DOTM: Chapter 326/327

Chapter 326: Gate of Heaven

The familiar light, the familiar magic circle pattern, and the even more familiar captain's cabin.

Looking at the surroundings he knew so well, and the large group of people almost filling the entire cabin, Ethan could only force a helpless smile.

"As expected, I really screwed up."

By secretly luring away a soul under the God of Death's control without permission, Ethan had indeed enraged this powerful being.

The god had followed Ethan's mana fluctuations and launched an attack.

Ethan was fortunate that this god of death, perhaps used to dealing with mortals, chose first to punish the one who had offended him by using divine authority. As a result, the first strike had no effect on Ethan, an outsider.

Anubis quickly launched a second attack. Unfortunately for him, by then, Ethan had already sensed something was wrong and had decisively activated the teleportation magic circle to escape.

Ethan had been considerate. He didn't escape alone but brought everyone around him with him, preventing them from staying behind and facing the wrath of the God of Death.

Standing still and carefully sensing his surroundings, Ethan confirmed that Anubis, the god of death from the Mummy world, couldn't cross the planar barrier to pursue him into this world. He was safe now.

However, it hadn't come without a price.

"Ethan, your hand!"

Even Logan could see that something was wrong. Ethan's entire right hand, from the palm to halfway up his forearm, had turned black. Even as an untrained druid, he could clearly sense the heavy aura of death. This terrifying energy was not only corroding and destroying Ethan's hand and forearm, but it was also spreading upward.

"Loki!"

Loki and the others had already sensed Ethan's return, accompanied by a terrifying energy fluctuation. Both Loki and Selene realized something had gone wrong. Even without Ethan calling for them, they had rushed over.

Ignoring the crowd of unfamiliar faces, Loki saw Ethan's outstretched right hand, immediately pulled out his Ice Scepter, and cleanly severed Ethan's right forearm with the curved blade at its tip.

At the same time, the Ice Scepter's frost power erupted, instantly freezing the stump of Ethan's arm. The severed portion of the right arm was also encased in solid ice, sealing off the death aura within and preventing it from spreading.

Seeing that, although a trace of black death aura remained on Ethan's arm, it had stopped spreading, everyone breathed a small sigh of relief.

Only then did Loki ask what had happened.

He knew Ethan's current strength was no weaker than his own back then, maybe even stronger. Yet Ethan had taken a hit during his trip to the so-called Mummy world.

This made Loki very curious—what kind of being could have done this?

After Ethan gave a brief explanation of what had happened, Loki showed a rare hint of surprise upon hearing that the being who had injured Ethan hadn't even shown its true form and had attacked from another plane.

"It seems the world you visited this time wasn't as boring as I thought."

Anubis's attack had not been easy to withstand. Ethan had personally experienced the pure death energy it carried. He wasn't at all bothered by losing his hand, because if he wanted to, he could remove the remaining energy from his arm within a short time and then regenerate it completely with his powerful self-healing ability.

He simply found this death energy to be extremely pure, and energy of this purity wasn't easy to find. He wanted to study it carefully.

When everyone heard Ethan's plan, they were speechless. Even at a time like this, he was thinking about studying the God of Death's energy? Wasn't that a little too confident?

Several people in the room were completely confused. Evelyn, her brother Jonathan, and O'Connell were like people who had been shot by dozens of stray bullets—they'd been dragged out of their own world without warning. When they heard that they were now in another world, they thought Ethan and the others were joking.

Imhotep, on the other hand, was silent. But this silence wasn't reassuring. Everyone could feel the explosive excitement hidden beneath it. Fortunately, Ethan spoke up and calmed him down.

"Don't get agitated. Although I angered the God of Death this time, I also successfully summoned Anck-su-namun's soul."

Imhotep, who had been ready to fight Ethan to the death, felt more than half his fury disappear upon hearing this. The remaining anger didn't vanish completely because he still doubted whether Ethan was telling the truth.

If Ethan could prove that he had indeed summoned Anck-su-namun's soul, this anger might instantly turn into gratitude.

If Ethan was lying, then the rage that had dissipated would quickly return, and it might be even more intense than before. At this moment, Imhotep hadn't realized that, because his connection to his gods had been severed, all his mana had disappeared.

Of course, Ethan wasn't lying. He disdained using such tricks. There was a real reason why the God of Death had been so furious.

Besides having a soul forcibly taken from his jurisdiction, what truly enraged Anubis was that something had been done that he had explicitly forbidden: drawing a soul from his realm into another world's realm of the dead.

That place was the Holy Light Cross, which had been undergoing mysterious changes.

Ever since the Holy Light Cross began to change back in the Resident Evil world, Ethan had been paying close attention to it. During the forced summoning of Anck-su-namun's soul, Ethan had been surprised to find that the Holy Light Cross had the effect of attracting the dead, and could even host their souls. Using the Holy Light Cross in combination with summoning spells produced remarkable results.

Of course, this act of "soul-snatching" completely enraged Anubis. After the first attack failed, he immediately launched a more powerful second attack. Even though Ethan escaped in time, he still took a hit.

But overall, Ethan hadn't suffered any real losses. He had achieved his primary goal. The only unexpected thing was the significantly enhanced status of the Holy Light Cross.

He swiped his left hand across his chest, then extended it outward. A soft golden-yellow light flashed, and a gate glowing with a holy aura appeared out of thin air in front of everyone.

As the gate opened, a woman who was semi-transparent, existing between reality and illusion, stepped out.

"Anck-su-namun!"

Imhotep rushed forward immediately, but when he tried to embrace his beloved, he found he couldn't touch her at all.

He turned to Ethan. Now, all his hope rested on this powerful spellcaster. Just moments ago, when he tried to cast a spell to resurrect Anck-su-namun, he was shocked to find that he had no mana left in his body.

"This isn't your world. Your mana comes from the deities you served, and from the curses placed upon you," Ethan shrugged. "Obviously, those gods can't reach us here."

Imhotep nodded. But he didn't care about that right now. He was far more concerned about whether Anck-su-namun could be resurrected.

"She can."

Ethan quickly gave a firm answer and pointed to the side. The reason he had taken a hit from the God of Death wasn't because he couldn't dodge—it was because he had taken the strike to bring Anck-su-namun's body back with him.

"I keep my promises."

With her soul, her original body, and Ethan possessing the Fountain of Life that could restore vitality, there were no major obstacles to Anck-su-namun's resurrection.

Especially since there were no "shackles" attached to her soul, the resurrection would be true and complete, with no side effects.

This attempt by Ethan could be considered as finding a workaround that wasn't really a workaround.

Snatch the soul and run before the god reacts.

If it were a world like the Mummy world, where gods clearly existed, Ethan probably wouldn't go back again. But if it were a world like Marvel, where it was unclear whether anyone governed hell, he might only need to dodge the initial backlash from violating a rule.

If the other side was a realm governed by impersonal rules, Ethan wouldn't even need to take a hit. He could use the cross to create the illusion that the soul was simply transferring from one place to another—like ascending from hell to heaven—rather than escaping to the mortal realm and breaking some cosmic rule.

Once the soul entered the Holy Light Cross, whether it was resurrected or left to slumber in this little pocket of heaven had nothing to do with hell or the underworld. Naturally, there would be no further trouble.

Only after figuring this out did Ethan feel that this trip had not been in vain. Even though he had taken a blow from Anubis, he had ultimately gotten everything he wanted.

He even got things he didn't want.

Looking at the suddenly lively Goddess of Dawn, Ethan couldn't help but feel a bit amused and helpless.

"It's gotten so lively, I'm really not used to it."

Logan knew that Ethan hadn't intended to bring so many people back.

Jonathan, who was only good at stealing and stirring up trouble, had no combat power. Under normal circumstances, Ethan would never have brought someone like him onto the ship.

His sister Evelyn was at least a charming bookworm. At worst, she was nice to look at when nothing else was going on. Jonathan, being a man, didn't serve that purpose.

It was the same with O'Connell. Although he was strong and a good marksman, his abilities weren't enough to be useful on the ship. At most, he could do odd jobs.

But since Ethan had dragged them into this, he couldn't just abandon them by dropping them into some random world. He had to take responsibility. Whether they wanted to stay on the ship or be dropped off somewhere more suitable, Ethan would accommodate them.

As for going back to the Mummy world? That would probably be difficult. Ethan wasn't planning on returning anytime soon.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 327: Lively

"Can't go back?"

"Yeah, can't go back."

Ethan rubbed his remaining half forearm with his intact left hand. Missing a hand was often inconvenient, but he couldn't restore it just yet. He wanted to thoroughly study the clump of death energy lingering on the limb. Since the arm was already lost, he wasn't willing to let it go to waste without gaining something from it, so for now, he had to endure being one-handed.

"At least not until I can beat Anubis."

These words left Evelyn and O'Connell in complete despair.

Defeat Anubis? It would have been less cruel to just say they could never return. Defeating the Egyptian God of Death was something they couldn't even imagine.

After Ethan explained the situation to O'Connell and the siblings Evelyn and Jonathan, their reactions were surprisingly calm. They weren't panicked about leaving their original world, and instead became curious about Ethan's ship.

Logan had some familiarity with O'Connell, so after the explanation, he took O'Connell and the others on a tour of the ship to help them get used to the environment.

Whether they would eventually live in another world or stay aboard the ship long-term, they had no choice in the short term and would definitely be living on the Dawn for a while.

As for Imhotep?

After Ethan helped him resurrect Anck-su-namun, the former Egyptian High Priest didn't care where they were. Leaving his original world and entering a completely new and unfamiliar one was actually a good thing for him.

Here, no one knew him or Anck-su-namun, and there were no annoying Guardians looking to cause trouble. He could start a new life with her.

"But I have to warn you, your current condition probably won't last long."

Just as Imhotep was envisioning a bright future, Ethan doused him with a bucket of cold water.

"Your form of existence is somewhere between living and undead. Although you appear to be resurrected, the elements maintaining this form have already left you. If you don't resolve this soon, you will truly die."

Imhotep's resurrection had originally relied on Anubis, the God of Death, and the curse left behind by the ancient Egyptians. Multiple forces combined to allow Imhotep to exist in the human world in this special state.

In this form, he was neither truly human nor entirely undead.

However, once he left the Mummy world, Anubis's power was the first to leave him. The only thing now sustaining Imhotep was the curse tied to his original body, but outside its native world, that energy would slowly deplete and couldn't be replenished. The curse was based on divine magic, and after leaving the world governed by its deity, the energy fueling the curse would gradually disappear.

At that point, Imhotep would die.

"But the good news is, this death would free you entirely from that curse."

Imhotep understood what Ethan meant. As the curse's energy vanished, the curse itself would be lifted. As for dying because of it, he didn't consider that a problem.

After all, the soul didn't immediately enter the realm of the dead—assuming such a realm even existed in this world. And Ethan, who had learned many soul-related spells, had more than enough ability to preserve his soul and resurrect him again.

He could even use this opportunity to break free of all past restraints and return to being a living person.

Although he would lose his powerful magic, once he regained a human body, he could retrain and recover his magic power. With enough experience, it wouldn't be difficult to return to his original level.

However, that would require Ethan's help. Imhotep thought about it and realized that his previous agreement with Ethan had only involved resurrecting Anck-su-namun. It hadn't included saving himself.

Imhotep was very pragmatic. Especially now that Anck-su-namun had truly been brought back and he was looking forward to a new life, he wasn't willing to die just like this.

"As long as you're willing to save my life, so I can stay with Anck-su-namun, I'm willing to offer my loyalty."

In fact, Imhotep even considered offering his faith, but he wasn't sure if Ethan had any use for it.

As a high priest, he naturally knew the method of drawing power from believers to enhance one's magic. He also knew that kind of power came with many complications. Even at his peak, he hadn't dared to use it directly. Instead, he had worked to build followers and have them channel their belief toward a certain deity, from which he could then borrow power.

This approach was clearly useless with Ethan. After spending time with him, Imhotep understood that this spellcaster didn't worship any god. So he didn't bring it up.

"That's not difficult. I can help you with that."

Ethan didn't say whether he accepted Imhotep's allegiance. He planned to observe him for a while longer.

After resolving Imhotep's problem, O'Connell and the others finished their tour of the ship. They familiarized themselves with its layout, picked out rooms, and were soon chatting about all the wonders of the Dawn.

At first, Evelyn had thought the Dawn was just a primitive sailing vessel. She expected they'd have to live in poor conditions.

To her surprise, the ship had many magical and convenient facilities. She was told these things used something called "magic stones" as fuel. Evelyn even took a look at one and couldn't believe that something resembling a gem could have such mystical effects.

After the tour, they felt that staying on this ship for a while wouldn't be bad. As for what to do next, they hadn't thought that far ahead.

Evelyn, O'Connell, and Jonathan were all surprisingly laid-back. Once they overcame their initial doubt, they no longer cared about different worlds, environments, or civilizations. They just focused on more practical matters: how to solve the issues of clothing and daily necessities?

Ethan glanced at Anck-su-namun and Imhotep, who were still wearing tattered rags, and at O'Connell and the others, whose clothes had been worn for days and were dirty and damaged.

This really was something that needed to be resolved first.

"Evelyn, go get some suitable clothes from Ada and Annette. O'Connell and Jonathan can pick something out from mine."

As for daily necessities, there was no need to worry. The Dawn was well stocked, with most supplies sourced from future Earth. They were far more convenient and efficient than anything from O'Connell's era.

By the time these matters were handled, night had fallen. With so many newcomers, the Dawn had suddenly become very lively. Ethan organized a group dinner to let everyone meet and get acquainted.

Whether it was O'Connell, Evelyn, or Jonathan, they were all incredibly talkative and outgoing. Only Imhotep and Anck-su-namun—still dazed from her resurrection—were relatively quiet.

In this setting, the dinner had barely begun before Evelyn started chatting with Loki.

The reason was simple. During the introductions, Ethan had directly said that this was Loki from Norse mythology, which Evelyn found hard to believe.

"Wait, I haven't ended up in some mythological world, have I?"

After being struck by Anubis and finding herself unable to return home, she was now meeting someone who claimed to be Loki? Evelyn started wondering if this was all a dream.

Loki couldn't be bothered to explain. In fact, he didn't want to deal with Evelyn at all. Her endless stream of questions was already driving him mad.

Ethan ignored the helpless Loki and continued with what he was doing.

He was wrapping his right arm in bandages covered in magic runes. He couldn't rely on Loki's frost to seal the death energy forever. That harsh cold would eventually harm him too. So before dinner, he had taken the time to prepare a roll of rune-covered bandages to seal off the death qi himself.

But with only one hand, wrapping it wasn't easy. Sherry, who had finished eating, watched for a while and wanted to help, but Ethan stopped her.

"This kind of power isn't something you can handle, so I have to do it myself."

Anyone could wrap a bandage, of course. But while wrapping, he had to channel magic to activate the runes. The death energy was far too dangerous for ordinary people. Among everyone present, only Loki could ignore its threat—and there was no chance Loki would come help wrap bandages.

After quite a bit of effort, Ethan finally finished. He patted Sherry's head, reassuring her, then looked around at the increasingly lively gathering.

"It's actually kind of nice... being lively."

He thought back to the time when he was completely alone. Back then, he had desperately wished for someone aboard his ship to chat with.

Just as he was reminiscing about those lonely days, Ada pushed her plate in front of him and took the untouched food from his.

Ethan looked down to see that the steak on the plate had been cut into bite-sized pieces, ready to eat with a fork.

"Taking such good care of me?"

"Well, you're currently disabled."

Ada didn't look up, continuing to cut the food in front of her. "Or you could just stick an iron hook on your wrist or something. That would suit your captain identity pretty well."

Ethan's face darkened. Why would he attach something like that? He wasn't some pirate captain.

Speaking of pirates, Ethan suddenly remembered that his plan to go to the Caribbean world would have to be postponed for a few days. He didn't want to show up there looking like this. It would seriously damage his image.

(To be continued.)