Bastet eventually accepted Inebu's request. She warned, "You have to move carefully."
The party looked around after hearing that.
The pyramid, where the Nile was based, was difficult to traverse properly without her guidance due to all of the different kinds of traps and magical safeguards the organization had installed.
“Thank you.”
Inebu continued to thank the Hunter repeatedly.
Bastet was also a part of the Heliopolis branch, just like Inebu. Still, it was a great risk to allow outsiders to enter Horus’ domain. No one had known whether she would give her permission. After all, it didn’t matter that they were of the same branch or that she was close to Inebu.
“Inebu,” Bastet said to the Hunter. "I hope your choice isn’t wrong.”
Inebu looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong as Bastet finished her sentence by mumbling to herself.
Nod.
Lee Jun-Kyeong currently had all of the cards in his hands, and now, he even held Bastet’s life in his grasp as well.
If Lee Jun-Kyeong were able to save Horus, then they would be the Heroes of Heliopolis who had taken the risk and saved Lord Horus through great peril.
However, if the opposite was the case.
‘They would most likely die.’
No matter their position or what sort of relationships they had.
Nothing would matter.
If the worst scenario ended up occurring, then they would become the traitors who aided in the killing of the successor of the Nile.
They had put all of their cards in Lee Jun-Kyeong’s basket, which was a long-shot, desperate measure to save their lord.
Moreover, there was one other who had put his life in Lee Jun-Kyeong’s hands as well.
“Ha…” Baldur sighed deeply as he followed Lee Jun-Kyeong.
If the worst-case scenario happened, then it wouldn’t just be Bastet, Inebu, and even the still-nervous Numek, who had followed right behind Inebu, suffering from the aftereffects.
Baldur.
“It’s all in your hands.”
Whether it was Baldur and Lee Jun-Kyeong’s party or the relationship between Asgard and the Nile, it would all fall into an uncontrollable abyss.
Lee Jun-Kyeong had not only set the table at this point, but had also hoarded all of the cards.
‘Odin, give me strength.’
Baldur walked as he internally resented Odin and blamed him for the situation.
He had traveled with Lee Jun-Kyeong for some time as he knew that the Hunter was somewhat special, but he felt like he had uncovered all he had to at this point. He couldn’t understand it. He wondered if there was any reason to risk Asgard’s fate for this boy.
.
However, his protests had been pushed to the side, so he had to do whatever the boy wanted.
‘If, there really is no other choice…’
Baldur intended to restore the relationship between Asgard and the Nile by any means necessary, which meant he was even willing to sacrifice Lee Jun-Kyeong if needed. In order to do so, he followed Lee Jun-Kyeong into this place.
“Whew.”
Everyone moved nervously in the pyramid.
They traveled along complex structures and through hidden rooms.
"What are the chances that we'll get caught?" Jeong In-Chang asked Bastet, who was walking out in the lead.
She responded without slowing down her steps or looking back, “We’ve already…”
Beep, beep, beep!!!
A violent mechanical sound rang through the pyramid.
“Been caught. They should have already noticed that you all have disappeared.”
“…”
The expressions of the party hardened.
From this point on…
"Let's hurry,” said Lee Jun-Kyeong.
Bastet nodded and hurried her steps.
Lee Jun-Kyeong continued forward, vowing to save Horus.
‘I will do this.’
***
From the moment the warning sounds reverberated through the pyramid, Bastet’s movements became ever stealthy and agile.
“Shh.”
Although they had almost gotten caught a few times, as if her secret ability was in concealment, she quickly moved forward and hid the entire party.
“Can you…”
Then, she suddenly looked back at Lee Jun-Kyeong and asked, “Can you really save him?”
At her sudden remark, Lee Jun-Kyeong chucked and returned her unexpected question with another question.
“Don’t you think that you’re asking this a bit too late now?”
This was something she should have asked long ago if she had been curious about it.
However.
“I don’t know how much you already know about it, but…”
She looked over at Baldur for a moment and quickly turned back her gaze toward Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“The Nile has been gathering a lot of information about you.”
“...”
“We know that you're a man with a lot of secrets."
Bastet looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong, almost as if her gaze was penetrating through him.
“They call you the tempest-like Hunter. If it’s you…”
She hastened her steps again, continuing to speak as she advanced forward once more.
“I thought that we might really be able to save Lord Horus. Because my intuition…it isn’t wrong often.”
Again, it was intuition.
As Lee Jun-Kyeong mused over the ambiguous word, Inebu seemed to nod in response to Bastet’s answer, as if he was agreeing with her and acknowledging her strong intuition.
"What a popular guy," Lee Jun-Kyeong heard Baldur say sarcastically.
Thud.
They heard the sound of footsteps again, so the party had to stop moving once more. Lee Jun-Kyeong had wanted to help Bastet avoid the detection once again this time, but she responded negatively and rather, came out into the open on her own.
“It seems we have no other way.”
“...!”
In front of them was a group of bewildered Hunters of the Nile.
Shing!
The party quickly drew their weapons and lifted their blades aloft as if to at least knock them down at this point and speed up their steps once again.
However.
“Move aside,” Bastet said as she raised one hand to block the party from proceeding. “I don’t want to harm my fellow Hunters.”
“Lady Bastet! Why are you doing this?” the Hunters of the Nile cried out resentfully as they drew their weapons.
A collision seemed inevitable.
“Even at this point, we can hand them over, and you can come back to…!”
The Hunters continued to try to convince her out of the considerable respect they had for her.
Boom!
However, before they knew it, the party heard an explosion. In a blink of an eye, the entire situation changed.
“What just happened…”
Won-Hwa and Jeong In-Chang looked forward as if they couldn’t believe what had just happened.
There were huge traces of something that had happened without their notice. The Hunters, who had just been shouting after finding the party, suddenly fainted as if they had just slammed into the wall.
“They’ve simply fainted,” Bastet said as she began to move once again. They could faintly hear the Hunter breathe a little heavier than before.
“What in the…”
Jeong In-Chang looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong as if he were surprised.
“I told you, she’s also a Hero,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he shrugged, gesturing that he had already known what she was capable of.
She had been an unusual Hunter from their very first meeting, and he had known that she had already held this much power.
"You need to train more."
Jeong In-Chang coughed loudly after hearing that.
"Mr. Won-Hwa?" he said, trying to change the subject. However, Won-Hwa quickly lowered his head as if he had been shocked by something.
***
“We’re now right before it,” Bastet said.
Before they knew it, they had reached Horus’ domain.
Bastet had quickly and efficiently guided them there. Even when they had been discovered, she promptly stepped up and dealt with the Hunters in advance, as she had judged that any clashes that the Hunters would have with the foreign organization, Asgard, wouldn’t be good for the Nile.
She was a woman of action.
"Numek."
Bastet called out to Numek, who had been quietly following the party from the back.
"Will you protect this place with me?” she requested.
Although the rest could move forward, Bastet planned on remaining here with Numek.
Since Lee Jun-Kyeong had already told her in advance that the treatment would take some time, she had made the decision to stay in this place in order to buy them some more time.
Numek had followed them all the way to this place, but she still looked back and forth between Inebu and the party as if she still was conflicted.
“Inebu…” she called out.
"Thank you for trusting me, Numek," Inebu said in response as he looked back at her. "You can go back now if you don't want to. Even at this point, even if we fail now...you'll still be able to live.”
As Inebu had explained, this would be her last chance to return back to the side of the Nile, as they hadn’t yet come into contact with Horus.
As soon as Lee Jun-Kyeong met with Horus, no one would be able to reverse the results.
Inebu spoke to her sincerely, and Numek seemed to be agonizing over this
“...”
But, soon.
Shing!
She also held her iron staff aloft. She lifted her staff, as beautiful as the color of water, in her hand, and it soon began to hum as if to represent her determination.
“Thank you,” Bastet said to her as she walked up to stand beside her.
“It is an honor to fight alongside you, Lady Bastet,” Numek responded as she turned away from the party.
As if she couldn’t see the party leaving for Horus, she faced toward where they had entered, her back seemingly despondent yet firm.
"Inebu!"
Numek called out to the departing Inebu.
“If we succeed this time…”
Even before she finished speaking, Inebu’s voice rang out in the hall.
“Stay together with me, Numek.”
The two seemed affectionate, as if they had finally promised each other something.
“I’m going to vomit…” Jeong In-Chang said for no reason, but looking at him, there was a smile etched on his face.
“It seems like we really can’t fail this, then?” he said out of the blue.
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at him and smirked.
“This wasn’t something we could have failed in the first place…”
Jeong In-Chang grumbled, “Do you really have to have the last word?!”
As the two voices rang, behind them, Bastet’s voice could be heard for a final time.
“If you go straight down, you’ll see a stone chamber! Lord Horus will be there!”
After some time, finally, the party had reached the entrance to their destination. While their journey couldn’t be said to have been easy, they had still reached Horus without great danger.
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at Baldur.
"I understand."
The Hunter nodded as if they had already spoken in advance.
Each member of the party checked and verified their roles and tasks.
Now, there was only one member of the Nile left with them, Inebu.
“All that is left is to enter!”
Inebu hurried forward, their destination just around the corner.
As he walked forward, his back began to tremble. He believed in Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"Lord Horus..."
Horus would awaken.
Tadak! Tadak!
The sound of running rang through the corridors of the pyramid. But they could no longer hear the hunters chasing them.
Instead.
Boom!
SHHH!
There was only the sound of an explosion and rushing water in the corridor.
It was clear that Bastet and Numek were dealing with the Hunters who were chasing them.
"This is..."
The party had stopped once again. Having entered through the archway, in front of them lay a huge stone chamber. Unknown hieroglyphics were floating around, their movement in conjunction with a ritual.
Inebu moved slowly forward.
Shing!
He pulled out his spear. As he extended the spear forward, the sound of iron grinding began to emerge.
Creak.
Lee Jun-Kyeong had a hunch that if any of them had walked past the hieroglyphics without knowing what was in front of them, they would have died.
Inebu's spear continued to go forward.
Shing!
Something resembling the hieroglyphics that filled the stone chamber began to emerge above the tip of the spear. The hieroglyphics that emerged then began to absorb into those that were floating within the chamber.
Then, a bright and intense blue light burst out in a flash.
“That’s…”
Having been temporarily blinded by the light, the party saw something once their vision returned.
It was a sarcophagus sealed in colorful gold ornaments, with more hieroglyphics adorning its surface.
"Is that where Horus lays?" Lee Jun-Kyeong asked Inebu as he stepped forward.
The Hunter nodded his head.
He seemed exhausted, as if it had taken more strength than he had thought to break through the restriction.
When Lee Jun-Kyeong was about to take another step forward…
Boom!
Something fell before Lee Jun-Kyeong's eyes.
It was something like a horn, penetrating deep into the floor.
If Lee Jun-Kyeong had taken a single step forward a second earlier, he would have pierced through instead of the floor.
Within the stone chamber, the resting place of Horus, an elegant voice then rang forth.
“I thought you might come to find my son.”
Bastet eventually accepted Inebu's request. She warned, "You have to move carefully."
The party looked around after hearing that.
The pyramid, where the Nile was based, was difficult to traverse properly without her guidance due to all of the different kinds of traps and magical safeguards the organization had installed.
“Thank you.”
Inebu continued to thank the Hunter repeatedly.
Bastet was also a part of the Heliopolis branch, just like Inebu. Still, it was a great risk to allow outsiders to enter Horus’ domain. No one had known whether she would give her permission. After all, it didn’t matter that they were of the same branch or that she was close to Inebu.
“Inebu,” Bastet said to the Hunter. "I hope your choice isn’t wrong.”
Inebu looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong as Bastet finished her sentence by mumbling to herself.
Nod.
Lee Jun-Kyeong currently had all of the cards in his hands, and now, he even held Bastet’s life in his grasp as well.
If Lee Jun-Kyeong were able to save Horus, then they would be the Heroes of Heliopolis who had taken the risk and saved Lord Horus through great peril.
However, if the opposite was the case.
‘They would most likely die.’
No matter their position or what sort of relationships they had.
Nothing would matter.
If the worst scenario ended up occurring, then they would become the traitors who aided in the killing of the successor of the Nile.
They had put all of their cards in Lee Jun-Kyeong’s basket, which was a long-shot, desperate measure to save their lord.
Moreover, there was one other who had put his life in Lee Jun-Kyeong’s hands as well.
“Ha…” Baldur sighed deeply as he followed Lee Jun-Kyeong.
If the worst-case scenario happened, then it wouldn’t just be Bastet, Inebu, and even the still-nervous Numek, who had followed right behind Inebu, suffering from the aftereffects.
Baldur.
“It’s all in your hands.”
Whether it was Baldur and Lee Jun-Kyeong’s party or the relationship between Asgard and the Nile, it would all fall into an uncontrollable abyss.
Lee Jun-Kyeong had not only set the table at this point, but had also hoarded all of the cards.
‘Odin, give me strength.’
Baldur walked as he internally resented Odin and blamed him for the situation.
He had traveled with Lee Jun-Kyeong for some time as he knew that the Hunter was somewhat special, but he felt like he had uncovered all he had to at this point. He couldn’t understand it. He wondered if there was any reason to risk Asgard’s fate for this boy.
.
However, his protests had been pushed to the side, so he had to do whatever the boy wanted.
‘If, there really is no other choice…’
Baldur intended to restore the relationship between Asgard and the Nile by any means necessary, which meant he was even willing to sacrifice Lee Jun-Kyeong if needed. In order to do so, he followed Lee Jun-Kyeong into this place.
“Whew.”
Everyone moved nervously in the pyramid.
They traveled along complex structures and through hidden rooms.
"What are the chances that we'll get caught?" Jeong In-Chang asked Bastet, who was walking out in the lead.
She responded without slowing down her steps or looking back, “We’ve already…”
Beep, beep, beep!!!
A violent mechanical sound rang through the pyramid.
“Been caught. They should have already noticed that you all have disappeared.”
“…”
The expressions of the party hardened.
From this point on…
"Let's hurry,” said Lee Jun-Kyeong.
Bastet nodded and hurried her steps.
Lee Jun-Kyeong continued forward, vowing to save Horus.
‘I will do this.’
***
From the moment the warning sounds reverberated through the pyramid, Bastet’s movements became ever stealthy and agile.
“Shh.”
Although they had almost gotten caught a few times, as if her secret ability was in concealment, she quickly moved forward and hid the entire party.
“Can you…”
Then, she suddenly looked back at Lee Jun-Kyeong and asked, “Can you really save him?”
At her sudden remark, Lee Jun-Kyeong chucked and returned her unexpected question with another question.
“Don’t you think that you’re asking this a bit too late now?”
This was something she should have asked long ago if she had been curious about it.
However.
“I don’t know how much you already know about it, but…”
She looked over at Baldur for a moment and quickly turned back her gaze toward Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“The Nile has been gathering a lot of information about you.”
“...”
“We know that you're a man with a lot of secrets."
Bastet looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong, almost as if her gaze was penetrating through him.
“They call you the tempest-like Hunter. If it’s you…”
She hastened her steps again, continuing to speak as she advanced forward once more.
“I thought that we might really be able to save Lord Horus. Because my intuition…it isn’t wrong often.”
Again, it was intuition.
As Lee Jun-Kyeong mused over the ambiguous word, Inebu seemed to nod in response to Bastet’s answer, as if he was agreeing with her and acknowledging her strong intuition.
"What a popular guy," Lee Jun-Kyeong heard Baldur say sarcastically.
Thud.
They heard the sound of footsteps again, so the party had to stop moving once more. Lee Jun-Kyeong had wanted to help Bastet avoid the detection once again this time, but she responded negatively and rather, came out into the open on her own.
“It seems we have no other way.”
“...!”
In front of them was a group of bewildered Hunters of the Nile.
Shing!
The party quickly drew their weapons and lifted their blades aloft as if to at least knock them down at this point and speed up their steps once again.
However.
“Move aside,” Bastet said as she raised one hand to block the party from proceeding. “I don’t want to harm my fellow Hunters.”
“Lady Bastet! Why are you doing this?” the Hunters of the Nile cried out resentfully as they drew their weapons.
A collision seemed inevitable.
“Even at this point, we can hand them over, and you can come back to…!”
The Hunters continued to try to convince her out of the considerable respect they had for her.
Boom!
However, before they knew it, the party heard an explosion. In a blink of an eye, the entire situation changed.
“What just happened…”
Won-Hwa and Jeong In-Chang looked forward as if they couldn’t believe what had just happened.
There were huge traces of something that had happened without their notice. The Hunters, who had just been shouting after finding the party, suddenly fainted as if they had just slammed into the wall.
“They’ve simply fainted,” Bastet said as she began to move once again. They could faintly hear the Hunter breathe a little heavier than before.
“What in the…”
Jeong In-Chang looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong as if he were surprised.
“I told you, she’s also a Hero,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he shrugged, gesturing that he had already known what she was capable of.
She had been an unusual Hunter from their very first meeting, and he had known that she had already held this much power.
"You need to train more."
Jeong In-Chang coughed loudly after hearing that.
"Mr. Won-Hwa?" he said, trying to change the subject. However, Won-Hwa quickly lowered his head as if he had been shocked by something.
***
“We’re now right before it,” Bastet said.
Before they knew it, they had reached Horus’ domain.
Bastet had quickly and efficiently guided them there. Even when they had been discovered, she promptly stepped up and dealt with the Hunters in advance, as she had judged that any clashes that the Hunters would have with the foreign organization, Asgard, wouldn’t be good for the Nile.
She was a woman of action.
"Numek."
Bastet called out to Numek, who had been quietly following the party from the back.
"Will you protect this place with me?” she requested.
Although the rest could move forward, Bastet planned on remaining here with Numek.
Since Lee Jun-Kyeong had already told her in advance that the treatment would take some time, she had made the decision to stay in this place in order to buy them some more time.
Numek had followed them all the way to this place, but she still looked back and forth between Inebu and the party as if she still was conflicted.
“Inebu…” she called out.
"Thank you for trusting me, Numek," Inebu said in response as he looked back at her. "You can go back now if you don't want to. Even at this point, even if we fail now...you'll still be able to live.”
As Inebu had explained, this would be her last chance to return back to the side of the Nile, as they hadn’t yet come into contact with Horus.
As soon as Lee Jun-Kyeong met with Horus, no one would be able to reverse the results.
Inebu spoke to her sincerely, and Numek seemed to be agonizing over this
“...”
But, soon.
Shing!
She also held her iron staff aloft. She lifted her staff, as beautiful as the color of water, in her hand, and it soon began to hum as if to represent her determination.
“Thank you,” Bastet said to her as she walked up to stand beside her.
“It is an honor to fight alongside you, Lady Bastet,” Numek responded as she turned away from the party.
As if she couldn’t see the party leaving for Horus, she faced toward where they had entered, her back seemingly despondent yet firm.
"Inebu!"
Numek called out to the departing Inebu.
“If we succeed this time…”
Even before she finished speaking, Inebu’s voice rang out in the hall.
“Stay together with me, Numek.”
The two seemed affectionate, as if they had finally promised each other something.
“I’m going to vomit…” Jeong In-Chang said for no reason, but looking at him, there was a smile etched on his face.
“It seems like we really can’t fail this, then?” he said out of the blue.
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at him and smirked.
“This wasn’t something we could have failed in the first place…”
Jeong In-Chang grumbled, “Do you really have to have the last word?!”
As the two voices rang, behind them, Bastet’s voice could be heard for a final time.
“If you go straight down, you’ll see a stone chamber! Lord Horus will be there!”
After some time, finally, the party had reached the entrance to their destination. While their journey couldn’t be said to have been easy, they had still reached Horus without great danger.
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at Baldur.
"I understand."
The Hunter nodded as if they had already spoken in advance.
Each member of the party checked and verified their roles and tasks.
Now, there was only one member of the Nile left with them, Inebu.
“All that is left is to enter!”
Inebu hurried forward, their destination just around the corner.
As he walked forward, his back began to tremble. He believed in Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"Lord Horus..."
Horus would awaken.
Tadak! Tadak!
The sound of running rang through the corridors of the pyramid. But they could no longer hear the hunters chasing them.
Instead.
Boom!
SHHH!
There was only the sound of an explosion and rushing water in the corridor.
It was clear that Bastet and Numek were dealing with the Hunters who were chasing them.
"This is..."
The party had stopped once again. Having entered through the archway, in front of them lay a huge stone chamber. Unknown hieroglyphics were floating around, their movement in conjunction with a ritual.
Inebu moved slowly forward.
Shing!
He pulled out his spear. As he extended the spear forward, the sound of iron grinding began to emerge.
Creak.
Lee Jun-Kyeong had a hunch that if any of them had walked past the hieroglyphics without knowing what was in front of them, they would have died.
Inebu's spear continued to go forward.
Shing!
Something resembling the hieroglyphics that filled the stone chamber began to emerge above the tip of the spear. The hieroglyphics that emerged then began to absorb into those that were floating within the chamber.
Then, a bright and intense blue light burst out in a flash.
“That’s…”
Having been temporarily blinded by the light, the party saw something once their vision returned.
It was a sarcophagus sealed in colorful gold ornaments, with more hieroglyphics adorning its surface.
"Is that where Horus lays?" Lee Jun-Kyeong asked Inebu as he stepped forward.
The Hunter nodded his head.
He seemed exhausted, as if it had taken more strength than he had thought to break through the restriction.
When Lee Jun-Kyeong was about to take another step forward…
Boom!
Something fell before Lee Jun-Kyeong's eyes.
It was something like a horn, penetrating deep into the floor.
If Lee Jun-Kyeong had taken a single step forward a second earlier, he would have pierced through instead of the floor.
Within the stone chamber, the resting place of Horus, an elegant voice then rang forth.
“I thought you might come to find my son.”
