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The beast carrying Raphael and Gabriel felt under constant suppression, despite being a powerful beast. Even though Gabriel wasn't conscious, just the strange aura coming from his body was enough to intimidate the Beast.
As the Beast flew toward the Royal City of Arecia, it started slowing down.
Raphael noticed the slowing in speed, even though they still weren't at the Royal City. He also noticed a figure in the distance, floating in the air.
The person was a young woman who didn't look very intimidating. However, just the aura around that woman was something that Raphael could sense clearly. That woman was powerful... At least more powerful than the Head Priests that he went against.
He couldn't sense any killing intent from the woman in their direction. She was just gazing at them silently.
Raphael stood up, keeping an eye on the woman in the distance while the flying beast stopped before her.
"Are you the one who lent us this beast?"
Now that he was closer to the woman physically, he could feel that her aura was somewhat similar to the aura of the beast which was carrying them. She certainly wasn't a Mage of Flames from what he could guess.
The Holy Priestess of Summoning nodded as she also landed on the flying beast. "How is he now? Is he hurt?"
Raphael didn't answer. Even if it was possible that the woman helped them, he still didn't want to tell her anything for Gabriel's safety.
Avilia understood what Raphael's silence meant and she didn't probe more. From her initial glance, she could already see that Gabriel's breathing was stable. Even though his clothes had blood, his wounds weren't visible.
"We should take him to the Royal Castle first. There, he can rest better."
Following her words, the flying beast resumed its journey and flew to the Royal City. Without the barrier of flames, entering the City was much easier now.
Raphael sat near Gabriel while Avilia was made to keep her distance. Raphael also cast a small barrier of his own so that there shouldn't be any surprise attacks on them. No matter what, before Gabriel woke up and confirmed that the woman was an ally, he couldn't lower his guard around her.
'A summon who is more clever than usual summons." Avilia was previously interested in Gabriel, but at the moment, she even started taking interest in Raphael who was shrouded in the aura of death. "His strength isn't bad either. Even I can't see the extent of his true strength. Very intriguing. Just how many more things are you hiding, Gabriel?"
She stood silently, not speaking much. With Raphael's suspicions, she didn't want to create a misunderstanding before Gabriel woke up.
During the last stretch of their journey, none of them spoke anything.
The sun had already set but Raphael was still able to look down and notice all the destruction that occurred in the city. Looking at that destruction, it didn't take him long to guess who was behind it, since fire was used in these attacks. He finally understood to some extent why Gabriel would attack the Church of Flames. Their enmity was already established after all.
The majestic beast finally entered the City, shrouded in the darkness of night. Most of the citizens didn't know when it entered the City at all.
Even the Royal Knights who were guarding the Royal Palace who saw the majestic beast about to land on the top of the Royal Palace were stunned.
To them, the beast seemingly descended from the heavens. Its wingspan was so wide that it seemed to fill up the entire sky, and its scales glittered in all colors of the rainbow. For a moment, even the Knights were dazed.
As it drew closer to the landing, they could make out three figures riding atop its back- two men and a woman dressed in fine clothes. One of the two men appeared unconscious, being carried by the other man.
The Royal Knights instinctively surrounded the majestic beast.
Even the Saint Knight jumped high, landing on the roof before the beast, raising his sword. Since they just went through the attack, they were more alert.
"The Royal Palace isn't a place where you can just- huh? The Emperor?"
Initially, the Saint Knight couldn't see who those three people were, but after he saw clearly, he realized that the unconscious person was none other than Gabriel.
"What happened to him?!"
He hadn't known Gabriel for a long time, but Gabriel was the first person who saw through his Talents and awarded him the position of the Saint Knight. If there was a Knight in this Empire who was most loyal to Gabriel, it was the new Saint Knight.
He was shocked to see Gabriel being covered in blood. Amongst the two people that brought him back, one was the Holy Priestess of Summoning who he had seen before. As for the other person, he had no idea. However, those people didn't appear like enemies.
"Stop wasting time. Gabriel needs rest!" the Holy Priestess exclaimed as she jumped down the beast. Raphael also came down, carrying Gabriel.
"Y-yes. Follow me!" The Saint Knight told his men to call the Royal Physician to the Emperor's room while he escorted the three people there.
After Gabriel went through strengthening his body last time, the room was left quite dirty. However, it had been cleaned by now. And this part of the palace also stayed unaffected by the attack on the City.
Gabriel was brought to the Emperor's room and carefully placed on the bed.
Not long after, the royal physician was brought to the room.
The old physician entered the room. After finding Gabriel on the bed, he went closer and started checking Gabriel's body.
"Hmm? That's strange?" The old man stepped back in confusion after checking Gabriel's body.
"What happened? Is something wrong? Can he be treated?" the Saint Knight inquired.
"Treated? He can't be treated," the Physician answered, shaking his head.
The Saint Knight's face went pale, hearing the response. He couldn't believe that Gabriel's wounds were so heavy that he couldn't even be treated!
He knew that Gabriel had gone to help the Empire! He knew that Gabriel was the reason that the Holy Priest of Flames left the Empire without completely destroying it!
His gaze lowered. 'To protect the Empire, he put himself in harm's way and we can't even treat him?'
He grabbed the shoulders of the old man. "That can't be! You must help him at any cost! I don't care how you do it! Nothing must happen to him!"
