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In the heart of the ancient city, swallowed by yellow sands, the sky, where the radiance of the Egyptian sun god Ra should have hung, was now occupied by a strange, dark red 'sun'. Rather than being a source of warmth, it was a mass of blood-colored light, suspended high above and slowly pulsing like the heart of a living creature.
This new sun occupied the original position of the sun, yet it emitted deeply unsettling energy fluctuations.
Stone pillars throughout the city cast twisted shadows, as though the entire world had been displaced at that very moment. Directly beneath that halo, a figure of suffocating perfection stepped out from a ruptured, colossal embryo.
He bore a human shape, yet he surpassed mortal limits. His skin resembled the purest ivory and had a metallic sheen. The symmetry and harmony of his features were mathematically perfect, as though he had been sculpted by a god. His eyes were twin abysses, reflecting nothing yet capable of devouring all who gazed into them.
He was, without a doubt, a perfect shell.
Yet there was a faint sense that it was cheaply assembled.
His body followed the golden ratio, combining Apollonian beauty with flawless perfection. Every inch of skin radiated a non-human, sacred light, as if forged from the purest essence of light itself, and it was a beauty that one dared not look at directly. Seven brilliant golden nimbuses rotated slowly behind his head, exuding overwhelming majesty.
Each was engraved with incomprehensible ancient runes and radiated a pressure that made the soul tremble.
Wearing the white robes of an evil god that fluttered as though stars were being born and extinguished within their folds, his most striking feature was the complete 'Eye of Ra' embedded in his chest: a vertical pupil flowing with molten gold, emitting a warmth and immense energy akin to that of the sun.
Its glow illuminated the entire ruin.
Without Ian's true sight, it would have been hard to see the eerie nature beneath the surface.
"So… you still managed to be born."
The legendary youth stood at the center of the temple ruins.
His robes flapped violently in invisible currents of energy. He raised his head towards the sky and watched as the being that had emerged from the embryo slowly descended onto the summit of the highest pyramid.
He met the gaze of this newly born evil god.
Sandstorms formed an invisible barrier around him. His expression did not waver in the slightest; only an immeasurable depth of gravity remained. He recognized the 'Eye of Ra', the true divine essence of the ancient Egyptian sun god, which should have been sealed in the temple's deepest treasury.
Yet now it had been embedded in this abomination's chest, becoming both the source of its power and a tool of disguise.
"Ian Prince."
The evil god spoke, not through its throat but directly into the minds of everyone present. Its voice was like a torrent formed from the whispers of countless beings, carrying a strange rhythm that compelled submission.
"Behold! I have descended. I am the new Sun, the end of order and the beginning of equality."
"Kneel. Kneel before me, before this brand new era. Feel this light; it will purify all your pain and distractions. Though you have made mistakes, I am willing to forgive you and make you one of my most beloved followers."
The god's voice sounded like thousands of people speaking in unison, pleasant yet chilling to the bone.
Its tall, slender body gleamed like liquid gold. Its face was breathtakingly handsome and its eyes were like miniature suns, burning with an eternal flame. Its bare upper body revealed perfect musculature, while its lower half was wrapped in streams of energy resembling a solar corona.
"Come! Join me!"
As it spread its arms, twelve wings of light unfolded behind it, each feather adorned with countless distorted human faces.
"Hm?"
Ian felt an invisible pressure surging from all directions, forcing him to his knees. The corner of his lips curled slightly into a mocking smile; he remained completely unaffected.
Calm and composed, he raised his wand instead. A blinding white light gathered at its tip.
"Kneel? To a monster that stole divinity and crawled out of a rotten embryo? Sorry, but I prefer to fight standing. That shell of yours is magnificent, I'll admit, but inside it's already rotting and stinking."
"I kneel to my Belief, I kneel to my parents, but never to a false god!"
Empowered by magic, Ian's voice echoed across the entire city.
The evil god heard this, yet he showed no anger.
It smiled.
That smile was as warm as sunlight, yet it made Ian's skin sting.
At that very moment, Ian launched his attack.
A pure white beam, charged with the power to tear space, shot forth from the tip of his wand, fast as lightning, aimed directly at the 'Eye of Ra' on the evil god's chest.
Ian intended to shatter the opponent's disguise.
Where the beam passed, the air warped from the intense heat, and stone pillars vaporized instantly. Yet when the attack, powerful enough to destroy a mountain, reached within three feet of the evil god's body, it vanished soundlessly, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.
Even more bizarrely, the dissipating magical energy was faintly absorbed by the 'Eye of Ra' embedded in his chest.
The molten-gold light within his pupils seemed to brighten for a moment. The evil god didn't even blink; the seven golden halos behind him rotated more steadily, as if the attack had been nothing more than a passing breeze.
"It's a futile struggle." The evil god's voice remained calm, conveying a sense of divine pity. "Your magic is merely fragments of mortal wisdom. But I have absorbed the inspiration of every great artist, philosopher, warrior, and lover over the past three thousand years."
"My existence is the perfect amalgamation. I have no shortcomings. No weaknesses. I am the sun of this new world."
"I am light. I am truth itself."
He stepped forward and descended directly from the top of the pyramid, hovering in mid-air.
"Look around you, wizard. The people have already recognized the truth."
He slowly raised his hand and pointed towards the city below.
The civilians, who had once trembled in fear, were bathed in this 'warm' light. First their expressions turned blank, then they shifted into hollow smiles of near-bliss. One by one, they dropped to their knees, clutching their heads and letting out heart-wrenching screams.
It seemed as if their consciousnesses were being torn and twisted by an invisible force. Their most precious memories and emotions, buried deep within their souls, were being forcibly stripped away and used to nourish the evil god. Even the wizards, dressed in robes of various colors and attempting to cast protective magic, were not spared. Their mental defenses, which they had taken pride in, crumbled like paper under the dual assault of the evil god's will and radiant power.
Everyone began to collapse. Their faces turned deathly pale, blood tears streamed from their eyes, and they unconsciously muttered:
"Sun… New Sun… Equality… Merge…"
They were clearly under mental control.
And the evil god reveled in their suffering.
Ian's gaze swept rapidly across his surroundings, his heart tightening sharply. Tens of thousands of citizens had already knelt in the streets. Their eyes reflected the light radiating from the evil god, and their faces wore dazed, blissful expressions. Even some of his fellow wizards had lowered their wands and pressed their hands together, murmuring words of praise.
"What did you do to them?!" Ian demanded sharply as blue arcs of electricity began to gather at the tip of his wand.
"I merely allowed them to see the truth." The evil god waved his hand gracefully. "Under my light, all souls will be purified and all consciousness will merge into one. This is true equality: no poverty, no pain, no loneliness. This is the new era: beneath one being, all lives are equal."
The evil god's influence continued to spread, ensnaring more and more people.
Only Ian stood firm, like an unshakable pillar amid the raging current. His mental defenses were impenetrable; no matter how hard the invisible corrosive force or the so-called 'holy' light tried to batter him, he remained unmoved.
His eyes pierced through the evil god's Apollonian beauty, his golden-ratio physique, his seven rotating halos, his windless white robes, and the 'warm' glow of the 'Eye of Ra', seeing the unspeakable darkness at its core: cold, greedy, and abyssal.
Within the depths of the 'Eye of Ra', countless twisted, suffering soul phantoms writhed. They were the true source of that so-called 'warmth'.
"Your 'equality'?" Ian's voice rang clearly through the wails, cold and metallic. 'Is it to devour and assimilate all life, turning them into flesh for your perfect body? Is it to strip billions of beings of their individuality and reduce them to your nourishment and extension? Is this what you call 'beneath one being, all are equal'?
"Using the light of the 'Eye of Ra' to mask your gluttonous nature?"
"There is no such thing as freedom," Ian interrupted him coldly. "Your 'equality' is nothing more than making everyone part of you, stripping them of their sense of self and their right to choose!"
Ian saw this matter with perfect clarity.
The evil god's smile did not change, but the light in his eyes grew even more piercing.
Amidst the eerie crimson sunlight and his own so-called 'divine' radiance, he tilted his head slightly, as if genuinely puzzled by Ian's accusation.
"And what is wrong with that?" His voice carried an innocent cruelty. The 'Eye of Ra' on his chest glowed softly. "Individual pain, desire, and conflict; they are the roots of chaos. When all consciousness merges into me and becomes part of my thoughts, pain will cease to exist and conflict will end forever."
"You will attain eternal 'peace' and share in my 'perfection'. Is this not the ultimate equality and harmony? I am salvation."
"As for freedom…" He repeated softly, as if tasting an unfamiliar concept. "What has freedom brought? War, disease, betrayal... How much suffering has humanity created in the name of freedom?"
"In my domain, all souls will coexist in harmony because they are me and I am them."
Hearing this...
"Salvation?"
Ian shouted sharply. His wand rose high once more, and magic power surged around him like a storm, forming layers of deep blue runes that resisted the so-called 'holy' light.
"The "salvation" you speak of is nothing but false death before the soul is completely erased! Your so-called 'peace' is a graveyard where the consciousness of billions is annihilated! True equality means respecting the uniqueness and choices of every life, not crushing them into dust beneath your feet! You thief... you're not even worthy of comparison with the gods of Olympus!"
It was a common insult towards Olympus, but not an unfair one.
"Choice? Hmmm?" The evil god chuckled softly. The sound caused the very space to tremble, and the seven golden halos emitted a piercing hum. "Choice brings only error and suffering. And I will end all of that. Wizard, give up. No matter how strong your resolve, you cannot stand against this inevitable tide."
"Join me. Embrace that supreme 'peace'. This light will ultimately embrace you." His voice was seductive, as if trying to seep directly into Ian's soul.
Ian said nothing further. He knew that any debate would be meaningless. With a sudden thrust of his wand, a blinding bolt of blue lightning tore through the air and struck the evil god straight in the chest.
This was 'Wrath of Thunder', a spell that only legendary mages could master.
It was powerful enough to pierce the strongest fortress walls.
The lightning struck its target with a deafening explosion. But when the smoke cleared, the evil god stood completely unharmed. Even worse, Ian could see the lightning energy being absorbed into the god's skin and transforming into the radiant wings behind him.
"A commendable attempt."
The evil god nodded approvingly. 'But your magic is ineffective against me, Ian. I have absorbed the talents of every wizard in this city, including those who are more knowledgeable than you."
"I am magic itself. All things must merge into me."
Several familiar faces twisted in agony on the luminous wings behind him before returning to calm.
"I would rather be burned to ashes by your 'light' than bow to a blasphemous monster like you!" Ian roared.
This time, he abandoned single-form attack magic.
From the tip of his wand erupted a spectrum of radiant colours. Ancient incantations orbited him like stars. Space began to distort, time seemed to stagnate and elemental forces howled in berserk fury.
This was composite magic.
Ian had first experimented with it long ago through spells like Sectumsempra.
But now, he had surpassed his former self.
It was no longer just a combination of a few spells; he drew on everything he had learnt in his life, combining space folding, time acceleration, elemental annihilation and soul impact to create an unprecedented torrent of destructive magic.
It surged forward like a collapsing galaxy, hurtling towards the evil god!
This time, the attack was not entirely ineffective.
The sacred light surrounding the evil god's body fluctuated violently. The seven golden halos let out shrill cries under the strain. The 'Eye of Ra' on his chest flickered rapidly, dimming for a brief instant.
The immense force pushed his body slightly backwards.
But he quickly steadied himself.
For the first time, a trace of something appeared on his perfect face:
Amusement... and deeper greed.
"Interesting, wizard."
"Your tricks are ineffective against me. I possess knowledge of all schools of magic. I understand the principles behind every spell. Magic is as harmless before me as an infant's cry."
His voice remained calm and carried a hint of admiration.
"However, you are indeed different. Ian, your magical talent is a rare gift. Let me absorb it. Let it become part of my perfection.'
He spoke as if discussing something utterly ordinary, without the slightest sense that anything was amiss. Before his words had faded, the 'holy' light around him transformed into a powerful suction force and formed a massive, rotating vortex.
The torrent of magic Ian unleashed, capable of tearing space apart, was twisted and dragged in like rivers flowing into the sea and absorbed completely into the evil god's body!
Even more terrifying... Ian could feel it. He could feel the will he had poured into casting the spell; his understanding of magic and even the fleeting moment of anger and resolve were all being siphoned away; all of it was being siphoned away as if through an invisible straw… Becoming nourishment for the evil god!
"Having seen the Great Sun, why do you not kneel?"
The evil god's voice grew vast and overwhelming, echoing across the entire city. The words themselves seemed to carry some kind of magical power. Ian felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.
Golden motes began to appear at the edges of his vision.
Sweet whispers filled his ears, urging him to lay down his weapon and join the collective in its bliss.
His knees grew heavy once more.
It felt as if countless hands were pulling him down, urging him to kneel.
And then to fall into that all-encompassing existence.
It was sweet yet deadly.
(End of Chapter)