A bright pillar of Blue Fire rose from the ground, engulfing two people inside it.
The fire was so hot that even the ground had started to burn under its heat.
Izen was in shock as to what that spell was. Just what was Gabriel? Even a few seconds of him being in a daze allowed the Infernal King an opportunity to get back to Gabriel.
However, as soon as Izen came out of his daze, he decided something.
"No matter who or what he is. He is a threat to this World. He is too dangerous, especially with the side he is following. I wanted to capture him alive to get some answers, but it looks like I have no choice but to kill him."
He flew in the direction where the battle took place between his clones and Gabriel. However, just as he reached near, he saw a beautiful yet demonic fire engulf the two, forming a huge pillar of fire.
At the same time, the Head Priests of the Church of Light also arrived, slightly surprised to find Izen here.
"Dean Izen? You are also here? Would you like to explain what's happening here?" One of the Head Priests asked.
Not long after them, the Head Council Members also arrived, who all sighed in relief after realizing that Izen was back. They had seen this type of fire before when the Museum of Elements was robbed. It didn't take them a long time to guess just who was inside these pillars!
"With Lord Izen here, there is no way he can escape anymore!" The Head Council members could finally relax. Izen wasn't too late.
"Inside that pillar of fire is an enemy who wouldn't stop at anything before he destroys everything because of the troublesome past," Izen told the Head Priests of the Church of Light.
"I'll tell you more later. First, I need to stop him. I would advise you all to step back."
The Head Priests didn't understand half the things, but they listened to Izen and stepped back.
"You too..." Izen told the Head Council Members, who also retreated.
"Is he about to cast what I think it is?" Rem wondered, talking to himself.
"It seems that way," Xinci nodded. "It seems Gabriel has really pissed him off. The kid is dead now."
"We will get to see the strongest spell of Lord Izen. Aren't we lucky? I've never seen him use it. He didn't use it even when they caught Frost Giants of North," Lishen exclaimed. "This Gabriel is definitely something special to make him use something like that."
Just as they all expected, Izen started casting a spell. The natural energy in the surrounding trembled with each word of the spell, as if realizing the implications of that spell.
"Hmm?" Even the Head Priests were stunned, feeling the changes in the surroundings. "They were also quite curious to see just what spell it was. Were they going to see the true strength of Izen that he never showed before?"
"Look, the energy of the tower is weakening!" One of the Head Priests exclaimed, noticing the Flames of the tower getting weaker.
"Lord Izen is only halfway in his spell; it is clear that this shouldn't be because of his spell. Is Gabriel coming out? Is he going to surrender finally after realizing the strength of Lord Izen?" Xinci chuckled.
"That would definitely be a wise decision on his part," Rem commented. "The choice is between death and surrender, after all."
Izen was also surprised to see flames weakening, but he didn't stop casting his spell. Even if Gabriel tried to surrender, he was going to kill him. That guy was too dangerous.
Izen had almost completed his spell, leaving only the last sentence. He kept chanting his spell, but just as he was on the last word of his spell, he stopped, seemingly shocked at the sight of something.
The flame pillars had entirely stopped, but that wasn't shocking. What was surprising was that...
"There is no one inside?" The Head Priest of the Church of Lightning exclaimed, finding no one there. It was as if the pillar of fire was empty right from the start. Did someone fool Izen? They wondered.
"They..." Izen clenched his fist. Even he was slightly taken aback. But more than that, he was angry. They managed to escape from right within his grasp. Just how?
"This guy..." Eliana also couldn't grasp the situation. Did Gabriel really manage to fool Izen? Just what kind of monstrosity was he that he could even fool someone like Izen and escape? That man... He definitely wasn't simple.
While everyone was shocked after noticing that there was no one inside the pillar, around twenty kilometers away from them, a young-looking man was walking through a deep forest.
A beautiful blue flame burned in place of one of his eyes which couldn't be seen clearly since the man was covering most of his face thanks to his cloak.
Strangely enough, no aura could be felt from the young man, despite the fact that he was the Infernal King! It was all thanks to the ring that was given to Gabriel by the Spectre, which hid the aura of everything within ten meters of him.
The Infernal King was carrying another young man, who was unconscious.
He couldn't help but glance in the direction of the city of Lumen once again. He wasn't a person who wanted to run away from a battle as it was insulting to him, but currently, he chose to do it for the sake of Gabriel.
He believed that he could fight them, but he couldn't protect Gabriel if he were going to fight. And if he was dragged back by Izen like last time, Gabriel was going to be helpless in the situation he was in.
For the sake of Gabriel, he decided to retreat.
Carrying Gabriel, he couldn't help but remember the first time he met the young man. He absolutely hated the young man who had forcefully established a contract with him. He considered Gabriel, a weak man who wanted to rely on his strength. That was also what he hated about him the most.
Still, having no other choice, he decided to help Gabriel with that theft. The second time Gabriel called him, he hated Gabriel even more since Gabriel had broken a promise. He wanted to kill Gabriel if possible, but that's when he saw that Gabriel wasn't entirely the same as he thought.
The young man fought the enemies all alone, even though he could've forced him to fight. Even when the enemies looked like they were almost impossible to defeat, he was always in the lead in fighting them.
The Infernal King didn't even realize when he started respecting the young man that he absolutely hated. They ate together, they made plans together, and they even fought together.
All his interactions with Gabriel led to this point... A point where the Infernal King started considering Gabriel more than just a Summoner. Without even realizing it, he started considering Gabriel... a friend.
