Darkness was everywhere, surrounding the entire desert. It was as if the darkness had swallowed the entire sun.
Cylix and Novius tried to see through the darkness, but there was something that was stopping even them.
They looked at each other, wondering if they should go there and check for themselves.
Fortunately, before they could decide, the darkness slowly started retreating.
The powerful aura that had momentarily covered the entire tower started dispersing.
The light started returning to the desert, albeit slowly.
As the darkness completely disappeared, Cylix and the others were able to see through the portal once again.
As they looked through the Portal, they saw Gabriel sitting on his knees. His face was completely pale, and blood was trickling down his lips.
"He lost..." Cylix muttered, noticing that Axion was still standing.
Novius shook his head. "He didn't."
Novius clapped his hands, changing the portal direction. Previously, they could only see the back of Axion, but as the portal angle changed, they could finally catch a glimpse of Axion as well.
Even though Axion was standing, a black liquid was coming out of his nose, lips, and even eyes.
His face looked lifeless and frozen in place as the dark liquid kept trickling.
Axion was not only defeated but it was done in just one attack. Slowly, Axion's body started disintegrating, disappearing into thin air.
There was only one person who was still standing now... It was the Infernal King. As soon as the Infernal King regained his sight, he went to Gabriel, who was sitting on his knees.
"Are you alright?" He was shocked at the strength behind this attack, but he was also curious about Gabriel's condition. He wasn't looking fine.
Gabriel had his fist on the ground, giving him an excess of support. He was feeling really bad. Even he hadn't expected that this spell was going to be this overwhelming. He thought that at least he was going to be able to stand, but it was like the spell completely sucked him dry.
His hands were trembling uncontrollably, and his vision was slightly blurring. His body was also aching a lot. His heartbeat was so slow that it had never been.
Despite all that, Gabriel hadn't passed out, all because of his powerful resolve. He didn't want to pass out at this moment since if he passed out, he knew the safety mechanism of the escape stone was going to activate on its own, sending him out of the tower.
He didn't want to have to leave after coming this far. He wanted to fight more!
"I am fine... Just give me a minute." Gabriel didn't tell what he was feeling, just telling that he was fine.
The black book was still floating before Gabriel.
Gabriel raised his right hand, calling the Grimoire back.
The Grimoire returned to his right hand, returning to the form of a ring.
"You did good..." The Infernal King commented. It was the first time he was genuinely complimenting Gabriel for his actual strength and not just the resolve.
The spell was very powerful, after all. And for him to be able to successfully cast that spell was indeed incredible.
Even though the Infernal King didn't see just what that spell did since it was completely dark, he still felt just the sheer strength behind that attack.
"Did I?" Gabriel smiled in response. Even as he was in pain, he could still find time to smile.
"The High Tier spells are certainly very powerful. A bit too powerful," he stated, glancing at his trembling hands. "Then again, I'm sure the Ancestral Staff also had a hand in boosting that spell's strength. I need to get stronger so I can cast this spell without ending up in such a condition."
He also sent his Ancestral Staff back before just lying on the warm sand to rest. The clouds in the sky started dispersing slowly, making the surroundings even brighter.
"You should rest now. I'll fight the next battle..."
"Heh, if we don't have a time restriction, I want to go through that battle myself as well," Gabriel answered. "We will see what rules we will be under. If they don't give me some time to prepare, I'll have to leave it to you then."
The Infernal King also sat beside Gabriel on the sand. "Why fight alone?"
He was genuinely curious about Gabriel's mindset. He could take the Infernal King's help to didn't, but he still preferred to fight alone until he seriously needed to. Why?
"Because he wants to get stronger," a voice came from the back.
The Infernal King stood up and looked back, noticing Cylix standing behind them.
"Let me help you up," Novius reached out his hand to Gabriel to help him up, appearing before him.
Gabriel didn't take Novius' hands. Even with his aching body, he still sat up by himself.
Novius didn't mind. He just retracted his hand. He noticed the slight trembling in Gabriel's hands which was much less than it had been before but still clearly visible.
"That spell of yours took quite a heavy toll on you. Then again, a high-tier spell from a Grimoire is supposed to be powerful," Novius commenter. "What's more surprising is that a young mage like you was able to use a High Tier Spell of a Holy Book... That in itself was more incredible."
Cylix agreed. "When we first saw you, we knew you had an incredible talent, but even we didn't know that you were a Holy Mage with such resilience."
"It's good to see a Holy Mage who isn't even twenty years old... I don't know about the current scenario in the outside world, but in our time, it was almost impossible to find a Holy Priest with your age..."
"Let's go back for now." Cylix clapped his hands, bringing Gabriel and the Infernal King back to the main hall since Gabriel wasn't in any condition to fight.
Gabriel appeared in the same old spot where he was before going to the Desert.
Cylix and Novius were still standing before him.
Cylix clapped his hands again. A small box appeared before Gabriel.
The small box appeared to be made from metal but wasn't very big. It was only around ten centimeters wide and thirty centimeters long. Its height was only twenty centimeters.
"What is this?" Gabriel asked, looking at the snow-white box.
"Open it," Cylix answered. "See for yourself."
"Don't worry. It's nothing bad... We won't harm you like that," Novius chimed in, seeing the suspicions on Gabriel's face. "Just open it."
Gabriel decided to check it. In any case, if they really wanted to hurt him, they really didn't need to use this trick. He wasn't in any condition to fight.
Gabriel opened the box slowly…
