Mummy Evolution

Present Time.

A few hours after Zarah fell asleep in Sett's arms.

The Royal Herald, a tall man, stepped onto the raised stone platform at the heart of the bustling city square, his embroidered linen robes catching the warm desert breeze. His muscles tensed as he lifted a gilded staff, its golden tip gleaming under the midday sun, and struck the ground twice—thud, thud—commanding silence from the gathered crowd.

That was enough power to crush titanium, but the raised platform remained—meaning it was made up of something stronger.

"The Pharaoh decrees!" His deep, resonant voice carried over the marketplace, reaching merchants haggling over spices, laborers hauling bricks for the temple, and priests pausing in their chants before sacred altars.

A hush fell as all turned their ears toward him.

Sett, who had long changed into more ancient-looking clothes—a simple, cream-colored tunic that matched the era—stood in the crowd, blending in. Zarah had also woken up, standing to his side while clutching his sleeves.

He squinted.

It was a Pharaoh's decree.

"Foreign beings have trespassed upon the sacred lands of Kemet!" He swept his gaze over the assembly, his kohl-lined eyes burning with ruthlessness. "They come from beyond the veil, unknown and unbidden! By the will of the gods, any man who captures one and delivers them to the temple priests shall receive gold, land, and the Pharaoh's favor!"

Sett didn't frown at the name Kemet.

He had already done a bit of probing in the last few hours, and that had been enough to know a lot about the world they were in.

This was indeed the ancient past of Ehyut, Sett's Empire.

But during those ancient years, Ehyut was known as Kemet, and at that point, the Ramses family hadn't become a clear thing yet. Regardless, as Sett stood in the crowd and heard the Kemet name, his heart began thrumming with interest.

Kemet, he thought, this is more than I could have asked for. Is this luck?

Every Ramses child had to study history as a child. After all, the world's history was not only a powerful knowledge base to prepare a child for life, it was also important for Tomb Raiding. What if you entered a Tomb and it was a piece of history that you didn't know?

You will be at a severe disadvantage.

But if you knew the history?

It might just save your life.

As the once Ramses prince, Sett was also made to rigorously read history books by his mother. And one name appeared very often in those history books. It repeated, again and again and again, often emphasized as the beginning era of the greater world.

And that name, was none other than the word—Kemet.

Why did that name appear so often?

Sett had heard it repeated from his mother a million times.

In ancient time, the ancestors of the Ramses bloodline copulated with Gods and their children began having weird and powerful magical abilities. Axioms.

And that happened before the establishment of Ehyut, when the lands were still called Kemet.

Sett watched as the Royal Herald moved to other key locations, such as the marketplace, temple steps, or city gates, repeating the decree to ensure everyone heard it. Some scribes accompanied him to record reactions and take down names of interested bounty hunters.

Everything made Sett's eyes twinkle.

This was the way Ehyut functioned, but by the time Sett had become the Pharaoh, these processes had become much more complex. There were more steps, more people, and more sophisticated setups to handle everything—even announcements weren't done this crudely.

He reminisced about how he himself handled announcements.

Announcements were no longer made by a single herald shouting in the streets. Instead, they were delivered through Sett's then subordinate and butler, who had the Axiom of Proclamation, a powerful Axiom that could send a message across the entire Empire.

People used to call his announcements the Sky Decree.

His mother also had something similar, though she needed more than one subordinate to accomplish what he did with one subordinate.

It had been very convenient.

But sadly, that guy was long since dead. Sett had killed the man himself—the guy had been too greedy for his own good. Too blinded by it.

Sett had seen his corpse in the first Tomb that he and Zainah were together in.

He shook his head, focusing on the herald.

Compared to his mother's or his ways, the way the Royal Heralds functioned in this era was a lot cruder, but watching them, he could see the seed that grew into the future ways that Ehyut functioned.

This was where it began, and future generations had made it more sophisticated step by step.

In this era, there were no Axioms around, but there were Tomb Raiders. And that Royal Herald he had just seen was surely a powerful Tomb Raider.

Though, Sett felt, that the man was not nearly as strong as the clown ghost that he had met in Burrhen.

I wonder how strong the Pharaoh is, he thought.

Was the Pharaoh his ancestor?

Or did his ancestor come after this Pharaoh?

I need to know this Pharaoh's name.

Just as he was wondering, Zarah pulled his sleeves.

"Do you think Zainah is safe?" she asked.

"She should be safe. After all, she is a thief."

Zarah nodded, but she couldn't hide the worry between her brows.

Sett looked up at the blue skies and white clouds.

There was another fact that Sett didn't reveal.

If a Crimson Flower Marked family member gets into any life-threatening situations while away from him, the crimson mark in their bodies will explode into the air, becoming a beacon of light that can show him their location.

It also had an incredibly ear piercing alarm sound.

Sett, in his past life, had trained his mind to wake up—no matter how exhausted he were, if that voice ever rang near him. He had made sure that no matter if he be wounded, sleepy, or tired, he would wake up and see it.

That was how much he had beaten the instinct into his mind.

Since that didn't happen, Zainah must still be safe.

For now, Sett decided to do something he had been putting aside since a while ago.

Turning to Zarah, he said, "Come on, let's go somewhere without people."