Glossary - Divine Aura
Divine aura is an innate energy possessed by every divine entity, such as gods. It is a manifestation of their inner natural energy and can be used in various applications, similar to mana. Some gods' divine auras even have unique properties of their own.
Aten, Sekhmet and Ra's Divine Aura - The Divine Sun : An innate, superheated radiance burning with the intensity of the sun's surface, capable of searing through existence itself while suppressing and slowing the regeneration of all things, physical bodies, spirits, souls, and even other divine auras.
Ares' Divine Aura - Unprevailed Violence : An innate divine aura that erupts outward in tearing through every layer of space and reality with an unstoppable violent force that nothing can withstand.
Susanoo' Divine Aura - Tempest Genesis : An innate divine aura that commands the very properties of the clouds, conjuring storms, gathering and discharging electrons as thunder, and manipulating particles of water to unleash overwhelming, chaotic dominion over sky and sea.
Amaterasu's Divine Aura - Fan your Flames : An innate divine aura that can be shaped into divine flame that capable of burning every shape of thing.
Tsukoyomi's Divine Aura - The Illusion of the Night : An innate divine aura that capable of turning any physical object into dark matter in contact, making it invisible and unchained by the force of the universe.
Anubis' Divine Aura - Death Charade
Freya's Divine Aura - Fólkvangr.
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"Hey! Can you at least be grateful a little bit after I give you such an important piece of information? Untie me!" Sekhmet's scream was muffled by the rushing wind, as despite her divine heritage and her status as a Goddess of War, she remained hopelessly bound by Jay's obsidian chains of envy, unable to shift her weight even an inch.
Right now, Jay, Freya, Rossweisse, and the bound Sekhmet were riding atop Draghignazzo, drifting through the orange desert sky as they headed toward the location of Bastet, the Goddess of Protection. Jay had used the Grail to trace her through Sekhmet's soul as a catalyst. Because according to Sekhmet, the two goddesses were sisters, making it possible to track Bastet through her, as they were connected in a sense.
The Grail then revealed that Bastet was currently in a place called Duat, an underground city of death beneath the sandy dunes of Heliopolis.
"You said it's unusual that she would be in this Duat place, right?" Jay asked Sekhmet.
"Ugh… yes," Sekhmet grunted before answering. "Duat is ruled by Osiris, the husband of the winged woman you met earlier… And I can only think of one reason she would be there, that being Anubis."
"Anubis, the God of Death?" Rossweisse asked.
"Yep… My sister didn't want to admit it, but she… you know… has a thing for him. And that might also be the reason father told her to go and ask Anubis to join his side," Sekhmet said, shrugging her lean, muscular shoulders.
Freya suddenly retorted with a playful smile.
"Hmm~ a love life~" She then glanced at Rossweisse out of nowhere. "See, Rose-chan… everyone has their own love life. I wonder when it'll be your turn. Though with your strict attitude, it might be a little bit too hard to-"
Rossweisse's face turned as red as a tomato as she hurriedly interrupted her.
"Freya-sama! Please stop saying things like that in the middle of a serious conversation!" Rossweisse said, covering Freya's mouth.
"Awright, awright~"
But Jay remained focused on Sekhmet's words, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't understand… He might be a confusing man, but wasn't Ra once the leader of this entire faction? Why does it seem like they're all against him now? Is it purely because they want to take his position as the Chief-god?" he asked to the lioness.
"Well, that's probably one of the reasons… But another reason for their hatred might be that they felt betrayed after my father merged his soul with Amun," Sekhmet admitted.
"Amun, huh... Though, i still don't understand how that would make them feel betrayed," Jay said, his eyes widening.
"Well, when an unknown god from a small place like Thebes, which is Amun, was suddenly merged with the literal Chief God, effectively becoming a Chief God himself, of course the gods who had stood by Ra all this time felt like their whole existence didn't matter to him at all," Sekhmet explained.
Her eyes then turned serious as she stared down at the obsidian scales of Draghignazzo.
"And worse… not long after that merging, Aten, which is my father's Divine Sun, the very consciousness of his power, mysteriously manifested as a separate being. And even worse, the Golden Throne then recognized Aten as the only true god of Heliopolis, completely denying him his status as a Chief-God."
"That practically weakened every Egyptian god, because Heliopolis no longer granted them its energy like it did when my father ruled it alongside them. That's why they blamed him, saying that if he hadn't merged with Amun, Aten wouldn't have manifested as a singular entity or overthrown him from the Golden Throne… though they're not entirely wrong. He's a deadbeat, and just simply a lame person," Sekhmet said, insulting her own father as if it were nothing unusual.
After a brief silence, Freya suddenly spoke up.
"That's rude, Sekhmet-chan~"
"S-Sekmet-chan…? What did you just call me?" Sekhmet frowned, clearly irritated by Freya's choice of nickname.
"I don't think Ra-san is even a bad person. He seems to be trying to control the whole situation and prevent all of you from killing each other. And I agree with him. Not everything should be solved with violence… There must be a way to finish this game without us killing each other," Freya said.
Jay glanced at the Norse Goddess of Love, Beauty, and War with complicated look as he said.
"That sounds like a very naive way of approaching what is basically a death game, isn't it?"
But Freya shook her head.
"No, I don't think so," Freya said in a steady voice as her beautiful eyes locked onto Jay.
"Suppose Ra-san slaughtered everyone here, defeated the Supreme God Aten, and reclaimed his golden throne as Chief God… but at what cost? The very people he was meant to rule… dead. And at that point-"
She stopped for moment before she said.
"-What is even the point of ruling an empty world?"
Jay fell silent, contemplating her words.
Kingship was a complicated thing.
Though he had his own people under his wing, the people of Valeyra, Jay still did not understand what it truly meant to lead them, even though he was the one who had brought them together under the pretense of using his strength to protect them from the cruelty of the supernatural world.
Yet he still did not know how to rule, and perhaps it had been the right choice to ask Ernesta to do it in his place. Making his decision not to kill her back then no longer felt as wrong as he once believed.
But what did the people of Valeyra think of him as their leader?
A man still chained by the creed of his life, the creed to kill every single devil. A creed that stood far from understanding and kindness.
One who could not even rule his own life.
Did he even deserve to rule, or to judge who did?
Hearing her words, Sekhmet then casually replied to Freya as her blue eyes drifting toward the horizon in an empty gaze.
"That's true… but I don't think that's the only reason my father refused to participate in this killing game," Sekhmet said.
After a long stretch of silence, they finally arrived above a field of cracked dunes. The once-golden desert below them now lay broken and scarred like a shattered shell. From above, it formed a jagged valley that plunged into a bottomless pit of darkness.
"Is that the entrance?" Freya said, her pink hair fluttering in the wind as she stared down at the valley below them.
Jay nodded as he said.
"Hold on tight!"
"Eh?" Rossweisse yelped.
And with a single thought, Draghignazzo flapped its gigantic wings and dove straight down into the darkness of the valley at incredible speed, instantly startling everyone, especially the silver-haired Valkyrie.
"Waaaiii-!"
And as the crimson dragon drove downward, the dunes vanished in an instant, replaced by dim, jagged rock walls as they were swallowed completely by darkness. Jay's Avesta ignited, casting a faint glow that became the only light in the abyss, joined by the dark crimson demonic flames enveloping Draghignazzo.
Sekhmet's blue divine eyes stared into the endless darkness with an empty expression. She was still visibly annoyed, pouting slightly, but her gaze soon shifted toward Jay's back as her expression growing more complicated.
After flying through the darkness for a while, Freya suddenly felt a presence emerging from the void.
"Something's in the way!" Freya shouted as a silver sword appeared in her hand.
As the dark crimson flames drew closer, something massive emerged from the darkness ahead, a giant jackal, nearly thirty meters tall, almost matching Draghignazzo in size.
RARRRHHHHH
The jackal howled intensely as it became enveloped in a dark golden aura, and then immediately rushed toward them on sight. Each of its steps sent heavy tremors through the jagged stone structures around them, shaking the entire valley.
But before Jay could make a move to finish off the monster, Freya's silver sword flared with a pink divine aura as she casually swung her hand.
"Ha!"
And then-
SHIIIING
A blinding pink light suddenly erupted through the darkness, surging forward and striking the giant jackal head-on. And in an instant-
SPLURT
Green blood splattered through the air as the massive jackal was cleanly split in two, its body collapsing to the ground. Just like that, the path ahead was clear, allowing Draghignazzo to continue gliding forward as the pink divine aura surrounding Freya's sword slowly dissipated.
And not long after, they finally arrived at their destination.
A vast clearing of withered trees stretched before them as their bare branches unmoving. At the center stood a simple, unadorned building. Surrounding it was an evenly spaced ring of stone pillars without a roof, forming an open structure reminiscent of a temple. Faint carvings lined their surfaces.
The place was swallowed in darkness, with only blue flames burning steadily in torches etched into each pillar, casting a dim, even glow across the silent ground.
And there, standing before the small building, was a woman.
She had short, elegant silver hair and brown skin, her presence calm yet imposing. Her beautiful blue eyes were narrowed, as if she had already been waiting for an incoming attack.
It was none other than Bastet herself. A giant winged lioness stood beside her as its majestic presence radiating quiet authority.
But then, from the darkness, suddenly a reptilian monster emerged. Completely throwing Bastet off of the sudden appearance of a creature she even rarely seen in her life.
'A dragon!?'
She thought as she clenched her slender hand, her blue eyes reflecting the crimson flames illuminating the space as she prepared herself for the incoming breath of fire from Draghignazzo.
But suddenly-
"Yoo! Bastie!!! It's me!"
Hearing a familiar voice, Bastet's eyes widened again. As the crimson dragon slowly descended onto the dusted ground, she saw a man and three women atop it, dismounting.
And one of them was unmistakably her own sister.
After sensing no hostility from the newcomers, Bastet relaxed slightly, though confusion lingered in her expression.
"Sekhmet?... What are you doing here?"
***
Inside a simple room, they sat on a woven papyrus mat.
As the four of them, Jay, Freya, Rossweisse, and Sekhmet waited patiently for Bastet, Rossweisse looked around the room, taking in its extreme simplicity, especially considering Sekhmet had said this place belonged to Anubis.
"This is much simpler than I expected…" Rossweisse muttered. There was barely anything inside, as there are only a few stone tablets and crude stone furniture.
"Tscht… don't let Anubis hear you say that," Sekhmet replied, glancing at her with playful look, though her body still bound by obsidian chains.
After waiting for a while, then from one of the doors, Bastet entered, carrying four glasses of water and placing them in front of everyone.
"I'm sorry, but we only have water here," Bastet said, placing the tray down before sitting in the center to face everyone.
"It's fine… thanks~ Bastie!" Sekhmet replied cheerfully, then turned toward Rossweisse. "Hey, Ms. Valkyrie, can you help me drink that?"
"Huh? Ah… yes." Rossweisse obediently poured the water into Sekhmet's mouth.
Bastet still looked confused at the scene of her sister bound by obsidian chains and being tended to by two Norse women and a human. She then shifted her gaze toward the black-haired young man who seemed to be studying her silently.
"I don't know how all of you knew I was here… but let's put that aside. Is there something you need from me?" Bastet asked.
Freya, Rossweisse, and Sekhmet all turned their eyes toward Jay.
The man then slowly spoke.
"I heard from Sekhmet that you possess divine eyes similar to hers, capable of seeing any location within Heliopolis, is that true?" Jay asked.
Hearing his words, Bastet instantly glanced at her sister, who only smiled apologetically at her.
Bastet sighed and nodded.
"That's true. What about it?"
Hearing her confirmation, Jay simply continued.
"Can you help us find out where Aten is located?"
Bastet's eyes widened, and she froze for a moment. The room fell silent as the goddess furrowed her brows in a mixture of emotions.
"You… are you trying to defeat Aten on your own?" she asked.
Jay nodded.
"That's reckless. Do you even know how strong Aten is? Even if you want to escape this place, death isn't the way to do it you know...," Bastet replied firmly.
"It's pointless. I suggest you just forget it."
"Your father, Ra, already told me Aten is unkillable and undefeatable in this realm. He can basically control this world at will. If that's what you mean, then I have a general idea of how strong he is," Jay said as his expression unchanged.
Bastet widened her eyes slightly.
"So you've met my father… I see." She said.
A faint smile then appeared on her beautiful face, one of quiet amusement.
"But it seems to me that he didn't really elaborate on why he said Aten is unkillable and undefeatable in this place," she continued.
That statement made Jay raise an eyebrow.
Bastet's blue eyes met his as she spoke again.
"The reason I said it's pointless isn't because I underestimate your strength," Bastet said. She clearly understood, through her divine eyes, that the man in front of her was anything but ordinary.
"It's because no matter how strong you are, your attack will never be able to reach him."
"What do you mean?" Jay asked, his brows furrowing.
Bastet simply shrugged as she casually said.
"Aten is omniscient."
***
Meanwhile, far away in the opposite part of the Duat.
Within the darkness of the sacred temple of Osiris, a green-haired man stood alone. And before him, stretched a giant table carved into a map of the Heliopolis, upon which he moved pieces of Senet, a traditional chess-like games native to the Egyptian.
And behind him loomed a solitary throne, empty yet imposing.
Osiris stood in silence, as if contemplating something regarding the current status of the game.
Until-
A creaking sound echoed through the vast hall of the throne room, reverberating through the throne room of the dead.
Sensing a newcomer, Osiris paused.
Slowly, he turned toward the massive entrance gate, as if he had been expecting it all along.
"You've finally come back, my beloved," Osiris said, his eyes never leaving the table.
But-
"Oh, I'm really back, my beloved brother~…"
A familiar, unwelcome voice cut through the darkness.
"To think your armies are this weak… no wonder you still can't free yourself from this rotten place to fight Ra on your own."
Osiris's body went still. Frozen like a statue.
His eyes widened in pure shock as a voice he hadn't heard for years echoed in his ears once again.
And slowly, his gaze drifted toward the entrance.
There stand a tall, muscular man with long, flowing crimson hair. He stands with calm confidence as his toned torso bare and adorned with simple golden bands around his neck. His expression is relaxed yet knowing, almost playful, as dark divine aura coils around his hands like living shadows, carrying with it sand currents that drift around his body from the ground beneath him.
Seeing the familiar face, Osiris fell silent before slowly regaining his composure.
And then he muttered.
"Seth…"