Spirits were like the children of Pangea; they were born pure and innocent before external factors shaped their characters. As such, they were quite sensitive to the malice of others.
Although Topaz sensed High Priest Setheiman's hidden malice, she also felt confused and unconfident due to the old man's humble, kind look.
Nevertheless, Vaan had received her goodwill, even though he already knew the truth.
He caressed Topaz's head with a single finger, showing his affection, which Topaz really enjoyed. As a result, she couldn't help but reveal a big, hearty smile.
"Kyuuu~!" Topaz cried with joy.
"Fyuy, fyu, fyuu..." Ruby mumbled with a slight drooling expression, saying the old man didn't seem to be much of a threat, but there did seem to be a few good things on his body.
"Is food the only thing you think about? You only know how to eat" Vaan poked Ruby's chubby cheeks with a light laughter.
Nevertheless, he understood what Ruby was hinting at.
High Priest Setheiman was a Peak-level Two-Circle Wizard that purely cultivated the light-attribute mana produced from the Sun God Temple's light-attribute mana refineries.
However, the fusion of their light-attribute mana source was imperfect. It wasn't purely light-attribute mana, as it still carried traces of the fire element.
The sun's fire element was what Ruby found appetizing.
"Fyu, fyuu..!" Ruby puffed her cheeks and crossed her wings in dissatisfaction, saying it wasn't true that she only knew how to eat.
However, it wasn't convincing since she failed to cross her wings.
"Hahaha..." Vaan softly chuckled.
Meanwhile, High Priest Setheiman quietly observed the interaction between the trio from the corners of his eyes, secretly gathering information on the false Sun God's character.
The person was completely relaxed and didn't seem to have any awareness of danger at all. The person also seemed very friendly, open, and approachable.
Perhaps he was thinking too much? - High Priest Setheiman thought.
He thought the task would be difficult, but it turned out to be very easy. He decided not to think too much and just carried out his task as required.
...
Sometime later, High Priest Setheiman and Vaan arrived at the main temple's entrance, which was filled with countless people entering and exiting. Their numbers easily reached the thousands.
However, there was an even greater number of people trailing not too far behind them. They followed Vaan after discovering he was heading to the main temple.
"Your Divinity, I don't know what I should do with my life! Please show me the light!"
"Please grant us your divine blessing, Your Divinity! My child is sick, but I have no money for medicine or the temple's blessings!"
"Your Divinity, please..."
...
Vaan was constantly flooded with requests as the number of believers gathered around him, but he continued advancing toward the temple.
"Your answers will all be answered in the temple today. Follow me inside." - When High Priest Setheiman heard Vaan calmly say this, he had no complaints and only felt joy.
After all, there was no better way to increase the Sun God Temple's influence than to have the Sun God advertise it himself.
"The Sun God is entering the temple. Please make way!" High Priest Setheiman loudly announced with excitement.
In a short instance, the path ahead was cleared.
As such, Vaan had no problem entering the main temple. Even so, he couldn't help but frown when he noticed other people needed to pay a high fee to enter the temple.
The entrance fee wasn't fixed and was called donations; the amount donated depended on the believer's faith. The more they donated to the temple, the bigger the proof of their faith.
Thanks to Vaan's presence, some people donated all their gold coins, jewelry, and mana stones.
High Priest Setheiman became even more excited after he noticed this. He thought it was the Sun God Temple's great loss for not inviting the false Sun God to their main temple sooner.
Meanwhile, Vaan could only frown.
The Sun God's believers didn't visit the temple daily because they wanted to donate and prove their faith; they visited to pray for blessings that could turn their suffering life aound for the better.
However, such unhealthy donations today would only land them in direr states.
"We have seen the light! Welcome to the temple, Your Divinity!" rows of temple priests greeted Vaan as he made his way deeper inside.
He was speechless when he discovered several support pillars were stacked to the brim with gold coins hidden inside.
The Sun God Temple had amassed so much wealth and was a parasite sucking away at the people's livelihood.
"Your Divinity, please come this-" High Priest Setheiman took the lead to escort Vaan when his eyes bulged at Vaan's following action.
Boom!
Vaan smashed a gold pillar of reinforced stone into pieces with a single kick, causing millions of gold coins to pour out.
"T-T-This."
Many higher-ranking priests witnessed the scene from the higher floors and almost fainted on the spot, while some actually did.
High Priest Setheiman's joy for bringing Vaan to the temple was short-lived. He already started to regret bringing the false Sun God over.
He should have known the false Sun God was unpredictable due to his behavior.
However, Vaan was only getting started.
Boom!
Vaan's kicks smashed another supporting gold pillar that wouldn't affect the temple's structural integrity even if it was gone!
Several more millions of gold coins poured out at once!
"The Sun God Temple will no longer take donations at the entrance. All donations will be returned to the people! You may grab as many gold coins as you can hold!" Vaan said to the believers behind him.
"Long live the Sun God!"
"Stop them!" High Priest Setheiman barked furiously.
Hundreds of temple priests quickly rushed forward to form a human wall and block the incoming stampede of frenzied believers.
The people had never seen so many gold coins in their life.
"Stop them all! Don't let them through! Bring more people over here!"
High Priest Setheiman barked out more orders when the corners of his eyes caught a glimpse of Vaan walking to another gold pillar.
His eyes immediately bulged with blood veins, turning them red.
"No! Stop him!" High Priest Setheiman cried.
Boom!
Another reinforced stone pillar holding gold coins got smashed to bits, causing many more millions of gold coins to fill the ground floor.
Several dozens of priests surrounded Vaan with their arms outstretched to block his path toward another gold pillar.
The look in their eyes showed they were both determined and afraid.
"Your Divinity, please leave! We don't welcome you anymore!" A Grand Priest from the fourth floor bellowed with boiling rage as he gripped the handrail with bloodshot eyes.
"What? Did the Sun God Temple think it could tell me to come and leave as it pleases? Sorry to disappoint, but I will only leave when I want to" Vaan firmly stated before taking large strides toward the gold pillar ahead.
The priests blocking his path couldn't stop him at all with their meager physical strength. They were forcefully pushed along.
"Don't you dare! Don't you fucking dare, you hear me-?!" the Grand Priest pointed his trembling finger at Vaan and cursed furiously.
Boom!
Another reinforced stone pillar of gold coins shattered along with the Grand Priest's heart. Blood shot up to the Grand Priest's head as he gripped his heart and fainted backward.
"Your Holiness!" Several ordinary temple priests cried.
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