The eyes inside the gemstones opened. Unlike the eyes carved or painted elsewhere, these seemed to come alive as soon as they opened. They moved, and anyone they looked at suffered a mental attack. Players began plummeting all at once.
"Smash the gemstones!" The players surrounding the temple reacted quickly, focusing their attacks on the Divine Envoys' hands. Killing them wasn't easy, but using Abilities and items to make them drop a thing or two was.
After the two sides clashed, the gemstones slipped from the hands of two Divine Envoys and fell off the altar. The Outer District Players still there snatched them up.
Three against two, the two sides began attacking each other. Players who couldn't withstand the mental attacks kept dropping out of the fight. The Outer District Players were clearly far more battle-hardened than the temple faction, and before long the temple side was at a disadvantage.
"As long as the Goddess doesn't intervene, we'll win!" The Outer District woman threw up her arm and shouted, "Kill the Divine Envoys!"
The altar's defensive barrier was close to giving way. One of the Divine Envoys panicked, grabbed the Saintess beside him, and ordered the players to back off.
The remaining Players and the Saintess and her supporters had clearly agreed to work together. Keeping the Saintess safe was essential, so the players surrounding the altar exchanged glances and backed away.
But then something happened that no one could have anticipated. Without a word, the captive Saintess threw herself onto the Divine Envoy's blade. Blood sprayed as she collapsed to the ground.
The other Saintesses on the altar surged forward and plunged the Divine Envoy's knife into his chest!
With both the Divine Envoy and Saintess who represented the Goddess dead, the scene fell strangely silent. Everyone stared