Masses of people could be seen running for their lives as the temple of Seti I, in Abydos, shook violently like it was the epicenter of a massive earthquake.

Everyone inside the secret chamber of Osiris felt both the loss of balance due to the shaking and the crushing pressure of something unworldly coming to life. The temple walls started to crumble, but the ceiling stood in place as if an external force kept if from collapsing.

Meanwhile, Tutankhamon's body started to vanish into yellow energy, the same that had been seen when he absorbed the golden mask's power, or when he had been shielded against the death spell. The energy gathered in one place and changed color, turned pitch black, and slowly took a humanoid form.

As it came into shape, the black energy turned into a towering, more than 3 meters tall, muscular man with the head of an animal. Just like in the myths, this figure resembled several different animals at once. An aardvark, a wild dog, a hyena, and even a giraffe. The most prominent features, though, were his long black snout and long, horn-like ears.

This unimaginable creature looked at everyone with blood-red eyes, oozing hatred and malice from every pore. As the earthquake ceased, from his strange mouth came a deep, guttural voice, in a seemingly foreign-accented Ancient Egyptian language.

"Egyptian foolishness, once again, worked in my favor", he said.

"Lord Sutekh", Ramses said and bowed. Set looked at him with disdain.

"Your job was simple, pharaoh", Set admonished. "Because the ritual has been done poorly, the power I gathered here is insufficient".

"How can I help you, my Lord?", Ramses asked without raising his head, wincing.

"You already know the answer, so don't be a fool asking", Set said. "The others can go away".

With a wave of the god's hand, a powerful shockwave sent everyone flying. The impact squashed Kurou's body to a pulp, leaving nothing but a bloody pool on the ground, from which his body started regrowing back into shape.

Parennefer shielded Ankhesenamon, but at a great price. By standing between her and Set, the diligent butler took the brunt of the impact, causing his body to be internally crushed by the shockwave. His organs were utterly destroyed by the powerful force, and he collapsed to the ground, dead.

Bakenkhonsu was thrown away by the impact as well, but managed to survive somehow, since he had no one to worry about. Riddle was unharmed, although very agitated. The animal had used his unparalled agility to find shelter before the impact could reach him.

Only Akhenaton and Ramses stood their ground.

"You are resilient, heretic", Set said to Akhenaton.

"I don't fear you, false god!", Akhenaton shouted.

"You still don't know the true meaning of fear, mortal", Set said. "Let me show you how real my power is".

Set extended his hand and an enormous scepter appeared. He delivered a powerful blow that Akhenaton managed to block with his khopesh, but his feet sank to the ground and the heretic pharaoh flinched for a second. Taking advantage from his moment of hesitation, Set grabbed Akhenaton by the torso and attempted to crush him. "How does it feel, mortal?", he asked the heretic pharaoh, staring at him with terrifying eyes. "Aren't you afraid to die yet?".

"I fear nothing", Akhenaton asserted, and plunged his khopesh on Set's arm. The weapon resonated in a strange way and Set dropped him, screaming in pain.

"YOU HERETIC WORM!", Set vociferated. "I'll obliterate you and all your kind!".

In a flash, Kurou jumped from out of nowhere in an attempt to slash Set's torso. The god of storms was quicker than the Post-Mortal and caught his hand before the strike was through. Set looked at him with vile curiosity.

"So you are the one Ma'at chose as the savior? Pathetic insect", Set said.

"I'm pathetic yet you can't kill me, shitface", Kurou retorted.

Set's eyes narrowed at the insult.

"I can't kill you, you say? We'll see about that, vermin". Set raised his left hand, causing the sand to revolve around a spot in the chamber.

The concentrated sandstorm gave way to an enormous creature with a crocodile head, lion torso and hippopotamus rear. Kurou recognized it and his eyes widened up instantly.

"Now, Post-Mortal…are you ready for judgment?", Set asked, full of malice, as the mythological beast Ammit locked its eyes onto Kurou and charged in his direction.

Kurou was about to scream for help when something sharp cut his arm off, releasing him from Set's grasp. He thought it was Hatshepsut, but she didn't have a sword on her.

As he fell to the ground and managed to get on his feet, he saw yet another enormous silhouette in front of him. This time, it was a dark-skinned humanoid creature with the head of a jackal, pointed ears and yellow eyes. The creature was holding a Was Sceptre in his right hand, and he stood as tall and majestic as only someone of a god-like nature could.

The Was Sceptre was a tool used by gods, pharaohs and priests to represent power. They were made generally of wood or a mixture of ceramics and quartz stone, but in this case it was easy to see it was made of pure steel, pretty much like the khopesh Kurou was wielding. It wasn't sharp, but it still cut Kurou's arm like a hot knife through butter.

"Riddle?", Kurou asked. "Is that you?".

"I don't like that name", the majestic jackal-headed figure answered, gritting his teeth.

"Inpu!", Set exclaimed. "You are not supposed to interfere with the affairs of the living".

“And you are not supposed to come back to life, Sutekh", Anubis answered.

"So that’s how you want it to be, Inpu? A fight to the death between gods?", Set asked, enraged.

"I'm not here to deal with you, Sutekh", Anubis answered, standing between Kurou and Ammit.

"You’re out of your mind, Inpu", Set said. "Are you willing to desecrate the weighing ritual by protecting this wretched Post-Mortal?".

"That is the will of Ma'at, and I have decided that it's the right choice", Anubis retorted. "I also decided that you risk the balance of this world and must leave it".

"That's not up to you to decide, now that Osiris is gone", Sutekh said.

"You know", Kurou interrupted. "It's really amazing to see two Egyptian Gods chatting and having a good time, but I really want to go home, so let's get through with this, shall we?".

"IMPUDENT UNDEAD!", Set roared, swinging his sceptre with the intent of crushing Kurou.

Anubis intercepted the attack and redirected Set’s sceptre towards Ammit's large body, causing it to scream in agony. The monster writhed in pain and retargeted to whoever was close to it. Ankhesenamon was its unlucky pick, and Kurou acknowledged she would be dead and gone forever unless he did something.

"Riddle, back me up here, will ya!?". Anubis got furious at Kurou's petulance but understood his intentions.

Kurou had a few choices of action here but only a few seconds to decide: the first choice was to leave Ankhesenamon to die – not acceptable; the second was to push her out of the way and get eaten by the monster - not good as well; and there was a third option. A dirty, but very satisfying one.

Kurou darted towards Ankhesenamon meaning to push her away from the monster's jagged teeth, but changed midcourse and went for Bakenkhonsu, Ramses's high priest who was just standing there, perplexed at the appearance of two Egyptian Gods right in front of him.

Using his shadow projection to push Ankhesenamon out of danger, Kurou had only to worry about catching Bakenkhonsu by the neck and throwing him judo-style towards Ammit's huge mouth. The high priest wasn't an idiot, nor a weak fellow, so he put up a fight, but Kurou wasn't alone in this enterprise.

From behind, Bakenkhonsu felt a heavy thump to the back of his neck, almost losing consciousness. It was Hatshepsut, smirking at Kurou. He smirked back and threw the high priest towards the monster, who made short work of him.

Ramses was infuriated at the scene he just saw, but did not dare to interfere. He had other plans in mind, and calling everyone's – including Set's – attention was not among them. Instead, he blended with the shadows and escaped the temple before anyone could catch a glimpse.

“Ramses!”, Set roared.

“It seems your worshipper is quite the coward”, Anubis said. Set’s disgust was evident, but he decided not to fall for the taunt.

“He’s just a tool, Inpu. Disposable. But you, standing in the way of your Father in favor of a poor excuse of a human being…you will regret this”. Set said, enveloping Ammit in the same sand swirl it came from until it vanished.

“I am just the Watcher, Sutekh”, Anubis responded, solemnly. “To threaten me is to threaten the balance of all things, and you know how it’s going to end if you try”.

Set growled, enveloping himself in a powerful sandstorm, throwing everyone but Akhenaton and Anubis to the ground.

As Set disappeared, Anubis fell to his knees, slowly turning into a jackal again, unconscious. Akhenaton saw the opportunity for an easy kill, but Kurou stared at him with murderous eyes.

“Don’t you dare touch that jackal”, Kurou threatened, as he picked Riddle up.

“You should not make an enemy out of me, Post-Mortal. Especially now that a chaotic entity is at large”, Akhenaton said.

“I also don’t have any interest in being your friend”, Kurou retorted. “I have more important things to care about than you, Akhenaton, so killing you will have to wait. But the time will come for you to pay for what you have done here”.

“Whatever”, Akhenaton said, dismissively. “Ankhesenamon, we’re leaving”, he commanded her.

“She is staying with me”, Hatshepsut intervened.

“She is my daughter, she’s definitely coming with me”, Akhenaton said, inflexible.

“You killed Tutankhamon, Father”, Ankhesenamon said, with tears rolling from her eyes. “I can’t. I can’t go with you. I can’t forgive you for what you’ve done”.

Akhenaton’s eyes filled with rage.

“Once again, you abandon me? After everything I’ve done for you? I’m tired of such ungratefulness”, he said, disgusted. “And you, Post-Mortal, tell that fake god of yours that I’m not giving up on my plans just because a walking disaster has been brought back to life. Aton will protect me as He always did and victory will be mine in the end”.

“Why don’t you just leave?”, Kurou asked. “You’re not welcome here, Akhenaton. You never was”.

Akhenaton looked at him and grimaced, then turned away and left. Ankhesenamon dropped to her knees and cried.

“Let’s go, we should not stay here much longer”, Hatshepsut said while helping her up.

“I can’t believe this is happening”, Ankhesenamon said. “I had just been brought back to life, in this new, fantastic world, and had finally met Tutankhamon. I had such high hopes that we could finally be together”.

“I understand”, Hatshepsut said, touched by her grief. “I know how you feel, Princess. I’m sorry for not being able to save him”.

“If my Father was so set on killing him, there was no way he could escape. He is the most obstinate and stubborn man I’ve ever met”, Ankhesenamon said.

“I don’t think I can agree with such statement”, Kurou butted in.

Hatshepsut smiled. Ankhesenamon looked at him with contempt.

“I don’t understand how Tutankhamon could care for someone like you”, she said.

“He was a good friend. He was unlucky to be born in such a fucked up family, that’s all”, Kurou said.

“You’re not helping here, Kurou”, Hatshepsut admonished.

“See? That’s what I’m talking about”, Ankhesenamon said, pointing at him.

“I saved you from Ammit, if you fail to remember”, Kurou said. “But that’s alright. I’m kinda used to being treated like every good I do is my obligation and every bad is my fault alone. Just don’t expect me to play hero again, okay? Cause you definitely don’t deserve it”.

“Kurou, let’s go. Stop blabbering already”, Hatshepsut scolded.

Kurou grunted and headed for the exit of the temple, with Riddle in his arms.

The Temple of Seti I, once a glorious monument and pride of the Ancient Egyptian royalty, had become a ruined heap of stones and sand, with cracked, crumbling walls, sunken floors and ceilings barely holding.

At the entrance, several police cars and reporters were waiting for them.

"Kurou, be discreet now ok?", Hatshepsut said, worried.

"Stop telling me what to do, Hat", Kurou retorted. "It's annoying and makes me want to do the opposite".

"It's on you, then", she said. "I plan on leaving this place quietly".

Strangely, neither the police nor the reporters felt like approaching Hatshepsut and Ankhesenamon, as if some strange force kept them away. It was like trying to talk to the most notorious figures in the world, like an acclaimed celebrity or an important authority. Regular people like those were just lost for words.

Hatshepsut was satisfied with the impression they were giving, and led Ankhesenamon to a car, prompting her to get through one door as she got through the other. The car, apparently, had been waiting for Hatshepsut since she got to the Temple of Abydos. She gave the driver an order, in Ancient Egyptian, and the man quickly started the car and drove away.

Kurou stood at the entrance of the temple, looking at all the people with blood-red narrowing eyes. He looked to one side, then to the other, and stared at the policemen and reporters running in his direction.

"What? Wanna a piece of me, you shitty bureaucrats? Or you, self-indulgent dandies?", Kurou yelled, causing them to back off. A reporter mustered some courage and asked him a question in English.

"Sir, what happened inside the Great Temple of Abydos? What were you doing there?".

"I was just walking my K-9 here when a bunch of Gods and Pharaohs started fighting each other", Kurou answered. "True story".