Elora was concerned about the heir selected by the Grimoire of Darkness, believing it was the man she fought. Everyone else also thought the same. Not a single person amongst them knew how wrong they were.
The real owner of the Grimoire of Darkness was Lira, who was still waiting near the city for Gabriel's return. She remained inside the forest, keeping an eye on the city.
As everyone was concerned about her, she just laid on the soft grass near the pong, imaging with her pendant, which was the artifact form of her Grimoire of Darkness.
It had only been two days since Gabriel entered the city, so she believed he was still analyzing the academy. She believed that he was going to attempt the theft on the last day of the week or possibly the second last. If only she knew how hasty Gabriel had been.
Lira was in the middle of the forest, but at another part in the first, another person appeared.
A formation circle appeared on the grass. A figure appeared above the formation.
Lelin came out of the city, still folding into the white orb. He gazed at the city of light in the distance.
" Who knew it was going to be that easy? A fake letter and a nice illusion of the Church of Light Carriage, and they all fell for it. It definitely helps that no one knows who the Head of the Church of Light is... Such idiots."
"Still, I didn't expect to meet him there... That person... How long has it been since I last..."
Lelin appeared to lose himself in some deep thought before composing himself.
"He was too weak though. Should I have killed him when I had the opportunity...?" Lelin asked as if talking to himself. However, as soon as he finished speaking, he felt a dark presence around him.
A cold blade touched his throat, which could make anyone's soul shiver.
"I was kidding. I know you won't allow me." Lelin rolled his eyes, not looking scared in the least. "Why do you think I didn't attack him seriously and left?"
He turned around, gazing at the figure which stood behind him. A dark specter floated before him, shrouded in an aura of death.
He flashed a bright grin, waving the white orb before the specter. "We have it now. Shall we get going?"
"You left one behind..." The Spectre answered coldly.
"What do you mean I left one behind? There was only one in the box. This is the one."
The specter shook his head. "There were two... You lost one."
"Shall I go back?" Lelin asked. It was just now that he was informed that there were two orbs in the box. He didn't see the second before.
"It's too late now." The dark specter answered, gazing toward the city. "One shall be enough... For now."
****
Lira sensed another presence in the forest that appeared out of nowhere. She was sure that it was a mage.
Suspicious, she stood up and flew in the direction where she sensed the presence. She flew through the forest, soon reaching her destination.
Unfortunately, by the time she reached there, the place was empty. There was no one there. And the aura once again disappeared.
****
Gabriel couldn't care less about what was happening outside. At this point in time, the safest place for him was inside his room. He was supposed to be sealed in the room. What better alibi than it? No matter who was suspected, it wasn't going to be him.
He got dressed after coming out of the shower and observed the room to make sure there was nothing suspicious. He even cleaned his room before he walked to the bed.
It was three in the night when he finally closed his eyes to go to sleep. Tonight, he was very relaxed. Even though the outside was surrounded by Head Priest and Head Priestesses of Two Holy Churches along with all the teachers and Elora, he was still feeling safe.
He had his special attire, which hid his aura even from Elora. The only thing which could get him caught was if he came before Elora, which he definitely wasn't going to do.
Moreover, it wasn't as if Elora was going to check every student's room. No matter what, students were going to be the last people who would be suspicious at this point.
He believed that there was no way they would even consider the possibility that someone would rob all the artifacts of the Academy, only to then hide at the Academy itself. The most dangerous place was often the safest place. And if they still decided to get all rooms checked by Elora, then he was going to deal with it as things came.
For now, he didn't think negatively since the chances of that happening were almost negligible. In fact, there was also a possibility that they were going to consider that the thief had already left the Academy and the city. Even Elora couldn't stay here all day after finding nothing. Sooner or later, she had to leave.
It felt really good when the plan came together perfectly in the form of success, all thanks to his Grimoire. The only thing which didn't go as he wanted was the white orb which he lost to Lelin.
He was still curious about what these two orbs were and why did Lelin want them? And what about that Spectre? Why was it in the Academy? There were so many questions in his head that kept him awake even now. It took him an entire hour before he actually fell asleep at four.
****
"The City of Abadon? The domain of Lambard." The Head Priest nodded. "You're right. I think we should be able to find the Dark Mages there, but then again, the city is Lambard's Domain. We can't do anything inside the city, can we?"
"We know. I heard the stories about how the Church of Light tried to destroy the city of Abaddon and failed," Joan chimed in. "It won't be easy to do anything in the city."
Hearing Joan remind him about the past failure of the Church of Light, the Head Priest's face twitched in anger.
