The Holy Church of Light... It was said to be one of the strongest powers in the World especially because of the Holy Priest of Light who was claimed to be the strongest of all the Holy Priests according to the people of the world.
Under normal situations, it was almost impossible to infiltrate the Holy Church of Light, but these weren't the normal situations. Half the Church of Light was out of the city, possibly in some war so their strength was already half of their peak.
Moreover, whatever half was left, he had a feeling that those numbers were going to dwindle even more if the Academy of Elements called for help.
Before this month, he hadn't even thought of infiltrating the Church of Light because there was a possibility of the Holy Priest being there. The Head Priests of Light were also more sensitive to the Darker Elements so there was a good chance that his Darkness could've been sensed if he even tried entering.
But what changed the equation in his favour was the ring that he received from the Spectre.
"The timing of receiving the Ring is really strange though." He glanced at his ring.
He couldn't help but feel as if the Spectre also wanted him to enter the Holy Church of a Light, which was the reason he brought this ring to him. With the ring, he wasn't sure if even the Holy Priest of Light could sense his aura.
Still, there was a lot of risk involved. If he infiltrated the Holy Church of Light and stole their treasures, he was going to make the entire Holy Church his enemy. Then again, it wasn't as if they already didn't consider him an enemy of humanity.
The two sides were already on two opposite ends where compromise was impossible.
Gabriel thought a lot about his future course of action, wondering if he really should invade the Holy Church of Light. After thinking for a long time, he eventually came to a decision...
"It is too soon for that. According to the people, the Holy Priest of Light hasn't gone to the war. I've already received enough treasure. I won't risk my life for my greed until I'm sure that I can take him on." He clenched his fist, deciding to not enter the Holy Church of Light.
Not many people in the world knew for sure that there was no Holy Priest of Light at the moment since the Holy Grimoire was yet to select the next Holy Priest. The Church of Light had done a good job in keeping that a secret, and it also worked.
Even Gabriel couldn't take the risk at the moment. It was one thing to fight the younger versions of Novius and the Head Council Members who were along the same strength range but it was a completely different thing to fight the Holy Priest of Light who could take the help of Ancestral Staff of Light.
He could see the Holy Church of Light within a walking distance already.
"Two guards at the entrance and a protective barrier all around." Gabriel walked past the Holy Church of Light, observing the safety mechanisms that he could see.
"It seems now that they are at half strength, they have increased their security even more. They certainly aren't taking things lightly."
Gabriel didn't stop before the Church of Light and kept walking as if he was no more than a commoner.
It didn't matter how much he wanted to do it, he wasn't going to risk it. Even though he had more than one Element and some powerful spells thanks to his teachers, he was still a Mid Tier Mage when it came to Magical Strength.
He didn't think he was ready to face a Ruler of Element until he became an Advanced Tier Mage. So far, he had only faced Lira, the Ruler of Darkness and that's also when she didn't have the help of her Ancestral Staff. He didn't even know how he survived that situation, but it gave him some insight into the strength of the Holy Priests.
Lira was supposed to be weaker than the Holy Priest of Light, even if both of them fought without an Ancestral Staff. At least that's what she used to think. In that case, Gabriel believed that fighting him at the moment was no more than stupidity since he was definitely going to use his Ancestral Staff of Light.
Gabriel felt a familiar presence once again, which made him raise his head. He could see the Spectre standing on the roof of one of the buildings, looking at him.
This time, Gabriel didn't chase after him since the Spectre could disappear again.
"If you have anything to say, come to me. I don't care why you gave me this Ring, but I won't let you, or anyone else define my path for me."
The Spectre shook his head lightly before disappearing in the darkness again. It was unclear what he was thinking. The only thing which was certain was that Gabriel didn't walk the path laid out for him by others. He thought clearly about his every future action, remembering the last words of Novius.
Even when Novius was dying, he only told Gabriel to make sure that he doesn't lose his own path because of the actions of this world.
The Academy of Elements was in chaos thanks to Gabriel, but the Holy Church of Light was completely silent, not realizing just how close they were from a battle with Gabriel.
The entire city had been sealed but that sealing was nothing for someone like Gabriel. He didn't leave through the main entrance of the city where most of the guards were placed. Instead, he stopped at the back of the city, observing the dome shaped Barrier.
Unlike the marking barrier from before that allowed all mages to walk past it as long as they didn't have the Element of Darkness, this barrier sealed everyone inside the city, making it impossible for anyone to get out of the city.
"The Protection Barrier cast using the Holy Grimoire of Light by the last Ruler of Light. A barrier that's said to be impossible to break... Let's see if the words hold some value."
Gabriel brought his Holy Grimoire of Necromancy out, along with his Ancestral Staff for the same.
"A barrier cast using the Holy Grimoire. If it was at its peak, even breaking it using another Holy Grimoire would've been hard, but after such a long time has passed since the barrier was cast, it's weakened. My Grimoire should be able to break it."
Gabriel raised his right hand, placing it on the barrier before him.
"Soul Explosion!"
[Boom]
"Soul Explosion!"
[Boom]
"Soul Explosion!"
[Boom]
"Soul Explosion!"
One after another, Gabriel cast five Soul Explosions, destroying five souls in the process, but it appeared to work as he saw a crack develop in the barrier before him.
"Soul Explosion!"
He cast the same spell one again. Following an explosive sound, the world returned to silence again. The cracks on the barrier kept spreading.
At times, it sounded like a glass was cracking. Within minutes, the cracks spread throughout the barrier, covering every place. Even the barrier at the entrance of the city was cracked due to residual forces.
"What?"
"How is this possible?"
"What is happening?"
Even the Mages who were assigned to guard the entrance couldn't see what was happening. All they could see was that the barrier that was supposed to be unbreakable was breaking.
Inside the Academy of Element, the Head Council Teachers were fuming in anger. They had finished searching the entire Academy but Gabriel was nowhere. It was as if he had already left the Academy.
"He can leave the academy, but he shouldn't have an easy time leaving the city," Qin exclaimed as he suggested they take the help of the Holy Church of Light to widen their search.
"I wouldn't be so sure about it," Rem's grim voice lacked any sort of optimism as he pointed up.
The other Teachers also looked up, only to see the cracks in the barrier of the Holy Church of Light.
Within the next few seconds, the entire barrier shattered, turning back into energy that merged with the nature again.
"He left the city..." Eliana summerized. She was sure that only one person could break the barrier. This only meant that he was already at the exit.
****
Even the Head Priests of Light were informed about the breaking of the barrier. They all rushed out of the Church to see it with their own eyes.
Even as they saw it with their own eyes, they still found it hard to believe. First, their initial barrier was rendered ineffective as a Dark Mage was allowed to infiltrate and now their second barrier was broken?
"Things are more serious than I thought," one of the Head Priests stated as his face remained covered with a concerned frown. "If the Grimoire doesn't select a candidate soon, it can get really troublesome even for all of us."
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