With their own thoughts, the group, led by Elder Mu, finally arrived at the central lighthouse.
The ancient building appears particularly majestic in the darkness, its tower constructed of rough stones, with the marks of time etched on its surface.
"Let's go up," Elder Mu said impatiently, squinting his eyes.
They climbed the stone steps, one floor at a time, and reached the top of the tower in about half an hour.
This is a magic circle engraved with mysterious patterns, and in the center of the magic circle is a huge orange crystal.
The crystals were dull and lifeless, exhibiting signs of decay and death.
Elder Mu's expression turned solemn. He bowed slightly to the crystal and then introduced it to everyone: "This Dawn Crystal is the result of the head of that pioneer. It is used as the core of the magic array to transfer the crystal's energy to the lighthouse so that it can be illuminated. After the divine power in the crystal is exhausted, other Dawn Favorites need to replenish it with their divine power so that the lighthouse can continue to bring us light."
Elder Ge Lan frowned as he looked at the patterns on the array.
Elder Mu smiled at them and continued, "Which of you would like to go into the magic array first and contribute some divine power to our beacon?"
Phil Gray, who had been looking down, suddenly raised his head. Just as he was about to remind his companions, he heard Elder Glenn suddenly snort and grab Elder Mu's clothes.
"Do we look like fools? Normally, it's the outer edge of a magic array to channel divine power, but you want us to stand inside? Once we're inside, all our divine power and even life force will be drained from us, because this isn't a magic array at all, but an altar. The patterns on it are clearly for use during sacrifices!"
Ordinary believers may not understand the sacrificial text, but as an elder of the Dawn Cult, he is very familiar with it.
"Your forerunners willingly sacrificed their lives to set up this altar and bring you light, yet you use it to deceive the lives of their descendants?" Elder Glen said angrily.
Although he didn't know the truth, he had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
As an elder of the Cult of Dawn, he felt heartbroken and filled with pity for the islanders who so worshipped the sun and longed for light, yet had to endure endless darkness. If he had been that elder, he would have been willing to make the sacrifice.
But unexpectedly, these people made such a choice, using deception and betrayal to trample on the kindness of dawn!
Elder Mu's face twisted even more, his mouth curving into a slit. His body slithered away from Elder Ge Lan's grasp like a snake, and he shouted, "Grab them!"
Immediately afterwards, several dark figures suddenly sprang out of the tower and pounced on them!
“There are even followers of other gods,” Phil Gray murmured.
He retreated to a corner, trying to minimize his presence.
The Dawn Knights fought the shadowy figures and captured them all in no time.
Elder Mu tried to escape secretly, but failed to notice Phil Gray, the "native" with a very low profile, who was standing next to him.
They were caught red-handed.
"You!" Elder Mu's eyes were filled with surprise and doubt.
"Don't even think about escaping. Don't you want to see the light of day?" Phil Gray asked sarcastically, pulling down his hood.
Elder Mu instantly realized that he was also an outsider, and angrily cursed Elder Mi as a traitor!
"He's just being pragmatic," Phil Gray said calmly, carrying Elder Mu to the others.
Elder Glen patted him on the shoulder and said with relief, "It's good that you're alright. If we had really lost His Highness the Holy Son, where would I put my face when we returned to the Holy See?"
Eli and Ernest had already recognized him, so they weren't very surprised. They simply took the struggling Elder Mu from his hands.
"I'm sorry to have worried you. The storm that day was so fierce that I was swept away before I could even react," Phil Gray said with a wry smile.
"Your Highness, it's good that you're alright. What should we do with these people?" Martin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Phil Gray appear, and pointed at the islanders being escorted by the knights.
There were seven or eight of these people, all of whom were favored by other gods, such as the Goddess of the Sea and the God of Death. They were of a high rank, all of whom were prominent, and should be henchmen specially trained by the temple.
"Lock them up first, and arrest Elder Li as well. We'll settle accounts with them one by one after we've dealt with the dark affairs."
Phil Gray frowned. It wasn't just the people in the temple who needed to be held accountable; every resident of the island did, for they all carried the burden of sin!
“Alright.” Martin nodded, gave a few instructions to his knights, and the knights led the men away.
"Do you have a clue how to deal with the darkness?" Elder Glen asked.
“Not yet, but we have to solve it, otherwise we won’t be able to leave here.” Phil Gray walked to the magic circle and bowed deeply.
He still held this predecessor who sacrificed himself for the sake of light in high esteem.
"Elder Mi is cooperating so far, let's go find him again to get some more information."
...
Two of the temple's three elders were imprisoned along with the temple's henchmen, guarded by the Dawn Knights. The remaining elder, Elder Mi, said he would completely obey their arrangements and would maintain the island's daily activities to prevent other islanders from noticing anything amiss.
The people who had brought them to the temple and the islanders were also imprisoned, for fear that they would expose the existence of the Dawn's Chosen and cause even greater unrest.
"What should we do? How do we get out of here? Is this some kind of punishment from the gods?" Valck Dodd leaned against the wall alone, filled with resentment.
They had been in the temple for three more days, but the members of the Dawn Cult had not found a single clue as to how they had left.
Looking at the bottomless dark sky, he cursed a few times in frustration, then kicked the base of the wall in a fit of anger.
Phil Gray watched Valcke Dodd's commotion and chuckled inwardly.
Then he turned to Elder Glen and said, “Our only option right now is to wait for the savior that the islander spoke of to arrive. There are only ten days left. We’ll see who he is and why he can come and go freely on the island without being restricted here. He definitely knows something.”
“Yes, I’m curious too.” Elder Ge Lan nodded, after all, even he, a god-level being, couldn’t see through this place.
"What? Wait another ten days?" Valck Dodd's expression changed instantly. "Your Highness, if we wait another ten days, the traitors of my Church of Destiny will probably have already taken control of the entire Holy See!"
“I know, but do you have any other way to wait for that savior to arrive?” Phil Gray asked coldly.
He was naturally very anxious, after all, he didn't want to see Wendell ascend to the papacy, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment.
He once asked the Scales of Fate, and Xiao Tian said that this place was somewhat similar to its original situation, as if this island was evolving into an independent space, and that the power of the gods was definitely at work here.
As for which deity it was, he had a vague guess in his mind.
He then prayed to the god of fate, the daytime prophet, and even the god of death, but no god responded to him, indicating that he had to solve the problem himself!
Valcke Dodd had no choice but to leave dejectedly.
With a sigh, Phil Gray returned to the underground room Elder Mi had prepared for them, took out the crystal ball, and had been using it to keep track of what was happening outside for the past few days.
Based on the snippets of conversation inside, he knew that several elders of the Dawn Cult had gone to the outskirts of the Crimson Calamity to support the Knights, but they dared not act rashly, fearing that the three gods would attack them.
Fortunately, the three gods did not do anything further, and no one could guess their plans.
The Church of Dawn officially announced an alliance with the Church of Life, the Church of Food, the Church of Eternity, and the Church of Creation, among others, to begin forming a coalition against the Church of War and the Church of Dreams.
Meanwhile, the Church of the Dead has encountered a situation, seemingly splitting into two factions. One faction has joined the Church of War and the Church of Dreams, while the other has declared its neutrality and will not participate in any war.
After setting down the crystal ball, Phil Gray asked Xiao Tian to keep an eye on it. With this "severe internet addict" around, he was confident that he wouldn't miss any important news.
Finally, after waiting in the darkness for more than ten days, he heard Ernest shout from the rooftop: "Your Highness, Elder Mi wants us to come over. The appointed time to meet the Savior is today!"
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