Chapter 592: [The Journey of Sun] [6] [Trust No One]

’...Fuck my life.’

Taking in a deep breath, I let go of my resentment of Azreal and focused on what I needed.

Still, staring at the sky, I said in a low voice. "...I want to talk with you, Amunet."

For several seconds, there was no response.

I almost thought she had returned to her usual habit of pretending she didn’t exist.

But to my surprise, I felt her presence before I could even see her. A faint golden light gathered on the balcony that slowly took the shape of a woman.

Amunet appeared beside me without making a single sound.

Her olive hair with ash-coloured highlights flowed gently in the wind while her white dress moved around her body.

She didn’t look at me. Her eyes remained fixed on the sun hanging above the horizon.

"...You finally decided to show yourself." I grumbled, turning my body towards her.

"I was always here." She replied without even looking in my direction.

Fuck this annoying bitch, man. I hate her as much as I hate Amun-Ra. Still, I smiled and leaned on the balcony.

"Then why did you keep ignoring me?"

"Because you were asking questions you already knew the answers to."

I frowned. "I don’t know shit."

"You know more than you believe." She finally turned her head toward me as those calm eyes looked directly into mine. "You simply don’t know how to connect the pieces."

"...Then help me."

"No." Her answer came so quickly that I almost choked. "My job is to make sure things don’t derail and nothing else."

"Derail and nothing else?" I repeated her words in a mocking tone. "Why don’t you just outright say that you are biased?"

She didn’t reply. All she did was give me a look that was hard to interpret.

She finally asked. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

Taking in a deep breath, I asked. "What are the rules of this stupid game?"

"You don’t need to worry about that." She said, her voice gentle. "As long as you don’t know the rules, you won’t actively try to break them."

I tilted my head as a thought crossed my mind. "Wait, breaking the pillar was against the rules?"

"Yes." She replied. "That’s why I tried to stop you."

Ah, good thing I didn’t give in to my impulse and destroy that thing.

"...What are my conditions to win?" I asked, knowing full well what her response would be.

And she didn’t disappoint with her answer. "...I can only answer questions that do not directly reveal the conditions."

’...So there are limits.’

At least now I knew how to approach her.

"Was Osiris’s death part of Amun-Ra’s plan?" I quickly asked.

"Yes."

My heart sank. The confirmation wasn’t really what I wanted.

"So he really ordered Set to kill him."

She nodded her head once again. "Yes."

"Was his death necessary for the ritual?"

"No."

That answer immediately caught my attention. "Then why kill him?"

"Because Osiris’s existence interfered with another part of the plan."

"What part?" I asked impatiently, hoping for any clue.

"I cannot tell you."

A disappointed sigh left my mouth at her answer. "...Of course."

I leaned back on the balcony railing and looked up at the sky once again.

My mind still crunching to find any other questions that could provide me with clues for my next course of action.

"What about Isis?" I asked, glancing at the goddess. "Is she also part of his plan?"

"...Almost everyone is part of the plan." She replied after a minute-long silence.

"....."

I rubbed my face with both of my hands, still staring at the sky.

Amun-Ra must have perfected his plans in his confinement. He must have taken accountability for all the abnormalities.

’...Well, perhaps not everything.’

I slowly turned my head back to look at the goddess.

My lips parted as I gently asked. "...Why did you manipulate every mortal in this world to be happy?"

Amunet looked at me with her deep eyes, which held a myriad of emotions.

She slowly took a step back and vanished from the place without giving me an answer.

"Touched a soft spot, didn’t I?" I barked, looking up at the sky. "You killed all of them, you stupid goddess!"

I remained there for quite some time, staring at the place where she had disappeared.

Her reaction had been strange.

Until now, she had remained calm no matter what I said. Even when I insulted her, she barely reacted.

But the moment I mentioned the happiness of the mortals, she left.

’...Why?’

I rubbed my chin as I tried to make sense of it.

There was something about the subject that she didn’t want to discuss.

My eyes slowly moved toward the eastern side of the palace.

’Isis.’

If Amun-Ra wanted Osiris dead, then Isis was the person who would suffer the most from it.

And according to everything I knew about her, she wasn’t the kind of woman who would simply accept her husband’s death.

A plan slowly began forming inside my head.

’If Set really intends to kill Osiris, I can tell Isis about it.’

I pushed myself away from the balcony and rose into the air.

’Then I can make her believe that Set was acting on his own and would try to frame me as his accomplice.’

My body shot through the sky.

The palace disappeared behind me within seconds as I flew toward the residence of Isis.

’Once she learns that her husband is being targeted, she will naturally turn against Set.’

I slowed myself down as the enormous temple of Isis appeared in the distance.

’And if I save Osiris, then I can gain a pawn that I can use for my own gain.’

As I was moving towards the temple, I suddenly stopped myself mid-air.

"...Wait."

Something felt wrong with my train of thoughts.

I closed my eyes and carefully went through my own logic.

’....Why had I decided to tell Isis?’

To gain an ally, the answer was too obvious, but was that really the reason?

’...No.’

My thoughts had been moving too quickly.

I had accepted the idea without questioning it. That wasn’t like me.

I had spent the entire morning trying to understand Amun-Ra’s plans.

I had already learned that every major event in this world seemed connected to his greater scheme.

Yet the moment I found a way to bring Isis to my side, I immediately wanted to do it.

’Why?’

I remained floating above the clouds. Slowly, I began examining the plan from every angle.

If Isis believed Set had betrayed her husband, what would she do?

’...Wouldn’t that make her more faithful towards me, and she would be less likely to question my decisions?’

What if Osiris’s death wasn’t simply another step toward the ritual?

What if the conflict that followed was also part of the plan?

Amun-Ra had been preparing for thousands of years.

There was no way I could assume that he hadn’t accounted for the personalities of the gods around him.

’If I tell Isis everything, I might actually be helping him.’

The temple of Isis was still visible behind me, and I could have reached it within seconds, yet all I did was float in the air.

I began thinking about the conversation I had just had with Amunet.

’...Almost everyone is part of the plan.’

If I started moving everyone exactly as his plan expected... I might become one of the pieces he had already prepared for.

I closed my eyes as my lips curled up in a smile filled with disgust.

’...Are you fucking with my mind, Amun-Ra?’

I turned away from the temple and began flying back toward the palace.

’Isis can wait.’

I needed more information before making a move.

More importantly, I needed to understand why Osiris had to die and why it had to be by the hands of Set.

’...His death must be needed for the condition Amun-Ra needed to win.’

And I also needed to know what exactly Amun-Ra had promised Azrael.

A small blue bird suddenly emerged from my chest.

Liraz flew around my head twice before landing on my shoulder.

I glanced at him. "You know, you’re probably the only thing in this world that doesn’t make my head hurt."

"Chirp!"

I smiled faintly. "Don’t get too proud."

Liraz puffed out his chest.

I gently tapped his head with my finger before I slowed down my speed and lowered my body.

My feet landed first on the endless sand that stretched as far as my eyes could see.

Rubbing my shoulder, I drew in a deep breath and jumped a few times to relax my body.

Ever since I came here, I had little to no time to get the hang of my new strength.

Even though I don’t think I will inherit the power, there is still no saying how long I will be trapped in this body.

’It would be better if I got the hang of the strength that I possessed.’

I stretched my arms before slowly rotating my shoulders.

’Let’s start with something simple.’

I pointed toward a massive sand dune several hundred metres away.