"It seems these wraiths still can't handle them, so you all should also put away those thoughts of yours."
"If there were a chance, do you think I would have wished to take this step?"
Outside Sun City, Ramses II gave his final instructions.
Behind him, like a miniature pyramid, the Benben Stone floated in the center of the crowd.
It caught the light from above, scattered warm sunlight, and also dispelled the followers' distracting thoughts.
Indeed, in the hearts of these Egyptian dignitaries, there was not a unanimous approval of Pharaoh's decision.
After all, the Egyptians had enslaved the Hebrews for a thousand years already, and now suddenly they were told, although the divine decree demanded their complete eradication, Pharaoh advocated sparing those sin people, which left even those who were generally loyal to Ramses with some doubts in their minds.
But all speculations ceased before the Benben Stone, which, according to legend, was an object transformed from a meteorite that fell from the sky at the inception of the Egyptian Dynasty and stood atop the oldest pyramids, uncontrollable even by successive Pharaohs.
They could only construct a similar artifact atop their own pyramids, known as a 'capstone,' and crafted in the form of a sundial.
The four sides represented the four directions; the pointed top was symbolic of the gnomon. It was placed on the pinnacle of the pyramid, a representation of the land that first emerged from the Primordial Water. The circular perimeter symbolized time, and the central cross symbolized space, essentially representing the 'Order of Temporal.'
Eventually, they engraved upon it their most fervent inscription—'Build him a stairway for ascension, that he may ascend from the Mortal Realm to the Heavens.'
This was perceived by the Egyptians as the gateway to the sky, the staircase of ascension, never before controlled by anyone—only Ramses had done it.
Thus, in these long moments when no divine intervention had manifested, no one dared question his thoughts any longer.
"Let's go, I have banished him three times, now it's my turn to meet him."
"Sun City... God will watch over all this."
With large strides forward, the sea of the undead parted before Ramses.
No matter what was on their minds, at this moment everyone followed by Pharaoh's side.
Since the Benben Stone had chosen Ramses, there must be a reason behind it.
Even the most devout believers would not question his authority at this time.
The sounds of bone friction and flesh collision arose intermittently, and aside from a few individuals, it left the people accompanying him quite terrified.
The stench of rotting flesh and decay spread; without the light from the Benben Stone, many in the group would have likely died of shock or contracted diseases directly.
Fortunately, reality holds no room for 'ifs', and on their way further in, the sounds of clashing weapons and rallying cries rose and fell. At the city's center, the temple, shaped like a pyramid itself, loomed in the distance.
Centered around that location, thousands of meters in all directions were packed with people. Some holding children, some leaning on canes, but most were young.
After all, in these unrelenting disasters, only the strong, young individuals had a better chance of survival.
However, in that crowd, the most eye-catching was still the elder standing in the very center.
With the tip of his Serpent Staff lightly touching the ground, a profound divine light circled around him.
The wraiths that the guards held back were just the ones that slipped through the net; countless undead encompassed this small city.
Below the earth, the skeletons of wild beasts crawled through the soil; above in the sky, bone birds let out mournful cries. But they were all kept at bay by that layer of divine light, and even in Pharaoh's eyes, what he could see at this moment was even more.
A phantom scroll unfolded in the sky, its emanating power continually directing the arrival of the wraiths. And the true enemy that the elder holding the scepter faced was indeed it; without the existence of the scroll, perhaps the city's undead would have been easily swept away by him.
This was the power of a god, and also the reason Ramses had come here.
Initially, Meses's power was not so formidable, which is why he thought there was still a chance to oppose him. But now, unless the All Gods of Egypt directly descended here, he could not think of any other possibility of confrontation.
"Moreover, it's meaningless now. Throughout the world, from ancient times to present, only the Nile River Basin has been able to support the survival of a civilization. Those deserts with their oases can only sustain tribes and cannot give birth to civilizations comparable to that of Egypt."
"It seems these wraiths still can't handle them, so you all should also put away those thoughts of yours."
"If there were a chance, do you think I would have wished to take this step?"
Outside Sun City, Ramses II gave his final instructions.
Behind him, like a miniature pyramid, the Benben Stone floated in the center of the crowd.
It caught the light from above, scattered warm sunlight, and also dispelled the followers' distracting thoughts.
Indeed, in the hearts of these Egyptian dignitaries, there was not unanimous approval of Pharaoh's decision.
After all, the Egyptians had enslaved the Hebrews for a thousand years already, and now suddenly they were told, although the divine decree demanded their complete eradication, Pharaoh advocated sparing those sin people, which left even those who were generally loyal to Ramses with some doubts in their minds.
But all speculations ceased before the Benben Stone, which, according to legend, was an object transformed from a meteorite that fell from the sky at the inception of the Egyptian Dynasty and stood atop the oldest pyramids, uncontrollable even by successive Pharaohs.