novelraw Chapter 210: You've Asked for Trouble
Chapter 210: You've Asked for Trouble
It was precisely this pair of white wings that appeared somewhat bloody, yet the moment they unfurled, a scorching surge of spiritual power erupted forth.
This power surpassed the "Collective Royal Authority" forged from the will of dozens of generations of pharaohs.
If the golden royal authority domain unleashed by the High Priest's Scepter of Unification transformed the Karnak Temple into a sacred territory symbolizing collective will and order.
Then the white domain Lin Jie had just unfurled was, at the very heart of this territory, forcefully carving out a "private airspace" belonging solely to the Upper Egyptian White Vulture, that prehistoric predator.
Within this "airspace," any external, alien spiritual power entering without permission would face ruthless expulsion and purification.
Their respective levels of authority might still be on par, a close match.
But their inherent natures were that of natural enemies.
In that instant, the Karnak Temple was dragged into a battlefield jointly constructed by two opposing spiritual forces: "Golden Royal Authority" and "White Guardianship."
The flow of time ceased.
Space solidified.At the boundary where the golden torrent of royal authority and the white domain of guardianship met, a devastating annihilation reaction erupted violently.
In the end, it was the residual spiritual power of that more ancient UMA that gained the upper hand.
The golden torrent, which had nearly crushed Lin Jie moments before, retreated in a disheveled state.
They withdrew back into the stone pillars and obelisks, back into the phantom of the pharaoh conjured by the golden scepter.
They were afraid.
And the hunched body of that High Priest trembled violently.
"Pfft!"
A muffled sound of vomiting blood came from beneath the pure gold mask.
Blood tinged with an eerie golden hue seeped uncontrollably from the lower edge of the mask, dripping onto the stone slabs shattered by Lin Jie.
He was injured.
The High Priest's soul, deeply bound to the Scepter of Unification, suffered severe backlash in this spiritual clash.
At the moment the High Priest spat blood.
Several faint sounds of cloth tearing through the air, carrying lethal intent, rang out simultaneously from all directions within the shadows untouched by light in the Karnak Temple.
They appeared behind stone pillars, atop obelisks, even on the stone-carved backs of the sphinxes with ram heads.
These figures wore pitch-black linen robes, their faces concealed behind Anubis jackal masks symbolizing silence and guardianship, their hands gripping gleaming Egyptian khopeshes.
These figures emerged silently from everywhere.
They were the elite "Pharaoh's Shadows" of the Horus Court, the legendary temple guard who supposedly answered only to the High Priest alone.
Now, these fifty assassins locked their gazes across the distance onto the four-person squad that had dared to injure their supreme leader.
If the injured High Priest shed one more drop of blood, or if the fingers clutching the golden scepter so much as twitched.
Then what awaited Lin Jie and his team would be a one-sided, instant dismemberment by fifty top-tier assassins!
Fortunately, the High Priest remained motionless. No one knew what expression was forming on the face hidden behind the golden mask.
But from his shocked eyes, fixed unwaveringly on the white wings on Lin Jie's body, everyone could "read" that he was experiencing a mental earthquake.
He understood.
He understood that he, and the entire Horus Court, had made a foolish, fatal mistake from the very beginning.
This Eastern youth before him, who appeared to have no spiritual foundation.
What he carried within was not some mere curse they could casually judge or even reclaim.
Nor was it a simple divine descent or divine selection.
It was the favor and resonance of an ancient UMA with its own independent will, a being whose divine status and history of existence were even more ancient than the "Sky God" Horus they worshipped.
It was one of the undisputed "Supreme Deities" of this land, long before the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
In a sense, Lin Jie had already become the extension of the will of that great guardian deity of Upper Egypt, Nekhbet, in the mortal realm.
And their actions just now were undoubtedly equivalent to attempting to seize its most cherished possession right in front of the deity itself.
The High Priest's hand, tightly gripping the pharaoh's scepter, trembled. He dared not make any further attempts, and so he withdrew the golden scepter in his hand.
The light of the golden royal authority array that had enveloped the entire temple faded completely, and the glow of the setting sun returned to the ancient sanctuary.
As the external pressure vanished, the vulture wings that had sprouted from Lin Jie's arms slowly retracted.
Feather by feather, they submerged back beneath his skin, ultimately transforming once more into that dark brand of the Vulture Goddess.
A power display with the flavor of "immortals brawling" had come to an end.
For Lin Jie's teammates, this victory brought them no joy.
What followed was deep unease and fearful concern.
"Lin! Are you alright?!"
Ethan was the first to struggle back from the daze caused by the repeated impacts of the two spiritual forces.
Not bothering to wipe the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, he rushed to Lin Jie's side, who was panting from exhaustion.
His eyes were filled with panic and a self-blame that threatened to drown him whole.
Staring at the brand on Lin Jie's right hand, which seemed even darker and clearer than before, Ethan's voice trembled.
"Damn it, it's all my fault! If it weren't for me..."
Meanwhile, William expressed his concern in his own direct and silent way.
His figure wordlessly positioned itself between Lin Jie and the High Priest, using his body to build a solid and trustworthy flesh-and-blood barrier for the commander in his weakened state.
His gaze remained fixed on the High Priest's movements. If the other made any suspicious move, he would attack immediately.
And Julian, after his initial worry, quickly offered his professional diagnosis with the calm characteristic of a scholar.
First, he lifted Lin Jie's slightly trembling right hand, then carefully observed the dark brand.
"Don't worry, Ethan." Julian's voice, though weary, carried a calm born of knowledge. "The situation might not be as bad as we imagine."
"Haven't you realized yet?"
"Lin Jie's actions just now weren't him being 'possessed' by that White Vulture."
"On the contrary!" A spark of excitement flashed in Julian's eyes.
"He, for the first time, successfully achieved resonance with that White Vulture's will through his own volition!"
"Lin Jie is no longer just a passive 'nest.' He is attempting to become the true master of that 'nest'!"
"Although this process appears dangerous and painful," Julian's gaze swept over Lin Jie's pale face, a flicker of pity in his eyes, "this might also be a path towards balance."
Just as the three team members were conducting an "internal consultation" over Lin Jie's unknown transformation.
The High Priest before them removed the pure gold mask from his face.
A face that defied precise description with words was exposed before the group.
It was a face eerily reminiscent of the deepest murals in ancient Egyptian temples.
His skin had the waxy yellow hue of papyrus, covered in wrinkles.
But what was most striking was not his agedness, but the dense, intricate golden deity tattoos covering every inch of his skin.
From Thoth representing wisdom to Anubis representing death, to Osiris representing resurrection, the totems of all deities belonging to the royal authority faction in ancient Egyptian mythology densely covered his face.
Making his visage look not like that of a "person," but like a breathing Egyptian Book of the Dead.
The old man took a deep look at the Eastern youth who, though covered in blood, still stood with his back ramrod straight.
Then he performed an action that caused Ethan's pupils to tremble with shock.
He bowed his noble head towards Lin Jie.
"My God..."
Ethan, standing behind Lin Jie, couldn't help but let out a low exclamation upon seeing this.
In a whisper only Julian could hear, he spoke haltingly, "This... this is impossible. My father once told me, this old monster... this paranoid, arrogant old bastard who sees all Europeans as barbarians... ever since he took that damned pharaoh's scepter from the previous High Priest sixty years ago..."
"... he has never bowed his head to anyone in this world!"
"Even when the Egyptian Viceroy personally appointed by Her Majesty Queen Victoria met with him at the Karnak Temple back then, he only gave a slight nod!"
"And now he..."
Ethan couldn't continue.
The sight before him overturned his existing understanding of this paranoid old man.
"Please forgive my discourtesy and ignorance, great 'Favored One of Nekhbet.'"
The High Priest spoke slowly, using the official tone of the pharaoh's court. "Now, we can have a truly equal conversation."