"T-the God of Death, Anubis?!" said Chris.

Anubis de-materialized and turned into a living being. It then stared at the people who was confronting it, which was Nyx's party.

It had the body of a man and a head of a jackal.

Reus: The.. God of Death?!

Anubis: Wo-ah, hold up.

Everyone halted, and they stared back at Anubis. It then opened his eyes, and saw them.

Anubis: State your names.

Xiel: Why?

Anubis: You want to go in that treasure room, correct?

Xiel: Yeah..?

Anubis: Then state your names.

Chris: Wait, you aren't going to attack us?

Anubis: Do you.. want me to?

Chris: No, no, carry on.

Anubis: State your names.

Everyone stated their names without question, and Anubis then casually sat down and glared at them. He then pointed at Chris, who was terrified, and at Nyx, who seemingly doesn't give a fuck about what's happening.

Anubis then continued to speak in cryptic one-liners.

Anubis: How did you.. get here?

Xiel: Oh, uhm, we found this temple in the middle of the desert after pushing down a button, yeah. And then, we got a lead that this temple has all sorts of treasure in it.

Anubis: I wasn't talking about that.

Chris: What? 

 Anubis: How did you get here?

Anubis imposed the question on the both of them, but he didn't get any answer. He then observed the rest of the people inside the room..

Xiel: Hey, Nyx?

Nyx: Yeah?

Xiel: What the fuck is going on?

Nyx: I also don't know.

Anubis felt like he was being ignored, and asked a question again..

Anubis: Why are you here?

Xiel: To get that gold!

Reus: Maybe some jewels..

Chris: If there are ancient magic books there, I'll get it as well.

Vor: For gold!

Nyx: Seriously? No one said it's to repay me?

Anubis: In order to go to that treasure room, you must complete the levels here in the temple.

Vor: ..Levels?

Anubis: Yes, levels. Beat them and you can go to the Treasure room over there.

Chris: Wait, The God of Death guarding a Treasure room? What the hell is inside that room?

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Anubis: Why do you keep insisting that I'm a god?

Chris: Well.. because..

Nyx: (True, there are no books that states that he is one..)

Reus: I haven't heard of "Anubis" until you said it..

Xiel: Yeah, I haven't read any books about him either..

Anubis: It's true that my name is Anubis, but I haven't left this temple for millions of years. How did you know that my name is.. Anubis? 

Chris: Well.. umm...

Nyx: (Wait.. oh...)

Skree: (What? Why?)

Nyx: (He knows something about.. Chris?)

The rest of them didn't know anything about Chris yet, so Nyx knows that he's hiding something, according to what Anubis was saying.

Skree: (Dude, stop speaking in riddles like him, just say it to me.)

Nyx: (Later, I'll have to confirm it.)

Nyx found out about what Anubis was saying, but he wasn't sure himself. If it was true, then it would open up a lot of questions for Nyx to answer.

Meanwhile, all of them except Nyx thought of the same thing,

"What the fuck is this guy talking about?"

Anubis then pointed at the same people he pointed at again, and said..

Anubis: There's something unusual about you two.. 

Chris: ...

Anubis: I guess someone already figured it out.

He then stared at Nyx, partially confirming Nyx's assumption.

Anubis: Well, then, I'd explain again. In order to get to that treasure room, you must complete a series of levels. These levels are made by my siblings, and I am merely the gatekeeper. The treasure room that you see there isn't actually the real one, it's at the temple somewhere, and you can only get to it if you complete the levels. I also have a small favor to ask all of you..

Vor: Yeah, what is it?

Anubis: Kill all my siblings, please, I can't stand it anymore. I've been here because they said I should take "watch" and record everyone's names. Damn it, I want to create a level too...

Nyx: Aren't you immortals? How can we kill you?

Anubis: As I said, we're not Gods, we're not immortals. We're just beasts with a really long life span. Sage beasts, actually.

Chris: But you, you're the God of Death! You're supposed to take souls when someone dies!

Anubis: Uhh, no. I don't do that. Do I look like I take souls as a hobby?

(Actually, yes.)

Chris kept insisting the fact that Anubis was a God of Death, and this confirms Nyx's assumption. But, he doesn't want to jump into conclusions yet.

Anubis: Alright then, see you later.

He opened up a large portal with his hand inside the room.

Anubis: Now, hurry up. I'm going to sleep.

They all went inside the portal and got transported in a place that they never want to go back at.

They got transported to another desert.

Xiel: Oh for fuck's sake. Did he transport us outside?

Reus: No, I don't think so.

All they could see was sand stretching from miles and miles. There were no structures at all, and it seemed like they were in the middle of nowhere. 

Vor: It feels like I'm being roasted alive..

Until something flew and landed behind them.

???: Yeah, I feel you.

Xiel, Reus, and Vor were startled by the beast. Because of that, they jumped and attacked the mysterious beast, but they got blown away. The only ones who didn't attack were Chris and Nyx.

???: I'm not here to fight~

Nyx: Then what the hell did you just do to them?

???: Self-defense.

The mysterious beast has a body of a lion, the head of a man, the wings of a bird, and a snake for a tail.

Chris: ....

Nyx: (Seems like he knows it as well..)

???: I'll introduce myself first. I'm THE Sphinx. Not those sphynxes, alright?

Vor: Well, what's the difference?

Sphinx: Sphynxes are hairless cats. I'm a beast, get it?

Vor: Yeah?

Sphinx: I'm here to let you answer a riddle that no one has answered before. Answer it correctly, and you get to kill me. Answer it wrong, then, vice versa. Here it is..

Nyx knows what riddle he will say, but decided to keep quiet because he wants to see how they will answer it. But, Nyx also glared at Chris, who was standing silently behind Xiel.

Chris: ...

Sphinx: "What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?" Now take your time to thi-

Chris: Man.

Everyone stared at Chris, and the Sphinx was surprised.

Sphinx: Wait.. how..what?

Chris: The answer is Man, isn't it? We're still crawling when we were young, making it 4 legs. Two legs when we're growing up, and 3 legs when we're old and we're walking with a cane or a stick, correct?

Sphinx: How.. well.. yes, that's correct.

Nyx's prediction has been proven at this point, but he still needs one evidence left. He just needs to time it right..

Sphinx: Well then, as promised, kill me. For millions of millions of years, I could finally be happy because someone finally answered my riddle that I put my heart and my brain into just to make it.. Ahh, finally. Than-

Xiel then cut him off and proceeded to cut his head off.

The Sphinx's head expanded to the size of a statue, and it's mouth opened, revealing a portal like the one Anubis created.

They all went to the mouth, but Nyx stayed behind, thinking of something. Everybody noticed it, and didn't proceed in the portal yet, Nyx spoke..

Nyx: Hey, Chris?

Chris: Yeah?

Chris approached Nyx, and because of the events earlier, Chris's ego cannot be shaken right now.

Chris: So you're finally offering me to become the leader of this party because of my incredible deduction skills? You could've done that weeks ago, Nyx. Haha, I will gladly accept.. no seriously what the fuck is it?

Nyx: ...

Nyx grabbed his scythe, and pierced it into Chris's chest.

Chris: W-what?

Nyx: Chris.. you.. you can't fool me..

..How did you get here?