Chapter 1: Aroha
Praises to you, O Ra, in your magnificent rising! You rise, you shine, causing the heavens to roll aside. You are the King of Gods, the Lord of All Things; from you we come, and through you we become divine.
— "Book of the Dead: Hymn to the Sun"
Inside a massive temple made of stone, Luo Xian watched with boredom as these "foreign barbarians" prayed piously, singing praises to the supreme God Ra of this mythological world.
For decades, it had been the same set of lyrics, yet their movements appeared stiff, failing to convey the fervor within the words at all.
"Even if I were reborn in a mythological world, it would have been better to go next door to India to watch the fun. Why did I end up in this sieve-like place called Egypt?"
Luo Xian—or rather, Aroha, the youngest deity in the entire Egyptian World—was so bored he was about to doze off.
He didn't know why, but after waking from a long, hazy dream, he had inexplicably appeared in the Egyptian mythological world and even became a god.
Luo Xian didn't know much about Egyptian mythology, but a vague intuition warned him that his true, essential name must never be known by other gods or humans.
Thus, at the moment of his birth, when many powerful Egyptian gods surrounded him, he let out an "Ah" and immediately gave himself a new name—Aroha.
As a sieve-like Egyptian mythological world that gods from other worlds often passed through, or even launched wars against for no reason, the gods did not view Aroha as an "outsider god" after he appeared.
On the contrary, the supreme God Ra gave Aroha the title "God of Miracles," making him a part of the Egyptian Ennead System.
As for the so-called miracle, returning from the dead was the greatest miracle of all.
Aroha's task was to have the souls of Pharaohs or high priests pass through his unique divine domain after death to attempt a "resurrection."
Originally, God Ra intended for all souls to pass through Aroha's divine domain after death.
Aroha rejected this proposal on the grounds that he was newly born and still a child, only allowing the high priests and Pharaohs who governed the mortal world to pass through.
Unfortunately, over several decades, only one female Pharaoh, Hatshepsut, had truly achieved a miracle and returned from the dead.
Aroha didn't think the current Pharaoh, named Thutmose, had such a possibility.
Even if he did, Aroha had no relation to him and would not let him be resurrected.
Resurrecting the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut last time was merely to prove to the gods that he truly possessed such divine power.
"Perk up. One must not be disrespectful to God Ra."
Just as Aroha was about to fall asleep, a silent goddess startled him awake. She wore a white vulture crown with two feathers, and beneath her beautiful face and graceful figure was a serpent's tail.
Aroha glanced at her, and seeing that exquisitely refined snake body again, he still couldn't find a single hole, so he couldn't help but look away.
"If you are willing to become a subordinate god of Hathor, I am willing to transform my divine body to let you enjoy the pleasures you like."
The goddess symbolized by the cobra, Meretseger, possessed a dual nature of danger and mercy; she would punish the souls of the dead who violated prohibitions with snake bites, yet she also held the duty of guarding the tombs.
However, after Aroha was born into this world, under the recommendation of Hathor, daughter of God Ra, she was assigned an additional task by God Ra.
That task was to arrange for the souls of divine priests and Pharaohs to pass through Aroha's strange, artifact-like divine domain after their deaths.
If they could be resurrected, whether they were Pharaohs or original priests, they could become divine priests for eternity; if not, then Anubis, the Jackal God, would take their souls to the Underworld for judgment.
Because of Aroha's special divine power, many of the major gods of this world wanted to take him under their wing and make him their subordinate god.
The superior deity of the Cobra Goddess was Hathor, who was born from the eye of God Ra, and she was no exception.
If she could use her own body to guide Aroha into becoming a subordinate god of Hathor, Meretseger would be absolutely willing.
However, Aroha simply chuckled and ignored her.
Selling his freedom to Hathor for the sake of a goddess—never mind this cobra girl, even if Hathor herself, known as the Goddess of Love and Beauty, offered her body, Aroha wouldn't do it.
Seeing that Aroha didn't speak, Meretseger didn't say more; she was a goddess who preferred silence.
After a long time, the somewhat lengthy sacrifice finally ended, and Aroha unfolded his divine domain.
It was a unique divine domain; the left side was ignorantly chaotic, dark, and profoundly deep, while the right side was blurred and confused, with a few glimmers of light showing through.
Between the two different regions, a winding path appeared, separating the scenes on the left and right.
This was Aroha's divine domain, but in the eyes of the Egyptian gods, it seemed more like a special artifact unique to Aroha.
Generally speaking, a divine domain could only be born after one had organized the laws they carried and received recognition from the entire world or God Ra, becoming a major god.
As for Aroha, who was newly born, everyone could see that he was not a born major god but just an ordinary deity. His understanding of his own laws and his use of divine power were nearly zero.
Aroha didn't care whether this thing was a divine domain or an artifact; he looked at that winding path, his heart full of sighs.
In his dream, he had walked on this winding path for an unknown amount of time before finally coming out.
Then, in the blink of an eye, he became a new god in the Egyptian mythological world, and the scene he experienced in the dream became his innate divine domain.
"It seems it's not going to work."
This Pharaoh's soul had only walked a very short distance on the winding path before losing its way and stepping into the chaos and ignorance on the left.
Aroha expelled his soul, retracted his divine domain, and waved his hand, saying, "Go notify Anubis to take him to the Underworld."
"No need to notify me, I'm already here."
A somewhat eerie voice suddenly appeared. Not far from Aroha, the jackal-headed Anubis manifested.
"This wolf cub is always launching surprise attacks," Aroha grumbled in his heart, but he didn't say it aloud, instead looking at Anubis with a seemingly loving gaze.
Anubis, the Jackal God, was the god of death who escorted human souls to the Underworld.
Unlike the lazy Aroha, he rarely let any soul pass by, so his strength progressed quickly.
Counting down from God Ra, he should be a fifth-generation god, but he was already close to becoming a major god.
Facing Aroha's loving gaze, Anubis always felt something was off. He quickly said, "God of Miracles, my father Osiris, the King of the Underworld, invites you to a banquet in the Underworld in three days."
"Isn't your father Set?"
Hearing Anubis's words, Aroha suddenly became curious.
He basically had no understanding of Egyptian mythology in his previous life, but after coming to this world, he had still heard some ancient anecdotes.
Anubis, the Jackal God, was originally the son of Set, the God of Storms, and his sister Nephthys, the goddess of the house and protector of the dead.
But all along, he had followed behind Osiris, the King of the Underworld, the god whom Set detested the most.
He hadn't expected that he would even stop acknowledging his father.
"Hmph, a deity like Set who only knows destruction is not worthy of being my father. God Aroha, remember this: I have only one father, and that is Osiris, the King of the Underworld!"
"Fine, fine, I'll remember. I'll say the same thing to Set's face."
Though he said this, Aroha thought to himself, "Set, my dear friend and brother, your son is acknowledging a foe as his father!"
"Even if he doesn't call you father, he should be calling me father instead."
For some reason, Aroha recalled the agreement he and Set had made the last time they met.
He didn't know if, given Set's current mental state, the thing they agreed upon back then could truly come to pass.
He didn't mind having a cheap son like Anubis, the Jackal God.
"A banquet in the Underworld in three days? Then my goddess, Hathor, shall go as well."
While Aroha was lost in thought, the silent cobra girl spoke up, unexpectedly making a decision directly for her superior deity, Hathor.
Anubis, the Jackal God, looked at this Cobra Goddess strangely, appearing quite surprised.
Because of God Ra's decree, the goddess Hathor, who had once nearly destroyed the world, had restrained her killing intent and become the Goddess of Love and Beauty, who cared for all living beings and sympathized with the dead. She had also married Horus, the God of Vengeance—the Jackal God's good brother and the protector of Pharaohs.
However, as far as the Jackal God knew, Hathor didn't actually like staying with Horus. Most of the time, she traveled through places like Dendera to develop her own influence.
He hadn't expected that her subordinate god would say Hathor would go to the Underworld to attend the banquet hosted by his father, the King of the Underworld, for Aroha, the God of Miracles.
"A miracle between life and death, an intersection of the mortal world and the Underworld... Is this newborn but weak god so important?"
Anubis, the Jackal God, had heard many times that many powerful major gods wanted to take the God of Miracles before him as their subordinate god.
But so far, no one had succeeded.
The most important reason for this was, of course, God Ra's prevention.
Otherwise, with the strength of this deity who could only be considered underage, it would be absolutely difficult to withstand the pressure of those powerful major gods or even those who transcended major gods.
"But God Ra has grown too old to go out much and will soon welcome another rebirth. At that time, who will be able to protect you?"
Thinking of this, Anubis suddenly spoke up to warn Aroha: "Young god, take my advice and stop being lazy. Hurry up and fulfill your divine duties more, bring your divine power to completion as soon as possible, and find your own path to becoming a major god."
This unexpected advice made Aroha slightly stunned. He hadn't expected this unremarkable jackal-headed god to be quite decent.
He was certainly aware of his difficult situation; because of his special divine power, he had already attracted the covetous eyes of many powerful gods.
However, those powerful gods below God Ra didn't know that the path representing rebirth was not his true divine power.
That was merely power born unintentionally from the entanglement of two different forces.
Aroha's true foundation of divine power lay within the chaotic darkness and the ignorant glimmers on either side of the path.
These two types of divine power were not easily increased.
He didn't even dare to reveal the divine power contained within them and could only present himself as the God of Rebirth.
"Thanks for the warning. By the way, Jackal God, will your mother be there in three days?"
Before Anubis left, Aroha asked another question.
It had to be said that among the goddesses Aroha had encountered in this world, the one who gave him the most ideas was Anubis's cheap mother, Isis, the Goddess of Life, who had been neglected for many years.
If he could get Isis, he would definitely be able to save himself many years of hard work.
"I don't know."
After saying this, Anubis didn't think much of it and left with the soul.
The cobra girl also left, but Aroha's final question left her thoughtful, and she decided to inform her superior deity, Hathor, about this.
In any case, Goddess Isis's son Horus was Goddess Hathor's husband.
The God of Miracles seemed to have ideas about Goddess Hathor's mother-in-law; she should be informed.
"Isis, the Goddess of Life, the only goddess so far who can trigger a reaction in my eyes... just what is so special about you?"
After Anubis and the cobra girl had left one after another, and the humans who had performed the sacrifice here had also gone, Arohamoved from the temple in front where the sacrifice was held to the resting palace in the back.
The next day, there was another small matter in the eyes of the gods, but a big matter in his eyes, to be held in his temple.
However, Aroha didn't think much about that big matter and instead sat quietly in the vast, dark hall without lighting any fires.
That divine domain unique to him appeared again, the two different worlds on the left and right enveloping him before slowly shrinking.
Eventually, the two divine domains completely retracted into his eyes, and the winding path formed a faint, winding S-shaped mark between his brows.
Aroha suddenly opened his eyes, looking through the temple toward the entire world, as if everything were under his gaze.
Boom!
The River of Ra, the Kingdom of Unus, the River of Wonders, the Land of Tombs, the Hidden Land, the Land of Sources, the Land of Caves, the Land of Bliss, the Land of Rapids, the Land of Ra, the Land of Caverns... one by one, the special divine realms were seen by him.
Many phantom images of animals appeared over these kingdoms—hawks, rams, snakes, scorpions, and so on, without exception.
Aroha knew very well that these were the manifestations of the most powerful gods; most gods in this world had animal symbols.
The sun, hanging high above the world, which mortals would find blinding to gaze upon, also revealed a special sight to him.
There was an extremely aged, decaying old man with saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth lying within it, as if death were imminent.
"Death? Or rebirth?"
Aroha knew that this decaying old man was God Ra, much older than when he had first seen him upon his birth decades ago.
But as the creator god of this world, he didn't believe that God Rawould truly die.
Perhaps he would be weak for a period of time, just as when he transformed into the midday sun god Atum last time.
"This period of time might also be the most dangerous time for me. Even if I won't die, I'm unwilling to be forced into hiding by the gods here, fleeing to other worlds or hiding until God Ra reappears."
"Moreover, God Ra has confined me to this world to hold a divine office but is unwilling to give me more power; he might not truly be helping me.