"Interesting... Very Interesting," Izen observed Gabriel from top to bottom as his eyes shone in a mysterious blue light.
"Not even a shred of any Elemental Aura, yet you're flying." To him, it was immediately apparent that Gabriel was the person who broke the Barrier of Light.
Moreover, he also matched the description that was given for Gabriel in Lia's letter... A young man who was in his early teens, possessing a Dark Element.
Another thing that convinced him about Gabriel's identity was the fact that he was coming from the direction of the city. Not many people would've left the city after the Barrier was broken without understanding the entire situation... Unless they were behind breaking the barrier in the first place.
"I suppose you're using a Numen to hide that Aura of yours, and if I'm not wrong, that Numen isn't one of ours. Lambard, is it? The person who gave you these?"
He wasn't sure just how many Numens Gabriel possessed before he entered the Royal Academy of Elements, but one thing which was clear was that he was now in possession of all the Numens from the Academy of Elements along with his own Numens.
If Izen were to guess, he could've readily accepted that, at the moment, Gabriel was the person who possessed the most Numens in the entire world, even more than Lambard.
Even Gabriel realized that the situation was a mess. He had faced off against Cylix and Novius. The two were definitely strong, but Izen had lived for a really long time.
Unlike the younger version of Izen, who was on the 99th Floor, this Izen was the real deal. He had gone through a proper growth, learning more magic, mastering his spells, and eventually becoming the Dean of the Academy.
It was clear that he was still nothing before the two founders of the Academy at their peak, but the thirty years old versions of the two Founders inside the Tower weren't the same. This Izen was stronger than anyone he saw inside the Tower.
"Izen Lazarik." Gabriel clenched his fist. His expressions were more or less constant, but in his eyes, there were a lot of emotions that were coming through, including concern.
He didn't want to have to fight anyone around this time, at least not Izen or any Holy Priest.
"Oh? You know my full name?" Izen was quite impressed that Gabriel knew his complete name. He hadn't told anyone his complete name, at least not in the Academy, so it was quite interesting for him that Gabriel was able to know.
Initially, he would've thought that it was because Gabriel used some mind-reading spell on him, but that was impossible. His robe not only protected him from all Magical Spells but also fortified his mind from mental attacks. There was no way anyone could read his mind or see what he was thinking.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter how you know. What matters is that you'll be coming back with me to the Academy. I'm sure you'll have a lot to answer there."
Now that Izen was here, there was no way he was going to let Gabriel leave. And defeating him was a headache even for an experienced Holy Priest, let alone Gabriel. Still, he wasn't going to surrender here!"
"What if I say no?" Gabriel went down in altitude, landing on the ground.
Izen also landed on the ground, a short distance away from Gabriel.
"I'm afraid you don't have any choice in the matter." Like a surreal expert, Izen stood with his hands behind his back.
"You will have to come with us, even if you don't want to," Another sentence came, but this time from the back.
Gabriel looked back, noticing another Izen behind him. There were two Izen.
"If you resist, then we'll have to use force to bring you back." The voice was heard again, but this time, coming from the left.
There was another Izen!
"No matter what you do, we'll be taking you back." Another one! A fourth Izen appeared on his right.
"Now it's on you to decide if you want to surrender peacefully or force my hand."
"If it's the latter, it would be quite bad for you."
One after another, the voices multiplied as there were over twenty people surrounding from all sides, forcing a circle of ten meters radius with Gabriel at the center.
There were so many Izen, and it was impossible to find out which of them was the real one. It was certainly a Spell of Light, but it was flawless! Every Izen here had an entirely identical aura.
Even if he tried to attack one of them, it wasn't clear if that one was going to be real.
Gabriel had already used Paradise of Darkness once, so using it again was definitely more burden on his soul, but that was the only spell he could think of at the moment which covered such a large area.
If it was just one person, he could've used his Wrath of the Dead, but with so many, it was only a waste of his most powerful spell.
Eventually, he realized that he had no choice in the matter. If he didn't want to waste his spells, he needed to use the Paradise of Darkness. The Domain spell gave him control of a larger area and also increased his senses while weakening the senses of the enemy.
He used the Wordless Chant to cast the Paradise of Darkness.
A Dark Mist started rising from the ground, covering the surroundings. The Domain of Gabriel had returned, even though it was taking some heavy toll on Gabriel at the moment.
"Hmm? This spell?" Izen was taken aback as soon as he saw the mist. It wasn't because he was scared of this spell, but it was more of an astonishment since he had seen that spell being used before!
Unlike Eliana and the Head Council Members, who couldn't recognize this spell, Izen was different. In his younger days, when he was still allowed to enter the Tower of Challenges, he had managed to reach the 99th floor.
