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The Holy Grimoire of Light... Amongst the known Grimoires, it was considered by the people to be the strongest Grimoire in existence. This Grimoire was also used by the Holy Priest of Light to wipe out the Church of Darkness as well, which proved his superiority to the world.

Ever since the last war, not many people had seen the Holy Grimoire of Light being used since there was never a need to. And in recent years, let alone the Grimoire of Light, people hadn't even seen the Holy Priest of Light himself.

Despite the rumors that were out, not many people believed that the Holy Priest of Light didn't exist currently. This was just impossible to believe for many.

Almost all the citizens considered that rumor to be too stupid. The Church also maintained its silence, not openly paying any attention to these rumors, but secretly, the Church certainly influenced public perception to make sure that no one believed this, especially the other Churches.

Even since their last Holy Priest had died, the Church of Light had been patiently waiting for their next Holy Priest, but the Grimoire didn't select anyone. It was as if, for the last few years, the Holy Grimoire of Light had gone into a deep sleep.

It was only now that it was starting to wake up, making the Head Priests believe that the time for the appearance of the next Ruler of Light was near.

Unfortunately, it was still too soon to say when exactly. Even the Head Priests didn't know when the Holy Grimoire of Light could wake up entirely.

Until the time arrived, the Holy Grimoire of Light was supposed to be protected as if their life depended on it.

Even Gabriel didn't realize it at the moment, but he had really avoided a great risk by not entering the Church of Light without any plan. Even though it was true that the Church was at half its usual strength, but that didn't mean it was easier to infiltrate it now. If anything, now it was much harder.

When the Church was at its full strength, they were too confident. That also led to complacency. But currently, they didn't want to take any risk since they were weaker. That was also why they had activated all the traps inside the Church, including the defensive mechanisms.

They were burning so many Spirit Stones to keep all these traps up, but if anyone could afford that, it was them. Currently, it was almost impossible to reach the Holy Grimoire of Light.

Moreover, the supposed existence of the Ruler of Light inside the Church of Light was also a huge deterrent. No one could afford to verify if the rumors were true since that only meant inevitable death in case the Ruler of Light actually existed.

Despite all these safety precautions, all the Head Priests of Light were still wary as they watched the barrier shatter.

They weren't the only ones though. Around thousands of kilometres away from the Lumen City, a person was standing in the air, gazing in the direction of the Lumen City.

"The barrier of Light is broken?"

The young man looked like he was barely in his early twenties, but the aura surrounding him was something that was much more powerful than any Head Priests that Gabriel had come across. If anything, his aura was a lot closer in strength to the Holy Priests.

The young man was dressed in all black, having a cloak behind him which had raised collars. The cloak covered his shoulders as well. Not many people knew, but the cloak of this man was also a Numen.

Not only was it a Numen, but it was a High Tier Numen at that, which was said to protect him from any Magical attack in existence. The Cloak was said to nullify any magic attack that touched him.

This was also what made the man so formidable. One could argue that he was even more threatening than a Holy Priest, despite having slightly lesser Magical Strength.

The man had two-toned hair, with the left side of his hair being silver while the rest of his hair was grey.

"It seems I'm not too late. Eliana didn't exaggerate," the young-looking man commented, slightly curious. "I suppose it's time to meet our new guest."

His figure disappeared into the darkness.

****

The City of Abadon was under constant attack, surrounded by the forces of three Churches. What was worse was that the armies were being led by Two Holy Priests, which made it even more dangerous.

Despite such a massive force, the Defensive City of Abadon was still standing tall, just proving how strong it was.

Despite all that, Lambard still didn't appear to be in a good mood. Their side had suffered heavy losses. What was worse was that all these attacks were long range attacks.

He had expected the Mages to try to enter the city to attack from inside, but that wasn't the case.

"Even after all this time, they are still so cautious. They aren't entering the city." The young maid also realized why Lambard was so upset.

Lambard smacked his fist on the railing in anger. "It seems they learned a lesson from last time. They know that we can't attack them properly when they are outside."

"If they had entered the city with their full force, they would've had a chance to capture us and bring an early closure to the war. But at the same time, we also would've had the advantage. We couldn't hurt them where it hurt the most. But they are too careful!"

Lambard's plan depended on luring the enemies inside. That's why he also gave them so many openings to enter the city without making it explicitly clear that those flaws in his defense were intentional.

Despite all that, the enemies weren't entering the city. The Trap just wasn't working.

"The long range attacks have less effect on the city since the barrier, and other defenses neutralize that. That's also why the city is still standing after so long, but if this continues like this, even I'm not sure when the defensive barrier might be broken."

Lambard looked up, noticing all the explosions outside the barrier. The attacks were mostly coming from the sky.

"Should I go outside?" The maid asked Lambard for permission. "I should be able to wipe them out."

"No. It would've been a different matter if there weren't two Rulers of Elements there. But at the moment, even I'm not confident if I can defeat them outside the city. It's not worth the risk."

Lambard rejected the suggestion right away. He knew just how capable the woman next to him was, and he didn't doubt that she could hold her ground against any enemy, but even he didn't want to take the risk.

"Then are we to stay here like sitting ducks?" the maid asked, not understanding just what her Master was thinking. "We are running out of time. If we don't do anything, things might take a turn for the worse."

Lambard didn't answer. He just looked in the direction of the massive army outside the city. Time was of the essence, and he knew that he really needed to do something.

"I suppose there is no choice but to..."

After a long time, he seemed as if he had come to a decision. All the Numens that were on him started shining as his body started rising in the air.

****

Gabriel had left Lumen City after breaking the barrier. Generally, anyone would've worried that they were going to be chased by the Church of Light now that they had broken the barrier, but Gabriel knew that they needed to find him first for that.

Even if the Church of Light found out where the barrier was first broken, they still couldn't find him because he had already taken some precautions, changing his direction.

He intentionally broke the barrier in a direction that he didn't intend to take, creating a false trail.

On the contrary, he took an entirely different route, using his Wings of Flight.

He was done in the city for now. He had already promised himself that he was going to return once he became an Advanced Tier Mage, but before that, there were many things he needed to think about and take care of. After what he saw on the hundredth floor, he realized that there were more important things for him to do first...

"Hmm?" As Gabriel was flying away from the Lumen City, he noticed a person coming toward him from a distance. The person wasn't chasing him from behind but coming from the front.

Gabriel already had the Ring, so he was sure that his aura wasn't leaking. He had already purified his Gloves as well, which were hiding his Elemental Marks.

The person who was flying toward him stopped movement as soon as he entered ten meters range of him.

Gabriel also stopped. It was clear that the man wasn't just an ordinary traveler since he recognized that person.

"I guess I should give you credit for destroying that barrier?" The young-looking man asked, making Gabriel frown.

'Dean of Academy of Element, Izen...' Gabriel had expected him to be the last person that he could meet here, but it was as if the situation was already as bad as it could be for him.