Miss Hebe Is Charging Through the Lostbelts! [25]

After abandoning all faith in the gods, Ozymandias ascended as the red-crowned god-king.

He united royal authority and divine authority upon the earth, and Upper and Lower Egypt regained their vitality under Ozymandias’s rule. All things and all phenomena developed steadily according to the Red King’s grand design.

Until, one hundred years later, Ozymandias lost control.

His desire grew ever more twisted, ever more alien. He was forced to bring calamity down upon his own people and use their spirituality to soothe his ravenous desire.

For that reason, Ozymandias unearthed the old faith in the beast-gods once more. For example… Bastet.

The name Bastet first appeared during the Second Dynasty.

She had been worshiped since 3000 BCE. At that time, she had once been Lower Egypt’s god of war, contending with Sekhmet of Upper Egypt among the yellow sands, oases, and Wasteland.

They debated with blades, claws, sinew, bone, and courage. In those days, she knew every secret beneath the sun, and secrets meant power.

Until the god who symbolized kingship and vengeance arrived, casting them both down from the Wasteland.

—February Consul: Scar-Father.

…

That one-eyed, aged, and ruthless god seized their authority over war. And as the ages changed, the radiant twins took the seat of the sun.

The former, on the land of Egypt, was called Horus.

The latter were regarded respectively as Aten, the rising sun of Dawn, and Atum, the setting sun of Dusk.

—January Consul: Mr. Day, and November Consul: Lord Twilight.

…

Their arrival made the beasts that had once been gods dwindle further and further. Because Bastet was closely tied to the family, she still retained part of her status, while Sekhmet fell lower and lower, until at last she was deemed a mere beast.

Ozymandias valued these beast-gods of old.

He determined that although these beast-gods had been defeated and diminished, they had at least once ruled the Wasteland and the present world for an extremely long time. To some degree, these beast-gods could stand against the Ennead.

Then…

Sekhmet’s name was dredged back up by Ozymandias and reshaped into the image of Shesepankh.

The relationship between Anubis and Hermanubis was much the same.

Khnum, King of Rams; Thoth, the Scarlet Ibis King; Sobek, King of Crocodiles.

These three still retained some measure of wisdom at the time. As for the remaining beast-gods of old, most had already become monsters with nothing but power.

Ozymandias granted them the status of Dusk once more, and reshaped them with his vast desire and wisdom. Their existence greatly shared the burden of Ozymandias’s erosion, allowing His desire, which had lost control, to return to its proper course.

In Ozymandias’s conception, this should have lasted at least a thousand years.

But in only a hundred years, aside from Khnum, who was still holding on, all the other Sage Gods had already been lost.

From the moment Ozymandias ascended with a radiant dream in His heart to the moment He was forced to ease His loss of control through destruction, a mere three hundred years had passed.

“The people of Thebes are Ozymandias’s subjects. From birth to death, they are all under the rule of Ozymandias’s great kingship… but you have destroyed all of that.”

Pepe spoke softly. “Even if you pay with your own life, how much can you repay?”

“How long could all of Thebes have shared the Red King’s mad desire?” Hebe suddenly asked.

“Less than five years,” Pepe answered.

“And a new seat among the Nine Sage Gods?”

“Depending on the authority they share, at least twenty years. The three kings would last longer…” Pepe’s gaze was complicated. “The King of Rams is the exception among exceptions.”

She already knew what Hebe meant to do.

“I understand.” Hebe bowed respectfully. “Then please offer that group of exiles some protection on their journey. I am going to Memphis to have audience with His Majesty the Red King.”

Her expression was one of relieved joy, like a lamb about to step onto the altar.

Pepe stared blankly at her, her mouth filled with bitterness.

The sunlight around them suddenly became so bright it was almost dazzling. Without a word, Pepe nodded, watching as Hebe turned and set out on the lonely road to her audience.

Gold-and-purple twilight had spread across the entire sky. The girl with beautiful green eyes and flaxen hair gradually walked farther and farther away, never to return again.

Pepe gently closed her eyes, and her form scattered like yellow sand.

An illusory cat padded lightly into the wind, catching up with those people on their long journey and sheltering them as they moved freely through the foehn.

…

“Hah.”

As Hebe walked north, she waved a hand and opened the information panel.

The fine grains of sand on the road gathered into words only she could understand.

Daylight was often called the Rank of “heroes.”

That was because what they did laid the foundation for the different Marks they obtained.

No two Marks were exactly alike. Even if both were “Territory Creation” or “Item Construction,” they still differed in Rank and in what they emphasized.

Take the Knights of the Round Table, for example. Even if they all held Marks similar to “Leadership,” some excelled at commanding large armies, while others were suited to taking the field alone. Some could raise morale under sunlight, while others were skilled in night battles and surprise attacks.

“With such a splendid performance, my second Mark must be very distinctive.” A faint curve rippled at the corner of Hebe’s mouth. “Will it be a composite of multiple effects, or a pure specialization in one direction? It might even directly grant me a ‘Divinity’-type Mark.”

Just thinking about it made Hebe want to hum a little tune.

[HEBE STANTON / IMHOTEP]

[PATH]:
[PRIEST (LOSTBELT-LIMITED).]
[A PRIEST IS A SCRIBE WHO GOVERNS SILENCE, ENGRAVING EPITAPHS OF STILLNESS AND PAYING AUDIENCE TO THE APPOINTED END TO COME.]

[PRINCIPLE]:
[WINTER (LOSTBELT-LIMITED).]
[THE PRINCIPLE THAT REPRESENTS SILENCE, ENDINGS, AND THINGS NOT ENTIRELY GONE.]

[RANK]:
[DAYLIGHT (LOSTBELT-LIMITED).]
[THE SECOND RANK ON THE ROAD OF ASCENSION. THE SUN TRAVELS THE PROPER COURSE OF THE HEAVENS.]

[HELD MARK]:
[FIRST MARK]:
[GOD OF MEDICINE.]
[WOUNDS AND DISEASE, HEALING AND SCARS; THE STUDY OF SOOTHING DEATH WITH KNIVES, DECOCTIONS, AND MUSIC. WHAT WE ARE TO HEAL IS THE WORLD ITSELF, AND THE FINAL GREAT ENEMY WE MUST REMEMBER IS DEATH.]

God of Medicine was a Mark with composite effects, condensed from Hebe’s journey south, where she drove away the darkness with the twin-serpent staff and revived the “dead.”

Its effects could roughly be divided into three kinds.

First was the treatment of illness and injury. Whether internal wounds, external wounds, or even mental trauma, it could treat them.

However, one thing had to be noted: treatment was not the same as cure. Those too gravely injured could not be brought back, and even those treated would be left with permanent “scars,” whether in body or mind. If they encountered a similar situation in the future, the patient might suffer a relapse of the old injury.

Second was the dispersal of unfavorable factors and negative effects.

There was not much to say about this one. It was a top-tier divine skill. Negative effects of Daylight and below could all be removed, and even Dusk-level influences could be addressed with the right treatment. The prerequisite was having the corresponding “medium.”

Lastly, soothing death.

Not defeating it, but soothing it. Not conquering it, but remembering it. Contrary to its name, this Mark did not extol unrestrained “immortality,” but instead required people to accept their own “appointed end.”

Then came the question.

Since God of Medicine required people to die naturally, why did it manifest healing effects?

Because the meaning of “appointed end” was this: for one’s lifespan to naturally reach its limit, and to approach death with a calm and open mind.

So-called illness and torment, in truth, violated the appointed end—they shortened life, made people begin to fear death, and even denied them peace after death.

For that reason, all manner of methods were needed so that patients could calmly welcome the arrival of their appointed end. In necessary cases, even restless spirits after death would be returned to silence.

If quantified in concrete numerical terms, the effect of this Mark should be: large-scale HP recovery + debuff removal + time-limited Battle Continuation… followed by painless instant death after the effect ended, perhaps with bonus damage against the undead.

With the First Mark setting such a high standard, Hebe’s expectations for the Second Mark naturally rose along with it.

Hebe kept smiling as she looked down.

In the next instant, her smile froze.

[SECOND MARK]:
[LORD OF FIENDS.]
[SILENT PRECEPTS, ENDLESS DISTANT EXILE. THE PEOPLE KNOWN AS SARKAZ BEGAN THEIR BITTER JOURNEY THREE HUNDRED YEARS LATE. THEY REVERE THE SUN, FLAME, AND THOSE WHO FORGE, BUT THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A MOMENT RESERVED FOR YOU—THE FIRST GUIDE, THE UNCROWNED LORD OF FIENDS.]

“Is this still Egypt? Where the hell did I end up?”

This is a fan translation of 赫柏小姐正在杀出异闻带！ by 青散人 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!