"Ah, Saint Knight. I think you're misunderstanding my words! When I said he can't be treated, it's not because his wounds can't be treated! It's because there is nothing to be treated! I don't know how, but there are no wounds on his body. And I can't sense any injuries either. For some strange reason, his body is already healed!" The Physician exclaimed.
It was even his first time seeing something like this. Gabriel's bloodied clothes were telling a completely different story, as if he was really hurt. However, he couldn't sense anything wrong with Gabriel.
"How is that possible? He isn't hurt?!" The Saint Knight exclaimed, finding it hard to believe. He wondered if the old man was trying to say that Gabriel was pretending to be hurt! His hand subconsciously went for the hilt of his sword as he glared at the Royal Physician for this blasphemy.
"That's not wrong. Along the way, we met a Priest of Light who used a healing spell on him to help him. You don't have to be shocked about his physical condition," Avilia chimed in before the situation could devolve into more chaos.
Since Gabriel didn't want the Saint Knight or others to know that he was a Mage, she gave them an excuse to justify his sudden healing. Using a Mage of Light as an excuse was simply the easiest option for her.
"So that's what it was. Good." The Saint Knight sighed. "Nothing can happen to him..."
****
On another side of the continent, Lerian landed in the middle of the where the Sacred Church of Flames used to be. However, there was nothing there that could be seen anymore. It was as if the Church never existed here! Not only did the enemy kill everyone here, they even destroyed the entire Church before leaving!
Lerian stood in silence in the crater, not speaking or moving. However, a terrifying killing intent surrounded him. The killing intent was so powerful that it spread for thousands of kilometres, making everyone shiver. The weaker humans couldn't even bear the terrifying killing intent and dropped to the group, dying just from the killing intent itself!
Lerian didn't attack anyone yet thousands of people died in Leviria at that single moment...
Hours later, the other Head Priests also arrived, landing not too far from Lerian. Even they couldn't believe their eyes... The Church... Their home was destroyed just like that...
****
Inside the dreamscape, Gabriel spent hours submerged inside the water. For some reason, he didn't feel short of breath inside the water. Instead, he felt surreal. The feeling he received being submerged inside the water was different from sitting under the mysterious waterfall.
Sitting under the waterfall was constant suppression which kept increasing with time. While being under the waterfall felt like his body was constantly being broken apart to strengthen it, being submerged in the water felt more like his body was being nourished very gently. He felt as if all his hidden wounds were being healed slowly.
****
It had been over twenty-four hours since Gabriel entered the dreamscape. His body was already healed, but he still hadn't woken up. In his sleep, he didn't realize how things were changing on the outside.
His reputation was at an all time low and there was not a single person who wasn't calling him a coward. Even some of the Royal Knights who didn't know the truth felt that Gabriel was a coward.
There were only four people in the entire Empire who knew what actually happened— Callum, Saint Knight, Raphael and Avilia.
"That boy talked so big about the Spirit of the Knights and bravery. In the end, it was all a lie! That boy was nothing more than a coward who just hid in his castle in the face of danger!"
"That's right! It's our stupidity that we fell for his lies! Who knew, he probably also lied about the last Emperor and even about his Lineage!"
"The old Emperor would never hide inside while the Empire was in danger! We don't want a coward and a liar in the top position!"
"That coward doesn't deserve to be the Emperor! He must be tossed out!"
"I'm fine with anyone having the throne but him! He must be kicked out! How can a coward be our Emperor? At this rate, won't he just sell our entire Emperor to the enemies if a powerful enemy came?"
The anger and resentment spread amongst the citizens like fire and no one stopped them. Even though it was the Royal Knights' duty to stop people from talking bad about the Emperor, they didn't stop the people. If anything, their views were the same as the citizens.
Initially the Royal Knights felt that Gabriel was different and brave, but now that they went through such an experience without the Emperor even showing himself, their feelings were different.
The Saint Knight stood on the balcony of the Royal Palace, looking over the entire Empire. He also heard the news about the citizens talking bad about Gabriel.
His heart felt as if it was under a really heavy burden. Gabriel went through so much to save the Empire. He hadn't even woken up for more than a day and they didn't know if he was ever going to wake up. And after all that, the people he saved were not only ungrateful but they also resented him?
He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs and tell all those ungrateful bastards what Gabriel did for them, but he couldn't. He knew that if he told people the truth, and this news reached the members of the Church of Flames, then this was going to be a calamity like no other!
For the sake of this Empire's safety, none of them could tell the citizens about the truth. All they could do was let things happen and hope the situation didn't get worse than it already was.
He occasionally glanced back inside the room where Gabriel was still lying on the bed. He couldn't help but wonder what Gabriel's reaction was going to be after finding out what the citizens were saying about him. He had a feeling that even Gabriel couldn't avoid being sad deep inside.
"What a bunch of idiots." The Saint Knight was lost in thoughts about the future when Callum arrived to stand next to him on the balcony. "People say that ignorance is bliss. But they don't know that in some situations, this ignorance can..."
Saint Knight was about to reply when the door of the room suddenly opened. A young maid rushed inside the room, breathing heavily as if she had run all the way here.
"Lord Saint Knight, an envoy from the Church of Flames is here, asking to meet His Majesty!'
