"You filthy fraud! Today is the day you pay for your sins!"
"You deceived us for years and turned us into your pawns!"
"It’s because of you that God’s wrath has covered the entire city, and things have only gotten worse and worse over the years!"
"We were blind and didn’t see it! But now, your evil acts must come to an end!"
The furious shouts of the people echoed everywhere. A massive crowd had completely surrounded the temple, raising and lowering their weapons in anger.
At the front of the crowd stood five priests, the ones who had taught them the truth.
The Grand Priest slowly walked out of the temple, followed by a group of priests. With a calm and expressionless face, he stared at the crowd.
Even though he could hear their voices clearly, it was obvious that he didn’t care in the slightest, at least, not outwardly.
Inside, however, he was burning with rage. He didn’t know which bastard had ruined all his plans, but if he ever found out, he would tear them apart piece by piece.
"Don’t you feel ashamed for betraying the temple? God will surely punish you," said the priests behind him, glaring furiously at the five traitorous priests.
But the five of them completely ignored the remark, which only made the faces of the priests behind the Grand Priest grow colder. They wanted to rush down and attack the traitors right then, but they didn’t dare act without their leader’s order.
"Everything you’ve heard so far is nothing but lies, this is just the Evil’s plan to destroy me and your faith," the Grand Priest finally spoke, his loud and commanding voice echoing through the sky and earth.
For a brief moment, the crowd fell silent, but only for a moment. Soon after, waves of furious shouting and curses filled the air again.
"If you’re really not a fraud, then prove it! You always claim to hear the voice of God! Then let us hear it too!" someone suddenly shouted from the crowd.
The others quickly joined in, their excitement and anger growing, repeating the same demand at the top of their lungs.
The Grand Priest’s expression shifted slightly. Even he didn’t know what to say for a moment.
He truly had heard God’s voice before, but that was many years ago. Since then, God had only communicated with him in other ways.
Besides, even if he could still speak with God directly, how could he dare force that existence to speak to the people? More than anyone, he knew that God didn’t care about the life or death of humans.
That God only sought to gather enough faith to heal His own wounds and return to His peak power.
"Calm yourselves, my people. If you doubt your faith and mock God’s judgment, you will bring down the wrath of the heavens upon yourselves, and only destruction will follow," he said again, raising his voice.
But his words had no effect at all.
"If there’s anyone here who has angered God, it’s none other than you! Only a fraud like you could make God angry!" one of the five priests under Daniel’s control shouted.
His words ignited another wave of fury among the people, who began pressing harder against the barriers separating them from the temple.
At that moment, they wanted nothing more than to break through the barriers, capture the deceitful old man, and make him pay for his crimes. Their rage was beyond words.
Especially now that they knew last night’s attack had been nothing but a staged act, a show orchestrated by the Grand Priest himself to make the people believe that Evil had attacked them.
That fake attack had killed countless innocent people, many of them children, women, and husbands of those now standing in the furious crowd, thirsting for revenge.
For the first time, the Grand Priest’s expression turned ugly. He realized there might truly be no way to calm the people’s rage, especially since he could feel the power of faith weakening with every passing moment.
If this continued, it wouldn’t be long before that faith disappeared completely, and when that happened, he would lose all his power as well.
Even worse, the temple would lose its divine protection. And if that happened, there would be no safe place left for him to hide.
"Give me some time! I will speak to God and convince Him to speak to all of you and confirm my words!" he finally shouted in desperation.
This time, his words actually had an effect, the furious crowd slowly began to calm down.
Even though they had seen enough proof and heard the confessions of the five priests, what if all of this truly was a deception by Evil?
That thought crossed their minds, making them hesitate.
If they angered God, the entire city would be destroyed. They didn’t want to enrage Him and become infidels.
"I swear I’ll speak to God and convince Him to address the entire city. Give me one day. If by tomorrow I fail to persuade Him, you can do whatever you want to me, I will surrender myself," said the Grand Priest with a sigh of relief when he saw the crowd finally stop.
The people exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.
"Let’s wait one day. Tomorrow, when you see nothing happens, you’ll know for sure that this old man is truly a fraud and the Evil himself," one of the five priests said loudly.
Their current standing among the people was extremely high, almost everyone listened to their words.
Now that one of them had spoken, the crowd nodded and finally decided to withdraw for now and wait until the next day.
After all, one day wasn’t a long time. Though that didn’t mean they would leave the area, to be safe, they agreed to have many of them stay behind to make sure the Grand Priest didn’t escape.
The rest of the crowd slowly dispersed, while the five priests remained. They didn’t intend to leave anyway, they wanted to end it today, but Daniel had just contacted them and ordered them to persuade the people to wait until tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Grand Priest returned inside the temple. He didn’t know why those traitorous priests had helped him, nor did he care. At that moment, all he wanted was to find a way to save himself.
He sighed, gathered his courage, and slowly descended into the depths of the temple, to the place where God resided.
At the same time, Daniel was about to begin his assault on the temple, but he suddenly noticed unexpected guests approaching. People he had never seen before, and they certainly didn’t look like they were from this city.