Chapter 36: Awakening and Disturbance
In 1288 BCE, this year, Egypt and the Hittites—two veteran powers—were gearing up for a vigorous, passionate mutual stabbing contest at Kadesh. It was also the year when the Sinai Peninsula, as in later times, was steaming hot.
On this vast, empty, dust-swirling land stood a mountain that inspired awe and fear.
The Bible calls it Mount Horeb; in the Middle Ages it was most commonly called Mount Moses; and in later times it became known as Mount Sinai.
It was here that Moses was summoned by God to receive the Ten Commandments.
His people thus entered into a covenant with God, transforming from a group of weaklings into the strongest warriors of their time, happily going off to trouble other people's daughters.
The Canaanites, meanwhile, expressed their feelings with a blunt "F*** this sh**."
At the peak of Mount Sinai, a golden flame flickered and shrank under the biting mountain wind.
When sunlight shone upon its surface, it appeared crystal-like, making one question if it was truly a flame at all.
It had existed here for a very long time.
But today, a sound came from within it.
"Finally…"
The voice was eerie. Wherever it reached, stones turned to dust and plants withered.
It looked as if those places experienced ages in a moment.
The entity that emitted the voice seemed to notice this, then fell silent again.
After a long while, the flame suddenly collapsed inward, and with a faint dripping sound, the burning sensation vanished. It turned into liquid and continued to condense.
When everything settled, in its place stood a magnificent golden eagle about the height of two adults, impossible to be sculpted even by the best craftsmen.
Its metallic eyes turned.
"I… have returned?"
It looked around and seemed to sense something, then its huge eagle head nodded.
"Indeed, I have returned. Therefore, I must proceed cautiously…"
If fighting with its nemesis meant simply returning to its own territory after losing, the current situation was extremely dangerous for it.
No wonder it had slept so long; the nemesis probably awakened long ago.
It was not "it" — it was "He," a great being known by humans as a deity.
After trying a comical bird-head expression, this great being was very pleased with its recovery and decided to find someone to refresh its knowledge of the human language of this era.
He loved the human tongue.
Next, He must avoid the "brothers and sisters" of this era; otherwise, not only would the "time" and "history" He bore be exposed, but the future "enemy" could also escape constraints and arrive in this era.
If that happened, He would become an enemy of all gods, and might even lose His divinity.
Therefore, the best way was to hide, wait for the time power to calm, and both He and His nemesis—who did not belong in this era—would return to the correct place and time to continue their battle.
But after carefully considering His situation, He had to admit this was not so easy.
"No, my nemesis is also in this era; I cannot let him interfere."
The metallic texture gradually faded from His body, revealing the appearance of flesh and blood.
"I should prepare myself…"
After a moment, an eagle's cry rang out, and Mount Sinai was engulfed in brilliant sunlight. When the light vanished, the mountain stood as before, but with no trace of the great being's presence.
However, this brief moment had alerted the strongest beings of the world.
The marks of these beings remained deeply embedded in the natural world, allowing them—even from another realm—to clearly sense the earth's changes.
These beings did not know they would eventually lose this ability, but that did not matter now.
Pairs of eyes, each perceiving differently, saw Mount Sinai—but gained nothing.
Except one.
One who roamed the land in this era, neither human nor one of those beings.
Inside the palace of Ramses City, Hikigaya's spiritual sight suddenly activated without warning.
One terrifying scene after another appeared before his eyes.
"Horus!" he called out the name, and then the visions receded like a tide, vanishing as abruptly as they came.
Before him stood the Egyptian queen Nefertari, her mouth agape in surprise.
"What did you say?" The queen covered her mouth, disbelief shining in her eyes. "Could it be that my husband does not want me to bear more children for him?"
"What?" Hikigaya was equally confused, though he was holding Nefertari's hand.
Don't misunderstand—he was an old doctor, just feeling her pulse.
The social gathering had ended, and Hikigaya planned to find out why Nefertari's body was changing.
But before the examination was done, the spiritual sight burst forth.
Its content could be summed up in one word: explosion.
Everything was exploding, and Hikigaya thought he even saw Minos people.
Yet after watching this "little movie," the girl suddenly switched into the "Lovers in love are idiots" mode.
To be honest, if this Nefertari were thrown into later times, she'd be no older than a high school student. Even if she was a top student, she'd maybe skip a grade, definitely not become a head of state.
And someone like Ramses, who at barely his teens led more than 20,000 horny rough men to foreign lands to kill.
So these two, apart from their dazzling historical halo, were basically no different from hormone-overflowing students in later campus dramas written by some romantic novelist.
Couples in this state often had imagination as wild as eternal singletons.
So, as a veteran singleton, Hikigaya generously forgave her wild ideas and explained, "No, your husband loves you deeply. He could never harm you like that. You understand this better than I do."
Yeah right! That womanizing playboy will dump you any day now — but as an experienced doctor, he wanted to keep her spirits up.
"But you just called out the Pharaoh." The queen's eyes shimmered with tears. "Great one, you have seen the dark future, haven't you?"
Even if you flatter me, I won't tell you the truth.
"Darkness and light coexist, Queen. This is unrelated to good or evil. The world must be this way to exist." Hikigaya released her hand, but she didn't let go.
Girl, you need to let go.
Letting go is how you win, don't you get it?
"You and your husband are destined to face many difficulties, and those hardships will make you stronger."
That's enough, okay? I've talked long enough. You should know I'm a physical doctor, not a psychologist.
"Stay, please stay. Don't go." The queen was nearly crying… She hardly looked like a wife; she was just a little girl, so it wasn't strange at all.
Hikigaya had to admit, running central air conditioning (someone who Is warm, caring, and kind to everyone — not just to one specific person) was really a tough job!