An elongated dark figure followed by another appeared on the walls of a quiet neighborhood near the town square. The dark figures jumped around the neighbourhoods as if they were searching for something.

"Are you sure you know what you are doing?" A shadow asked another to which the latter responded confidently, "Of course. It has been four years since the last time but it was all in here. The layout of the city." It pointed to its head by tapping lightly.

However, no matter how much the latter showed confidence, the former had little trust in the latter because they kept meeting the dead end one after another.

"It is another end."

"Shit. Did the city change while I was last here? I don't remember this building here at all."

"Don't be ridiculous. That building looks shitty old. Older than you and me combined. We are lost, aren't we? That's it. I am going over the building."

"No! You can't. The patrol will see you if you are up there. Also, I can't follow you. These roof tiles don't seem to be strong enough to hold my weight."

"I ain't leaving you behind. I will just survey the street layout from above and come back. So, lift me, will you?"

The two figures bickered in a dark blind alley where the only source of light was a small lantern hung by the back door of a large building.

"Hurry! We don't have all night, Dovos." A shadow hurried the other.

"Wait. Let me recall the memories, Ethan. Give me some time."

It was Ethan and Dovos who were lurking around the neighbourhoods of the city square. They were on their way to the Grand Temple of Mordu' in the crown city.

Unlike Gambit, the capital of Rode, where the entire city was built centring the Great Temple of Mordu', the ancient city of Midlake had been a bustling town way before Mordu'. During King Dane Adder's reign when the Midlakers reached their peak in dominance over the continent of Midland, the monsters appeared on Midland and put King Dane on the back foot during his conquest of unification. Finally, King Dane decided it was best to focus more on fighting monsters so he made peace with the House of Goldfield, granting Dukedom over Rode while he adopted the Way of Mordu' to stand united against monsters. Which was why, the Grand Temple of Mordu' wasn't at the city center. Ethan and Dovos had been searching at the wrong places. The ancient defensive layout of the city with several dead ends to make the city look like a maze for invaders added spice. Both had no idea where to go.

Ethan was a captain in the army of Temple in the past but as a small-time captain from a small village with little background, he was never stationed near the crown city. So, the streets of Midlake were new to him. Dovos had visited the crown city thrice, the last time was four years ago. So, he confidently acted as a guide for Ethan until his confidence fell after ending up in several dead ends.

"Hurry!" Ethan called Dovos to help him climb the building. Although it hurt his pride, Dovos finally gave in to accepting the truth. They were lost. He stood against the wall and crossed his hands to lift Ethan. "Get on."

Ethan ran down the alley and stepped onto Dovos' hands where he leapt onto the second floor of the building. "Why is this building so damn high?" He muttered frustratedly as he hung onto the window frame searching for a way to climb further. As he was dangling by the window, the back door of the building Ethan was scaling opened and a man appeared from it. They locked eyes with each other and didn't know what to do. It was an awkward situation as if they were thieves trying to steal from the building. They couldn't explain the man either. Dovos smacked his dry lips preparing to say something but words didn't come out. He couldn't think of anything that would make the man not suspicious of them and alert the guards.

It was in such a ridiculously awkward situation, that another person appeared from the door and came to their rescue. It was the man's wife. With an apologetic face, she approached Dovos and muttered quietly. "I apologise for my husband making you feel uncomfortable. He is a quiet man so he didn't know how to break ice. You are from Revenant, right? I heard our God's champion's name when you called him. Come inside. The guards will patrol here any minute. Let us help you." The woman invited them warmly so Dovos and Ethan decided to trust her. They had no other choices anyway. They were either kill the couple and cut the loose end, or let the couple help them. They didn't have the heart to kill innocent civilians.

The warm inside gave them a break from the chilly winter breeze. They were wandering around the unfamiliar neighbourhoods in the chilly cold night. It was miserable. They were served a warm soup which they rejected because they were afraid of being poisoned but they gladly took help from the couple. The woman gave them the directions to the Temple which was two blocks away from the town square they were at. The husband asked how Ethan and Dovos planned to get inside.

"We will pretend to be worshippers who came for the evening prayer. Then, we will fight our way to the second floor where Ayeegyee sleeps." Ethan explained.

"No way. You two are getting inside like that. There are so many guards, not even mention the five Templers who always guard the staircase like dogs. The God's champion you may be but you will get tired before you even get to fight the Ayeegyee. I will help you get inside." The man volunteered to help.

"He is the carpenter," explained the wife, "recently, there is a renovation at the Temple. It is the highest-paid job so I told him to take the job. He can get you inside as his apprentices."

"But it will put you in danger." Ethan asked worriedly to which the woman replied, "I was raped by a warrior from Temple when I was young. When I took the case to Temple, an Ayeegyee told me that I should take it happily as a blessing from a Warrior of God. I never got justice. It pained my heart and soul until I met my husband. Now my heart was healed by the love of my caring husband. Anyway, I never considered Mordu' as my Lord since then. I believe you are the only one who can bring me the justice that I deserve; that all the women those devils had wronged deserve."

Ethan promised he would bring truth and justice back to the society. After they said farewell to the wife, they continued their journey. It became a lot easier and quicker with the help of the locals. They easily evaded the patrols and sentries by navigating the maze-like streets. They reached their destination in no time.

The marvellous marble structure with stunningly beautiful arches and a bell tower came into sight. The bronze bell looked so magnificent that it seemed as big as an adult even from below.

"Ethan, that stunning building is the Grand Temple of Mordu'. I have been here before but no matter how many times I see it, it still amazes me. Isn't it the same for you?" Dovos asked the man and Ethan while drooling over the beauty of the Temple in awe.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Yes, it is. It is a marvel of Midlake engineers. A shame that it is used by devils." The man replied bitterly.

Just as the promise, the man took them inside through the back gate. The guards stopped them but after they saw the man, they let them pass. It was too easy that it raised suspicion within Ethan's mind that they were being taken into a trap. However, his suspicion dropped when the man said, "Don't tell my wife this. I took this job not because this is the highest pay. I took it to kill a person. The Templer who defiled my wife was transferred here six months ago. My wife didn't know because she never prays at Temple. When I saw that Templer who haunts my wife in her dreams even to this day, I decided to kill him myself. I am chipping the main pillar of the bell tower every day and plan to make it collapse next month at the coronation ceremony. Guess my wife is getting justice earlier than expected."

Ethan and Dovos were impressed by the man's plan. Indeed it was a great plan. They might have waited to let it happen if time was on their side. However, Cleo needed to retake the city before Ducan Goldfield consolidated his power over the garrison. Killing the Duke and the Ayeegyee of Grand Temple would not end Mordu' per se. They needed the massive army from the garrison to fight against the huge army of Temple and end it for good. And rallying the army from the garrison was only possible while the soldiers still had lingering allegiance to their past rulers, the Adders.

Through the back gate, they passed a small graveyard where it was connected to the hall of ailments.

"I can take you up to the second floor where the stairs to the bell tower are. The Templers are usually on the ground and first floor. They rarely come up to the second floor before bedtime. The Ayeegyee's room is on the third floor, at the end of the hallway." The man explained the layout of the Temple as he guided them to their destination.

The Hall of Ailments where all kinds of patients were cramped up in the long hall, the floor soiled with coughed blood and excrement, otherwise the rest of the halls in the Temple were as stunning as the outside. A three-meter sculpture of Mordu' at the Alter was as impressive as an actual human. The colourful murals on the Walls of Sermons were as immersive as the real-life story of Mordu'. The number of gambers stacked into towers at the Hall of Fate was as tall as the king's treasury. They saw a few people still playing in the Hall of Fate as if their hands were glued to the dice of fate.

Dice of Fate was a twelve-faced dice, each face with a name of twelve months respectively. The faithful player had to declare the month of birth and donation before rolling the dice. If the birth month came on top of the dice, the Temple returned ten times the donation to the fateful one. A faithful had six tries each day.

"Oh faithful son of Mordu', pray to his lordship with the strongest admiration. Place your donation with the purest of mind. Then, ye shall be blessed." A priest talked to the faithful player who was about to bet. The faithful quickly got on his knees and put a roof over his head, praying to Mordu sincerely.

At another table was another faithful, a woman who seemed to have lost all her money for the day. She gloomily sat on the floor like a broken puppet. She needed money to save her husband who was attended in hall of ailments so she prayed all day to Lord Mordu' to bless her with luck. It didn't work out. The priest comforted her, "Guess today wasn't your fateful day. Your donation shall be added to charity. May the Lord bless you next time, dear faithful daughter. Don't lose hope. For your generous donations, I shall pray for you next time."

Ethan shook his head as he saw the Temple guards escort the miserable woman out of the hall. Yet with two fully functioning eyes, how could she be so blind not to see herself being scammed?

They went upstairs by the smaller stairs in the back used by the servants of the Temple. They met the servants at the staircase on their way up but no one didn't care or suspect anything about the two strangers they had never seen before. The man explained, "I am the leader of the carpenters. I bring new carpenters all the time and work day and night shifts so don't worry. They won't suspect anything. They will only think we are working hard."

Except for a servant girl with a very sweet smile, no one took an interest in them. The sweet girl greeted the carpenter and said she would bring some refreshments for them as usual.

"Did you see that?" Dovos asked Ethan. His voice had a hint of pride and happiness. "She smiled at me, right? She smiled at me."

"Yes. She is such a sweet soul, beautiful inside out," the carpenter concurred.

Ethan and Dovos reached the second floor of the Grand Temple in no time without any problems. It was smoother than they expected. Not having to fight their way up made it far easier. Both of them had full strength left to fight the Ayeegyee. They couldn't believe they happened to get lost in a random neighbourhood and scale a random building to meet with the carpenter. It must be destiny, for the Temple to fall, Ethan was sure of it.

Just as the carpenter claimed, there was no one on the second floor or at least outside in the hallway. The whole floor was dormitories for the priests and Templers so, except those few who rest early, the rest were still downstairs. The two soldiers stood guard at the stairs to the third floor. The stairs to the third floor were near the spiral staircase which led to the bell tower so they approached the guards by pretending to be the apprentices of the carpenter. Unlike the guards downstairs, these guards watched three of them suspiciously without letting them out of their sight; especially at Dovos who was carrying a sledgehammer.

Just when the carpenter passed the guards, a hammer suddenly dropped out of his toolbox. It attracted the attention of the guards. Ethan took the chance and swiftly struck a guard near him. He drove the sharp part of a chisel into the throat of the guard. Dovos also immediately followed Ethan in the fight. He slammed the hammer into another guard's face, knocking the guard out instantly.

The sudden violence shocked the carpenter who had never seen much blood in his life. He ran out to a corner and puked his guts out.

"Oh come on. You make him puke, Ethan. Why did you make so much blood?" teased Dovos to Ethan.

"As if you are the one to talk. I saw bloody teeth flying all over the places. It is a mess."

Even though they were deep in the enemy territory, both Dovos and Ethan showed no sign of nervousness as if they were in their home. After the fight with the legendary centuriworm, their confidence hit the sky as they believed they were the champions chosen by God.

Without a tinge of fear in their hearts, the two warriors stood before the room at the end of the hallway, where the Ayeegyee of the Grand Temple resided. In their hands were the tools of carpentry, a hammer, a chisel, an adze and a plummet, as their weapons.