Chapter 60 – Just Whose Tricks Are Superior
Engaging in three consecutive battles in such a short span was something Hikigaya had never experienced.
He was accustomed to either overwhelming and sweeping through opponents or ending in mutual destruction—the former for humans, the latter for gods.
Prolonged entanglement was neither his preference nor his strength.
Horus was the first opponent to make him feel such intensity.
Amid the burst of clouds, scarlet blood bloomed—it was the sacred blood of a god-slayer and a god.
Horus's spear had not pierced Hikigaya's chest but had impaled his abdomen.
At the same time, Hikigaya's arm, transformed into molten lava, held a power capable of shaking the earth and shattering even the underworld.
Though Horus could dodge the lava attack, he could not evade the invisible shockwave that came with it.
As a result, the side of his head closest to Hikigaya's lava arm was smashed, his spear broken, and his body covered in wounds.
Even with the protection of the moon, he could not fully withstand Hikigaya's power at such close range.
Skillfully combining different divine powers was a reward Hikigaya earned through countless brushes with life and death.
In battles between gods, god-slayers, and peers, the number of powers one possesses is never the decisive factor—at least not the measure of strength.
But each power still holds meaning. Even newly acquired powers can open up greater possibilities.
For a race that survives on miracles, that's crucial.
The seismic force he had stolen from Poseidon was one he rarely used, mainly because it was a singular, straightforward power—unlike the essence-based powers Hikigaya typically seized and understood.
But after becoming Athena's Epiphany, he finally understood.
Athena's Epiphany granted him Zeus's weapon, whereas from Poseidon, he had gained another weapon.
Poseidon's seismic power—comparable to Zeus's thunder among the Greek gods of that age—was not his dominion over the sea or underworld, but his greatest weapon.
With it, Hikigaya could shake all tangible things—even divine bodies.
It might not possess the cosmic destructive or protective might of the Ten Suns power, but it didn't exact a price as steep as Zeus's thunder, nor did it disrupt his other powers.
Though it had a cost of its own.
"Cough, cough..."
Hikigaya coughed up blood.
Not only because of the spear still lodged in his abdomen—his gut was a mangled mess, blood gushing like a spring—but also due to the damage from using the seismic force.
In darkness, blood flows like spit—Hikigaya, though late to the game, had picked up that truth well enough.
Still, the pain was very real—not just in his abdomen.
Grabbing the broken shaft of the spear protruding from his belly, he yanked it out forcefully. With it came flesh and a horrific, gaping wound.
It hurt like hell.
Thank the gods the spearhead wasn't barbed—or his intestines might've come out too.
He tossed the spear aside and inhaled deeply—only to fill his lungs with blood.
Even breathing hurt.
He quickly activated Osiris's life force to heal himself. The external wound closed rapidly, but the divine energy Horus had left inside continued to erode him from within—something not easily purged.
It was still nighttime, and Horus's lunar divine power filled the area.
He couldn't use Kuafu's power—otherwise, he might've purged Horus's energy.
"Hikigaya Hachiman, taste the poison of a god again."
Horus, too, was healing.
Half of his head was regenerating, his body recovering like Hikigaya's. But he had already lunged forward, throwing a straight punch.
Hikigaya raised his left leg, blocking with his shin like a shield.
His right arm whipped around with swirling winds and pierced Horus's left shoulder with a thrusting hand, twisting and releasing another seismic shock.
This time, he didn't have enough time to transform his arm into magma, so he held back some force.
Even so, it blew Horus's shoulder apart, severing his left arm.
But before he could celebrate, the severed arm turned into a giant serpent mid-air, whipped him in the chest, and made him vomit blood.
Then it bit his leg, venom fangs digging near his bone and flooding his veins with poison.
Hikigaya flared into a being of fire, incinerating the serpent and its venom—but Horus was already upon him, nearly smashing him to pieces with a single punch.
This battle was far bloodier than the previous two.
Neither side held back, and both had thoroughly grasped the other's moves.
Each strike tore flesh and drew divine blood, while their healing powers raced to mend the damage.
One god, one god-slayer—their blood and gore rained into the crater Hikigaya had created earlier, mingling with the Nile's water and giving it an ominous glow.
The pit had become a lake, seemingly thirsting for the blood and flesh of those battling above.
But neither combatant noticed. They were immersed in their duel, even developing a reluctant admiration for one another.
"For a human lifespan to produce a god-slayer like you—it's truly rare..." Horus remarked. Then he turned into a giant wolf and ripped a chunk of flesh from Hikigaya.
Though often appearing as a falcon, Horus's animal forms also included wolf, snake, and lion.
According to the Shabaka Stone of Memphite theology, Geb referred to Horus as "the successor, my son's son, the wolf of Upper Egypt, Apophis." He also appeared as a serpent in Sinai inscriptions, and New Kingdom steles equated him with the Sphinx.
At this point, both sides had exhausted their tricks and techniques.
And that was exactly why they respected each other.
Hikigaya didn't feel weak for not being able to use Kuafu's power.
Horus, as the sun god and a symbol of royalty, wasn't particularly imitable in combat.
As for divine speed—Hikigaya had already achieved that through controlled use of thunder.
The same applied to Horus.
Though he had multiple forms, each time he assumed one, he couldn't use the core abilities of the others.
Their "weakness" was mutual.
"I've changed my mind. I shall escort you to that world—share our immortal fate with us, my brothers and I."
Horus shifted forms again.
The giant wolf dissolved mid-air, reforming into a golden falcon. From its scattered fragments, a grand ship assembled and sailed toward Hikigaya.
Hikigaya knew—he must not board that ship.
He remembered those mummy movies from childhood—the villain was sent packing by the heroine with a ride he couldn't refuse.
Horus's ship was far more ominous.
In myth, Horus connected the living world and the underworld. In the Book of the Dead, he escorted souls to Osiris. Getting on that ship meant you weren't coming back.
Even if he wasn't dragged straight to Osiris, he'd likely be dead anyway.
But dodging wouldn't work. Those things usually came with auto-targeting.
"Screw your offer! Get out of my way!"
Hikigaya charged head-on and swung his hand.
The silhouette of the underworld's river—the Nile—flared around him.
A boat with no river was just a dead fish. With the river now defined, its course was fixed. GPS or not, it was going where he willed.
Horus's funeral boat hit the deathly river, shrank rapidly, turned to mist, and ended up as a mere toy in Hikigaya's palm.
He immediately flung it downward into the river's depths—its only possible destination.
But that was just the boat. Horus had already escaped and reverted to human form, visibly displeased.
"Why reject it? Isn't eternal life the greatest desire of humankind?"
"If I want immortality, I'll earn it myself. Don't trouble yourself." Hikigaya sneered while trying to heal up.
This battle was beyond anything he'd ever faced.
Even if he could rely on resurrection, there was a creeping unease—because his opponent excelled at it too. Who knew if Horus had a way to block it? They were both using Nile powers.
If he couldn't revive, that'd be real death.
"Is that so? As a god, I shouldn't do this... but you are dangerous. If you keep growing, you'll become too much of a threat. So, for once, I'll do what no god should."
Behind Horus, vibrant wings unfurled, and his body turned into a sun—a winged solar disc, one of his mythic weapons used to defeat Set.
Hikigaya was forced to retreat.
The sun Horus became was growing ever larger—staying put meant being swallowed.
Luckily, because this was an enemy sun, he used his Sun-Chasing power to match its speed—no thunder required.
And since it was a sun, he summoned the Bow That Shoots the Sun.
Against a solar foe, the Ten Suns power was far less risky.
A rebellious sun was the perfect target for extermination.
"Take a good look, Hikigaya Hachiman. What you face—is the sky!"
Horus's voice thundered from the sun, and its wings spread, filling the heavens.
Hikigaya heard shouts behind him.
Turning, he saw the Yukinoshita sisters and Hazazi being swept toward him by the wind.
He wasn't surprised. Even if they'd stayed back in Aswan, this state of Horus could've easily dragged them here.
But what was Horus planning?
He got his answer when Horus hurled the three into the lake below.
Only now did Hikigaya notice—after their prolonged fight, the crater had been filled by Nile water, becoming a lake.
And that lake had changed.
Water flowing in from both north and south swirled in opposite directions, forming a massive vortex.
The closer to the center, the more violent the currents.
The lake's center was blood-red, occasionally sprouting lotus flowers—only to be sucked under.
At its heart, light glowed—like boiling water, steam rising from it.
What the hell?
Normal humans would never survive that.
Seeing the three falling, Hikigaya abandoned his attack on Horus and teleported to them.
They were unconscious.
He grabbed Hazazi and Yukino, one in each hand. For Haruno, he ignited the solar energy within her.
A brilliant light burst from Haruno's body, burning away her clothes instantly—it was a hasty rescue, and Hikigaya didn't care about modesty.
Under different circumstances, he might've appreciated the view—but not now.
He didn't know what Horus's aim was, but he had to get them out.
Seriously—what kind of god drags mortals into a divine duel?
"Forgive me, Hikigaya Hachiman, for dealing with you this way."
Horus's voice thundered again.
Hikigaya felt a blast of heat from behind.
"Sink into the earth—I shall receive you at the Nile's edge with your servants."
No time to dodge. No chance to resist.
He was struck from behind.
Flames engulfed him from all sides.
His link with Haruno was severed, but with her inner sun activated, he wasn't too worried.
The other two, however, had to be protected.
Shielding them cost him precious time.
By the time he was ready to react, the surging Nile had already swallowed him whole.
And the flames followed, unquenched even by water.
Instead of evaporating, they swam like fish, chasing him.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Hikigaya cursed.
Using Osiris's power, he shielded Hazazi and Yukino, binding them to his back.
The currents dragged him deeper, and when he looked up, he saw the firefish descending faster than the water itself.
He didn't see Haruno, but as long as Horus didn't attack her directly, she'd be fine.
He summoned his bow and fired his first arrow.
Unaffected by water, the arrow flew true, cutting down most of the fire instantly—and becoming fuel for the next shot.
After all, what's the point of shooting suns if there's no benefit?
Just as he prepared his second arrow, a serpent burst from the flames.
Horus again—now in serpent form.
"So you think only you know tricks?"
Hikigaya was done playing.
He summoned Osiris's power again.
Sheaves of wheat appeared in the water—but were quickly shredded, releasing death energy.
Then he invoked the Ten Suns power—and for the first time, tried using Di Jun's power of time.
Even gods must wither one day. And with that came weakness.
In Egyptian myth, even mighty Ra lost control due to aging.
"A curious power. Not from my brothers... but an alien god."
Covered by the withering aura, Horus's serpent form dimmed and shriveled.
But his voice remained strong.
"Yet I, the sun, ferryman of the realms of the living and dead, possess time as well."
Golden light flowed from him.
Time slowed on his body, then began to reverse.
Humans say time can't run backward—but that notion doesn't apply to gods.
"Is that so? Then turn into an egg!" Hikigaya smirked, increasing the pressure.
The water lit up with a blazing sun. Within its halo, nine more suns appeared.
"This is my first time using this power. Be gentle, won't you?"