Chapter 659: Chapter 228: Holy City and Chessboard
Heliopolis, the Holy City where the Egyptian gods resided among mortals.
This was a city on earth, as well as a domain of the deity. It had many nas in the past: Sun City, Ho of the Gods, City of All Gods, and it was even once the capital revered by the thirteen nos (city-states) of Lower Egypt.
In years past, Isis, who fell accidentally to Henu, took her place and married the God of Underworld Osiris here; then, under the witness of All Gods, she was condemned as a sinner and died.
For thousands of years, this place had scarcely been without the trace of a deity; the gods of Egypt enjoyed the offerings of mortals here.
It was like a Mount Olympus closer to the Mortal Realm, where Divine Persons and mortals lived together… until the cataclysm a few years prior, which brought everything to a halt.
It began with the highest deity, La, summoning the God Shu, who oversaw the atmosphere and the winds among the Nine Pillar Gods, to the Solar Golden Palace, and before long, the remaining gods departed one by one.
At first, no one took this to heart, even those servants who guarded and served the gods thought it was rely a gathering of the divine. They waited in the city for the return of the gods, but day after day, they were greeted only by silence.
No god ever returned, and from that day on, the Ho of the Gods was as if abandoned. The traces of the gods gradually faded, leaving only the empty Temples standing tall on the ground.
And it was not just the gods, but also the traces of humans. At the onset of the event, the Priests tried to bring back the attention of the gods with grand sacrifices, and even the Pharaoh ca here to worship in person.
But as hope and despair intertwined ti and again, the number of people in the Holy City dwindled.
After all, no one would respect Priests and Temples forsaken by the gods; it was a clear sign of their dereliction of duty. Moreover, in the eyes of the Egyptians, it was the Pharaoh who was the highest Priest, a ruler who held both secular and non-secular significance.
Since the gods were no longer present, even the truly devout had mostly gone to mphis to serve the Pharaoh. Thus, this desolate Holy City was increasingly devoid of inhabitants.
“So, Aibu, that’s how it is. The truly devout have left, forsaking all worldly matters and still in pursuit of the gods. Compared to them, those who remained aren’t so devout, like ,”
“Over the years, many tis I believed I was a devout believer… but now it seems it was only an illusion. Many thought I was born to comprehend the greatness of the gods, but in truth, the only reason I ca to Heliopolis was because serving the deities was the best way out for a commoner.”
“I don’t have noble blood or an extraordinary family, so when I learned of the chance to beco a servant of the gods, I almost imdiately agreed— and as it turns out, my choice was quite right. ”
“Within just a few decades, I beca the mortal most admired by the God of Sun, and the Priest with the greatest Fa aside from the Pharaoh. If not for this disaster, I would still be one of the most powerful mortals in all Egypt.”
“You see, that’s the importance of choices.”
In the vast hall, the triune Statue of God of Sun towered a hundred ters, dwarfing the mortals kneeling before it like a small mountain.
However, at this mont, neither the kneeling Priest nor the apprentice serving his teacher beside him spared even a glance at the statue.
Just as Kasim had said about himself, he was never a devout believer, and his student was the sa.
“So, Teacher, why do you insist on staying here?”
“The gods have abandoned this city, and no one knows when they’ll return… What sense is there to stay with these stones? The Pharaoh has invited you more than once to mphis. Even though he does so to stabilize the hearts of the people with your Fa, the honor you’d retain wouldn’t be less…”
“And then what?”
Kasim interrupted his student’s words with a faint inquiry.
“And then?”
The young man called Aibu was sowhat confused; he didn’t understand what his teacher ant.
“Yes, and then. You see, nobody knows when the gods might change their minds, but I know people can learn to adapt. In the first decade after the gods left, people still fondly rembered the days with the gods. In the second decade, they still held on to the mory. In the third, the fourth decade, to many young people, the gods beca just a symbol because they’ve never seen the real gods, and the right to interpret this symbol will only belong to the Pharaoh.”
“But the Pharaoh is dying.”
Speaking lightly, Kasim devoutly knelt in worship, just like every ti before.
In the empty hall with no audience, if anyone were to witness this scene, they would probably think he was a true believer.
“Teacher…”
The words following seed difficult to say, as Aibu felt a certain fear.
Even though the gods had left, the authority they had instilled had not dissipated enough to be discussed openly in the once sacred hall within just a few years. In the end, he still lacked the courage.
“Never mind, you are still young.”
Without turning around, the Priest seed to have a complete grasp of his student’s reaction from behind.
“These matters are indeed not for you to consider right now, but you have to write them down first, and rember them until you can understand. The Pharaoh is dying, and I am actually very old too. If All Gods return, staying here will be the best choice. But if they don’t… I won’t leave at this ti to use my accumulated Fa to stabilize the situation for the Pharaoh.”
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