Anubis spent the entire next day preparing. The bar was closed—for the first time in three years—with a "Maintenance" sign on the door. Sarah called twice, worried, but he assured her everything was fine.

  It was a lie, of course. Nothing was okay.

  He stood in the center of his apartment, surrounded by a circle of golden sand. Ancient scrolls lay spread out around him, their hieroglyphs glowing faintly. Anubis recited spells he hadn't spoken in millennia—words of power connecting him to the Duat, the afterlife.

  The air around him began to distort, growing denser. The scent of myrrh and frankincense filled the room, though nothing was burning. It was the scent of temples, the scent of ancient Egypt.

  "Duat," Anubis said in the language of the pharaohs. "I call upon you. Show me the one who violated your boundaries."

  The sand rose up, forming a mirror-like surface. Images began to appear in it—dark, blurry, but discernible.

  Subway tunnels. An abandoned station. Darkness, teeming with... something. Shadows that weren't shadows. Souls trapped in torment.

  And in the center of it all, a silhouette. Enormous, bestial, with the jaws of a crocodile, the body of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus.

  Ammut.

  Anubis frowned. An abandoned subway station. There were several like it in New York, but only one was deep enough to touch the boundaries of the Duat.

  The old City Hall station. Closed since 1945.

  The vision faded and the sand fell to the floor.

  Anubis straightened, feeling tired. Rituals of such magnitude were exhausting even for a god. But now he knew where to look.

  His phone rang. An unfamiliar number.

  — Yes?

  "Anubis," Sekhmet's voice was tense. "My tracking ritual worked. I know where he is."

  “City Hall Station,” Anubis interrupted her.

  Pause.

  — Did you perform the ritual too?

  - Yes. Let's meet there at midnight.

  "Wait," Sekhmet stopped him. "It's foolish to go there alone. Even with two, it's dangerous. Ammut is strong, and he will be protected."

  - What do you suggest?

  "You have allies in this city. The Asgardians, for example. Or that mortal organization—S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

  Anubis considered this. Sekhmet was right. Going against Ammut alone was risky. But involving mortals...

  "SHIELD won't understand what they're dealing with," he said. "And Thor has returned to Asgard."

  "Then there's a third option," Sekhmet said, a hint of reluctance in her voice. "The other gods. Those who remained on Earth."

  — Do you know others?

  — Several. One lives in Brooklyn, works as a blacksmith. Hephaestus, if you remember. The other is in Chinatown. Guan Yu, the Chinese god of war.

  Anubis chuckled. The idea of gods from different pantheons hiding throughout the city, pursuing mundane professions, was both absurd and perfectly logical.

  — Will they agree to help?

  "If you explain the situation, yes. No one wants Ammut to run amok. Even the gods of other pantheons understand the danger."

  "Okay," Anubis decided. "Gather them. Meet me at City Hall station at midnight."

  - Agreed.

  Sekhmet hung up and Anubis was left looking at his phone.

  The gods are uniting, he thought ironically. For the first time in millennia. And all because of an ancient demon in the New York subway. How absurd.

  But the absurdity did not make the situation any less dangerous.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  At eleven o'clock in the evening, Anubis left the bar. He was dressed simply—a black shirt, jeans, and a leather jacket. But beneath the jacket, invisible to mortal eyes, golden symbols glowed on his skin—ancient protective runes.

  He carried only one artifact—a staff he once used in the temples of Egypt. Ebony wood with a golden tip shaped like a jackal's head. He hadn't used it in centuries, but the staff remembered its owner, vibrating with power in his hand.

  City Hall Station was located beneath the streets of Lower Manhattan. Officially closed, it was occasionally used for tours, but was deserted at night.

  Anubis descended through the service entrance, using the shadows to bypass the locks and guards. The platform opened before him—beautiful, with arched ceilings and antique chandeliers, coated with the dust of decades.

  Three people were waiting for him at the edge of the platform.

  Sekhmet stood in her human form—Susan, as she called herself—but her aura was pure power. She was dressed for battle: black skin, hair pulled back, eyes ablaze with the anticipation of battle.

  Beside her stood a massive man with a gray beard and hands scarred by fire. Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths. He held a hammer—no ordinary hammer, but an artifact glowing with an inner heat.

  And the third—a slender Asian in traditional Chinese armor, with a long beard and eyes that have seen a thousand battles. Guan Yu, holding his legendary Green Dragon halberd.

  "Anubis," Hephaestus nodded. "Long time no see."

  "From the Olympic Games of 776 BC," Anubis recalled. "Are you still upset about that argument about forging?"

  "A little," Hephaestus admitted with a grin. "But today is no time for old grudges."

  Guan Yu bowed his head in respect.

  "Guardian of the Dead. I have heard of your wisdom and justice. It is an honor to fight by your side."

  “The honor is mutual, god of war,” Anubis replied, returning the bow.

  Sekhmet looked at them all.

  — So, four gods against one demon. Should be enough.

  "Don't underestimate Ammut," Anubis warned. "He was created as a counterweight to the gods. As a punishment for those who crossed the line."

  "Then we will be careful," Guan Yu twirled his halberd. "But not timid."

  Anubis pointed his staff towards a dark tunnel leading deeper into the abandoned parts of the subway.

  — He’s there. I can feel him. Ready?

  The three gods nodded.

  They entered the darkness.

  The deeper they descended, the colder the air became. Not a physical cold, but a spiritual one—an absence of life, warmth, hope. The walls were covered with strange markings, hieroglyphs that were distorted and twisted.

  "Dark magic," Anubis whispered, running his hand over the symbols. "Someone didn't just free Ammut. Someone empowered him."

  "Who could possess such power?" Sekhmet asked.

  "I don't know. But they know Egyptian magic deeply. Too deeply for a mere mortal."

  They continued moving until they reached a huge cave, a natural formation beneath the city that should not have existed there.

  In the center of the cave was a circle of thousands of souls, glowing with a ghostly light, trapped in an endless cycle of suffering. They spun like a vortex, their screams echoing off the walls.

  And in the center of the whirlwind he stood.

  Ammut.

  Even larger than Anubis remembered. Three meters tall, with a crocodile's head studded with teeth the length of a man's arm. The body of a lion, muscular and scarred. The hindquarters of a hippopotamus, massive and motionless.

  But the most terrible thing was the eyes - red, burning with endless hunger.

  When Ammut saw them, he growled, a sound that made the cave shake.

  "GUARDIAN," the voice was deep, primal. "Have you come to judge me? You, who kept me locked away for millennia?"

  "I came to send you back," Anubis replied firmly, raising his staff. "You should not exist in this world."

  "MUST NOT?" Ammut laughed, and the whirlwind of souls spun faster. "I EXIST TO CLEANSE. TO DEVOUR SINNERS. THAT IS MY DESTINATION!"

  "Your purpose was to judge the dead in the afterlife," Anubis countered. "Not to accumulate them here!"

  "THE OLD ORDER IS DEAD!" Ammut growled. "A NEW MASTER HAS SHOWED ME THE TRUTH. WHY WAIT FOR THE SINNERS TO DIE? WHY NOT TAKE THEM WHILE THEY ARE ALIVE?"

  A new teacher, Anubis noted to himself. So someone really was behind this.

  "Enough talk," Sekhmet stepped forward, and her body began to change. She grew, her muscles bulged, her eyes became golden and feral. The goddess of war was taking on her true form—half woman, half lioness. "It's time to fight."

  Ammut growled in response and attacked.

  The battle has begun.

  Sekhmet met him first, her claws clashing with Ammut's teeth in a burst of sparks. They were strength against strength, fury against fury.

  Hephaestus circled around, his hammer blazing with divine fire. He struck Ammut's hind leg, and the demon roared in pain.

  Guan Yu moved like the wind, his halberd cutting through the air, leaving glowing trails. He aimed for joints, for vulnerable spots, each strike precise and deadly.

  Anubis remained behind, twirling his staff and forming sand constructs—chains that tried to bind Ammut, spears that attacked from afar.

  But Ammut was strong. Incredibly strong. He pushed back Sekhmet, shattered Anubis's sand constructs, and dodged Guan Yu's blows.

  And what's worse, he was growing stronger. With every second, feeding on the energy of trapped souls, he grew, his wounds healing faster than the gods could inflict them.

  "He feeds on souls!" Anubis shouted. "We must free them!"

  "HOW?" Sekhmet growled, dodging the bite.

  Anubis knew how. But it would require all his strength, leaving him defenseless for several minutes.

  "Hold him!" he shouted. "Give me a minute!"

  The three gods nodded and attacked with redoubled fury, pushing Ammut back from the vortex of souls.

  Anubis ran to the edge of the vortex, thrust his staff into the ground, and began to chant. Ancient words of power poured from his lips, words older than Egypt itself. Words that opened the gates between worlds.

  Sand rose around him, forming a huge circle with hieroglyphs. The earth shook. The air filled with the scent of incense and myrrh.

  "GATE OF THE DUAT," Anubis proclaimed. "I, ANUBIS, GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD, SUMMON THEE. OPEN AND RECEIVE THOSE WHO ARE LOST!"

  The whirlwind of souls began to waver. A column of golden light erupted from the circle—a passage to the afterlife, where souls belonged.

  The souls sensed it. One by one, they began to break away from the whirlwind, rushing toward the light, finally finding peace.

  "NO!" Ammut roared, trying to break through to the circle.

  But Sekhmet sank her teeth into his neck, Hephaestus bound his leg with a chain of divine metal, and Guan Yu plunged his halberd into his side.

  Ammut was held back. But not for long.

  Anubis felt his strength draining. Keeping the gate open was like supporting the weight of the world. But he couldn't stop. Just a little longer. Just a little longer.

  The last soul passed through the gate, and Anubis released the ritual. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily, his staff extinguished.

  The vortex disappeared. Ammut lost his source of power.

  The demon roared in rage and pain, throwing the gods back. He turned to Anubis, his eyes blazing with madness.

  — YOU! — he rushed forward. — YOU TOOK THEM FROM ME!

  Anubis was too weak to move. Ammut's jaws opened, ready to tear him apart.

  And then lightning struck from the darkness of the tunnel.

  The electric shock was so strong that Ammut was thrown aside, his body smoking from the burns.

  Thor emerged from the tunnel, in full battle gear, Mjolnir in his hand, his eyes glowing with electricity.

  "Sorry I'm late," he said with a smile. "I heard an old friend needed help."

  Three more followed him - Sif and the Three Warriors.

  Anubis couldn't help but smile, even through the pain and fatigue.

  - Just in time, thunderer.

  "This is becoming a habit," Thor winked, then turned to Ammut. "Well, demon. Are you ready to fight the god of thunder?"

  Ammut, weakened by the loss of his souls and his wounds, growled. But there was no longer confidence in his eyes. Only fear.

  Seven gods against one demon.

  The outcome was predetermined.

  The battle ended within five minutes. With their combined efforts, they bound Ammut, and Anubis, gathering his last strength, opened a temporary portal to the Duat.

  "You will return to where you belong," he told the demon. "And this time the seals will be stronger."

  Ammut was pulled into the portal, his screams echoing in the cave until they died away completely.

  Silence.

  Anubis sank to the ground, completely exhausted. Thor approached, holding out his hand.

  - Are you okay, my friend?

  “I will,” Anubis accepted the help, rising. “Thank you. But how did you know?”

  "Heimdall saw your preparation, sensed the magic," Thor explained. "He warned me. I couldn't leave a friend in trouble."

  “It looks like I owe you again,” Anubis smiled tiredly.

  "We're even," Thor patted him on the shoulder. "You saved me from the Destroyer. I saved you from the demon. We're both heroically foolish."

  Despite being tired, everyone laughed.

  But Anubis knew that this was not the end.

  Ammut mentioned a "new teacher." Someone had freed him, empowered him, given him purpose.

  And that someone is still out there somewhere.

  But today the battle was won. And that was enough.

  For now, Anubis thought, looking at the closing portal to Duat.

  The storm was just beginning.