"Speaking of which, what's the situation here? I suddenly got ordered to be transferred from the inner city to the royal palace. What's going on? Are we really so short on manpower?"
John's eyes brightened, and he continued to guide the conversation, "Come on, tell me, has something happened?"
"Well..."
The two guards exchanged glances, still hesitant. John quickly seized the moment to persuade them further, "We're all friends here. It's fine to share a bit. Besides, I wouldn't go around blabbing. That would just get me and you into trouble. Trust me."
"Alright, Leonard, but you have to promise not to tell anyone."
"Don't worry, I know how to keep my mouth shut."
"Actually, it's not much of a secret within the palace. Some time ago, an outsider claiming to be a messenger of the gods arrived. To prove his identity, he made several predictions that all came true. Because of this, the king believed him wholeheartedly and consulted him on almost everything, asking for prophecies.
"Then, about ten days ago, this person mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind one final prophecy that said an outsider would appear and cause the destruction of Atlantis. That scared the king terribly. With all the previous predictions coming true, who knows if this one will too?
"So, the king tightened the palace guard's strength. If you ask me, he was just a fraud!"
The guard scoffed disdainfully and continued, "How long has it been since that fraud disappeared? The prophecy hasn't come true yet. Besides, that fraud left a bunch of strange magic circles in the palace that caused a lot of trouble. The princess fell into a coma because she accidentally stepped into one of those circles!"
Hearing this, John immediately understood. No wonder the events didn't match his memories. If Miles was involved, it all made sense.
"I see... Well, what can we do? Orders are orders, and we have to follow them. Alright, I'll stop bothering you guys. I'll be off. Let's catch up over drinks sometime."
"Don't wander around the palace. Security is tight, and you might get caught."
"Got it."
John waved and left the two guards, turning away with newfound knowledge.
Although the turn of events had somewhat exceeded John's expectations, at least he had managed to figure out the cause of the unexpected change. Given Miles's involvement, the situation was undoubtedly complex. The Priests probably wouldn't be able to wake up Dolores, but John believed he could.
"Seraphina, what do you think?"
"What's with that tone, like you're testing me?"
"Don't mind the details, just get to the point."
"We need to find a way to get you two out. If a fight breaks out against thousands of guards, it will be extremely difficult."
Considering they were in the palace, the strongest military point in Atlantis, fighting there was not a wise choice.
"John, I have an idea..." Lily said, frowning and thinking for a moment. "We can try to stir up the emotions of the failed players, provoke them into demanding to leave, and force Duke Faris to reveal his true intentions or to let us go. I tried using a teleport scroll earlier, but it didn't work. There must be some rule preventing it in the palace."
"Hmm... that's a good plan. Let's split up and incite the dissatisfaction among the others, creating a larger commotion."
Following Lily's plan, John and his group began to subtly stir up discontent among the other players. Soon, the crowd grew restless, and voices of discontent began to rise. It didn't take long before someone openly demanded to leave.
As John expected, those who tried to leave were blocked by the guards. Hundreds of soldiers formed a phalanx, completely sealing off the only two exits and preventing anyone from leaving.
During this time, John kept an eye on Faris, who sat at the front with his eyes half-closed, exuding an air of calm confidence, which only heightened John's suspicions.
This old fox had been planning this all along!
Gradually, the situation escalated from initial unrest to outright conflict, with players even getting into physical altercations with the guards.
The problem was that most of the players present were Priests, who had limited combat abilities.
Facing guards who outnumbered them by several times, they stood little chance, which explained Faris's composure.
However, he hadn't anticipated a few exceptions among the crowd.
Seizing the moment when everyone's attention was focused on the commotion at the doors, John summoned three golems.
In an instant, they changed the course of the conflict!
A powerful energy cannon blasted a huge hole in the wall behind them, causing everyone to gasp in shock. Immediately, the players turned and rushed toward the breach!
John controlled the golems to hold off the guards, ensuring none could get through.
Seeing this, Faris finally lost his composure. His face changed as the appearance of the golems had caught him off guard.
"Close the passage between the inner city and the royal city! Capture everyone! The royal family's secrets must not be leaked!"
If the citizens learned of this, it would undoubtedly cause unnecessary turmoil, something the royal family could not afford.
In their kingdom, there could be no room for dissenting voices.