When Sett saw Zarah again, she blinked at him, tilting her head. "Big Bro, you seem different."
"Better different?" He flexed an arm, grinning faintly.
Her eyes lingered on his face, which seed to glow with an unfamiliar warmth. She nodded. "You look… comfortable. Less tense than before."
Sett took her hand with a quiet smile, leading her back into the city's clamor. They still hadn't found Zainah, after all.
"I want Chufa Cakes!" Zarah declared, tugging at his grip.
"Reconciliation Buns?" he teased.
"Nah, that stuff's too sweet, even for ."
He snorted. "No ridiculous cakes for you, then."
Zarah stuck out her tongue. "I don't need you to buy them. I'm a rich lady now—tomb raiding's gonna make a fortune. Just you wait."
"Oh, is that how it is?" Sett let go of her hand, stepping ahead with mock indignation. "Once my use is up, you toss aside. Typical."
Her giggle trailed after him, bright and unrepentant.
As he walked, Sett finally turned his attention to the system, ignoring the young girl's desire for individuality.
His expression beca slowly, but surely, a mask of interest.
[Divine Information Unlocked]
[Before today, you were neither dead nor alive. But now, you are both dead and alive at the sa ti. You are a person who has entered the River of Reincarnation to escape from the clutches of eternal damnation.]
Hm?
Sett frowned. So what?
[Having entered the Cryptwalker Pathway, your very flesh has the power of Tomb Hearts rushing through you. The power of death energy so pure, it borders on life.]
So, as I expected, he pondered, even after I beca 'alive' the Heart Zone remained the sa.
Sett was still a Cryptwalker.
[But using your Axiom's ability, 'Death Begets Life,' you transford the ghosts and used them as energy to completely revive yourself. And now, your body is full of life energy too, just like any other human being in their late teens.]
Life Energy and Death Energy.
It was a concept that Sett, nor any other mortal for that matter, never really understood. When a living being is born, they have abundant Life Energy in them and that energy dwindles as they age, slowly emptying.
And nothing is allowed to remain empty in this world.
If a glass of water gets its water emptied, air will fill the glass.
That was the sa way that a living being functioned. If their Life Energy emptied, they will soon be filled with Death Energy and that will make them simply die.
Sett knew it more than anyone.
After all, he had seen life drain out of more people than he cared to count.
His own Axiom of Reincarnation worked on that as the basis. For example, the ability Death Begets Life could transform Death Energy to a unique type of Life Energy that can heal soone. It could even improve people's lifespan if used regularly.
And according to this Divine Information, his body now had just as much Life Energy as a teenager. And at the sa ti, it was a body made out of Death Energy.
How does… that work?
Sett stopped amidst the crowd, Zarah watching him curiously, her hands behind her back.
If a glass full of air was filled with water, the air would not vanish. After all, water was made of air, too. And if that was the case, was a living person also made up of dead things to begin with?
A thought rang across Sett's mind.
He had seen bodies crumble, breath cease, eyes dim until they saw nothing at all. He had witnessed death countless tis, watched as life drained away like ink dissolving in water. It was always so final, so absolute.
Yet here he stood.
A body made of Death Energy. A body full of Life Energy.
A contradiction.
Or was it?
What if life had never been separate from death?
What if the mont he was born, he had already begun dying?
And the mont he died, he had begun living?
What if death wasn't the end, but just another state—like a fla consuming wood, turning it into ash, only for that ash to nourish the earth and give birth to new life?
Energy is neither destroyed nor created.
Sett clenched his palm, feeling the pulse of sothing both alive and dead within him.
Perhaps that was the answer.
And he was fighting to remain the sa in a world that wanted him to change.
I will not change due to the winds of the world grandma, he had once said, eyes full of tears after breaking up with Zainah in his childhood due to a minor argunt.
[Fusion of Life and Death—balance has been achieved.]
[Tomb Walker Pathway (Fusion of the Crypt Walker and Tomb Raider Pathways) has been completed]
Sett fell on his knees, his body subtly transforming.
The world around him sharpened into unbearable clarity. Steam curled from a bowl of noodles in a shop before him.
Zainah sat there, her face half-hidden behind rising mist. She looked beautiful even though a scarf hid half her face. She blew softly, eyes glazed with thought, strands of her hair catching the lantern light like threads of spun gold.
His search had ended.
Sett watched her. He watched his surroundings.
Beside him, Zarah's wide eyes glead with curiosity, the corners of her lips twitching with the beginnings of a smile.
And all around him, the city pulsed with motion.
Not the prettiness of life, not the sweetness—but the raw, unpolished truth of it.
Mothers counting every coin, stretching every al to feed their children. rchants raising their voices, their throats hoarse from long hours of bargaining. A boy tripping over his own feet, his father hauling him up with a rough pat to the back.
A woman wiping her forehead, exhausted, but pressing forward.
Not everyone was smiling. Not everyone was happy.
But has life ever been about happiness?
No.
It was about this.
The sweat, the struggle, the endless forward motion.
The way people fell, got up, fell again, and still walked on.
Life was like a cycle.
The flower that blood today will wilt tomorrow.
The fruit that ripened today would rot tomorrow.
The crawling worm would beco a butterfly—only to return to dust once more.
But the flower still blood.
The fruit still ripened.
The worm still transford.
The fact that they will rot and wilt didn't stop them from their transcendence.
Sett watched the world around him.
No matter how happiness peaks in your life, it will end. No matter how sad you are, that too will pass. And that is how life is.
The way the people fought, even knowing they could lose. The way they clung to the smallest joys—a stolen mont of laughter, the warmth of a al, the touch of a loved one—despite the weight of the world pressing on their shoulders.
The disappointnt of those who didn't get even those little joys, yet who still clung onto life.
It was brutal. It was relentless. It was unfair.
And Sett had never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life.
The struggle, it was so…
His eyes focused on Zainah and Zarah and for one mont, Sett's heart just felt at peace.
So beautiful.
Faces bright in the light, alive.
He breathed in the life around him, and before Sett Ramses the 7th could stop it, tears slipped from his eyes. They rolled down his cheeks, hot and unbidden, catching the glow of lanterns as they fell.
I fucking love being alive.
"Young man, do you need a bowl of noodles?"
The ventor asked, an old woman in her twilight years.
Sett nodded.
"Please make it extra spicy."
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