Evil Sun God

Night fell like ink, slowly spreading from the eastern bank of the Nile and swallowing the last trace of the setting sun.

That final ray of sunlight was blood-red, like fading pigment smeared across the tips of Memphis's towering obelisks before gradually losing its color. The streets of Memphis slowly sank into silence with the dusk.

The bustling daytime market had long since closed. Merchants hurried home, and even the most unruly children dared not linger at the mouths of alleys. It was as though everyone had moved away and locked themselves tightly inside their homes.

Every house had an amulet hanging outside. It looked utterly ordinary, yet it carried a faintly occult power. Ian studied one for a while but failed to figure out what it did.

The entire city seemed shrouded in an invisible fear. Even the wind had grown cautious, only daring to whisper beneath the eaves. Ian stood in the middle of an empty street, the black-robed woman's warning still echoing in his ears. The night wind swept fine sand across the stone road with a serpentine hiss.

"Why does it have to be nighttime? Everything is normal during the day." In ancient Egypt, Ra, the chief god, was the sun god. If something was wrong, it should have happened in daylight. Yet his temple underwent subtle changes at night, which was truly baffling.

Ian stared at the outline of the temple as it was gradually devoured by shadow, his fingers unconsciously tracing the grain of his wand. That woman could easily overturn a high priest's decision, so her status was clearly extraordinary. Yet her attitude had been full of contradictions—both a warning and a plea for help. He recalled the twitch at the scepter priest's mouth when he mentioned "the Lord's messenger."

That had not