Chapter 92: Problems At Egypt

Chapter 92: Problems At Egypt

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The press of the city of Cairo had gone insane with this new and mysterious girl, who called herself “Princess Merneith, third heir of the Red Sun Empire." Her adorable looks, appearance, golden clothes, and the giant mech she piloted quickly made everyone believe she came from a very high floor of the Tower, a true royalty that had paid a visit to Earth, and Egypt no less! Many of the citizens felt rather excited to see her around, thinking they had gained a new guardian.

Unlike the first-world countries, most third-world countries had much less protection against monsters. There were hunters everywhere, yes, even S-Rank hunters too, but usually not as many, especially when the first-world countries would usually offer exorbitant amounts of money to contract these hunters to their own countries, leaving the smaller countries even more defenseless.

A prime example of this was the Kingdom of North America, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany, which constantly bought over any B-rank and above Hunters from smaller, poorer countries to protect their own.

Egypt was one of such victims because the economy wasn’t the best, and most of the hunters struggled to make a living even now. The enormous amount of money offered to them was absolutely life-changing, making many of them decide to leave their country with their families to have a better life, be much more protected, and also be well paid.

The city of Cairo was one of the few cities in Egypt that ended mostly unscathed from the Tower’s arrival, although Monster Gates happened more frequently now, which had shaken the population’s sense of security.

Merneith has become a slight beacon of hope for these people. Although she intended to move over soon enough, she stayed for a couple of days, almost a whole week. Being always praised, fed anything she wanted, and given a nice hotel room to stay in the night made the princess very happy. Not even back in her own kingdom has she experienced this level of hospitality.

“Oh, it’s Princess Merneith!”

“Good morning, young lady!”

“Can I see your big robot, Missy?”

“Woah, she really has a tail—she’s so cute!”

As she walked through the streets of Cairo, enjoying a cold drink and wearing sunglasses, Princess Merneith was greeted by almost every person she came across. Children ran to see her, asking her to show off her mech.

“I can’t just summon the great Mechanical God so easily, children... I do require some Essence every time, but I can do this for almost no cost!”

FLUOSH!

A spark of golden electricity surged out of thin air, suddenly materializing the bird-like talon claw of the robot for all the children to see and admire. The golden metallic construction made all the children’s eyes widen in shock due to its awesomeness.

“Wooaah!”

“So huge!”

“I can’t believe it! You can summon just parts of it?”

“That’s right!” laughed the princess. “Now if you excuse me, children, I have a meeting to attend. Some of these peasants really have been bothering me lately.”

The princess walked through the streets and reached a huge building in the middle of the city, where people constantly walked inside and outside.

This building was El Cairo’s Hunter Association Building, where hunters gathered for requests, to retrieve rewards, and also to sell monster products.

She made her way inside, showing her a platinum-colored card they had provided her beforehand. It wasn’t as if it were that necessary; her appearance alone easily told everyone who she was.

“P-Princess Merneith?!”

A brown-skinned, white-haired girl gasped as she saw the princess step in; her revealing clothes, golden ornaments, and pointy jackal ears, combined with that fluffy tail, told everyone she was Merneith, without a shred of a doubt!

“Who else, girl?” Merneith smiled smugly. “I’ve come here because you peasants called me for some sort of meeting. I have only agreed to come because you do make some good food, so it was my way to repay for your kindness.”

“T-Thank you very much for your honesty...” The receptionist laughed a bit. “Yes, the Association chairman is waiting for you on the second floor. There are a few other Hunters there too.”

“Very well, if you excuse me then, cutie~” Merneith walked away.

“D-Did she call me a cutie?” The girl blushed a bit.

Merneith made her way upstairs as her assistant robot, a floating golden eye-shaped drone, started speaking to her again.

[Your majesty, it has already been over a week since you ran away from home! Is this really okay? And now you’re even meddling with these strange peasants from another world! What will your family say about this? Won’t they worry?]

“Worry? The only thing they’re worrying about is the money they’ll lose for not marrying me to that ugly Roman prince,” Merneith sighed. “I have no interest in marrying any Roman! In fact, I don’t want to marry anyone. I am a strong, independent princess!”

[But your bloodline has a duty... To reject it is to insult the entirety of the history of your empire! You are a descendant of the Ancient Queen Cleopatra VII, which means you must be avid about the rules and regulations of your family. They always want the best for you.]

“They don’t! Nobody back home has ever CARED about me since my REAL mom died...” Merneith sighed. “They’re all obsessed with amassing fortunes and warring against smaller independent countries, and they’re constantly fighting for who has the right to pilot the Mechanical Gods.”

[Princess...]

Her assistant always insisted she had to go back to her family; it was within his program to take care of her and bring her to safety. But at the end of the day, it was also an Artificial Intelligence that slowly adapted to their owner and learned the more they talked with them.

[I just want the best for you, for you to be safe...]

“Hah, well, as if we could go back anyway. Those gray portals that pulled me here won’t let me go back anyway, so we’re stuck here,” the princess shrugged.

[Yes, but many of your family members also came; those Golden Pyramids must be looking for you!]

“Ugh, I don’t care! Leave me alone! I am finally important; the people here need me. That’s something I’ve never experienced before. I want to... I want to help them. Instead of using my power to just hurt others, I will use it to protect people.”

[That is very noble of you, but-]

Before the assistant could speak any other word, Merneith opened the door in front of her and walked inside. Four hunters were waiting for her on the other side of the room.

A tall, brown-skinned man with short black hair and a muscular frame, wearing a white blouse and black pants, and with a big, claw mark-shaped scar in the middle of his face.

The chairman of the association of hunters in the city of El Cairo, Mohamed Khaled.

A slender, beautiful black woman with short black hair and seductive, bright blue eyes, wearing a colorful dress and many pieces of jewelry, especially rings and magic rings.

Heba Marwa, often known as “Queen of the Dunes," is an S-Rank hunter.

An annoyed-looking man with long white hair and a slender figure, wearing a black blouse and jeans, looks to be in his late teens. His sharp red eyes emanated a slightly menacing bloodlust.

Ahmed Mostafa, known as “The Blood Beast Berserk," is an S-Rank hunter.

“No...” Merneith said. “Do you know something else about them? I tried going back to my own world before, I swear! But I couldn’t cross the portal. There’s a special force that only brings things out but won’t let them go back.”

They looked at Heba, and the woman nodded.

“She’s not lying either,” she said.

“Hmmm. There is some intel about those portals that have been shared by the North American branch so far,” said Mohamed. “Apparently, what Bing Xue stated is that... those portals seem to have been opened by a God of the Tower, someone known as the Grandfather of Time, who has opened portals to Earth’s... Parallel Timelines. I know it sounds insane, but that’s what she said. And she’s so far the strongest human in this world.”

“P-Parallel... Timelines?” Merneith gasped. “I-Is that way there are ruins of my beautiful Empire in your deserts? So in this world, something different happened?”

“You are truly an Ancient Egyptian, then?” wondered Ahmed. “My God, this is getting weirder.”

“Yes, that is the name of our Ancestors, the Ancient Egyptian Empire,” she said. “Don’t tell me that you never had a Queen Cleopatra VII?!”

“Yes, she existed, but long ago,” nodded Mohamed. “History in those times is still being researched, yes. But after the arrival of the Romans, things became blurry. She married a Roman king, I think? But Ancient Egyptians slowly mixed with many other tribes and people. It could be said we are all their descendants, but their culture, their gods, and all of those things are no longer truly... There are new religions now, and well, most people believe that the ancient Egyptian gods were very... fantastical, haha.”

“Y-You’re insulting Ra, Lord of the Sun?!” gasped Merneith. “But this is... Wait a moment, did your ancestors never discover the steam engine?”

“Steam... engine? No, that’s something that happened elsewhere,” said Heba. “Oh? Don’t tell me... Is this the point of divergence then?”

“It must be!” Sara nodded. “Wooww! The ancient Egyptians discovering the steam engine sounds crazy! Did you industrialize?”

“Yes, we did! Over two thousand years ago, though, technology has advanced by leaps and bounds since then. We’ve even begun colonizing planets in our solar system,” Merneith smiled.

“So you truly come from a much more technologically advanced society, a parallel world.” Mohamed muttered. “We’ll have to keep this a secret. Other countries could try to kidnap Merneith and steal her technology if more of her becomes public.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit too late now, Mohamed?” laughed Ahmed. “Miss Princess over here can’t get away from the journalists, always showing her face on TV!”

“Ugh, okay, I admit I shouldn’t have done that!” Merneith sighed. “But for now, I suppose most things are cleared, right? I don’t really have intentions of going back, so I hope you could let me stay for a bit more.”

“Of course, I guess there’s no helping it then,” Heba shrugged. “Maybe you could.”

RUMBLE!

However, this civil conversation filled with revelations was suddenly interrupted as something above the skies suddenly emerged.

Or, well, it seemed as if it had materialized out of thin air!

The people of El Cairo pointed at the sky in fear and awe.

A giant golden pyramid floated above the skies as several smaller silhouettes started flying off of it, going down into the city.

They were all huge mechanical constructions—piloted robots!

Merneith looked at the scene through the building’s window.

“Ah, this is bad.” she sighed.

“What’s going on?!” Heba asked.

“That’s the pyramid?!” Mohamed asked.

“Don’t tell me they’re looking for you?!” Ahmed wondered.

“Merneith!” Sara said.

Merneith gritted her teeth, grasping her hands tightly.

“T-This is all my fault... I have to take responsibility.”

She suddenly jumped out of the window, making the hunters panic.

“Merneith?!”

However, as she fell, her Golden Bloodline activated.

An aura of gold and silver light surged from her body as a giant mechanical god materialized around her body.

Ra, the God of the Sun!

She flew into the skies with her fiery wings, confronting the group of dozens of mechanical soldiers.

The group was led by a larger mech, one resembling her own in detail and height.

Yet this one was black and gold-colored, with its head resembling a jackal.

“T-That’s Anubis?!” The princess gasped. “Big brother Akhenaten... Is it you?”

“Who else than me, Merneith?!” Akhenaten’s voice echoed from inside his mechanical god. “I have finally found you... You little brat. We’re going back home, and you’re marrying that Roman prince!”

“No... I’ll never marry a Roman!” She roared furiously. “I am going to be free, and I will not follow your insanity anymore!”

“You’re really bold to say such blasphemy. You don’t deserve the power of the gods. The power of Ra would do much better in my hands!”

With a furious roar, her big brother rushed towards her, materializing a huge black and gold scythe.

“Are you really going to fight me?!”

Merneith had no time to think, materializing a spear made of flames and sunlight to defend.

CLASH!

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