Monsa's Gloom

When Tors awoke from his coma, the first thing he tasted was blood, which made him choke and attracted the attention of those around him.

He struggled to open his eyes, and groggily turned his head to see Luka standing beside him.

He remembered something, and disregarding his weakened state, he spoke with anger:

"Luka, how dare you show your face here..."

Luka, however, remained unmoved, as if he hadn't heard his question, and made no move.

Tors was taken aback. This wasn't like Luka's reaction. Normally, Luka would definitely retort when he heard such a strange greeting, but he didn't do so now.

"Tors, now that you're awake, tell us what happened." A gentle voice came from behind him; he recognized the voice.

He turned his head and saw someone who made his scalp tingle, and he understood why Luka hadn't responded to him.

"High Priest Angmar... I'm sorry I failed to stop the intruders, allowing them to desecrate this sacred place... I have failed my god."

Angmar was wearing a white robe, which covered his entire head, leaving only his aged face visible.

He extended his strong, powerful arm, hidden beneath his wide white robe, showing no signs of aging, and stroked Tors's arm, saying:

"That's another matter. Now tell me the specifics of your attack."

"Yes!"

"That's the situation. I think there must be a problem with one of our own people, otherwise I would never have been defeated so easily."

Tors gritted his teeth, his gaze frequently drifting towards Luka.

At this point, Luka couldn't sit still any longer and said:

"High Priest Angmar, today I was ordered to arrest those outsiders, and two of them were using the same weapons that Tors just described, so it must have been those outsiders who did it."

Tors scoffed and, before Angmar could speak, retorted:

"Ha! It seems only Captain Luka saw it. I remember Luka was the first to know about my replacement of the guards."

"Tors," Luka had reached his limit; he wasn't going to hold back any longer. "You despicable man, your mind is filled with thoughts of your own people trying to harm you..."

"You..."

"Enough, be quiet." As soon as Angmar said this, the two fell silent, awaiting Angmar's judgment.

"Luka, report on the damage caused by the Attackers."

Upon hearing the command, Luka stood ramrod straight and then said loudly:

"Several parts of the Divine Revelation Hall were damaged, but fortunately the damage was not extensive, and the Artisan were ordered to complete the repairs in a few days."

"All personnel of the Divine Revelation Hall, except for the guards, are wounded and unable to move, but no one has died."

As he spoke, Luka looked at Tors. In fact, Tors was the most seriously injured. Many of the Attackers had knocked them unconscious the moment they struck, and when they woke up, they only felt a headache, but had no wounds on their bodies.

"In addition, the ingredients for the Divine Water were stolen; half of the Blood-Devouring Vine was stolen, and a whole bucket of the Primordial Divine Water was taken."

As he spoke, he lowered his head. This was the most serious incident that had occurred since the guards began protecting the Divine Revelation Hall. Although it seemed that the guards could be exonerated this time, he still felt ashamed for failing to protect the Divine Revelation Hall.

"Divine Water ..." Even Angmar himself didn't notice the wry smile that appeared on his face when he uttered those two words.

"I can begin searching this Monsa immediately to retrieve these Divine Water," Luka added.

Angmar smiled after hearing these words, and then said:

"No..."

"No?!"

"High Priest Angmar, why is this?" Tors asked, unable to believe that Angmar had handled the situation so well.

Logically speaking, Divine Water is the foundation of priests' livelihood and the very reason for their existence; it cannot be left unattended.

But the High Priest Angmar's words shocked the two of them.

Angmar then calmly said:

"Perfect timing. I estimate that this will be announced to all the priests in a few days, so I'm letting you know in advance."

"First of all, it's useless for those people to take away the materials for making the Divine Water. People wanted to steal the Divine Water when the temple was first built."

"But no matter how they tried, those Primordial Divine Water were nothing but poison; drinking them would leave one half-dead."

"The method for making the true Divine Water was only possessed by the High Priest. Of course, later, in order to lighten his burden, he specifically shared this method with others."

"And he only told me and Rune, and each of us only half of the method... So, you know now."

The two were startled by the sudden bad news, somewhat at a loss, and said in unison:

"Then from now on..."

"That's right, we'll hardly have any more Divine Water in the future. We won't even be able to distribute a single Divine Water at the festival six days from now."

"I've been trying to make Divine Water lately, but I haven't succeeded yet."

The two were speechless, stunned by this sudden revelation. After a long while, Luka finally spoke slowly:

"Then what will we do in the future?"

"Who knows? I don't know either."

Angmar continued:

"Don't tell anyone about this yet. Luka, you don't need to go out and capture those outsiders. Just stay here with a group of guards..."

"I have other things to do, I'll be going now."

The two watched Angmar's departing figure, speechless for a long time. They had never expected to hear such devastating news.

For the Monsa people, the Divine Water is the source of their power, and any failure to distribute Divine Water on time will inevitably cause panic.

Tors was aware of this, and he suddenly felt that his actions over the past few days had been meaningless...

There's no Divine Water left; the temple's foundation is gone.

Tors looked at Luka, feeling there was no point in arguing with him now... He spoke after a long pause.

"Those outsiders are truly despicable; they actually attacked the Divine Revelation Hall and stole the materials for the Divine Water."

Luka was stunned, but quickly laughed:

"That's right, those outsiders are truly evil, actually doing such a thing."

Hearing that Monsa might no longer be able to produce any more Divine Water saddened Luka, leaving him uncertain about the future.

However, being able to understand the conflict with Tors was a kind of comfort, making him feel a little better.

Just then, heavy footsteps sounded, and a guard scrambled into the room.

"Report! Someone is attacking the Divine Revelation Hall outside."

Upon hearing the news, Luka exchanged an incredulous glance with Tors, then quickly walked out.