"I don't remember."
He whispered softly, lowered his head and continued to curl up.
Suddenly.
"I am a god...pain...tearing...sun...extinguished...no...!" The boy's body suddenly shuddered! He held his head in agony.
Let out a suppressed, beast-like wounded whimper.
"Huh?"
Ian caught this reaction, his heart racing. A bold guess arose in Ian's mind. He recalled some ancient documents he had read in Hogwarts' Forbidden Book Area about the secrets of the Egyptian Pantheon. It is said that Sun God Ra dies at each sunset and is reborn as a child at dawn the next day.
"Impossible..." Ian muttered to himself, yet he was shocked by his own thoughts. He carefully observed the boy again. That pale blond hair, those exceedingly pale skin, eyes that were hollow yet occasionally flashed with wisdom...and that sun-shaped mark. Everything matched the ancient texts describing "Ra's rebirth form" astonishingly well.
Just then, the boy suddenly raised his head, and an unprecedented clarity flickered in his eyes.
"Chaos devours order, darkness covers light, but the sun shall rise again." His voice suddenly became ancient and majestic, forming a strange contrast with his youthful appearance.
Ian Prince stared at the boy curled in the darkness, his mind rapidly replaying Pluton Osiris's meaningful words: "Perhaps you should go to the cellar again." At the time, he thought Pluton was referring to the mysterious cellar under the Sun Temple, but now he suddenly realized Osiris might very well be pointing to this true secret overshadowed by the flesh of the Evil God.
This seemingly ordinary boy in front of him might be the key that Pluton wanted him to find.
"Did Pluton know all along?"
Ian muttered to himself, his heart surged with overwhelming waves. Osiris, as the Lord of the Underworld, must be able to sense the delicate balance between life and death.
He led Ian here, which was no coincidence.
Ian's gaze again fell on the boy. That youthful face, pale skin, especially the faint sun mark on his chest...everything matched the ancient texts describing "Ra's rebirth form" astonishingly well. An incredible thought formed in Ian's mind: The Temple's artificial Sun God plan may not have been a complete failure?
"Do you...remember your name?"
Ian cautiously approached, trying to keep his voice as gentle as possible.
"Name?"
The boy raised his head, a glimmer of light flashed in his hollow eyes.
He repeated softly, as if chewing on this unfamiliar concept, "Once many people called me...many names..."
Ian's heartbeat accelerated. He continued to probe: "Did anyone call you 'Ra'?"
Upon hearing this name, the boy suddenly trembled, held his head, and let out a pained groan.
"Ra...sun...flames..." he murmured intermittently, his eyes growing increasingly radiant, as if molten gold flowed within, "So painful...so many voices...calling me..."
This perhaps is the reason that in times of crisis, many of Sun God Ra's followers would pray to their deity, possibly providing indirect validation of certain things.
"Yes, try to relax a bit, don't get agitated, and most importantly, don't mutate on the spot." Ian cautiously retreated half a step, his magic wand ready to respond to sudden situations. But the shock in his heart was difficult to calm—this boy before his eyes could very well be the resurrected Sun God Ra! The supreme deity of Ancient Egypt that should have long perished has been reborn in this form!
"But how could this be possible?"
Ian's mind raced, "The artificial Sun God plan clearly gave birth to the Evil God Set-Apep; why would it simultaneously revive the true Ra?"
Suddenly, Ian recalled a key figure—the woman in black robes who served as a favored one of Sun God Ra inside the Temple. She ostensibly assisted the High Priest in conducting the artificial Sun God ceremony, but some of her actions now seemed quite suspicious in retrospect: She always stood in the shadows chanting ancient prayers, her ritual movements slightly differed from others, most importantly, during the final moment of the Evil God Embryo's birth, Ian clearly saw her secretly tossing a glowing object into the embryo.
When he had transformed into a raven to spy earlier, Ian had seen quite clearly.
"Ah, I see!"
Ian had a moment of sudden realization.
"She openly assisted in creating the new god, yet secretly carried out a plan—to use the entire ceremony as a cover to resurrect the true Sun God Ra!"
It must be admitted, this speculation's potential isn't small. This discovery left Ian both shocked and impressed. Under the black-robed woman's scheming, the birth of the Evil God turned out to be a perfect cover for resurrecting Ra. Set-Apep had devoured so much energy and souls yet was unaware the true Sun God was being nurtured within!
"It truly is unexpected."
Ian was somewhat amazed.
At this moment, the battle outside reached a new climax. Deafening explosions came one after another, the whole heart chamber violently shook, the ceiling's blood vessels ruptured on a large scale, and foul-smelling liquid poured down like a waterfall. The Evil God was clearly in a bitter struggle with the Lord of the Underworld and his wife, and the internal changes further worsened his plight.
Ian knew time was running out. He had to confirm the boy's true identity, or all efforts could go to waste.
"If you truly are Sun God Ra," Ian stared into the boy's eyes, now gradually turning golden, not caring if he was amnesiac or if he hadn't fully awakened.
"Prove it to me."
Ian needed unequivocal and credible evidence to make his decision.
The boy—perhaps now Ra—seemed still struggling with some inner pain, holding his head, his voice intermittent: "Prove...what? What do I need...to prove?"
Before he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred!
The sun mark on the boy's chest suddenly unleashed a blinding light that was impossible to look at directly, spreading like a substance, wherever it reached, the Evil God's flesh melted rapidly like snow encountering sunlight. The entire heart chamber started to shake violently, the walls of thick biological tissue withered and fell off at a visible speed.
Reveal below the ancient stone structures.
Ian was shocked to see those stone walls carved with exquisite reliefs and ancient sun emblems, now gradually awakening under the golden light. The reliefs depicted the scene of the Sun Ship sailing through the sky, the emblems containing vast divine power. This was no Evil God's heart chamber but a Sun God Temple shrouded in flesh!
"So this is it."
The boy, now confirmed to be Sun God Ra, slowly stood up. His body was still small and immature, yet the majesty and power he exuded left Ian, a Legendary Wizard, feeling suffocated. It was a powerful force stemming from the world's origin, far beyond ordinary magic.
Just like the earlier transformation that seemed to have awakened something.
He looked completely different now.
"Set-Apep stole my divine body, yet never realized the true sun has never extinguished." Ra's voice now fully transformed into that of an ancient deity, deep and dignified, eyes burning with golden flames, "He believed he devoured the light, but in fact, merely crafted a golden cage for himself."
A sudden sound of painful and furious roaring came from outside, evidently, the Evil God realized the internal change. The entire space began to shake wildly, the walls of flesh wriggled violently, attempting to repress the awakened Sun God again. But all of this was futile—Ra's golden light around him was like an absolute domain.
Any approaching flesh of the Evil God would instantly turn to ashes.
"My followers have succeeded."
Ra merely smiled slightly at such a change, a smile carrying wisdom and power crossing a millennium. His eyes, like suns, gazed at Ian.
As if it penetrated Ian's shell, reaching Ian's soul.
He reached out his hand, palm up. Ian felt his magic power uncontrollably surging within, resonating with Ra's power. More strikingly, he felt some dormant bloodline power waking up—that was the mysterious force passed down through the Prince family for generations, yet no one could completely awaken.
"This is..."
Ian stared in shock at his own hands, faint golden patterns flowing beneath the skin.
The outside suddenly fell silent, an unsettling tranquility before the storm. Then, an indescribable terrifying energy began to gather, clearly the Evil God was planning his last strike.
But Sun God Ra was in no hurry.
"Descendant of the Prince family, your arrival is no coincidence." The Sun God turned to Ian, his golden gaze carrying depth, "The contract within the bloodline has finally been fulfilled today."
Prince!
Once again, Prince!