Josh the Archvillain

"Your meaning is, you want to learn soul-summoning magic from me?"

Imhotep stared blankly at Josh. He had never dreamed that someone he regarded as a god would ask him such a question.

But hadn’t you just resurrected me like that? Was it all an illusion?

"What else? This kind of soul-summoning magic is essentially equivalent to necromancy. I’ve never encountered it before. Summoning you was merely the result of me using my magic power. What I want you to teach me is the principle behind this magic. Understand?"

Josh rolled his eyes. Learning magic was not as simple as knowing how to chant a spell.

To learn a spell, one needed to understand its principles, the details of casting it, and so on. Although in this world, simply chanting the incantation was enough to cast it, that was only because Josh had the Book of the Dead. He could not guarantee that he would be able to do the same in other worlds.

Besides, Josh had no intention of pulling out a pitch-black book as hard as an iron plate every time he cast such magic, then using his magic power to guide himself through the chant. It might look cool, but Josh thought it was incredibly stupid.

The coolest thing a mage could do was cast magic with a casual wave of the hand.

As for why Imhotep had been so terrified upon seeing him earlier, Josh had figured that out as well.

After Imhotep briefly described his experience in the Underworld River, Josh and the others remained perfectly calm. Josh’s strength had already surpassed the limits of this world, so using his magic power to accomplish that was only natural.

But O’Connor and the others truly regarded Josh as a god, or at least someone on the verge of becoming one.

What kind of place was the Underworld River? It was where the dead rested forever, yet this man named Josh had turned the entire river upside down upon his first contact with the Book of the Dead!

Could a human even do something like that? He had disturbed the resting place of all the dead in an entire world, yet he looked so calm, as though it were only natural. Was that really how a human should look?

Then again, aside from looking human, nothing else about this guy, including his behavior, fell within the realm of humanity.

Josh’s words immediately made Imhotep understand. He was not stupid; he naturally knew that not even gods could be proficient in everything.

Otherwise, those gods would not have divided their roles so specifically, such as Anubis, the god of death.

Imhotep suspected that this young-looking deity wanted to understand soul magic but was unwilling to learn it from the god of death.

As for why, he did not dare think about it. He neither dared ask nor speculate about matters between gods. When one god wanted to understand another god’s affairs, especially an area in which the other excelled, it was usually not a good thing.

The most typical reason was to study and understand an opponent before crushing them.

When humans fought each other in a battle of life and death, neither side would hold back. Let alone gods! Imhotep did not dare imagine what would happen next. He only found it strange that this youthful god had chosen him.

"What do you wish to know? I will tell you everything I know. But first, I hope to resurrect someone."

"I know. Anck-su-namun, right? I know your story. It wasn’t exactly something honorable, but three thousand years have already passed. If you still love her, then do it. But let me warn you: if you merely want to live peacefully with her, there won’t be a problem. But if you intend to do anything else—"

"I understand. I will certainly obey your will."

"Let’s get out first. This place makes me very uncomfortable. Once you’re ready, bring everything out."

Josh nodded. Unafraid that Imhotep might cause any trouble, he headed straight outside. The burial chamber smelled awful. Even Josh could not stand that ghostly stench. Perhaps only Imhotep could adapt to such an environment.

"Still, this could be considered his home."

Josh thought maliciously. After all, he had lived there for three thousand years. Even if he had been dead, his corpse had probably grown completely accustomed to the atmosphere inside.

Shaking his head, Josh had no liking for such a depressing and obviously tampered-with environment.

As they retraced their steps, O’Connor and the other two obediently followed Josh and his group. Evelyn was extremely curious and wanted to get a better look at the mummy they had personally witnessed being resurrected. She even wanted to ask some historical questions.

But Jonathan and O’Connor had no desire to stay with someone half-alive and half-dead. They decisively dragged Evelyn along as they followed Josh outside.

What they had not expected was that Ade-Bay and his men were still waiting there when they reached the entrance. Though they looked utterly disheveled, they had not left.

Moreover, the way they looked at Josh was filled with fear, which left Josh rather depressed.

Hadn’t he already kept a low profile? How had both the biggest villain and the largest righteous organization in this world ended up terrified of him?

Sure, what he had done was rather frightening, but was there really any need to make such a big deal out of it? All he had done was throw the Underworld River into chaos and teach this group of self-righteous Guardians a lesson beforehand.

"What kind of look is that?"

"Don’t you know?"

"Know what?"

"Your phantom appeared in the sky just now and opened the Hell Gate!"

"Huh?"

Josh scratched his head. He had indeed done that, but hadn’t its effects been limited to the Underworld River?

Why could the outside world see that phantom as well? Not only did Josh fail to understand, but Garen and Natasha exchanged baffled looks too. They had not expected Josh’s actions to cause such a huge commotion.

"Um, the area covered by my phantom shouldn’t have been that large, right?"

"I’m not sure, but I can confirm that anyone who looked toward the sky could see it. It probably covered all of Egypt."

Josh froze for a moment, then could only shrug helplessly. There was nothing he could do about that outcome.

Fortunately, Josh had not planned to stay in this world for long anyway. Once he accomplished his goal, he would naturally leave. By then, it would not matter even if his phantom had covered the entire world.

"Did you resurrect Imhotep?" Ade-Bay hesitated for a long while before finally deciding to ask Josh. Though he felt he already knew the answer, he still clung to a trace of hope.

But Josh directly shattered that hope. He nodded indifferently and said, "That’s right. I resurrected him. So what?"

"Y-you… why would you do that?!"

"What business is it of yours? You people are seriously annoying. I’ll give you one final warning: stop bothering me, or I’ll send you and every one of your men to the Underworld River to report to your ancestors."

Josh looked at Ade-Bay with impatience. He had already said that even if Imhotep was resurrected, he would not be a problem to him. Yet these Guardians clearly did not believe him.

Even after he had taught them a lesson, they still stubbornly believed that Imhotep would destroy the world. Josh was getting truly irritated by them.

So when Josh was displeased, he would not be polite to anyone. He believed that if he had been an ordinary person, these people naturally would not have been polite to him either.

But he clearly did not look like an ordinary person. Although they tried to reason with him, Josh could distinctly feel their distrust.

To put it bluntly, there was probably only one reason: the teachings passed down by their ancestors generation after generation had produced this outcome. To put it harshly, these people had been brainwashed.

In their understanding, Imhotep was the most terrifying and evil being of all. No one could defeat him!

Shaking his head, Josh could not be bothered to argue with them. They were a pitiful group whose fates had been decided from birth. They would probably never be able to leave this damned desert, spending their entire lives guarding this hidden tomb and fighting outsiders by every possible means.

"They really are pitiful." Josh turned around, shrugged, and sighed.

"Pitiful? Probably. But Josh, I never expected you to have such a villainous aura." Akathosh flew over again. This time, he behaved himself and did not land on Josh’s head, instead settling on his shoulder.

"A villain? How so?"

"Didn’t you just open a Hell Gate? No matter how you look at it, that’s something a villain would do. And you just told this guy, ‘Keep it up and I’ll send all of you to the Underworld River to report to your ancestors.’ That was pretty damn imposing."

"Ha, maybe."

Josh shrugged unconcernedly. He did not care whether he was a villain or not. When he played Far Cry, he had been so captivated by the villains that he lost all sense of direction.

Of course, Josh would not become some "cute and charming villain." If he was going to be one, he would be the kind of villain people loved and hated in equal measure.

Villains were rather appealing. Perhaps because this world could not hold their attention, Natasha and Garen quickly joined Josh and Akathosh’s little chat group.

Their behavior left O’Connor and the others speechless. Every one of them seemed like a god, yet why did they all feel so unreliable?

Josh and the others did not chat for long before Imhotep emerged carrying several small jars and a stone coffin. His appearance immediately put Ade-Bay on edge.

Though they did not know who this Baldy was, combining Josh’s actions with Imhotep’s clothing, they quickly confirmed that this Baldy was the demon they had spoken of!

The demon had been resurrected! And he had become human again! Ade-Bay immediately felt the world spinning around him. This vicious sorcerer who could cast such evil magic truly intended to destroy the entire world!

Ade-Bay thought bitterly, even preparing himself to die as he planned to ambush Josh and Imhotep. But the next moment, he froze.

Not only did he freeze, but so did his subordinates.

They clearly saw the figure they remembered as a demon drop to one knee before Josh. The respect and humility he displayed were beyond anything they could have imagined!

Who was Imhotep? Ade-Bay and the Guardians knew perfectly well. He was a high priest!

Even before the Pharaoh, he would not have needed to bow like that. Yet now, before this young man, he had gone so far. It was simply unbelievable!

"This feels… like he’s worshipping a god?"

Such a thought suddenly surfaced in Ade-Bay’s mind, and the way he looked at Josh and the others changed as well. No amount of words could compare to seeing it with his own eyes. Imhotep’s actions were genuinely shocking, forcing Ade-Bay to think even further.

"Could this guy really be a god?"