Chapter 621: Below
Sylas already knew what happened the moment that fool of a priest accepted the golems back.
In truth, Sylas didn't know or understand how the golems worked initially. But between the time that he summoned the Great Priest and the end of the battle, he had had almost half a day.
In that time, he had analyzed the golems, only to find that they might have been complicated mechanisms... but at the end of the day, they were built off the same fundamental laws that he was used to.
Runes.
The moment he understood that, he was able to deduce the locations through which the golems were controlled and implant his own Will into them.
To be clear, he couldn't control the golems. That would take significantly more study and time he didn't have. Although controlling golems wasn't as difficult as knowing how to draw every Rune in its body like he would have to for the scorpion army, it was only two or so steps beneath that.
However, something as simple as finding the location the Grand Priest would have to pour his Will into in order to control it? It was as easy as breathing for Sylas.
He had found it with a single glance.
At that point, it was only a simple matter of pouring his own Will into it first and tweaking the Rune slightly so that it wasn't too obvious.
When the Great Priest tried to pour his Will into the golem, he found that he needed much more than usual. Once that happened, he would think that the golem was likely damaged by Sylas, so he would pour more of his Will in to attempt to find the root cause and maybe fix it, while also testing to see just how much stamina it would take.
By the time he made such a decision, his death was set in stone.
That was because all Sylas had done was pour a large amount of his own Will into the same location... his Sparking Will... with a poison character.
When he had seen the Great Priest, he had already deduced that his Will was much weaker than his own in terms of realm. The moment their two Wills came into contact, the Great Priest found himself swallowed up.
The poison latched onto his Will and seeped into his mind. Before he could even understand what was happening...
He was dead.
Sylas looked up as though he hadn't done much at all, staring at the moon that hung high as the festivities began to roll.
He had a cold chill sweeping through his heart right now, and he had a feeling that he knew where it was coming from.
After doing his "kingly" duties, he slipped away.
This party served dual purposes.
For one, just killing the Great Priest wasn't enough to stabilize the city as Leg 002 asked of him. He also needed to restore the faith of the people and make them feel much better about their lives.
But it was also a distraction.
The death of such an important figure wouldn't go unnoticed. He not only needed a reason for the Great Priest to disappear, but he also needed an opportunity to investigate this so-called temple.
...
Sylas slipped through an alley and found Alex and Cole waiting. Given the stat requirements of this Dungeon, he wouldn't ever go in alone. It was especially troublesome because this time, he wouldn't have easy access to Mature Aether in all likelihood.
Though it was hard to say what sort of enemies he might come across, and he also did have some other contingency plans in place, it was better safe than sorry.
By now, the two had gotten some real rest, as had he, and they were refreshed and prepared for the next Leg.
Sylas nodded and they rushed through the night toward the temple.
He had set up the main core of the festivities away from the temple. On the surface, it looked like a sign of respect for the Gods these people worshipped, but in practice, it was only to give him an easier time right here and now.
There were still some stragglers on the streets, some drunk men, some rowdy couples trying their best to keep their moans in hushed whispers, but for the most part, the city was relatively empty on this side.
That only became more so as they weaved through the densely packed streets toward the temple.
However, once they were within range of said temple, there were no longer any densely packed homes and buildings to hide between. There was a large open space, and in the center, before the temple, there was a large statue.
Sylas narrowed his eyes upon seeing this statue.
It looked human... for the most part. But it seemed to have a handsomeness to it that couldn't be captured perfectly in stone, as though the artisan couldn't completely capture the nature
of the person.
And this statue had a pair of horns that curled back onto his hair almost like a pair of smooth braids, along with a slit right down the middle of its forehead that barely separated a subtle
fold of skin.
The group didn't stall for the statue, moving toward the temple.
"The temple is now closed to visitors. Please return-"
A tendril of darkness came from Alex that sliced the clergyman's head from his neck, sending
it spiraling into the skies in a spurt of blood.
Plumes of darkness surged as they rushed into the temple, killing anyone they saw.
Sylas wasn't sure who was on the Great Priest's side and he didn't have the care or time to find
out.
It was best to directly kill them all.
Alex did the heavy lifting as they rushed forward, clearing away everything in their path one after another until they ran to the end of the temple.
Rivers of blood flowed, but Sylas still hadn't found what he was looking for.
'Down below...'
Sylas looked beneath his feet and almost seemed to be looking through the intricately carved marble beneath his feet, realizing that that was where his target lay.