Pivot of the Sky

When Amon faced his other self, he lifted his foot and stepped across the other side of the scale. The two Amons fused together and he felt a stirring in his body and mind as if he had been summoned by something irresistible. This was not the place he should have come. Amon, who already possessed the ninth level of achievement, did not have to enter the underworld, and passing through this portal was actually a kind of realm verification, and he suddenly had a premonition that a test was about to come.

Just then, the surrounding scenery changed and he entered a palace. This palace was on a large ship, which was floating in the river, with a beautiful fertile land on both sides. In the center of the palace sat a man, just a cloud of light that could be sensed by detection magic, hazy and without form. This was the Osiris whom Amon had seen in Schrodinger’s spiritual imprint.

Amon found that the invisible boat beneath his feet had disappeared, turned into a rib, and was taken away by Osiris in front of him, and a voice in his soul rang out: “The one who is here, which god’s emissary are you? What is the purpose of riding the Boat of the Underworld that I left behind to meet me? I don’t see you carrying the token of the gods, are you trespassing in the Underworld?”

Amon replied: “I came to see you and return your rib! At the same time, I also wish to express my gratitude, as the Boat of the Underworld you left behind had saved my life and helped me a lot.” With these words, he bowed to Osiris.

Looking at him and listening to what he said, it was obvious that he was not a divine emissary of the Ennead. Osiris was shocked and said: “Who exactly are you and how did you come here with the Boat of the Underworld to meet me!”

Amon was also puzzled and hurriedly replied: “Don’t you know that Goddess Isis is no longer around! The holy relic enshrined in the Shrine of Isis has long been lost, and I got this rib under Schrodinger’s guidance.” He imprinted a complex and long message into Osiris’ soul, the sequence of events was so complex that it took almost all of Amon’s strength to explain it to Osiris in a single thought.

Then he heard a long sigh from Osiris, with emotions of shock, regret, mourning, and so on, while a message from Osiris was imprinted into his soul, explaining why the god of the underworld was so shocked.

Osiris was defeated by Seth at first, and these two met to hold a duel, where the loser would lose the position of the king of the Ennead divine clan. At that time, Ra attempted to stop this duel and said that if he participated in this duel, the loser would not be allowed to enter his divine kingdom to recuperate from his injuries. However, Osiris still accepted Seth’s challenge, and Seth struck especially hard, nearly destroying the god who had transcended eternal life.

Seth had his own reasons for striking hard, and if Osiris had won, he would not have been kind to Seth either. Seriously wounded, Osiris was nearly unable to recover. He was a god, but he wandered the mortal world like a spirit, becoming increasingly weak. In order to reshape his divine form, Ra allowed him to establish and take charge of Duat, the Underworld of the Ennead, to receive the souls of the believers on earth.

Osiris’s forte was spiritual magic, so he became the god of the underworld of Ennead, the only god who remained on earth. Amon had seen the Book of the Dead that he passed on to Bastet, and the experience of entering the Underworld today was like turning page after page in the Book of the Dead. For a god that was about to dissipate, it was extremely difficult to reshape the divine form, and he needed to reach the “Creator” realm if he wanted to fully recover.

But becoming a Creator was also very difficult for the gods, it did not depend on training alone but also required various opportunities and the favor of luck, in addition to long years of training and verification. The creation of things from the void comes from the soul’s insight, it is the making of something from nothing, and this was not something the gods could achieve out of thin air. Osiris watched the spiritual imprints of the living beings in the world from the underworld, and it was also his training.

He took a long time to completely refine his soul and Duat into one a hundred years ago, entering a very important stage of training, and from then on he could not leave, and all information from the outside world could only be learned from the souls that entered Duat. Until today, he did not know that Goddess Isis was no longer around, or that the rib of Osiris had been stolen, or even that Bastet had left.

What happened in the Ejyptian Empire, such as the death of the Adoratrice from fighting a demon who descended on the shrine, the religious reforms introduced by Pharaoh Merneptah, the conversion of the Shrine of Isis into the Shrine of Seth, a demon named “Satan” that was destroying the statue of Seths, etc, Osiris was well aware of those matters on the contrary.

Amon asked in surprise: “Is there no one among the souls who have entered the underworld that knew this inside information?”

Osiris asked in return: “You have come in search of Maria’s soul, but do you know that the souls of great achievers can disperse on their own without entering the underworld?”

Amon had already prepared his mind before he came, and he knew that the hope of finding Maria’s soul here was very slim. Thinking back when he was in Anunnaki’s underworld, he had seen the souls of the Duc miners, including mayor Dusti and his own father, but not Crazy’Ole. Those great achievers in the divine realm whose wishes and beliefs are clear and whose bodies and souls are fused can resist the call of the underworld when they pass away, unless they voluntarily accept the judgment of the god of the underworld.

Crazy’Ole back then naturally did not want to enter the underworld after death, and it seems that Maria did not want to either.

Amon nodded and replied: “I have long thought of this, but I had to make the trip here to be at ease. I am a little surprised that you have not heard the news of the theft of the rib, could it be that even the Pharaoh did not know about this matter back then? I have met Pharaoh Ramses II himself, he did not have great achievements, and his soul should have entered the underworld after his death.”

Osiris replied: “That was a scandal of the shrine, and it was kept highly secret. It is very normal for the high priests to not want to let the Pharaoh know that they had failed in their duties. I know that a supreme sorcerer took the Adoratrice, and the Ejyptian Empire did not publish the truth officially, but I did not know that he stole the rib at that time as well, and the Pharaoh was not fully informed. The soul of Ramses II did come to the Underworld, and this Pharaoh himself was murdered by a usurper. When he was still alive, he did not know everything that was going on in the Empire.”

Amon said in surprise: “Ramses II was murdered! Who killed him?”

Osiris said in a deep voice: “As the god of the underworld, I know too many secrets on earth, but the god of the underworld has the principles of the god of the underworld, and these secrets belong only to the departed. I am telling you so much because you challenged Seth, but I will never tell you the secrets that the departed have buried. You are not here for Ramses II, so take advantage of my willingness to talk to you and ask for what you want!”

Amon brought Osiris rather shocking news, and one can imagine what kind of shock Osiris would have had, but listening to his tone after a brief moment of surprise, it had become calm again. No wonder, as the god of the underworld, he would have long seen through too many things on earth, including all the secrets that he was willing and unwilling to see, all kinds of unspeakable or appalling experiences. Thus, his heart would no longer be easily moved by anything, not to mention showing too much emotion in front of Amon.

Amon bowed again and said: “I would like to ask you about the secrets of the soul, will it be possible for me to get back Maria?”

Osiris replied unhurriedly: “What you know is enough, as a great supreme mage of the ninth level like her, the departed soul can choose not to come to me, but directly dissipate in heaven and earth, and probably carrying some kind of wish as well. That wish might not be fulfilled in the new life, and the new life will not be as she imagined, but there is a wondrous connection between them.

Even if a new being appears, it will no longer be her, or even a human! I can’t say for sure the meaning of this search of yours, in fact, I think it is meaningless. You have the Gods’ Tear with her spiritual imprint, but only Maria herself can open it, so that is a guide.

If you have that desire, one day you might be able to meet that new being, and if with your magical power you can open the spiritual imprint in the Gods’ Tear for her to see, then that means you have found the right person. But I can make a hypothesis. If there is a person who showed you a life experience and told you that that is you which he is looking for, how would you feel? You have to think about this first.”

Amon pondered for a long time, he did not get more answers here from Osiris and only clarified what Horus once said, but this last question of Osiris let him think through a lot of things. After a long time, he sighed and said: “I understand, thank you for asking the question, I will no longer force this issue. ……Great god of the underworld, why can’t I see your face?”

Osiris asked: “Why do you have your eyes closed? With mortal eyes, you can naturally see my face.”

Amon had kept his eyes closed until now, and it really made no difference to him whether he opened them or not. With his eyes closed, he could see everything around him with his soul, and he could also see things that were invisible to mortals. The Osiris he saw was similar to the form of a spirit and did not possess a divine form.

When he raised his head and opened his mortal eyes, he finally saw the god of the underworld on his throne, with a young face, a long, wavy beard, a high white crown on his head, and a club-like scepter in his left hand, while his right hand held a jar. This was the image of Osiris, which Amon had seen in the shrine.

Osiris’s eyes were as calm and unruffled as the abyss, seemingly leading to merciless darkness. Seeing Amon raise his head to meet his eyes, Osiris said again: “I have given you the answer, do you have any more questions?”

Amon looked him in the eyes and questioned: “Why did you do that to Bastet?”

Osiris looked slightly agitated and said in a mocking tone: “Do I have to answer such a question? And what do you want to question me about? What kind of reproach should I receive for guiding a stray cat to become the goddess Bastet? As for her subsequent mission and the judgment of fate that befell her, weren’t you yourself once a great general of Ejypt? Were you also chastised as to why you sent warriors into battle?”

These were beyond reproach, and Amon sighed and asked again: “Bastet should be grateful to you, but she was also the best divine emissary in the Ennead, completing all the difficult and dangerous missions. It’s just that in the end, when she failed to pass the judgment of fate, why did you treat her like that?”

Osiris replied coldly: “I gave her a choice, and you know better than I do, the choice she finally made.”

Amon said: “What she could have done on her own, and what you could not have prevented, is not called the choice you gave her. You asked her to offer her spiritual imprint to be integrated into your own, or to continue her training in a spirit form like you, to provide another verification for your quest. I was going to ask why, but seeing you now, I more or less understand.”

Osiris’s voice turned agitated again: “This is my training, do you think it is so simple to have the achievement of the Creator? One needs to have nearly infinite insight in the soul, and countless long years to leave the imprint of all things! One needs to refine one’s soul in this world in order to open another world in the soul.

I have refined my soul into one with the underworld, integrating the experiences of so many mortals, do you think it is something easy to bear? Moreover, I had endured it for so long! I did ask Bastet to offer her spiritual imprint, but it was not a command, and she made the choice to refuse but was trapped by the oath of the Ennead until she finally gave up and departed.”

Amon looked at this god of the underworld and suddenly shook his head: “Osiris, to you I can not blame, and Schrodinger can not complain, she did make her own choice. In fact, I also know some gods who truly transcend eternal life, they only enjoy eternal life in the divine kingdom and do not force themselves to do anything more, while you are still in the underworld, training hard.

I have also been to Anunnaki’s underworld, and it is indeed inferior to your underworld, and the god of that underworld Kella is also inferior to you. But I would say that your training like this is perhaps not as good as the choice made by Bastet, much less the desire of Isis. Although Bastet is not a god who transcends eternal life, I think her ultimate choice may be more meaningful than the choice you made in the first place.

If, as you say, new life exists, why not choose it? The most valuable way to grow in insight in the human world is to experience and verify for yourself. Although that may leave you lost forever, seemingly a fall, seemingly a renunciation of eternal life, and the possibility that the god called Osiris will never be, it is perhaps closer to the true divine source.”

Osiris was stunned, and a long moment passed before he said in a low voice: “You think? You actually want to instruct a god in his training?”

Amon shook his head again. “Although I am not a true god, this does not prevent me from thinking about what kind of existence a god is. At least in my eyes, Maria is more capable of representing the glory of divinity than you, than Seth, than Horus, even though she is only a mortal.”

Osiris frowned and was about to ask a follow-up question but suddenly his expression changed. Amon’s complexion also changed as he felt a terrifying power locking his presence, something which even this magical space of the underworld could not block. Osiris waved his scepter and said: “I don’t know whether to congratulate you or pity you, but you can no longer stay here!”

Everything in front of him suddenly disappeared, and space shifted to form a repelling force, forcing Amon out of his foothold. When he saw everything around him again, he was already on a desolate mudflat deep in the delta of the Nile River. This large mudflat was half-submerged by the river, a seasonal isolated island between the tributaries of the lower fan of the Nile River. One the island grew knee-high soft-stemmed grass, the water, and skies a pale shade on all sides.

Amon entered the underworld twice. On the first time, he almost got detained by Kella, and he risked life and death before managing to escape; on the second time, before he had finished talking, he had been ejected directly by Osiris from the underworld with great power. It seemed that Osiris had something to ask Amon, but the unexpected situation came too suddenly!

Amon appeared on the shoals between the rivers, already too late to consider anything else, and when he looked up he saw a huge gray vortex in the air. It was not a cloud swirled by the wind, but a gap that seemed to lead to the infinite unknown depths, full of great fear of the unknown. As soon as he stood still, his body was firmly locked by a terrifying aura, no matter what, he could not evade it.

The judgment of fate had finally arrived!

Amon had witnessed how Enkidu fell, and also understood the process from Schrodinger’s spiritual imprint, but never thought that today this final test would come so quickly. Amon swung the Edge of Order immediately, a silver arc of light cutting open a spatial rift. It was as if he was now within another cut space, and if this was a duel, it would be the most brilliant way of dodging.

At the same instant, a black lightning bolt came out of the gray vortex, spiraling with countless forks, and instantly arrived in front of Amon’s eyes, ignoring the spatial rift. Amon only felt his body’s temperature suddenly rise, and his clothes instantly turned into flying ash, revealing the scorpion-shell armor worn close to the body. The shiny scorpion-shell armor emitted a blue smoky light, and soon traces of cracking appeared.

In the smoky light emitted from the scorpion shell, Amon surprisingly felt the poisonous breath of the desert from those black lightning. The battle axe in his hand had transformed into a ball of silver light, countless spatial rifts scattering like spider webs as if he was experiencing one of the most intense battles of his life. The opponent was invisible but could be felt, as if it was the other Amon on the other side of that huge scale in the underworld.

The power contained in the black lightning bolt was as powerful as he was, and every divine emissary facing such a test should have felt the same way. But that black lightning did not have any fighting techniques or attacking skills, and it was up to Amon himself to endure it. If this was all, there was no need for Amon to be afraid, for he was strong not only in power.

But the black lightning had countless forks, and each fork contained a familiar attack from the past. The power of each attack was variable, not at the same time, but appeared continuously and constantly, with no direction and angle to speak of. Amon could only use his strong body and excellent reaction to resist.

From within the gray vortex in the sky, trembling impacts constantly appeared, reaching deep into the soul and triggering an irresistible resonance. That was the counterattack from the desires of all the living beings that Amon encountered in his life, a pervasive spiritual attack.