Even though they tried to resist, it didn’t take long before they were completely subdued. Without a single sound leaking outside, they were brought entirely under control.
Now, they were kneeling before Daniel, not daring to even look him in the eyes. Daniel glanced at them and asked a few questions about what had happened the previous night.
He wanted to see if these idiots knew anything about last night’s events. Unfortunately, it seemed that they knew nothing. They had only realized that the temple had been attacked once again.
However, they weren’t stupid enough to miss the difference, the attackers from last night were completely different from the monsters that had attacked a few nights ago.
Still, they didn’t care much about that since the Grand Priest had told them not to ask questions and that it wasn’t their concern.
"He hid it from them," Daniel murmured to himself. It was clear that the old man didn’t trust any of the priests right now.
After all, in his eyes, every single priest had the potential to be a traitor. Until he was certain who was behind it all, there was no way he’d trust any of them.
Since these priests didn’t have any useful information, Daniel simply gave them the necessary orders and sent them off to carry them out.
If everything went as planned, another wave of rumors would soon spread among the people and destroy the temporary stability that had been restored last night.
In front of him, the void twisted, and a rift opened. Daniel stepped inside, and the next moment, he appeared before Drael, inside the same room they had been living in for the past few days.
"Is everything done?" Drael looked at him and asked.
"The priests are under control. We just need to wait and see the results," Daniel nodded. Although everything had gone smoothly so far, this time he decided not to lower his guard.
Aside from what happened last night, it was possible that the Grand Priest still had some hidden trump cards. Daniel had to be ready for every scenario.
"What will you do if the plan fails?"
"I’ll use force," Daniel paused for a moment before answering. There were still other ways to destroy the temple.
Among them was the use of his absolute powers. As long as he used skills like [Self-Transcendence] and [Fallen Will], he could easily annihilate the temple and even move straight to the final phase of the floor and finish it instantly.
However, those two skills were his trump cards, and he didn’t want to use them unless he was truly desperate and had no other choice.
The current situation was far from that kind of desperation. There was nothing right now that could actually threaten him. The only real problem was the power of faith, it had become a headache for both of them.
"Anyway, while you were gone, I noticed something," Drael changed the subject, his expression turning slightly serious.
"What is it?"
"It seems like the city gates opened yesterday, and a group entered. But their identities are unknown, and the moment they came in, they disappeared. No one has seen them since."
"An unknown group?" Daniel frowned. That was quite strange, especially since entry for outsiders into this city was forbidden. Even the two of them had gone through a lot of trouble to get in.
And now a mysterious group had appeared and vanished? On the same day their plan had almost succeeded? And there was also last night’s attack on the temple?
His eyes suddenly gleamed as if something had just clicked in his mind. He smirked.
"Where did you find that out?" he asked, turning his gaze toward the young man in front of him.
"From the guards. Making friends with them isn’t that hard," Drael said with a small grin.
Although he used the word ’friends,’ it was obvious what he really meant. Most likely, the guards were under Drael’s control now.
Given the instability in the city and everything that had happened lately, manipulating the minds of a few guards wouldn’t be difficult, especially for someone as skilled at it as Drael.
"I see. The Grand Priest must have thought the guards were worthless nobodies. That’s why he didn’t bother to threaten them or order them to stay silent. He just ignored them. But that’s exactly why the identity of last night’s attackers got exposed," Daniel laughed.
The old man’s foolishness was understandable, many others would’ve made the same mistake. After all, who would care about a few insignificant guards?
Still, the Grand Priest had no idea that his carelessness had allowed Daniel to uncover who the attackers from last night really were.
"So you figured out who they are?" Drael raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. He had his own suspicions, but not this quickly, it had taken him more time to reach that conclusion.
"Of course. Who else could it be other than other players? I’ve always wondered why we haven’t seen any other players on this floor. Looks like they’ve finally shown up."
"True, but why would they cooperate with the Grand Priest? Could it be that their phase is different from ours?"
"Definitely. Their first phase was probably the same as ours, but they came through a different route. That’s why it took them longer to reach this place. But their second phase is probably to protect the temple," Daniel said, nodding.
"Are you sure? Maybe their second phase is also to destroy the temple, but they decided to test the waters first. Last night, they might’ve pretended to help the Grand Priest while actually trying to destroy the temple. When they failed, they decided to play along for now," Drael argued, though with a bit of doubt in his tone.
"That’s possible too. But either way, it doesn’t matter. As long as they don’t get in our way, I won’t bother with them. But if their second phase is different and they try to stop us, then I’ll have no choice but to erase them," Daniel said lazily, shrugging.
From his perspective, the only thing that mattered was destroying the temple. Everything else was irrelevant.
"Anyway, get ready. It’s almost time. By now, the rumors should have already spread among the people," Daniel said, glancing out the window.
Drael nodded and sat down on the couch. Either way, he wasn’t going to participate in the attack, his job was simply to wait here until it was all over.
Meanwhile, just as Daniel had predicted, a new wave of rumors had begun to spread among the citizens, throwing the city into chaos once again.
A chaos far greater than ever before, and this time, it engulfed the entire city, even reaching the ears of the Grand Priest himself.