"Huh?" Hikigaya, who had originally intended to talk to Rasses, stopped in his tracks.
Feeling a sudden presence of so unfriendly force in the air around him, his expression darkened.
So shaless god seed unwilling to let things drop.
Or perhaps Hikigaya's own restraint had been misinterpreted by the other party?
That was truly arrogant. Should one say this is indeed one of the most notable achievents of Baal worship?
In the entire Near East, no god was more famous than Baal. Worshiped by Surians and Canaanites as a sky and ancestral deity, this great god had once humiliated Yahweh repeatedly. The bearded lkar in the "Godslayer" ani was based on Baal, lord of fertile lands and storms. Unfortunately, after Hikigaya ca to this world, Baal was neutralized, and another bearded god, Poseidon, appeared.
Baal's influence in Canaan had been exceptionally stable. The Hebrews, who founded their nation in the na of God in Canaan, soon began weighing a choice between him and Yahweh—a process that lasted for many years. In fact, later Jewish history can be seen almost as the story of Yahweh vs. Baal.
Of course, a god's renown could not intimidate a Godslayer; that simply didn't exist.
Hikigaya sensed the power leaking from another world, flas flickering from his fingertips.
He did not intend to provoke trouble, but anyone daring to cross him would not be treated kindly.
Hikigaya could occasionally be magnanimous toward humans, but gods were generally t with imdiate retribution.
It was natural for threatening and non-threatening beings to receive different treatnt.
After a while, the opposing force seed to sense the murderous intent in Hikigaya's heart, causing its power to "stutter" slightly before suddenly dispersing, leaving behind a faint laugh that only Hikigaya could discern.
Of course, it wasn't actually faint—it was thunder—but Hikigaya could tell it was the other's laughter.
He then retracted his power and turned to find Rasses.
The battle was over. Egyptians were cleaning the battlefield everywhere.
Soldiers were turning over enemy corpses, severing hands from the dead, killing grievously wounded foes for the sa purpose, and only aiding lightly wounded ones to sell them later. In this era, where slavery was universal, prisoners of war were the finest slaves.
Hikigaya walked past them and saw Rasses resting by the river.
The Pharaoh had dismounted from his golden chariot, already covered in blood, sitting on the ground to rest. Killer crawled beside him, and no one dared approach.
The great feline lifted its head upon sensing soone approach, saw Hikigaya, hesitated, and then shrank back.
Hikigaya smiled, walking past in the awed eyes of the onlookers, and said to the Pharaoh, "How does it feel? Is the taste of victory a little different from what you imagined?"
Was this sarcasm? Hikigaya would firmly nod yes—it was indeed sarcasm directed at Rasses.
Rasses considered himself another Thutmose, but he lacked Thutmose's level entirely. Thutmose's military skill surpassed all contemporaries, making every battle a net gain; Egypt grew stronger with each war.
But Rasses II?
Let's not even ntion the disastrous first battle.
Historically, this war lasted over a decade, ultimately benefiting the Hittites far more. Egypt's expansion halted, and the Pharaoh's na lost all deterrence among Asian princes. With insufficient gains from abroad, the costs of war were borne by the Egyptian populace, naturally leading to repeated civil revolts over taxes.
Egypt and the Hittites had initially had a chance for cooperation. Assyria was rising, and the Hittites recognized it was a difficult neighbor. Before Kadesh, they had still been open to negotiations with Egypt.
Did the Hittites have iron? That originally ca from Assyria.
Were the Hittites fierce and warlike? Actually, Assyrians were the best fit for that label—they just weren't fully developed yet.
Even historical Hittite-Egyptian peace talks were due to increasing Assyrian pressure, not battlefield defeat.
Assyria was the real winner of this war. The two major powers that should have blocked its rise ended up fighting each other, almost to mutual annihilation.
Of course, the Hittites weren't particularly wise either. Fifty years after obtaining continental dominance, they went to war with their Mycenaean relatives again…
Thus, Hikigaya didn't intend to excessively mock Rasses. After all, this was an era in which no one had particular foresight—power or planning didn't matter; the operators simply "malfunctioned," and everyone suffered.
Rasses' reaction to Hikigaya's sarcasm, however, was sowhat strange.
"Why didn't you leave?" he asked. "The Hittites should have won."
Many Egyptians lowered their heads in sha.
Bravery was the primary virtue of this era. Clearly, the Egyptians' initial performance had not been virtuous.
This shows that Egyptians still cared about honor—they didn't consider fleeing the battlefield a trivial matter.
Egyptian warriors were famous in this civilized world—practically elite among soldiers.
"But you regained Egypt's honor, didn't you?" This ti, Hikigaya was not sarcastic. Rasses had indeed done well here, so much so that even hardened Hittites admired him.
Hikigaya was busy and didn't waste more words.
"So, make peace. Take what you can, don't hope to defeat the Hittites, unless you plan on mutual annihilation."
This was sound advice. He wasn't strong enough; better to go ho and—well, help Moses cause trouble.
"But the great god Set just joined with ! He forgave and protected ! I can win!" Rasses' expression showed a mix of frustration, grievance, and excitent.
Hikigaya chuckled.
Set my ass! He didn't even pay attention to you! It was your own grandpa's assist that did the work!
"Very good. And besides that?" Hikigaya gave the Pharaoh a side-eye and dropped a bombshell. "I'll remind you—the twelve Hittite gods all ca. You'd better summon every god you can call, or I'm afraid you won't make it back to Egypt alive."
He decided that if Rasses dared to keep blabbing, he would "manifest" and see who could play the god act better.
But the first attempt might be clumsy; if anything went wrong, he wouldn't take the bla.
Perhaps sensing the hidden aning in Hikigaya's words, Rasses' expression imdiately beca rather… spectacular.
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