As Kurou and Riddle were leaving the café, Mahmoud called him.
"What?", Kurou asked, looking back.
Mahmoud threw a khopesh at his chest, Kurou awkwardly dodging it but managing to grab it by its unsharpened neck.
"You guys really like to throw weapons at me, don't ya?", Kurou asked, startled.
"And you're getting better at not being stabbed by them", Mahmoud said and laughed.
The khopesh Kurou was holding was definitely a masterpiece, bronze-colored and engraved with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The handle was black with golden details, and a snake at its bottom.
"Do you want me to keep it?", Kurou asked. "This seems more than a regular sword".
"It's yours", Mahmoud answered. "You're gonna need a real weapon if you want to challenge anything stronger than a thief".
"I'll take good care of it, then", Kurou said. "See you around!".
As they walked out of the café, Kurou wondered for a second how Tut would be doing. "I hope he's not trying to do anything stupid", he thought. Meanwhile, Riddle seemed to catch the scent of something and darted towards the Cairo Necropolis. "STOP RUNNING AWAY, YOU MONGREL!", Kurou yelled, and ran after him.
The closer they got to the Necropolis, the louder they could hear the voice of two men and a woman. The woman seemed to be yelling things in languages he couldn't understand, until she actually screamed the word "help". Kurou found them at a corner, and quickly realized what it was about. The two men were about to sexually assault her. Her clothes were torn up and a big part of her body was already exposed. Kurou felt rage boiling up inside him. Riddle snarled at them.
"So you're the kind of scum who my friend said stains the image of this country, huh?", Kurou said, khopesh in hand. "I guess it's time to put this new toy to use", he said with a sadistic grin.
The two men looked at him and grimaced, yelling gibberish at him. It felt like they were cursing, but Kurou couldn't understand crap. It didn't matter to him anyway. He bolted towards them, slicing an arm from one of the assailants with a quick slash.
The man screamed in agony, while the other widened his eyes in disbelief. He pulled a gun from under his shirt and emptied its magazine on Kurou. More than twenty bullets pierced his face and torso, leaving wounds critical enough to kill an elephant. Kurou staggered for a second, with his head down and his hair falling forward.
The assailants froze in place as Kurou wasn't falling dead from the gunfire. Instead, he started laughing.
"Hahahaha...HAHAHAHAHA! Is that all you've got, assholes?", he said out loud and raised his head, showing blood-red eyes and gritting teeth. "Be grateful, as I'm about to teach you a lesson in violence!".
What followed was a genuine bloodbath. Kurou bolted towards the man who shot him and cut his hand off, also slashing his leg in a swift sweep that caused a deep laceration. The other man was already running for his life, blood spilling from where his arm once was attached to, and Kurou sent a shadow towards him, stabbing him through his back. The man fell to the ground, dead.
The man who was holding the gun started crying, apparently begging for his life. Kurou's feeling was not of anger anymore, but instead of scorn. He looked at the woman he just saved, and acknowledged she was terrified to the very core of her soul. She started running as soon as their eyes met, but, in the distance, she looked back. It felt like it was her way of saying thanks.
He lost interest in the stupid man lying on the ground, and had already turned away when the man screamed, in English: "Burn in hell, monster!".
A shadow projection darted from Kurou's body, beheading the man with a swift strike.
"Look who's calling me a monster", he mumbled.
"I see you're enjoying yourself, Post-Mortal", a powerful voice rumbled.
"Who's there? I'm in a very very bad mood right now", Kurou said.
Riddle was genuinely pissed off at the sound of that voice. Kurou had never seen the jackal so angry and wild. At the same time, he could feel some kind of aura emitting from the animal, the same unworldly feeling he caught from the Gods Horus and Amon-Ra.
A man, dressed only with short pants, appeared in front of them. He was almost 2 meters tall and muscular like a professional wrestler. He had fur around his face and protruding fangs. His hairy fingers ended in sharp nails and his breathing was heavy. He spoke in the same rumbling tone again.
"Don't lie, Post-Mortal. I know bloodlust when I see it. You enjoyed killing them", the strange man said.
"So what if I did?", Kurou answered, khopesh in hand. "I just did what I think was the right thing to do. Who are you to say anything?".
"Power corrupts human beings, and their wicked sense of justice leads to war and death", the man said. "That's why I was assigned the mission of killing you and all your kind".
"Answer me, dogman!", Kurou yelled. "Who are you and who sent you?".
The man snarled fiercely and jumped towards Kurou, slashing his chest with his powerful claws before he could even blink. He fell to the ground and was savagely mauled until they were both soaked in blood.
"Any questions now, Post-Mortal?", he asked with a grin.
"You can't infect me with your rabies, dog", Kurou answered.
The man's eyes opened wide in rage and he repeatedly crushed Kurou's face beneath his foot.
Kurou went silent for a few seconds, and the man took his foot away. Kurou's head regenerated, to the man's chagrin. Kurou took advantage of this moment of hesitation and threw his shadow projection at his face, delivering a punch straight to the man's nose. That gave Kurou the chance to reach for his khopesh.
"You freak!", the man growled. "I won't rest until you're dead!".
"Then get ready to die trying, weredog!".
"I AM A WOLF, YOU IMBECILE", the man yelled, running towards Kurou. He tried to slash him again, but Kurou managed to parry the strikes with his sword, now that he knew his enemy's speed. That didn't mean he stopped every attack, getting cut and bruised all over his body. But he could deliver some damage to the wolfman as well, to the point of seeing some tireness in him.
"That should not be possible", the wolfman grumbled. "I am a God, and you are but a lowly human".
"A God, you say?", Kurou asked. "I've met Gods before and you don't look like them".
"I am Wepwawet, Post-Mortal. I am the Wolf-God of war and death, and I will send you back to Duat, where you should have never escaped from", he said.
"You're here, fighting a lowly human like me, while Egypt is on the verge of destruction. You puny Gods care about nothing but your own desires. You're not any better than me", Kurou said, pointing his sword at the Wolf-God.
"My purpose is clear, Post-Mortal. You are an abomination and must be stopped. That is the will of the Gods", Wepwawet said.
"All right, Wep. You want war? I'll give you war. But it doesn't matter how many battles you win against me, you'll lose the war in the end". Kurou said. "You can't kill me".
Wepwawet was enraged again, letting out a powerful howl. Riddle stood next to Kurou and howled just as loud, causing the Wolf-God to stop.
"Why is he with you?", Wepwawet asked.
"He's my buddy", Kurou said. "Lay a finger on him and I'll see you cut in pieces and delivered to your creator on a platter".
"Have I been used, after all?", Wepwawet asked himself. "If he is with you, then...", he went silent for a while.
"Then what?", Kurou asked, impatient.
"I lay down my arms, Post-Mortal", Wepwawet said.
"What? Like that? You're gonna let me go, just because of this fat little mutt?", Kurou asked.
"You're a foul-mouthed bastard that deserves nothing but endless torture, but if your Post-Mortality was something granted by them, then there's nothing I can do. You should be able to sense what that jackal really is, right?", Wepwawet asked.
"Well, I do know he is smart, quick on his feet, or paw...whatever. And I did feel something godly emanating from him during our fight".
"Right. That feeling is the influence of Inpu."
"Inpu...Anubis?", Kurou asked, puzzled. "You're telling me this jackal is Anubis?".
"Not his real form, but yes, it is an avatar of the God you call Anubis".
"Good lord, I've been treating you like a dumpster dog and you turned out to be a God, buddy!", Kurou told Riddle, surprised. The jackal went furious and bit Kurou's ankle.
"OUCH, stop!", Kurou yelled.
"I honestly don't understand why you have been chosen for this", Wepwawet said. "But if that's what She wants, I'll abide".
"Who is she? Who are you talking about? Riddle is a male, you know?", Kurou said.
"When I say She, I'm refering to Maat, Post-Mortal".
"Maat...", he pondered for a second. "I've heard that name a couple of times now, but I've never actually met her. Is she that powerful to the point of granting me immortality?".
"You shouldn't think of that as a gift", Wepwawet said. "It's just a tool, it can be used for good or bad, and it comes with consequences. You are aware that Ammit doesn't like being fooled".
"I know right. I've escaped that crocomonster once and I don't wanna see it ever again", Kurou grimaced.
"So you better steel your spirit, Post-Mortal, for that day will come. Now, you have something better to do. The Egyptian pantheon is vast, but there's a God who's the most problematic of us all.
"Set", Kurou guessed.
"Yes. The God of deserts and violence. He seeks only to destroy what exists and reign over what's left", Wepwawet said.
"What does that have to do with me?", Kurou asked. "You don't expect me to fight that guy".
"If you can't defeat me in a fight, don't expect to defeat Sutekh", the Wolf-God said. "You will definitely need help".
"Not really my specialty, asking people for help", Kurou said, dismissively. "But one or two buddies come to mind".
"Good. Don't expect me to work with you. I can't stand your behaviour around the Gods", Wepwawet said, angry.
"HA, I can't barely stand anything about this place, Wolfy", Kurou smirked. "We're even, I guess".
Wepwawet grimaced but said nothing. As he was about to leave, Kurou called him.
"Listen buddy, if I really need to find Set, where do I start looking?".
"Abydos", Wepwawet said, and leapt away with enough strenght to cause him to disappear in the distance.
"Lucky me that nobody saw that, right Riddle?". The jackal was exhausted, so Kurou picked him up. He didn't take that nicely and bit Kurou's already bloodied face a dozen times.
"Calm down, buddy! Get some rest, okay? That was a grueling fight", Kurou said, gently. After snarling a little, Riddle allowed it. Kurou found a nice spot in the shade near the Necropolis, where they probably wouldn't be bothered, and they both fell asleep.
***
Tutankhamon woke up feeling dizzy and with a headache worse than being hungover. He tried to move but his hands were handcuffed and his legs were tied to the chair he was sitting on. The place was bursting with people talking and walking back and forward, but Tut had no means to know he was in a police station.
A police detective came to Tut's cell and tried to talk to him, but they couldn't understand each other. The language the officer was speaking was seemingly the same he heard on the streets of the big city, but he wasn't able to discern what he was trying to say.
Looking around, Tut wasn't able to find anyone of Ancient Egyptian heritage, so it was useless to try and use his power.
Tut even tried speaking a few words of Ancient Egyptian to the police officer, but got only funny confused faces from him by doing that. The policeman went outside and said to his colleague: "I think he's speaking old Egyptian. Call someone who can speak that, I don't know, a scholar, researcher, whatever".
After one hour or so, a man appeared at the police station, and was introduced to Tut's cell without much ceremony. They arranged for a chair, so the man stood face to face against Tut. He had the appearance of an old, white-bearded man, but his facial features were surprisingly sharp. He had the perfect image of a scholar.
Tut recognized that man as of Egyptian heritage, so his eyes glowed silver in an attempt to control him. It didn't work.
"You can't control me, Tuthankamon", the man said.
"Who are you?", Tut asked.
"I'm just a priest who's quite honored to meet a Pharaoh, albeit a very young one", the man said, with a smirk.
"How are you able to resist my power? Under whom's protection are you?", Tut asked.
"I'm not here to answer your questions, Tutankhamon. I'm here to find out where the golden mask is", the priest asked.
"The mask is no more", Tut said. "It has fulfilled its purpose".
"What did you do to the mask? Or should I ask...what did it do to you?"
"It gave me precious insight, but not of any value to you", Tut said.
"That's not for you to decide, Tutankhamon", the priest said. "I'm sure my King will make good use of your 'insights'.
"You can't scare me, old man. Forces beyond your meagre understanding are with me, and you'll find nothing but pain if you enrage those forces", Tut said in a threatening tone.
"You're not the only Pharaoh in this land, boy. And certainly not the most powerful. Let me show you what real power looks like", the man said, and took a papyrus from his pocket while standing up. The police officers knocked at the door and asked what he was doing.
"Pathetic insects", the priest mumbled, and opened the papyrus. He started chanting:
"Detestation of you is in my belly, for I have absorbed the power of Osiris, and I am Sutekh."
"STOP", Tut screamed, quickly realizing the priest was chanting a death spell. The priest ignored Tut and continued chanting. Tut struggled in despair but couldn't move from his chair. As the spell came to an end, Tut felt a strong opression, but a yellow light similar to the one that shone through the golden mask apparently protected him from the curse.
Unfortunately for the other people inside the police station, there was nothing to protect them for certain death, and they were all lying on the ground, lifeless.
"YOU KILLED THEM ALL!", Tut yelled. "You'll pay for that!".
"Interesting. Now I can see why the golden mask vanished. You absorbed its power", the priest said. "My King will be most pleased by this information".
"I don't know who your king is, but he is sure to regret these actions against the people of this country", Tut said.
"So you care about these people, who aren't even really Egyptian?", the priest asked, frowning. "You really are short-sighted, little Pharaoh. Now come on, the King's patience is far from unlimited".
The priest removed Tut from his chair with surprising strenght. Tut tried to break free, but the man was just too strong. In a desperate attempt to punch the priest in the face while handcuffed, Tut stumbled and took a heavy slap to the face, falling unconscious.
"Such a weak young Pharaoh", the priest said. "No wonder he died so early in his time". The priest easily picked Tut up and left the police station, with the calm of a serial killer leaving a crime scene.