Chapter 13: Transmigration Actually Belongs to an Active Skill
In a room, Hikigaya sat cross-legged on the floor, shaping a tangible object between his hands.
Compared to the beginning, when he had to carefully carve and infuse power, his current method of making protective charms had become much more "intelligent."
Using the power of wind and sun, he directly applied natural forces to the raw materials.
Many of these Egyptian charms would not meet modern standards of "beauty" from an artistic standpoint.
The aesthetic sensibilities of the ancient Egyptians were quite different from modern ones—they understood beauty as "usefulness is beauty."
Ancient Egyptian definitions of art were somewhat perverse—they had to reflect qualities invisible to the naked eye, which could only be achieved through magic.
Thus, visual art was not primarily for beauty or enjoyment, making Egyptian charms determined by the effectiveness of the magic rather than the artistry itself.
To Hikigaya's left lay a pile of finished charms. To modern eyes, they were utterly unattractive—shaped like pillows, scepters, axes, flies, hedgehogs, even human limbs and organs. At first glance, they seemed bizarre, but to ancient Egyptians, the meanings represented were highly auspicious.
Scepters and axes symbolized strength, dogs represented agility and vigilance, flies and frogs represented fertility, while limb- and organ-shaped charms ensured flexibility and intact organs.
Honestly, Hikigaya wouldn't have known about these intricacies if he hadn't returned to ancient Egypt.
The most impressive charms were deity-shaped, but Hikigaya could only craft Osiris. As for Set… sorry, that wasn't in his department.
The charm in his hands was the last one.
It quickly took shape—a sun disk charm.
The sun disk was the pinnacle of status in ancient Egypt. To the Egyptians, light was beauty, and the essence of a deity's beauty was brilliance.
However, as Hikigaya saw it, he could make any kind of sun disk he wanted.
He set the sun disk aside, stretched, and moved about, then sifted through the pile to pick out a few useful charms before heading out.
A waiting wizard immediately knelt upon seeing him.
Hikigaya let him finish—stop him to show courtesy? Not a chance. After all the charms he had made, kneeling or kowtowing was perfectly justified.
Once the wizard finished, Hikigaya opened the door, gestured at the pile of charms, said, "Take these back and play with them," and headed toward the giant pit.
The sun was no longer intense; it slowly descended toward the horizon.
This was exactly what Hikigaya needed.
After much trial and error, he had begun to grasp the rules for using his divine power to interact with the flow of time.
First, he needed a medium.
The two best media in the world for him were the Nile and the sun, both imbued with temporal significance in mythology.
Using the Nile as a medium was more complicated than the sun.
Next was positioning; otherwise, who knew where or when he might end up? That wasn't a problem either.
Lani had previously given him several items, some of which he brought back to the modern era. These served as "location markers."
As for returning, the sun disk itself could serve as a guide back home. Even if he went to ancient Egypt naked, the sun disk could function similarly.
Timing the sun's descent, Hikigaya held the sun disk and approached the edge of the pit before jumping in.
As soon as he fell, a gust of wind lifted him.
Feeling the full measure of sunlight from this era absorbed into the disk, Hikigaya secured it and slowly descended.
At the pit's center, he could feel heat waves rolling in from all directions.
This had nothing to do with the sky's sun, which was nearly about to sleep. The pit and surrounding areas were frigid, except for the center, heated intensely due to the residual power from his previous fight with Horus.
As the sky god of wind, Horus had wielded cold winds. Now, Hikigaya could sense their powers intertwining here.
Judging by the magnitude, this pit could still be used one or two more times.
Hikigaya closed his eyes and began to release the power of time.
The nascent temporal energy merged almost instantaneously with the existing power in the pit's center. In the unseen world, these forces rapidly constructed themselves.
Though his eyes were closed, Hikigaya saw light.
He saw the great river raging through canyons, boiling waters violently eroding cliff walls. He saw countless people marching across yellow sands, weapons glinting in the sunlight.
Finally, he saw a great pyramid, different from the modern view. Its surface was smooth.
At its base were not only isolated monuments but also extensive architectural complexes.
Long causeways connected the pyramid to the Nile, flanked by temple after temple. Hikigaya could hear the voices within—the hymns for pharaohs who had entered the afterlife.
Beyond the temples lay savannahs yet to become deserts. Fertile grasslands provided resources for those residing in the pyramid's auxiliary complexes.
Above, the blazing sun cast its unique brilliance. Within this radiance, a figure floated, eyes open, surveying the land below.
He was Hikigaya Hachiman, a god-slayer from three thousand years in the future.
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