The next day, Jason was the first one to wake up or at least that's what he thought.
It turned out that Risa and Amon hadn't fallen asleep and had stayed up for the entire night. Both of them had been figuring out the exact location of the temple since Julian had made sure it wouldn't be accessible to everyone.
After some research, they had found out that the temple was situated inside the palace. It was another reason the palace was so fortified.
Julian wanted to make sure that if anyone wanted to offer a prayer or ask their patron directly for help, they would have to meet him and form a contract with him.
Only then would they be able to enter the palace and step foot inside the temple.
"To infiltrate the palace, we will have to avoid being seen by tons of sensory mages. On top of that, we will have to make sure that we don't directly run into Julian. Me and Amon have confirmed that he is present inside the palace." Risa explained.
"How exactly are we going to enter the palace? From what I saw, it was covered on all sides by protective walls with mages overseeing the entire area around the palace." Zeke muttered.
"We will be relying on Amon's magic for that however it will not us for the entire time. We will have to last long enough to make sure we can enter the temple. Once we are inside, Julian won't be able to do us any harm." Risa replied.
"Also, we will be able to get out fairly easily if things go as planned. If they don't, we will still have a backup plan so all of you should only focus on getting inside." Amon added.
After the plan had been finalized, the group exited the mansion with Amber's help.
Since they were infiltrating such a strongly fortified palace, there was no place for mistake.
Once they reached the entrance to the palace, Amon activated his powers below the ground and covered the group.
Amber slowly took them inside the boundary of the palace. They safely crossed the sensory mages and directly appeared below the palace.
[ There are traps inside as well. Just like we planned, me, Jason and May will proceed above head while Zeke, Amber and Amon will stay below. Let's do it. ] Risa reminded one last time before she appeared on the surface.
Jason and May soon followed her as they emerged in one of the many rooms situated inside the palace.
Risa and Jason immediately activated their respective sensory abilities while making sure that they weren't using any divine energy.
'I can't see past more than two rooms.' Jason observed.
[ The entire palace is likely enforced with formations and runes. Even your ability combined with your natural vision can't see more than this. However, this much vision should be enough to let you see other mages. ]
Jason nodded before following Risa out of the room. In his arms, May started shivering. A tingling sensation repeatedly spread across her back.
[ I think I am sensing something. ] May said inside Jason and Risa's mind.
[ What are you sensing? ] Risa asked, ducking into a corner with Jason.
[ I don't know how to describe this. Something seems to be pulling me towards it. If I try looking for it, I find myself staring at statues and stuff. I think the temple is calling me… ]
Jason immediately asked Hestia for help since she was the only goddess he could talk to on the spot.
[ Its a natural thing that happens with demi-god who haven't visited a temple yet. That feeling will appear every time she is near an universal temple or a temple dedicated to her father.
Though the feelings might be extremely strong right now since she hasn't visited a temple once in her life. Jason, make sure that her divine energy doesn't start leaking. It will be safe to ask her for directions. ]
Jason nodded and tightened his grip around May.
'May, guide us towards the place which is attracting you. If you feel like divine energy is about to leak or burst out from your body, just tell me about it.'
[ All right… Head straight from here and take a left from the next intersection. ]
With May's help, the group knew the exact location of the temple. If she hadn't awakened that feeling, they would have to interrogate a worker to find the location of the temple.
Jason and Risa's sensory abilities also came in handy. They managed to avoid many interactions due to that and were able to head straight for the temple.
However, Risa was starting to feel suspicious. Something in her gut was screaming that things would soon go wrong.
'Julian knows we will find a way to sneak into the temple. Its impossible that he didn't set a trap or have soldiers situated all around the temple.'
Risa had expected at least a few dozen soldiers to appear below ground as well as above ground.
However, she hadn't seen any strong mage ever since she had entered the palace. This appeared unsettling to her, making her wish that she could still use her divine energy.
'There is only one answer to this. We are walking into a trap.' Risa sighed.
She could tell that the moment they reached the entrance of the temple, Julian would pop there with his team of guards and special mages.
She might even see a few of her old enemies that she had fought in the internal war. However, the real problem would appear if Julian managed to capture anyone from the group.
[ Amon, how much time will it take for you to use our backup escape plan? ]
[ Less than ten seconds. Even if Julian plays some dirty trick, I will use my powers to stop him. You don't have to worry about our safety as long as its in my hands. ] Amon reassured.
[ I know. I can't help but think about the worst case scenario now that I have realized that we are walking into a trap. ]
[ We were walking into a trap the moment we were seen in the forest. Julian had already formulated a plan and I am sure its already in motion. The only thing we can do is enter the temple and stay there until May's birthday. ]
[ I know… ]
Risa maintained her guard the entire moment but once she noticed that they weren't encountering any workers, she let herself relax a little.
She decided to save her energy for fighting Julian and continued moving forward with the group.
After fifteen minutes of roaming around the palace, May's eyes suddenly started glowing.
[ We have to turn right ahead and keep walking straight. The entrance to the temple is situated there. ] She declared.
All of them upped their guard again as Risa called everyone to the surface. There was no knowing what kind of surprise attack Julian might use so it was best to stay close.
It was a good thing that Risa did that because the moment they took a right, they spotted Julian standing at the end of the hallway.
The king had a smirk on his face as he waved at the group.
"Hello, everyone. I have been expecting you since a long time." Julian greeted. "I hope you are all doing good because I personally want to be the one to ruin your day."
"Where is your patron, Julian? At least he knows how to talk nicely even with that superiority complex of his." Risa snorted.
"There is no need to call him here. I can take care of you as well." Julian cracked his neck before releasing the power of his divinity.
A suppressing aura immediately hit the group, making them take a step back. Even Risa and Amon were forced to step back in front of the divine aura.
[ You know what to do, right? ]
'I know. May, you can let small amounts of your divine energy emit out now. I will try to see whether I can use it to increase the power of my own aura.' Jason said before turning on his own divinity.
He had been charging the purple pen since a long time and it was currently at full power.
A pleasant aura suddenly radiated from his body which pushed back Julian's aura, canceling it simultaneously.
Julian clicked his tongue in disappointment before clapping his hands. All of a sudden, hundreds of mages surrounded the group, their spells ready to launch towards the group.
Multiple magic circles opened beneath them, making Risa and Amon sigh.
Their theory had proved out to be the true.
"Amon, should we commence with our plan or wait for him to give his 'surrender to me or else' speech?" Risa asked.
"I think we should attack him right now and be done with it. I don't need to hear that speech again."
Amon stretched out both his hands, his lips curling up. A powerful black blast shot out from his palms, dispelling the magic circles and deactivating all the skills and spells around them.
Julian's expression turned grim when he realized who the person was.
"Amon, the sin of wrath. The strongest of the seven sins and the personal bodyguard of the previous demon king," Julian muttered. "I can't believe you are using your powers for something like this."
"Priorities change when you have seen most of the world. Sometimes, it's better to aim for something you want despite of the consequences," Amon replied. "Hopefully, you are ready to be beaten down."
All of a sudden, Amon's divinity flared up, covering everything in a pitch black aura
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