546 Unveiled Intentions
Under the pressure of Vaan's tyrannical and oppressive dragon aura, many opposing templars and priests immediately wavered.
They all subconsciously took a step or two back away from Vaan as their hearts trembled with fear. They dared not look at Vaan directly lest their eyes met.
"Go. Throw out the gold coins to the people. No one will stop you," Vaan instructed his believers after seeing the opposing side was frozen like stones.
Perhaps influenced by the faint trace of the holy aura he cultivated, the priests on his side revealed fanatic joy and excitement.
"Yes, Your Divinity!" They answered feverishly.
They have been given their very first command from the Sun God himself! What an honor it was! The Sun God had acknowledged them and was willing to forgive their sins!
Vaan smashed another reinforced pillar containing millions of gold coins, unobstructed by anyone or anything.
Without any orders from the higher-ups, the templars and lower-ranking priests from the opposing side did not know what to do.
Most of the uppermost-ranking priests had seemingly disappeared, and those left behind on the ground lacked the influence and authority to command everyone.
"What are we supposed to do? Where are the Grand Priests and His Holiness? They won't blame us for doing nothing, right? At this rate, I fear the whole temple will come crumbling down on us," a templar whispered to his buddy with concern.
"Fret not, comrade. I'm sure His Holiness and the Grand Priests have a plan to turn things around. We'll just have to wait and see!" the templar buddy assured with a hopeful expression hidden under his white helmet.
More reinforced stone pillars were smashed apart with zero resistance from the Sun God Temple's side.
Everyone already knew just how sturdy the reinforced stone pillars were. And yet, they were shattered so easily under the false Sun God's kicks.
As such, they knew no one was the false Sun God's match. Even if they band together, they still wouldn't stand a chance.
A Transcendent was already in a league of their own, let alone someone possibly beyond Transcendent.
Several opposing templars contemplated whether it was too late to switch sides and express their loyalty to the false Sun God, even if they didn't truly believe the person was the true god of their faith.
To some of them, their lives were more important than their faith. The so-called faith was just a means to an end. As long as it was beneficial, they would make use of it.
As such, they had no mental barriers stopping them from switching sides.
If you can't beat them, join them â the templars thought.
On the other hand, many priests didn't entertain the thought at all. They couldn't accept that the self-proclaimed Sun God might be right. It would invalidate their sacrifice.
It wasn't farfetched to say they were already balls-deep on the Sun God Temple's side.
"That's enough, false god! You will cause trouble no further here!" Arch Priest Thurman's voice resounded from the inner sanctum once Vaan entered the vicinity of the central mana refinery pillar.
At the same time, the bright light from the central mana refinery pillar intensified in a concentrated form, creating a wall of light.
The wall of light suddenly expanded rapidly and covered Vaan in its domain.
In that instance, a powerful, searing pressure bore down on Vaan's body, seemingly wanting to force him to kneel.
It was as if gravity had increased by tens of folds.
Under such tremendous pressure, most Rank 4 beings would have groveled on the ground immediately. Even Rank 5 beings would have a hard time standing upright.
However, Vaan's physical attributes, enhanced with aura, had already entered the ranks of Demigods. He wasn't fazed at all.
At the same time, the destruction of the filter pillars had increased the content of fire elements in the central mana refinery pillar.
"He's immobilized! Quickly shoot the spell, Your Holiness!" multiple Grand Priests exclaimed excitedly as everyone from the inner sanctum rushed out like moving shadows and surrounded Vaan.
At the same time, Archpriest Thurman hurled a floating cube of golden-white light from his right hand with all his strength.
Vaan glanced at the incoming cube of golden-white light before his lips slowly curved into a smile.
It was only a split second before the cube of golden-white light struck him and disappeared through his forehead. But it only made Archpriest Thurman feel endless unease.
On the other hand, the rest of the Grand Priests and High Priests rejoiced at the successful landing of the One-Mind Unity Spell.
"Hahahaha, the spell landed! It's over!"
"So what if he was very powerful? He still fell for our trap! Now, he can only be our pupâ!"
"Shut up!" a Grand Priest slapped the overjoyed High Priest, who was about to spill their Sun God Temple's great secret.
The One-Mind Unity Spell was a magic spell created to supplement the Holy Aura Scripture.
Everyone who practiced the Holy Aura Scripture would become easily influenced by others who also cultivated the holy aura to a higher degree of purity once the One-Mind Unity connected them to the collective group that had already joined.
A string of notifications rang in Vaan's mind as the Sun God Temple's upper echelons rejoiced at their victory, excluding Archpriest Thurman. The person still felt something wasn't right but couldn't figure out what was wrong.
They could sense the false Sun God's consciousness, which implied the One-Mind Unity Spell had successfully added him to the group of collective consciousnesses.
That also proved he had cultivated the Holy Aura Scripture to some degree.
"Get your ass over here and lick my feet!"
Some Grand Priests were immediately angered by Grand Priest Ignatius's blatant order of the Sun God. They still needed to keep up an image, but it was too late to reprimand the person.
They also wanted to see if the spell was effective.
Just as Grand Priest Ignatius wanted, Vaan walked over to him, causing many Grand Priests to smile with relief.
However, their expressions quickly froze when Vaan raised a hand, which differed from Grand Priest Ignatius's order.
Vaan smacked the smug bastard to death with a single slap.
Everyone became dumbfounded.