Eugene's sudden action somewhat startled Tols, but his firmness also put an end to the confusion Tols had felt for the past half-day. As if he had found his backbone, Tols said:
"But Priest Eugene... those people are quite powerful and numerous. The Guard Team and the priests alone might not be a match for them."
This was the crux of Tols's confusion; not only did the opposition have great momentum, but they couldn't even win in a direct clash of strength, especially now that the High Priests were missing.
However, a faint smile flickered across Eugene's calm face as he spoke:
"Who said our strength is limited to the Guard Team and the priests? Aren't there still those commoners?"
Every month, Monsa bestowed divine water upon those who performed exceptionally, leading to a continuous expansion of the population that had consumed it.
But for ten years, the number of priests had not increased by even one. This wasn't just because the High Priests had eliminated those who met the criteria.
It was also because the priest community, wanting to maintain their status through scarcity, prevented new people from becoming priests. Over the past decade, there were plenty of commoners who had achieved great merits but never received the opportunity to become priests.
Had the High Priests not insisted on distributing the divine water according to God's will, these priests would have long ago treated the divine water as a monopoly of the priestly families.
Even so, the priests still controlled the appointments and dismissals for many positions, such as the Guard Team.
Currently, almost everyone in the Guard Team shared blood ties with these priests. Without such a connection, one couldn't even dream of joining; they could only obediently farm or clear out minor monsters.
Of course, if your strength reached the level of Luca, the Captain of the Guard Team, they would be forced to grit their teeth and absorb you into the Guard Team. But how many people actually had that level of skill?
Consequently, a large number of people who had consumed the divine water had no choice but to return to their fields to farm or engage in commercial activities.
At this moment, Eugene thought of those commoners they had marginalized—those who, despite drinking the divine water, held no corresponding positions due to their lack of background.
With the Guard Team's strength reduced by half and nearly every priest injured, he knew they had to leverage the power of those commoners.
The opposition was merely a group of 'those punished by God'; forget about the priestly group represented by Eugene, even the commoners might not necessarily look up to them.
"Don't think that by capturing this place, you can become the masters of Monsa..."
He muttered to himself, while also thinking how wonderful it would be if the three High Priests were still here. If those three High Priests were present, these people wouldn't dare to be so insolent.
He already knew that the High Priest and High Priest Rune had long since disappeared, but what about High Priest Angmar?
He estimated that Angmar had also disappeared at some unknown point; otherwise, with High Priest Angmar's strength, how could he have allowed these lowlifes to capture the temple?
Eugene carefully stroked his cane, a fire already ignited in his heart. The last time he had been this excited was sixteen years ago, when he was only forty-five.
---
When Furan had finished arranging things and was about to head out to check on the progress of the 'Half-Dragon People,' she heard the sound of a heated conflict.
"You monsters, neither human nor beast, are not worthy of being in this hall!"
"Get out of the temple, you monsters."
Furan looked over and saw several of the Half-Dragon People under her command confronting a group of over twenty people.
Judging by their clothes, they were neither priests nor Guards, but simply commoners.
Furan scratched her head. Hadn't she told her subordinates to bring all the commoners up? She had intended to 'influence' these residents when the sun went down.
Furan looked around and saw some servants of the priests watching from the sidelines. She frowned and walked straight over.
Xavier was one of the commoners currently insulting the 'Half-Dragon People.'
He had known the specific situation at the temple for a while: a group of 'those punished by God' claimed to have received God's forgiveness, drank the divine water, and stormed the temple, killing a large number of Guards and priests.
This bloody incident was far too terrifying; many residents were scared out of their wits and hid in their houses, refusing to come out.
When 'Half-Dragon People' with blood still on their hands came to the door to notify the residents to gather at the temple square to hear the commands issued by the Divine Envoy, others avoided them like the plague, but he readily agreed.
He had learned the specifics of the situation from a priest's servant. After a brief analysis, he discovered that while these 'Half-Dragon People' were powerful, they were not impossible to resist.
Their physical attributes were only slightly higher than those of the people who had drunk the divine water. Although their various monster limbs made each individual's combat power superior to those who drank the water,
their numbers could only be described as average. According to the priest's servant, there were about a hundred of them.
And such a number was truly far inferior to the humans who had consumed the divine water.
Among the commoners he encountered in his daily life alone, no fewer than two hundred had drunk the divine water, not to mention the commoners working all over Monsa.
After quickly assessing the situation, his ambition swelled rapidly. Since the moment he drank the divine water, there wasn't a second he hadn't envied the life of the priests.
They didn't have to work; they only needed to pray to the gods in a performative manner every day to enjoy good living conditions and have servants wait on them.
This was an opportunity—that was his first thought upon learning the details.
So he quickly rallied friends and relatives, and by evening, he had gathered a team of over twenty people and come up here, intending to use this opportunity to fight for a piece of the pie.
He hadn't acted low-key since arriving, immediately entering into a conflict with the other side. In his view, with so many people behind him, what was there to fear?
And it wasn't just the people behind him; their families and friends were also his support this time.
With this concentrated power, he would surely be able to seize some authority from the Divine Envoy who had summoned them.
Just as a real physical conflict was about to break out on the scene, he saw a person wearing strange robes walking over.
As soon as Furan walked over, those 'Half-Dragon People' who were about to raise their sharp claws immediately lowered them and turned to greet her.
"What's happening?"
"Those people are intentionally causing trouble," a 'Half-Dragon' replied.
Furan turned her head toward Xavier and asked:
"So it's you causing trouble."
"We aren't... we're just asking if it's appropriate to kill so many people?" Xavier revealed a smile, his eyes staring straight at Furan.
He had heard that the Divine Envoy wore a greyish-yellow robe all day, rather than this garment decorated with many patterns and some white sections.
"Dressed like this, is she a confidant of the Divine Envoy?" While he was still guessing Furan's identity, he suddenly felt his perspective sink and the world began to flip.
Finally, his line of sight fell to the ground, forming a 90-degree angle with the floor.
"What happened?" That was his final thought, and trying to open his eyes wide to see exactly what had occurred was the final action of his life.
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