All around them, the battlefield slowed.
Soldiers who had been locked in bitter combat moments before staggered back, their weapons lowering almost unconsciously. Goblins, mercenaries, and beasts all recoiled from the clash at the pyramid's base, instinct screaming at them to flee.
Even the Valkyries, oozing bravery, hovered high above now, wary and silent.
The ground around Anubis and Thor was littered with bodies, churned into bloody mud by their struggle. Thunder roared overhead, lightning forking down in wild, chaotic bursts but none dared move closer.
It wasn't a duel anymore.
It was a force of nature meeting a beast from a forgotten age.
Two living weapons thrown against each other, each seeking the other's destruction.
Every clash of claw against hammer sent shockwaves through the ranks, rattling armor, setting teeth on edge.
The army gave them space without ever speaking a word—because deep in their bones, every man and woman knew:
This was not a fight mortals were meant to stand near.
****
Captain Ahmed knelt beside a bleeding soldier, hands glowing as he whispered a healing incantation through clenched teeth. The man beneath him gasped, blood slowing, eyes fluttering open but the relief in Ahmed's chest froze as a deep boom split the air.
He looked up.
Across the dunes, down the slope near the pyramid, two shapes clashed like titans. One was wreathed in stormlight, a living thunderbolt crashing into the earth with every step. The other bare and black-furred moved like a demon unchained, bounding on all fours, carving through whatever stood too close.
"…Anubis," Ahmed breathed, horror and awe mingling in his voice.
A few paces away, Bjorn stood at the edge of a dune, blood-spattered axe in hand. He'd stopped mid-swing, watching the chaos in grim silence. The shield behind them pulsed bright again Morpheus's work, no doubt—but it was the war in front of it that made his grip tighten.
"We're ants," he muttered.
Ahmed stood, wind dragging his cloak sideways. "No," he said, "we're the line."
Bjorn didn't answer. He just turned and raised his axe foci again.
***
The ground trembled with the chaos of battle, but atop the second tier of the pyramid, Khufu remained still, one hand pressed against the sandstone, eyes narrowed into the storm of dust and blood below.
The sand answered his call.
With a rasping breath, he muttered forgotten words, lost to time and empire. Beneath his feet, the golden ground shivered, then erupted faceless warriors of packed earth and dust rose from the dunes like a tide, their bodies crackling with the fury of the desert. They bore spears, curved swords, and broad shields shaped from the compressed bones of the earth itself.
Khufu's fingers twitched and the army moved.
Silent as death, the sand warriors poured down the pyramid steps and slammed into the enemy lines, scattering the beasts and armored soldiers that dared to oppose them. Their strikes were efficient and merciless, their forms almost liquid in their movement, disassembling and reforming as blades and arrows struck them.
At the heart of the chaos, a thin corridor of relative calm opened — a direct line toward the silver-masked Valkyrie, who floated just beyond the frontline, spear spinning lazily in one hand as she barked orders to her sisters.
Khufu's withered mouth curled into a thin smile.
He turned his gaze over his shoulder.
Morpheus was already striding forward a shadow among shadows, his black cloak torn. His hands were loose at his sides, fingers curling as if eager to seize something unseen.
Khufu dipped his head once.
The way is open.
Without breaking stride, Morpheus swept through the carnage. Sand warriors and enemy creatures alike fell back from him, the very air bending strangely around his passage. His path led straight and unbroken toward the silver-masked Valkyrie, the woman who had eluded him once but would not elude him again.
Above them, the shield pulsed weakly but stubbornly, casting a bruised light over the dying battlefield.
"Hello Helga."
The Valkyrie let out a deep yet shaky breath, "Hello Morpheus, I see you're doing well. I'm sorry about the anchor by the way." and she did sound genuinely sorry
Which only made Morpheus angrier, "You don't have the right to apologize. To betray humanity in such a way." Morpheus shook his head, "Why Helga why?"
"Betray humanity? Morpheus look around you. You have forced a war when there could have been a chance of peace." Helga replies sadly
Laughter spilled from the wizard, "Where is the Helga I know? I gave you the option to live forever as a human! What happened." Morpheus snarled stepping forward
Helga stepped back, "In my final moments I realized to achieve my dream I must become something more than human. I know you do not understand, I know you feel betrayed but, Morpheus I would never hurt you."
"Silence!" Morpheus bellowed rage building in his soul
He ran his hand down his face calming his heart, "For consideration of our past relationship I will allow you this one opportunity Helga. Leave this battlefield and never return."
He couldn't see it but a deeply sad smile formed on her lips, "I'm sorry but I cannot do that."
***
The sky howled as Anubis lunged again, bloodied claws raking sparks across Thor's breastplate. Thunder cracked overhead, answering its master's fury. Thor twisted, driving his hammer upward into the beast's ribs with a force that sent tremors through the sand.
Anubis grunted a deep, guttural sound but he didn't stagger. His body, torn and charred from lightning strikes, rippled with unnatural strength as he slammed his forehead into Thor's face, cracking the Norse god's nose with a wet snap. Thor stumbled back a step, wiping blood from his mouth, and grinned.
"You hit like a human." he spat.
Anubis snarled, saliva and gore trailing from his fangs as he dropped to all fours and lunged again not like a man, but like a beast unhinged. His claws carved furrows into the ground, kicking up clouds of sand. Thor raised his hammer in time to block the next blow, but the sheer weight behind Anubis drove him back, step after step, each impact threatening to collapse his stance.
Lightning peeled from Thor's shoulders, lashing at Anubis like whips of pure pain. Flesh seared. Fur blackened. The stink of burning godflesh filled the air. Still, Anubis pressed forward.
Thor's hammer crashed down.
Anubis caught it.
His legs nearly buckled under the strain, muscles trembling, but he caught it. With a roar, he twisted, dragging the hammer and Thor down with it, then brought his knee up into Thor's stomach, doubling him over. Anubis's jaw unhinged unnaturally far wider than any mortal beast and clamped down on Thor's shoulder.
The god of thunder screamed.
A bolt of raw power surged through Anubis's body in retaliation, throwing him back in a blast of pure white light. He hit the ground hard, skidding in the sand, half of his chest smoking and torn open.
For a moment, both gods remained still, chests heaving, blood dripping from fingers and weapons alike.
Then they rose.
Thor's body sparked as the storm recharged around him. He slammed the base of his hammer into the ground, summoning arcs of electricity from the clouds above. The lightning didn't strike the battlefield — it gathered into him, feeding his body, his muscles, his wrath.
Anubis pushed to his feet with a growl, bones knitting together beneath skin stitched with sand and divine hatred. His wounds pulsed, then hissed closed fueled by the slaughtered Valkyries still scattered around him.
Neither of them spoke this time.
They simply charged.
Sand exploded beneath Anubis's claws as he bolted forward, faster than before, fueled by rage and regeneration. Thor met him with a bellow and a swing that split the air like an axe against stone.
The second clash was worse.
Anubis ducked low, shoulder-slamming into Thor's ribs as the hammer grazed his back. Thor responded by grabbing the beast's neck and bringing his knee up, cracking Anubis's jaw. Anubis retaliated with a swipe that tore the gauntlet from Thor's arm, flesh and metal flying.
The two titans became a blur of violence.