she was sitting right next to Hekita, having already become her friend.
“Sara! Hello dear, I’m glad you’ve become a friend of Hekita. Thank you.”
“Oh? It’s nothing! Hekita’s so cute, I just couldn’t let go of her!”
“You’re cute too, Sara!”
“Heheh, nuh, you’re the cutest and fluffiest!”
Sara giggled, patting Hekita and caressing her head and her tail.
Hekita just let her touch her without minding.
Hm, I believe I understand why Sara became her friend so quickly.
She really likes her fluffy appearance.
I hope she doesn’t treat my Hekita as a pet, though.
“Ahem! Anyways, thank you for the warm welcome, everyone.” I finally sat down on the seat they prepared for me, between my mother and my sister.
Fiery Hair, Mursha, Peperina, Urbosa, and Merkite sat around us, although the giantesses, Mursha and Fiery Hair, were too large to sit down on normal seats, though they didn’t mind sitting on the floor, cross-legged.
“Now then! Shall we begin our meeting? There’s a lot we need to talk about.” I said.
“Indeed…” Heba nodded. “As we already told you, we’ve detected four more pyramids flying above Egypt, most of them hovering over cities... And one of them left us a message after Akhenaten’s defeat.”
She quickly reproduced the message using her phone.
[To all inferiors that live in this deserted wasteland, I, the Empress of the Empire of the Sun, Neferteri Akasia, come to inform you of your prompt purge, unless you help me retrieve my son, who has fallen into the claws of your brethren. I shall only wait 48 hours before I and my fleets begin to vaporize every city we see. Give me back my son, Anubis, and Ra. Or else, prepare yourself for a prompt release from your mortal husks.]
That was pretty much a war declaration.
.
.
.
“Ooohh!”
“Haaah!”
“Ahaaah!”
“Gaaah!”
“Ooohh!”
The primitive dances and singing of many cavemen reverberated within dark, hidden caves beneath the ground.
In the darkness dimly illuminated by small torches, these people, with eyes with many pupils, slender bodies, and sharp insect-like claws, danced around a large, purple-colored fire.
A mountain of golden crystals rested in this purple flame, which continued growing larger and larger as they continued to dance.
These cavemen, with spider-like traits, looked to be in some sort of trance; as they danced and sang, it was as if their very souls were emerging from their bodies.
“Dance, my people, dance for our Ancestor! She must come! She will save us!”
And in between the dancing, a tall woman with pale white skin, wrapped in purple clothes, smiled, her slender and beautiful body decorated with countless black tattoos resembling spiderwebs and spiders.
She raised a staff made of wood, imbued with the crystalized heart of a beast, of amber-gold color, extracted from the very primal dinosaurs that they hunted down.
As the dance and the singing intensified, essence within the pile of thousands of crystals began to exude, with Primal Power beginning to emerge, resembling a cloud of gold color.
FLUOSH!
And then, the purple flames painted the gold cloud of its color, the purple cloud spreading everywhere, rapidly growing eight legs, eight crimson eyes, and an abdomen, ending in a very recognizable shape.
Slowly, it was becoming… a gigantic spider.
“My children… You have called me! And therefore, I shall answer...”
A tremendous presence started to emerge, shaking the very fabric of reality as it began to manifest fully before the call of its children.
Coming from a parallel world, the entity was able to bring itself here thanks to this ritual, and thousands of crystalized hearts of primal-scaled gods were offered.
Their Primal Power was so strong and condensed that even an entity such as this was able to breach through space and time, thanks to the connection already established!
“The Great Web Mother!” the Shaman woman screamed. “Please answer our call! Help us... return home!”
To return home!
Despite everything, these people didn’t want to remain in this world.
They wanted to go back to their primal jungles, their ancient gardens, and their dark caves in their abandoned mountains.
They didn’t belong here and didn’t want to remain for another second either.
Yet the gigantic spider, made of clouds, smiled.
“Return? Why should I?”
The spider’s cloudy body spread out everywhere, beginning to be absorbed by the bodies of the hundreds of cavemen.
“Uuaaggh!”
“Uugh!”
“Aaaggh!”
Their screams and groans of pain echoed everywhere; the Shaman suddenly panicked. She glanced back at their Ancestor, their Deity.
“W-What?! Why are you doing this, Great Web Mother!”
As she asked for an answer, the gigantic spider’s presence only grew stronger.
She might be their ancestor somehow, and she might intend to protect them.
But how she does it, it’s all up to her and her selfishness.
“You will thrive here... And make this my nest, my children.”
Her presence continued to grow stronger and larger, spreading like dark and purple ooze and rot that grew in every single part of the caves and quickly reaching the surface.
“N-No! Wait, Web Mother! T-This is…!”
The Shaman panicked, trying to fight against their Ancestor’s Divine Influence. She ran away, trying to climb through the caves, but the dark fog continued chasing her.
“Oooggghh!”
“Gaaaagghh!”
“Shaaahhh!”
And the people that belonged to her were also chasing her, groaning and climbing through walls, their bodies having changed monstrously.
“Web Mother…! Why! Why are you doing this?! T-This is not the way!”
“Why, you ask, my child? Perhaps you simply didn’t know me better.”
RUMBLE!
The ground above trembled, and as the very landscape began to change, spires made of black stone started emerging, and lakes and rivers made of poisonous purple ooze spread further.
“This world… It’s so full of many energies, of so much fresh Life Force… Of Souls!”
The spiders continued growing larger, and larger, and larger!
“I need it… I must feed! I must feast!”
A Primal Deity has come to claim this world as her own.
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