DOTM: Chapter 324/325

Chapter 324: Shackles on the Soul

Ethan had previously wanted to negotiate with the Guardians because he didn't want them causing trouble while he was trying to resurrect Imhotep, wasting both time and energy.

Now that Imhotep was resurrected, what was there left to negotiate?

Make friends with the Guardians? Ethan wasn't interested, and the Guardians wouldn't really consider someone like him—an outsider who had brought Imhotep back to life—as a friend anyway. The only reason they were showing up now was that they'd realized they couldn't defeat him head-on and were trying to find another way.

Ethan couldn't be bothered with them anymore. He was about to start learning necromancy and resurrection magic from Imhotep and had no time to waste.

If they were smart and left him alone, there'd be no problem. If they wanted to die and insisted on showing up, Ethan wouldn't mind sending them off.

Ignoring Ardeth Bay, Ethan moved his fingers slightly. A blue portal appeared beside him.

He didn't want to stay in the desert. Hamunaptra might be several thousand years old, but at least it had a roof and wasn't filled with endless sand.

The desert wind carried fine grains of sand that could seep into nearly every crevice. Just standing still, it was hard to avoid the tiny grains working their way into your clothes and especially your shoes. Staying there for a long time was extremely uncomfortable.

Actually, Ethan wanted to leave this place altogether, but if he wanted to resurrect Anck-su-namun, Imhotep needed to prepare in advance. The necessary altar was already in Hamunaptra, and the resurrection also required her body and the internal organs that had been removed, which were still inside the pyramid.

Logan and the others stepped through the portal one by one. Ethan was the last to enter, but before he left, he gave Ardeth Bay a final message that could be considered a last bit of advice: "I have no interest in destroying the world or letting Imhotep cause any disasters. That is my true intention. Whether you believe me or not is up to you."

With Imhotep in tow, Ethan stepped into the portal. The blue light vanished immediately. Ardeth Bay had no idea where they had gone or what he should do next, so he could only return to his team and discuss the next steps with the higher-ups in the Guardians.

Ethan, who had returned to Hamunaptra, didn't care about the Guardians' reaction. He had his own priorities.

As for the group of explorers, most had been killed by the Guardians. A few who escaped had fled into the desert. Whether they survived depended entirely on their own luck.

Hamunaptra fell silent once more. Just a few people like Ethan wandering the massive pyramid weren't enough to bring much life to the ancient ruins.

No matter how much noise they made inside, from the outside Hamunaptra still looked like a lifeless ancient pyramid. That's why Ardeth Bay didn't realize they had returned.

"My lord, are you really willing to help me resurrect Anck-su-namun?"

Imhotep asked the question that weighed on his heart. He couldn't understand why Ethan was willing to help him. After their recent conflict, he didn't think someone like Ethan would be so generous as to forgive his past actions and even help him bring his lover back to life.

He suspected Ethan had an ulterior motive, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"As long as you can solve my problem."

Ethan repeated this condition. Imhotep had to fully answer all of Ethan's questions about souls and resurrection before he would assist with bringing Anck-su-namun back.

If possible, Ethan also wanted Imhotep to swear an oath. Once Anck-su-namun was resurrected, the two of them should live their lives peacefully and not try to destroy the world with their powers.

Ethan felt Imhotep didn't have such ambitions. In the second movie, the desire to defeat the Scorpion King and control the Army of Anubis came more from the reincarnated Anck-su-namun. If she hadn't suggested it, Imhotep might never have considered conquering the world.

As for that reincarnated Anck-su-namun…

In his previous life, some believed the woman just resembled Anck-su-namun and wasn't her true reincarnation. Ethan didn't care either way. Whether she was real or fake made no difference now.

He was going to summon the soul of the original Anck-su-namun from the underworld of this world and resurrect her using her original body. Even if that reincarnated version was the real Anck-su-namun, Imhotep would definitely prefer the original.

But if Anck-su-namun had been reincarnated, was her soul still in the underworld? Or did reincarnation in this world not involve the entire soul, leaving behind her memories and part of her soul in the underworld, while only a fragment with residual imprints had been reborn?

This seemed to involve some of the world's laws, and just thinking about it gave Ethan a headache.

The best-case scenario was that she was a fake and the real Anck-su-namun's soul was still in the underworld.

A slightly worse outcome was that only a partial Anck-su-namun could be resurrected. In that case, Ethan might need to find the reincarnated body and help her merge with her full soul—only by resolving all these issues could he fully understand the resurrection process.

"Maybe this is why Imhotep is bound by the Book of the Living? Is his soul actually incomplete?"

Since becoming a mage, Ethan's thoughts had grown increasingly scattered. He jumped from considering Anck-su-namun's situation to thinking about Imhotep's restraints.

But it wasn't just random speculation. If he didn't figure out these issues, he wouldn't know where to start. He needed to eliminate all hidden dangers before heading to Tony Stark. He wasn't the type to offer a half-baked solution.

Hamunaptra was massive, and Imhotep knew his way around well. Everyone quickly found a clean and relatively intact room to settle down in.

Evelyn was delighted. She could finally study everything in depth. To her, everything inside Hamunaptra was a major archaeological discovery.

O'Connell was bored. He had no interest in archaeology, but after finding countless treasures, he and Jonathan found something to do—collecting valuable, easily portable gold and jewelry, leaving behind the heavier containers.

Even if they only took a small portion, it would be enough for them to live comfortably and never worry about money again. They felt the trip was well worth it.

Following Ethan's suggestion, Logan also packed up some gold to bring back. Ethan and the others needed to travel between different worlds. The gold he'd been using before was left by Arthur. While it hadn't been used up yet, there wasn't much left to begin with. This time, they could replenish their supply and avoid shortages later.

Ada didn't have anything specific to do. She wandered around Hamunaptra every day and occasionally went outside to check on the situation. It counted as a basic recon mission and a chance to experience the unique culture of this world.

Only Ethan was busy. He spent every day discussing various mystical topics with Imhotep.

Starting from the basics of ancient Egyptian magic, they covered the specific spell mechanisms in the Book of the Dead and the Book of the Living. As a high priest, Imhotep lived up to his title. His understanding of ancient Egyptian magic exceeded Ethan's expectations.

For example, Imhotep had long since figured out the principles behind the divine spells recorded in the two books. This meant that as long as he had enough magic power, even without faith, he could still cast the spells by following the correct steps.

The problem was that Imhotep's magic as a high priest came from his devout faith and the painful curse he suffered after death. The magic power he'd cultivated in life had been wiped out when he died. At certain specific moments, his magic power would be completely stripped away without leaving a trace.

However, that didn't affect Ethan's learning of ancient Egyptian magic. He was finally able to study these spells in detail, especially the parts related to death, the underworld, and souls in the Book of the Dead.

"Even with my understanding of death and soul magic, I still can't cast these spells using my own power. I must rely on the Book of the Dead and the power attached to it to resurrect Anck-su-namun."

Through systematic learning and study, Ethan finally realized how difficult resurrection truly was. Imhotep admitted that despite understanding the principles of the spells in the Book of the Dead, he simply couldn't perform them.

It wasn't just about whether he had enough magic power—it also involved the deeper issue of "authority and responsibility."

In this world of The Mummy, where gods really existed, did you think you could just steal something from the underworld they ruled? The gods could easily destroy you and drag your soul back for eternal punishment.

Ethan thought about it for a while. The Marvel Cinematic Universe also seemed to have a hell. There was a scene depicting it in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Although the show didn't provide much explanation and didn't mention whether powerful beings governed heaven or hell, Ethan understood one thing—even a sub-plane that operated solely on rules wouldn't allow people to freely take whatever they wanted from it.

"Even if the god of death allows you to summon a soul back to the human world, they will pay close attention to the process."

This was the fundamental reason Imhotep had been subject to so many restrictions after his resurrection. That's why it was incredibly difficult to extract a soul without attracting the attention of powerful beings or universal laws and without leaving any shackles behind.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 325: The Death-Seeking Soul-Summoning Ceremony

After three months of continuous study, Ethan had nearly extracted all of Imhotep's knowledge.

Strictly speaking, at this point, Ethan already had the ability to resurrect Anck-su-namun, even if her body was incomplete. He wouldn't even need to prepare various ritual tools. With his powerful magic and precise spell control, he could bring Anck-su-namun back to life.

However, he still couldn't break free from the constraints of the Book of the Dead and couldn't complete the resurrection relying solely on his own abilities.

This meant that even if Anck-su-namun were resurrected, she would still be controlled by the Book of the Living, or rather, by the gods.

This control wasn't about being overwhelmed by sheer divine power. Rather, it was the gods arbitrarily using a 'rule' to decide your life or death, or making it so you couldn't live or die.

Thinking until his head hurt, Ethan finally cleared his mind, which had been running at high speed for some time. He sat down on the ground and zoned out for a while before feeling slightly better.

Looking up, he realized he was the only one left in the room aside from Ada, who had returned at some point. Imhotep no longer stayed by Ethan's side waiting to answer questions.

All of his knowledge had been extracted by Ethan. The remaining information about rituals, worshiping deities, and general ancient Egyptian culture was of no interest to Ethan.

After "donating" all his knowledge to Ethan and sitting in front of him for over two months, answering the occasional question, Imhotep now had more free time.

Recently, Ethan had been asking fewer and fewer questions. Sometimes, he wouldn't ask anything at all for an entire day. Most of the time, Imhotep wandered around Hamunaptra, seemingly reminiscing about his past glory.

Perhaps being thoroughly disciplined by Ethan had worn down some of the arrogance in this High Priest. At least during this period, Imhotep was polite toward Ethan's companions, and everyone got along reasonably well. Occasionally, he would even take them on strolls through Hamunaptra, explaining the purpose of each room.

Touring Hamunaptra and listening to Imhotep recount stories of the past had become one of the few sources of entertainment for the group.

Still, most people remained wary of Imhotep, so they usually stuck together in groups, giving him no chance to act out of line.

Only Ada often acted alone. This spy never liked cooperating with others, just like this time.

"You just got back from outside?"

Ada was beautiful and carried herself with excellent poise. Ethan never denied that her high appearance rating was a big reason he invited her onto the ship.

At this moment, Ada was sitting casually on a stone platform, her short boots placed beside her. She was taking off her socks and slapping the soles of her feet, probably trying to shake out the fine sand or knock off any stuck grains.

There was sand inside Hamunaptra too, but not to this extent. Only returning from outside would require such a cleanup.

Hearing Ethan's question, Ada didn't find her actions undignified at all. After confirming most of the sand was out of her socks, she picked up her boots and began digging into them carefully.

"Not all of the Guardians have left. Some are still watching nearby. I go out every day to check if their numbers have changed."

It was normal for the Guardians to remain. One of their duties was to protect Hamunaptra. Even though Imhotep, the main threat, had been resurrected, they still had to stay until their leaders made a new decision.

If the Guardians withdrew, it meant a decision had been made. Whether they would then move against Ethan's group or simply disband remained to be seen.

A sudden increase in Guardian numbers would suggest that Ethan's group had been discovered and reinforcements had arrived in preparation for an attack.

"Good to keep an eye on them. Who knows what those lunatics will do."

After digging around for a while, Ada turned the boots upside down in front of her. As she tapped their sides, a pile of sand spilled out.

"How much longer are we staying here? I feel like my skin is getting rough."

"That's definitely your imagination. The enhancement potion I gave you is enough to prevent this kind of weather from affecting you."

Ethan rested his chin in his hand, watching Ada's casual movements with interest. They had nothing to do with elegance or beauty, yet he found it amusing.

His knowledge of this woman mainly came from a few games and CG films in his past life. In those works, Ada was always beautiful no matter the setting. Scenes like this, where she was cleaning sand from her socks, never existed.

Watching Ada fiddle for a bit before putting her socks and boots back on, she instantly transformed back into the poised, stunning spy—as if the person doing those things a moment ago wasn't her.

"As for when we're leaving... it's probably time."

After all, Hamunaptra was a pyramid that had stood there for thousands of years. It wasn't exactly comfortable to live in, and even Ethan had grown tired of staying there for three months.

It wasn't that he couldn't handle hardship. When he first set sail, hadn't he endured wind, sun, and rain on a tiny boat? It was just that now, when he had the ability to live better, he didn't see the point in suffering. The only reason he hadn't found a more comfortable place this time was that Hamunaptra was secluded, and Imhotep needed to perform the resurrection here.

Now that he had learned the knowledge he wanted, and with the problem seemingly unsolvable in the short term, there was no point in wasting more time. Why continue making things uncomfortable?

"I plan to help Imhotep resurrect Anck-su-namun, then find a more comfortable environment and continue my research at a slower pace."

He had originally intended to fully revise the resurrection spell, fix all the potential issues and side effects, and use the resurrection of Anck-su-namun to test the results and determine whether further adjustments were needed, or if he could go straight to Tony.

But things were more troublesome than expected. The modifications he could make were minor and limited to peripheral areas. The core problems remained unresolved.

The biggest issue was how to avoid the Death God's surveillance, locate a soul that had already 'slept' forever in the underworld, and pull it back to the mortal world.

As of now, there was no good solution. The resurrection spell in the Book of the Dead involved making a formal request to the Death God through the book and obtaining permission. Afterward, the Death God would mark the soul.

Ethan was now considering whether those marks could be removed. If so, to some extent, the resurrected person would be truly free of side effects. The shackles placed by the Death God or other higher beings would no longer affect them.

Of course, if the Death God was petty and chose to settle the score later, there would still be follow-up problems.

Getting up from the ground, Ethan brushed the dust off his clothes and went with Ada to find Imhotep.

Imhotep was strolling through Hamunaptra with his "tour group," occasionally explaining some ancient Egyptian customs. When he saw Ethan approaching, he thought Ethan had come up with another question. Instead, he heard the sentence he had been waiting to hear for so long.

"Let's go resurrect Anck-su-namun."

This was a promise Ethan had made earlier, and he wasn't about to ignore it just because he'd fought with Imhotep before.

Always keeping his word was a line Ethan had drawn for himself, and one he would never cross.

Imhotep knew that Ethan had been trying to modify the resurrection ritual. But as a High Priest, he was more concerned about the authority of the Death God. Although he longed for the kind of resurrection Ethan described—one that could fully escape the Death God's control—after calming down, he felt it was unrealistic.

After several months, he had gradually let go of that "unrealistic" idea. Now, he just wanted to resurrect Anck-su-namun as soon as possible and live a peaceful life with his beloved.

But he hadn't dared suggest, "Don't waste time, let's just resurrect Anck-su-namun." Deep down, he still harbored a sliver of hope. If Ethan really succeeded, wouldn't that be even better?

Although it now seemed Ethan hadn't succeeded, Imhotep no longer cared about those things. Just being able to see his beloved again was enough. He immediately led Ethan to the stone chamber he had prepared long ago for the resurrection ritual.

All the necessary items had already been set up, and Anck-su-namun's body had long since been moved there. In fact, if Imhotep had access to the Book of the Dead, he could perform the resurrection at any time.

However, if Imhotep were to preside over the resurrection, a sacrifice would be needed. One life would have to be exchanged to bring Anck-su-namun's soul back.

Ethan, on the other hand, had no intention of doing that. He planned to directly summon Anck-su-namun's soul and revitalize her body using the Spring of Life and strong enough magic.

The only uncertainty was whether the Death God, as the master of the underworld, would be displeased if no life was offered in exchange.

"We should prepare a sacrifice."

Seeing that Ethan couldn't improve the resurrection spell, Imhotep suggested cautiously that a sacrifice should still be made.

But Ethan deliberately didn't want to do that. He had agreed to resurrect Anck-su-namun precisely to test various ideas and verify certain theories. On the way here, he had already decided to take a major risk based on his own approach.

For example, using his own magic to "hook" Anck-su-namun's soul directly from the underworld—without the Death God's permission.

Of course, this move carried immense risk. So before acting, Ethan gave Logan and the others a look, signaling them to stay close. If anything went wrong, he would immediately activate a teleportation magic circle and escape.

(To be continued.)