"What's the commotion? Why is there a crowd?"
Gabriel was prepared to put his plan into action, albeit a bit in advance, but before he could even declare his identity, he heard a voice coming from the back.
There wasn't any magic in the voice, but he could still feel some suppression. It wasn't enough to affect him, but it was still enough for him to be sensed.
Unlike him, the others looked even more shocked, especially the Knights.
All the Royal Knights looked in the direction that voice came from, going down to their knees. The crowd also appeared shocked. They cleared the path right away.
undefinedAs soon as the crowd stepped aside, Gabriel was also taken aback.
There were two people in the back. One of the two was a man who was in his late forties. The man was wearing a beautiful Royal Attire of the Arecia Empire. A charming golden robe hung on his shoulders.
Unlike the Royal Knights before him, the man seemed different. If the Royal Knights were a small pond of strength, then the middle-aged man looked like he was an entire lake!
All the Royal Knights that Gabriel saw before carried Artificial Treasures made by humans. However, the middle-aged man was clearly carrying a Numen!
There was a heavy sword on his back, yet the man was effortlessly carrying it. Gabriel was sure that the sword that the man carried on his back was a Numen and not a weak Numen!
Even though he could feel that the heavy Sword wasn't on the same level as the Sword of Ulien, it was still a high-tier Numen.
Most of the Royal Knights were on one knee before the middle-aged man. It was clear that they were giving this respect to the middle-aged man. However, the person that really shocked Gabriel was the second person!
Next to the middle-aged man was a woman... The person whose presence seemed like a disaster to Gabriel.
The woman next to the middle-aged man appeared to be much younger. She didn't even look like she had turned eighteen properly. Even her height was only slightly over five feet. However, Gabriel knew the true identity of that person!
The woman wore a very ordinary black dress as if she was trying to be inconspicuous and not attend much attention. Ordinary people couldn't even feel her aura properly to differentiate her from an ordinary person.
Strangely enough, despite hiding her aura, the woman didn't hide her Elemental Mark! The Mark... It was a mark he had seen quite a few times before, but this time, the owner of this Mark had an aura that wasn't ordinary! This person was clearly a Holy Priestess, the Head of a Church!
'Head of the Church of Summoning... What is she doing here? Is she the guest that the Empire invited for the Knight Tournament? But why is she here so soon?'
Even though most people here were intimidated by the middle-aged man, only Gabriel was there, who was taken aback by the woman instead. He didn't care for the middle-aged man as much as he did for the woman!
She was a Holy Knight! He had only met a Holy Knight twice. First was Lira, who could sense his element right away. And second was Elora, the Holy Priestess of Water. Thanks to his gloves and Lambard's domain, she couldn't sense his Aura.
Unfortunately, this time Gabriel didn't have the protection of being in that domain. He also didn't have the Ring of Apophis. He only had the ring that was given to him by the Spectre. He didn't know if the Ring was enough to hide his Aura enough to fool a Holy Priestess!
'Even with the ring, Izen was able to find out what I am. Could it be that she too...?'
The last time Gabriel came face to face with Izen, even that guy discovered him. However, he wasn't sure if it was because his ring wasn't strong enough to hide his Aura from Izen or because Izen had some other skill and had the help of luck. Whatever the case, he knew that situation had changed drastically for now.
Gabriel only took a monetary glance at the Holy Priestess of Summoning before shifting to the middle-aged man, not wanting to attract too much attention for now if possible.
Still, he was prepared for a battle. If the Holy Priestess of Summoning recognized him and attacked him, he was prepared to fight! However, for now, he could only curse his luck for meeting her here.
Avilia Achlon, the Holy Priestess of Summoning, had long black hair with bangs that covered her forehead. Unlike her hair, her eyes were a darker shade of Crimson.
Avilia was known as one of the strongest Heads of Churches of present times. She was known as a powerful Holy Priestess who could control hundreds of powerful beasts during battle. It was said that if she wanted, she could destroy an entire Empire without even leaving her room!
Despite such strength, she was not particularly liked by the masses, all thanks to the legends about her. There were a lot of stories about her being an arrogant person who didn't give respect even to the Holy Priest of Light.
Gabriel had heard a lot of stories about this person, and that's why she was also the one he was most guarded against.
It was said that amongst all the Holy Priests of the current Generation, she was the only person who wasn't a member of a Church before becoming a Holy Priest!
According to some of the stories, it was said that initially, when the Holy Grimoire of Summoning selected her as the new master, she rejected it right away. She refused to even touch the Grimoire, calling it a waste of her time.
Her rejection offended the Church of Summoning a lot as they felt the girl was saying that their Church wasn't worth her time. Her actions offended them so much that quite a few Head Priests of the Church of Summoning decided to kill her so the Grimoire could select another person instead of her!
Unfortunately, that was also their biggest mistake, as that was what truly wrote the future path of Avilia in stone. It was said that when she was attacked and was actually on the verge of death, she actually accepted the Holy Grimoire of Summoning and slaughtered everyone who came to kill her.
Not only that, but she also killed everyone who was a part of this scheme before actually taking over the Church of Summoning! In that part of the world, Avilia was the god that couldn't be offended!
A Holy Priest was going to attend the Knight Tournament as a guest. That was what Gabriel had heard from Yuan. However, there was still time for the Knight Tournament. He didn't expect the person to be here so soon. Moreover, that person just had to be the biggest headache among the Holy Priests.
"Saint Knight!" All the Royal Knights greeted the middle-aged man with great respect. None of them knew that the person next to him was worthy of more respect. That woman could destroy this entire Empire within a few hours if she wanted. Even the Saint Knight couldn't afford to offend that person.
The woman didn't even bring any Head Priest with her when she came. It was clear that she was quite confident in her abilities.
The Saint Knight could see that all the people here were giving him respect except one. It was a young man who was standing bare-handed.
undefinedNot too far from them, the Saint King saw a Knight lying on the ground. He walked closer to the Knight and checked if he was fine.
"He's unconscious, not dead," Avilia told the middle-aged man right as the Saint Knight confirmed the same.
Despite knowing the person's identity, the Saint Knight was still slightly surprised that she could check that without even getting close to the unconscious Knight.
Amongst everyone here, Avilia was only looking at one person with great interest. She was looking at Gabriel.
Gabriel also knew that she was looking at him and that he couldn't act suspiciously. For now, he had to avoid a confrontation if possible. If he avoided her gaze so much, he was sure even if she didn't know that he was a Mage with the peculiar element, she would still know that something was wrong.
As she was hiding her aura, making it unable for an ordinary person to see it, there should've been no way for him to see if he was normal. For him, that girl should be an ordinary person until she intentionally revealed her aura. If he let her know that he knew who she was, then it was game over.
He also glanced back at the woman in the back.
The gazes of two Holy Priests met. It seemed that both of them were observing the other person.
"Who hurt him?" The Saint Knight's thundering voice echoed as he asked in anger.
Usually, he didn't leave the Castle at a time like this, but he was just informed that the Holy Priestess of Summoning was coming over at around this time. He personally came out to escort her and bring her back to the Royal Castle. Even he hadn't expected that on his way back, he was going to see a sight like this.
Someone really dared to attack the Royal Knight? Moreover, these Royal Knights weren't ordinary Royal Knights either. They were special guards of the Eldest Princess!
Fortunately, the Saint Knight could see that Princess Azia was still inside the hotel and she was safe.
"Who dares to attack a Knight in our city!" The Saint Knight asked.
"I did." Before the Royal Knights could take the lead and tell their side of the story, Gabriel took the initiative.
Even though the situation was completely against his expectations, he knew that he had to do something about this. After coming this far, he couldn't avoid the confrontation with the Emperor. He had to keep the plan moving!
If he stepped back now, he was certainly going to be published for hitting a Knight. If it came to that, it was only a matter of time before his real identity was going to be exposed.
Fortunately, thanks to Avilia's reaction to him, he could feel that she didn't know who he truly was. That meant that she wasn't going to fight him. With that in mind, he could finally take some action, albeit with some slight modification in the plan.
Usually, he was sure that there would be a confrontation with the Knights if he declared his intentions for the throne as a valid heir, but with Avilia present, even the Knights couldn't outright take action against him. They had to justify their actions to save their face.
Now that Avilia didn't know who he was, he decided that her presence was maybe a blessing in disguise. Not only could he move forward with the plan, but he could also use Avilia's presence to his advantage.
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"You attacked a Knight? Do you know the punishment for attacking a Knight?" The Saint Knight asked the young man.
On the other side of the glass door, Princess Azia was looking at Gabriel. She could see no fear in the man's eyes despite all that had happened. She knew that her people were also in the wrong, but she just couldn't get herself to speak.
Still, seeing the confidence in Gabriel's eyes, even in this situation, she could only feel jealous.
"I know the punishment all too well, but I'm sure my actions were justified. Your Knight attacked me first unjustly. I have every right to attack!" Gabriel exclaimed.
"The moment they decided to attack an unarmed person who had nothing to do with them, they lost all protection of being a Knight! From that moment on, that person wasn't a Knight anymore but an unjust tyrant disguised as a Knight!"
Before the Saint Knight, most of the people were usually so scared that they couldn't even speak properly, but this man... Not only was he speaking, but he was speaking with such clarity.
Even Azia was surprised and taken aback by the young man's tone. If she didn't know that the person that he was talking to was the Guardian of the Arecia Empire, also known as the Sword and Shield of the Empire, she could've easily misunderstood it as him talking with an ordinary person!
The more she observed this person, the more she felt a strange feeling in her heart. She was timid ever since she was born, never having courage. Something about Gabriel's courage was very attractive to him.
To her, he looked like a person who could always be relied on... A person who was never going to abandon anyone just to save his life... Looking at him, she could actually see it— a true Knight!
She didn't even know how it happened, but the more she saw him, the more her heartbeat fastened.
"Lord Saint, he's lying! We didn't attack him! He's making stuff up! He was blocking the path of the Princess, and we just pushed him aside lightly since he looked to be in a daze. It was just a light push! If we had used all our strength to attack him, would he really be standing?!" One of the Royal Knights stated!
"Even after we were so considerate not to hurt him, he used a sneak attack to hurt one of us! This vile man is now making up stories to save his skin!" another knight chimed in.
"Is that the truth?" The Saint Knight asked the other Royal Knights as well.
All the Royal Knights agreed. There was no way they would say otherwise after all.
After receiving the confirmation, the Saint Knight didn't need to know anything. He had already received all the answers he needed. He chose to believe his Knights over a stranger.
"Young man, it's good to be young and energetic, but using that energy to attack a Knight through such vile methods?"
The Saint Knight hadn't used much suppression initially, but with time, it was clear that he was getting angry.
undefinedGabriel could feel some kind of suppression acting on his body, which was only getting stronger. Since the Saint Knight didn't have an element, Gabriel was convinced that he was using an artifact for such suppression. He wanted to bring Gabriel down to his knees to show him that there were mountains beyond mountains.
"Saint Knight, may I ask you something?" Gabriel asked. Even though the suppression didn't affect him with the kind of strength he possessed, he still pretended to struggle to stand under the suppression.
"Hmm? Ask." The Saint Knight nodded. Still, he didn't stop his suppression, slightly surprised that Gabriel was able to remain standing.
"With whom does your loyalty lie?" Gabriel asked. A Saint Knight wasn't a position that was given to a Royal just because of their title. It was a position that was given to the strongest Warrior of the Empire, so even though the Saint Knight had such influence, he wasn't a Noble.
"Is that even a question? My loyalty lies with our Empire! It lies to our Royal Family!" The Saint Knight declared.
"Which Royal Family?" Gabriel asked, slightly changing his question. "Does your loyalty lie to the real Royal Family, the descendants of the Saint King who established this Empire from scratch? Or does your loyalty lie to the Traitors that schemed against the true heirs and killed them?"
"Hmm?" Not only the Saint Knight but everyone else here was also stunned. Was this guy really calling the current Royal Family Traitors?
"Nonsense! You dare call the Royal Clan traitors?" The Saint Knight was furious, hearing such insults. Ever since the Arecia Clan was wiped, there was only one Royal Clan! As the Sword and Shield of this Empire, he couldn't bear hearing insults to the Emperor!
In his anger, the Saint Knight stopped holding back. This kind of disrespect... And that too in public... There was no need to arrest this person! This kind of disrespect only deserved one punishment... Death!
The Saint Knight pulled out his Sword. Within a blink of an eye, he was right before Gabriel, swinging the Heavy Sword that was strong enough to cut him in two halves.
As if Gabriel had already expected this, he was prepared to call out the Sword of Ulien. If he wanted, he could just use magic to protect himself, but before Avilia, he didn't. For now, he was only a Knight who relied on his strength and his treasures!
"Huh?" Gabriel was about to bring out the Sword of Ulien to block the attack, but he didn't as he saw another person appear before him. It was a woman who appeared before him as if she was a ghost.
The Saint Knight hastily stopped his attack, jumping back. He didn't want to harm that woman.
"Lady Avilia, what are you doing?!" he exclaimed.
Not only him, but even Gabriel was also slightly shocked. Avilia jumped in to protect him? Why? Not only did she not attack him, but she also stopped the Saint Knight?
"I'm curious what he has to say," Avilia lazily stated. "Let him speak."
From her tone, it was evident that she didn't put any of the warriors of the Empire in her eyes. If she wanted, she could easily eliminate them all.
Even the Saint Knight knew about her abilities. He knew that if his Sword had even touched the Holy Priestess of Summoning even a little just a moment ago, the entire city would've been destroyed by now.
"Lady Avilia, you are the guest of our Empire. You've been invited by His Majesty himself. Do you really want this man to keep disrespecting our Emperor? Who is this man even? What right does he have to criticize our Royal Family?" Saint Knight asked.
"That's for him to answer," Avilia shrugged as she walked back again, leaving the discussion between the two men.
'This woman... Is she using this for her entertainment?' Gabriel wondered. There seemed no other reason for her to help him.
From what he had heard about Avilia, she was a very unorthodox Holy Priestess, not really caring about anyone. All she cared about was not being bored. Wherever she had an opportunity to have entertainment, she did it, even if it offended many people.
Gabriel wondered if it was the same here. If she saw their conflict as entertainment for her, this could explain why she helped him. For her, if he were dead, this entertainment would've been over. By protecting him, she protected herself in a way.
'It doesn't matter why she's helping me for now. What matters is using this opportunity. Things might even be better now than I expected...' Gabriel glanced at Avilia. Avilia's face didn't have many expressions, but in her eyes, Gabriel could see amusement.
"Young man, answer me! Who do you think you are to criticize the Royal Family?" Even if the Saint Knight couldn't kill Gabriel, he knew he could still arrest the person and kill him after Avilia was gone. However, before that, he wanted his answers!
Just who was this man? Why wasn't he scared of offending the Royal Family? Did the man not fear death? Where was his confidence coming from? And why did it look like he hated the Royal Family? What did the conflict between the Arecia Clan and the current Royal Family have to do with him? And lastly, why was he calling the current Royal Family traitors? There were many questions in his head.
Since it was happening in the main district of the city, such a commotion attracted even more attention. There were already thousands of people in the crowd, watching everything.
"Who am I to criticize the current Royal Family? Why should I not criticize the traitors?" Gabriel asked in return.
"The Empire that my Ancestors made... The morals and righteousness that they strived for... Everything that they dreamt for this Empire... Everything has been destroyed! The Knights that were supposed to work for the well-being of mankind act like kings, and the traitors who hold no right now pretend to be the Royal Clan? Who can talk about it if not me, the true heir of the Throne?!"
"Who can talk about it if not me, the true heir of the Throne?!"
One sentence... Just one sentence was enough to send a wave of shock to everyone in the crowd who heard it.
Avilia, who had remained expressionless all this time, finally smiled. "Interesting."
"True Heir?"
"Did the man just say he was the true heir?"
undefined"How could that be?"
"He's lying, isn't he?"
His words were hard to believe! How could a random person be the true heir to the Throne? Was this guy bluffing again?
The Royal Knights were also stunned.
"This guy is again talking nonsense! How could he be the true heir of the throne?" One of the Royal Knights exclaimed, pointing fingers at the young man.
On the other side of the glass, Azia couldn't help but take a step back. She knew everyone in her family. The man before them wasn't from her clan. She was certain of that. Then what did he mean by being a true heir?
Was this man really lying? Did she really misunderstand a liar as an honorable Knight before? Or was he telling the truth? If he was telling the truth and believed he was the true heir while calling the current Royal Family traitors, did it mean this guy was...?
"What is your name?" The Saint Knight also thought of the same thing. This guy was certainly not from the current Royal Clan. If he still claimed his right to the throne and wasn't lying, that could only mean he was from that clan...
"My name is..." Gabriel took a deep breath before he spoke his name as loud as he could.
"Gabriel Arcadius Arecia, a true descendant of the Saint King!"
Gabriel Arcadius Arecia... Gabriel told the name, using the last names of Novius' family. He knew the power of this name. Even though the Arecia Family was called traitors, most of that was by the Nobles. For the commoners, the Arecia Family was always associated with the Saint Knight!
When telling his name, he made sure to mention the Saint Knight, who was like a god for this Empire! He indirectly claimed to be the descendant of their god!
"A descendant of the Arecia Clan?" Saint Knight's face twitched uncontrollably. This guy was from the Arecia Clan? No wonder he was that arrogant. However, how could he be alive?
Saint Knight was sure that all the descendants of the Arecia Clan were killed in the revolt. Was this guy lying about his identity to take advantage of the situation?
"How can I believe that you aren't lying? After all, we know that the entire Arecia Clan was dead. Then where did you come from?" The Saint Knight asked, frowning.
Even if this guy was a true descendant, the man couldn't accept it. In any case, he was sure that Gabriel couldn't prove it.
"Will this be enough to prove my identity?" Gabriel pulled out a pendant from his pocket. The pendant didn't look very special. It was something made of ordinary silver, but there was something inside it that only the powerful people could see. It was the Saint King's aura!
"That pendant... Isn't that the Saint King's Pendant?" Since the Empire treated every story of the Saint King as a holy text, despite the seemingly ordinary nature of this pendant, many people knew about it.
"What's this pendant?" Among the many people who knew about it, Avilia wasn't included. She could only ask the Saint Knight about it.
"The Saint King's Pendants," Saint Knight answered, frowning. This was truly bad. This thing was certainly enough to prove Gabriel's identity.
According to the story, there were only two of these pendants made by the Saint King during his time, and he passed these pendants to his two sons. From then on, these pendants were passed down to the two eldest sons of the Arecia Clan in every generation.
These pendants contained the essence of the Saint Knight, which could be used as a protection treasure. But what was more important was that these pendants were the symbol of Royal Authority during its time. These pendants couldn't be stolen. They could only be passed down. The original owner didn't want to pass it down, no one could receive it, and these were destroyed.
When the Arecia Clan was wiped out, only one such pendant was discovered, which was destroyed on its own after the Eldest Prince was killed.
The presence of this pendant in Gabriel's hand was enough to prove his identity, but still, how was it possible? Just where did this guy come from?
"If I'm not wrong, the Empire had two of these Pendants. Only one was left in the Empire after the Eldest Prince Novius left the Empire hundreds of years ago to train, taking one with him. Are you...?"
"The grandson of Novius Arcadius Arecia," Gabriel finished the sentence of the Saint Knight.
This pendant was a treasure of the Empire, passed from generation to generation. However, these people didn't know that it could also be passed to someone who didn't have the true bloodline, as long as the owner of the pendant wished.
This Pendant was one of the last few gifts that were given to him by Novius, who gave him the ownership of this pendant. This was also one of the reasons he could prove his identity. Now that he had proven his identity, only one thing was left to do... Prove the innocence of the Arecia Clan and cleanup.
"So you're from Prince Novius' lineage... The selfless Prince who wasn't greedy for the throne and let his younger brother take it. It's a pity that his descendants aren't as selfless as him. It looks like the greed of the throne brought you back." The Saint Knight sighed.
"Unfortunately, so what if you're the descendant of the Arecia Clan? What makes you think you still have the right to the throne? The Arecia Clan betrayed the Empire! They sold the Holy Treasure of our Empire! With that, they betrayed the trust of their people and their ancestors! They lost the right to rule over this Empire long ago!"
Even though the Saint Knight respected the Saint King, he still couldn't let any conflict come to the Empire. The current Royal Family had already consolidated their power. If Gabriel tried for the throne, he could only be crushed since the Saint Knight didn't want any instability in the Empire!
Moreover, throughout the years, the Saint Knight received so much respect from the Royal Clan that he started considering them as family. The current Royal Clan was what prompted him to the position of Saint Knight after all. He had never worked under any emperor before that.
The current Royal Clan had his absolute loyalty, even if it meant that he had to get his hand dirty.
"My Clan sold the Holy Treasure?" Gabriel asked, seemingly confused. "You can't be talking about this, can you?"
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A powerful aura spread in the surrounding, covering the entire city. This aura was so powerful that even the Royal Family could sense this aura while sitting inside the Royal Castle.
The present Emperor was in bed with his concubine, having some personal time. As soon as he sensed this strange yet powerful aura, he stopped and stood up.
"Are we under attack?"
Even the strongest warriors of the Knight Academy sensed this aura and rushed to the place where this was coming from. Even they thought that the Empire was under attack.
"That... That sword..." The Saint Knight was shocked to his core, seeing a blazing red Sword in Gabriel's hand. Before this, he had only heard about that weapon, but it was his first time seeing the Holy Weapon personally... The weapon that was known as the King of Swords!
Just the aura of the Sword was enough to overwhelm the crowd. Everyone in the crowd went down to their knees subconsciously. Even Princess Azia couldn't control her legs and dropped to her knees.
Only the Saint Knight and Holy Priestess of Summoning were still standing straight.
"That sword..."
In his entire life, the Saint Knight had never seen the so-called Holy Sword. It was said that the sword was sold by the greedy royals a long time ago already. The biggest problem was that no one knew who the Sword was sold to. All they knew was that the Sword wasn't in the Empire.
According to the current Royal Family, the Holy Sword of the Arecia Empire was sold to the neighbouring Yan Empire by the Arecia Clan in exchange for some benefits. That was also the event which was used as the foundation for the revolt where the Royal Family was destroyed.
After the new Royal Family took control, they asked Yan to return the sword. Unfortunately, Yan never accepted that they even possessed the Sword. Eventually, the Arecia Empire could only give up and curse the Arecia Clan for this downfall.
Sensing the unpleasant aura, more and more Royal Knights arrived at the location. Before long, the place had less citizens and more Knights.
undefinedGabriel held the Sword firmly, observing just how many knights there were in total.
'There should be over a hundred Royal Knights... If there's a battle, things would get really chaotic. However, I couldn't have asked for a better stage for myself!'
Even if the Royal Knights were siding with the current Royal Family, the most important thing for him was to win their support. The Saint Knight had already prepared the stage for him.
Gabriel knew that these people hated the Arecia Clan. However, if he could successfully fool them and make them believe his lies, they were definitely going to feel just as guilty at the thought of betraying the Arecia Clan which was innocent.
He really didn't have any evidence that the Arecia Clan didn't betray the Empire or that they didn't sell the Sword but it didn't matter. He didn't need to play fair for now.
"So, tell me. You say that my Ancestors sold this Sword to the enemies? Then why should I have it? Why would it be in the hands of a descendant? Unless you believe that I was able to sneak inside the enemy Empire and steal this treasure sword without causing any commotion?" he asked. "If you do say that, I'm sure you know yourself how stupid you'll sound."
The Sword of Ulien was in his hands now. And there was no way for these people to know that this was something he stole from the Academy of Elements.
The Academy didn't know that the Sword they possessed was the Royal Sword of Arecia. If they knew, they would have mentioned it in the description of the sword to their students. Since they didn't mention it, it could only mean two things.
First was that they didn't want Arecia to know that they had this sword. If that was the case, they definitely weren't going to publicise that this sword was stolen. Even if they told anyone about the robbery, they were going to focus mainly on the Ancestral Staff of Darkness so this information was as good as buried.
The second possibility was that they didn't know either and it was just a coincidence that this sword fell in their hands, which was more likely.
Gabriel knew that he was taking a big risk by bringing out this sword, especially before a Holy Priestess but for now, it was a calculated risk.
The Saint Knight was just about to talk about the possibility of Gabriel stealing or receiving the Sword, but Gabriel already took the initiative to put forward this possibility while also using a mocking tone while describing it. If the Saint Knight actually used this logic, he could very well become a laughing stock.
"Why do you have that sword?" The Saint Knight asked, frowning.
Even he was slightly curious how Gabriel had the sword. If this Sword was actually sold to an Empire in exchange for benefits, then that Empire was surely going to know its worth. There was no way they could let it get stolen.
Moreover, he didn't believe Gabriel was strong enough to steal inside the Palace and take it.
'If he was actually strong enough to do that, wouldn't it mean he was strong enough to kill me? Even I can't achieve a feat like that. There is no way he stole it from the Royal Palace. Then why does he have it?'
Gabriel could already read the thoughts on the middle aged man's face. He could also see some killing intent from the Saint Knight.
'He really wants to kill me, doesn't he?' he wondered. 'He just doesn't dare to do it in Avilia's presence. If she wasn't here, he would've attacked already.'
"Who will have that Sword if not a member of our Arecia Clan?" Gabriel asked. "As you said, my Ancestor Novius Arcadius Arecia was the Eldest Prince who left to train in the outside World. Of course he took the Sword with him to train! He wanted to become as strong as the Saint Knight to protect the Empire like our Ancestor!"
Gabriel had a story about why he had a Sword that he just made up. He also knew the follow-up questions which was the hardest part.
"They why didn't he return all this time? And where were you all this time? Why just come now?"
Just as Gabriel expected, the question came. Many people in the Lumen Empire knew of the Dark Mage Novius who founded the Academy of Elements. However, none of them knew what that person's full name was. None knew that he was a Royal of Arecia as Novius had already abandoned his Royal identity after leaving Arecia.
The Two Empires were neighbours, but they couldn't be any farther apart. Unlike the other Empires, the Arecia Empire didn't have any Church branches and the trade was also very limited with the other Empires.
Arecia didn't care what was happening in the neighbouring Empires.
"He wanted to return. Unfortunately, in his quest for getting stronger, he came across the Holy Priest of Darkness," Gabriel sighed.
He didn't want to drag the Dark Mages into another mess, but he didn't have much of an option. Since Novius was supposed to have the Sword of Ulien, he couldn't just say that Novius was defeated and killed by an ordinary mage. He had to name some higher ups like a Holy Priest.
With the current reputation of the Church of Darkness, it was also much easier to convince them with this story if he just borrowed their name. Not as if their reputation could get any worse than it already was.
"A Holy Priest of Darkness?" Many in the crowd exclaimed. At this point, even the Royal Knights were immersed in the story, listening carefully.
As Gabriel told his story, he could also sense that another person had arrived in the back…
Another middle-aged man came from the back. Even though the man didn't let his presence become evident, Gabriel could still sense it. It was a Mage... A Mage of Darkness...
The Dark Mage also appeared to hide his Aura very well, probably using some treasure, but as a Holy Priest of Necromancy, Gabriel could sense it. The treasure that hid his aura was good, but it wasn't as good as his Gloves and his rings. It could possibly fool some Head Priests but not a Holy Priest.
Just as Gabriel expected, Avilia also sensed it. Just from the minute expression changes on her face at the same time, Gabriel was sure that she also sensed it. However, she didn't do anything and completely ignored that person.
'That idiot... He came right before a Holy Priestess? It looks like he really overestimated his treasure.' Gabriel didn't react either. Even if it was a Dark Mage, it didn't matter. For now, he had to focus on the task at hand.
"What happened after Lord Novius came across the Holy Priest of Darkness?" One of the Royal Knights asked. He was so intrigued that he didn't even wait for the Saint Knight to speak.
undefinedIt was only after he had spoken that he realized he should've kept his mouth shut. He just lowered his head.
"The Holy Priest of Darkness was very powerful but also greedy. He wanted our Holy Sword. When Ancestor refused to give him the Sword, he attacked him. In the battle that lasted for three hours, both of them were injured. The Holy Priest of Darkness retreated, but the Ancestor was also hurt a lot."
In his mind, Gabriel only had two stories that he could use. One was the current one, and the other was that Novius was trapped in a secret realm. If he chose the latter, he believed the following questions were going to be a nightmare to answer, so he stuck with the first story.
For some reason, as soon as he finished talking about the battle, Avilia smiled. She was quite amused.
"Not bad," she muttered, but no one could hear her.
Gabriel didn't notice her smile. He didn't want to look at her repeatedly to make her suspicious. He kept his focus on the Saint Knight while talking. His voice was loud enough to make sure that everyone heard it.
"The battle with a Holy Priest took a heavy toll on our Ancestors. He didn't want to come back until he was strong enough. But this injury only left him weakened. That's why he didn't return before his death."
"He only trained his next generations so that the knowledge could pass on. He knew that, thanks to his injuries, it was hard for him to become strong. He could only train the future generation, waiting for someone to appear who he believed was worthy of this Sword!"
"It was his oath to not return to Arecia until someone worthy of this Sword came from his descendants. Unfortunately, his injury was too heavy. Five years after the battle, he died."
"I've trained all my life in isolation to become strong enough to make him proud, so I could return one day and fulfill his oath!"
Gabriel was only telling lies at this point, but with the intensity that he spoke, it was almost impossible to distinguish lies from truth.
"Ancestor Novius sacrificed so much for the betterment of the Arecia Clan and the Empire. I never expected that behind him, all this was going on. The people that he worked so hard for backstabbed his own family members and killed them all?"
Now that Gabriel had made up a story before anyone could ask any questions, he started using their emotions. He wasn't sure how much it was going to work, but he hoped that he could sway at least half the Knights here.
"Not only that, the excuse you all used was that our Family sold the Sword? Nonsense! We are the true descendants of the Saint Knight! Did you all really think the blood of Saint Knight could be so dirty that it could create descendants like that?!"
"Just because of some people's ambitions of getting the Royal Throne, they killed the righteous owners and made up stories to find a cause to kill people in broad daylight? And the citizens of the Empire supported them?!"
"When I found out about all that, I was so disappointed and disgusted that I just wanted to leave! I thought that the people of this Empire deserved evil rulers like that who could one day be the downfall of the once glorious Empire! I wanted to leave you all to your fate. Unfortunately, I can't abandon the Empire that all my Ancestors worked so hard to protect!"
"I don't want to be here after knowing that this Empire was bathed in the blood of my family members over some lies, but I just can't abandon it!" Gabriel declared.
He didn't know why, but even some tears appeared in his eyes as he spoke. Even though he was only making stories, it was true that he wanted to protect this Empire... The Empire that Novius was so passionate about. It was this City's illusion where Novius and him spent his last night in the Tower before his death.
The shine in his eyes, the expectations of his empire, the hope... Gabriel couldn't abandon it all. That's why, even in his lies, there was the truth. His words were lies, but his emotions were true! He was angry at the betrayal but also sad.
The words that Gabriel used were powerful, stabbing the hearts of everyone present there. Even the Royal Knights who just had a conflict with them couldn't control themselves. They could feel his emotions.
Moreover, seeing the tears in Gabriel's eyes, none of them could even think that he was lying.
Even Princess Azia, who was the Eldest Princess of the Empire, had tears in her eyes. Even she fell for his words, wondering if her father was truly so evil. Did he really kill innocent Arecia Clan Members because he was greedy for the throne?
Before today, she never would have believed something like that, but now... Now even her heart was wavering.
"In the past, so much injustice happened in this Empire... Most of our Family was wiped out, and we didn't even know about it. Men, women, and children were slaughtered, and the citizens of this Empire cheered! Was this the kind of Empire that Saint King dreamt of? Was this the kind of Empire you're proud to call your home?!" Gabriel roared at the top of his lungs.
Amongst the many methods that Gabriel thought of, which were fast and Swift in helping him achieve his goals, all options had one thing in common... It was that he had to prove the innocence of the Arecia Clan, which he couldn't do without revealing the Sword of Ulien.
It was only after proving that the Sword wasn't sold but was passed down the Arecia Clan generations could he clear the name of the Arecia Clan, allowing him a path to reach the throne. Unfortunately, this didn't come without risk.
The only advantage he had for now was that there were no Mages in the crowd for now, none other than the Dark Mage. As for the Dark Mage, Gabriel was sure that even that person hadn't seen this sword since he couldn't have entered the Lumen City.
The only problem here was the Holy Priestess of Summoning. Unfortunately, having no choice, this was all he could do, even though it had the potential to create some new problems in the future.
Fortunately, according to the rumors, it looked as if Avilia really didn't care about other Holy Priests. With that kind of personality, it was highly unlikely that she would've ever gone to the Academy of Elements.
undefinedEven if she did, the chances of her seeing the Sword there should've been as slim as nine since the Academy rarely took anyone who wasn't a student to the Treasure Hall. No matter what, it was only a guess for now, which he couldn't be sure about. He had already considered the other possibility.
For now, he knew he had to handle the task at hand... He had to sway the hearts of the people first!
"Was this the kind of Empire you're proud to call your home?!"
His words echoed far and wide like thunder falling on the consciousness of everyone present here.
"I refuse to believe that the people of the Proud Arecia Empire would be so vile. I'll leave the choice to you. Tomorrow, I'll go to the Royal Clan to demand for the return of the throne. If you wish, you can stand on their side and fight against me."
" Even if I die, I won't step back. If I need to walk through the sea of blood to protect this Empire from the demons, that's what I shall do! I leave the choice to you! You can either correct the injustice of the past or double down to protect your false sense of reality!"
Gabriel made a declaration, leaving the rest to others. He was sure that one day was enough to get this information to every citizen of this city. It was enough time for everyone to know about his return and clear the name of the Arecia Clan.
He wasn't sure how many of those people were going to side with him in the end, but even if he was all alone, he was still going to do it. At least he now had a righteous excuse to stop the interference of the Churches here!
After his declaration, Gabriel turned around and started leaving. For one day, he didn't have to fight anyone. Things all needed time. He had to let the people go back to spread this news.
For a moment, even the Saint Knight was left stunned. He noticed the expressions of the Knights around him. Their expressions were telling him a lot. It was as if they had all fallen for a spell of Gabriel.
"Stop right there! Even if what you say is true, you should come back with me to the Royal Palace! We shall discuss it there!" The Saint Knight called out to Gabriel.
"Don't worry. I'll go there tomorrow. You'll get your moment to shine," Gabriel responded, not stopping. "You don't have to be in a hurry."
Saint Knight Albetron's face twitched. 'This guy... He is really arrogant.'
"Don't force me to take action! Please cooperate with the authorities! I promise we will be fair, and you won't be harmed!" He knew that the words which were spoken here... If Gabriel was given one day, he could easily gather an army of his own, causing a civil war. He couldn't let that happen.
'I can't let him go! If I try to kill him, I'll only provoke the sentiments of everyone present here. Even the Holy Priestess of Summoning doesn't allow me to kill. I can only try other methods.'
Unlike the other people here who were swayed by Gabriel, the Saint Knight was truly loyal to the current Royal Place. Even if he had to get his hands dirty to protect the Royal Family, he didn't care!
'For now, I'll play along and take him to the Castle. There, he'll be all alone. If we kill him there and share the story that he ran away after his lies were exposed, no one will know!'
He had already planned a plan of action to take Gabriel out without provoking the citizens. He was sure that some of the citizens were going to be suspicious for a little while, but after a few weeks, they were all going to forget that this even happened.
"I won't be harmed?" Gabriel repeated. "If you say so, I'll accompany you."
He didn't worry about being harmed. He wasn't even sure if the Royal Family could harm him even if they wanted. Instead, they were going to take him to the castle, which was exactly what he wanted.
Gabriel knew what these people wanted to do. It was clear that the Saint Knight wanted to kill him inside the Castle, but that didn't matter much. The best way to defeat an opponent was using their own strength against them, and this gave him the perfect opportunity for that...
He had already cast a seed of doubt in the citizens. With the spreading of the news, he was sure that quite a few citizens were going to side with him. All he needed was a little more push, and this was what gave that push.
"Albetron, I'm afraid that's not fair, is it?" A voice came from behind. "Shouldn't you stop?"
"It's him..." Gabriel muttered, glancing back. Just as he expected, it was the Dark Mage who had been observing everything from the back. It was strange that he was taking action.
Even the Holy Priestess of Summoning glanced at the Dark Mage in the back, slightly surprised. She expected the man to stay hidden, but this guy really came forward.
This only confirmed her suspicions that this man didn't know that his treasure didn't have an effect on her.
"This is getting interesting," she muttered.
Gabriel was ready to go with the Saint Knight. For him, it didn't matter if he took care of certain matters tomorrow or today. However, he didn't expect someone to interfere as soon as he was about to accept.
Not only did the person interfere, but he did so despite being a Dark Mage?
Gabriel looked at the man in the back, finally getting a clear view of the person.
The man was in his late forties. Despite only being in his forties, all his hair was already white. The man wasn't dressed lavishly, but his clothes looked very refined. Looking at the surprised reaction of the people around him, Gabriel could feel that this person didn't have an ordinary identity in the Empire.
It was clear that he wasn't the King, but his position wasn't low.
undefined"Duke Callum?" The Saint Knight frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"Duke?" Gabriel was even more surprised to see the identity of the person. Usually, Empires tended to stay away from Dark Mages, but in this Empire, one was already a Duke? That was the highest Noble position in this Empire after the Royal Family.
A Duke's position was more or less the same as the Saint Knight, but due to their Noble title, they were considered slightly higher in the hierarchy.
"I felt a strange aura and came to check," the middle-aged Duke calmly stated.
"How long have you been here?" The Saint Knight asked, wondering if this guy heard Gabriel's story.
It wasn't hidden from anyone that amongst all the Dukes, Callum was the only one who was in conflict with the Royal Family. Moreover, for some strange reason, the Royal Family never dared to act against him either.
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It was as if a status quo was established. Duke Callum couldn't hurt the Royals, and the Royals couldn't hurt him. The Royal Family more or less just ignored Duke Callum and let him do his things as long as it didn't interfere with the Empire's workings.
"For a long time," Duke Callum stated calmly. "I heard what the young man was saying. And I am more inclined to believe his words at this point. He already showed quite a lot of evidence after all."
"Duke Callum, it's not for you to decide if it's the truth or not. We'll take him back to the Castle and call a meeting of all the Dukes and Ministers to decide on the matter. I hope you won't interfere in this matter for now. You'll get your time."
Saint Knight was already frustrated that Avilia didn't allow him to kill Gabriel when he had an opportunity. If she hadn't stopped him, things would've been solved at the start, and this story wouldn't be out.
Just as he thought of a new way to solve this problem, another person arrived, interfering in the matter? And that person was a first-tier noble as well.
"I'm sure we can solve this matter in the meeting of Ministers and Dukes. However, until then, I don't feel safe sending this young man with you. Since he's a potential heir to the throne, what if he is killed in the Castle, and you later make up a story that he ran away?" Callum asked, slightly revealing a grin. "It won't be the first time you'd have killed someone from the Arecia Clan."
"You!" Saint Knight Alberton's face twitched uncontrollably. This guy... He was intentionally doing it! Was he trying to break the status quo by placing a new person on the throne?
"Since this guy is here for the throne, I'm sure he won't run away. I can keep him in my castle. When all the Dukes have gathered, I can bring him, and the final decision can be taken. What do you think? There's no reason to take him to the Castle since everything will be decided in the meeting of Dukes, isn't that right?"
Callum had the Saint Knight in his palms. In a situation like this, even the Saint Knight couldn't do anything. He just couldn't attack a Duke out of nowhere, especially since he didn't suggest anything wrong. In people's eyes, the Duke was only being fair and worried about the safety of the young man before the Dukes could gather.
At this point, even the Saint Knight knew that his option was to take Gabriel forcefully, but that was detrimental to his cause. If he did that, not only did he have to fight the Duke, but he also couldn't kill Gabriel and act innocent later on.
"Fine. He's your responsibility. But if you fail to bring him to the meeting of the Dukes or let him escape, you'll be the one getting punished. I hope you know what you're doing..."
Even though the words of the Saint Knight were ordinary, Gabriel could sense the hidden threat he was issuing through those words.
After issuing the threat, the Saint Knight commanded everyone to go back to their work. He also instructed them to not share what happened there with anyone. However, even he knew that no one was going to listen to him. It was impossible to hide what happened here unless he killed every person there.
"Lady Avilia, please come with me." The Saint Knight walked back to Avilia, who was here as their guest. Even at a time like this, he couldn't abandon her or be disrespectful. If he did, he knew it was similar to putting oil on the fire.
The Holy Priestess of Summoning glanced at Gabriel and the Duke one last time before she followed the Saint Knight and left.
The Saint Knight also brought Princess Azia back with him since he didn't want to leave her behind at times like this.
"Are you alright?" Duke Callum asked Gabriel.
"I am fine. Thank you for the help."
Despite knowing that their person was a Dark Mage, Gabriel didn't reveal that he already knew about it. He was sure that the Duke didn't approach him for no reason. There was something he wanted from him. As for what that was, he let time decide. He just kept his guard up.
"Let's go back to my Palace. You should be safe there." The Duke escorted Gabriel with him.
"When will this meeting of Dukes be held?" Gabriel asked, walking next to the Dark Mage.
"Since it's an important matter, it should be held tomorrow," Callum answered. "It will be attended by the Dukes, the Emperor, the Ministers, and quite a few influential people of the Empire."
"Tomorrow... That is definitely fast," Gabriel nodded.
After a few moments of silence, Gabriel again spoke. "By the way, may I ask why you helped me? What do you hope to achieve."
"I helped you because I know," the middle-aged man answered vaguely.
"Know what?" Gabriel pretended to be ignorant as if wondering what this guy was talking about.
The middle-aged man slowed down, keeping up with the slow pace of Gabriel. It was only after making sure that no one was near them that he spoke, "The story that you used... It was all a lie."
"Oh, and you know that because...?"
Gabriel had already expected the answer, but he still wanted to hear it from the man.
undefined"Because I've heard about Lord Novius... Things that are unknown in this Empire," The man grimly stated. "I know what he was?"
"And what was he?" Gabriel asked, slightly amused. It was just as he had expected... This man knew that Novius was a dark Mage in the past and a well-known one at that. Not many people knew about it, but it wasn't hard for Dark Mages to know this since it was related to their element and their history.
"I know that you lied about your past. And since I don't feel any killing intent from you even though I told you all that, I suppose you also realized that I knew about this?"
"I took a guess," Gabriel calmly answered. "Still, isn't it risky for you to live in such a high position as a Dark Mage?"
"Huh?" The man expected Gabriel to be shocked when he told him that he knew Gabriel was lying. However, instead of that, the outcome was completely different. He was the one getting shocked.
"How do you know?" The man asked, stepping back suddenly. Killing intent flashed in his eyes for a moment. He hadn't expected anyone to know the secret that he had hidden so well. He only wanted to tell Gabriel that he knew about the lies and then help him get the throne so he could be their puppet King!
"Not just me; the Holy Priestess of Summoning also knows about that," Gabriel answered, completely ignoring the killing intent of the man.
"She..." Duke Callum felt his heart stop for a bit as soon as he heard Gabriel.
"That Demoness knows about me? How could that be? Did my aura leak? How is it possible?" The man was covered in sweat. In his mind, he had already started preparing to escape from this Empire.
Amongst all the Holy Priests, he was the most scared of two— the Holy Priest of Light and the Holy Priestess of Summoning! Now that the girl knew about him, he wanted to get out of the Empire as far as possible to save his life.
"There's no need to run away. If she wanted to kill you, you would've already been dead."
Since Avilia was so strong, it was easy for her to kill the Duke. If she didn't kill him personally, she could've just told the others about his secret, but she didn't. Based on that single decision of hers, Gabriel managed to find out quite a few things about her.
"She doesn't want to kill me? But why?" The Duke grimaced. As far as he knew, the Dark Mages had no allies. The Church of Summoning surely didn't side with him. So why didn't that woman kill him?
"Who knows? You'll have to ask her yourself." Gabriel shrugged. He could only take a few guesses. Even he couldn't be sure what that woman was truly thinking about.
"How do you two know about my secret? Even the Saint Knight doesn't know. Who exactly are you?" Initially, the Duke just thought that Gabriel was an ordinary person who was using Novius' name to take over the throne because he was greedy.
However, now he was sure that there was more to it than that. He certainly wasn't an ordinary person.
"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is what I can do for you," Gabriel stated. He didn't want to rely on anyone, but if it was a trade, he was quite confident that he could get the Duke's help without owing him.
"And what can you do for me?" Duke Callum asked.
"I can protect you from Avilia if she ever wants to harm you. If you work for me, your safety will be ensured. Moreover, once I take over the Arecia Empire, you'll be getting even more benefits..."
As Gabriel spoke, he raised his left hand. A small dark sphere appeared above each of his fingers. He made sure that no one was there to see. Moreover, thanks to his ring, none could even sense the aura of his dark spell.
"This... This is... You are..."
Duke Callum was stunned. Not only was Gabriel not a Dark Mage, but he was also a Dark Mage? Was he one of them?
Even though Gabriel used a small spell to display his element, just his control of the dark spheres was enough to make Callum realize that Gabriel's magic wasn't weaker than him at all! If anything, Gabriel was even stronger.
He could, at best, call out three spheres and control them with such precision, but Gabriel could use five!
"Work for me with all your heart, and you'll get all your heart desires," Gabriel reminded the middle-aged Duke.
The Duke nodded. "Y-yes."
Despite Gabriel's young age, just his sheer talent and control were enough for the Duke to consider him a Master. The strength of a Dark Mage decided their hierarchy and not age.
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Gabriel was also so carefree despite knowing that the Holy Priestess knew about them. This gave him some confidence in the young man's abilities as well.
Gabriel was surprised to be called Master. He couldn't help but take a second glance at the middle-aged man, 'His tone is really respectful. It doesn't look like he's planning to betray me. Still, I have to keep my guard up against him...'
"Master, if you wanted to take over this Enough, why don't you just go to the Royal Palace and take over? Are you also worried about the other Churches?" Callum asked.
Strangely enough, the man didn't even feel slightest shame in calling a young man his master, all because of Gabriel's presumed strength.
"You'll know when the time comes," Gabriel vaguely answered.
The Duke escorted him to the Duke's castle, which was also in the central region of the Royal City, not too far from the Royal Palace.
The Duke's castle was smaller than the Royal Palace, but it wasn't any less luxurious. Even Gabriel was surprised at how well this Dark Mage was living. While the other Dark Mages were living day by day, fighting for their lives, running from enemies, this guy was enjoying life here?
"Master, you can take any room. I've also gathered some Spirit Stones. If you want, I can get them to your room right away!"
Duke Callum was really like a follower to Gabriel, even offering Spirit Stones to help Gabriel and win the young man's favor. So far, he didn't know the identity of the young man, but for some reason, he felt as if the man had the potential to be someone special in the future if he already wasn't one.
Gabriel was surprised to be offered the Spirit Stones since he hadn't even asked for them. However, he had already robbed all the Spirit Stones from the Academy of Elements. Spirit Stones was the last thing that he needed now.
"No need. Keep your spirit stones for yourself," Gabriel responded. "I just need information."
"Information?" Callum asked. "What kind of information?"
"Prepare all the information you have about the Royal Family, especially about their treasures and the whereabouts of the said treasures. I also want to know about the destruction of the Arecia Clan and information related to all the Clans that had a hand in that."
undefined"If you also had a hand in that, I want your name in that information as well. Make sure you miss nothing. You only have one night... I want everything in the morning."
Gabriel had received some information from the girl he helped, but he was sure that a Duke could help him more with the information, especially related to the treasure he was looking for.
After issuing his instructions and was just about to go upstairs when he was stopped by the Duke.
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"Master, there's one more thing I should mention."
"Oh? Do you have a family? Don't worry; I won't hurt them. I don't care how many people live here. Even I'm here temporarily. You'll still own this mansion even after I take over Arecia."
Gabriel didn't care about the people living here. He had no enmity with ordinary people. In any case, every Duke had some people in their mansions. Living alone would've been strange.
"Ah, that's not it. The people who live with me... It would be better if you just come with me..." Duke Callum seemed a bit hesitant initially, but after thinking for some time, he decided to take Gabriel somewhere to avoid some misunderstanding in the future.
Duke Callum took Gabriel to the basement, where a special hall was made. The doors of the hall were closed and locked. Only the Duke had the key to open the door.
After taking a deep breath, he opened the door.
"This... How did you get away with it until now?" Gabriel was shocked to see what was on the other side of the door. This guy was really playing with fire here.
"I took the help of a formation master to make a formation around this room, so no one else finds out. You're the second person after me who knows... I just don't want any misunderstanding in the future, especially now that the Holy Priestess is the Empire. I hope in the future..."
'This guy...' Gabriel could only scratch the back of his head. 'I don't know if I should call him stupid or brave...'
"Fine. Close the door. We'll see when the time comes."
Not speaking much, Gabriel turned around. "I'll take a room. Don't disturb me tonight."
He didn't speak much about what he saw. For now, he didn't want to get his hands on things like that. He had a mission at hand, and he wanted to focus on that only.
Gabriel went upstairs and selected a room on the Castle's second floor. The room he chose was in the middle of the Castle. It already had all the furniture that was needed for a Royal's stay, but the only thing different in this room compared to other rooms was that this room had no windows, and that's exactly what Gabriel wanted.
Gabriel closed the door before bringing out door stones from his storage.
Each of the four stones was only the size of an apple. They looked like ordinary stones, but only Gabriel knew that these blue stones were really special. These stones were something that he had robbed from the Academy of Elements.
It was one of the Numens of the Academic, known as The Four Cornerstones of Protection.
These stones weren't High Tier Numens, but their use was very unique. These stones not only restricted any aura from leaking out of the room, but they also provided protection so that the Owner of these stones couldn't be attacked when he was in meditation.
Gabriel placed all these stones, one in each corner of the room.
"This should be enough protection. Even if it can't stop a powerful enemy, it should hold on for long enough so no one can use sneak attacks."
He walked back to the bed and sat down. From what the mirror told him, his Soul was strong, but his body wasn't strong enough. That's also what hurt him whenever he used spells. However, now that he was about to get something that could strengthen his body instantly, he decided to work more on his Soul Strength.
Increasing Soul Strength couldn't harm him, but using High Tier Spells could. For now, he only wanted to increase his Soul Strength as much as possible while avoiding battles so that as soon as he got the treasure he was after, he could use the spells that he wanted without being restricted by Magical Strength.
Even Duke Callum was an Advanced Tier mage, but he... He was only a Mid Tier Mage when it came to Magical Strength. He couldn't even hope to fight the Holy Priestess of Summoning if things went south. He needed something to fall back to in case of emergency, and he could only rely on his own strength.
He brought hundreds of Spirit Stones out of his storage. He wasn't restricted by his Talents and could absorb way more Spirit Stones than others.
He closed his eyes and started absorbing the spiritual strength from each of the Spirit Stones.
Despite being High Tier Spirit Stones, each stone only lasted a few seconds before running out of energy. However, Gabriel's magical strength also increased at a pace that he had never seen before.
He kept bringing out more and more Spirit Stones whenever the old ones were all used up, not stopping absorption at all.
It wasn't until two hours had passed before he finally stopped, and that too only because he felt as if his strength had crossed a threshold.
He opened his eyes, which looked even more serene now.
"Advanced Tier? Could it really be that easy?" he wondered, looking at his hands.
He was covered in sweat and already extremely tired. He just wanted to go to sleep. Even staying up now was a hassle.
"Huh?" Even though he was sleepy, his sleep disappeared entirely as soon as he saw his Black Ring of Necromancy shining brightly!
"This is..."
The ring turned into specks of darkness that flew before him, transforming into the Forbidden Book of Necromancy.
The book floated before Gabriel as the pages of the book started flipping on their own.
"This... A new spell?"
Gabriel had seen this phenomenon even before. It often happened when he was receiving new spells.
"Now that I've become an Advanced Tier Mage, I'm getting another spell?"
Gabriel had already received around Nine Spells of Necromancy, more than half of which were High Tier Spells.
The pages stopped flipping after reaching an empty page, and the content started appearing. Before even reading the name, Gabriel moved straight to the tier of the spell. That's what he was more curious about.
[Tier: Core Tier Spell]
"Core Tier Spell? I thought there were only four tier spells— Basic, Mid, High, and Peak. What is the Core Tier?"
It was his first time hearing such a tier. Unable to find any clue from the Tier, he eventually read the name.
[Army of Undead
"Army of Undead?"
The name of the spell couldn't help but remind Gabriel about the story he had heard before regarding the Saint King. According to the story, just as the Saint King was going to be killed in the battle, an Army of Undead had entered the City, forcing the Demigod to escape and the battle to stop.
"Is this the spell Karyk used to create that Army of Undead? This kind of spell..."
Even though the spell wasn't classified in a tier that he understood, just the name and the idea of this spell itself were enough to remind him how useful this spell could be in real battles.
"If I can have an Army of Undead, that might be able to make things safer for me in the future. With a powerful army of Undead, if one day I had to go against Avilia, I wouldn't necessarily be pushed back against her Army of Summoned Beast."
undefinedThe thought of having a personal army that was going to listen to his every command and never betray him... It was exciting, especially for someone like him who found it hard to trust people around him.
Gabriel went through the description of the spell.
"So it's not just one spell but divided into two independent spells that don't rely on each other..."
After going through the entire page, he understood a few things, especially about this spell. Even though he had gained one spell in reality, in technicality, he had two new spells.
"I see. So the first tier army of Undead gives me the ability to turn anyone I killed into an Undead Soldier. This isn't a bad spell at all. The Undead lose their memories as well. That means they can't hold a grudge against me for killing them. Moreover, other than being surrounded by the Aura of the Dead, they are no different than a real person..."
"If I can find a way to hide their auras, wouldn't that allow me to...?"
Under the first tier spell, he could also see some restrictions and warnings about this spell. According to the Warning, the chances of successfully turning someone into an Undead depended on his Spiritual Strength, and there were chances of failing.
"I don't know how much energy a Core Tier Spell consumes, but there's a good chance it's more than a High Tier Spell. I'll have to be careful when using it."
He moved into the Tier Two Army of Undead spell, which was even more fascinating.
According to the description, he was allowed to enter the Realm of Undead and select one Undead for his army there every time he used this spell. It was his responsibility to make that Subordinate be loyal to him though.
Unlike the First Tier Spell, which was used in the World of living, which made the dead into the Undead, the second tier dealt with the ones who were already Undead, so it was left to him to make them surrender and accept him as their King! Once an Undead accepted to be his subordinate, the spell was considered to be a success, and the Undead was always loyal to him.
Unfortunately, the second Tier Spell was also more dangerous, and there was a chance that the caster could be killed in the Realm of Undead if they weren't careful.
The Tier Two Army of Undead was definitely more powerful since it worked on beings that had been Undead for a long time. The chances of success in making a King Tier Undead into his subordinates were low, but it wasn't impossible as it all relied on his skills.
Under the description of the spell, there was also a warning.
[Warning: Don't use this spell until you reach the Peak Tier Soul Strength]
"The Army of Undead... Fascinating..."
Gabriel closed the book after going through the spells. He hadn't expected the spell to be so useful yet so risky at the same time.
The spell allowed him to slowly form his army, and if he wanted, he could make his army with the strongest beings, one by one. The beings were always loyal to him, which was the best part.
"If I make an army, Raphael can be their Commander. I don't think I'll need to work too hard to handle them. But before even thinking about using a Core Tier Spell, I need to solve my problem first. And then..."
The Forbidden Book of Necromancy turned into a speck of light, returning into a ring around his finger.
Gabriel got off the bed and cleaned up all the used Spirit Stones before going to take a shower in the room.
He left his clothes back on the bed since he intended to wear the same clothes again that were useful in hiding his aura. He only kept his gloves on as he entered the shower, closing the door of the shower room.
Thud~
A loud sound was heard as a fist smacked on the armrest of the Royal Throne.
A dark-haired man was sitting on the throne, having long dark hair. There was a beautiful crown on the middle-aged man's head.
A broken glass of wine was lying near his feet on the ground, which was broken only recently.
"How could it be? Are you telling the truth?" The man roared in rage.
A young woman was sitting on the middle-aged man's lap, having barely any clothes on her body. Even she was scared as she heard the Emperor, who was always so gentle, scream like that.
Before the Emperor, the Saint Knight was present, still on one Knee. He had just finished telling the Emperor everything that had happened before, especially about the appearance of a new heir out of nowhere.
"That bastard Callum! Despite knowing his real identity, I let him stay here, and he dares to side with my enemies?! He thinks I'm scared of him?!"
The Emperor was furious. He pushed aside the woman who was sitting on his lap and stood up.
"No matter what, that boy can't be allowed to live! I don't care if he's telling the truth or lying! I don't want to give that bastard a chance to pull another trick! After what he did today, I'm sure he'll already have a lot of support in the public! That sneaky bastard is using people's emotions. This kind of person can't be allowed to live!"
"Albetron, make sure that boy doesn't see the sunrise, no matter what you have to do! If possible, try to avoid Callum and kill the boy without being seen. But if it's not possible, kill Callum as well!" The Emperor gave his command.
"Until now, I didn't take any action against him because he remained within his limits, and I was worried about the possibility of more Dark Mages behind him, but I can't ignore him anymore! Callum, don't blame this Emperor for being ruthless! You forced me!"
After taking a comfortable bath, Gabriel stepped back into his room, only having a towel around his waist.
"You took your sweet time. I was starting to get bored here."
As soon as Gabriel stepped into the room, he heard a melodious voice coming from nearby. He turned around but couldn't find anyone anywhere.
"Lady Avilia, isn't it bad manners to barge inside someone's room without knocking?" Gabriel asked in return. Even though he couldn't see the lady, that voice was something he had heard before. It belonged to the Holy Priestess of Summoning, the Crazy Ruler of Element.
undefinedIt was slightly surprising to him as well. The four stones were still in the same place. Despite that, the woman managed to enter the room without alerting him. Her skills... They were certainly good.
"You don't look surprised by my appearance here," the woman finally appeared before Gabriel, coming out of the shadow of the bed.
"Hiding in the Shadows?" Gabriel asked. "A trick of one of your beasts?"
He knew that Avilia was a Summoner and not a Dark Mage. She couldn't hide in the shadows on her own. It could only mean that she took the help of a Summoned Beast that could take advantage of the shadows.
At this point, Gabriel was sure that she wasn't the only one hiding in the shadows.
'If I'm not wrong, she should have quite a few beasts still hiding here.'
"You are not half bad," Avilia sat on the bed. "That's right. It's the abilities of one of my Contracted Beasts, the Shadow Wolf."
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"By the way, I'm surprised that you show no fear despite my presence here. It's as if you knew that I would be coming here. But that doesn't make sense either. If you knew, then why didn't you run away?"
"Would running away matter? You've already covered all the exits of the City," Gabriel answered, not showing much reaction as he walked to pick up his clothes from the bed.
"Oh, you knew that as well?" Avilia frowned. Instead of surprising Gabriel, she was the one getting surprised. "Not bad at all. I'm really intrigued now. Just what are you? I can sense so many auras on you, especially the aura of the dead, the aura of darkness, and the aura of Light. Quite interesting."
"What am I? I'm just a person who was forced into a role that I didn't want, quite similar to another person I see before me," Gabriel answered.
Hearing Gabriel's response, Avilia was slightly taken aback. She could understand what this guy was implying.
Gabriel walked back inside the bathroom with the clothes. "If possible, keep your beasts outside. I'll be getting dressed."
"Heh, quite amusing. Can he read my mind? Or does he understand my thoughts that much?"
As time passed, Avilia was getting even more interested in Gabriel. In this boring world, she had finally found an interesting person.
She didn't send any beast to keep an eye on Gabriel. Moreover, just as Gabriel had promised, he returned fully dressed.
"Want to eat something?" Gabriel asked as soon as he stepped out of the room.
"Huh?" Avilia was momentarily stunned. In this situation, Gabriel was not only not scared, but he was also thinking about food at a time like this.
"I just finished training and feel hungry. If you don't want to go out, I can have Callum bring some food here," Gabriel told the Holy Priestess. All his actions were above Avilia's understanding.
'This guy...' She finally couldn't stop herself from smiling.
"Let's go out then," Avilia stood up, shrugging her shoulders. "I haven't eaten anything either."
"I don't know any good places here though. It's my first day. I suppose it's your first day as well? I'll have Callum escort us," Gabriel stated as he left the room with Avilia.
"Are you scared to be alone with me?" Avilia asked, slightly amused.
"Scared? If I was scared now, do you think Callum's presence could make me feel safe? If I can't stay safe against you, then he won't be of help either. He's too weak," Gabriel vaguely answered. Even though his words weren't much, Avilia could feel some hidden meaning behind them.
It was as if Gabriel was implying that even if she fought him, he had the capacity to protect himself without anyone else's help. She didn't feel angry though. Instead, she was even more pleased. This type of person... She was starting to get quite fond.
Even when she hadn't taken the Holy Priestess position of the Holy Church of Summoning, she was already one of the strongest Summoners in the world. It was a talent that she possessed from the start.
Despite that, she never wanted to be associated with the Holy Church. She just wanted to enjoy her life freely without worrying about anything else. That's why she even rejected the Holy Grimoire for the first time. However, when attacked by the Head Priests of the Church, she couldn't help but accept the Grimoire to get more strength so she could protect herself.
The way Gabriel was... She couldn't help but see quite a few similarities with her personalities... No care in the world for anyone, no matter how strong. No regard for the rules or the laws of this world...
Ever since she became the Head of the Church of Summoning, she had only seen people who were scared of her. They were no different than slaves who didn't have any individual personalities. As for the other Head Priests, they were just too different and too bound to bound laws... Even their arrogance was just too much.
It was her first time seeing someone like Gabriel.
"You won't ask why I didn't kill Callum already?" she asked Gabriel.
"You won't," Gabriel answered.
"Oh, and why won't I?" Avilia asked, slightly curious. "You think I'm too kind?"
"If you wanted to kill him, you could've killed him when you first saw him. I don't think you even care about the Dark Mages," Gabriel responded.
Initially, he didn't know Avilia at all. All he knew were the stories about her. However, seeing her ignore the presence of a Dark Mage, he realized that she truly was different from the other Head Priests.
At that point, he had considered the possibility of her coming to meet him but not to kill him. The only thing he didn't expect was for her to come so soon. His recent interaction with her helped him understand her even more. She really was different.
He was sure she didn't care about the War between the Dark Mages and the other Churches. That meant she was neutral as of now, despite the pressure of other Churches! That gave him a chance... a great chance…
It was already late at night. The moon hung high in the sky, basking Gabriel and the Holy Priestess of Summoning in its moonlight as the two youngsters walked together.
The explosive news about the return of an heir from the Arecia Clan had already reached most parts of the City. Even though most of the people should've been sleeping at a time like this, the news kept them up and discussing the future of the City and the past where they falsely blamed the Arecia Clan.
Everyone who heard about the story felt back about the past, believing that they had been fooled. The story spread from one person to another, and in their guilt, each person kept adding something to the story to make Gabriel sound like a literal god who was the kindest soul on earth.
Within a few hours, Gabriel Arcadius Arecia... This name had spread far and wide. Even though most people who heard this story hadn't seen Gabriel, they still sided with the young man. Gabriel's reputation had increased multiple folds, and this time, it wasn't in fear. This time, people actually idolized him and wanted to help him take what rightfully belonged to him.
Most of the commoners and even the Knights believed that only by giving Gabriel what belonged to him could they ask for repentance from the Saint King in the future after their death.
undefinedThe Saint Knight had left the Royal Castle to assassinate Gabriel. As he moved through the City, he heard some of this conversation, realizing that the King was right. The young man had already won the hearts of most people with his unwavering and fearless attitude. Some people even called Gabriel the reincarnation of the Saint King!
"Those bastards! Chirp all you want today! From tomorrow, everything will be back to normal." the Saint Knight clenched his fist, feeling his blood boil.
He soon reached the Duke's castle, making sure that he wasn't seen along the way. He didn't take the main entrance to enter the castle.
"I, the Saint Knight, have to barge inside a place like a thief! All because of one boy!"
The Saint Knight landed on the balcony on the first floor. He carefully opened the window and jumped inside one of the rooms.
"If His Majesty hadn't instructed me to avoid the Duke if possible, I would've entered through the main door and slaughtered everyone in this place! For peace in this Empire, that would've been a minor sacrifice!"
Now that he had successfully entered the castle, all he needed to do was find Gabriel and take him out without alerting anyone else.
With silent steps, he walked through the hallways, checking each of the rooms.
"Hmm, this room?"
Most of the rooms he entered had been unused for a long time; however, one of the rooms wasn't. The room he entered didn't have any windows in the room, but looking at the condition of the room, he was sure that someone had been inside the room not long ago and spent quite a long time in bed.
"This shouldn't be the room of Callum. Is this the room that was given to that bastard?"
The Saint Knight entered the bathroom to check.
"Yeah, as I expected. Someone was definitely here and took a shower recently. This room must be his! But why isn't he in the room?"
The Saint Knight stood alone in the room with his hands behind his back, looking at the door.
"Did he leave the room to discuss something with Callum? Instead of going out, it should be much easier to just wait for him here. Sooner or later, he'll have to return here to sleep!"
"Hmm?" Avilia glanced back in the direction of the Duke's castle. "That idiot..."
"Did you say something?" Gabriel asked, noticing Avilia looking back.
Avilia shrugged. "Nothing. It has nothing to do with me."
Avilia had a Shadow Beast that could not only hide in the shadows but also create some clones who could also use these shadow abilities. She had left one of those clones back in Gabriel's room, which helped her see everything that was happening there.
The other clones searched around the city to find a restaurant for them to eat.
"This way."
She led the way to lead Gabriel to one of the fanciest restaurants that her Shadow Beast could find.
The two youngsters soon reached the restaurants, which could only be afforded by the wealthiest of people in the city. Due to being this expensive and this late at night, the entire restaurant had no customers at the moment, leaving all the seats empty.
Gabriel and the Holy Priestess of Summoning entered the restaurant. While the Holy Priestess of Summoning was wearing ordinary clothes, Gabriel's clothes were quite fancy, which made the restaurant staff welcome them properly.
The Knight Tournament was near, and quite a few wealthy youngsters had come to the City to either take part in the event or to watch it. Thanks to Gabriel's clothes, the restaurant believed he was one of those wealthy youngsters.
"Young Master, welcome to the best restaurant in the city!" The maids welcomed Gabriel. "I'm sure you and your girlfriend will be very satisfied with our food and our service when you two leave this place!"
"Girlfriend?" Gabriel repeated but didn't bother clarifying the situation. He just walked to the table, which was closer to the window.
As for Avilia, she was waiting for Gabriel to clarify and tell the people that they were just acquaintances. Seeing his silence, she grew somewhat surprised, but she didn't raise the issue.
The maid gave the menu and left Gabriel to decide what to order.
Gabriel went through the menu, realizing that all the dishes mentioned were something that he had never heard before.
"Shouldn't you let your 'girlfriend' order first?" Avilia asked, slightly sarcastically yet amused at the same time. From Gabriel's expressions, it was clear that he didn't understand anything.
"Cough! Cough!"
Gabriel was immersed in the menu, trying to understand it, when he heard Avilia. It was clear that the girl was being sarcastic and teasing him, but it wasn't bad.
Avilia was on the Neutral Side in this battle, and he needed her support. If he could get a Church's support, his safety and this Empire's safety were definitely going to increase. Even though he couldn't lower his guard against Avilia, he still wanted to work with her in the future.
"What happened, Young Prince? Don't you want to listen to your poor girlfriend?" Avilia asked again, but this time she was less sarcastic and more teasing, quite amused by Gabriel's previous reaction when she used it.
The boy, who had been calm and composed since the start, was finally showing some different emotions to her.
Gabriel gave the menu to Avilia, regaining his composure. "If you want me to clarify the situation with the staff, I don't mind. I just didn't think it was a big deal what others thought."
"Don't fret over it." Avilia took the menu and went through it once. "They really have some nice things. Order the second, fourth, and the twelfth item along with the Seventh in the list of wines."
She returned the menu to Gabriel.
"Why aren't you ordering yourself?" Gabriel didn't understand why Avilia was adding these extra steps. She had the menu, and she knew what to order. She could've ordered herself.
Avilia didn't answer. She just moved forward and reached out her hand toward Gabriel's face.
undefinedGabriel moved back at the same time, avoiding her hand.
"You're really careful, aren't you? Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you," Avilia clarified. "The world would be quite boring if something happened to you. I won't let anyone harm you."
"What were you trying to do, then?" Gabriel asked, frowning. She suddenly reached out her hand. He really had to be on his guard.
"Come closer, and I'll let you know," the Holy Priestess of Summoning stated. From her expression, it didn't look like she was going to harm him. She had no killing intent either.
Moreover, she was a Summoner. Her own personal abilities shouldn't have been strong enough to hurt him without her beasts. Yet Gabriel couldn't lower his guards.
"Forget it then." Avilia moved back, sighing. "You don't have to."
Gabriel remained silent and didn't answer. He was ninety percent sure that the girl before him couldn't harm him without calling her beasts for support. If she wanted to attack him, it would've been much easier for her to use her Shadow Beast, which Gabriel was sure was hiding behind him in the chair's shadow.
Moreover, now that he had the support of his Grimoire and Two Ancestral Staff, mental attacks couldn't affect him either.
If she pulled something, he could teleport back right away. So it was safe. He was also curious about what she was trying to do. Based on his understanding of her, she would've used such sneaky tricks to kill him. Avilia was a person who fought the enemy head-on, especially now that she was so strong.
Eventually, Gabriel's curiosity took over as he decided what to do. He had the Wordless Chant of Teleportation ready if she pulled any trick and the mental protection, so he was slightly confident.
"Fine. I'll let you," he agreed.
Avilia moved forward once again as soon as Gabriel agreed. Surprisingly, at the same time, Gabriel also moved forward, not realizing that she was going to do the same.
Avilia was stunned. Even though Gabriel agreed to let her touch him, she still expected him to be hesitant. That's why she moved ahead, not expecting him to do the same.
As both of them moved forward at the same time, their faces were only a few inches away from each other.
"So what did you want?" Gabriel asked, having a clear view of Avilia's beautiful crimson eyes. At such closeness, he didn't lower his guard. He didn't let himself be distracted even though Avilia looked even more beautiful from such close proximity. His spell was also ready to be used at a moment's notice.
Avilia raised her hand. "I was about to do this..."
She placed her hand on Gabriel's cheeks and pinched them. "You really don't know how the world works, do you? They'll look down on you if I order for you. You're supposed to be the Prince. At least play the part. That's why I let you order."
After giving him the clarification, she sat back.
Gabriel also moved back, rubbing his cheeks. He expected her to try at least some mental attack or something else, but this was all that she wanted? This girl... He was getting more and more sure with time that this girl... She was quite unique. Sometimes she was a scary Demoness when someone offended her, and at other times, she was like a child.
He also sat down and called for the waitress, ordering the same dishes that Avilia told him.
At this dinner, he wasn't sure what he was going to be eating, but he really hoped that Avilia's taste in food wasn't bad.
After twenty minutes of waiting, the dishes started arriving one after another. Each of the dishes that Avilia selected was one of the most expensive dishes in this place that even an ordinary noble couldn't afford to eat regularly.
"There, use it to pay." After the waitress left, bringing every food item that they had offered, Avilia brought a small bag out of her storage space and gave Gabriel.
Gabriel opened the bag, noticing it had a few high-grade spirit stones.
Avilia had ordered all these items, but she didn't know if Gabriel had enough money for them. All these items were expensive. She gave him enough to pay for the food in advance so the Staff couldn't know that it was her who was paying.
Gabriel stood up and returned the bag to Avilia. However, this time, he moved closer and pinched her cheeks as if getting his revenge.
"You really don't know how the world works, do you? They'll look down on me if I take money from you to pay. I'm supposed to be the Prince. How can I take your things to pay?"
Avilia's eyes opened wide in surprise. For the first time in a long while, a person touched her face, and that too, the guy who was using her own tricks to bully her?
She didn't know what it was, but she felt really strange. She couldn't keep her composure this time. Her thoughts were jumbled. She couldn't even respond.
Gabriel had enough money already. If anything, he was richer than the Royal Family of Arecia now. How could he let the Holy Priestess of Summoning pay for him? He didn't want to owe her any favor for this.
The food on the table looked really delicious. There were three plates before each of them, each containing a different dish. Gabriel couldn't even recognize most of the ingredients used in the dishes, but it was clear that it was some kind of meat, along with some herbs and spices. Each dish was prepared and decorated properly.
"Mm?" He took the first bite, realizing that the dish didn't just look good. It also tasted great.
The two people were the only guests in the restaurant, eating at this time.
The waitress in the corner of the hall could only look at Avilia in jealousy. "That girl is so lucky. Her boyfriend is so wealthy. He ordered so many expensive dishes. I wish I were in her place."
"Stop dreaming," Another waitress chimed in. "How can we even get those wealthy guys? Our luck will never be that good."
"So, what are your plans for the future?" Gabriel asked the question that he had in his head for quite some time. "If you don't want to hurt me, then will you help me?"
"My plans for you? Well, I do have one..."
The Holy Priestess of Summoning took a brief pause as she took another sip of the wine, taking a look outside the window.
"I won't be helping you," she stated, placing the glass down.
Before Gabriel could ask anything, she continued, "But I won't stand against you either. I don't care if the Dark Mages win or if the other Churches win. From what I've seen, both sides are just as bad. It's just that one side is much better at marketing themselves."
"In this world, there are not many things I care about. I don't desire strength. I don't desire wealth. And I surely do not crave any treasures. There is nothing that anyone can offer me."
Avilia was perfectly calm as she spoke. She was the Head Priestess of the Church of Summoning. She already had all the strength she could need. As for treasures and wealth, if she wanted that, she wouldn't have rejected the Holy Grimoire of Summoning initially.
undefined"Then why did you approach me?" Gabriel inquired. "Why do you say that you'll keep me safe?"
"Because you pique my curiosity," Avilia answered. "I don't know what treasure you use to hide your aura, but even I would've failed to sense your true strength if I hadn't taken the help of my beasts."
As she talked, she couldn't help but think back to the time she first saw Gabriel. Initially, she only thought that the young man was an average person. She wasn't planning to interfere either.
It was only after she felt the fear of her Shadow Beast that she realized something was wrong. She couldn't sense Gabriel's aura, but the senses of her Shadow Beast were much sharper.
The Shadow Beast of hers didn't feel this kind of fear even when it was before the other Holy Priests in the past. There was something hidden in Gabriel's aura that could even intimidate the Shadow Beast even though it was in her presence!
That was the first time she realized that something was wrong. It was all thanks to the Shadow Beast that she realized that Gabriel didn't just have the aura of Darkness, but he also had the holy aura of Light!
Other than that, there was also something else... Something that even her Shadow Beast couldn't recognize... Something which was much darker... Something that shouldn't have existed.
The Holy Priestess of Summoning was sure of only one thing at that time. It was that Gabriel was on the same level as the Holy Priests. She didn't know if he was the Holy Priest of Darkness since that was the only one she hadn't met, or the new Holy Priest of Light that hadn't been seen before, or something entirely new. But what she knew was that she was curious about this guy.
"The world has been too boring recently, especially after the Church of Darkness was destroyed. To see someone as strong as you pretending to be the heir to take over a human Empire?" the young lady asked, finally telling her true thoughts. "How can I not be intrigued? I just want to see how far you can go. There is one thing I'm sure of. It's that the world will become more interesting with your presence."
Gabriel didn't react as if he hadn't even heard anything. He just lowered his head and focused on finishing dinner. However, deep down, he was still thinking about her words.
' She's just as the rumors stated. It seems I wasn't wrong. She doesn't want to help me, but she also doesn't want to go against me. In this world, she just wants to be a spectator, enjoying the view from the front seat...'
While eating, he couldn't help but take another glance at the woman who also focused on the dinner.
'But it's also not bad. If there is one Holy Priest who can threaten me the most at this point, it's her. Even if she doesn't help me, as long as she is out of the equation, it would only be beneficial for me. With enough time, I should be able to personally craft my Army of Undead.'
He wasn't sure if the lady wasn't going to go against him in the future, but from his initial assumption, the chances seemed to be low.
Still, it was impossible to understand the human heart fully. One could turn against anyone at any moment. He wanted to have his own Army of Undead in case she ever decided to side with the enemies in the future. He wanted to have some cards hidden safely for the future to protect his life.
"If you want to be a spectator, I have no problem. But I'll just tell you one thing in advance. If you ever backstab me in the future, even your entire army of beasts might not be able to keep you safe."
The young lady only smiled in response. She didn't feel angry. If anything, she felt impressed. If she was in his place, she was sure that she would've said something similar. The man truly didn't have any fear of death. It was only this kind of people that had the potential to change the world forever.
The two finished dinner. Gabriel brought some High-Grade Spirit Stones out of his storage ring and placed them on the table.
[Twenty Minutes later]
Gabriel stood before the Duke's mansion, looking back at the girl behind him.
"Aren't you going to go back?" he asked Avilia, who had followed him all the way here.
He expected the girl to go back after the dinner, but instead, she was still accompanying him back. "Aren't you the guest of the Royal Family? I'm sure you already have a place to stay."
"Meh, who cares about the Royal Family? They might not be the Royal Family any longer after all. I just came to this city because I thought the Knight Tournament sounded interesting. Who knew I'd find something even more interesting in this Empire? Also, how can I miss...?"
"Miss what?" Gabriel asked, slightly confused. Was there something that was going to happen? This girl had followed him back. She wouldn't have wasted her time if she didn't find something interesting.
'Did she sense what's in the basement?'
Her words were enough to make him realize that something was wrong. He couldn't help but think about it.
'It doesn't look like that. And even if it was, I doubt she would have cared about it. It's something else. It seems to be about me. Could it be... Ah, so that's how it is….'
Initially, he didn't understand why she was following him, but the more he thought about it, the more he started to realize things.
'An assassin must be inside to kill me. The Emperor really was eager it seems. That would explain why this little demoness followed me back.'
"Do you want to stay here tonight?" he asked the Holy Priestess of Summoning. "It might just be too late to go now. We should have a few rooms available here."
"Sure." Avilia agreed. She followed Gabriel inside the mansion.
"You are coming from outside?" Callum was about to leave the mansion at around the same time that Gabriel entered. He didn't even know that Gabriel had left. The last he saw, Gabriel was going to his room.
undefinedNot long after Gabriel, Avilia also entered the mansion. The last time she came, no one saw her, but now that she came from the main entrance openly, she was seen by Callum.
"Y-you?" Callum's face turned pale momentarily as he took a step back subconsciously.
From what Gabriel had told him, Avilia already knew that he was a dark Mage. Seeing her in his mansion, his thoughts went straight to only one possibility... It was that she was here to kill him!
'But wait... If she wants to kill me because I'm Dark Mage, why isn't she attacking him first? Did the two of them come together? What is happening?'
"Don't worry. I won't kill you. You are too insignificant." Avilia reminded Duke Callum.
Even though her tone was calm, the Duke felt a chill run down his spine. Just what was this woman planning?
"Don't worry. She isn't lying. As long as you don't attack her, I don't think she will care about what we do," Gabriel affirmed the Duke, who still couldn't believe his eyes.
'These two were really working together? So they were really friends?' The Duke frowned. 'No wonder she didn't attack me even after realizing what I was. It was because of him.'
He was even more impressed with Gabriel now. He had managed to win the favor of the Crazy Priestess. What couldn't this guy achieve, he wondered.
"Oh, and one more thing. She'll be spending the night here," Gabriel informed the Duke, who was already lost in some thoughts.
Since his mind was already very cloudy, hearing Gabriel's words, he was even more shocked. "Spending the night here? You two... Ah, no worries. She can treat it as her mansion as well."
For a moment, he couldn't believe his ears.
'This guy is truly worthy of being the overlord. Not only did he sway the crazy priestess, but he also made her fall in love with him so much that she is already here to sleep with him?'
"Don't worry. I will be going out for a few hours. No one will disturb you too." He hastily ran out of the mansion, leaving a confused Gabriel behind.
'This guy... He really lacks some common sense in such things.' Even Avilia understood the thoughts of Callum, facepalming herself. 'First the misunderstanding about being his girlfriend, and now this...'
"Don't mind him. He must be busy." Gabriel led Avilia up the spiraling stairs.
He stopped before the room where he had absorbed the Spirit Stones but didn't open the door.
Avilia stood in the back with folded arms, ready for the show that was to come.
"The room is nourished by Spirit Stones and protected by a Numen. Since you're a guest, I'll let you stay here. I'll pick a different room."
"What?" Avilia's lips parted. This guy... After coming so far, was he really not going to go in? Not only was he not going in, but he was also giving this room to her?
She couldn't help but wonder if he also had some trick that helped him see inside the room.
'But if that were the case, he would have already entered and killed that guy. I'm sure he has enough strength. He wouldn't need to avoid this room. Is he really giving me this room because he thinks it's good for me? Am I really overthinking?'
On the other hand, seeing the slight hesitation of Avilia, Gabriel also confirmed his suspicions.
'I must be right. An assassin is sent to kill me. If the Emperor isn't underestimating me, the person he sent should be the Saint Knight. That guy was already eager to kill me as well. I should be able to kill him, but where's the fun in that?'
He knew that Saint Knight couldn't even scratch a hair of Avilia, so she wasn't in danger even if he sent her inside. If anything, that way he could get to see a glimpse of her skills.
'You came to watch a show. Let's give you the center stage then.'
Gabriel stepped back, giving the key to Avilia. "The rich Spiritual Energy should be very helpful for your skin and strength."
Avilia's face twitched. She was just here to watch a show and see Gabriel's skills to see how he was going to handle the situation. How did it become entirely different than she expected?
"Is something wrong?" Gabriel innocently asked, seeing Avilia standing there silently.
"I don't need any rich Spiritual Energy. I think you need it more for your growth. Isn't that right?" she asked in return. "It would be more beneficial for you."
"I already took too much before. I think it would just harm my soul if I absorbed more Spiritual Energy. It'll be a waste to me. Go in. You don't need to thank me. We'll be working together in the future after all."
Gabriel placed his hand on the back of the young lady, giving her a gentle push. No matter what, he wasn't going to let her step back unless she came clean that someone was inside.
He also knew that Avilia wasn't going to come clean about that since that meant accepting the fact that she knew there was someone in the room to harm him, yet she kept that information hidden.
"Fine. I'll take this room," Avilia unwillingly agreed. Even if she couldn't see Gabriel in action tonight, there were many opportunities in the future. She couldn't lose the future opportunities for one night.
Inside the room, the Saint Knight had been waiting for Gabriel to enter the room for close to an hour.
After a long time, his eyes finally lit up as he saw the doorknob turning.
He stood up excitedly. Finally, he was going to kill the person, eliminating all future threats to the Empire.
He held his Heavy Sword firmly.
The Saint Knight was excited. Finally after waiting for so long, his target was coming in.
As soon as the door opened, without thinking twice, the Saint Knight swung his Sword, releasing a powerful arc of energy that could slice even metal after hit.
Gabriel had sent the Holy Priestess of Summoning inside the room, but he didn't leave. He still remained outside the room, just waiting to observe.
As soon as Avilia opened the door, she saw a bright arc of light flying toward him.
The Holy Priestess of Summoning was keeping an eye on everything that was happening inside the room even before opening the door through her Shadow Beast. She already expected an attack like that and she was fully prepared.
undefinedRight after opening the door, she used the Shadow Beast to turn into a shadow and disappear before the energy could even reach her.
Gabriel was outside the room, observing the scene. However, now that Avilia disappeared, he was right in the line of attack, with barely any time to react.
Having no time, he brought out the Sword of Ulien, reacting as fast as he could.
Swiss~
Gabriel swung the sword of Ulien in the same trajectory as the attack of the Saint Knight. A more powerful and more destructive wave of energy came out of the Sword.
He didn't know just how strong the attack of Saint Knight actually was. Just to be on the safer side, he attacked with his complete strength behind the attack.
Saint Knight's attack was destroyed before the red wave of destructive energy as if it was nothing more than a child's attack. Not only was the Saint Knight's attack destroyed, but Gabriel's attack also destroyed the walls of the room and even then it didn't stop.
The Saint Knight attacked with the intention of killing Gabriel, but it was only after he attacked that he realized the person who opened the door was the Holy Saintess! At the realization, his heart skipped a beat in fear. Did he just attack that crazy monster? He couldn't believe it.
The Holy Priestess of Summoning disappeared and the attack went straight for Gabriel, only to get a counter.
The Saint Knight couldn't kill Gabriel. Instead, he faced a massive torrent of destructive energy from the Sword of Ulien. Even though the Sword was called the Holy Sword, it was one of the strongest Swords in the world, filled with chaotic energy.
The Saint Knight had never expected a counter. At the last moment, he couldn't even react properly. His mind was clouded and he could only think about dodging, feeling as if he was going to die if he didn't move aside!
He couldn't believe that a person like Gabriel was able to draw out this level of strength from this Sword, as if the Swords had truly accepted him as its master!
The Saint Knight dodged to the best of his abilities, but still he couldn't avoid the attack properly. His left arm was caught up in the wave of destruction, disintegrating entirely.
The Holy Priestess of Summoning came out of the shadows in another part of the room, observing the brief exchange.
"Even without using any spells, his destructive power is quite strong. But as a Mage, his first thought was to use a weapon to attack? That is somewhat strange. Usually, a mage's first thought should've been to use spells of protection to be safe. Is there a reason he didn't use spells?"
Avilia hadn't seen Gabriel use any spells since the beginning. In fact, if it wasn't for her Shadow Beast, she would've found it hard to even believe that the young man was a Mage. Gabriel's refusal to use Spells made her somewhat suspicious.
"You!" The Saint Knight had lost one arm already. He didn't know what to do anymore. His sneak attack had failed badly. Not only did he fail to kill Gabriel, but he also offended the Holy Priestess of Summoning by attacking her.
From his initial assumption, he believed that the two were working together. Even with his strength, he finally lost hope of defeating Gabriel. Even if he could, he was going to be killed by the Holy Priestess.
His first thought was to escape for now and think about how to deal with the situation later. Unfortunately, the room had no windows and it was also in the middle of the castle. There was only one way to leave this room, and it was through the main door where Gabriel was standing.
"Wait, I'm here to talk!" The Saint Knight exclaimed. "I-i was just testing your skills and not trying to kill you!"
"Let me test you as well then," Gabriel responded as he disappeared from Saint Knight's view.
"What?" The Saint Knight's face went pale. Wasn't Gabriel just a knight? How could he disappear then? He finally realised that there was more to the situation that he had realized! The man could disappear and he was accompanying the Saintess of Summoning?
"Y-you are a mage?!" he exclaimed. "Argh!"
A Sword came out of the Saint Knight's chest, covered in his blood.
"Took you long enough," Gabriel's voice came from the back as the Sword was pulled back.
The Saint Knight coughed out a mouthful of blood, dropping to his knees. His chest was bleeding and his clothes were covered in blood.
"The Saint Knight, the guardian of the Empire, was sent to kill a kid... Isn't it just too good? It's like you sent an opportunity straight to me," Gabriel whispered in the Saint Knight ears. "I wonder what people will think of the Royal Family when they find out about this... I'll be sure to use you well."
The Saint Knight's body dropped on the ground as his eyes closed. He couldn't believe he had fallen into a trap. So this was Gabriel's purpose in irritating him before... It was to make him take action against him to destroy the Royal Family's reputation with more direct evidence!
"Who knew such a strong person was hiding inside." Avilia sighed, pretending as if she had just survived a calamity. "Good thing I dodged in time or I would've been killed."
"Yeah. Who knew. If I had known, I never would've sent you first," Gabriel agreed. "Still it's good. After you dodged, I got the opportunity to deal with his attack. I should thank you."
Both of them knew that the other person knew what they were thinking, but none of them outright accepted it.
"Now that you've killed the Guardian of Arecia, what's your next plan? Reveal this news to the citizens?" The young Priestess inquired. If Gabriel went out now, he could use the Duke as a witness to claim that he was attacked and he already had the Saint Knight's body as evidence.
Everyone knew that the Saint Knight stayed inside the Royal Castle as well. There was no way for Gabriel to kill him inside the Royal Castle without making some noise. That could only mean the story about Saint Knight entering the Duke's castle was true. All he had to do was present the body and his path was set.
undefined"Not yet. I'll wait a little. Isn't tomorrow the meeting with all the Nobles? It'll be time to solve all grievances then," Gabriel responded as he kept the body of the Saint Knight in his storage. "I'll make sure to give you a nice show tomorrow."
"Anyway, there's some blood in this room. It's better if you take another room. The next room should be clean. I'll be downstairs if you need anything."
He left the room, keeping the four cornerstones back in his storage as well. Gabriel went to the ground floor, leaving Avilia back to rest.
He selected a room on the ground floor to have a more direct access to the Duke.
It was already four in the night when everything was settled and Gabriel couldn't fall asleep anymore. Outside the mansion, the sun had already started rising, brightening up the horizon.
After a few hours, Duke Callum also returned, with some documents in his hand.
He arranged hundreds of documents properly in a file. After finding Gabriel, he handed over the file.
"This should have all the details about that incident that I was able to find. The first half contains the details about the destruction of the Arecia Clan and all Clans that were a part of it."
Along with the file, he gave Gabriel a brief introduction so that Gabriel could go through the part that interested him first.
"As for the second half, it contains the blueprint of the Royal Palace, a list of treasures and their whereabouts along with the information about all Royal Family members."
"Did you go out to meet your informer in the Royal Palace for the information? It seems very detailed," Gabriel opened the file, finding it to be very detailed. It didn't look as if it was made in any haste at all. He could feel that Callum was quite capable
Callum nodded. "In tomorrow's meeting, more than half of the Noble Clan leaders are people who took active part in the extermination of the Arecia Clan. I've marked their names. As for the others, they more or less stayed out of the conflict entirely. That's also why they aren't as close to the current Royal Clan as the others."
"I'll go through the information. You can prepare for our departure for this meeting. Oh, and I have prepared a gift for the Nobles. Make sure to pack it well."
"A gift?" Callum frowned, wondering what Gabriel meant by gift. For some reason, he had a feeling that it wasn't an ordinary gift at all.
"It should be in the room on the left. I'll leave it to you." Gabriel immersed himself in the document, going through the details of the destruction of the Arecia Clan.
"Rebellion led by the Alecton Clan. If I'm not wrong, that should be the current Royal Family. These people are truly something, aren't they? It seems they weren't even a Noble Clan at the start. They only became a Noble Clan after a daughter from their Clan managed to win the heart of Arecia Clan's Eldest Prince."
"The Prince married the girl and in one fell swoop, that woman became the Queen of the Empire after the Prince inherited the throne from his father. So that's where the bad times of Arecia Clan began... They led a wolf straight to their home..."
The more Gabriel read through the Alecton Clan's history, the more surprised he became. Things were more complicated than he thought.
"Unlike the Nobles who lived in luxury, the Alecton Clan had risen from the bottom, so their greed for power was definitely strong. Thanks to the Queen, their clan rose in power and eventually became a Noble Clan, getting even more power in the Empire."
"Instead of being grateful to the Arecia Clan, the Alecton Clan desired to swallow even more power. If I'm not wrong, the Queen of Arecia was the pawn that caused this downfall so her family could rise. She had everything as a Queen. Her son would've been the next King, but this girl... She really did as her family asked. How stupid..."
"If I were to guess, she must also be the one who stole the Sword of Ulien and gave her family an excuse to create trouble. Since the Arecia Clan already had a queen in place, no one would have thought that they wanted to be the Royal Family since the next King would've been a son of their daughter after all. That gave them a free pass, clearing them of any suspicions when the rebellion rose up."
"Argh, these guys really made a nice web and the Arecia Clan fell right in the middle. I don't even know who to entirely blame in this situation."
"Even though Arecia Clan was the descendants of Novius, how could they be so stupid to not even guard the Holy Sword properly? They didn't even find out about this scheme until it was too late. It was as if they were making mistakes one after another..."
Gabriel could only sigh at the situation, feeling disappointed. He was sure that even Novius would've been angry to know how stupid his clan was being. However, even then the real blame was on the Alecton Clan.
One after another, Gabriel went through the details of the Noble Clans, memorising every detail. It was only at the end that he read the details of the Royal Family members.
"Shia Alecton? Why does that name sound familiar?"
"Is everything prepared?" After spending three hours in the room reviewing the documents, Gabriel came out.
"As you wished," Callum answered. He had been waiting all this time for Gabriel.
"What about Avilia?" Gabriel asked, looking in the direction of the stairs. "Is she still in the room?"
As Avilia slept late last night, he wasn't sure if she was still sleeping.
undefined"I'm not sure," Callum answered, looking slightly hesitant. "I couldn't gather the courage to check up on her."
Even though Gabriel told him Avilia wouldn't hurt him, there was still an innate fear in his heart. He had been hunted by the members of the Sacred Churches, and now, one of their leaders was there? How could he not be shaken?
Gabriel could only sigh in response.
'This guy is usually so brave, but at his heart, he is also scared. Then again, Avilia does have a fairly impressive reputation. I can't blame him.'
"I'll call her down. You get the carriage ready. We'll be leaving. Oh, and don't forget the gift."
Gabriel went upstairs to check up on Avilia and knocked on the door. "Are you up?"
Even as he knocked, he didn't get any response. He was only greeted by silence.
He knocked again, but still, there was no response. It was as if Avilia was in a deep sleep.
"Just how much does she sleep?" He knocked a third time as he called out to her, but he didn't get an answer.
Eventually, he used the master key that was given to him by Callum. The key allowed him to open any door. Since knocks weren't working, he took a more direct approach.
After unlocking the door, he stepped inside the room.
As soon as he entered the room, he stopped as confusion spread across his face. The room... It was empty. There was no one here.
"Did she already leave?" he wondered, slightly confused. That girl left the room without even unlocking the door or informing anyone?
Looking at the condition of the bed, he was sure that she didn't even sleep in this room.
'That girl, she probably left as soon as I left. As expected, she only came here to watch me fight.'
He could only turn around now that Avilia wasn't here. Even though Avilia wasn't here, he had a feeling that the Shadow Beast was still around him. The question was about Avilia's whereabouts. Just where exactly did she go?
He had expected her to be with him, at least today. What could be more important?
Far away from the Empire of Arecia, there existed a beautiful range of mountains. All the mountains were covered in a thick layer of snow, all except the one which was in the center of the mountain range.
It was as if all the Snow Mountains were protecting the mountains in the middle, which was also the smallest mountain of them all. The Central Mountain was also the one mountain that didn't have even a speck of snow. Instead, the mountain was covered in beautiful greenery.
Even the temperature around the central mountain was normal, quite different from the temperature on other mountains.
Many demonic beasts were roaming around the forests on the mountains freely as if it was their domain, and they were the divine beasts of this domain.
However, on the top of the mountain, there existed a beautiful structure covering the entire mountain peak. The beautiful place was also the place that was one of the most well-known locations in the world... The Mountain was known as the Beast Mountain, and the Palace at the peak of the Mountain was what the world called... The Church of Summoning.
It was said that it was impossible to get to the Church of Summoning through feet. One could only fly to the Mountain of Summons if they even wanted to reach that place. However, even that was filled with dangers. If the Church of Summoning wanted, it could kill anyone in the air since even a powerful mage was at their weakest when they were in the air.
At the moment, a Majestic Beast was flying above the snowy mountain range, carrying a beautiful woman.
Even though the woman was flying above the beautiful picturesque location, she looked angry.
The flying beast reached the Central Mountain and started descending. The beast landed on the ground right outside the Church of Summoning.
A group of Head Priests and Head Priestesses were already waiting for the woman to welcome them.
"Holy Priestess, you-"
"Shut up!"
As soon as one of the Head Priestesses started speaking, Avilia yelled. She was still very upset.
"Didn't I tell you not to disturb me until something big happened, like the entire existence of the Church being on line?!" She couldn't help but scold others.
She had been waiting to see the fun today, accompanying Gabriel. However, all because of their urgent signal, she had to return.
When she was rushing back, she thought that something significant had happened at the church, or the Church was attacked by the others, only to realize now that nothing like that had happened. She couldn't help but feel as if her time was wasted.
"If you don't give me a satisfactory reason, having to apologize would be the least of your worries!"
"Saintess, please calm your anger!" All the Head Priests went down on a knee, feeling a chill run down their spine.
They had experienced firsthand just how much destruction this little girl could cause when she was angry. Even if they all fought her, they were no match for her.
"We had no choice but to call you urgently. The Holy Priest of Flames is here to meet you," the man further stated, explaining why they had to call her with such urgency.
"That's it?" Avilia frowned. "Why didn't you just kick him out? You could've told him that I was out. Isn't that what we've done all this time? I have no interest in hearing what those idiots have to save."
"Ah, Saintess... It's not easy for us to kick him out. He is blessed by a Holy Grimoire. He is very powerful," the Head Priest explained, keeping his head down.
He couldn't believe that Avilia was even suggesting this. If they were as strong as a Holy Priest, won't that mean a Holy Grimoire was useless? The Holy Priests were an existence that were considered gods of the present day. They couldn't be defeated by ordinary people like them.
"Also, We told him that you were out, but he refused to leave. He even threatened to burn this entire mountain down personally if we didn't let you meet him…."
"Hahaha. Burn the entire mountain down?" A laughter came from inside the Church of Summoning. "I would appreciate it if you don't misquote me, old man. I can never say something like that."
The voice was filled with the strange power of natural laws. No magic was used, yet the surroundings started turning warmer as the footsteps resounded.
"Oh? Then what did you say?" Avilia asked, realizing who this voice belonged to. She remembered meeting this person a few times... The Holy Priest of Flames, also considered one of the strongest four.
It was clear that her people weren't lying. This person had personally arrived here... The man whose arrogance knew no bounds. However, he was also skilled enough to back that arrogance with strength.
A young man came into view as he finally stepped out of the Church of Summoning. Not the hands of the man were in his pockets as he walked as if he had no care in the world. A grin was spread across the lips of the young man, who looked to be in his late twenties.
undefinedThe man had short flaming red hair that could easily make him stand out in a crowd.
"I clearly never told him that I would burn this mountain down if you didn't meet me," the man repeated, taking a proper glance at Avilia. "What I said was that I would burn down this entire Mountain Range if you didn't meet me. I'm hurt that they would change my words to malign me. You should really train your dogs so they can hear better next time."
Even though all the mountains in this mountain range were covered in a twenty-inch thick layer of snow, the Holy Priest of Light still couldn't care less. If he wanted to destroy all these mountains, it was like child's play for him, after all.
Unlike Elora, who was the newest addition to the Holy Priests, considered to be the weakest, and Lira who didn't have Ancestral Staff or peak tier magical strength, the Holy Priest of Flames had everything.
He was also one who had his abilities the longest out of the current generation of elemental rulers. He looked like he was in his late twenties, but in reality, he was much older.
"If you want to try, I won't stop you," Avilia answered. "But I will certainly tell you one thing. The day this mountain range gets engulfed by flames, the very next day, all members of the Church of Flames will be inside my beasts' stomach. Oh, and that includes you."
"You're just like I heard," the Holy Priest of Flames smirked. The threat in those words was as clear as day to him. However, it wasn't enough to intimidate him. "An aggressive one with a big mouth. People with those characteristics tend to have a really short life span, young lady."
"Anyway, since it's our first meeting, I'll let it go," he added.
"Oh, how kind," Avilia sarcastically responded. "Since it's our first meeting, I'll let it go as well. Just tell me why you're here. Or is it your hobby to go to places without being uninvited?"
"When you're strong, there is no place where you're uninvited as long as one wants to be invited," the red-haired man responded.
He didn't get angry at Avilia's responses. If anything, he found them childish. In his eyes, the girl clearly hadn't seen what true strength was. If she knew, she would've been a lot nicer to him. According to him, dealing with Avilia's beasts was child's play with the help of his flames. There was nothing his Holy Flames couldn't burn after all!
"Anyway, I'm not here to waste time. My time is very important. I came here to bring you," the Holy Priest of Flames said, turning around. "For some reason, those idiots decided to assign the babysitting task to me. So get ready. We'll be leaving in an hour."
"Bring me where?" Avilia followed the Holy Priest of Flames.
"The Meeting of Saints has been called," the Holy Priest of Flames answered. Since you're the most stubborn of the bunch, I was tasked to make sure you attend the meeting. So don't make it harder for yourself than it has to."
"The Meeting of Saints?" Avilia asked, slightly surprised. From what she heard about the Churches, the Meeting of Saints was a meeting that was attended by all Holy Priests. It was a meeting that couldn't only be called when something really important had happened, that could affect not only the peace of this world but all the Churches as well.
The last such meeting was called decades ago when she wasn't even born yet. To call the Meeting of Saints, at least four Priests had to give their permission and believe that a meeting was needed.
'No wonder those idiots sent this guy here. This time, they really want me to come to meet them. I wonder what happened? Is it related to Gabriel? It looks like I'll really have to attend if I want to know more.'
Usually, even if it were a meeting of Saints, Avilia wouldn't have bothered to attend. However, now that she believed the meeting had something to do with Gabriel, even she wanted to attend and see just what had happened.
"I will attend the meeting," Avilia declared.
"We have reached the meeting place."
The Duke's Carriage stopped, and a man stepped out of the carriage.
Duke Callum opened the door and stepped out of the carriage, followed by Gabriel.
"The meeting isn't being held at the Royal Palace?" Gabriel inquired as soon as he looked at his surroundings. When he heard about the meeting, he instantly assumed it would be held at the Royal Palace.
Instead, this place was more like a garden... A garden that was spread as far as the eyes could see. On the boundary of the garden, many exotic flowers could be seen.
"Apparently, the Emperor doesn't want the meeting to be held at the Royal Palace since he claimed you were unworthy. So the meeting was shifted to the Royal Garden of Enlightenment."
"Royal Garden of Enlightenment?" Gabriel asked, slightly intrigued. With this kind of name, he had a feeling that this place definitely had some great history. "Any reason it's called that?*
"Of course." Callum nodded. " I'm sure you heard the story of the Saint Knight and the army of Undead?"
"What about it?"
"It is said that this was the exact place where Saint Knight had been fighting his enemy when the army of Undead arrived. This was also where he was given the Mythical Sword. It was the place where he gained enlightenment as to what it means to be a true Knight. This place is deeply engraved in the history of this Empire."
"The place where the Army of Undead stood once upon a time?" Gabriel muttered. "Interesting history, for sure."
He took his fist step inside the garden, only to stop abruptly. He couldn't help but glance at his right hand.
For some reason, his Ring of Necromancy had suddenly started shaking as soon as he entered the garden. This feeling was similar to what he experienced when he entered the Museum of Elements. It was as if this garden had something that the ring craved for. As for what that was, even he had no idea.
So far, he couldn't find anything significant in this garden other than some beautiful flowers.
In the distance, he could see some seating that had been arranged. All the Nobles were already at their seats. Each Noble brought their strongest guard with them. Only the Emperor was yet to arrive.
Gabriel was more interested in the ring though.
'Just what does this ring want? What's the secret hidden in this garden that can even wake up this ring...?'
The Ring's behaviour was really strange. Gabriel knew that whatever it was that was in this garden, the ring wanted him to find it as it was important.
Instead of walking straight to the Nobles in the garden, he started strolling around the garden, trying to see if he could find something strange.
In the Museum of Elements, he was able to find what he was looking for, all because the ring became more impatient the closer he got to the thing he was after. Whenever he went farther from the item, his ring's shaking weakened.
Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened. Then as Gabriel circled the entire Garden, his ring didn't stop vibrating. It didn't intensify either. It was as if no matter where he was in the garden, it was the same for the Ring of Necromancy.
"What is happening? It can't pinpoint the whereabouts of that item?" Gabriel frowned, stopping in his tracks.
undefinedWithout the help of this ring, even he was sure that it was hard to find anything. He didn't even know what he was looking for after all.
"It looks like I can only rely on myself now." As he walked around the garden, he kept his eyes on the surroundings, looking out for any strange item.
Unfortunately, other than the beautiful flowers, he couldn't find anything at all. There was literally nothing in this garden that could even be classified as a Numen, let alone a relic of the forgotten past.
"This is really strange. The ring can't be wrong. There should definitely be something here, but I can't find it. What is it?"
At this point, Gabriel was sure that there was nothing in the garden.
" Could it be something that is on the Nobles? But if that's the case, why is my ring not giving me any stronger indication when I get closer to them?"
Even after spending so much time, he still didn't understand the ring in its entirety. He could only rely on his guesses.
"It would've been so good if you could sleep," Gabriel sighed, glancing at his right hand for a brief moment. "If you can't help me pinpoint the location, then we might really lose that thing today. Don't blame me after that."
He was sure that the things which could make the ring react so strongly weren't something that could be ignored by it. It was clear that the ring wanted those things. It was already clear to him when the Holy Grimoire agreed to give him stronger spells just so he could get the item it was after.
"Master, he has arrived." While Gabriel was still lost in thoughts, trying to negotiate with the ring so it could help him more, he heard Callum's voice.
Gabriel couldn't help but look at the entrance of the Garden where he noticed a middle aged man, walking with some Royal Knights. The man was dressed in the Royal Attire of Arecia. It was quite evident that he was the current Emperor of Arecia!
What surprised him more was that the Emperor didn't come here alone from the Royal Family. Other than his guards, he brought his Eldest son and the two Two Princesses, Azia and Shia Alecton.
'This guy brought his kids to a hostile environment? Just what is he planning?' Generally, he assumed that the Emperor was trying to kill him here to get rid of him, but he brought his son and his daughters?
'Even he can't be stupid enough to not know that I'll fight back if I'm attacked in this meeting, putting his family at risk. Then why?'
Gabriel placed the thought of the Treasure that the ring wanted at the back of his head for now and focused on the task at hand. After he became the Emperor, this garden was going to belong to him anyway. At that time, he could take all the time in the world to find the secrets of this garden.
The Emperor was respectfully greeted by all the Nobles, especially the Nobles that were absolutely loyal to him.
"Your Majesty, you really didn't have to waste your time. We all know that the little brat is lying. We could've dealt with it ourselves."
"Hahaha, yeah. That greedy brat thinks he can get the Empire just because he wants? That little idiot forgot that this isn't the property of Arecia Clan! You're our Emperor now!"
"Yes. No matter what story he makes, we all know that the Arecia Clan betrayed the Empire. I don't know how he got the sword back, but it's clear that everything else that he said was a lie!"
"Since he dared to lie to us, we would definitely make him pay!"
Most of the Nobles had already started revealing their loyalties before a single thing was even said by the Emperor or Gabriel. There were only a few Nobles who were silent. However, because their number was so low, they could only look at Gabriel in the distance with pity.
"Of course I know that he is lying. Who could know better than me?" Emperor Alecton sighed deeply. "If the Arecia Clan hadn't betrayed the Empire, why would I go against them? The previous Emperor was my brother-in-law after all. All I wanted was their happiness."
"Unfortunately, they betrayed the Empire and all our trust in them. To save this Empire from their hands, our family had no choice but to kill them, even though it meant destroying my sister's new family."
"If possible, I wanted to avoid that... For this Empire's wellbeing, I had to sacrifice my sister's love... I still feel heartbroken... If possible, I would've loved to die so she could be happy..."
p1ease visit n0ve1b(in).ne)t
Even though quite a few Nobles knew the truth, the Emperor still kept up his act of being a pitiful brother who had no choice but to sacrifice everything he held dear to protect the Empire.
The Nobles flocked even more strongly around him, after seeing his act. As for the ones who don't know the truth, most of them also believed his words.
Watching her father look so down, even her daughters were taken aback. They didn't know the truth, but they absolutely believed the version of their father's story.
Even the timid Azia couldn't help but take a subtle glance at Gabriel. 'I'm sure father isn't lying. It must be him who is lying. I can't believe I almost believed his words and felt bad for our family's actions.'
Seeing the convincing act, even Gabriel was slightly amused.
'What a great act... This man sure is smart at such things. Too bad, in front of absolute strength, everything falls. Today, I will make him understand what the meaning of true sacrifice means.'
'That guy... Isn't he the one who helped me?' Shia also recognised Gabriel as the one who protected her.
She remembered how Gabriel reacted when he heard her full name. It was clear that he didn't even know that the Alecton Family was the Royal Family when he arrived here. Could he really have schemed so much in advance without even knowing about the Royal Family?
Unlike Azia who had just changed her mind in favor of her father, Shia who had always believed in her father before was now starting to doubt him.
Since Gabriel didn't even know about her family, he really couldn't have schemed in advance. She couldn't help but wonder if his story about only recently finding out about the changes was true. In that case, he really couldn't have schemed all this.
She glanced at her father's back, not knowing what to think anymore. His mind was so hazy that she couldn't make sure who was right and who was wrong. She wanted to believe in her father but she also felt that Gabriel wasn't lying. Both of them couldn't be telling the truth so it was clear that one of them was lying.
undefinedUnfortunately, even if she knew who was lying, she couldn't do anything. The truth was supposed to be decided by the Elders and no matter what the verdict, it was going to be final.
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"That little brat... Once his truth is out, I'll make sure the entire Empire knows what happens to the people who dare to defame my family!" Unlike the two sisters, the Eldest Prince didn't even think about it. For him, Gabriel was just a little thief who wanted to steal the throne that was to belong to him after his father!
"Don't worry, young prince. This meeting is just for formality. We all know the truth already. You'll get your opportunity in the future." One of the Nobles smirked. "Please have a seat for now. He is coming here as well. The faster we start, the faster we can end."
"Hmph." The Eldest Prince took a seat right next to his father. As for the two Princesses, they sat on the other side of their father.
The Nobles also took seats. Only three Royal Knights were standing, ready to kill Gabriel if he tried anything.
Unlike the Nobles who were so sure of what was going to happen, the Emperor was still slightly concerned.
' I sent the Saint Knight to kill Gabriel. That brat is still alive! No wonder that trash didn't return to the Castle! He must've failed and was too embarrassed to show his face around! After I'm done here, I'll deal with him properly! It looks like we need to select a new Saint Knight, one who isn't as useless!'
Even though the Emperor had a calm composure on the exterior, but on the inside, he was fuming with anger. He expected to hear the news of Gabriel's death when he arrived here, but instead, the man was not only alive, but he looked unharmed.
Gabriel reached the group of Nobles, accompanied by Duke Callum.
All the Nobles remained seated. From their gaze, it was clear that most of them were looking down at him. This meeting... It was nothing more than a sham to fool the public later on by claiming that they gave him a proper chance to prove his claims, only for him to fail.
There were only two seats left after all the seats were taken, and both of the chairs looked slightly shabby.
Just from the initial glance, Gabriel had a feeling that the chairs could easily break as soon as he sat down.
'Are they little children? Using such tricks to make fun of me?' Gabriel could only shake his head in disappointment. These people were really petty.
'It seems the cleanup is really necessary.'
"Sit," One of the Nobles instructed Gabriel. "It's time we start the meeting."
In the Noble's eyes, their contempt was clear. It was as if they were just waiting for him to make a fool of himself. They wanted him to see that he wasn't even worthy of sitting with them.
"I don't feel comfortable sitting with the person who destroyed my family. I would prefer to be standing," Gabriel responded, calmly.
"You brat, are you looking down on us? By not sitting, are you implying that we aren't worthy of sitting with someone like you?" A Noble's thundering roar resounded. "You really think you are already an Emperor to look down on us?!"
"Heh, this kid really has a bad nature. He doesn't respect his Elders at all. This kind of person really can't have the blood of Saint King! It seems that we thought too much. This boy was lying about his identity."
"Of course he was. It's as clear as day. With his disrespecting attitude, he could only bring the downfall of our glorious Empire if he ever became the Emperor."
"I agree with you. Since he doesn't respect us, could he be a spy sent to our Empire by Yann?! If I'm not wrong, the Sword was sold to Yann. Maybe the Emperor of Yann gave him that sword and told him to come here so he could claim the throne?"
One after another, the Nobles started their verbal attacks on Gabriel.
"Exactly! The Emperor of Yann is really cunning! Since he couldn't defeat us in a war, he planted this puppet of his to take the throne without any bloodshed by simply fooling the public!"
"Hahaha, so that's what it was. And here I thought he might actually be a descendant of the Arecia Clan. It looks like I was too optimistic. It looks like we don't need to deliberate anymore. We already have our decision! The truth is already out!"
The Emperor hadn't spoken a single word from the start to now, and the Nobles had already taken care of everything. Only a single hint of a smirk could be seen on the Emperor's face.
"You aren't even going to listen to me?" Gabriel asked, even though he already knew the answer. "Are you sure?"
The Nobles that were Neutral were already in minority. They couldn't sway any decisions. They already knew that if they interfered at this point, not only could they not help Gabriel, but they could also put their own families at risk. They decided to remain silent.
"What's there to listen to? Everything is as clear as the sky! You are a dog of Yann, who came here to steal the throne from His Majesty. Who agrees?" The Head of the strongest Noble Clan asked.
One after another, all the Nobles started raising their hands. Even the Nobles who were neutral raised their hands since not raising couldn't change the outcome either. The Emperor's loyal Nobles were in clear majority. No one could take the throne from him, at least through this meeting alone.
"The Council has reached the verdict! The man claiming to be Gabriel Arcadius Arecia is a liar who was planted by the Emperor of Yann to bring chaos to the Emperor of Arecia and steal the throne. His contendership for the Throne is hereby declared invalid!" The white haired Noble declared.
"Also, since he schemed against our Empire, he is hereby given death penalty! Guards, arrest him!"
Gabriel wasn't even the slightest surprised at the declaration. It was more or less exactly as he expected. These people weren't going to give him a chance.
"Duke Callum, since they're going to kill me, it seems I might not have a chance to give them the present I prepared for them later. Why don't you give them their present now?" he stated while all the Royal Guards raised their swords at him, commanding him to go down on his knees.
"Give a present?"
"Is this brat trying to bribe us?"
"Hahaha, not bad. He wants us to let him live in exchange for rewards? He really underestimates us, doesn't he?"
The Dukes had a mocking smile on their faces. They couldn't even believe that Gabriel could give them something that could attract their attention at all. Moreover, even if he did have a nice thing to give, so what? They knew that they couldn't let Gabriel live now that the Emperor was here.
'Little boy, let us see what you can give. If it's something nice, we can still take it and then kill you. Did you really think that anyone here would let you live?'
undefinedGabriel didn't even need to look at the Dukes to know what they were thinking. At this point, he had read them up completely.
Not only the Dukes, but even the Emperor and his children thought that Gabriel was trying to bribe the Dukes in his favor.
"Heh, as expected. This kid isn't righteous. After all this act, he finally reveals his real face... Using money to escape when his lies were caught." The Eldest Prince scoffed, finding Gabriel to be very pathetic.
That timid Princess Azia simply lowered her head, not saying anything.
As for the Emperor, he could only smirk at this point. It was clear that the man before him was at the end of his wits and didn't have anything that could help him.
"Don't capture him for now. Let us see what bribes he has prepared for us," A Noble laughed heartily, gesturing for their guards to wait for a moment.
Even though he didn't intend to let Gabriel live, he still wanted to get the benefits from Gabriel before actually having him killed.
The Royal Knights didn't move closer to Gabriel but they didn't lower their weapons either. They kept their swords aimed at Gabriel, who was still standing calmly.
He didn't even look at the Royal Knights, as if he didn't put them in his eyes. His face was so calm that it was really strange and the person who felt that strangeness the most was Princess Shia.
In the entire Empire, she was the first person to meet Gabriel. She had also seen him fight. She had seen a glimpse of Gabriel's strength. Moreover, she was the only person who knew that Gabriel was a mage of Light.
With how things were progressing here, she had a really bad feeling about it.
Even though her Empire didn't pay much importance to mages, she knew just how capable they were, especially a Mage of Light which was considered to be the strongest element.
"Father, We should leave here..." She told her father.
When she arrived here, she didn't know that the person challenging their authority was Gabriel and by now, it was too late.
For some reason, at the moment, she didn't feel as if they were victors. Instead, she felt as if they were being stared at by a Predator. Her family was out in the open, and it was really dangerous, especially since the person on the other side was Gabriel.
"Leave? We aren't done yet. Today, we need to remove future trouble from its roots and I want to watch it happen with my own eyes!" The Emperor calmly answered. "Don't disturb me more. Just sit silently! Let your elders deal with it!"
"But father, he isn't-"
"I told you to shut up!" The Emperor smacked the table before him, seemingly frustrated. "Enough with your antics. I told you to not disturb me anymore!"
"But I just wanted to tell you that he-"
Shia at least wanted to tell her father that it was dangerous to be here since Gabriel was also a mage. Unfortunately, before she could even complete her sentence, she watched her father glare at her.
Shia shut her mouth immediately, feeling intimidated under that gaze. She had already tried speaking three times. She wasn't sure if her father was going to slap her if she tried speaking one more time. Her father really looked like a completely different person than she had seen before.
At the moment, she felt as if her father was really shaken on the inside, and wanted Gabriel to die at any cost. He wasn't even hearing anyone else. His entire focus was on Gabriel. She couldn't understand why her father was suddenly like that. If Gabriel was really lying about their family's betrayal, why would her father behave so strangely?
She couldn't help but feel even more suspicious of her father, wondering if Gabriel was actually telling the truth.
After a long period of silence, Callum returned, carrying a heavy bag on his shoulders.
"Hmm? Is he giving us gold or something? That bag looks heavy!"
"Hahaha, looks like our random guess was right! The boy is indeed from Yann. How else could he have so much gold?"
"Heh, we can't be so sure before we check. Maybe he's just trying to fool us? Who knows, he might've just filled the bag with stones to fool us. What I'm more curious about is why Duke Callum is helping that boy. Did he already sell his loyalty?"
"It's possible. I think we should kill him as well, after dealing with Gabriel. I've always been suspicious of him. We might as well do some cleanup today!"
The Dukes watched Callum returning with the bag. At the moment, they had already made up their minds to kill Callum as well. However, first they wanted to deal with Gabriel. He
"Open the bag and show us what's inside! We want to make sure you didn't fill the bag with useless things!" one of the Nobles exclaimed.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it's not a useless thing. If anything, the young inside the bag is something that you'd all have considered a treasure," Gabriel vaguely answered, gesturing for Callum to show everyone what's inside.
Callum opened the bag and turned it upside down before raising it in the air.
As soon as the bag was raised upside down, a lifeless body came falling down from the bag, landing on the table with a thud.
"My present to you all... I hope you all like it," Gabriel stated, without the slightest change in his expressions.
The lifeless body of Saint Knight fell out of the bag, scaring quite a lot of people, especially the one who was expecting gold or treasures.
Almost all the Nobles stood up, as shock and fear filled them up. Their chairs fell behind. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Even the Emperor was horrified as he stood up. The Saint Knight that he sent to kill Gabriel had been killed instead? How was this possible?
Emperor Alecton knew that Duke Callum was a Dark Mage, but he was also sure that if Saint Knight fought with the Duke, the Saint Knight wasn't going to lose! If anything, both of them were more or less equal in terms of strength. Then how? How could he die? Who killed him? Was there an even more powerful person backing Gabriel?
The Royal Knights that were keeping their Swords aimed at Gabriel felt their hands tremble at the gruesome sight. The Saint Knight was the strongest warrior in the Empire. They were sure if they had all fought with the Saint Knight together, they would've instantly!
"Saint Knight!" The Eldest Prince who had been smug all this time was horrified. Today, he expected to watch Gabriel's death and not the death of their strongest warrior!
Both the Princesses were scared. Their faces were already pale, especially Prince Azia. She had just met the Saint Knight last night when he had a conflict with Gabriel and now he was dead?
'D-did he kill him? Then his strength...?' Her legs froze in place in fear. She couldn't even move, let alone say anything!
undefinedOn the other hand, Princess Shia felt a dread in her heart. She knew Gabriel was dangerous! She knew that they should've let him go! That's why she was trying to tell her father. However, even she didn't know that this guy was so strong! He could kill the Saint Knight? She finally understood why Duke Callum was so respectful to Gabriel.
"Duke Callum, you dare to betray our Empire and kill the Saint Knight?!" The Emperor roared. He refused to believe that Gabriel could do it! As for having a stronger force behind him... There were only a few forces that were strong enough to kill their Saint Knight, and they were the Churches of Elements!
He didn't believe that Gabriel could've gotten the help of Churches that didn't interfere in the matters of Empires! Moreover, Callum was a Dark Mage! How could any Church stand on the same side as him! No matter how hard, he wanted to believe that it was Callum who managed to kill the Saint Knight!
"He must've used a sneak attack! That bastard, using such vile methods to kill the Saint Knight!"
"You evil demon! Killing the guardian of our Empire after all this Empire gave you? How dare you?" Even the Nobles believed that it was done by Callum, but they didn't know about his identity as a mage. They could only think that he used some sneak attack to kill the Saint Knight!
"Sneak Attack..." The Royal Knights frowned. Unlike the Nobles, they were trained warriors. They were more perceptive as well.
From the wound on the Saint Knight's body, and the trajectory, it was clear to them that the attack came from the front! Moreover, an attack of this strength that came from the front couldn't have been a sneak attack!
"I didn't kill him, so it's better if you stop looking at him. I don't even have the fraction of the strength of the person who killed him," Callum smirked. "This time, you don't know just where you all truly stage. You've all been standing at the edge of the cliff of despair all this time and you didn't even realise it."
"W-what are you trying to say? You didn't kill him? Then who? Who could have that much strength?!" Emperor Alecton thundered.
"Me," A calm and serene voice came from the distance, making everyone look in the direction of Gabriel.
A Sword appeared in the hands of Gabriel out of thin air which was none other than the Sword of Ulien that was called the Holy Sword in Arecia.
Gabriel only briefly glanced at the Royal Knights who had their weapons aimed at him. As soon as the Royal Knights watched him look in their direction, they could feel a chill run down their spine. It was as if all their strength and their secrets were worthless before the man that stood in front of them!
As Royal Knights, they had trained their hearts so it could stay firm even in the most dangerous of situations, but at this moment, their heart was filled with dread and fear. It was as if their bodies were frozen in places.
"What are you all looking at? Kill him!" The Nobles moved back, feeling really scared. They also instructed the Royal Knights to kill Gabriel. Today when they arrived here, they didn't even bring most of their forces because they didn't expect a situation like this. They only brought their core guards.
Despite each person only bringing a few guards, there were a total of over fifty Royal Knights! They were sure that it was enough to kill Gabriel!
"Royal Knights!" Gabriel firmly spoke. "I'm the descendant of the Saint King. You're all a citizen of our Empire. I would give you one more chance... Leave the treacherous path of evil that these people made you walk! Come into the light and follow me! Even you all saw how the trial today was a sham! Do you really think people like they couldn't kill the Arecia Clan simply for their greed?!"
"I'll count to three! If you don't drop your weapons, I'll forget that you're my citizens and I'll start killing! I hope you won't force my hands!"
Gabriel could kill everyone here if he wanted, but he didn't want to. He wanted to save the Royal Knights since they could only be a part of his army once he took over the Empire! He needed strong Warriors to maintain the peace in the Empire.
The only problem was that he wasn't sure if his words were actually going to work. Still, he began the count.
"One!"
Gabriel started the count.
The Nobles kept telling the Royal Knights to not listen to him.
"What the hell are you doing? Are you all useless trash? The Empire did so much for you! Your salaries came from us! And you're not even protecting us today? Kill that bastard! Do your duty!" Some Nobles even cursed at the Royal Knights who hadn't moved an inch.
The Royal Knights didn't listen though. They just glanced at each other. In their heart, they didn't want to fight Gabriel if possible. Moreover, they had already seen how unjust these Nobles were! This meeting was truly a sham.
...
"Two!"
...
"Th-"
Before Gabriel could finish the count, all the Royal Knights dropped their Swords and went down on one knee.
"We want to walk the righteous path with the descendant of Saint King!" They all said in unison. "Please accept our gratitude for waking us up before we could truly lose our path!"
Finally, even the Emperor's face went pale.
The entire situation was so chaotic. It was nothing like he expected when he came here.
Not only did the Saint Knight fail to kill Gabriel, but he also lost his own life instead? And now all their Royal Knights also changed loyalties? Without the Royal Knights, weren't they all on their own?
Even though Emperor Alecton also knew some swordsmanship, he wasn't as strong as the Royal Knights here.
"What are you all doing? Don't fall for his tricks! You need to protect your Emperor!" Emperor Alecton said, taking a step back subconsciously.
The Royal Knights only glanced at them but didn't respond. They had already changed their minds and now they couldn't do anything. Their loyalties were already with Gabriel now.
undefined"Do you want to help him?" Gabriel asked the Captain of the Royal Knights.
The captain could only shake his head. "We don't. It's clear that most of the Nobles are corrupt. Everything you said was right. Maybe it's truly a time for change. We accept you as our new Emperor..."
Gabriel brought out a second sword. It was the Sword that he had received from the Saint Knight.
"Take good care of it." He handed over the Heavy Sword of the Saint Knight to the Captain of the Royal Guards. In the absence of the Saint Knight, he was also the strongest. If this way, Gabriel could win his absolute loyalty, then it was a beneficial trade.
"This sword... But I..."
The Captain of Knights was taken aback. The Sword was being given to him? Generally, there was a tournament for something like that and even in such a tournament, the last round wasn't a battle. In the last round, it was up to the King to decide which of the finalists he liked better!
Even he had participated in the selection of the Saint Knight. He even reached the finals, winning every single battle. However, in the last round, he failed to win the favour of the Emperor. The Emperor selected someone else as a Saint Knight.
To be given this Sword was no different than receiving the title of the Saint Knight! The Captain of the Knights was shocked. Did Gabriel really trust him so much? In his heart, he only felt his impression of the young man rising. Not only was Gabriel righteous and a person with a great bloodline, but he also respected his subordinates.
If he arranged a tournament for selection of Saint Knight, he could've received a lot of rewards as a bribe in the final round. But he ignored all that, only to select someone that truly deserved it? After all his service for the Royal Family, the Captain of the Knights finally had the Saint Knight's Sword.
The Captain of the Knights accepted the sword, immediately going down on one knee, "I, Razel Kaizen, swear that I'll always be loyal to Your Majesty, no matter what! If I ever betray you, may heavenly thunder strike me to death!"
Gabriel could only scratch the back of his head. Since he had the Sword of Ulien, the Saint Knight's Sword was useless for him. He just wanted to win some favor by giving this sword to the strongest knight here. Even he didn't expect that knight to swear an oath like that for him.
He didn't know how to respond. He wasn't a Royal and didn't know what words were proper in situations like this. Did he need to say that he accepted the Knight's loyalty? Or ask him to stand up? Or use some fancy line? He had no idea.
Eventually, he didn't say anything. He simply nodded.
After a brief moment of silence, he shifted his attention back to the Nobles. At the moment, all Nobles felt a chill run down their spine.
The garden was big. They didn't bring their personal armies either. Even if they wanted to run, they knew that they were going to be killed instantly by the Knights who now treated Gabriel as their Emperor. This was a nightmarish situation for them!
"It's been proven that the Nobles worked with the Alecton clan to betray the Royal Family. Not only did they slander the Arecia Clan, but they also exterminated all of them. That is treason!" Gabriel coldly stated before glancing at Duke Callum. "Duke Callum, what's the punishment for treason?"
"There is only one punishment for treason..." Duke Callum stated. "Execution!"
"Follow the laws set forth by my Ancestors." Gabriel agreed. "The Traitors are to be executed! Not only did the traitors send the Saint Knight to kill the real heir of the throne last night, but they also tried to kill me today!"
"W-wait! You can't do it! You can't kill us! We are the Nobles! We are the pillars of this Empire! Without us, the Empire wil-"
"Argh!"
Before the Noble could even finish his sentence, a sword passed through his chest.
"F-fast!" The Captain of the Knights exclaimed in disbelief.
One moment, Gabriel was standing next to him, and the next moment, he was behind the Noble who had spoken? With this kind of speed, he finally understood how Gabriel killed the Saint Knight! This man was young, but his strength was extraordinary!
"These pillars are really cheap quality. We don't need such pillars. Only one pillar is enough for this Empire!" Gabriel pulled out the sword which had bathed in Noble's blood.
When Gabriel entered the Empire, he just wanted to greet the Arecia Family and get the artefact he needed. Even after finding out about what happened to the Arecia Clan, he didn't want to lose his mind and kill everyone without knowing the situation. But now... Finally he had all the culprits that were behind the slaughter of the Arecia Clan!
The Sword belonged to the Saint King! In that way, it also belonged to Novius. Gabriel used Novius' Sword to kill the people who were responsible for Arecia Clan's extinction. It was his way of paying back Novius for all his help... By helping Novius clear up all these snakes that swallowed his loving family!
One after another, the Nobles cropped to the group. They couldn't even see the sword most of the time. All they saw was a red clash before their death.
Even the Nobles who hadn't sided with the Emperor in the extinction were scared, thinking that Gabriel was going to kill them as well.
Some of the Nobles even tried to run, but before they could even travel a few metres, they were killed.
'His strength... He is too strong. After he kills all the Nobles, he won't let me live either. What can I do... What can I do... Argh!' The Emperor hadn't spoken anything, even as Gabriel started killing. Unlike all the Nobles, he didn't beg for his life either.
'Do I have no choice but to...'
He clenched his fist tightly, hiding a small red crystal in his right hand. The small crystal had a peculiar mark on it which was well known all around the world.
Within a few minutes, Gabriel finished killing all the Nobles whose names were on the list that was given to him by Callum, only leaving a few Nobles who were still alive.
He stood still as blood dropped from his Sword. His Sword was covered in blood, but on his clothes, there wasn't even a speck of blood.
"The Noble Clan leaders who are still alive... I know you had no hand in what happened with Arecia Clan. However, you also didn't help them in times of trouble." Gabriel's cold voice echoed in the surroundings.
"You won't be killed, but you will still be punished!" he declared. "From today onwards, all your property belongs to the Royal Clan! All your noble titles are to be taken back! From today onwards, you are no more than mere commoners who aren't allowed to use any Royal Titles!"
The Nobles who were still alive were stunned. Even though losing their titles and wealth was heavy punishment for them, but it was nothing if they could save their lives!
undefinedThey couldn't believe it! Gabriel was really letting them live? Even though the young man killed so many Nobles, he was being fair to them and letting them keep their lives? Despite losing everything, they felt impressed by Gabriel.
They all went down on their knees at once. "We will heed the Emperor's commands!"
"Good. Contribute to the Empire in the future, and I might think about returning your titles to you in the future! Leave now! And remember, from today onwards, all your personal armies will belong to the Royal Family as well, to be merged in the Royal Army! Duke Callum will take care of the armies temporarily in my stead!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" All the Noble Clan leaders felt their hearts racing. Even though Gabriel allowed them to leave, some of them were still suspicious if he was going to kill them before they could leave.
They all turned around and left together, praying to gods to not be stabbed from the back by Gabriel. Fortunately, they were all able to leave successfully.
After leaving the garden of death, they could finally sigh in relief. They hastily entered their carriages and left for their domains. They had to handle the transfer right away!
"Are you sure you want to let them leave?" Duke Callum appeared behind Gabriel, asking in a low voice. "It might get dangerous if they go against us or bring their armies to help."
"They won't," Gabriel answered. "They know the Royal Knights are with me. Their armies can't stand before the Royal Army. Moreover, I have a feeling that they're quite scared of me already. That's why I let them watch all the other Nobles who betrayed the Arecia Clan die with their own eyes."
He already considered every aspect of allowing the Nobles to leave today and only after he was sure if it did he allowed it to happen. Instead of looking at the short term picture, he was thinking of the long term situation. Each of his words that he told them before allowing them to leave was calculated.
"Allowing them to leave is more beneficial to us, especially with the bait I gave them about them being able to regain their titles in the future," Gabriel explained to the Duke who didn't understand why Gabriel didn't kill everyone here. "They won't tell others what truly happened here. If anything, they'll twist the story in my favor so the world knows that I was the innocent victim and the rightful heir."
"I really didn't think of this. So you showed them the punishment before luring them with rewards." A smirk spread across Callum's lips as he realized everything.
"Truly marvellous! Not only do we get all their property legally, but we also get them as witnesses. Even after losing their properties, they can still help us with their contacts and influences in managing their territories. Not bad!"
He already knew that Gabriel was a strong mage, but it was only now that he realized how far away this person had planned.
"What shall we do with the 'Royal' Clan?" he asked. Now only four people were left alive... The Prince, the two Princesses and their father.
Emperor Alecton still kept the red crystal in his hands, not revealing it. Even he seemed hesitant in using it. It was as if he didn't want to, as long as he had a choice.
"Young man, you should really not push people to the dead end. Things might really get dangerous for you!" The Emperor warned Gabriel. "You want the Empire? I'll give you the Empire! I'll abdicate the throne! Just allow us to leave safely! We'll never step foot in this Empire again!"
Even in this situation, the Empire was still able to stay standing. That in itself was impressive. He expected the Emperor to start grovelling at his feet by now. His behaviour was really strange for sure. However, Gabriel didn't want to let the man leave. The man had the main responsibility in Arecia Clan's tragic hate after all.
"If I truly let you leave, will I ever be able to justify my actions to Novius?" Gabriel asked. The man was the last person he wanted to kill. It didn't matter what happened after that! Nothing was going to stop him today!
"I'm warning you. If you kill me, not only you, but this entire Empire will be destroyed in the future!" The Emperor roared like a maniac. "Are you sure you want to place so many lives on the line just to kill me?! Don't force me! I want to live! Just let me live and we'll both be safe!"
With each word, the Emperor kept taking a step back. "Don't force me!"
"You just want to live?" Gabriel asked, filled with more and more anger the more he heard Emperor Alecton!
"Who didn't want to live amongst the people you killed? Did the men of Arecia Clan not want to live? Did the little children not want to live? Did their mothers not want to live?!" With each sentence, Gabriel's voice kept getting louder until he was almost roaring. "Tell me who didn't want to live, my dear Emperor! Tell me now!"
"I-i... I had no choice! I know I made a mistake! I regret my mistake! But are you really willing to put the entire Empire and millions of lives at risk for your revenge?" The Emperor's face was already pale. He didn't even know if he could make it out of here alive. "I promise you! If you kill me, your fate will be worse than a dog! You don't know anything! Don't be foolish!"
"Even if the gods want to protect you, you'll still die today!"
No matter what the Emperor said, Gabriel didn't care. He only remembered the days he spent with Novius and Cassius in the tower. Those two were like his family now. This man single handedly destroyed the entire lineage of Novius! He couldn't accept that! He couldn't let the man live!
"You do-" As the Emperor kept stepping back without looking behind, he tripped over a stone behind him, falling down.
No matter how much Emperor Alecton asked Gabriel to let him leave safely, Gabriel didn't care. Even the Emperor knew that the man was crazy in revenge.
Gabriel stopped right next to the Emperor, aiming the sword at the Emperor's throat.
"Today, I will die! But you won't live for long either! This is the last opportunity! Let me leave!"
"Death is a mercy for you... But I don't want to let someone like you live in this world a second longer!" Gabriel raised his sword.
The Emperor closed his eyes. "So be it... Don't blame me for what happens in the future!"
The Emperor clenched his fist tightly, crushing the red stone which was in his hands. At the same time, Gabriel also brought his sword down, slashing the throat of Emperor Alecton…
The Meeting of the Saints, also known as the meeting of the Holy Priests was a meeting that was a rare event in which all Holy Priests came together at the same place.
Each of the Holy Priests had the strength to bring Empires to ruins and all of them were gathered at the same place at the moment... At least most of them.
The Meeting of Saints was being held in the City of Albatross. The City was also the place where the first ever meeting of Saints took place in the past. This was also the only City where all the Churches had branches, all except the Church of Darkness.
The City of Albatross was the most prosperous City in the entire continent. It was also the City which played an important role in the trade between all the major Empires, all because of its strategically advantageous location.
undefinedAll because of its location, many Empires tried to bring the City under their control, but none of the Empires could watch the City being taken by another. No matter who tried to take the City, all other Empires were going to resist. They couldn't let another Empire take advantage.
With that kind of stalemate, the City of Albatross managed to avoid quite a lot of conflict, maintaining their independence.
Since the City was the main trading hub of the continent, it also had the biggest market! If the City of Abbadon was the biggest marketplace of illegal items, the City of Albatross was the biggest marketplace of legal things.
No matter what a person wanted, from spells to magical potions to high grade staff, they could find anything here as long as they had enough money!
The City was just too lively. However, there was one part of the City which was completely silent. In the Central part of the City, there was a building. From the outside, the place looked like a beautiful place, but only when someone entered inside could they realize that this wasn't a palace.
On the inside, there was nothing! There were no stairs, no room, nothing! It was just a massive hall inside with a small round table at the center. It was as if someone just made the outer structure of the Palace and then forgot to make anything inside.
The roof of the Palace was made from glass, allowing light to easily pass through.
The palace was being protected by Head Priests of all the Churches who didn't allow anyone to approach this area.
Inside the palace five people were already sitting around the round table, seemingly waiting for someone to arrive.
Thud~
The door was abruptly kicked open as a flaming red haired man barged inside, still having his hands in his pocket.
"Brought the little brat," he lazily stated as he walked to his seat. Even as he sat down, he didn't seem to care for anyone else as he placed his feet on the table.
Behind the Holy Priest of Flames, the Holy Priestess of Summoning also entered the hall.
This was Avilia's first time seeing the Heads of the other Churches personally. However, with the two of them, one person appeared to be missing.
"Where is the Ruler of Light?" The Holy Priest of Flames asked, instantly realizing who was missing. "Don't tell me the new Ruler of Light is also like the brat of Summoning who won't come out of his Church until I drag him out?"
Like everyone else here, he also knew that the new Church of Light wasn't fond of appearing in public. That reputation was very well known by now. Until now, he didn't care much about it. However to miss the meeting of Saints and not even put them in his eyes... The actions of the Ruler of Light really managed to irritate him.
"He won't be coming. We weren't able to get in contact with him. Apparently he isn't even Lumen City anymore," the Holy Priestess of Thunder, Thalia answered.
"That brat isn't in the city? From what I heard about him, I thought he never left his house?" The Holy Priest of Flames asked, slightly amused. He couldn't help but wonder just what could've made someone like that leave Lumen City?
"Don't tell me they're giving us excuses because of this meeting. Did you verify?" he further asked, still finding it hard to believe. "A man who never left the Church to the point that no one even knows how he looks is now out of the Lumen City right when he was to be invited for the meeting of Saints? Isn't it too convenient?"
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"It would've been suspicious indeed. However, I heard about his departure before the meeting of Saints was even called," Thalia replied. She had already received this information from Elora when the two of them fought against Lambard. "According to his people, he left to explore the Abandoned City of Gods."
"To explore the Abandoned City of Gods? Isn't that the place which the last Ruler of Water also went to explore before her death? To think that another person would be courageous enough to explore that place..." The Holy Priest of Flames laughed out loud. "Not bad. I thought he was a coward, but this is not bad at all!"
"I also wanted to explore that place. That's why I sent someone to buy the map from Lambard. Too bad I failed," he added, taking a meaningful glance at Elora who was the person that managed to buy the map in the auction instead.
"Anyway, if he's in the Abandoned City of Gods, nothing can be done about it. It's better to not wait anymore. Just start this meeting so we can leave fast. I'm starting to get hungry."
Since everyone except the Ruler of Light was already here, he could only ask for the meeting to begin. It was unusual for a meeting of Saints to not have all members, but at the moment, nothing could be done. If anything, they could just tell their decision to the Church of Light after the meeting was over.
"The Holy Priestess of Water Elora, Holy Priestess of Thunder Thalia, Holy Priest of Nature Welin and Holy Priest of Wind Yael... The four of you were responsible for calling this meeting. You can begin."
Avilia had also taken her seat and the main doors were closed.
It was something that was discovered by Elorq first, so it was her duty to explain. However, since Elora was new, Thalia took the responsibility. "Don't worry. The meeting this time was actually important. Something has changed... Something that might need us all to cooperate to solve the situation."
"Not long ago, Elora went to buy the map of the Abandoned City of Gods." Thalia stated.
"Are you trying to anger me?" The Holy Priest of Flames Lerian asked, slightly annoyed that the girl was raising the topic. He already knew his subordinate lost the bidding war. He couldn't understand just what she was trying to get at, other than attempting to piss him off.
"Get to the topic!"
"That's what I'm doing," Thalia rolled her eyes. "While she was there, she met two people at the Palace of Lambard."
She informed everyone how Elora lost one of the Head Priestesses of the Church of Water at the hands of a Dark Mage.
undefined"Just that? Doesn't it just mean that the Church of Water is just too weak? Is there even a reason to call this meeting?"
Most people didn't think of the story much... At least not this far. However there was one exception. It was Avilia. From Thaila's description she was sure that the person Elora had a conflict with was none other than Gabriel.
"That much was truly not worth paying much attention. Do you really think I'll call a meeting of Saints over that?" Thalia rolled her eyes. Out of everyone here, only Lerian was someone she found irritating since the man didn't care about anything. He didn't even have much patience. He already acted like he was better than everyone else and no one bothered him either.
Out of everyone here, only this man was talking and intervening.
"Back to the topic. A few days after that, the Academy of the Elements was robbed..."
"Huh?"
Finally, Lerian's curiosity peaked. The death of a mere Head Priestess of Water was not even worth mentioning in his eyes. However robbing the treasury of the Academy of Elements? That wasn't easy to achieve, especially for a dark mage!
Achieving that meant that the Dark Mage not only managed to pass through the Ancestral Barrier of Light that covered Lumen City, but they also managed to infiltrate the Academy of Elements and steal all their precious treasures. Even he wasn't sure if he could've achieved something like that if he was in their place.
"Izen didn't stop him? Shouldn't that be impossible? With his strength and the Numen that nullifies all magic, shouldn't it be impossible for someone to rob the Academy?" Lerian frowned, thinking if there was even a way. "Unless... he wasn't in the Academy?"
"That's right. That guy wasn't in the Academy at that time." Thalia nodded.
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"Hah, no wonder. That does decrease the difficulty by a lot. But still, entering the holy city of Lumen and robbing the Academy of Elements right under the nose of the Church of Light, hahahah, not bad." Lerian couldn't help but laugh the more he thought of it. "No wonder I didn't hear of this. Those idiots must be so embarrassed that they don't want this story to spread!"
"I don't think it's the time to laugh!" Thalia grimaced. "The Ancestral Staff of Darkness is stolen. It's most probably already with the Ruler of Darkness. Not only that, they also have other treasures of the Academy. With such treasures, it's only a matter of time before their strength increases even more!"
"Not only that, even Lambard is siding with the Dark Priests. With the kind of funding and resources he can offer, it can get really troublesome and really fast."
"Is that all? I didn't have much of a conflict with Lambard. That guy was certainly very resourceful. However, now that he has chosen a side, I don't need to hold back. I'll go to Abbadon and deal with him. We should be able to clean the Church of Darkness in a few days. I hope the new Ruler of Darkness won't disappoint me."
Lerian removed his foot from the table and stood up. "Not much of a problem."
"Lerian, stop." Before Lerian could leave, a voice came from the back. "I'm sure there's more to it. We should listen properly first."
Lerian stopped and turned around, glancing at the silver haired woman in the back. The young woman was dressed in all red, which created quite a contrast with her pure silver hair.
The woman had a blindfold around her eyes which hid her eyes from everyone. She was also the only person amongst the Holy Priests who couldn't see. Despite that, she was also one of the peak powerhouses amongst the Holy Priests. She was the Holy Priestess of Earth Rivia.
Amongst the current eight Holy Priests, Rivia was someone who had been a Holy Priest the longest. After her was Lerian and then the Holy Priest of Wind Yael.
Amongst the ones who had been in contact with their Holy Grimoires the shortest time, at the top was Elora, who only recently became the Holy Priestess of Water. The second shortest time was said to be the current generation of Ruler of Light who had never made an appearance.
The Holy Priest of Nature Welin looked the oldest out of everyone, but he was also the one who had the third shortest time since being selected by the Holy Grimoire. And the fourth shortest was Avilia.
Even though each Grimoire possessed immense power of that element, it was said that the longer one had with their Grimoire, the more power they could withdraw, including the more powerful spells.
If Lerian paid attention to anyone in this entire group after the death of the last Ruler of Light, it was Rivia even though he was confident that he could destroy her in the battle if the two of them fought.
"Is there anything else to say?" he asked Thalia, still not taking his seat.
"There is a lot. You can't attack the City of Abaddon," Thalia answered, sighing. She told everyone here the last part of her story about how she and Elora attacked the City of Abaddon already, only to fail in destroying it.
"Now we don't know where the city of Abaddon is currently situated," she ended her story. "That was everything."
Lerian was silent as he heard the last part of the story about how the two Holy Priestesses attacked.
There was only silence in the entire hall. The air around them started getting warmer.
"Are you being serious right now?!" Lerian asked, finally losing to his anger. He smacked his fist on the table in anger.
Bang~
The entire table that was made from the strongest of marbles in the world broke apart as if it was made of the weakest of glass!
"So we had only one clue to get to the Dark Priests and you idiots attacked them all alone? Not only did you attack the place but you also failed to conquer that place? Can you be any more useless?"
"You already did everything to ruin every opportunity we had of finding the Church of Darkness and now you come to us to help you salvage the situation after ruining everything?"
Even though tempers were flaring inside the Palace, nothing could be sensed from the outside. The palace not only contained all the noise inside to ensure that no one outside was able to hear what was being discussed inside, but also the increase in temperature couldn't be sensed on the outside.
It was as if the inner area of the Palace was in a different realm itself.
Head Priests of many Churches were standing outside the Royal Palace, keeping an eye on each other even though it wasn't necessary.
However at the same time, another Head Priest came flying from a distance. Two wings made entirely of flames could be seen on his back, as if he was an angel of flames.
"What is he doing here?"
One of the Head Priests of Flames flew up to intercept the middle aged Head Priest of Flames who was flying in haste.
"You came so far from the main branch. Did something happen?" The Head Priest, who accompanied the Holy Priest of Flames here, asked.
"Yes! The crystal! It... It's finally broken!" The middle aged Head Priest exclaimed. "We need to inform him!"
The Head Priest of Flames had come straight from the Church of Flames, all to tell the Holy Priest of Flames about this news.
The other Head Priests who heard the news were also shocked, at least the ones who knew what it meant.
"After all this time..."
The Head Priest of other Churches were also curious about what was going on in the Church of Flames. From their reactions, they should feel as if something big had happened but they didn't know what.
If it was enough to shock the Head Priests of the Church of Flames, other Church members realized that it was certainly a big deal, maybe even related to the meeting that was going on inside.
undefined"You're right. We must inform him. But even we can't interfere in the Meeting of Saints. Wait for him to come out first."
The Head Priests of Flames landed on the ground, agreeing to wait. Even though it was big news, they couldn't enter the Palace to inform. Not only were the other Churches going to stop them, but it was also the same as directly offending all the Holy Priestess who were present in the meeting. They were sure that if they did that, even Lerian wasn't going to save them.
Gabriel had killed the Emperor of Arecia. After killing the man, he looked around, quite confused.
With the kind of words that the Emperor was using to threaten him, he expected that some calamity was going to strike him and the Empire if Emperor Alecton was killed. However, everything seemed very normal for now.
Everything was the same as before. The air was still gentle. The sky was still clear. He couldn't feel any killing intent or any danger either.
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"Was he really bluffing?" he wondered.
Duke Callum stepped closer to Gabriel, also observing the body of the old emperor on the ground.
"Congratulations on becoming the Emperor of Arecia. Within a day, everyone should know about it. It should be legal as well. But there is still something we need to deal with," he stated, pointing back at the three youngsters who were on their knees, crying.
Gabriel turned around, noticing the Prince and the Two Princesses. The three of them didn't have a hand in the fate of the Arecia Clan. They weren't even born when that happened.
"Even though their Royal Titles are invalid now, they were still once considered Royals. If they can gain enough support in the future, they might lead a rebellion," Callum warned Gabriel. "It's better to rid trouble from its roots."
"They can't lead a rebellion," Gabriel answered. "After what happened today, do you think any of the remaining Noble family would dare support them? As for the public, they have already picked a side. Even I know just how bad of a reputation the young prince has."
Gabriel was quite confident that these three had no cards in their hands. If anything, they were even more useless than they were in the beginning.
"What about foreign help? There are many Empires who always wanted an excuse to invade. They won't care about public sentiment or the prince's reputation once they get an opportunity. Ours is also one of the only few Empires which doesn't have the support of any Church," Duke Callum reminded Gabriel.
He didn't believe in giving mercy to the enemies, especially when one killed their parents. Bad blood was already established between the two sides after all.
"To avoid any future troubles, we need to be careful," he further added. "I don't want you to regret it in the future. Maybe these people can't hurt you now, but their lineage will continue growing. It might not be in the next hundred years, but what about the next thousand years? You won't always be in the Empire, acting as a deterrent to all who have bad thoughts for this Empire."
"If even Saint King's lineage can fall once, what about yours? I don't want to force you, but I still think you should avoid all troubles if possible. That's all I'll say. After this, the decision is yours."
Duke Callum said all he had to say before taking a step back, leaving the final decision to Gabriel.
Even Gabriel knew that his words weren't wrong. As long as he lived, he didn't think any Noble was going to dare rebel, but he wasn't an immortal. Sooner or later, he was going to die. Could he really leave potential snakes lurking in the darkness to hunt his future descendants? Can he really allow the past of Arecia Clan to repeat itself?
Princess Shia felt her heart being gripped by fear. The first time she met Gabriel, she didn't feel like that. In fact, Gabriel was her saviour. But how... She truly felt scared. The young man who was once her saviour was going to kill her with his own hands?
She could only close her eyes as she watched Gabriel step closer to her.
She stabilized her breathing, even though her heart was racing.
"You saved my life once. If not for you, I would've already been dead. I owe you a life, and if you want to take this life from me, I would accept."
She didn't dare open her eyes. She didn't want Gabriel to see how terrified she truly was. Even in death, she wanted to be brave and accept death like a Royal.
Even in death, she wanted to repay what she owed Gabriel... A life for a life...
Unlike Shia, the other two siblings were much more different.
Eldest Princess Azia was on her knees, shivering. Her face was covered in tears. She was always the timid one, but now, she couldn't even speak. It was as if she had already lost her voice.
She felt as if her body was already weak, all over.
As for the Prince of Arecia, the young man had already wet his pants as soon as he watched his father die.
He was always the brave and arrogant one, but only because he had the backing of his father and the Royal Knights. In one day, he lost all his backing and was already at death's door.
"E-Emperor! Don't kill me! I'll do anything you say! I'll be your loyal dog in this life and in the next! Please don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"
Gabriel was like the grim reaper for the Prince who was the most scared of death. The young prince placed his forehead on the ground, like a lowly servant, begging for forgiveness.
He also didn't forget to remind Gabriel that just like the Nobles who were allowed to live, he didn't have anything to do with the fate of Arecia Clan!
Gabriel watched the reaction of all three youngsters. All of their reactions were different from one another. One was brave, one was scared and one was already wetting his pants.
The fate and the future of all three of them was in Gabriel's hands. However, looking at their pitiful state, even Gabriel didn't feel like killing them.
The Prince kept begging Gabriel to let him live, even if he meant becoming a slave. As for Shia, she remained with her eyes closed, waiting for Gabriel's sword to take her life.
Gabriel knew that it was true that they hadn't done anything wrong to him. The only problem was the potential future threat. Then again, could these three really increase his future threats more than it already was? Moreover, he was upset that the Arecia Clan even killed the children, all because they were scared of the future threat, even though the children weren't an immediate threat to him.
He couldn't help but find himself in the same situation as the Alecton clan in the past, having to decide if he needed to kill innocent people to remove potential troubles from roots or let them live.
If he selected the first, he felt like he was going to be no different than the people he blamed. He was going to prove that the Alecton Clan was right in destroying the Arecia Clan from its roots.
undefinedGabriel's silence was more scary for the three youngsters. They didn't know what the young man could be thinking. This stress was particularly the highest for Azia who was already having a hard time breathing, due to fear. Azia was already feeling as if she was suffocating.
Thud~
Azia fell on her back. Her body was weak and her face was pale. She couldn't even maintain her consciousness in this situation.
Gabriel walked closer to Azia to check if she was still alive. He never really saw a person dying because of being scared.
"Just unconscious," he muttered after checking the young lady's wrist. For some reason, he couldn't help but find her pitiful. In a few days, there was going to be a tournament for the woman to find her husband who could protect her. And here she was, in a situation like this.
Even Shia was similar. He himself saved her life, not realizing her true identity. He was the one who gave her life. Could he really take it now? The two ladies didn't do anything wrong to him.
After a brief moment of silence, he finally decided on how to deal with the situation for now.
"Duke Callum, Take them to the prison in the Palace for now. I'll think about what to do with them later. Also, get a physician to check up on Azia. Don't let her die until I'm done deciding."
No matter what, he couldn't convince himself to kill these three people. It wasn't as simple as he had expected. At least not until he found out just what was in the heart of these three people. That's why he came up with an idea. Sending them to the prison was just the start. He already decided how to decide their fate...
At the same time no one else could see it, but a small piece of jade appeared in Gabriel's hand. An invisible thread came out of the jade that wrapped around the neck of all three youngsters. The thread was invisible and maintained a few millimetres of distance from their throats. However the thread also controlled their lives. The thread could easily take off their heads if Gabriel desired.
'If you can pass this test, you will live. But if you can't...'
The young prince couldn't believe that Gabriel was actually having mercy on them! Even though they were going to be imprisoned, it was better than a painful death! At least they could live that way! And who knew, Gabriel could even let them live in the future, taking some mercy on them.
Even Shia was stunned. She knew that if her father was in Gabriel's place, he never would've let them live. But this guy... Didn't this mean he saved her life twice?
The Royal Knights picked up Princess Azia who was unconscious. The others also made Princess Shia and Prince Rozen stand, escorting them out of the garden, making sure they couldn't escape.
"Are you sure you want to let them live?"
Callum hadn't expected Gabriel to be so merciful. In his heart, he knew that this kind of mercy was not something that a dark mage should possess. However, he also knew that maybe this was what made him different from every other dark mage?
Even after years of torment, the man still managed to retain some of his sensibility. He couldn't help but wonder if this was why he was able to win Avilia's favor?
"I'm not sure yet. But I'll be sure soon. I've already thought of something. But first, I have another task for you." Gabriel didn't answer what he planned right away. At least, not for now.
"What task?"
"Take the Royal Army and take control of all the Noble Clans that lost their heads today," Gabriel commanded. "From today on, all their armies will be ours. Whoever stands in your way, kill them. You understand? I don't want even the remnants of those clans to be left in the Empire!"
"I'll handle it." Callum agreed. "From today on, this entire Empire will be yours. And who knows, maybe one day, this Empire can also be the place where the Church of Darkness can make a return!"
'Church of Darkness in Arecia?' Gabriel frowned, but didn't respond.
He didn't want the Arecia Empire to join the war of churches. Even if he was to fight with other churches, he didn't want to use Arecia for that battle.
Even though he was the Emperor of Arecia; for him, this Empire still belonged to Novius. He didn't want it to face a war which could destroy Arecia from its core!
Callum left the garden as well, leaving to handle the matters that could solidify Gabriel's control over the Empire.
Gabriel also sent the remaining Royal Knights back, making sure that only he was left behind in the midst of all the bodies.
In the beautiful garden, the blood of Nobles had already painted some of the grass red.
After everyone left, Gabriel finally lowered her guard, sitting on the soft grass, letting out a sigh. So far, things had gone really smoothly. From tomorrow, everyone was going to know that Arecia had a new Emperor. His control over this Empire was absolute with the removal of the traitorous Nobles.
He didn't even have to use much of his magic to achieve all this. In the eyes of the Royal Knights, he was just a slightly more powerful Knight with the Holy Sword. He didn't possess any magic like mages.
"Everything is over... I did it... I freed this Empire. Then why...? Why do I not feel any relief? Why do I feel as if something is wrong? As if danger is getting closer from all sides? As if the future is going to be even more chaotic than I initially expected?"
The morning sky was a brilliant shade of blue, with the sun beginning to peek over the horizon. A light breeze rustled through the trees, bringing with it a sweet scent of fresh flowers and grass. The birds were chirping happily as they flew around looking for breakfast. The dew glistened on the newly bloomed wildflowers, giving them an extra sparkle in the early light.
Gabriel had spent the entire night in the Garden, trying to figure out the mystery behind the garden. His ring was still giving him the same signals as before, as if something really was in the garden that he couldn't see.
It was clear that whatever his ring was after was still in the garden. During the night, he checked the body of every person who was present here and only after making sure that they didn't have what he was looking for did he destroy the bodies.
Even on the body of the Emperor, he didn't find anything worth great importance. The Emperor didn't carry any Numens with him at all. The only strange thing that he found was some kind of broken jade dust that was in the hands of the Emperor.
undefinedGabriel didn't understand what the jade dust was. It had no special aura and didn't feel like a treasure. However, as soon as he touched the jade dust, he realized that it wasn't ordinary either. The jade dust was really warm, as if it was sand that was just taken out of scorching flames.
Despite being so hot, it didn't burn his, or the Emperor's skin.
Despite spending the night here and searching every corner of the garden, he couldn't find anything at all.
In the end, he could only sit on one of the chairs, feeling tired. All the bodies of people who were killed were gone. Even the blood that was splattered around the garden had been cleared, thanks to one of the Numens that Gabriel took from the Academy of Elements.
The calmness that came from this beautiful morning gave way to a feeling of peace and serenity that seemed to linger in the air. It was truly breathtaking and one could not help but feel grateful for such beauty all around them. Looking at the present atmosphere, no one could've guessed that just a few hours ago, something horrible had happened here where most of the Nobilities were wiped.
"Something is definitely in this garden, but I can't seem to find it. If it's not on the surface, could it really be underground?" Gabriel wondered, observing the massive garden.
Looking at the massive size of the garden, he understood just how hard it was to dig the entire thing up, especially since the ring wasn't telling him exactly where he needed to dig, or what he was looking for. He didn't even know if it was actually a Numen, or something weird like before.
"If some orbs like before are buried under this garden, they would definitely increase my spiritual strength. But I just increased it myself. Increasing it more before strengthening my body would only be more dangerous. I should really retrieve the thing that can help me before digging the garden..."
Gabriel didn't know just how long the peace of Arecia was going to last. He was sure that he couldn't rely on Avilia entirely either. He needed strength himself. He already had strength to some extent, but the problem for now was that he couldn't safely use all the strength he possessed.
Now that the Royal Palace was under his control, he wanted to solve that problem at the earliest.
The meeting of Saints which was supposed to be over in a few hours strangely dragged on for over twelve hours. No one outside knew what the Holy Priests were discussing for so long inside the Palace. They couldn't even guess what could take such strong existences so long to discuss.
It was early morning when the door of the Palace opened. The first person to step out of the hall was the red haired Holy Priest of Flames, who looked a bit irritated.
"Holy Lord!" The Head Priest of Flames rushed ahead, as soon as he watched Lerian come out.
"What are you doing here?" Lerian asked, slightly intrigued to see the Head Priest here who he left at the main Church to protect that place.
"My Lord, something big happened. I had to come here to inform you personally!" The Head Priest replied.
Lerian knew that the Head Priest before him was the strongest mage in the Holy Church of Flames after him. He really wasn't the one to exaggerate things.
"The fate stone of your daughter... It's been broken..." The Head Priest explained, subtly taking a step back. He wasn't sure just how Lerian was going to react to this information.
They had been waiting all this time for information like this, but this information was also something that was painful for all of them to share.
Avilia and the other Head Priests also came out of the meeting hall, at the same time as the Head Priest divulged this information.
Hearing the information, Lerian went completely silent. For a moment, he didn't even move. There was no reaction... To some, his reaction made him look as if this information wasn't worth any interest to him and that's why he was unmoved.
However, only the ones that knew him understood the truth. Lerian was an overbearing and arrogant man who was very easy to anger at times. He was also very strong. However, it was only when he was truly hurt that he didn't say anything.
Since Lerian's hands were in his pockets, not many could see his clenched fists. His own nails were stabbing his fist, making his hands bleed.
"I think I forgot something inside. I'll be right back." After a few moments, he finally spoke. He turned around and went back inside the meeting hall.
Since every other Holy Priest was already outside, he was the only one who was inside. Lerian closed the door for a moment, cutting him off from the outside World.
No one could hear what was happening inside. Similarly, no one could interfere.
"Arghhh!" Inside the meeting hall, Lerian screamed at the top of his lungs, letting out all his rage and emotions that he kept hidden throughout the years.
It was the first time in his life where his flames went out of control. Usually, Lerian's flames that people saw were dark red, that could burn anything in its path. However, the flames that came out of his body were a darker shade of blue, which was even more powerful than his ordinary flames.
The dark blue flames covered the entire hall as Lerian roared at the top of his lungs, smacking his fist on the table again and again!
Usually, all the Holy Priests would've already left now that the meeting was over, especially since all of them were feeling a bit tired. However, in the current situation, they didn't leave. They remained behind, glancing back at the door of the mansion.
"Is he going to be alright?" The Holy Priestess of Thunder asked, slightly worried. It was as if she understood what had happened.
She wasn't the only one either. Almost everyone here knew what this was about, except one person... Elora.
Elora was the newest addition to the Holy Priests. She also didn't have an extensive intelligence network like other churches. Moreover, since she was so new, she didn't know much about other Holy Priests at all. That's also why she had to take Thalia's help to arrange for the meeting of Saints.
Even Avilia was slightly down as soon as she heard the news. She didn't have any friendly relations with any Holy Priest. However, she could understand what the Holy Priest of Flames must be feeling at a time like this.
undefined"I wonder who did it... They really invited a disaster." Avilia could only sigh. She knew what the outcome of this was going to be.
"What is happening?" In the end, Avilia could only take Thalia's help to get some information. She didn't want to be the only one who didn't know what it was about.
"Do you know what fate stones are?" Thalia asked the Holy Priestess of Water.
"I do. I have one as one. They are so rare that even my entire Church only has one." Elora nodded. "The fate crystals can be attached to a person. When that person is in danger, they can crush that fate stone and this information is then sent to the place where the core of the Fate Crystal was set."
"Of course it's rare, since the materials to make them can't be easily found. If I'm not wrong, there are only ten such fate crystals in this entire continent," Thalia agreed.
"In other words, if you crush your jade stone, the Church of Water will get that information along with your location. They can then send help. This is only used as a last resort by us since each Church only has one Fate Crystal. Only the Church of Light which has two."
"Usually, the Fate Crystal is kept by the Holy Priests of the Churches since their safety is of utmost importance for the Churches. However, the Church of Flames was different. Lerian didn't use his fate crystal for himself," the Holy Priestess of Earth also chimed in. She had been a Holy Priestess the longest.
"Who did he give?" Elora inquired, wondering who could be worth a fate stone. Who could Lerian care for more than his own life?
"He gave it to his daughter," the Holy Priestess of Earth answered. "The person he cared the most for in his life..."
"He has a daughter?" Elora asked, taken aback. She had no idea that Lerian had a family and a daughter? She wondered why she never heard it.
"He 'had' a daughter," the Holy Priestess of Earth clarified.
"Before he became a Holy Priest, he was already married," Thalia affirmed. "Not only did he have a daughter, but he also had a wife and a son. Unfortunately, his son and his wife were killed by some bandits. Only his daughter managed to survive. Since then, his daughter had been his life. A few years after that incident, he became the Holy Priest of Flames..."
"I still remember the day he introduced his daughter to me," the Holy Priestess of Earth let out a sigh, as if she remembered the past. "You might hate his behaviour and how he reacts, but he used to be really different before he lost his daughter as well. I know that on the inside, he's still the same person, but he has buried his real self in a shell for a long time."
"H-his daughter died?!" Elora exclaimed in shock. Who could've killed his daughter, especially after he became a Holy Priest? Wasn't it even worse than attacking him personally?
"How is it possible?" she asked. "Didn't she have a Fate Crystal? She could've easily alerted him! Right?"
"That's what should've happened ideally." Thalia nodded. "However, for some reason, even as his daughter was kidnapped, her fate stone wasn't broken. It was as if whoever took her knew about her fate stone and prevented her from breaking it."
The Holy Priestess of Earth further explained, "The Church of Flames searched everywhere for his daughter. Of course I also helped, along with the other Churches."
"We were all hoping to find the little girl alive, but we couldn't. After two weeks of search, all we found was her dead body, in an abandoned house... She was only twelve when she was killed. And it wasn't a merciful death either. From the wounds on her body, she was tortured before being killed."
"The entire incident had left a deep impression on all the Churches, especially on Lerian. He was so angry that he burned the entire town where her body was found in anger."
"It was the first time a Church was targeted to such an extent. That incident changed Lerian forever. I don't think anyone has ever seen Lerian genuinely smile ever since that incident. He always hides behind a fake personality from what I can understand," the Holy Priestess of Earth stated. Since she knew Lerian the longest, she also knew him the most.
"Ever since that day, he had been looking for clues as to what happened that day. We could only guess that the Dark Mages were behind this. Even though we have no evidence, only they could pull something like that off. That's why he was so eager to leave the meeting to find the Church of Darkness as soon as he heard about their return."
"That's also why he was so upset when he found out that you lost the only clue which could lead us to the Church of Darkness that rose again. So I hope you won't blame him for being rude. It's something really personal for him... And for me as well," the Holy Priestess of Earth exclaimed. "I also want to know what happened that day, and who was behind this."
"I get it... I think I understand him better now..." Elora lowered her head, gazing toward the palace. She finally understood why Lerian was so intimidating in the meeting. It was only now that she realized how little she knew about everything.
(A/N: Some extra and important detail has been added in chapter 290 which I forgot to mention last time. If you want to read and can't see updated chapter, please try clearing cache of the app and check the chapter.
Also Important information: From 20 December, there will be a WN event where you can give your Golden Tickets to help the book. The GT will be counted double and should also help the book more than usual. So if you want to give at that time, please save your GT and don't give before 20 December.
If we reach the target, there should be two mass releases in next 30 days and something extra.
"Now that the fate stone is broken, doesn't that mean...?" Elora understood why Lerian was so upset.
The only thing which could've helped him find what happened that day was the Fate Stone. It was something that could record events that led up to the death of the owner even if it was not broken.
As long as they could've found the fate stone, they could've recovered that information and found out the truth of that incident. With the destruction of the Fate Stone, they lost all opportunity.
"This is bad news as well as good news in a way," The Holy Priest of Wind also spoke, entering the discussion. "He has been trying for so long to find the Fate Stone of his daughter. If he couldn't find it until now, that means it was impossible for him to find it. Instead of failing to find it, it's better to have the stone broken."
"What do you mean?" Elora inquired, not understanding why having the stone broken was a good thing.
undefined"The Fate Stone wasn't on the body when we found out," the Holy Priest of Wind answered. "And the Church of Flames searched the entire path, worrying that maybe the kidnapper tossed the stone. Since they couldn't find the stone in the path leading upto the location we found the body, that meant the stone wasn't tossed. Instead, the killer took the stone with him."
"Now that the Fate Stone is broken, it not only transmits its location to the Church of Flames, but it also marks everyone who was within a hundred thousand miles of the stone when it was broken."
"I don't know why the stone broke after all this time, but if the stone was kept by the killer, when it broke, it must be near the killer as well. Now that everyone who was in the range of the stone has been marked, Lerian should finally be able to get some answers."
The shattered Fate Stone meant the chance of finding the exact details were forever lost, but it also meant that Lerian could finally get closer to the real killer, or at least people who were associated with that incident.
"I'm afraid if he can't find answers, he would most probably kill everyone marked by the stone." The Holy Priestess of Earth sighed, shaking her head.
She turned to the Head Priest who brought this information here. "You there! Tell me which city it is?"
She knew that whichever City the stone was broken in was definitely going to face a calamity in the future. She just didn't want it to be one of the cities in her jurisdiction. If that was the case, things could get more complicated between her and Lerian.
"I-i can't tell you that." The Head Priest stepped back, slightly hesitating. He couldn't provide this kind of information to anyone else without the permission of Lerian.
The door of the Palace opened at the same time as extremely scorching air rushed out. A man stepped out of the Palace. The aura around the man was completely different from before.
Gabriel entered the Royal Palace, slightly tired. As he entered, he was greeted by all the Royal Knights. By now, everyone in the Empire knew that the young man who barely looked to be twenty years old was the new Emperor of Arecia!
The Head Servant of the Royal Palace personally came to escort Gabriel inside to show him around the Palace.
"Take me to the Royal Treasury first..." Gabriel told the Head Servant who seemed to be taking him to the room where he could rest first.
The Head Servant agreed and changed directions. "The Treasury is in that direction in the central part of the palace."
As Gabriel was being escorted, he couldn't help but observe all the portraits that were hanging on the wall. In most of the portraits, only the Royal Alecton Family was depicted.
"Have these portraits changed. If you still have the pictures from Arecia Clan, hang them instead. If not, buy any random paintings from the market. I don't want to see these the next time," he informed the Head Servant, who instantly noted it down.
"It shall be done, Your Majesty."
Looking at the portrait in which the Emperor was painted with his family, Gabriel thought of something. "That reminds me. It should be time..."
"That bastard! I will kill him when I have the strength!"
The Eldest Prince of Arecia was tossed in a cell. It was only after he made sure that no guards were here that he finally calmed down and returned to his old attitude.
He was supposed to be the Prince who was destined to become the Emperor after his father! This Empire was supposed to be his inheritance and his property. However, it was because of Gabriel that he lost everything! Not only was his father killed, but he was also a prisoner now!
Whenever he remembered how shameful he felt when he wet his pants before Gabriel in fear, he could only scream at the top of his lungs in anger. Unfortunately, even he knew that there was nothing he could do for now.
In a nearby cell, both his sisters were kept. Azia was already given the medical treatment that she needed before being left in the cell.
The Prince was still cursing Gabriel when he heard the sound of footsteps. He instantly closed his mouth and didn't dare speak, not knowing who was coming.
He sat with his back resting against the wall, keeping his eyes focused outside to see who was coming.
'Another prisoner?' he thought, noticing the guards outside the door. The guards were escorting a middle aged man who had both his hands tied behind his back.
The guards opened the door and pushed the middle aged man inside.
"A spy from Yann dares to roam around in our Empire? This bastard really thought he wouldn't be caught." The Guards scoffed before they turned and left.
"A spy from Yann? You must not be a good spy if you were caught that easily," the Prince commented, shaking his head in disappointment.
If it was in the past, he would've hated the man who was spying on his empire, but now the Empire wasn't his. He couldn't care less who was spying on the Empire. If anything, he wanted more people to know what happened here to see if someone could help him.
"Young Prince, your words are really sharp. And that too, after I came all this way to help you?"
The middle aged man said, letting out a disappointed sigh. "It seems you don't need my help. In that case, I'll be leaving."
The man stood up, stretching his arms as he lazily yawned.
Initially, the Prince didn't think much. In fact, he was about to call the middle aged man an idiot for thinking that he could still help him, despite being a prisoner as well. However, it was only after a while that he realized something wasn't right!
The Prince realized that something was wrong. When the man was pushed inside the cell, his hands were tied behind his back by shackles. However, now his hands were free? How was he able to free himself without any help?
"W-who are you?!" The Young Prince exclaimed. "You aren't an ordinary person, are you? To get out of the shackles so easily without help... Who truly are you?!"
"Who am I? Didn't you already hear that I'm someone from Yann? I happened to be here when this Empire went through such a sudden change that even I didn't expect. I must say, the new Emperor is really too hard headed, and I think that he would prove to be a much worse adversary for Yann."
"I would much prefer the Alecton Clan's way of doing things which ensured peace between the two Empires! But with this sudden change, things can be much more complicated. That's why, I couldn't stand idle."
"With the current Emperor's mentality, I don't think the peace will last long. That's why, I decided to lend a helping hand in this situation to you," the middle aged man turned around, flashing an amused smile. "I intentionally got caught by the guards so I could have easy access to you. If we want to bring you back to the throne, I'll need your help after all."
undefinedThe middle aged man didn't seem scared at all. Moreover, from his words, the Prince confirmed that the man intentionally came here. How could someone who can easily come out of the shackles get caught so easily?
"Y-you can help me reclaim the throne?" The Young Prince asked, taken aback. At a time like that, he really needed an opportunity and only an Empire like Yann could provide that support!
"Of course I can," the middle aged man answered smugly. "I can help you get out of this place easily. However, even I'm not strong enough to kill that young bastard. He is quite strong, especially with the Holy Sword of Arecia. That's why, after we leave, we need to get to Yann first."
"After we get to Yann and you sign the documents asking for our help, our Empire will send some great experts to help you. This will also help us improve the relationship between the two Empires. So, what do you say, young prince? Do you agree with my suggestion?"
The Prince was slightly hesitant. He knew that Yann wasn't as righteous as they were pretending to be. If Yann was going to help, they were definitely going to ask for some great rewards in exchange.
They could even ask for half the treasury in exchange. They were very greedy according to the young Prince. Unfortunately, he had no other choice. If he could keep the throne for himself, he was willing to sacrifice the Empire's treasures!
"I-i am willing!" The Prince agreed. No matter what he chose, he was at a loss. However, if he sided with Yann, at least he could reclaim the throne and watch Gabriel die with his own eyes!
"Good." The Middle Aged man walked to the door. He pulled out a small pin from his pockets and used it to break open the lock.
"You think you can break the locks like that? And here I thought you had some skills." The Prince could only sigh in disappointment. However, as he heard a clicking sound, his eyes widened! The lock actually opened!
The man had managed to open their lock with a small pin? He couldn't understand how this was possible.
"Stop daydreaming. The faster we get out of here, the better. We need to leave this city as soon as possible."
The man opened the door and stepped out of the prison cells.
"This man... People from Yann are not bad. Maybe cooperation with them is for the best..." The Prince stepped out of the cell as well.
"I heard your sisters were here as well. We need to take them as well. With more Royals from Alecton Clan, Yann's actions would have more legitimacy," the middle aged man reminded the Prince.
"That's right!" The Young Prince didn't question the logic. He rushed to the cell right next to him. Both his sisters were in the same cell, just waiting in silence.
Azia had also regained her consciousness, slightly relieved that she was still alive.
"Brother, how are you outside?!" Shia exclaimed in shock to find her brother outside.
"We don't have time for questions. Come with me! We are leaving Arecia! We will go to Yann and ask for their help in killing Gabriel!" The Prince informed his two sisters while the middle aged man used the same pin to unlock the second door as well.
"Going to Yann...?" Shia was stunned. Her brother was thinking about attacking Arecia with the help of Yann? Had he gone crazy? That too, after Gabriel let them live?
"Stop thinking! This is the only way to get the throne which belongs to me! Don't worry, I'll finalize the deal! You just need to stand beside me! Now come out!" The Prince kept looking around to make sure that no guards were coming.
Shia didn't know what to say. She just looked at the middle aged man. According to her brother, the man was from Yann. If she left, she truly could have a better life. Yann was slightly stronger than Arecia after all. With their help, reclaiming the throne was certainly possible.
Despite all that, she didn't stand. She only lowered her head. "You can leave. I'm not going."
"What?! Have you lost your mind?! Stop being stubborn and come with me! The guards might return at any time!" The Prince felt like scolding his sister out loud but he couldn't risk alerting the guards above.
"I won't leave. I accept that we've lost the Empire. I've accepted my fate. Moreover, I don't think Gabriel is a bad person. Despite what our father did to his family, he let us live. He saved my life twice... I would rather die than leave. I don't want to repay a life with death."
"You stubborn idiot!" The Prince could only curse in his heart. If they didn't need to sneak out, he would've dragged her out personally. However, he couldn't afford to drag a burden who didn't want to leave as that could only slow them down.
"Azia, you come with us! Let this stubborn idiot stay behind and die! I don't care anymore!" He turned his attention to Azia.
Azia was already very confused. Initially, she didn't like Gabriel since the man killed their father. However, after she thought about it, it was clear that their father was indeed the one who betrayed others for the throne. Gabriel was just reclaiming what belonged to him.
Moreover, Shia was right. Even when he had an opportunity, he showed them kindness by letting them live. He even sent doctors to help her when she lost consciousness. She had heard everything from Shia. Even her opinion about Gabriel had changed.
Another reason she didn't stand up was that she was truly scared. She was already the most timid person here who couldn't even speak in a loud voice, let alone have courage to sneak out of the Empire when they were supposed to be prisoners. She would rather stay here in silence all her life than risk anything.
She opened her lips to reject the invitation of her brother, however she couldn't gather courage to say that either. In the end, she could only shake her head, refusing to leave. She lowered her head, making sure to not look in her brother's eyes.
"You idiots! Have you all lost your sanity? Fine! If you don't come, then don't blame me for being ruthless later! From today onwards, you aren't members of our Clan! Even when I get the throne, I will never release you from this prison!" the Prince ruthlessly stated as he turned his back on both his sisters.
He turned to the middle aged man, ready to leave. "Envoy of Yann, my sisters aren't coming. But don't worry. I'm the Crown Prince. I should be enough alone for Yann to take action! Let's leave!"
The middle aged man smiled in response. "There's no need for leave. That should be enough. We are done here..."
"We are done?" The Prince frowned in confusion. "What do you mean? That should be enough for what?"
"Enough for your judgement," A voice came from the distance, making the Prince hastily look to his left.
The Prince recognised that voice! It was the voice that he dreaded the most! It was Gabriel's voice!
Even the two Princesses stood up as soon as they heard the voice! It was really Gabriel!
Just as the Prince had expected, not too far from him, Gabriel was standing. Finding Gabriel right in front of him, the young Prince was so scared that he subconsciously started stabbing back, tripping over and falling down
"Y-you stop him! Don't let him kill me! Yann needs me!" The Prince exclaimed at the top of his lungs, even when Gabriel hadn't started moving.
He had seen the middle aged man remove shackles on his own. He knew that the man was strong. He didn't know how strong, but he really hoped that he was strong enough to hold Gabriel back. He still hadn't realized that the man was working for Gabriel and the only reason he came out of the shackles was because he wasn't properly shackled at all.
The middle aged man looked at the young prince with a pitiful gaze. The Prince had fallen straight into the lie. Then again, he was a citizen of Yann and expected something like that. He knew the personality of this young man who could do anything to live. What he didn't expect was the two Princesses who refused to leave.
He was sure that the Princesses didn't know that this was a set-up by Gabriel to decide the future of the three. It only meant that they genuinely had no intentions of usurping Gabriel.
"Help you?" the middle aged man asked the Prince on the ground. "With a Prince as stupid as you, it's no wonder your family couldn't hold onto the power. Let alone me, no one in this Empire can help you. You were dead the moment you agreed to leave the cell with me."
undefinedThe man didn't interfere in what was about to happen next. He just stepped back, wondering just how Gabriel was going to deal with the Prince.
Gabriel didn't speak much. After briefly observing the Prince who was on the ground, he turned around. "Shift the Princesses to proper rooms in the castle. They aren't allowed to leave their rooms without my permission. Assign some guards before the rooms assigned to them."
"Your Majesty, about the Prince?" the middle aged man asked, surprised. Was Gabriel not going to kill the Prince? That didn't make sense.
"What Prince?" Gabriel asked, without even bothering to look back.
"That... Huh?" The Middle Aged man was about to reply when he heard some noise coming from behind him. As soon as he turned around, he found the Prince still lying on the ground. However, his head wasn't attached to his body anymore.
'This guy... He is frightening,' the middle aged man thought, watching Gabriel leave.
The two Princesses were horrified to watch their brother being killed. All they saw before their brother's head rolled on the ground was a single thread of light appearing around the man's neck as if it was a collar. The collar of light immediately tightened, slicing the throat of the Prince.
Both the Princesses gulped down, touching their throats, wondering if there was a similar collar around their necks which they couldn't see...
The Two Princesses were shifted to proper rooms in the castle, treated like guests. However, all the servants knew that it was no different than house arrest. They were given a proper room to stay, and delicious food daily, but they weren't allowed to leave.
It only took twenty four hours and the news about the new Emperor spread in the entire Empire. The news even travelled to the neighbouring Empires with time, shocking all the nearby Empires. The change was so sudden after all.
Most of the people didn't even know what the Emperor looked like, but according to the stories that spread, the new Emperor was a young Knight in his early twenties who was a descendant of the Arecia Clan. No one knew that he was a Mage... No one except Duke Callum who was the only Duke left in the Empire.
All the Dukes that helped the previous Emperor in destroying the Arecia Clan had been killed. Duke Callum also destroyed all the Clans that refused to surrender right away. As for the clans that did surrender, all people who could influence the future stability of the Empire were killed by him, leaving only the ones who couldn't affect anything.
The Dukes who sided with Gabriel gave up their properties, wealth and armies on their own. Duke Callum didn't even need to work hard for that.
Within a day, the size of the Royal Army had increased by multiple folds and all Powers who maintained their own armies were brought down a notch. Despite such a drastic change happening in the Empire in such a short time, nothing back happened since most of the people already supported the new Emperor.
Even the criminals didn't dare to cause any troubles after hearing just how ruthless the new Emperor was to his enemies. There was not a single person in the Empire who wasn't talking about Gabriel for now.
Meanwhile, Gabriel was still in his room in the Palace. He had searched the entire Palace from top to bottom throughout the day, finally finding the telling that he was looking for.
He was sitting on the bed, looking at the cross shaped earring that was placed before him.
The mirror in the tower of challenges only told him that the earring could help make his body become stronger, but how? He didn't know. He wasn't even told anything about the earring, or the demigod it belonged to. Since he had limited questions, he couldn't ask these questions either.
However, he had something that he believed could help him understand this peculiar Numen and its past.
"Lambard was after this item, so it shouldn't have been disappointing. Unfortunately, it has only failed me so far. I hope it doesn't fail now..." He brought out the Eye of Osiris, which belonged to the Demigod Osiris who could see past and present of anything.
Even though the eye of Osiris wasn't as powerful as Demigod Osiris in terms of abilities, it still had one of the Demigod's skills. No matter which item Gabriel looked at, the ring of Osiris could look into its past and reveal all the mysteries about it...at least that's what he thought initially.
He only used this ring three times... First was on the Orb of Time and the second was on the Grimoire of Necromancy. The first two times, the eyes of Osiris failed to look through these items, as if the items were beyond its reach. It was only when he used it on a low tier Numen that was associated with Demigods that it worked.
With that kind of experience, Gabriel wasn't even sure if this was going to work on the earring before him, but he could only try. Since the earring of strength belonged to a Demigod, he had a feeling that it might work.
He held the eye of Osiris between his thumb and his finger before touching the earring with it.
The Eye of Osiris was a gem that belonged to Demigoddess Osiris who had an ability that was strong enough to even look into the past of gods like Karyk. This was also the ability which gave her an ability to know things that others didn't, helping her take decisions accordingly.
It was said that this was also the reason Osiris was very peculiar about who she associated with. She never used her abilities to help others.
However, unlike Osiris, the gem that came into being after her death only had a fraction of her strength. Let alone being able to look through the past of gods, it couldn't even look through things directly associated with them... Things like the stone of time and the Grimoire of Necromancy. Whenever it tried, it only faced a dark cloud that stopped it.
The gem could only help someone look through ordinary items and Numens associated with Demigods.
As soon as Gabriel touched the earring with the Eye of Osiris, the gem started shining brightly. A lot of information suddenly gushed inside Gabriel's head through the eye of Osiris.
undefinedIt was as if Gabriel was living through that time, watching everything from a third person's view.
In the first vision, Gabriel found a boy lying on the ground. His head was bleeding, but he was still conscious.
Not too far from the boy, there was a woman who was lying dead on the ground. The woman had similar facial features to that boy. Looking at her age, Gabriel could feel that the woman was probably her mother.
There was also a man, whose legs were cut. The man and the boy were surrounded from all sides by people who seemed to be bandits.
The man was begging the bandits to at least let their son leave, but the bandits were only laughing heartlessly. It didn't seem as if they were going to let anyone leave alive.
The little boy watched his father be killed as well, unable to do anything. The bandits didn't even stop there and moved over to the boy.
Gabriel watched the entire scene, slightly curious. Since this was shown by the Eye of Osiris, that meant this had something to do with Demigod Alion who owned the Earring.
He was sure that one person in the entire scene was Alion, and most probably that person was the young boy.
"We would've loved to sell you as a slave in three market, but too bad that's not feasible. We are tasked to kill you. So be it!" The leader of the bandits raised his Sword, ready to slice.
The little boy closed his tear filled eyes that were filled with anger and indignation.
"Boss! Someone is coming!" Just as the sword was about to touch the boy, one of the bandits exclaimed.
The Bandit King stopped and turned around. "What are you telling me that for? No matter who it is, kill him! No one who saw us today shall be left alive!"
Gabriel also looked in the distance. Looking at the person who had arrived, he couldn't help but scratch the back of his head. "These guys are doomed it seems..."
He was sure that the boy was going to live since he was Demigod Alion in the future. He just didn't know how. However, now that he saw the person who had just arrived, he understood how Alion survived.
The young man who was arriving was traveling on a horse. He didn't even seem to care about his surroundings. There was a blood red sword hanging on the man's back.
"Demigod Ulien," Gabriel muttered, recognising that man. The man not only had the strength to destroy other Demigods with ease, but he also had a very short temper. If not for him facing off against Karyk accidentally, Gabriel was sure that Ulien wouldn't have died that soon.
For someone like him to deal with a few bandits was certainly an overkill according to him.
Gabriel could only pity the bandits that attacked Ulien without knowing the demon that they were provoking.
Just as he expected, Ulien was angered right away. In a single strike, he killed all the bandits who were standing in his path. Even the Bandit King couldn't survive.
The only person still alive was Alion. Ulien didn't care for Alion who was injured. He simply got back on his horse and left...
Gabriel watched Ulien leave. "Looking at his attire he's wearing, and his age, there should not be much time before he's killed by Karyk."
Looking in Alion's eyes, he realized that this was also the moment... The moment when Alion realized the importance of strength. He wanted to be strong like Ulien. He knew that if he was stronger, he could've protected his family from all troubles. His family wouldn't have died.
The vision changed. In the next few scenes, Gabriel saw Alion train as hard as he could, to becoming as strong as possible. He didn't even care about his life as he trained, slowly increasing his strength. There were many times when Alion was close to death's door in his training, but he didn't care.
It was unclear when it happened, but Alion became a Demigod, selected by the chaotic energy that gave him immense physical strength. His skin became so hard that even swords couldn't penetrate his skin.
When it came to physical strength, he was the strongest. However, his spiritual strength was the weakest amongst all the Demigods. He couldn't use any magic, only relying on his own strength.
The cross-shaped earrings that Gabriel now possessed was also one of the two earrings that Alion used to wear.
The vision showed Gabriel a lot of things, related to Alion, but there was one thing it didn't show. The eye of Osiris didn't show Gabriel just how Alion died. Just what led to Alion's death... Someone who had such powerful physical strength? And what happened to the second earring? Was that also a Numen? Gabriel still had many questions.
Unfortunately, he was pushed out of the vision, coming back to his senses. He didn't know the end of Alion.
Since he couldn't get an answer, he sent the eye of Osiris back and tried another method. He used the method to bind the earring to himself, using his own blood. When binding, it gave him a small chance of being able to know more things, especially from the memories stored in the earring of strength.
He used a small knife to slightly cut his thumb and used his own blood to create his unique binding formation. The last owner of the earring was dead, so he doesn't worry about failing. He was left curious about the past…
Gabriel used the binding formation, created with his own blood on the earring, binding it with him. Unlike the Ancestral Staff of Darkness, the Earring of Strength didn't resist his control a lot. Within a few minutes, the formation was successful, granting even more information access to Gabriel.
He received all the information on how he could use the earring of strength and exactly how it affected him. All this information flooded his head. Unfortunately, all he received was the information regarding the cross-shaped earring and nothing more. There was nothing related to Alion in the new information.
"So that's what this is... I wasn't expecting it to work like that... This makes it a bit challenging..." Gabriel picked up the Silver Earring of Alion. When he was informed about this Numen initially, he expected it to make his body stronger simply by using it. However, it was only now that he realized that there was more to it.
Although the earring made his body stronger when he wore it, the strength came at a cost... The cost of immense pain. Alion went through a lot of pain, borderline torturing his body to gain this strength. After his strength, the earring became a Numen, gaining a consciousness of its own.
The way it made a person stronger was by using a similar method to Alion, just a little more concise.
undefined"From what I can understand, this will hurt a lot if I wear it," Gabriel observed the earring, which looked very ordinary from the initial glance. "But I don't have much of a choice. The constant pain and pressure will only make me stronger with time..."
"Arghhhhh!"
A pained roar echoed through the hallways, coming from the Emperor's room. Outside the room, many Royal Knights wondered what was happening and why Gabriel was screaming. They even wanted to check if something was wrong. However, they couldn't disobey Gabriel's command.
Gabriel had already informed them that no one was allowed to enter the room, no matter what happened.
The Captain of the Royal Knights and the new Saint Knight also arrived outside the room, seemingly concerned.
From Gabriel's constant screams, it was clear that he was going through soul-crushing pain. The pain should've been enough to make anyone lose consciousness by now, but Gabriel was still holding on.
"What is he doing inside...?" The Saint Knight wondered. "He said he would be doing some training, but a training this painful?!"
Gabriel expected pain when he wore the earring in his left ear, but even he didn't expect this much pain... It was as if he was going to lose consciousness from pain, but the earring kept him conscious so as to make his willpower stronger as well.
The room was filled with a tense atmosphere as the figure in the bed writhed in agony. Sweat beads were on his forehead, and his eyes were squeezed shut as his hands gripped tightly to the sheets beneath him.
His breathing was shallow, punctuated by low screams of pain that came from deep within his chest. He continued roaring for hours until finally, mercifully, he drifted off into sleep - exhausted from all the suffering he had endured.
As Gabriel went through the torturous amount of pain, he didn't have time to notice that his body had already started changing. His skin became clearer and smoother, which would've made a person think that his physical defense was decreasing. However, on the contrary, his physique was only becoming stronger with each passing moment!
"He stopped screaming. Should we check?" One of the Royal Knights asked the Saint Knight as Gabriel's screams stopped. No sound was coming from inside anymore.
"No need," the Saint Knight didn't give anyone permission to enter the Emperor's room. He believed in Gabriel. The man wouldn't have gone through it if he wasn't confident about his safety. The Saint Knight didn't think that Gabriel risked death, despite how much he screamed.
If anything, he believed that Gabriel passed out from all the pain and that they needed to let him rest.
"Just guard this place properly. No one should be allowed in. If I find out that someone went inside, I'll kill that person myself!" The Saint Knight exclaimed as he took another glance at the door of Gabriel's room. "I'll be meeting Duke Callum. If something happens that needs my attention, don't forget to inform me."
As Gabriel had just passed out, the Saint Knight didn't believe that he was going to wake up anytime soon. So waiting here was useless. He instead decided to deal with the matters of the Empire. Since so many Noble Families had been wiped out recently, there were many things that had to be taken care of.
Gabriel passed out of all the pain. The room returned to silence. However, even as Gabriel went into a slumber, he didn't find complete peace.
Instead, he found himself in a strange place. His physical body was still in the room inside the palace, but his consciousness was in a strange place... A dream that looked more real than the reality itself.
"Another such dream?" It had been a long time since he found himself in a dream like that. In fact, ever since he left the Tower of Challenges after going through the soul torture of Lira, he didn't have such dreams ever again.
It was the first time since that moment that he was here again.
Gabriel found himself near a waterfall. For some reason, he felt quite familiar with the waterfall. It was as if he had seen the waterfall before, and that too, recently. It's just that his mind was a bit cloudy, preventing him from remembering instantly.
"Ah, that's right! This waterfall! I remember where I saw it! In the vision induced by the Eye of Osiris! This was one of the places where Alion trained!" he suddenly exclaimed, finally remembering where this place was.
Gabriel slowly approached the base of the majestic, mist-shrouded waterfall. Its thunderous roar echoed through the air as it cascaded down from high in the mountains, sending a fine spray into the air with each plunge.
Gabriel stood there for a moment, awestruck by its beauty and power. Even though he had seen this place in the vision before, but in this dream, it was like he was actually physically present there! He took a few steps closer and reached out his hand to feel the cool droplets on his skin.
The sun was beginning to set behind him, casting an orange glow on everything around him as Gabriel gazed up at this natural wonder in intrigue. As he walked closer still, he could see rainbows dancing in each droplet that splashed against his face. It was clear to him that this waterfall wasn't normal... there was something about it... Something that broke the laws of nature…
Gabriel reached out his hand to touch the water, only to stop mid-way, feeling a powerful presence in his surroundings.
As he looked back, he found a young man standing behind him. The man had appeared there like a ghost, but it didn't look like he could see Gabriel.
"Alion!" Gabriel took a step to the side, observing the young man who was brimming with power.
The man didn't look at Gabriel. Instead, he just walked closer to the waterfall, walking right under it. He sat cross-legged on the rocky surface under the waterfall as he closed his eyes, resting his hands lightly on his knees. Despite the water falling with such pressure, the man didn't make even the slightest of sound.
The sound of the rushing water was almost deafening, but Alion seemed to be in a state of meditative peace despite it. The steady flow of the waterfall created an ethereal atmosphere that enveloped him like a cocoon as drops from above landed on his bare skin, cooling him off from the harsh heat outside.
undefinedGabriel simply observed the man for a short time, wondering if something significant was going to happen in this dream. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. Even as half an hour passed, nothing of significance happened.
"Stop standing there... Your body is weak... You need more help..." After an hour passed, the man under the waterfall finally opened his eyes. "Get under the waterfall."
"You can see me?!" Gabriel exclaimed, surprised. He didn't expect the man to be able to see him. Not only did the man notice him, but he also knew that his body was weaker.
Despite his question, the man didn't answer. Instead, he simply closed his eyes again, behaving as if Gabriel wasn't even there.
Gabriel didn't get any answer, but still, he decided to follow through. From what the man said, it didn't look like he had any bad intentions. If anything, it looked more like he wanted to help him.
Gabriel took off his shirt and entered the water, getting under the waterfall near the man.
The pressure of the waterfall came crashing down on his body. Each water droplet was like a force of nature that was forcing him down as if telling him to leave if he couldn't handle this pressure.
Gabriel struggled a lot under this pressure, but the man next to him was calmly sitting as if this pressure was nothing.
Gabriel also positioned him the same way as Alion, sitting with his legs folded. Despite the heavy pressure on his body, he didn't give in. He also closed his eyes and sat in a meditative position.
The waterfall was forcing his body down as if ten times more gravity was acting on his body. However, despite all that, Gabriel didn't feel much pain. If anything, he felt as if something in his surroundings was nourishing his soul.
While Gabriel sat under the waterfall in the dream, in the real world, a mysterious yet similar energy was nourishing his body, healing all his hidden injuries from every time he got hurt for overusing his soul strength.
The pressure acting on Gabriel's body kept increasing in the dream, albeit a bit slowly. If initially, he was under ten times the effect of gravity in his dream, then with each passing hour, the gravity was increasing by ten percent...
Gabriel sat under the waterfall for seven hours, not moving. His skin had already turned slightly red, and his legs had gone numb, but he didn't try moving.
It was only when he heard Alion's voice calling him that he opened his eyes.
He slowly opened his eyes, noticing Alion standing on the ground in the distance. "That's enough for today. Leave."
"Wait, yo-" Gabriel stood up, saying something. However, before he could even finish his sentence, the dream shattered.
He abruptly opened his eyes, observing his surroundings. It was clear to him that he was back in the Emperor's room. He touched his left ear, checking for the earring, which was still there.
"That dream... What did he mean enough for today... And that waterfall... How can a dream make my soul and physique stronger...?"
Gabriel stood up, feeling a new strength in his body. He could feel that his body was stronger now compared to before. The pain was also almost gone, but for some strange reason, he still felt some of the gravity suppression.
"Is it because of the earring of strength?"
The gravity suppression he experienced from the earring was the same as he experienced under the waterfall. Even the percentage of gravity increase that he felt was almost the same as what it was when his dream broke.
To test it, he stood up. As soon as Gabriel stood up, he immediately lost his balance under the increased gravity effect on him. For some reason, gravity only affected his body, but it didn't increase any pressure on the ground under his feet.
It was as if even if he stopped on a thin floor created using the weakest wood, the increased gravity wasn't going to break the floor under him. It was just something that affected him personally and not the surroundings.
"Increase in strength, but at a cost... A worthy trade for now..." Gabriel pushed his body up, trying to find a balance so he could familiarize himself with the increased gravity on him.
Initially, he struggled to adjust to the sudden change. Each of his steps was more than ten times heavier. Even raising his hand felt like he was raising a heavy hammer. Fortunately, the pressure was still manageable.
After practicing movement for half an hour, he finally managed to familiarize himself with the change.
After handling his movement, Gabriel went for a shower right away. After the last night, his body was already covered in sweat and impurities. He took off his clothes, along with the bedsheet, and tossed all of them aside, burning both of them right away.
He also cast a purification spell on the room to clean it from the smell before he finally entered the shower.
After a long shower, Gabriel came out of the shower room, completely dressed, only to be surprised once again to find someone present in his room.
"You're finally back?" he asked. "You missed an interesting event."
"You still have time to talk about that?" The young lady who sat on the bed answered, sighing. "I came here to tell you something important."
"What happened?" Gabriel inquired. It wasn't often when he saw the Holy Priestess of Summoning with such seriousness.
"Nothing happened yet. However, the same can't be said about the future," Avilia replied. "You should leave this Empire as soon as possible. A big storm is brewing, which might swallow this Empire soon…."
"What storm?" Gabriel inquired, slightly confused.
The only thing that could trouble him at this point was if any Churches were coming after him. However, he was sure that none of the Churches knew about him being here... He made sure of that. Then why would he need to run?
"You really don't know anything, do you?" Avilia sighed, slightly surprised at how ignorant this guy was. Then again, she also knew that there was genuinely no way for him to know. Even she only knew because she was there when the Lord of Flames was informed about the location where the stone was broken.
"What don't I know?" Gabriel asked. "There's no reason to be vague. Just be direct. Who is coming for me?"
"No one is coming for you specifically, but you're also caught in this whole mess this time. You've been marked by the Fate Stone with everyone else who was in this city when the stone was broken," the Holy Priestess of Summoning replied. "The Church of Flames will be directly involved this time."
undefined"Fate Stone?" Gabriel only grew more confused. He had no idea what the Fate stone event meant, but he hadn't forgotten the last words of the Emperor of Arecia, where he said that the entire city would suffer. He had a feeling that whatever doom the Empire was facing had something to do with him.
And since Avilia personally came here to warn him this time, it was clear that he hadn't bluffed.
"The Church of Flames will be coming to destroy this Empire? So you're saying that the Church of Flames doesn't know I'm here specifically? This time, it's a coincidence that I'm caught in this mess... But what's this Fate Stone?"
Gabriel couldn't believe that even when he was trying to avoid the Churches to gain more strength, he was still caught in this mess with a Church. He wanted to understand the whole situation before doing anything.
The Holy Priestess of Summoning explained everything that happened after she left Gabriel last time, including being taken to the Meeting of Saints.
The Saints had a rule that no one was allowed to tell anyone about the discussion that took place in the meeting of the Saints, but Avilia couldn't care less, especially since no one had any way to know if any information was leaked. She already knew that other Holy Priests didn't bother about this rule either.
She also told him about the incident that occurred after they came out of the meeting regarding the Fate Stone. Along the way, she explained to him about the Fate Stone.
"The third strongest Holy Priest, Lerian... This is certainly a mess if they come here to investigate."
After hearing everything, Gabriel perfectly understood just why this was a problem. The Holy Priest of Flames was said to be quite strong after all, with spells that targeted large ranges.
'I am an Advanced Tier Mage, but he's said to be at the peak of Soul Strength... I might be able to face him if I go all out, but the problem arises when other Churches join in... I'm not strong enough yet. This Empire will certainly be destroyed if I fight at this point...'
There were some things that he didn't tell Avilia, keeping his secrets to himself. However, he still knew that if he wanted a better chance, he had to take Avilia's help in this.
"If Lerian comes here to investigate, he would definitely ask to meet the Emperor," he stated. "If he meets me, I can't be entirely sure that he won't find out my real identity. But if I sent someone else to pretend to be the Emperor, it won't take him long to find out the truth either... If that happens, he might even destroy this city in anger."
"That's why I'm asking you to leave." Avilia nodded. Find Lambard, and he might be able to help you take off the Mark of Fate Stone from you. I heard you had some dealings with him. If you know his new location, you should go there."
"His new location?"
Gabriel hadn't known that Lambard's City had changed places, and even the Churches didn't know where the city of Abbadon was presently established.
After being informed by Avilia, he realized that this option was out of the question as well. He only knew the last location of the City of Apophis.
Even he didn't know the new location. And even if he knew, he had a feeling that Lambard wasn't going to help him. Those two didn't have any good relationship anymore after all.
"I can't take Lambard's help. Even I don't know where he is," he honestly told Avilia. "That's not an option."
As Gabriel spoke, he kept observing Avilia's reaction, trying to gauge her position.
"Don't look at me like that. I won't help you fight Lerian." Noticing Gabriel's strange gaze, Avilia shrugged. "I told you before... I'm supposed to be neutral..."
Gabriel didn't react much. He wasn't surprised by her reaction.
Even though Avilia was strong, he knew that her position was slightly complicated. If she joined him to fight a Holy Priest, it could create a large-scale war between all Holy Priests. They weren't close enough for her to take this risk yet.
He also didn't want her to take this risk. She was his trump card for the future, someone who could get him more information about the Holy Priests. He didn't want other Holy Priests to find out that she was working with him as well.
"Don't worry. I am not going to ask you to fight for me," he explained. "I have an idea, and I'll handle Lerian myself. I just need a little time and a tiny bit of help from you..."
"What help?" Avilia asked, frowning. For some reason, she didn't have a good feeling about this. Just what help was Gabriel looking for if this wasn't asking her to fight?
"I want to borrow a beast from you..." Gabriel explained. If possible, he wanted to avoid this situation, but he couldn't. "A beast that can fly and carry me."
"A Flying Beast? Why do you need one?" Avilia inquired, having no idea.
...
Gabriel took a brief pause before telling one line to Avilia. However, that one line was enough to shock the Holy Priestess of Summoning.
"What the... Have you gone crazy? Are you looking for death?!" The Holy Priestess of Summoning exclaimed, standing up in shock.
When she came to Gabriel to inform him, it was only because she believed he wasn't strong enough to handle this mess. She wanted him to run away and continue growing until he was strong enough to face a Holy Priest to break the balance. However, she didn't expect him to devise such an absurd idea!
"Why would I look for death?" Gabriel didn't mind Avilia calling him crazy. If anything, he would've called himself crazy as well since he was actually suggesting something absurd.
Unfortunately, he had no choice for now. He could either risk the entire Empire and his identity, which was going to lead to something even more problematic, or he could go with his plan.
He didn't know how Emperor Alecton got the fate stone that was taken by the killer of Lord of Flames' daughter. However, he knew that this entire Empire was turned into a scapegoat. Moreover, since he heard how the Lord of Flames destroyed an entire city in the past, he didn't put this possibility past him.
This Empire and him were made scapegoats. If he wanted to get out of this situation, he needed to give Lerian another scapegoat. Only then could he avoid future troubles. However, achieving that was the hardest part... He couldn't just tell Lerian about Emperor Alecton while meeting him.
There was no way Lerian was going to believe anything he said. That's why this plan became absolutely necessary, no matter how absurd it was!
undefined"So you're really serious? You really want to attack the Church of Flames instead?!" The Holy Priestess of Summoning grimaced. She knew that Gabriel was unorthodox, but even she didn't know that he could plan something like this.
The strangest part of the entire plan was that even though it was so risky, he didn't ask for her help in the battles. The only thing he asked for was a beast to carry him near the Church of Flames.
Gabriel had already promised her that her beast didn't need to carry her all the way and that he could fly the rest of the way on his own so that the Holy Priestess of Summoning couldn't be linked with this.
But still... Something like this... Even Avilia would've thought twice before trying something like this.
"If you don't want to lend me a Beast, give me a map which I can use to get there. It'll take a longer time on my own, but I should be able to pull it off," Gabriel reminded Avilia, who was lost in thoughts.
"You realize if you do that, there's no going back?" The Holy Priestess of Summoning asked one last time. "You might lose your life... And I won't save you!"
Gabriel already knew the things that Avilia was saying. He didn't expect her to come to save him. However, he was still confident in his own abilities... At least he believed that he could get out alive now that he was able to use his Spells of Necromancy properly without having to worry about losing control of his body.
'It's not as if I would've done it so soon if I had another choice.' He only sighed in response. The way Avilia reacted, it was as if she thought that he was really crazy and actually wanted to do this because he thought it was fun.
"I told you. Even if you don't help me, I'll still do it. This Empire is someone else's lineage. I didn't want it to be destroyed right when I got it... If you don't want to help, you can leave. It's safer for you if you get out of here before Lerian arrives..."
Even after waiting for a few minutes, Avilia didn't look like she was going to lend him a beast. He could only look for other ways. He stood up and started leaving the room. He was sure if he wanted, he could find a map in the Empire that led to the Church of Flames. It's just that it was more time consuming.
The only way to push Avilia to help him in this situation was to act like he didn't need her help. He was sure that she was going to stop him if he tried to leave.
"Wait!" As Gabriel was about to step out the door, the Holy Priestess of Summoning called out. "I'll lend you a beast... It'll carry you to the Domain of the Church of Flames. However, as I said before, after that point, everything will depend on your own abilities. I hope you won't regret this choice."
Gabriel turned around. "There are many choices that I regret making in this life. But this won't be one of them..."
[Five Hours Later]
Gabriel soared through the air, riding atop a magnificent flying beast. The Beast had a speed that was much faster than his own flying speed.
"Being a Summoner is definitely good. They can summon a myriad of beasts, each with a different ability. A beast like that would've been quite useful if I controlled one. Even I might not be able to catch up to a beast like this..."
He had heard a lot about Summoners. So far, other than Avilia, all Summoners he met were low level Summoners. They could control weaker beasts. However, Avilia's beasts were top-tier beasts. He could see that just the beast alone that was carrying him was as strong as the Saint Knight in terms of physical strength! This also made him somewhat jealous.
"As a Necromancer, I wonder if there is an Undead species that can also fly and catch up to such a speed?" he wondered, sitting atop Avilia's beast. "If not, I should find a powerful beast in the future for myself and turn it into an Undead. It can be quite useful in the future for travel..."
"I should really start focusing on the Undead Army."
The sun glinted off the Summoned Beast's wings. The Beast's wings were made from shimmering scales that glowed in hues of blue, green, and gold in the early morning light.
With the speed of the Beast, it didn't take long for them to reach the Domain of the Church of Flames. It was just outside the Domains of the Church of Flames where the Flying Beast stopped. It didn't move any further.
At this point, Gabriel could only stand up and let the Beast wait outside for him. He cast a Flight Spell on his body. He traveled the rest of the way himself, along the way making sure that he didn't forget anything!
While Gabriel reached near the Church of Flames, a group of Head Priests had also entered the Empire of Arecia.
It had been a long time since the Church of Flames had mobilized this many people! The Priests of the Church of Flames had already sealed the Empire of Arecia from all sides. No one was allowed to enter the Empire, and no one was allowed to leave either!
The two enemies were now in each other's territories…
More than half the Church of Flame's forces had entered the Arecia Empire after sealing it from all sides, leaving only half the forces back at the Main Branch of the Church.
Even the Lord of Flames had personally gone to the Arecia Empire. In each of the City of Arecia, a Head Priest of Flames was placed, to exert a greater level of control over the Empire.
At the same time, the Lord of Flames led the core group to the Royal Capital where the crystal was shattered.
When the crystal broke, everyone who was in the Empire was marked and those marks could be sensed by the Lord of Flames. Everyone except one...
Gabriel couldn't be sensed by the Lord of Flames. Even though Avilia asked Gabriel to take Lambard's help to remove the Mark of Fate Stone and escape, he didn't bother.
undefinedIf he wanted, it was easy for him to escape after all since he had a way to isolate the mark of Fate Stone thanks to his Grimoire of Necromancy which had an expertise in the area of souls!
Before leaving the Empire, he made sure to erase the Mark of Fate Stone. He knew that Lerian was going to enter the Empire soon.
He wanted to keep Lerian in the dark, making him believe that everyone who was marked by the stone at the time was inside the Empire when he entered and sealed the City! That gave him a greater safety range while also ensuring that he couldn't be sensed when he reached the Church of Flames!
He already had a plan in his head... A plan to take care of some troubles while he had an opportunity, even if it meant offending a few Churches. In fact, he had already offended them without even doing anything. This time, he wanted to make sure that he used that to his advantage.
Gabriel entered the territory of the Lord of Flames. The main branch of the Church of Flames was situated in the Leviria Empire, which was inherently different from many nearby Empires. It was one of the farthest Empires from the Lumen Empire where the Church of Flames was established.
The Leviria Empire was also very chaotic at its core. It was said to be an Empire where strength reigned supreme. If one had strength, they could achieve anything!
In fact, if one wanted to be an Empire, it was also an achievable task. One didn't need a high profile background or anyone's support to achieve it.
There were only three rules to become an Emperor. One was that the person had to be a Mage of Flames! The second rule was that the person had to be a citizen of the Leviria Empire. And the last rule was that the person had to challenge and defeat the current Emperor at that time.
Despite it being such an easy task to achieve, people preferred to avoid it. If they were strong, they would've much rather preferred to join the Church instead. Even an ordinary priest of the Church of Flames had more prestige in the Empire!
Even the Emperor had to treat the Church members with great respect. However, that respect was only extended to the Church of Flames which lorded over this Domain.
Traveling in the Empire was easy, especially passing through the outer cities, but as soon as Gabriel started getting closer to the inner part of the Empire, things became slightly hard.
In the inner cities, everyone was checked properly before being allowed inside. Moreover, for some reason, there was suppression around the cities which prevented flight spells.
Gabriel didn't know how the Empire achieved something like this. He found himself really interested in this... A way to stop flight spells in the area? He had a feeling that it was possible thanks to the large scale formations that covered the cities.
"But how can they keep it running? If it's a usual formation, it needs an energy source. To run this formation in multiple cities, can the Empire really afford so many Spirit Stones? That should be it..."
Gabriel snuck inside one of the cities, avoiding the checking of Elemental Marks at the entrance. In every major city, a person was allowed entry only after their left hand was checked.
Usually, he could've shown his left hand when he hadn't merged with the element of darkness, but not anymore. Now, he could only use other methods to sneak inside the city.
"If it's a formation, it definitely needs an energy source in the form of Spirit Crystals. If it doesn't, they would've covered outer cities with it too. But it's also possible they don't care about outer cities since they aren't that important? Could it really be that Leviria found an alternate energy source for formations that they can afford?"
Gabriel was really curious as to how these people achieved it. If anything, he wanted to have something like this in Arecia as well.
"If I can have this, no one can attack me from the air. This should especially be effective in large scale wars since our side doesn't have anyone who can fight aerial battles effectively, other than me."
"Even if Avilia wages a war on me, her flying beasts would directly be out of the battle and on ground, I can establish my army of Undead... This should take care of the biggest weakness of Arecia..."
Gabriel was really eager to get something like this formation for himself, already thinking about the future. However, he didn't forget his main goal.
After passing through the City on foot and getting out of formation range, he started flying again, continuing his journey toward the Royal Capital of Leviria where the main Church of Flames was established.
After seven hours of journey without any break, he finally reached the Royal Capital which had an even higher tier of security. The flight restriction was even stronger in the city. On top of that, he could feel as if around half of his spiritual strength was immediately suppressed as soon as he entered the City.
"Another formation to restrict Spiritual Strength? If I'm not wrong, this should only affect Mages who don't have the element of Flame. These guys... They really took some extreme measures." Gabriel could only sigh in response after sneaking inside the Royal City.
"It doesn't matter though. The Church of Flames is very vulnerable now. Most of its forces have left the City for Arecia. Even at fifty percent, it should be possible... Moreover, I still have something..."
"If this formation doesn't restrict the strength of ones associated with Flames, this shouldn't affect the Infernal Emperor. Church of Flames... Today is going to be very long for you guys…
The Royal City of Leviria was the City with the highest population in the entire Empire. It was also the largest city in the Empire.
Gabriel was immediately taken aback by its grandeur which was quite different from the other Royal Cities he had been in. Everywhere he looked, there were towering buildings of gold and marble, intricate sculptures adorning their facades. The streets were bustling with people from all walks of life - merchants hawking their wares, courtiers in their finery, commoners going about their daily lives.
The City was more lavish than he expected. He could only be amazed at how wealthy this city was. Looking at the other cities of the Leviria, he hadn't expected that the Royal City to be like this.
At every corner Gabriel found something new to marvel at; a serene garden tucked away between two stately manors; an ornate fountain spouting crystal clear water into a pool surrounded by statues depicting ancient gods; a massive clock tower that seemed to loom over the entire city like some sort of silent sentinel keeping watch over it all.
Not too far from him, his attention was immediately grabbed by the Royal Castle in the distance.
undefinedThe massive castle sparkled like diamonds in the distance. It had towering spires, intricate carvings, and grand arches that were blanketed with bright colors from the setting sun.
As he walked closer to it, he saw an emerald green moat surrounding the castle walls and lush gardens within them. Around the castle, he noticed a large crowd gathering. He didn't understand why the crowd would be gathering here all of a sudden, but it looked like some big event was taking place here.
He stopped a woman closest to him who looked like she might know something about why so many people came here today.
The young woman turned to him with a surprised look on her face. "Yes? Do you need something?"
"Do you know why so many people have been gathering here?" Gabriel asked the dark haired woman. "What is happening?"
"Young man, didn't you hear the news already?" The woman exclaimed in surprise, finding it hard to believe that there was still someone in the Empire who didn't know about it.
Looking at Gabriel's unaware expressions, the woman sighed. "It seems you really don't know. I'm not sure under which rock you were hiding to not know something like this, but people are here to see a battle. A young mage of flames is challenging the Emperor for the throne! If he can win the battle, he would become the new Emperor."
"Aigh, I still don't understand what the man is thinking. It would've been much better for him to join the Church of Flames instead. Even if he wins today, he'll only be lowering his status. Then again, it's his life. I am just here to watch the battle between the two!"
After briefly explaining, the woman rushed through the crowd to get a better position to watch the show.
"Battle to snatch the throne?" Gabriel shook his head lightly. "If only everything was this easy in Arecia, how good would it be... Then again, it could've led to people challenging me again and again in the future. That would've been a real headache. I suppose it's better that we have a different system..."
"What's even better is that this weakens the Church of Flames even more." He could already see that some of the members from the Church of Flames were already here to officiate and watch the battle. This left the Church of Flames even weaker for him to handle.
Having no interest in watching a battle, he left the Royal Palace behind and approached the Church of Flames with a sense of purpose.
As he reached near the Church of Flames, he found a place where no one could see him. After getting some isolation, he cast a Summoning Spell to bring Raphael back to help him. He wasn't sure if Raphael was busy doing something or not, but at the moment, he believed that it was better to take help just to be safe.
Half his strength was restricted because of the mysterious formation of the Church of Flames that covered the City. He didn't want to underestimate the Church as it was their base.
"I wonder if the Army of Undead spell will work on Head Priests of Church of Flames. If it works, it should be a great harvest this time. The spell didn't mention too many details though. I still don't have enough knowledge about the spell. I have no idea if they can still use their Flaming Spells when I turn them into undeads or if they can still use the Element of Flames. It would be a big waste if they can't..."
Gabriel came to the Church of Flames mainly for one reason... To make sure that Lerian was going to leave Arecia alone! However, at the same time, he also wanted to utilise this situation for his own advantage by increasing his army.
He wanted to create his army of undead, and believed that this was the best opportunity for that since he was already going to be killing some people.
This way of creating an army was at least much safer since he could use the first tier Army of Undead to turn recently killed into Undead. It was better for him compared to going to the realm of Undead to control the already existing undeads with the second tier Undead Army spell!
He didn't feel that he was strong enough for the latter yet, especially if there were powerful undeads like Raphael there! He wanted to be prepared when he attempted that. For now, he focused on the Church of Flames which had no idea as to what was about to happen in the next few hours.
A black summoning circle appeared before him which was filled with the mysterious energy of death that was the rarest in the world of living. The energy coming from the Summoning Circle wasn't much and couldn't be sensed by the people in surroundings, but that was all because of Gabriel using one of his Numen.
In the centre of the formation circle, a figure appeared. The person was covered in a dark mist of death, however his eyes were closed. It was only after the person felt the energy of the living that he opened his eyes.
"I don't sense any danger. What did you need me for?" he directly asked after observing his surroundings.
Gabriel simply pointed in the distance, at the majestic Church of Flames.
"I called you here because I need to borrow your strength this time," Gabriel answered as he called out his Ancestral Staff of Necromancy after a long time.
"Since the Church of Flame wants to pin the blame on Arecia, then I will gracefully accept. No more avoiding! No more hesitating! They're looking for a villain... I'll give them one…"
"What are we going to do?" Raphael asked, trying to understand the situation better. For now, he was sure that they weren't under attack. That meant they were the ones who were going to be attacking.
"We'll be attacking the Church of Flames," Gabriel replied while bringing out a full-face mask that he placed over his face to hide his face as much as possible. His real face was already seen by people at the Academy of Elements, but those people also knew that he had a face changing treasure so he didn't worry much about that.
He was sure that they definitely weren't going to believe that what they saw was his real face enough to promote it. However, the Church of Flames was different. He didn't want to reveal his face here for the time being.
As for Raphael, he didn't need a face mask. As much as he wanted to hide his identity, he wanted people to know Raphael! Raphael had a bigger role to play in the future and he wanted everyone to know. Moreover, since Raphael stayed in the realm of Undead most of the time, there was no need for him to worry about his face being revealed much.
"Seal the entire area," Gabriel commanded after he finished donning the mask. "That building is our target. No one should be allowed to disturb us while we're taking care of things inside."
undefinedGabriel also changed his attire to a much darker shade of Clothes. The one thing which he didn't change were his gloves since they hid his strange elemental marks. Instead, he wore another set of gloves over his usual gloves to hide their real colors so they couldn't be linked to him in the future.
Even though Raphael didn't know what the Church of Flames did to offend Gabriel, but he still believed that it was significant enough for Gabriel to attack them. Usually Gabriel was someone who tried to avoid direct confrontations afterall.
While the Holy Church of Flames was facing a danger like never before, the Holy Priest of Flames entered the Royal Capital of Arecia Empire, being accompanied by only two Head Priests.
"This is the City where the crystal was broken. Seal the City," he commanded the Head Priests, not wasting his time with such a small thing personally
The two Head Priests brought out their Peak Tier Flaming Staffs and chanted a strange spell that was never heard in the Empire.
As soon as the two finished their spell, a flaming wall shot up from all around the Royal Capital, meeting up at a single point in the sky, sealing the Royal Capital inside a flaming dome!
The sky was lit up by a brilliant orange light as the dome of flames encased the Royal Capital of Arecia. High above, atop the castle walls, Royal Knights could be seen gathering to witness what had become of their beloved city.
From within the dome, an eerie silence descended upon all who were still inside. The air was thick with smoke and ash that threatened to choke those who dared breathe it in. Everywhere there was evidence of panic and despair as people tried desperately to find a way out but failed at every turn.
The citizens of the Royal Capital of Arecia were in a state of shock and disbelief as they looked up at the dome of flames that had suddenly appeared around their city.
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Everywhere people crowded together, talking to each other in hushed voices as they tried to comprehend what was happening. Everyone's eyes were wide with fear as they realized that their city had been sealed off from the outside world. They couldn't help but wonder if their city was under attack!
Noticing the situation getting chaotic, the guards on duty quickly shouted for everyone to stay back and remain calm but it was too late; panic had already set in among the populace.
People began shouting questions at one another, asking what this meant for them and how long would this last? No-one knew for sure but all were certain that things would never be the same again inside these walls. It was certainly the work of Mages!
They knew that even though Mages and their Empire didn't have the best of relationships in the past, but it wasn't bad enough to be attacked either. They still treated mages with respect! But for them to seal the entire city like this? This wasn't normal!
Some of the Royal Knights rushed to the Royal Palace to inform the Emperor about the City being sealed, only to be stopped before they could enter the palace by the captain of the Royal Knights.
The Captain of the Knights was being accompanied by the Duke of Darkness. The two of them were the only ones in the city who knew that the Emperor wasn't here! In fact that wasn't the only thing they knew. Gabriel had already told them that something like this would be happening!
"When he told me this would be happening, I didn't quite believe it. But now that this has happened, we can't back off. Handle things according to the plan... I'll be going into hiding since I can't be seen by them," Duke Callum told the Saint Knight before he entered the castle, disappearing into the darkness.
The Saint Knight clenched his fist, looking at the flaming dome in the sky.
"The Holy Priest of Flames is here..." he muttered, not knowing if they could even survive this Knight. The Holy Priest was here for answers and if he didn't find the answers satisfying, this entire Empire was in danger.
"I don't think I'll be able to delay him for more than a day. Your Majesty, I hope you can succeed..." He held the hilt of his Sword as he stepped ahead.
In the Leviria Empire, another wall of flame rose up, but unlike the flaming wall in Arecia, this wall of fire was pitch black! It was a darker shade of flames which weren't as violent as the flames of Lerian, but these flames were more threatening. They had an aura of death, as if they could even burn the souls of a person!
The citizens of the Royal City of Leviria were focused on the battle for the throne. The person who had challenged the current Emperor seemed closer to victory. It was clearly a matter of time. However, before he could deal the finishing blow, he stopped, looking at the towering flames in the distance.
The Emperor also stopped, looking in the same direction as everyone else. Everyone could see that the area was where the Church of Flames was established! The Church of Flames was surrounded by Dark Flames of Death!
No one knew what was happening in the Church of Flames. Some even thought that this was the work of the Church members who were testing some new kind of spell or protective formation. However, the Church members who were present here knew that it wasn't the case.
The Flames that the Church of Light could control came in two shades... The usual flames that could be controlled by the ordinary mages and the dark blue flames that could be used by the Holy Priest of Flames!
A pitch black flame? None of them could use it! And even if they could, it could only be their Holy Lord. However, the Holy Lord wasn't even in the city! So how could it be him? They all knew that something was wrong!
The flame-covered dome towered over the city, casting an ominous shadow across the entire region.
At first, commoners were too scared to go near it; however, the Mages were different. The members of the Church who weren't at the Church immediately rushed back, without thinking of anything else.
undefinedUnfortunately, they couldn't even get closer to the Wall of Flame! Despite being Mages who could control flames, they couldn't see through the black flames. If anything, this flame felt completely foreign. It was much warmer than the flames they could control and stronger as well.
Most of them felt that if they even tried touching it, they could seriously be invited!
The Priests of Flames circled all around the flames, trying to find an opening from where they should pass through. Unfortunately, there was no gap! Even a small ant couldn't pass through these flames, let alone someone like them.
"Who made these flames? We can't even get inside? Could this really be made with a formation?"
"That should be the case! How can a person other than our Holy Lord control this level of strength? This must be a formation! Maybe the Lord himself created this formation to protect the Church?"
"In that case, it might really be a test of this formation! I don't see anyone who could be trying to attack the Church after all. We were worried for nothing..." Another Priest sighed in relief.
"They could've at least told us they would be testing this. They worried us for nothing!" A young priest rolled his eyes.
"Informed us? Do we even have that much importance? I think only someone at the level of Head Priests knew about this. They wouldn't have bothered informing us. If I was in their place, I wouldn't bother either." Another man sighed. "All we can do is work hard to reach that high position where we would be informed of such things in advance!"
"True..."
All the Priests misunderstood the flames. They never thought that the Church was being attacked since even in their wildest dreams, they couldn't have thought that there was a mage who could control this level of flames that could attack the Church. If anything, they gave all the credit to the formation of the Church.
They didn't even think that a stranger or an enemy activated this formation since they believed that this level of formation setup needed months of work on ground level.
"All of you, go back and continue what you were doing! There's no need to stay here! This is the personal matter of our Holy Church!"
After getting into a misunderstanding, all the Priests started dispersing the crowd, sending them back. None of them knew how wrong they were. Unfortunately for them, even if they knew, they couldn't have passed through this wall of flames that even Izen had a hard time breaking!
On the other end of the Dark Wall of Flames, Gabriel stood at the entrance of the Church of Flames shrouded in a dark mist. Not too far from him, there stood Raphael.
Only two men... Only two men were here to destroy an entire Church!
Gabriel took a calm breath. From this step, there was no going back. This was the foundation of his future... A foundation where he wanted to make his name synonymous with death, so that the ones who wanted to chase after him would've had to think ten times before even trying!
The Church of Flames had a total of thirty Head Priests, amongst whom only three had the peak tier of Spiritual Strength. The rest had an advanced tier of Spiritual Strength which was on the same level as the Head Teachers at the Academy of Elements.
Amongst the three strongest Head Priests, two had left the Church, following the Holy Lord of Flames. They were already in the Royal City of Arecia, also being the ones who cast the Dome of Flames in Arecia's Royal Capital.
At present, only Twelve Head Priests were left in the Holy Church of Flames, of which only one was Peak Tier Mage. With this, the Church was at less than half its usual strength, but even this strength was enough to dominate the world! The number was way more than what the Church of Light currently had.
However, that was also because the Priests of Light had a harder time evolving their strength compared to others. That also meant when they increased their strength, it was stronger than the other Elemental Priests. That was also why the Church of Light enjoyed such a high position in this world, despite such low numbers.
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Other than the twelve Head Priests, the Holy Church of Flames over a hundred Priests present inside at the moment.
Most of the Priests were inside their rooms, meditating to increase their strengths. As for the Head Priests, they were in a meeting in the deepest floors of the Church when they sensed a strange kind of suppression. The surroundings were also getting warmer and warmer with each passing second.
"Do you also feel this?" A Head Priest asked, grimacing.
"I do. Something is wrong..." The other Head Priests agreed as he pushed his chairs back, standing up.
"Is the Holy Lord back? No, this isn't like that. It's something else. We will go and check!" Another Head Priest stood up.
The two of them went upstairs to check what was happening. As for the rest, they stayed behind. They still didn't realize the extent of dangers they were inside.
The Priests of the Church who were in their meditation stepped out of their rooms as well, finding it uncomfortable to meditate with such a strange kind of suppression acting on them. Moreover, since they were in higher floors, the suppression was much more here than in the lower floors.
One of the Priests stepped out of his room, hearing footsteps outside. However, as soon as he came out, he found the entire hallway empty.
"Drain Touch," a voice fell in his ears, coming from behind him. He felt a hand on his shoulders.
The young mage was stunned to hear a calm yet intimidating voice coming from behind him. As soon as he was touched, he felt as if his body lost complete strength, as if his life energy was being sucked inside a black hole by a powerful force.
"You!" Another Priest stepped out of the nearby room, shocked to find his friend being attacked by a stranger.
He didn't know who Gabriel was, but from the expressions of his friend who couldn't move, he knew he had to do something to stop him.
He raised his hand, casting a spell.
"No interference." Before the second Priest could even finish his spell, he heard another voice. It was evident that Gabriel wasn't alone here. Shocked, he turned around, only to find another young man, whose face wasn't clearly visible.
undefinedThe second man had a cloak which was covering the top half of his face, making it impossible for his face to be seen. However, what was clear was that as soon as the Mage of Flames saw the figure of Raphael, he felt as if he was looking at death itself. There was an innate fear in his heart that was telling him to run as far as possible.
His lips froze. He wasn't even able to continue his spell before his body started burning in fire itself. Within seconds, his body turned into dust...
On the other hand, Gabriel had also finished absorbing the strength of the young Priest, whose body fell on the ground.
Gabriel observed the scorching mark in the distance.
"When we meet the Head Priests, try to leave their bodies intact... After we are done here, I'll be needing their bodies," he informed Raphael as he continued walking deeper in the Church of Flames.
Back inside the Empire of Arecia, the Lord of Flames stood with his hands behind his back. The two Strongest Head Priests of the Church of Flames stood behind him.
They had just finished sealing the entire Empire, making it no different than a massive prison.
Most of the citizens were scared and hiding inside their houses but there were also many who were on the streets.
The Holy Priest of Flames raised his right hand toward the sky. He didn't chant any spell. He didn't even need to use words to create spells. Just like Gabriel, he could also use Wordless Chants.
A massive wave of flames shot out from him towards the sky, taking the shape of the Majestic dragon that circled the sky like the overlord of Arecia.
The Flame Dragon was bursting with energy. It was evident that if the giant Flame Dragon came crashing down, it could destroy most of the city itself. And this wasn't even one of the strongest spells of Lerian.
Lerian closed his eyes, calling out his Ancestral Staff of Flames! A mystical light surrounded his entire body.
"Citizens of Arecia!" He spoke in a calm voice. He didn't yell or roar. If anything, he was talking in his usual time. However, for some reason, his words reached every corner of the Empire inside the Domain of Fire, as if some mysterious force was transferring his voice while amplifying it.
"I am the Holy Lord of Flames and I am here to find a person! If that person comes forward on his own, not only will he live, but the entire Empire will live! However, if within six hours, that person doesn't come forward, I will make sure this entire Empire and everyone in it dies with him!" The Holy Lord declared, shocking everyone in the Empire.
The Empire of Arecia wasn't associated with any Churches but they had heard about the Churches and knew how powerful they were, especially the people known as the Holy Priests! They definitely had strength to destroy an Empire, but the citizens of Arecia couldn't understand why a Church would be so evil to destroy an entire Empire just for one person?
"The person who destroyed the Fate Stone yesterday...come forward and you may live! This is the last chance you may ever have!" The Holy Lord declared again before going completely silent.
The Flaming Dragon kept circling the sky while the shocked citizens tried to understand just who the Holy Lord was looking for?
"He's looking for someone who broke a stone yesterday?"
"He wants to destroy the entire Empire over a stone?"
"Has he gone crazy? Wasn't the Church of Darkness said to be evil?! Why is it the other side that looks more crazy? Killing millions for a stone?!"
"Father, are we really going to die? We should run!"
"Little girl, can we even run? The entire place is sealed! We can't run anywhere!"
With time, the situation started getting chaotic as fear started setting in with people realizing the situation they were in. All their lives depended on one person stepping forward! However, was the person really going to step forward?!
Most of the citizens were already praying for that person to step forward already!
Inside his mansion, Duke Callum was sitting in silence with grim expressions on his face. "Six hours... We only have six hours... You can't afford to fail! At any cost! If you fail, we'll all die!"
All his hopes were now resting on Gabriel. He knew that even if he wanted, he couldn't do anything. If it was an ordinary mage, he could've fought back, but Lerian was personally there! There was nothing he could do.
Not too far from Arecia, there was a strange valley at the depths which didn't have much resources. No one even tried to go into the valley since it was a waste of time. However, presently in the valley, there was a mysterious City that had appeared recently out of nowhere.
Not a single person in the surrounding knew about the City appearing here.
Since Lambard had recently used the City teleportation, he felt really weak, as if most of his strength was sucked in. He spent most of his time resting in his room, rarely going out of his mansion.
Not a single person was allowed to go outside the city at the moment since Lambard wanted to be at his peak first, before taking any risk.
He only kept an eye on the nearby cities through his Numens which weren't able to get him too much information.
Through one of the Mirrors in his room, he could see outside the valley. It was also the mirror which showed him the Empire of Arecia which was covered in a flame dome.
p1ease visi(t) nove1B(in).ne)t
"What is happening in Arecia? Why is there a barrier surrounding it?"
"That looks like the spell of the Church of Flames. For them to use such a large-scale spell on Arecia, I wonder what might have happened." The young maid stood next to Lambard, observing the situation as well.
"Shall I check it out?" the Maid asked Lambard. "For a Church to seal an entire Empire... It definitely isn't a small thing."
"No need. Just wait and see," Lambard replied, not giving her permission. "For something like this, the Church would've definitely needed Lerian's permission. It's quite possible that he's inside the Empire itself. If you pass through his domain, he could probably sense you. It's not safe, especially since it's him..."
"My Lord, do you know what this could be about? I don't think the Church of Flames have made such a big movement in the past. Could it be related to that matter...? Did Lord Lerian find out about the secret of Arecia?" the maid asked, frowning. "If that's the case, wouldn't it be troublesome for us?"
"I don't think he knows anything yet. How could he even know? Even I only found out recently. Moreover, if he knew, the other Churches would've been there as well. It's quite possibly something very personal to him... Something like..." Lambard went silent for a moment, as if losing himself in deep thought. "If I'm not wrong, didn't he use to have a daughter? It should be because of that matter."
"His daughter?" the maid grimaced. "That matter...? Do you think he knows about our involvement in that matter?"
undefinedLambard didn't answer immediately. He just silently observed the mirror.
"My Lady, should we really not stop Lord Lerian?" Inside the Holy Church of Earth, the Head Priests also seemed very concerned about the situation.
"If Lord Lerian destroys Arecia, the reputation of all the Churches will take a hit. Hundreds of years of our work will vanish in an instant," another Head Priest added.
"Let him play around," The Holy Priestess of Earth calmly answered. "There's no need to interfere in the matter. It doesn't matter if there's one less Empire in this world, as long as it calms his heart. It might just force the other Empires who haven't allied with any Churches to change their stance..."
"Just let it play out. Arecia isn't under our protection," she added. "Moreover, even if I go there, I doubt he'll listen. That little girl... Even I'm upset about that matter..."
"That guy... He really doesn't think before he acts." One of the three oldest Holy Priests, the Holy Priest of Wind stood on his balcony, looking in the distance.
"Then again, if he ever wanted to do it, this is the perfect time since the Lord of Light is in the Lost City of Gods. I doubt anyone would interfere in this matter..."
After a moment of silence, he turned around and went back, not thinking much about it. The world had many Empires and many citizens. The disappearance of one Empire wasn't a matter of concern for him, especially if the Empire wasn't under his protection. He didn't want to go to war with Lerian over such a useless matter.
The other Holy Priests had the same reaction. After the last Holy Priest of Light died, the Holy Priest of Flames became the second most influential person in this world. Over a miniscule Empire, they didn't want to interfere.
Most of the Holy Priests also took this as an opportunity to remind the world why a Holy Church should never be offended. The world had been peaceful for far too long after all.
Amongst the Holy Priests, there were only two who had a different thinking. The Holy Priestess of Water didn't want to watch an Empire be destroyed, but she was also the weakest. She didn't have enough courage to step forward to protect Arecia. Her strength wasn't enough to stand before Lerian and she knew it.
As for the second person, it was the Holy Priestess of Summoning. She was someone who wasn't scared of Lerian. If she wanted, she could've easily stepped forward. However, she decided to stay out of it, primarily because she had already told Gabriel that she wasn't going to interfere.
Moreover, she was also curious to see if Gabriel could even succeed in his plan. This was a very bold plan after all. He was literally taking Lerian head on, establishing a life long enmity.
She was outside the Empire of Arecia, standing on her Flying Beast, observing the situation inside the Empire.
"Six hours is indeed not enough. Young man, if you can really pull it off successfully, it'll be a miracle..." she muttered, looking in the distance in the direction of the Holy Church of Flames.
She had sent her Shadow to follow Gabriel since she wanted to see how he was going to handle this situation and what tricks he had. However, she only failed.
It was as if Gabriel knew what she was doing. He already created some distance between him and the shadow that was secretly following him, making sure that the shadow Beast was outside the black flame tower, unable to pass through.
Since the shadow beast couldn't pass through the flaming tower, it couldn't enter the Church of Flames to spy on Gabriel.
The only thing that was worth the interest that Avilia could find was watching Gabriel summon Raphael which stunned her. She didn't know that Gabriel could summon as well. She really wanted to see more, only to be blocked. Now she could only wait for the flaming tower to disappear...
The Two Head Priests of Flames rushed out of the ground floor to check the situation, only to find the smell of blood in the air. They only saw bodies littered all around the Church, belonging to their members.
Most of the bodies looked as if life was sucked from them. There were no wounds on those bodies! The sight looked as if someone was really trying to kill while also trying to keep the bodies intact.
Amongst all the bodies, there was one body which still showed signs of movement.
"One is still alive! He should know what happened!" The Head Priest rushed toward the person who showed movement.
"What happened! Who attacked you all?"
"I did," A calm voice came from the distance as Gabriel appeared, standing calmly. He had already killed many ordinary Priests in the Church. As for the ones who were left, he sent Raphael to finish the work as both split their work.
At present, he was the only person here.
"You! Who are you?! How dare you attack us!" The Head Priest turned to Gabriel who was empty handed.
"Two nice people taught me a lesson. It's that you really shouldn't turn your back on the enemy. Did no one teach you?!" Gabriel asked, tilting his head to the side.
"What do you mean?" The Head Priest frowned. He had already checked that there was no one here other than Gabriel. So what did he mean?
"You think that distraction will work? Brat, you came here alive but you won't leave aliv-" The Head Priest exclaimed, only to stop mid sentence as his eyes widened.
His face turned pale as a knife passed through the back of his neck.
The second Head Priest was about to attack Gabriel when he heard the painted grunt of the other first Head Priest.
He turned around, only to be shocked as he saw the person who was supposed to be dead, standing behind the first Head Priest with a bloody knife in his hand. His eyes looked lifeless and his face pale, but he still showed movements!
The Undead once again stabbed the first Head Priest who already lost most of his strength after his throat was stabbed.
"Didn't I tell you not to turn your back on enemies?" Gabriel repeated his sentence, but this time the target was different. The second Head Priest felt as if the voice came from behind him.
"Dark Suppression!" Gabriel cast the spell of Darkness. Chains made of Darkness came out of the group, wrapping around the wrists of the second Head Priest and his legs, pulling him on the ground. Another chain came out which tied his mouth.
"Now be a good boy and don't move... Let me feast," Gabriel calmly stated as he placed his hand on the shoulder of the Head Priest. "Drain Touch."
Thud~
The second Head Priest's lifeless body dropped to the group. It was as if his body had lost every single drop of blood, even though there was not a single wound on his body.
Gabriel observed the Head Priest's lifeless body briefly before observing the surroundings.
"According to her, the Church of Flames should have around thirty Head Priests. Even if Lerian took half of them, there should at least be around fifteen here. Only two came up. It looks like they aren't taking things seriously..."
Gabriel had somewhat of a disappointment on his face. Only two Head Priests came up to check, separating from the main group while he wanted more. In the end, he decided to just take things slow.
undefinedHe used a knife to slice his finger a bit, letting it bleed.
The blood droplet fell on the forehead of the Head Priest while Gabriel used the Wordless Chant. The blood droplet entered the forehead of the dead Head Priest of Flames, creating tiny blood threads that spread inside the dead body.
"Arise!" Gabriel's calm voice echoed in the surroundings as a mysterious power of death flooded the body of the Head Priest.
As the power flooded inside the body of the dead priest, his body started changing somehow.
Gabriel had already used the spell on an ordinary Mage of Flames before, however the reaction was quite different last time, which made him even more surprised now. The body of the ordinary priest hadn't changed even after he was turned into an Undead.
The only thing different last time was that the Mark of Flames had disappeared. That was what disappointed Gabriel immensely before. However, this time was different.
Now that Gabriel used the spell on a Head Priest whose body had been nourished by the Divine Flames of the Church, the body changes were somewhat different.
The Mark of Flames on the back of the Head Priest of Flames hadn't disappointed. It just changed! The shape was still the same. Just the colour of the mark had changed from red to pitch black.
The hair of the Holy Priest also changed, becoming longer. His hair changed to a beautiful shade of Silver, just like the moon. The body still looked lifeless, but somehow, it looked stronger than before, as if the Head Priest's body muscles had increased.
On the forehead of the Head Priests, a strange mark appeared. Even though Gabriel didn't do it intentionally, subconsciously the mark on the forehead had taken shape similar to all the marks that were left on the Numens when he bound them to him. The mark was that of a Bleeding Moon!
"Intriguing... Why did this body go through different changes than the last body? With the last body, it was as if I just brought back a dead to life who was no more than a lifeless human. However, this time, it was as if the person had thoroughly evolved, basking in the energy of death...?"
The Head Priest of Flames who had not turned into a Soldier of Death opened his eyes. For some reason, his mind was completely blank. However, there was something deep inside him that was telling him that no matter what, he had to serve the young man near him, no matter what.
"Could it be because the Army of Undead is a unique spell which works best on people who are stronger?" Gabriel wondered, observing his first proper Soldier of Death. "This is a Core Tier Spell, so this might be the reason... But doesn't that mean the hundreds of Undead in Karyk's army were all as strong as a Head Priest?! That strength..."
The spell was specifically made for powerful people. It was as if using this spell on weaker people was just a waste of time and space! Gabriel was sure that Karyk wouldn't have wasted the spell like that. That could only mean that, in the army of Undead that the Saint Knight saw for the first time, all the members were at least as strong as a Head Priest that he controlled now!
"With this kind of strength and army, just what exactly happened to him... And what happened to his army? If that kind of army ever makes a return, wouldn't that mean the entire world can fall on their feet?"
Gabriel now had two Undead Soldiers. He only paid attention to one of them. Just to test his theory, he moved closer to the first Head Priest.
He came here for something else but if he could get over ten Death Knights, he believed that this was the best outcome!
"The Church Formation restricts more than half my spiritual strength which makes it harder and more time consuming to use each spell. If I didn't have Drain Touch, it would've been quite troublesome."
He commanded the Death Knight to keep an eye on surroundings to make sure that no one disturbed him.
He placed his bleeding finger on the forehead of the other Head Priest, casting the [Army of Undead].
"Those two still didn't return?"
Back in the meeting, the other Head Priests started getting impatient. The more they stayed there, the more uncomfortable they felt, as if a poisonous snake was getting closer to them.
They couldn't wait anymore. Just to be on the safer side, all of them decided to check out personally just what was happening upstairs.
All the Head Priests rushed upstairs.
After barely a few minutes of hard work, he finished the spell successfully, creating another Death Knight.
The only thing he still didn't know was if the Death Knights could cast any spells or not. They had the Mark of Flames, but it was different from the usual Mark of Flames in colour. It was more like a modification so he wasn't sure if they could still use that element.
After creating a second Death Knight, he wanted to ask them to try a spell. Unfortunately, it was also around that time that he heard some footsteps rushing upstairs.
"So they finally decided to come out," Gabriel muttered, keeping an eye on the stairs.
He raised the Ancestral Staff of Necromancy in the direction of the stairs. "If I don't worry about blowing up your bodies, it would've been much easier to just use the Wrath of Undead. What a pity...'
"Soul Explosion!" Gabriel used the fifth spell in the Book of Necromancy. A spirit came flying out of his ring, rushing straight toward the stairs.
Even though he couldn't see anyone there yet, he made sure to time things just right.
The Head Priests were almost upstairs. However, just as they turned around the spiralling stairs, they saw an evil spirit flying in their direction, screeching.
Boom~
The Head Priests were shocked to find a spirit flying in their direction, screeching and cackling at the same time. It was their first time seeing an attack like that.
Fortunately, they had years of experience and reacted almost immediately.
The person in the lead raised his head. "Divine Wall of Fire!"
A wall of fire rose up from the stairs, creating something akin to a shield before the Head Priests.
undefinedThe Dark Spirit touched the wall of flames.
Boom~
The Evil Spirit exploded, creating a powerful impact. Fortunately for them, the Wall of Flames was still intact, not broken by a spirit.
"So we really are under attack!"
He hadn't removed the Wall of Flame yet. In the back, the other Head Priests started casting an even more powerful spell, working together. They wanted to cover the entire Church in fire that only destroyed the ones who didn't share the Element of Flames.
However that spell wasn't something that could easily be cast by one person! Even with the help of the Protective Formation in the Church, they will need most of the Head Priests to work together.
Since the spell was the most powerful spell that was specially created to destroy all enemies that entered the Church at once, it also took a longer time to cast the spell.
The work of the Head Priest in the front was just to keep that shield up while the others took care of the spell.
"Just two more minutes! And you will be dead!" The leading Head Priest exclaimed, in a mocking tone. "You naive fool! Did you really think one attack is enough to defeat us?!"
"Who said it was just one attack?" A mocking voice came in return, followed by another explosion. Another spirit clashed with the Flame Shield. Unfortunately, it also didn't manage to pass through.
The Divine Wall of Flames was a spell that was a peak tier defensive spell while the Spirit Explosion was Gabriel's earliest spell. The only reason he still used it was because this was the only spell which he believed could leave the bodies intact. Their bodies were a precious resource for him!
"With such weak strength, you dare infiltrate the Sacred Church?!" The Head Priest's mocking laughter echoed.
On the other side of the Flaming Wall, Gabriel didn't mind the mocking tone. If anything, he found it only amusing. The people on the other side of the flaming wall were like turtles hiding in a well, unable to see what was happening on this side.
Gabriel knew that they were trying to cast some powerful spell. He could feel the changes in the air. However, he wasn't worried.
"You're right. It's a weak spell," he accepted, stepping closer to the Divine Wall of Flames. "Now, wouldn't it be a pity if the Head Priests were defeated by such a weak spell?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't even give others the chance to speak before using the same spell again. However this time he didn't take a break.
One after another, he kept casting the Spirit Explosion, with each explosion getting closer to the Wall.
Boom~
Another Explosion was survived by the Wall of Fire, giving the Head Priest even more confident. They were also halfway done with the spell.
Unfortunately, things were different. Barely a millisecond after the first explosion, another Explosion occurred, which only increased the strength of the Explosion.
The laughter of the Head Priest suddenly stopped as he felt a third explosion before he could even blink his eyes.
Since the Spirit Explosion wasn't a high tier spell, even with his strength Suppression, Gabriel didn't have any trouble bringing out its full strength.
Boom~
Boom~
Boom~
Within three seconds, ten Spirits had exploded! Gabriel didn't know how many spirits the Book of Necromancy had, but if he could get more than ten Death Knights after sacrificing a few, he believed it was worth it.
With each explosion, the strength kept increasing. On the other side, the Wall of Flames was finally at its weakest.
"I can't hold it anymore! Someone give me reinforcements!" The Head Priest exclaimed, almost at the edge of falling.
"Just ten seconds more! We can't stop now! Just hold on for ten more seconds!"
Every other Head Priest was already busy with the large-scale spell to cleanse the entire Church of all the enemies since they didn't know exactly how many had infiltrated. Even in their dreams, they couldn't have imagined that just two people dared to come here alone to attack this place!
In their minds, they believed that there were at least fifty people which prompted them to cast such a spell to finish things faster.
"You fools! Why would I ask if I could ho-"
Boom~
Before the Head Priest could even finish his sentence, another spirit exploded, finally breaking the wall of flames.
With nothing to protect them, all the Head Priests were hit with the explosive power of the explosion which sent them all flying back, suffering injuries!
All the Head Priests fell at the bottom of the stairs. They were so close to finishing their spell. If they had only three more seconds, they could've succeeded. Unfortunately, not only did they fail, they also suffered a backlash for failing this spell while also being hit by the explosion. Some of them suffered worse than the others.
"Who are you?!"
The Head Priest, who could still fight, pushed their bodies up forcefully. While the ones who were heavily injured couldn't even move their legs.
A mysterious dark mist surrounded the entire place, covering everyone's vision, making it impossible for them to see.
"Who knew my plan would work so well," A mocking voice was heard, coming from straight ahead
One of the Head Priests attacked in the direction of the voice, using all his strength behind that attack..
"All I had to do was wait..." The voice came again, this time from the back. It was evident that the first attack had missed.
The Head Priest attacked again, without waiting.
"Argh!" A scream echoed, but this time, this scream wasn't Gabriel's. The attack instead hit another Head Priest, sending his body flying back.
Since no one knew where the other person was, attacking blindly was the only solution to them. Unfortunately, it only resulted in them attacking their own.
"I never thought Lerian would be so easy to fool. The plan really moved smoothly. All I had to do was intentionally break that fate stone in a random faraway city that didn't fall under any Church!"
Gabriel's mocking laughter echoed in the surroundings as he appeared behind another Head Priest, stabbing a knife in his neck!
"With that, Lerian could easily go there without hesitation with all his forces, leaving this place open for me to attack! That fool fell so easily. There, he will destroy a useless Empire that no one cares about, and here I'll destroy the place that I always wanted to destroy! Everything according to plan..."
"Poor guy will never know how easily he was fooled... Heh…Not only will he lose the Holy Church of Flames but since he's attacking innocents who had nothing to do with it, he'll also lose the support of the public! What a downfall!"
Screams kept coming from the basement as more and more Head Priests died. They didn't even know what was happening around them as the dark mist not only blinded them but also trapped their movements.
With each scream, a fear was instilled in the other Head Priests. If they couldn't even see the enemy, how could they even attack? They hadn't seen a spell like that in the past. In fact, they hadn't even heard about this, let alone knowing how to counter that.
Since they were in closed space, the efficiency of this spell only increased as the dark mist couldn't be pushed aside. In an open setting, they could've at least countered this spell to some extent. This dark mist didn't even burn with the flames!
The only things that could be burnt were the shackles that were made with the mist, but Gabriel's vision wasn't obstructed. Whoever broke the shackles, he killed them directly, without even giving them an opportunity.
There was only one person he avoided killing... the person who was closest to the stairs. Even as that person broke the shackles, Gabriel didn't kill him. If anything, he ignored that person entirely.
undefinedAt the same time, that person didn't dare attack Gabriel either. After so many people were killed here, he had already lost all hope. He didn't know who the masked man was, but his spells were unorthodox and in a sudden situation like this, he didn't believe he could change the situation.
If anything, the Head Priest who managed to free himself had only a single thought! It was that he had to find a way to escape at any cost, and get this information to the Holy Priest. He knew that if there was one person who could change the situation, it was Lerian!
After initial struggles, he found the stairs. He couldn't see the stairs, yet he started climbing, occasionally even stumbling along the way.
The screams kept echoing downstairs but the Head Priest didn't look back. He doesn't realize that someone was already keeping his eyes on them. Even as Gabriel killed the other Head Priests swiftly, his main attention was only on him.
The Head Priest came to the ground floor, breathing heavily. His entire body was bleeding but he couldn't care less. He rushed out of the Church hastily.
As the Head Priest rushed out, he noticed the Flaming Tower which was still the same. However, there was an opening in the tower.
Usually, he could've found that opening suspicious, but since his mind was clouded, he didn't think much. He snuck out of the opening and kept rushing away.
After coming out of the tower of flames, he cast a Flight Spell, creating wings of Flames and rushed away in the direction of Arecia! He had to inform the Lord of Flames as soon as he could! He didn't want the Lord of Flames to fall for this trap and kill innocents only to then be blamed later.
He didn't want the enemy's plan to succeed! Moreover, he wanted Lerian to return to kill Gabriel and all the enemies who dared to attack them!
"Are you sure it's right to let him leave?" A young man appeared near the entrance of the Church of the Flames as the opening in the wall of flames closed.
"It's a pity to lose such a precious material, but it's for the best," Gabriel appeared behind Raphael. His hands were covered in blood, but his face was completely calm. "As a Head Priest, his speed is much faster than an ordinary Priest."
"Moreover, it would be more believable for Lerian to think that a Head Priest managed to escape after coming in contact with me, compared to an ordinary member of the Church escaping," he further stated, explaining more of his thoughts.
"Stay here. I'll be right back." He turned around and went back inside again.
Gabriel entered the Church of Flames and started using his Army of Undead spell, increasing the number of his Death Knights. This time, he only focused on the Head Priests and didn't create a weaker undead.
After he finished, in total, he had twelve Head Priest level Death Knights, all of whom went through the same evolution. Other than that, there was one ordinary Priest level Death Knight.
"Search all the higher floors. Get any treasures you can find back to me," Gabriel commanded all the Death Knights to make the search faster. He was here. He couldn't just pretend to be here to kill the Head Priests. He decided to take some treasures as well.
Sending the Death Knights upstairs, he personally went downstairs to check. As for Raphael, he was left to guard the entrance to make sure that no one could enter the Church of Flames until he came out.
The Death Knights didn't have their personality memories but they still possessed some common knowledge which wasn't wiped by the spell. They still knew what treasures were and what they had to gather
All of them checked every room thoroughly, gathering all the Spirit Crystals, spell books, Staffs and other precious treasures that they could find.
The higher floors were reserved for low ranking members of the Church. Meanwhile the lower floors were where the Head Priests stayed. He personally checked the place, keeping everything in his Storage Space.
After going through some ordinary rooms, he eventually reached a place which had much bigger doors. The doors of this place were even thicker than every other door in the Church so breaking it was almost impossible.
Fortunately, the Head Priests had to rush out to check the situation so they didn't close the door properly, leaving it unlocked.
Gabriel simply pushed the door open, entering the Forbidden Hall of the Sacred Church of Flames. Other than the Head Priests and Lerian, no one was allowed to come here. If someone was said even by accident, they were to be executed.
Gabriel had a feeling that this was the place where he was going to find the real treasures!
Pushing the doors open, he took his first step inside the ball.
"Urgh!"
As soon as he stepped inside, he felt the pressure on his body multiplying by many times. It was as if an entire mountain was pressing over his body. The pressure was different from the pressure of the earring as it even affected his surroundings.
He couldn't even resist as he was pushed down on his knees. Cracks developed on the ground around him as the mysterious force pushed down even more on him!
As soon as Gabriel stepped inside the Forbidden Hall, a mysterious force pushed him down to his knees. For some reason, he couldn't even offer any resistance to the force that pushed him down. The force was way beyond his limit.
He could even feet as if his bones were being crushed under that pressure which was now trying to force his head to the ground to bow down.
"Enough!" Blood trickled down his lips as he roared at the top of his lungs, using his hands to force his body up, resisting the pressure.
At the same time, he cast [Dark Manifestation]. The spell was one taught to him by Novius which was strong enough to make him invincible for a few seconds. The only flaw was that he couldn't move or attack during that time or the effects weren't going to work.
undefinedAt the moment, he didn't care about attacking. If anything, he wanted to at least have some time to react.
As soon as he cast the Dark Manifestation, the powerful pressure disappeared immediately. Gabriel couldn't even feel the pressure anymore. However, he was sure that the pressure was still there! It was just that he couldn't feel it because of the Dark Manifestation!
He raised his head, looking into the distance. In the Forbidden Hall, there were many things, including a mysterious pond which was filled with a strange red liquid that was different from blood. The liquid appeared to be boiling. However,his attention went more toward the statue in the distance!
The Statue was the statue of the God of Flames! The one who was in the same hierarchy as Karyk during his time! Both were Human Gods that came into this world due to Chaotic Energy of nature. Karyk was stronger than the God of Flames and he also came before the other gods.
Gabriel didn't know just what kind of relationship this God of Flames had with Karyk, but he had a feeling that the strange pressure that forced him down was coming from the statue itself.
He didn't understand just what kind of statue it was and how could it still affect him, as if it was alive!
Gabriel was still in the middle of thoughts, thinking about what to do next. He couldn't teleport out of this hall as the space was sealed either. He had to find a way to solve this pressure and he only had ten seconds left of the Dark Manifestation.
As he was still thinking, wondering if he needed to destroy the statue to free himself of this pressure, he felt something strange. He felt as if the statue's eyes shone for a brief moment as the pressure on him increased.
Thud~
The pressure this time was so much that it was even able to surpass the limits of the Dark Manifestation, breaking Gabriel's defence before it was the time!
Gabriel's body was pushed down to the group. The cracks had already developed around him previously, but now those cracks changed into a two metre deep crater, in the centre of which Gabriel was lying.
His head was forced down so fiercely that his skull hit the hard floor. Since he didn't expect the Dark Manifestation to break, he was taken by surprise, unable to protect himself. His head started bleeding. The blood trickled down his face. The pressure only kept increasing! It was as if the statue really didn't want to let him leave alive!
Gabriel laid at the center of the crater, feeling his bones shattering under the pressure. Due to blood loss, even his vision started getting affected. The blood droplets trickled down to his eyes, making his eyes blood red.
For a moment, it even looked as if Gabriel had tears of blood coming out of his eyes.
Despite this pressure, he still didn't give up. As long as he could move, he didn't want to surrender to a mere statue!
"I don't care who you are..." He placed his hands on the ground again. Despite his broken bones, he still tried to push his body up.
"I don't care why you want to kill me!"
Blood kept trickling down his lips as he spoke.
"But today... A shall destroy everything!" He opened his bloody eyes, glaring at the mysterious statue in the distance.
The sky outside started getting covered in dark clouds as an aura of death covered the entire city! Everyone who was outside the tower of flames in the city stooped. They felt a chill run down their spines. Even the King of Leviria couldn't ignore this pressure. It was as if the entire city was surrounded by death!
The Statue of God of Flames increased the pressure. The crater around Gabriel became even deeper by a few metres. Despite that, he didn't let his head touch the ground.
If the Statue wanted to kill him, he wanted to destroy it! Even if God himself was here, he wanted to destroy him! Gabriel's heart was filled with anger and hate!
"Wrath of the Dead!" He shouted. A powerful aura gushed out of his body, as if answering to his commands. The sky also answered Gabriel's roar in its own way!
The entire city turned pitch black! Not a single person could see anything, including Raphael!
Raphael was shocked to see this change. He had experienced this same feeling before when Gabriel used his strongest spell in the Tower of Challenges at the Academy of Elements to kill someone in an instant! This spell was so powerful! Seeing this spell, he had a really bad feeling.
"Someone who could force him to use this spell? Just who is it?!" He wanted to rush inside the Church. Unfortunately, his feet froze on their own. He was unable to even move. It was as if his body wasn't in his control anymore!
... Silence... There was only silence in the entire city. No one knew what was happening but they all felt as if they were going to die if they even moved a little! There was no explosion! There was no sound. It didn't even feel as if someone was attacking. However, it felt much worse.
All the citizens closed their eyes, praying their hearts to avoid this calamity!
The darkness only lasted for a few seconds before it started disappearing. The sky was once again clear as the dark clouds disappeared. The citizens were able to see again. Most of them looked in the same direction together. They all looked toward the Church of Flames, feeling as if this had something to do with them.
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"What?"
"How is this possible?"
There was not a single person in the citizen who could believe their eyes as they looked toward the Sacred Church of Flames!
Carnage... That was the only word that could describe what the citizens saw.
The Sacred Church of Flames that had been in the Lerian Empire for as long as one could remember had fallen... The foundation of the Empire had fallen! The Church was missing as if it had been wiped off the face of the earth.
The people who were far away couldn't see it yet, but instead of the Majestic Church which used to be there, presently there was only a two hundred meter wide crater on the ground, revealing the destruction that took place.
In the middle of the crater, a young man was lying, bleeding all over. The young man appeared to be wearing a mask, half of which was already broken apart.
In the Holy Church of Flames, everything was destroyed. Nothing was left behind... Nothing other than a Statue which wasn't too far from Gabriel.
undefinedThe statue was still left standing, but there was no aura around it anymore. It was unable to harm Gabriel.
Only a single crack could be seen on the face of the statue. However, that single crack was spreading out slowly. Within a few seconds, the single crack split into thousands of cracks that covered the entire statue.
Not too far from Gabriel, Raphael was present, stunned momentarily. Since he was connected to Gabriel, the Wrath of Undead didn't harm him in the slightest.
As he came out of his daze, he noticed Gabriel lying on the ground in the middle of the crater. He rushed ahead.
On the other hand, the cracks were too much for the statue. The statue couldn't last anymore and broke apart. Gabriel had single handedly destroyed the entire Church of Flames. Unfortunately, in the process, he also lost consciousness. The strength he used while being injured was still too much for him, especially since he was under pressure.
Fortunately, things weren't as bad as before. Since he had strengthened his body with the help of the earring, his body was more sturdy compared to before which helped him avoid most of the dangers.
Not too far from Gabriel, a hand came out of the ground out of nowhere. On the back of the hand, a black mark was clearly visible which seemed somewhat similar to the mark of Flames.
Following the hand, another hand came out. The person who was buried inside the ground after the attack pushed his body up, revealing himself. Not just him, one after another, more than ten Death Knights came out of the ground.
Just like Raphael, they were also linked with Gabriel and managed to avoid the carnage. However, since they weren't as strong as Raphael, they still found themselves buried in the ground in the aftermath.
"Just what did you face?" Raphael frowned as he picked up the bleeding Gabriel in his arms. He still didn't know what forced Gabriel to take this step. The pressure that Gabriel felt was limited to the hall. It wasn't sensed by Raphael.
"Whatever, since you're fine, that's all that matters. We should get out of here first..." He stood up, carrying Gabriel and left with the Death Knights.
Right before the eyes of everyone in the city, Raphael left. By now, people were clear that this was done by them. However, even then, no one dared to stop them.
Even the members of the Church of Flames that were outside the tower of flames before the destruction didn't dare to move as a small army of undead walked out of the city right before everyone's eyes. They didn't even dare to follow Raphael, worried about their life.
Right outside the Arecia Empire, Avilia was standing stunned. She didn't know what happened on the other side of the tower of flames, but her Shadow Beast did see the aftermath where the Sacred Church of Flames completely disappeared... They still couldn't believe what she saw.
She initially thought that even if Gabriel managed to kill some Head Priests, he couldn't cause such large scale damage. However, the extent of damage even surprised her.
What was even more shocking for her was to watch Gabriel being taken away by Raphael who was followed by twelve Death Knights!
The Death Knights were filled with the aura of death. However, from their faces, she recognised a few of them. She had seen one of them outside the Meeting of Saints! The man used to be a Head Priest of Flames before! However, now he was an Undead servant of Gabriel? She couldn't understand how this was even possible?
"Power of controlling the dead?" she frowned. This was unheard of in this world, at least for most of the people. However, she had heard some legends related to it, the most prominent of which was the story of Saint Knight in which he met a god who was accompanied by an invincible Army of Undead!
[Three hours later]
A wounded Head Priest of Flames flew at his top speed, surrounded by the destructive flames. He didn't even waste a single second to rest, despite his condition. At any cost, he had to inform Lerian of what happened!
He wanted to get to Arecia as soon as possible!
In the Royal City of Arecia, Lerian and his two strongest Head Priests were still waiting. They had given the Empire six hours for people with any information about the incident to come out. The time was almost over. Only ten minutes were left before the time was going to run out!
"Ten more minutes!" The voice of Lerian echoed in every city of Arecia. At this point, people were already shivering in fear. Most of them had already accepted their fates, not believing that the culprit was going to come out.
"We're all dead today! No one is coming out! We don't even know who they are looking for! What shall we do?!"
"What can we even do but accept our deaths?" Who told us to be so weak?!"
"If the culprits wanted to come out, they would've already been out. We have no hope of Survival!"
The citizens of Arecia were at the ends of their ropes and all they could do was discuss and mock their destiny as time passed slowly.
"No! I can't accept it! I can't accept death!" A middle aged man known as Reon exclaimed. His heart was racing in fear already. He was one of the wealthiest merchants in the city and to not only lose all his wealth but also his life? He couldn't accept it!
"What can we even do?" A friend of Reon sighed. "Not like we can find the culprit, right?"
"Wait! That's it!" Reon exclaimed, suddenly thinking of something. "I know how to find him!"
"You know who did it? Could it be that you saw that person?!" Reon's friend exclaimed in shock. "If that was true, we might actually survive! Who is it?!"
A cunning grin spread across Reon's lips as he stared at an old man in the distance.
He walked to the old man, who was standing next to a twelve year old girl.
Reon's people followed him, wondering if he really knew the truth or was he only bluffing?
Reon stopped next to the old man. The old man lowered his head respectfully, recognising the influential merchant.
undefinedReon's smirk widened. He observed the young girl next to the old man.
"You're one of our workers, aren't you? Is that girl your granddaughter?"
The old man felt something was wrong, especially since Reon talked about his granddaughter. Reon was said to be an arrogant man who never talked to the one beneath him like this. He usually only hung out with influential people. Why would he suddenly talk to him?
"Y-yes. She is my granddaughter."
"If I'm not wrong, she's also your only kin left after your son and daughter in law died?" Reon further asked.
The old man felt even weirder. Just what was this guy after? To talk about that, especially at a time like this when the entire city was about to be destroyed?
"Y-yes." He could only nod. His granddaughter was his only family member now. She was also the reason he worked so hard. It was all so he could give her the best life possible.
"What a pity." After a brief pause, Reon sighed. "In less than ten minutes, she would also die with everyone else. If only there was a way to let her live..."
The old man frowned. He didn't know how to react.
Receiving no response, Reon felt slightly angry. However, his calm expressions didn't change.
'This guy... Even after I said all this, he still doesn't realise? How dense can he be?'
"If only the person could've gone to the Holy Lords and accepted the mistakes, your daughter and everyone could've survived," he further said, breaking the silence.
His glance was meaningful and his words had even more meaning hidden inside them. Not many people could sense what he was trying to say, but the way he said it, the old man finally realized why he was here.
He could only clench his fist, understanding that he was being asked for a sacrifice. The Holy Lords didn't know who did it. So if he went forward and accepted death, his granddaughter could've been spared.
He looked at his granddaughter next to him. The young girl didn't even understand the situation they were in. The old man didn't want her to die. And at this point, it was clear that the real criminal wasn't going to step forward.
Reon stepped even closer to the old man, bringing his lips closer to the old man's ears as he whispered. "I'm sure you know what to do. Not only will your granddaughter survive, but I'll also make sure she gets the best life possible. You know our family can afford it. I can even adopt her after you do it. The choice is yours."
He stepped back after secretly telling the old man what he had to do. He turned and silently left.
The old man watched Reon leave. It was true that this was his only option. In any case, he was on the verge of death. Even if he wanted, he could only live a few more years because of his old age. If he could sacrifice himself to save his granddaughter and the others, he accepted it.
He went down on his knees before his granddaughter. "Little Wui, go with Master Reon. Grandpa has somewhere to be."
"Looks like they won't come forward." The Head Priest of Flames had been standing silently for the last six hours but now that time had almost run out, he finally spoke. "Are we really going to kill them all?"
"Of course we should! We already told them the consequences. We can't go back on our words, can we?" the Second Head Priest retorted. "We can only destroy the cities. I'm sure once we follow through our words, the culprit would actually try to escape or come forward."
"I see." The First Head Priest nodded. "So you want to scare the culprit into coming out by actually following through. I'm not sure if it'll work, but I won't oppose it. If it's the decision of the Holy Lord."
Both the Head Priests looked at Lerian who was the final decision maker.
Lerian was simply standing silent, having his eyes closed as if he was lost in some deep thought. The Head Priests thought that Lerian was thinking about how to destroy the cities swiftly, not realizing that his true thoughts were quite different.
'I don't know why, but there is this strange feeling in my heart... It's as if I'm missing something... Something really important. This bad feeling I suddenly have... Why?'
Lerian usually didn't feel like this in the past so he didn't know what to think of this. It was as if his heart was trying to warn him about something. He just didn't know what. He only felt as if he was standing in the middle of a bridge and the both ends of the bridge were burning with the fire slowly getting closer to him.
'Could it be that the killer is really here in this city? Is this feeling because of that? Or could it be related to something else? This feeling...'
He tried to think for a long time, only to be unable to come to a conclusion. It was like there was a puzzle that he couldn't solve.
He slowly opened his eyes, glancing in the distance in the direction of the Empire of Leviria for some reason. "Is it about the Church?"
As he was trying to figure out the situation, the time to the deadline had almost run out. Only one minute was left.
The Fire Dragon in the sky also started getting more impatient with time.
"What are you doing here?! There's no use begging for mercy!"
Lerian's attention was attracted by a Head Priest's words. He looked ahead, noticing an old man standing before them.
"I-i am the one who destroyed the Fate Stone!" The old man exclaimed.
Lerian frowned. He didn't even respond to the old man. He just raised a single finger and the old man's body started burning in heavy flames.
"Another liar... This city is full of liars it seems," Lerian stated, letting out a sigh. It was the thirtieth time he caught a liar who came forward to accept the blame to survive!
None of the people who came forward realized that Lerian was someone that could catch even the smallest of lies, making it impossible to fool him as long as the liar was lying in front of him.
"Enough wasting time. Destroy the cities and catch everyone who tries to escape. I'll interrogate them personally!"
"Finish it..." The words were subtle and spoke without much care. However, the aftermath was much beyond anyone's comprehension.
As soon as Lerian gave permission to start attacking the City to draw out the real culprit, the Flaming Dragon took action.
The sky suddenly darkened as the massive dragon descended from the heavens. Its wings stretched wide, casting a long shadow over the city below. It was an awe-inspiring sight to behold; a giant creature of flame and fury that seemed to have come straight out of legend.
The citizens of the city scrambled for cover, some screaming in terror as they ran for their lives. The dragon roared loudly, its voice echoing off the walls like thunder through a canyon. Its flames shone brightly against the night sky, illuminating everything around it with an orange glow.
The dragon flew directly towards one of the towers in the center of the City and released its fiery breath upon it without mercy. The tower began to crumble immediately under its assault and soon collapsed into rubble on top of many unfortunate souls who had not been able to escape in time.
undefinedAs if this weren't enough destruction already, more buildings were engulfed in flames as embers spread throughout the city due to wind gusts caused by powerful flaps from its wings above them all adding fuel to fire already started by dragon's breath moments earlier.
"They are attacking! Does heaven really want us to die!"
People screamed louder now as they watched their homes burn before their very eyes while trying desperately to find safety elsewhere but unfortunately there wasn't much else left standing at this point besides ashes and charred remains everywhere you looked .
"Could it be that today is really the day I die?" Duke Callum sat inside his mansion, having his eyes closed. He didn't leave the mansion to join the battle yet. Not only did he not believe he could stop this assault, but he also thought that going out was just accepting death.
"If I go out to fight, they will know I'm a Dark Mage and kill me first. The entire blame might also befall me. Not if I don't go out, I'll still die. Should I really try to escape the City? No. The barrier won't let me leave. The only way to break the barrier now is by killing Lerian."
He didn't want to fight but deep inside, even he knew that no matter what he did, he was probably going to be buried with the City.
He glanced in the direction of the stairs that led downstairs to the secret locked room.
"In the end, it seems that I really can't abandon this place..." After a deep sigh, he stood up. "If death it is, I'll fight to death!"
He decided to fight back. Since he couldn't win in a battle of strength, he decided to wait for an opportunity and use a sneak attack to kill Lerian and break the barrier.
He wasn't the only one who decided to didn't. The new Saint King tried to follow Gabriel's orders and avoid Lerian as much as possible but in the end, even he couldn't take it anymore.
Now that the city was under attack, there was no other option! All the Royal Knights were already prepared for battle to the death for the Empire.
"Knights of the Empire!" He roared at the top of his lungs. "Today we face our greatest challenge yet: A seemingly invincible enemy that threatens to destroy all that we have worked to protect. Today is the day we must stand together against this foe if we are to save our beloved Empire!"
He paused for a moment to allow his words to sink in before continuing. "But do not fear! We have strength in numbers, courage in our hearts and the blessings of our Ancestors who established this Empire to protect people! Today is the day we fight to survive! Today is the day we fight to protect! Today is the day we make Saint King proud!"
The Saint Knight knew that all the Royal Knights were scared. Who wouldn't be scared of death in a situation like this? However, all he could do for them was to lead them to this battle, hoping his words could give them some courage!
"For the Saint King!" The Royal Knights roared in unison as they rushed on horses galloping towards danger brandishing weapons ready for battle against what most would consider unbeatable odds, being led by the new Saint Knight.
The citizens watching held their breaths with anticipation , hoping these brave men could somehow turn things around despite all evidence pointing otherwise. This was their only chance if they had to survive! They had to take down the Mages!
"The Knights are not bad." In the distance, Avilia watched the changing landscape. "If it was just a Head Priest here, they must've held on. Unfortunately, the waters are much deeper today. At most, this army will last a minute."
"If I take action now to save them, even the destruction of the Church of Flames would be linked to me. It would certainly be an unnecessary headache. What a pity that the timing was so wrong."
"When he returns, he's going to be quite upset for sure..."
After a moment of silence, Avilia sighed. "Whatever. I guess I'll lend a helping hand after all."
She clapped her head once. Multiple formation circles appeared all around her, releasing a frightening amount of magical energy.
"Futile efforts." The Head Priest shook his head lightly, watching the Knights getting closer to attack them . "I'll handle them."
Lerian didn't stop him. A whirlpool of flames surrounded the Head Priest who watched hundreds of Royal Knights rushing toward them from all sides, trying to use the numbers to their advantage.
"If you wanted to die faster, you really came to the right place. Let me just fulfil your wishes." The Head Priest raised his right hand.
The Head Priest raised his right hand, preparing to wipe anyone who dared to attack them from the face of this earth. "Sunf-"
"Stop!" A sudden shout came from the distance that shocked everyone. A wall of fire rose from the ground between the Royal Knights and the Head Priest who was about to attack.
The Head Priest stopped his attack and turned around. This wall of fire was powerful and he also recognised this voice.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as he turned. However, as soon as he looked back, his expressions shifted. The Head Priest that they left behind was here and he was covered in blood. His face was also pale, as if he had burned his life essence to even reach here as soon as he could.
"What happened?" Lerian asked as his face turned dark. He already had a bad feeling deep inside his heart since the beginning and now this?
undefined"Were you attacked on the way here?" The other Head Priest asked. "Who dares to attack you on the way?!"
"I wasn't attacked on the way here. I was attacked inside the Church!" the bleeding man exclaimed, dropping to his knees. "Holy Lord, please get back as soon as possible! The Church is under attack! I'm not even sure if the others are still alive or not! I could only get out and come here to inform you as soon as I could!"
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"This was a trap! We've all been fooled!" he further added, telling everything that happened at the Church of Flames and how the other Head Priests were killed.
The Holy Lord of Flames was stunned to hear all this. Not only were they fooled, but someone even dared to attack the Church of Flames in broad daylight? He finally realized just what that strange feeling in his heart was! It was about this!
"You!" His fists tightened. He didn't yell or show his emotions but the ones who knew him understood what he was feeling!
His figure flew high in the air as he left. His speed was already ten times faster than the speed of the Head Priests. Within seconds, he disappeared from everyone else's view. He didn't care about bringing the others back with him. At the moment, he just wanted to get back and kill the person who dared to attack his home!
The other Head Priests also flew back, on the way gathering other Church members. The attack on the Empire of Arecia was cancelled. The flaming dragon in the sky also dispersed as if he was never there.
The members of the Sacred Church of Flames and the Barrier were dispelled. The Empire was free once again. Once the Mages of Flame left, only stunned citizens were left behind!
"T-they left? Were they scared of us?" One of the Royal Knights asked, unable to believe his eyes. Just as they were about to attack, the enemy left which made him wonder if it was because of them.
"Nonsense. I know we are strong but we aren't that strong. I think they left for another reason!"
"Agreed! Maybe they found the person they were looking for? If that's the case, it looks like our luck isn't bad..."
The Royal Knights got down from their horses. The feeling of surviving at the face of death was something that they were experiencing for the first time and they were already so relieved.
"Good luck?" The Saint Knight sighed, also getting down from the horse. "Look at the surroundings. Do you think this was great luck?"
The Royal Knights of the Arecia Empire looked around, standing on the edge of what had once been a bustling city. The Flaming Dragon had done its work; all that remained was its destruction and ruin. Even though it was stopped before it could destroy the entire city, the destruction that it already caused was too much in itself.
Everywhere they looked, buildings were reduced to rubble, homes burned down to their foundations, and the streets littered with charred remains. Everywhere there was smoke in the air from fires still smouldering from the dragon's attack.
The Saint Knight surveyed the scene before him, his face grim as he took in all that had been lost. He knew that many lives were taken in this attack, but he also knew it could have been much worse if the Church of Flames hadn't stopped attacking.
Deep inside his heart, he felt a lot of hate toward the Church of Flames now. Those people really didn't value the lives of a person, treating them like ants!
He turned away from the carnage and spoke softly to the others: "Send out search parties - we need to find any survivors. Check if there is anyone buried under the rubble and if they're still alive, help them. We need to focus on the rescue now!"
His voice betrayed none of his inner turmoil as he made this order; instead it held only determination and strength as he faced an uncertain future ahead of them all.
In silence, one by one each Knight turned around and went to help people. The attack of the Church didn't even last for a few seconds and half the city was already destroyed. Even a small part of the Royal Palace was also damaged. Fortunately, most of it was still intact.
One of the attacks of the Flaming Dragon also landed on the Garden of Legacy near the Royal Palace. However, for some strange reason, there was no mark left in the garden. It was as if no attack landed there. The mysterious garden was still perfectly fine!
Duke Callum stood in the distance, watching the Mages leave. His palace was still left standing as well. He finally sighed in relief. "It looks like he really succeeded. If only the Messenger was a few minutes faster, so much of the destruction could've been avoided."
"These Churches are still as overbearing as before." He entered his mansion, not bothering about the rescue.
Gabriel opened his eyes as he felt the cool morning air against his skin. He looked around, trying to make sense of where he was.
The last thing he could remember was that he was being pushed down by the mysterious force of the statue when he used his strongest offensive spell. He didn't remember anything that happened after that. Instead, he woke up here.
As he looked around, he soon realized where he was. It was the same place where he had been in his last dream! The mysterious waterfall dreamscape where he trained in his dream with the help of the creator of the earring Alion.
He was standing in front of it again. The sun shone brightly off the cascading water, creating an almost surreal atmosphere that sent shivers down Gabriel's spine.
undefinedHe stepped closer to the edge, once again mesmerised by its beauty. No matter how many times he looked at the waterfall, he always had this surreal feeling as if the waterfall was a special place that hid more mysteries than it revealed.
As he stepped closer to the Waterfall, suddenly something strange happened; the water began to swirl around him like it was alive and beckoning him forward. Gabriel hesitated for a moment before finally taking a deep breath and jumping into the pool below.
The sensation was incredible as a warm energy started nourishing his soul. He also felt himself being pulled deeper and deeper into this dream world filled with vibrant colors and sounds that seemed almost too real for comfort.
He could feel his body relaxing as if all his worries had melted away in this new environment - until suddenly he heard a familiar voice calling out from behind him: "Just a meeting with a fragment of his remnant Divine Aura and your body was almost broken? You are really weak..."
Startled, Gabriel spun around only to find Alion behind him, surrounded by the same mysterious energy that he felt coming from the water. It was surprising to see Alion being able to talk even inside the water.
"Your body is much weaker than I thought. Training you would take much longer than I expected. It's hard to believe that someone so mighty could fall to this level..." Alion didn't even open his lips. Despite that, his words were heard clearly by Gabriel. It was clear that Alion wasn't speaking. He was using his thoughts to communicate.
"Can we use thoughts to talk inside the water?" Gabriel wondered, frowning. He had never heard of a place like that existing in the past. There were definitely treasures which allowed people to talk through thoughts but those treasures were all rare!
"You can. But it's better if you focus your time on training yourself. This time, it was just a fragment of a Divine Consciousness and you were already brought to your knees," Alion replied. From his reaction, he seemed really upset at Gabriel.
"Stay inside and don't you dare to go out! If you dared to leave the water before I told you, you'll never receive my help in your training... Do you understand?" he asked Gabriel.
The last time Gabriel was here, Alion was much calmer and talked in an usual manner. However, currently it was clear that he was angry. Gabriel didn't understand why he was so angry? It wasn't as if he wanted to fall to his knees. The pressure was just too much for him. Moreover, why did this guy even care if he fell to his knees somehow?
He didn't understand much about this man's strange reaction, but from his words, Gabriel did understand a few things. Firstly, it wasn't that the Stone Statue of the God of Flames was alive. It was just that the statue had some Divine Aura of his which was what pushed Gabriel down.
And secondly, Alion was actually here to help him train to make his body stronger. No matter how angry Alion was, in the end his intentions were good.
He nodded. No matter what, staying in the water felt helpful for now. He didn't know what kind of condition his body was in, but he had faith in Raphael. He wanted to heal his soul and his body before leaving and this place was the best when it came to healing. It was even more efficient than his healing spell somehow.
Alion left Gabriel inside the water and came to the surface. Water dropped down his long hair as he stepped on the surface, taking a glance back at the surface of the water. With his vision, he could still see Gabriel even though he was at the depth of fifty meters.
"This kid... He's really..." He sat on the ground, seemingly tired. He glanced up at the clear sky, sighing. "I wonder if I was too harsh on him. It's not entirely his fault either. Even if it was my younger self in his place, I would've had a hard time staying up. That Divine Aura... It was too soon for him to come in contact with that, after all."
"That was really impatient though. Attacking that place alone? Then again, I guess old habits really are hard to change, aren't they? Old friend?"
The sun was setting over the Empire of Arecia, casting a golden light across its majestic landscape. As night slowly descended, a mystical flying beast soared through the sky, carrying an unconscious Gabriel back to his home. The beast that was lent by Avilia also carried Raphael with it.
As for the Death Knights, for some reason, as soon as Gabriel was brought out of the City, all Death Knights disappeared, turning into specks of light which entered Gabriel's ring of Necromancy.
Gabriel hadn't left Arecia for a long time. However, now that he was being brought back, the City looked quite different than before. It was as if the City went through a large-scale war already.
"So this is the City that belongs to him," Raphael muttered, looking at the City in the distance. It was his first time coming to this city.
If he wasn't informed about this city and the beast that was waiting outside to take them back before Gabriel attacked the Church, he never would've known where to even take Gabriel.
From the start of the attack on the City to the end, the new Emperor hadn't made an appearance. Gabriel's reputation was already at his lowest now. Even the Saint Knight had shown up but the so-called Emperor didn't. Many citizens were starting to call the new Emperor a coward who didn't even dare to show his face before the Holy Lord.
Many citizens had lost their loved ones in this attack. Many of them lost their house, their property, their wealth as well. They all wanted to blame someone and this blame was tossed at the new Emperor!
At the moment, not a single person in the Empire knew how this anger and resentment toward the new Emperor was the foundation of something that had the potential to destroy the world's foundation itself…
The beast carrying Raphael and Gabriel felt under constant suppression, despite being a powerful beast. Even though Gabriel wasn't conscious, just the strange aura coming from his body was enough to intimidate the Beast.
As the Beast flew toward the Royal City of Arecia, it started slowing down.
Raphael noticed the slowing in speed, even though they still weren't at the Royal City. He also noticed a figure in the distance, floating in the air.
The person was a young woman who didn't look very intimidating. However, just the aura around that woman was something that Raphael could sense clearly. That woman was powerful... At least more powerful than the Head Priests that he went against.
undefinedHe couldn't sense any killing intent from the woman in their direction. She was just gazing at them silently.
Raphael stood up, keeping an eye on the woman in the distance while the flying beast stopped before her.
"Are you the one who lent us this beast?"
Now that he was closer to the woman physically, he could feel that her aura was somewhat similar to the aura of the beast which was carrying them. She certainly wasn't a Mage of Flames from what he could guess.
The Holy Priestess of Summoning nodded as she also landed on the flying beast. "How is he now? Is he hurt?"
Raphael didn't answer. Even if it was possible that the woman helped them, he still didn't want to tell her anything for Gabriel's safety.
Avilia understood what Raphael's silence meant and she didn't probe more. From her initial glance, she could already see that Gabriel's breathing was stable. Even though his clothes had blood, his wounds weren't visible.
"We should take him to the Royal Castle first. There, he can rest better."
Following her words, the flying beast resumed its journey and flew to the Royal City. Without the barrier of flames, entering the City was much easier now.
Raphael sat near Gabriel while Avilia was made to keep her distance. Raphael also cast a small barrier of his own so that there shouldn't be any surprise attacks on them. No matter what, before Gabriel woke up and confirmed that the woman was an ally, he couldn't lower his guard around her.
'A summon who is more clever than usual summons." Avilia was previously interested in Gabriel, but at the moment, she even started taking interest in Raphael who was shrouded in the aura of death. "His strength isn't bad either. Even I can't see the extent of his true strength. Very intriguing. Just how many more things are you hiding, Gabriel?"
She stood silently, not speaking much. With Raphael's suspicions, she didn't want to create a misunderstanding before Gabriel woke up.
During the last stretch of their journey, none of them spoke anything.
The sun had already set but Raphael was still able to look down and notice all the destruction that occurred in the city. Looking at that destruction, it didn't take him long to guess who was behind it, since fire was used in these attacks. He finally understood to some extent why Gabriel would attack the Church of Flames. Their enmity was already established after all.
The majestic beast finally entered the City, shrouded in the darkness of night. Most of the citizens didn't know when it entered the City at all.
Even the Royal Knights who were guarding the Royal Palace who saw the majestic beast about to land on the top of the Royal Palace were stunned.
To them, the beast seemingly descended from the heavens. Its wingspan was so wide that it seemed to fill up the entire sky, and its scales glittered in all colors of the rainbow. For a moment, even the Knights were dazed.
As it drew closer to the landing, they could make out three figures riding atop its back- two men and a woman dressed in fine clothes. One of the two men appeared unconscious, being carried by the other man.
The Royal Knights instinctively surrounded the majestic beast.
Even the Saint Knight jumped high, landing on the roof before the beast, raising his sword. Since they just went through the attack, they were more alert.
"The Royal Palace isn't a place where you can just- huh? The Emperor?"
Initially, the Saint Knight couldn't see who those three people were, but after he saw clearly, he realized that the unconscious person was none other than Gabriel.
"What happened to him?!"
He hadn't known Gabriel for a long time, but Gabriel was the first person who saw through his Talents and awarded him the position of the Saint Knight. If there was a Knight in this Empire who was most loyal to Gabriel, it was the new Saint Knight.
He was shocked to see Gabriel being covered in blood. Amongst the two people that brought him back, one was the Holy Priestess of Summoning who he had seen before. As for the other person, he had no idea. However, those people didn't appear like enemies.
"Stop wasting time. Gabriel needs rest!" the Holy Priestess exclaimed as she jumped down the beast. Raphael also came down, carrying Gabriel.
"Y-yes. Follow me!" The Saint Knight told his men to call the Royal Physician to the Emperor's room while he escorted the three people there.
After Gabriel went through strengthening his body last time, the room was left quite dirty. However, it had been cleaned by now. And this part of the palace also stayed unaffected by the attack on the City.
Gabriel was brought to the Emperor's room and carefully placed on the bed.
Not long after, the royal physician was brought to the room.
The old physician entered the room. After finding Gabriel on the bed, he went closer and started checking Gabriel's body.
"Hmm? That's strange?" The old man stepped back in confusion after checking Gabriel's body.
"What happened? Is something wrong? Can he be treated?" the Saint Knight inquired.
"Treated? He can't be treated," the Physician answered, shaking his head.
The Saint Knight's face went pale, hearing the response. He couldn't believe that Gabriel's wounds were so heavy that he couldn't even be treated!
He knew that Gabriel had gone to help the Empire! He knew that Gabriel was the reason that the Holy Priest of Flames left the Empire without completely destroying it!
His gaze lowered. 'To protect the Empire, he put himself in harm's way and we can't even treat him?'
He grabbed the shoulders of the old man. "That can't be! You must help him at any cost! I don't care how you do it! Nothing must happen to him!"
"Ah, Saint Knight. I think you're misunderstanding my words! When I said he can't be treated, it's not because his wounds can't be treated! It's because there is nothing to be treated! I don't know how, but there are no wounds on his body. And I can't sense any injuries either. For some strange reason, his body is already healed!" The Physician exclaimed.
It was even his first time seeing something like this. Gabriel's bloodied clothes were telling a completely different story, as if he was really hurt. However, he couldn't sense anything wrong with Gabriel.
"How is that possible? He isn't hurt?!" The Saint Knight exclaimed, finding it hard to believe. He wondered if the old man was trying to say that Gabriel was pretending to be hurt! His hand subconsciously went for the hilt of his sword as he glared at the Royal Physician for this blasphemy.
"That's not wrong. Along the way, we met a Priest of Light who used a healing spell on him to help him. You don't have to be shocked about his physical condition," Avilia chimed in before the situation could devolve into more chaos.
Since Gabriel didn't want the Saint Knight or others to know that he was a Mage, she gave them an excuse to justify his sudden healing. Using a Mage of Light as an excuse was simply the easiest option for her.
undefined"So that's what it was. Good." The Saint Knight sighed. "Nothing can happen to him..."
On another side of the continent, Lerian landed in the middle of the where the Sacred Church of Flames used to be. However, there was nothing there that could be seen anymore. It was as if the Church never existed here! Not only did the enemy kill everyone here, they even destroyed the entire Church before leaving!
Lerian stood in silence in the crater, not speaking or moving. However, a terrifying killing intent surrounded him. The killing intent was so powerful that it spread for thousands of kilometres, making everyone shiver. The weaker humans couldn't even bear the terrifying killing intent and dropped to the group, dying just from the killing intent itself!
Lerian didn't attack anyone yet thousands of people died in Leviria at that single moment...
Hours later, the other Head Priests also arrived, landing not too far from Lerian. Even they couldn't believe their eyes... The Church... Their home was destroyed just like that...
Inside the dreamscape, Gabriel spent hours submerged inside the water. For some reason, he didn't feel short of breath inside the water. Instead, he felt surreal. The feeling he received being submerged inside the water was different from sitting under the mysterious waterfall.
Sitting under the waterfall was constant suppression which kept increasing with time. While being under the waterfall felt like his body was constantly being broken apart to strengthen it, being submerged in the water felt more like his body was being nourished very gently. He felt as if all his hidden wounds were being healed slowly.
It had been over twenty-four hours since Gabriel entered the dreamscape. His body was already healed, but he still hadn't woken up. In his sleep, he didn't realize how things were changing on the outside.
His reputation was at an all time low and there was not a single person who wasn't calling him a coward. Even some of the Royal Knights who didn't know the truth felt that Gabriel was a coward.
There were only four people in the entire Empire who knew what actually happened— Callum, Saint Knight, Raphael and Avilia.
"That boy talked so big about the Spirit of the Knights and bravery. In the end, it was all a lie! That boy was nothing more than a coward who just hid in his castle in the face of danger!"
"That's right! It's our stupidity that we fell for his lies! Who knew, he probably also lied about the last Emperor and even about his Lineage!"
"The old Emperor would never hide inside while the Empire was in danger! We don't want a coward and a liar in the top position!"
"That coward doesn't deserve to be the Emperor! He must be tossed out!"
"I'm fine with anyone having the throne but him! He must be kicked out! How can a coward be our Emperor? At this rate, won't he just sell our entire Emperor to the enemies if a powerful enemy came?"
The anger and resentment spread amongst the citizens like fire and no one stopped them. Even though it was the Royal Knights' duty to stop people from talking bad about the Emperor, they didn't stop the people. If anything, their views were the same as the citizens.
Initially the Royal Knights felt that Gabriel was different and brave, but now that they went through such an experience without the Emperor even showing himself, their feelings were different.
The Saint Knight stood on the balcony of the Royal Palace, looking over the entire Empire. He also heard the news about the citizens talking bad about Gabriel.
His heart felt as if it was under a really heavy burden. Gabriel went through so much to save the Empire. He hadn't even woken up for more than a day and they didn't know if he was ever going to wake up. And after all that, the people he saved were not only ungrateful but they also resented him?
He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs and tell all those ungrateful bastards what Gabriel did for them, but he couldn't. He knew that if he told people the truth, and this news reached the members of the Church of Flames, then this was going to be a calamity like no other!
For the sake of this Empire's safety, none of them could tell the citizens about the truth. All they could do was let things happen and hope the situation didn't get worse than it already was.
He occasionally glanced back inside the room where Gabriel was still lying on the bed. He couldn't help but wonder what Gabriel's reaction was going to be after finding out what the citizens were saying about him. He had a feeling that even Gabriel couldn't avoid being sad deep inside.
"What a bunch of idiots." The Saint Knight was lost in thoughts about the future when Callum arrived to stand next to him on the balcony. "People say that ignorance is bliss. But they don't know that in some situations, this ignorance can..."
Saint Knight was about to reply when the door of the room suddenly opened. A young maid rushed inside the room, breathing heavily as if she had run all the way here.
"Lord Saint Knight, an envoy from the Church of Flames is here, asking to meet His Majesty!
"Envoy from the Church of Flames?" The Saint Knight was taken aback. It hadn't been long since these people left and now they were back and they wanted to meet Gabriel?
"Could it be that they already found out about it?" he asked the Duke, glancing at his Sword that was lying nearby.
"I don't think that's the case. If they knew, you think they would only send one envoy?" Callum knew just how big a deal it was for someone to destroy a Sacred Church's main branch.
He was clear that if they knew about this and Gabriel being behind this, let alone the city but the entire Empire would've been destroyed already!
"They must be here for some other reason," he told the Saint Knight. Even though the situation wasn't ideal, it still wasn't as bad as it could've been.
undefined"Even if that's the case, what should we do about it? They're here to meet the Emperor, but he..." The Saint Knight couldn't help but shake his head, glancing at Gabriel who was lying on the bed with Raphael keeping an eye on him.
"What can we even do? Go out and handle the matter," the Duke replied. If he wasn't worried about his identity, he personally would've gone. However, for now, the only choice they had was to send the Saint Knight who had a similar level of position as him in the Empire.
The Saint Knight scratched the back of his head, nodding. He couldn't do anything else. He walked closer to his sword that was inside the sheath and picked it up before leaving the room.
"Huh?" The Saint Knight stepped out of the room, only to be shocked. The envoy from the Church... He wasn't in the meeting room. Instead, he was coming directly toward him! He was just a few steps away from the entrance of the room where Gabriel was resting...
...
The entire hall was filled in silence. Two people sat face to face, both being at the top of this world when it came to strength. One was the Holy Priest of Flames while the other was the Holy Priestess of Earth.
Even though it's been half an hour, the silence was still deafening.
"I need your help..." After a long time, Lerian finally broke the silence. He had never asked anyone for help in his entire life. Unfortunately, now he had no choice but to ask for help.
He was so angry that he wanted to kill! It was already proving hard for him to control his emotions for now. He wanted to find the people who attacked the Sacred Church of Flames and he believed he could only do so with the help of the Holy Priestess of Earth.
"How can I help?" The Holy Priestess of Earth asked. Usually, she didn't think that the situation was going to deteriorate to this level. Even she couldn't have guessed that this was a trap to lure Lerian away from Leviria. That trap also succeeded.
It was clear that whoever was behind this attack was very clever and that killing Lerian's daughter was a part of this trap. They knew how strong Lerian was and that they couldn't kill him. That's why, they wanted to decide the forces behind him first to break him!
According to her, not only did they kill his daughter, but they intentionally kept the Fate Stone safe throughout these years, only to use it now when the opportunity was right to lure Lerian away from the Church with most of the forces.
For some reason, she also felt that whoever did it knew what they were doing all too well. It all happened right around the Meeting of Saints after all! It was as if the enemies knew about the Meeting of Saints and timed things according to that.
At this moment, they were out in the open, having no idea who was behind all this and where the enemies hid. On the other hand, the enemies seemed to know a lot about them!
When Elora told them that the new Holy Priest of Darkness was very cunning and planned things accordingly, she didn't think it was that bad. However, at the moment, she was starting to believe those words.
Lerian pulled out a small letter from his pocket and placed it on the glass table between him and the Holy Priestess of Earth.
The Holy Priestess of Earth picked up the letter and unfolded it slowly.
As soon as she read through this letter, her face darkened. "Who gave you this letter?"
"A few hours ago, a commoner gave this letter to one of our members. He said that this letter was given to him by a masked man who told him to pass this letter to us after twelve hours," Lerian answered.
"Then this letter..." The Holy Priestess of Earth frowned.
Lerian nodded as a trace of anger flashed in his deep eyes. "This was sent by the person who attacked the Church... The hand behind the curtain..."
The Holy Priestess of Earth went through the letter once again. "This person... He is really bold, isn't he?"
"Only as long as I can't find him. When I do, his skull would be under my feet," Lerian responded. "Then I'll see how bold he is!"
"For that, I need your help," he told the Holy Priestess.
"Don't tell me you're asking me to use... that?" The Holy Priestess of Earth frowned. Seeing Lerian be so serious, she was already sure what he was here for!
"That's right. I'm here to ask you to use it... The treasure that you found two years ago," Lerian confessed. "Only that can help me now. When that person used his spells to destroy the Church, his aura had been left there. It will be dispersed in a few days so we need to be fast. With your treasure, we can use that aura to teleport him back to that place and kill him!"
"You realise that I can only use it once, right?" The Holy Priestess asked, not showing much reaction. "I was saving that to catch people from the Temple of Time once they made an appearance in this world again. To use that on this person..."
"The Temple of Time hasn't appeared for hundreds of years. For now, the biggest danger this world faces is the person who attacked the Church and the force behind him. If we don't capture him, who's to say he won't get stronger and attack your home next?"
After speaking, Lerian stood up. Only the sound of the chair being pushed back could be heard in the silence.
"I said all I wanted to say. Now the choice is yours..."
"Wait..."
Lerian was about to step out of the hall when he heard the voice of the Holy Priestess.
"I'll wait for you there." He didn't turn around and walked out of the hall, as if he already knew what she was going to say.
"Are you the envoy from the Church of Flames?" the Saint Knight blocked the path of the envoy.
undefinedThe person before him was one of the Priests of the Sacred Church of Flames. For him to be here and this close to the room with Gabriel... The Saint Knight knew that he couldn't let him go forward and see Gabriel.
"I am. Take me to your Emperor. My time is precious," the man arrogantly stated.
In his voice, there wasn't much hostility, but it was clear that he was looking down on the people from this Empire, including the Saint Knight.
Despite being displeased by this behaviour of the man, the Saint Knight sighed in relief inwardly. It was evident that he didn't know about Gabriel or what he did. He was most probably here for some other reason. But still, he couldn't let him meet Gabriel since he wasn't sure if Gabriel's aura could be sensed by him or not.
"Lord Envoy, His Majesty can't meet you today. Our Majesty's health has been bad recently so I'm afraid it's not good to meet him. How about you tell me what you're here for? No matter what it is, I'll help you." The Saint Knight stood between the room and the Envoy.
The Envoy couldn't help but snort. "So the rumours I heard about your Emperor are really true. He's really a coward who doesn't even dare come out. Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt him. Even if he's scared, there's no need to make excuses."
The Envoy didn't look like he was willing to leave. In any case, he was under orders from above. He didn't want to leave without meeting the so-called Emperor.
"This is not an excuse. Please show some respect." The Saint Knight didn't know why this guy was being so stubborn. All he had to do was tell him what he was here for, and he would've done it! There was no need to even go through Gabriel in this time of emergency.
"Do you ants think you deserve my respect?" The middle aged mage of Flames scoffed disrespectfully. He placed his hand on Saint Knight's shoulder to push him aside.
"Hmm?" The Envoy frowned, unable to move the Saint Knight even an inch. Even though he was strong, but his main strength was in his magical prowess. His physical strength wasn't as good. On the other hand, the Saint Knight focused more on the physical strength.
The envoy couldn't move him aside that easily.
"Don't force my hands. You're really lucky to survive a calamity recently. Don't push your luck because this time, you won't be that lucky!"
The members of the Church of Flames were already angry and irritated after what happened recently and to see a mere knight disrespecting him, he couldn't help but get angry.
The situation was getting heated. The Saint Knight also stepped back a little, holding his sword firmly. "Lord Envoy, I don't want to go against the Church of Flames, but if you want to break our rules and disrespect us, then I would be happy to accompany you even in death!"
"You! Good! Very good! Looks like you really don't know the difference between earth and heaven! In that case, let me enlighten you!"
The Envoy was already angry and seeing him blocked by a person on his way and even threatened, he was furious.
'Wait...' Despite his anger, he found something strange. These people... If they really didn't worry about death, then why didn't they show themselves before? Now that he really thought about this, there was no need for the Saint Knight to block him, was there?
Even if the Emperor was really sick, all he had to do was escort him and let him see with his own eyes? Why would he take the extra effort to block and even risk offending the Church of Flames?
Something didn't add up! He could feel that there was more to it than met his eyes. It was as if the Saint Knight was intentionally trying to block him, as if he wanted to hide something! The more he thought about it, the more things appeared out of place.
He had seen which room three Saint Knight came out of. He had a feeling that the room was the one which supposedly belonged to this mysterious Emperor!
He didn't attack the Saint Knight. Instead, the corners of his lips crept up as he took a glance behind the Saint Knight. More than fighting the Saint Knight and getting delayed by him, he wanted to see what was in the room.
"Fine! Since you don't want to accept our blessings, I will leave!" He suddenly turned around and started walking away, as if he really wasn't intending to fight.
The Saint Knight couldn't help but frown seeing all that. The man who was just about to attack him... Why would he suddenly turn around and leave?
He stood behind in confusion. How could a person change his mind really fast? Did he really have such good control over his emotions? Or was he commanded by his higher ups to not attack anyone here? That seemed to be the only option that made sense for now.
He didn't think that someone like a member of the Church who already had such strength would scheme against him.
Unfortunately, just as his mind was distracted, the Envoy abruptly turned around. A ball of fire, as big as a person's head shot out toward the Saint Knight.
The sudden incoming attack stunned the Saint Knight who could only raise his Sword to block the attack at the last moment.
Boom~
The Saint Knight's body flew back, amidst the explosion. Since he wasn't ready, he didn't even have a battle stance which made it impossible for him to keep his feet planted.
While the Saint Knight crashed on the wall in the distance, the Envoy of Church rushed ahead toward the room. The path between him and the room was already clear for him by now!
The Saint Knight stood up, even as his body was aching all over as he rushed ahead as well. Unfortunately, the envoy attacked again to delay him.
The Saint Knight this time was more prepared. His Sword came slashing down, cutting the attack on two halves, destroying it!
Unfortunately, that much of a delay was enough for the envoy to reach the room.
The Envoy of the Church pushed the door open and entered the room…
The Sacred Churches... There weren't many of them but they still possessed immense power. Each Church was enough to trample over any Empire if they ever wished. However, they all remained out of conflicts of the mortal World for the most part.
Even if they usually interfered, no one could dare to say anything against them. There was no need for them to offer any explanation to anyone.
Unfortunately, this time was different. They had attacked the Empire of Arecia and almost destroyed it, only to later find out that they were fooled.
p1ease visi(t) n0ve1b(in).ne)t
undefinedThe Holy Priest of the Church of Flames was quite upset and distracted by the whole matter of the attacker, so he left the matter of dealing with the aftermath of the Empire conflict with a head priest.
The Head Priest in turn sent an envoy to Arecia in hopes of giving the Empire a brief explanation so the matter could finally be put to rest. He didn't want the matter to spread more than it already did. In this way, they were giving some face to the Empire of Arecia even when they didn't need to.
There was also another reason for him sending an Envoy. He wanted a message to be delivered to the new Emperor so that the new Emperor could change the story a bit! For now, no one in the Empire knew why the Church left so suddenly. There were definitely going to be some mixed feelings. That was why he wanted to get the Emperor to calm down his people to put the matter to rest.
Through this matter, he wanted the Emperor to tell the citizens that the Church came here because a criminal was being given shelter in the Empire and the Church left after they received the criminal.
In this way, not only did the Church clean its hands of the whole matter, but they could also act as if they were full of virtues, even if they had to push the blame of sheltering the criminal on the 'innocent' Empire.
The envoy came only for that matter. He didn't respect the Empire and its people. If anything, he just wanted to deliver the message and leave as soon as he could. Each second he spent here was a waste of his time.
Unfortunately, finding himself being blocked by the Saint Knight, he felt as if they were hiding something. He rushed inside immediately after pushing the Saint Knight back.
The Envoy opened the doors and rushed inside the room, only to be stunned.
The Saint Knight also rushed ahead, brandishing his sword. He wasn't sure if the Envoy recognised the real identity of Gabriel or not, but he was willing to take the risk and take his head off!
Strangely enough, as soon as he looked inside, he was also surprised. The room... It was different compared to when he left the room.
Raphael was nowhere to be found. What stunned him even more was that Gabriel was up! He was finally up!
Gabriel had woken up from his slumber. Not only that, he was also dressed in a new Attire, worthy of his position.
"You are the Emperor?" The Envoy asked, frowning. In the room, there were only two people. First was Gabriel and the second was Callum who stood behind Gabriel.
He had already heard along the way that the new Emperor was a cowardly young man. Since there was only one young man in the room, he immediately realized that Gabriel was the Emperor.
Strangely enough, even though he heard that Gabriel was a coward, he felt entirely different. Gabriel's eyes were clear. His body was brimming in energy and there was not a shred of fear on his handsome face. If anything, there was something about Gabriel which made even the Envoy feel slightly intimidated.
The envoy shook his head lightly, believing it to be his misconceptions.
"I am the Emperor of Arecia, Gabriel Arcadius Arecia. The person behind me is Duke Callum," Gabriel calmly answered. "Are you the Envoy from the Church?"
Initially, Gabriel didn't want to meet members of the Church so soon. However, as soon as he woke up, he was informed by Callum about the arrival of an envoy.
Since it was just an Envoy and not a Head Priest or Lerian himself, Gabriel didn't care much. After all, his ring was enough to hide his aura along with Callum's aura as long as the person before him wasn't a Holy Priest or someone on similar level.
His hands remained behind his back as he greeted the Envoy calmly.
"Hmph, you have good eyes!" The envoy arrogantly walked toward a nearby chair. "I am the Envoy of the Church of Flames. Do you know your crimes?"
He sat down on a nearby chair, resting one leg above the other without even waiting for permission from Gabriel.
Callum in the back frowned. This guy really didn't respect the Empire or even the Emperor. He was acting as if he was talking to his servants in his own backyard.
Gabriel didn't care much about this man's reaction. He had already killed half the Church's forces. If he wanted to kill this weak guy, all he had to do was snap a finger to summon one of the Death Knights and they could handle everything else. Even this Envoy's body wasn't going to be left behind.
Unfortunately, the person had Lerian behind him. Gabriel didn't worry about having to fight with Lerian in the future, but he didn't want this Empire to be dragged into the flames of war. That's why he took such a long winded route to deal with this problem.
"May I ask what I did wrong?" Gabriel asked.
The corners of the Envoy's lips crept up, forming an ugly smile. "You tried to have this Holy Envoy fooled?"
"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked again.
"Don't pretend to be innocent. You had your dog tell me that you were sick so I could be sent back. However you seem perfectly fine. Do you know what crime you committed by lying to me?"
The Envoy didn't care about the dignity of the Empire. He was already frustrated that he had to come this far, all to give an explanation to a measly Empire that they could destroy in an instant. Unfortunately, it was the other of the Head Priest. Despite that, he still wanted to trample on the dignity of the so-called Emperor.
"Lord Envoy, could it be that you're blind?" Gabriel asked calmly.
A sentence... Just a single sentence fell in the Envoy's ears like an explosion. This guy... He actually called him blind?
