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As if torn open by an invisible hand, space revealed a deep, cold underworld beyond it, filled with the whispers of the deceased:
This was the realm of Osiris, the Lord of the Underworld.
This ancient Egyptian god's lineage formed a crucial thread in Egyptian mythology.
He was the eldest son of the Earth God Geb and the Sky Goddess Nut. He married his younger sister, Isis, and together they had a son, Horus... essentially the future king of Egypt, much like Maitreya in the Buddhist tradition: a figure destined to rule in times to come.
And don't ask why it was an incestuous marriage.
In Greek, ancient Egyptian, and other mythologies, one of the gods' favorite activities was marrying within their own bloodline.
Even in the oldest Eastern traditions, this kind of divine 'ethics' could not be avoided. Consider figures such as Fuxi and his sister, for example, and it becomes clear that, in the eyes of the gods, such unions were entirely normal.
Yes...
Anyone familiar with history would notice this.
Across mythological systems worldwide, marriages between close relatives were not rare, they were extremely common.
In Greek mythology, for example, Zeus and Hera were siblings, and their children included Ares, the god of war, and Hebe, the goddess of youth. In Japanese mythology, Izanagi and Izanami were also siblings. Likewise, in Norse mythology, Odin and Frigga were siblings.
Even in certain Eastern myths, Fuxi and Nüwa are described as siblings who became partners.
What would be considered unethical in modern times was entirely natural to the gods. This was based on a unique concept of divine bloodlines, maintaining the purity of divinity and preserving the integrity of their lineage.
The gods' obsession with pure bloodlines bordered on fanaticism.
They believed that divine blood was a precious essence beyond human reach and that mixing with outsiders would dilute its sanctity. When Zeus swallowed the pregnant Metis, he did so not only to avoid the prophecy of being overthrown but also to ensure Athena's "pure" birth.
A deity born entirely of a god and untouched by mortal contamination.
Under this logic, marriage within the family became a necessary method to preserve divine completeness.
Gods were considered to be beings of power, wisdom, and immortality, superior to mortals. To ensure their descendants retained divinity, they preferred to reproduce within 'pure' bloodlines.
Such unions minimized the intrusion of mortal genes, ensuring that their offspring remained gods rather than demigods.
Moreover, divine marriages were not merely personal choices; they were also political strategies and power plays.
In Greek mythology, for example, the twelve Olympian gods were closely related: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades were brothers who each married their sisters.
This ensured that power and divinity remained within the family.
At the same time, it acted as a barrier, preventing the leakage of divine power.
Through internal unions, the gods reinforced their power structures. Mythological pantheons were often closed political systems, with authority passed down through bloodlines. The union of Osiris and Isis gave birth to Horus and secured the divine legitimacy of Egyptian kingship.
Such familial marriages created intricate networks of power, enabling the gods to control the cosmos firmly and prevent their authority from dispersing into unknown domains through external unions.
However... This strategy of bloodline purification came at a tremendous cost.
Firstly, it led to a decline in fertility.
In Norse mythology, for example, repeated close-kin unions gradually weakened the gods' ability to reproduce, eventually forcing them to recruit mortal heroes to Valhalla to compensate for their dwindling numbers.
More visibly, it resulted in genetic defects.
In Egyptian mythology, the conflict between Horus and Set was partly rooted in the confusion surrounding succession caused by inbreeding within the family. Horus himself could, of course, be considered a rare case, a genius born of such lineage.
The union of Osiris and Isis was considered a 'perfect match'. Their son Horus inherited his father's kingship and his mother's wisdom, ultimately defeating Set and becoming the patron of the pharaoh.
However, not all cases were so fortunate.
In Greek mythology, Hephaestus, the son of Hera and Zeus, was born crippled and cast down from Mount Olympus.
Could this be a real example of congenital defects arising from close-kin unions?
Even among the gods...
Science is not entirely defied.
The gods' obsession with 'pure blood' also resulted in fatal flaws, such as severely reduced genetic diversity.
Long-term inbreeding led to instability of power, extreme personalities, and mental defects among their descendants. In many myths, later generations of gods were often weaker than their ancestors.
For instance, while the Olympian gods ruled the world, their offspring were not as perfect as their forebears.
This was the most ironic outcome of all.
By striving to preserve purity through close-kin marriage, the gods had unwittingly sown the seeds of their own decline.
As the divine race gradually weakened due to a shrinking gene pool, the demigod heroes born from unions between gods and mortals displayed astonishing vitality.
These mixed-race descendants inherited divine power while gaining human genes' diversity and adaptability, often becoming stronger than pure-blood gods.
Heracles, the son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, accomplished the Twelve Labors that even the Olympian gods could not achieve. Perseus, son of Zeus and Danaë, successfully beheaded Medusa. Even Dionysus, once a 'demigod', ultimately ascended to the ranks of the Olympian gods.
These demigod heroes demonstrated abilities that surpassed those of pure-blood gods and often achieved feats of 'deicide', overthrowing ancient gods who clung to the purity of lineage.
The gods' preference for marrying within the family was intended to preserve divine purity and ensure stable governance. However, this practice resulted in a lack of genetic diversity, gradually stripping the divine race of its ability to evolve.
The emergence of demigods proved the opposite, showing that 'impure' bloodlines could give rise to even more powerful beings.
In the world of myth, close-kin marriage was the foundation of divine authority, but it was also the hidden cause of its decline. When the gods became obsessed with blood purity, they perhaps forgot that true strength often comes from fusion and transcendence.
A closed system is destined for entropy and decay.
Only an open system can sustain vitality.
The 'bond' of divine blood was both a guarantee of power and a shackle that bound it.
This is where science stood above theology.
While many gods' descendants were inferior to their parents, there were exceptions.
One such exception was the true ruler of the Underworld:
Osiris was still immensely powerful.
He wore a magnificent royal robe symbolizing Upper and Lower Egypt and a tall white crown representing kingship. In his hands he held the flail, a symbol of agriculture and harvest, and the crook, an emblem of sovereignty and rule.
His expression was solemn and unyielding, like an eternal monolith. His eyes held a depth that had seen through the cycle of life and death.
This time, as he entered the mortal realm, he did not arrive in a great vessel.
Instead, he stepped forward onto the mist of the River Styx, entering reality one step at a time.
Tap… tap…
With each step taken by this ancient god… The writhing, flesh-like ground beneath his feet began to freeze and petrify, transforming into hard black basalt, as if the domain of the Underworld itself was expanding into reality.
Countless translucent souls surrounded him.
These were not the tormented prisoners screaming within the evil god's body, but rather orderly and serene, like the most devout of pilgrims.
They floated quietly around Osiris, their voices forming a low, grand hymn, like the harmony of the universe itself. This was not a lament of sorrow, but a sacred hymn praising order, judgment, and eternal peace.
The contrast was stark:
On one side, there was harmonious, eternal rest.
On the other hand: chaotic, endless torment.
"As expected… you were allowed to be born."
Osiris's gaze, like two blades of judgement, pierced through space and struck the evil god floating in the heavens directly.
He raised the crook and flail slightly. A deep blue power of death and rebirth gathered at their tips. The hymn of the surrounding souls rose sharply as the chill of the Underworld clashed violently with the distorted force of reality.
"In the name of the River Styx, those who defile the order of life and death shall suffer eternal punishment."
His voice echoed like something from within a tomb.
The Lord of the Underworld raised his crook and pointed it towards Set-Apep.
In an instant, countless souls formed an army and surged towards the evil god.
These souls were different from the living.
They were already dead and had been stabilized by the power of the Underworld's ruler, which made the evil god's devouring ability far less effective against them.
Ian's raven eyes widened slightly.
He quickly noticed a crucial detail:
Osiris was not attacking the evil god directly.
Instead, he was focused on rescuing the souls that had been devoured.
With each swing of his crook, several souls were pulled out of the evil god and guided into the Underworld.
"I see..."
Realization dawned upon Ian.
"They're working together."
Isis was healing the living and reversing mutations. Meanwhile, Osiris was rescuing the dead and cutting off the evil god's source of power.
Their coordination was flawless; clearly, this was not the first time they had encountered such a crisis.
"Damn it!"
The evil god roared in fury as he attempted to resist the two gods' combined efforts.
But this time... Its adaptive ability had met its match.
The power of the gods stemmed from faith and concept, which was completely different from conventional magic systems.
Set-Apep needed time to analyze and adapt to this new form of power.
During this brief window, Ian noticed a third anomaly.
Although Isis and Osiris had manifested, the False Sun in the sky remained, its radiance only slightly suppressed.
This meant the battle was far from one-sided.
In his Raven form, Ian beat his wings lightly and rose to a higher vantage point. He turned his gaze towards the eastern horizon, the direction in which the sun should rise. Through the Raven's unique vision, he could perceive energy flows invisible to the naked eye.
Countless streams of golden light rose from the earth and converged towards a distant point.
However, these flows were chaotic, as if they had lost their guide.
"What does that mean…?"
Just as Ian began to ponder... Osiris made his move again.
The crook and flail in his hands emitted a dark glow as the waters of the River Styx surged violently. Black currents transformed into countless chains that lashed towards Set-Apep.
Engraved with ancient Underworld runes, these chains devoured even light itself as they passed.
"Do you all intend to oppose me?!" The evil god roared in fury.
Sixteen radiant wings burst forth simultaneously, blazing with searing light in an attempt to vaporize the Styx chains. However, the moment they came into contact with the chains, the wings began to wither and rot.
The trapped souls seized the opportunity, struggling desperately to escape.
"In the name of Isis... Hymn of Life!"
The goddess of healing acted in tandem.
The ankh in her hand glowed with a soft green light that scattered like spring rain over the land corrupted by the evil god. Buildings and creatures that had twisted into nightmarish forms began to reverse their mutations, stone hardened once more and flesh returned to human shape.
Even more remarkably, Isis's power complemented Osiris's deathly authority perfectly.
While Osiris focused on stripping away the souls of the dead, her life energy targeted the living essence within the evil god.
The husband and wife worked in flawless harmony, as if they had practiced this countless times.
Set-Apep was forced into an unprecedented struggle.
Its body was in a constant state of transformation, sometimes dispersing into countless motes of light to evade the Styx chains and at other times condensing into a solid form to resist the purifying force of life energy.
However, every transformation consumed immense energy.
Meanwhile, Osiris continuously reclaimed the souls it had devoured.
"You cannot stop the coming of a new era!"
Millions of voices roared at once as the evil god's body suddenly exploded into countless fragments. Each fragment became a miniature Set-Apep, swarming towards the two gods like a plague of locusts.
Osiris remained calm, lightly striking the ground with his crook.
"Gates of the Underworld... open."
The earth split apart with a thunderous roar. Countless tombstones rose from the fissures, forming a deadly barrier that encircled the battlefield.
The miniature evil gods crashed into the tombstones, letting out piercing screams before dissolving into black smoke.
Yet a few broke through the defense, charging straight towards Isis.
The goddess of healing raised her hand gently and traced a perfect circle in the air with the ankh.
"Cycle of Life."
The approaching miniatures suddenly began to age at an extreme rate. Within seconds, they had experienced the entire process from birth to death and had ultimately crumbled into dust.
However, this attack had clearly drained some of Isis's strength. Her figure wavered slightly and her complexion turned paler.
The battlefield fell into a stalemate.
Although Osiris and Isis could suppress the evil god, they were unable to deliver a decisive blow.
Set-Apep's adaptive ability was simply too powerful — after each attack, it rapidly evolved resistance.
Even worse, it seemed to be learning how to wield divine power itself.
Some of its techniques already bore the distinct traits of the Egyptian pantheon.
At that critical moment—
Osiris made an unexpected move:
"Wizard from a foreign land."
The Lord of the Underworld suddenly turned his head. His eyes, which could see through the boundary between life and death, fixed on Ian in his Raven form.
"Perhaps… you should return to the cellar once more."
His voice pierced the chaos of battle and echoed directly within Ian's consciousness.
He was clearly referring to the cellar beneath the Sun God's temple.
The Raven shuddered violently.
The cellar?
Ian's mind raced.
Osiris could only be referring to the mysterious underground chamber beneath the Sun Temple, the place Ian had stumbled upon when he first arrived in this era, which was filled with ancient magical constructs that even he could not fully comprehend.
Questions surged through his mind:
How did Osiris know about the cellar?
Why mention it now?
Could it hold the key to defeating the evil god?
Despite the storm of thoughts, the Raven did not hesitate.
With a powerful beat of its wings, it transformed into a bolt of black lightning and dived towards the area beneath the evil god.
Just as Ian was about to reach that rising mass… Osiris's voice came again, this time carrying a rare hint of approval:
"Excellent… the bloodline of the Prince Family never disappoints."
At those words… Ian's flight faltered for a brief instant.
(End of Chapter)