Inside a grand hall illuminated entirely by blue flas burning in dozens of torches, several figures stood gathered.
At the end of the hall stood a statue with a broken head, the statue of a man holding a sword made of light, seemingly standing against the darkness itself.
However, the statue had no head, as if it had been shattered as punishnt for so blasphemy. Beneath it stood an old, worn-out man staring silently at the statue.
While the sound of heated argunts echoed across the hall, the old man in a crimson robe seed indifferent, lost in his own thoughts.
"rina! What were you thinking, bringing two outsiders here?!" the angry voice of an old woman broke through, silencing the entire hall.
The young girl being scolded lowered her head in fear, unable to even look up. She didn’t understand what exactly she had done wrong.
Those two needed her help! So why shouldn’t she have brought them here?
Wasn’t it their duty to help those in need? Was she supposed to just stand by and watch them die?
"rina, you know the laws. Foreigners are strictly forbidden from entering the city, yet you broke that law and brought two of them with you! Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused?" another elder’s voice rang out, this ti, an old man.
Every priest of the temple was present in the hall, their faces dark with anger. None of them had ever imagined that the temple’s most sacred law would be broken by this young girl.
"I didn’t know... I’m sorry," rina said softly, her voice trembling as tears stread down her cheeks.
She had never expected these elders, who always treated her kindly, to be this furious. Was bringing outsiders here really that terrible?
"Sorry? You broke the law! You must be punished!" one of the priests snapped, unable to control his anger any longer.
If it had been anyone else, they would have already taken out all their rage on them, perhaps even sentenced them to death.
But unfortunately for them, this girl was the Grand Priest’s favorite, and none of them dared to touch her.
"Enough. What’s done is done. We can’t change that now. What we need to do is decide how to handle this situation," said another priest who had remained silent until now, trying to calm the atmosphere.
"They haven’t seen anything. Once they recover, we’ll just send them out of the city. That should prevent any trouble," the old woman who had healed Drael said indifferently.
Everyone went quiet for a mont, thinking about her suggestion. It was, in fact, the most reasonable course of action for now, one that would prevent further complications.
However, not all of them agreed. So were more cautious.
"How can you be sure they don’t know anything? What if that young man has already noticed sothing? And what happens if they go back to their city and tell others about us? We’ll have a flood of outsiders coming here!"
"She’s right. That would bring endless trouble, and we might lose control of the situation. The best choice is to simply kill them both quietly and get rid of the problem."
Silence fell over the hall again. Several frowned, the argunt was, unfortunately, logical.
Their city was built in a deserted region, far from civilization, and no other humans dared to co near it. Until now, they hadn’t encountered any outsiders at all.
They had no idea why those two had co here, but what if they went back and revealed the existence of this city?
That could be dangerous, even catastrophic.
"But if we kill them, their families might co looking for them. We don’t know anything about their background," the old woman added, sparking another wave of discussion.
Indeed, killing them could cause as much trouble as letting them go. None of them wanted that.
The best option would have been to erase their mories and send them away, but unfortunately, the "God" had never granted them such power.
Just as the discussion was getting louder, the old man who had been staring at the statue finally turned his head.
"Enough," he said softly, yet that one word silenced everyone instantly. All the priests lowered their heads.
"rina, go and bring your two new friends here." His eyes rested on the terrified girl.
"Yes, Grand Priest," rina bowed quickly and hurried out, trembling. She was terrified and wanted nothing more than to get out of that hall.
It was the first ti she had seen this side of the priests, and it scared her to the core.
Killing people? Why did they talk about it so casually, as if it were an everyday task?
She didn’t know, and at that mont, she didn’t care. She just wanted to get out of there, and thankfully, the Grand Priest had dismissed her.
"My lord, what do you plan to do?" one of the priests asked respectfully.
"Let’s talk to the young n first. Then, we’ll decide," the old man said with a faint smile before turning his gaze back to the headless statue.
But that smile only made the other priests shudder, because they knew it well.
anwhile, it didn’t take long for rina to find Drael and Daniel. When she saw Drael awake, she wanted to greet him, but guilt struck her heart as she rembered what might happen to them. So, she simply told them to follow her.
Both Daniel and Drael imdiately noticed sothing was wrong from her behavior and frowned. Still, they said nothing and just followed her quietly.
Before long, they reached a magnificent temple with crimson pillars, a beautiful structure radiating divine energy, truly worthy of being called the dwelling place of a god.
There was still that sa hidden power Daniel had felt before, the strange presence that seed to protect this place.
The two exchanged glances before stepping forward.
As soon as they entered the temple, a system notification appeared before their eyes.
[ Phase One successfully completed ]
[ Congratulations on completing Phase One successfully ]
[ Phase Two: Burn the Crimson Temple ]
[ The Mother System wishes you good luck ]
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