Chapter 67

"…What is this?" Ra frowned while standing between the gates of Mount Olympus' throne room. He watched with a confused expression while the gods argued loudly among themselves.

Poseidon was the first to take notice of the newcomer, turning to face Ra with a surprised expression. "…Sun god Ra? What's with that appearance?"

Ra didn't answer the question. "What's going on here? Where is Zeus?"

"Zeus? Oh, he's dead." Poseidon spoke in an aloof tone while waving as if the death of his brother meant nothing to him. "If you want to see him then ask Hades, he might know which field he ended up in."

"This isn't time for jokes!" Ra gritted his teeth and looked around."Who…How did he die?"

"A snake snuck into his bedroom, bit his ankles, and poisoned him to death." Poseidon didn't react to the other god's frustrated demeanor and continued to banter. "Kind of like your story, doesn't it? But in this case, he simply dies. Haha!"

Ra could feel his blood pressure rising. He clenched his hands in an attempt to suppress his anger. "A snake…huh, do you perhaps know that snake's name?"

"Name? Why would you want to know a beast's name?" Athena spoke up before Poseidon could, she eyed the sun god with suspicion. "And what is your business here? Trying to meet with a criminal of the heavens?"

Asclepius stood behind the other gods while observing the situation. He'd already tended to his own wounds although a part of his arms and legs were still wrapped in bandages. '…Athena seems to know what's going on…I need to trust her on this one and not expose myself.'

Ra kept a straight expression and answered. "As a friend, I could not help but be curious. What crimes did my good friend commit to receive such…gruesome punishment?"

Athena faintly smiled. "The same as yours…Although your crimes are more severe…Maybe the snake would not even be the one to carry out your final punishment."

At that point, Ra couldn't hold back his anger. His powers bursted violently as he glared at the goddess. "You dare speak to me in such a vile manner!? My pantheon has no problem crushing a little bug like you!"

"Hey! Shut the f*ck up old man!" Artemis stepped out to defend her sister. She couldn't bear to stand back and watch her family get ridiculed, especially by a god of another temple. "You might be a king, but here, you're just a trespasser! Get out of here now or else you will face the consequences!"

Ra paused for a moment. He retracted his killing intent and whirled around. He gritted his teeth and strutted towards the portal that he'd opened. He'd hurt his pride but he wouldn't let himself get carried away and fight the Greeks in their own territory. "When I find and kill that snake, you will all regret going against me."

Once the sun god had left, everyone relaxed their unknowingly tensed shoulders.

Poseidon sighed with relief. "He might be a king of gods…But to exert this much strength while in our pantheon is absurd…"

"Why was he looking for that cute snake?" Aphrodite tilted her head. "It seems that our ex-king made quite the trouble…To associate himself with a Code Black criminal like that old man."

Hermes' eyes went wide with surprise. "Eh!? Didn't they just change his code to red!? They changed it again!?"

"Apparently so~" The goddess of beauty puckered her lips. "It's to do with some sort of trouble in the human world…An Egyptian goddess went down there and killed a bunch of mortals. She'd been dealt with though."

"As expected of the queen of gossip." Hermes nodded in approval like he was proud of her accomplishments. "Anyway, should we tell the snake that Ra was here? He's the Executioner so he should be assigned to Ra's case soon."

"Of course, I'll be the one to tell him." Asclepius said with worry smothered across his face. "…We don't need to get involve further though, I've already promised to help him but all of you can just—"

"Hey, we aren't that petty," Artemis chuckled. She smiled and looked at the medicine god as if he was an idiot. "Go ask him if he wants our help, we'll do whatever we can to repay this debt."

Asclepius was surprised. He looked around and realized that the other gods, even the aloof Aphrodite and the not-so-kind Ares, were agreeing with Artemis' decision. "Alright…if you all are comfortable with that…"

Asclepius disappeared in a flash of gold.

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Back on his boat, Ra sat on his throne, frustrated and anxious. He tried occupying himself by looking at the view of the vast divine world's sky, at the emptiness riddled with stars that seemed to stretch infinitely larger.

It didn't help, instead, his chest tightened more than before and his palms were now soaked in sweat. He turned his attention towards one of his worshippers; a male Egyptian spear warrior standing like a statue beside him. "Have you heard news about Sekhmet? Has she returned yet?"

The warrior came to life the moment his king spoke. He knelt down and lowered his head before speaking. "No, sire…We haven't heard from her at all since she went down to the human world."

'SWUSH!'

"Your Majesty!" Before Ra could speak, someone else came rushing from a portal that'd opened up in the middle of the boat. It was another soldier. He knelt in front of the god while trying to catch his breath. "I…My condolences…But the goddess—"

"What about her?" Ra's voice sent sharp daggers down the soldier's spine.

"She…She'd been e-executed, sire." The man lowered his head even further, as if he was afraid of looking into his king's eyes.

But no matter how low the soldier bowed, he couldn't escape Ra's anger. A powerful gust bursted from the sun god's figure and flared towards the kneeling man, burning him the moment it made contact.

The soldier screamed in pain. He looked up with widened eyes and pleaded. "I…I beg for mercy, Your Majesty! Please…Please s-spare this lowly servant! Please spare me!"

Ra didn't speak and watched him burned by the flames of his fury. There wasn't a moment when he hesitated. Not even when the man began to cry from the fear of death.

Burned away like paper, only the remnants of his painful wailing remained.

"Esteemed warrior." Ra spoke without facing the spearman.

The soldier by Ra's side never got up from the floor and kept his head bowed. It took him a few seconds before he finally answered. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Turn the barque, I'm burning that damn place to the ground."

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"Why are you still here?" Apophis spoke with her arms crossed. She stared daggers at Uriel and Gabriel, who were sitting by the table outside and enjoying their tea and desserts.

Uriel smiled at the goddess. "This place is quite comfortable…Say, why is it that your garden is a maze?"

"That's none of your business."

The angel chuckled and turned towards Theodore. He was sitting with his leg over the other and reading a small book in his hand. "Executioner, do you know why this place is a maze?"

"No," Theodore gave a short reply, not turning away from the texts. He took a sip of his tea and spoke. "By the way, the name's Theodore. Theo is fine too."

Uriel laughed. "Theodore it is. I feel weird calling you 'God'."

Gabriel suddenly slid a paper roll towards him. It was slightly yellow but was nicely wrapped in a red ribbon with a wax seal locking it closed. The seal depicted the image of a scale. "Your next target."

Theodore placed the book down and unwrapped the scroll. He swept his eyes through the content and was surprised by what it said. "Code Black?"

"Is it Ra?" Apophis took a guess.

"Yeah, there's like ten crimes listed under his name. His location is unknown though." Theodore frowned. It was frustrating that even the Judge and Jury couldn't pinpoint the criminal's location. He wanted to wrap things up before Ra could go cause mayhem elsewhere.

"Despite being the sun god, Ra is very good at keeping himself hidden." Gabriel leaned forward and rested his chin on top of his hands. "He has many identities…way too many of them. He could've switched bodies with one of those personas and we won't even know."

"Why not just detain all of them?" Theodore asked.

"We can't do that…the divine world might have all the power and authorities…But if the gods complain then we'll lose our standing." Gabriel sighed. "Divine rules aren't like the human's laws. Even if a god is suspicious, holding them in custody without solid evidence is just asking to be ridiculed."

"Then how do we even find Ra?" Theodore wrapped up the paper, still frowning with frustration. "Do we really have no choice but to wait for him until he appears?"

"Not necessarily." Uriel smiled at Apophis. "You might not be welcomed 'there', but you can still enter, right?"

Apophis scrunched up her face. "Why can't you just use your authority to enter?"

"Didn't Gabriel just tell you why? That place isn't like Olympus, it isn't open to outsiders. If we were to forcefully break in there then it would count as us trespassing."

"Besides that," Gabriel pointed at Theodore with his thumb. "The Executioner's punishment for breaking the divine rule is more severe than us. Do you want your son to be locked up in 'there'?"

"Wait, slow down." Theodore held out his hands. "What are you all talking about? Where is 'there'?"

Apophis looked at him and answered. Her voice was calm but she looked frustrated. "Uriel wanted me to take you to 'Scorching Heaven'."

Theodore didn't need any more explanation. Ra had the nickname 'King of Scorching Heaven' so it was easy to guess that they meant the Egyptian Gods' domain.

"So when do we go?" Theodore didn't know why his mother was so against the idea. But he had the feeling that it had something to do with her being the God of Chaos. "You just had to get me in, you don't actually need to follow me."

Apophis shifted her legs. She averted her gaze to the side and bit her lips. "Yes…But I won't be getting any kind of rest knowing that you're in there."

"Mother," Theodore's tone was as cold as his expression. "I can protect myself. I'll make sure that if I do need to fight, it'll only be self defense. I shouldn't get charged as much, right?"

Theodore glanced at Gabriel and he nodded as a response. Apophis didn't look convinced but her shoulders relaxed. "Okay…I can't stop you anyway. Let's hurry up and get this over with then."

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Back at the field of portals, Apophis pointed to one in front of her. It was made of mud bricks carved into a circular perimeter and the portal itself was the color of sunlight. Even standing a few meters away from it, Theodore was sweating from the heat radiating from within. "This is the one…"

"Okay." Theodore stepped forward, but stopped just when he was about to pass through. He turned around and smiled. "Thank you…Being here probably brought back a lot of unpleasant memories."

Apophis smiled bitterly and nodded. "Yes…But that's fine, I'm helping my son out, after all."

Theodore chuckled. He didn't say anything more, only waving his hand slightly before stepping through the portal.

The scenery inside was similar to Olympus, though the buildings' designs were much simpler and were mostly made from bricks or straws. The blazing sun overhead caused ripples in the air, though the light also made another building in the distance look even more grand than it already was.

It was a large, eye-catching palace. Like the commoners' houses, it was primarily built from bricks but there were some other materials mixed in as well. The large pillars supporting it were made entirely from lapis, blending in nicely with the green and blue from the tall trees and water dotting around it.

Theodore was compelled to move closer, not because of the palace's unique beauty, but he noticed a concentrated amount of divine power coming from within. "That's where the gods are, it seems…"

There were other gods around him, but they simply continued on with whatever they were doing and didn't even bat him an eye. The atmosphere was very different from the lively and cheery streets of Olympus.

Even as someone who doesn't like crowds, Theodore preferred Olympus over this dull, lifeless world.

Maybe there's a deeper story to this, the thought crossed Theodore's mind. He didn't ponder for long though and walked closer to the grand palace. He was there to do something else, not to solve these people's problems.

"…It's getting hotter." It was difficult to notice at first since it felt like he was submerged under magma no matter where he stepped.

Though it wasn't a problem for Theodore, with a simple ice spell, he continued forward without any hindrance.

Or so he thought.

'BOOM!'

He'd wondered where all the heat was coming from and it turned out to be the palace itself—or specifically, 'someone' inside.

"ISIS! HAVE YOU GONE MAD!?"

"Mad? Do you even listen to yourself? I told you that this is our chance!"

"To do what? Defy the king of the heavens?"

A portion of the palace's walls were blown off, revealing two women confronting each other.

One was Isis, beautiful and dignified. She has long black hair decorated with a golden head piece. Her sharp eyes emerald green and her skin glimmered like a citrine. She wore a white dress with a purple sash holding it in place, around her wrists and ankles were golden accessories embellished with colorful gemstones, and on her neck was a collar necklace shining brightly like a rainbow.

The other woman had a similar appearance to her, mainly her hair and eyes, although she had darker skin and wore warrior's clothes.

Their expressions contrast with each other, while Isis was calm, she was furious. Her feline ears and tail perked up, further expressing her anger. She was Bastet, a counterpart of Sekhmet. It was a rare sight to see a normally benevolent deity so angry.

Both of them turned their attention towards Theodore, who was leisurely climbing up the stairs as if he hadn't seen anything. His clothing clearly differed from the place he's at. He seemed like a royal from many thousands years into the future trapped in Egyptian times.

Bastet moved first. She leaped into the air and landed in front of Theodore, her steps making no sound. She glared at him exposing her sharp fangs. "Who are you? Which pantheon are you from and how did you get in here?"

"Theodore!" Isis called his name with joy.

The beautiful goddess was flying over to him with magic when Bastet growled. Her nails grew and immediately struck at him. "So you're with the traitor! Die!"

Theodore frowned and glanced at Isis, as if to say she was the one who made everything harder for him. "…Thanks."

He leaned back, narrowly avoiding the attack, although a soft 'swoosh' suddenly came from his left side and forced him to move to the right. Bastet didn't give him a chance to recover his stance and lunged at him with two hands by her side, within a millisecond, a blur was all he could see.

'CLANG!'

Theodore summoned the Ophiuchus' Sword and blocked the claws. He looked down at his own hands shaking from the impact, but Bastet continued a fury of slashes without giving him a single opening to strike.

'…She seems very frustrated, yet she's a lot calmer than Sekhmet.' Theodore was reminded of Athena and Ares, two God of Wars who fought in very different ways. He didn't have the time to let his mind wander elsewhere though and quickly shifted his focus to the goddess.

But then Bastet suddenly retreated, at first Theodore thought that she got tired from attacking, but suddenly a sharp sting ran down his back. He let out a cry and turned around just in time to meet Bastet's claws with his sword.

'She's a lot faster than me!' It wasn't what he had in mind at all. He'd lost nearly all his composure from the sneak attack. He raised his guard immediately. At first he only wanted to push her around a bit until she gave in on her own, but it wasn't possible now.

For the first time in a long time, Theodore had met his match.

"I'm not an enemy."

"That's what all enemies say!" Bastet yelled and abruptly weaved to the right, aiming at his waist.

It was worth a try. Theodore quickly adjusted his sword to meet with the claws. However, Bastet disappeared again and another jabbing pain flared from his left side.

'I'm losing?' Fear of death? No such thing crossed his mind. There was only a new type of anger; a sort of frustration. It was something he'd never experienced before. His heart seemed like it wanted to pound out of his chest and the grip on his sword tightened. His eyes widened and he unknowingly gritted his teeth.

It was anger from his wounded ego.

[Frozen Disaster: Winter's Fury]

A burst of cold force struck Bastet and sent her tumbling down the stairs while the surrounding area began to rapidly freeze. The heat quickly got replaced with cool air and in mere seconds, the yellows turned into icy blue.

Bastet stopped the momentum with her claws and stood on one knee. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't move an inch further from where she was. "…So that is your true strength, I've…I've lost."

The sword disappeared into specks of green light and Theodore's wounds were closing up as he spoke. "I'm not here to fight, I just want to ask some questions."

He turned towards Isis, who'd been sitting on top of the walls with her legs crossed. "Do any of you have a clue where Ra is?"