After retreating, Daniel naturally returned in secret to the room where Drael and the clone he had created were waiting.
As soon as he came back, his expression returned to normal, and he dismissed the clone he had made. To be safe, he also strengthened the security layers around the room.
Then he sat down on a chair, his face slightly confused and frowning. The plan he had prepared for tonight had failed miserably.
Not only that, but even his Fallen were killed. Of course, that wasn’t something worth worrying about, he could easily bring them back to life.
The real problem was that those useless and weak-looking priests actually had enough power to kill his Fallen.
Some of them could even somewhat keep up with him. In the end, they were beaten badly and almost killed by his hands, but the fact that they could resist at all said a lot about their power.
And finally, there was the power of that Grand Priest. At the moment Daniel was about to finish the priests, the Grand Priest intervened. Although he didn’t attack Daniel directly, there was a clear warning in his action.
Daniel knew that if he fought the Grand Priest, he wouldn’t lose, but winning wouldn’t be easy either, maybe not even possible.
And all of this was because of that strange golden power.
"What happened?" Drael asked, frowning as he saw Daniel calm down a little.
He had witnessed everything that happened through his spiritual senses, but he was still in shock and couldn’t fully believe what had occurred.
Those idiots actually managed to stand against this monster? That was what truly stunned him.
He had seen countless times the inhuman, monstrous power of the man in front of him. Every time Daniel acted, he created a sense of horror and helplessness in his enemies and targets.
And yet tonight, he saw this man retreat, against opponents whose ranks were far below his own. But that was the issue.
Where did their power come from? From that golden aura?
"I don’t know, but the plan failed. Ugh... it’s my own stupidity. How could phase two be that simple to complete in one night? Clearly, I overestimated myself." Daniel sighed, not blaming anyone else.
If anyone was to be blamed here, it was himself. He had grown too confident in his own strength and thought that no one in this city could challenge him.
Even the Grand Priest, at best, should have been equal to a Half Step S Rank. So why should he have worried or acted cautiously?
But from beginning to end, he had ignored one variable, that damn golden aura. Something he had never seen in his life and didn’t even know what it was.
"So what do we do now? It’s obvious we can’t destroy the temple," Drael sighed too. In the current situation, even he couldn’t think of a proper way forward.
The Crimson Temple was heavily protected by that golden aura, and it was clear that it wasn’t something ordinary. It had even withstood two of Daniel’s attacks without showing a single crack.
"First, we need to figure out what that golden aura is. After that, we can plan again," Daniel said after calming his mind.
He was aware of that strange power, but he never thought it could cause this much trouble. Still, what was done was done, and blaming himself now wouldn’t change anything.
The only thing they could do was find out what that golden aura was and whether there was a way to destroy or weaken it.
Without that golden aura, killing all the priests and even destroying the temple wouldn’t be difficult. In fact, it would be over in just a few minutes.
"Still, finding out won’t be easy. We’re outsiders, and the people of this city don’t want to talk to us. After what happened, the priests will definitely be more cautious," Drael added, though there wasn’t much worry in his eyes.
Earlier today, when he went out, it was actually to take a look around the city and get familiar with the people, to see if he could find any useful information.
However, he quickly noticed that the citizens strongly avoided him. They looked at him with disgust and hatred. That’s when he realized the people’s hatred toward outsiders was even worse than he thought.
That made him understand that getting any information from them was almost impossible. So he changed his plan and used his skills to manipulate the mind and emotions of someone who could help them instead.
"Since you don’t seem worried, I guess you have a plan?" Daniel asked curiously with a small smile. He wasn’t worried that the people wouldn’t talk to them.
After all, he also had plenty of skills for emotional manipulation. And since those skills weren’t considered offensive or defensive, he could freely use them.
Plus, he also had the ability he gained from the Parasite’s Will, that could come in handy here too.
But at that moment, he realized he might not even need to use his own skills. For once, this idiot might actually be useful.
"Of course I have a plan. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to see it," Drael said, shrugging with a playful tone.
"No problem. Besides, I need to recover my mana anyway," Daniel nodded, not caring much.
The night was already over, and there was nothing more they could do. It was better to focus on recovering his mana.
He then closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. Drael, seeing that their talk was done, also nodded and went into meditation as well.
Sleep didn’t mean anything to people at their level.
The night quietly passed, and soon morning came. As sunlight filled the room, both of them opened their eyes.
After that, they both took a bath and changed into the new clothes the temple servants had brought for them yesterday. After all, today they were supposed to officially become temple servants themselves.
"So, what’s that solution you mentioned?" Daniel looked at Drael and asked.
"What’s the rush? The solution should be arriving any second now."
"Hm?" Daniel frowned, as if he had guessed something.
At that exact moment, a knocking sound came from the door. Drael walked over and opened it.
"And the solution is here" he said with a smirk on his face.
The person standing there was, of course, none other than Merina.