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  The press of the city of Cairo had gone ih this new and mysterious girl, who called herself “Princess Merh, third heir of the Red Sun Empire." Her adorable looks, appearance, golden clothes, and the giant mech she piloted quickly made everyone believe she came from a very high floor of the Tower, a true royalty that had paid a visit to Earth, a no less! Many of the citize rather excited to see her around, thinking they had gained a new guardian.

  Uhe first-world tries, most third-world tries had much less prote against monsters. There were hunters everywhere, yes, even S-Rank huoo, but usually not as many, especially when the first-world tries would usually offer exorbitant amounts of moo tract these huo their own tries, leaving the smaller tries even more defenseless.

  A prime example of this was the Kingdom of North America, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany, which stantly bought over any B-rank and above Hunters from smaller, poorer tries to protect their own.

  Egypt was one of such victims because the ey wasn’t the best, and most of the hunters struggled to make a living even now. The enormous amount of money offered to them was absolutely life-ging, making many of them decide to leave their try with their families to have a better life, be much more protected, and also be well paid.

  The city of Cairo was one of the few cities i that ended mostly unscathed from the Tower’s arrival, although Monster Gates happened more frequently now, which had shaken the popution’s sense of security.

  Merh has bee a slight bea of hope for these people. Although she inteo move over soon enough, she stayed for a couple of days, almost a whole week. Being alraised, fed anything she wanted, and given a el room to stay in the night made the princess very happy. Not even ba her own kingdom has she experiehis level of hospitality.

  “Oh, it’s Princess Merh!”

  “Good m, young dy!”

  “ I see y robot, Missy?”

  “Woah, she really has a tail—she’s so cute!”

  As she walked through the streets of Cairo, enjoying a cold drink and wearing sungsses, Princess Merh was greeted by almost every person she came across. Children ran to see her, askio show off her mech.

  “I ’t just summon the great Meical God so easily, children… I do require some Essence every time, but I do this for almost no cost!”

  FLUOSH!

  A spark of goldericity surged out of thin air, suddenly materializing the bird-like talon cw of the robot for all the children to see and admire. The goldeallistruade all the children’s eyes widen in shock due to its awesomeness.

  “Wooaah!”

  “So huge!”

  “I ’t believe it! You summon just parts of it?”

  “That’s right!” ughed the princess. “Now if you excuse me, children, I have a meeting to attend. Some of these peasants really have been b me tely.”

  The princess walked through the streets and reached a huge building in the middle of the city, where people stantly walked inside and outside.

  This building was El Cairo’s Hunter Association Building, where hunters gathered for requests, to retrieve rewards, and also to sell monster products.

  She made her way inside, showing her a ptinum-colored card they had provided her beforehand. It wasn’t as if it were that necessary; her appearance alone easily told everyone who she was.

  “P-Princess Merh?!”

  A brown-skinned, white-haired girl gasped as she saw the princess step in; her revealing clothes, golden ors, and pointy jackal ears, bined with that fluffy tail, told everyone she was Merh, without a shred of a doubt!

  “Who else, girl?” Merh smiled smugly. “I’ve e here because you peasants called me for some sort of meeting. I have only agreed to e because you do make some good food, so it was my way to repay for your kindness.”

  “T-Thank you very much for your hoy…” The receptionist ughed a bit. “Yes, the Association chairman is waiting for you on the sed floor. There are a few other Huhere too.”

  “Very well, if you excuse me then, cutie~” Merh walked away.

  “D-Did she call me a cutie?” The girl blushed a bit.

  Merh made her stairs as her assistant robot, a floating golden eye-shaped droarted speaking tain.

  [Your majesty, it has already been over a week since you ran away from home! Is this really okay? And now you’re even meddling with these strange peasants from another world! What will your family say about this? Won’t they worry?]

  “Worry? The only thing they’re w about is the mohey’ll lose for not marryio that ugly Roman prince,” Merh sighed. “I have no i in marrying any Roman! In fact, I don’t want to marry anyone. I am a strong, indepe princess!”

  [But your bloodline has a duty… To reject it is to insult the ey of the history of your empire! You are a desdant of the A Queera VII, which means you must be avid about the rules aions of your family. They always want the best for you.]

  “They don’t! Nobody bae has ever CARED about me since my REAL mom died…” Merh sighed. “They’re all obsessed with amassing fortunes and warring against smaller indepe tries, and they’re stantly fighting for who has the right to pilot the Meical Gods.”

  [Princess…]

  Her assistant always insisted she had to go back to her family; it was within his program to take care of her and brio safety. But at the end of the day, it was also an Artificial Intelligehat sloted to their owner and learhe more they talked with them.

  [I just want the best for you, for you to be safe…]

  “Hah, well, as if we could go bayway. Those gray portals that pulled me here won’t let me go bayway, so we’re stuck here,” the princess shrugged.

  [Yes, but many of your family members also came; those Golden Pyramids must be looking for you!]

  “Ugh, I don’t care! Leave me alone! I am finally important; the people here need me. That’s something I’ve never experienced before. I want to... I want to help them. Instead of using my power to just hurt others, I will use it to protect people.”

  [That is very noble of you, but-]

  Before the assistant could speak any other word, Merh opehe door in front of her and walked inside. Four hunters were waiting for her oher side of the room.

  A tall, brown-skinned man with short bck hair and a muscur frame, wearing a white blouse and bck pants, and with a big, cw mark-shaped scar in the middle of his face.

  The chairman of the association of hunters iy of El ohamed Khaled.

  A slender, beautiful ban with short bck hair aive, bright blue eyes, wearing a colorful dress and many pieces of jewelry, especially rings and magigs.

  Heba Marwa, often known as “Queen of the Dunes," is an S-Rank hunter.

  An annoyed-looking man with long white hair and a slender figure, wearing a bck blouse and jeans, looks to be in his te teens. His sharp red eyes emanated a slightly menag bloodlust.

  Ahmed Mostafa, known as “The Blood Beast Berserk," is an S-Rank hunter.

  And stly, the you of the four, a girl no older than fourteen, wore a white cloak and bck clothes that covered her hair. Her clear brown skin and adorable silver-colored eyes caught the attention of many, especially due to the bright aura she emanated.

  She was the S-Rank Hunter of the city of El Cairo, Sara Asmaa, “The Sacred Child.”.

  Every S-Rank Hunter was usually given a special title, oftentimes made by the citizens themselves based on the abilities they showcased.

  Despite their slightly intimidating presence, Princess Merh didn’t seem to pay attention and only gave them a single gnce before smiling at the chairman.

  “And so your majesty is here! What do you want, peasants?” She asked with a smug smile.

  “Hahh…” Mohamed sighed, facepalming; he didn’t like her attitude o.

  “Hey, what’s wrong with this brat?” Ahemed groaned. “Who does she think she is to just talk to us in such a way? Has anybody even taught her manners?”

  “She is quite lively, isn’t she?” Heba giggled, drinking some tea afterward.

  “So you must be Merh! I mean, Princess Merh! o meet you! My name is Sara! Let’s get along!” Little Sara ran to Merh, greeting her.

  “Ah, yeah, let’s get along, little Sara,” Merh giggled.

  Despite her short height, she was actually in her early twenties, but it seemed that Sara thought she was around her age.

  “Anyways, Merh, e sit down,” said Mohamed. “There are many things we o discuss. We've only been so far, letting you do as you please. You’ve been helping people mostly, and for that, we are grateful. However, that doesn’t ge the fact that you’re not a human, doesn’t it? You e from the world of the tower, right? Which floor do you e from?”

  Merh sat down, ehe Arabic sweets given, and then drank tea before even talking.

  “I don’t belong to that weird tower you’re talking about,” she said. “And as far as I know, I am a human! My ears and tail represent my high lineage as a wielder of the Golden Bloodlihey are the only ohat accumute essend pilot the Meical Gods. I am Merh, the third princess of the Red Sun Empire! I already told you, peasants.”

  “She’s a what?!” Ahmed wondered. “Golden Bloodline? What is she even talking about? My patience is already running low.”

  “Clearly, whatever this Golden Bloodline is, it might be what has givehat appearance,” said Heba. “This probably also means she is a different type of human... Well, it is not as if humans do in other worlds of the Tower. But her inability to accept that she es from there worries me. Is she truly from the tower, or perhaps... Did you e from that gray gate, girl?”

  “A-Ah!” Merh grew nervous as she realized those gray portals had been causing a lot of problems around the world.

  If she admitted she came from there, they would probably try to deal with her.

  Of course, she was fident she could beat them all easily with the power of Ra.

  However, she didn’t want to leave yet! El Cairo was a beautiful city, and she wao tinue enjoyiime here.

  “Of course not!” she said. “I e… Err, from the stars! Yeah, I’ve e to visit your little world with my clearly advaeology.”

  “An alien?!” Sara gasped. “Wow! Does that mean you’re from another p? ?! And are they all like, A Egyptians like you?”

  “Wait, if she’s an alien, that proves the A Egyptians were actually aliens too?” Ahmed wondered. “I never liked that dumb theory the Westerners created... But is it true?!”

  “Hah, after everything we’ve seen and gohrough, somehow, the existence of aliens is not hard to believe anymore,” ughed Heba. “But you’re clearly lying.”

  “E-Eh?!” Merh gasped as she was found out very quickly.

  “So she’s lying, huh?” wondered Mohamed.

  “What makes you think I am lying?!” Merh cried, getting slightly desperate.

  “I have a Lie Dete Skill,” ughed Heba. “Girl, nobody lie in front of me. Are you from the Gray Portals or not? And are those pyramids reted to you?”

  “E-Eeehh…” Merh was growing more and more nervous.

  “Heba, don’t be mean to her!” Suddenly, Sara stepped in, running towards Merh. “I don’t sense any malice within her heart. She’s pure-hearted and a good person! She is simply... Well, I think she ran away from an abusive family.”

  “Sara! Don’t go revealing your abilities like that!” Heba facepalmed.

  “Huh? How you know that?” Merh woilting her head.

  “It’s my ability! I read people’s hearts and see if they are bad people ood people! Most of the time, everyone is iween. But as long as they lean only a bit to the good side, I sider them good people. But you… You’re very nice, aren’t you, Merh?”

  Little Sara’s silver-colored eyes seemed full of hoy and innobsp;

  “I-I… Okay, fine… You peasants win this time! I indeed e from those portals." Merh sighed.

  “I k! She’s like those cavemen that appeared in America! Didn’t you hear?! If it wasn’t for Bing Xue, they would have killed hundreds of people! She’s going to do the same!” Ahmed summoned his giant sword and was about to fight Merh. “Let us take care of her while she’s l her guard!”

  BAAM!

  Before he could rush towards her, a giant hand made of sand smashed him into the ground, pushing him down.

  “Ugh! HEBAAA! Let me go!”

  Heba was gring at the man with her sharp blue eyes.

  “Ahmed, you’re too temperamental,” she sighed. “I won’t let you go unless you calm down. Sir Mohamed already said that we were not going to try to fight her, so behave yourself, boy!”

  “Tch, okay, fine!” Ahmed felt intimidated wheiced Mohamed’s gre. “Ugh… Let me go already.”

  “Hmph…” Heba lifted her hand, and the sand quickly went back to her, spiraling around and then depositing itself inside one of her Spatial Is.

  As Ahmed sat down again, he looked at Merh.

  “So what’s y pn then? Why are you helping people who aren’t even from your world? And what are those portals appearing all around the world?”

  Merh sighed. “I don’t kher... It just happened out of nowhere. A bright blue light sucked me and, like, half of my city away. When I opened my eyes, I was already in the middle of your desert.”

  “So you’re saying that portal wasn’t something you caused?” wondered Mohamed, readjusting his gsses.

  “No…” Merh said. “Do you know something else about them? I tried going bay own world before, I swear! But I couldn’t cross the portal. There’s a special force that only brings things out but won’t let them go back.”

  They looked at Heba, and the woman nodded.

  “She’s not lyiher,” she said.

  “Hmmm. There is some intel about those portals that have been shared by the North Ameri branch so far,” said Mohamed. “Apparently, what Bing Xue stated is that... those portals seem to have been opened by a God of the Tower, someone known as the Grandfather of Time, who has opened portals to Earth’s... Parallel Timelines. I know it sounds insane, but that’s what she said. And she’s so far the stro human in this world.”

  “P-Parallel… Timelines?” Merh gasped. “I-Is that way there are ruins of my beautiful Empire in your deserts? So in this world, something different happened?”

  “You are truly an A Egyptian, then?” wondered Ahmed. “My God, this is getting weirder.”

  “Yes, that is the name of our Aors, the A Egyptian Empire,” she said. “Don’t tell me that you never had a Queera VII?!”

  “Yes, she existed, but long ago,” nodded Mohamed. “History in those times is still being researched, yes. But after the arrival of the Romans, things became blurry. She married a Roman king, I think? But A Egyptians slowly mixed with many other tribes and people. It could be said we are all their desdants, but their culture, their gods, and all of those things are no loruly... There are new religions now, and well, most people believe that the a Egyptian gods were very... fantastical, haha.”

  “Y-You’re insulting Ra, Lord of the Sun?!” gasped Merh. “But this is… Wait a moment, did your aors never discover the steam engine?”

  “Steam… engine? No, that’s something that happened elsewhere,” said Heba. “Oh? Don’t tell me... Is this the point of divergehen?”

  “It must be!” Sara nodded. “! The a Egyptians disc the steam engine sounds crazy! Did you industrialize?”

  “Yes, we did! Over two thousand years ago, though, teology has advanced by leaps and bounds sihen. We’ve even begun izing ps in our sor system,” Merh smiled.

  “So you truly e from a much more teologically advanced society, a parallel world.” Mohamed muttered. “We’ll have to keep this a secret. Other tries could try to kidnap Merh and steal her teology if more of her bees public.”

  “Don’t you think that’s a bit too te now, Mohamed?” ughed Ahmed. “Miss Princess over here ’t get away from the journalists, always showing her fa TV!”

  “Ugh, okay, I admit I shouldn’t have dohat!” Merh sighed. “But for now, I suppose most things are cleared, right? I don’t really have iions of going back, so I hope you could let me stay for a bit more.”

  “Of course, I guess there’s no helping it then,” Heba shrugged. “Maybe you could.”

  RUMBLE!

  However, this civil versation filled with revetions was suddenly interrupted as something above the skies suddenly emerged.

  Or, well, it seemed as if it had materialized out of thin air!

  The people of El Cairo poi the sky in fear and awe.

  A giant golden pyramid floated above the skies as several smaller silhouettes started flying off of it, going down into the city.

  They were all huge meical strus—piloted robots!

  Merh looked at the se through the building’s window.

  “Ah, this is bad.” she sighed.

  “What’s going on?!” Heba asked.

  “That’s the pyramid?!” Mohamed asked.

  “Don’t tell me they’re looking for you?!” Ahmed wondered.

  “Merh!” Sara said.

  Merh gritted her teeth, grasping her hands tightly.

  “T-This is all my fault… I have to take responsibility.”

  She suddenly jumped out of the window, making the hunters panic.

  “Merh?!”

  However, as she fell, her Golden Bloodliivated.

  An aura of gold and silver light surged from her body as a giant meical god materialized around her body.

  Ra, the God of the Sun!

  She flew into the skies with her fiery wings, fronting the group of dozens of meical soldiers.

  The group was led by a rger mech, one resembling her own iail a.

  Yet this one was bd gold-colored, with its head resembling a jackal.

  “T-That’s Anubis?!” The princess gasped. “Big brother Akhenaten... Is it you?”

  “Who else than me, Merh?!” Akhenaten’s voice echoed from inside his meical god. “I have finally found you... You little brat. We’re going bae, and you’re marrying that Roman prince!”

  “No… I’ll never marry a Roman!” She roared furiously. “I am going to be free, and I will not follow your insanity anymore!”

  “You’re really bold to say such bsphemy. You don’t deserve the power of the gods. The power of Ra would do much better in my hands!”

  With a furious roar, her big brother rushed towards her, materializing a huge bd gold scythe.

  “Are you really going to fight me?!”

  Merh had no time to think, materializing a spear made of fmes and sunlight to defend.

  CLASH!

  -----

  Pach