The situation inside the castle wasn't good, but that was mostly the case for the intruders, especially now that they found themselves before Raphael.
They immediately recognised that person as the new Emperor. They were all talking so much, about how they were going to deal with the new Emperor when they found him. However, for some reason, they couldn't even speak now that Gabriel was actually in front of them.
"Arghhh!" The agonising screams of the young Knight whose arm was cut brought them out of their daze.
The Knights in the lead found their heads quite confused. However, their hearts were telling them that if they didn't kill Gabriel now, they couldn't leave this place alive.
They tried to put their fears aside as they all pulled out their weapons, aiming them at Gabriel.
"If you don't want to perish at our hands, you better surrender this moment!" They commanded Gabriel.
Gabriel didn't respond. He just found it quite interesting that these people still thought that they were in the position to command him.
"What if I don't?" he asked in a calm voice. Even though his voice was calm, a lot of undercurrent could be felt from his tone.
"Then we would be forced to kill you! You already hurt one of us! We are still being merciful by giving you this opportunity!" The Knight in the lead glared at Gabriel.
Even though he was glaring at Gabriel, his main focus was on the people who stood behind Raphael. He didn't even know how his friend's arm was cut since none of the people held any weapons! Even Gabriel hadn't called out the Saint's Sword yet.
"I would love to see you try." Gabriel answered.
The Knight frowned but didn't hesitate. If this guy wasn't willing to listen, he could only use force! He still had many people! No matter how strong Gabriel was, they still had superior numbers, let alone their strength!
He raised his Sword to slash, however before he could even move his sword, his face went pale as he found a dark figure appear right in front of him. A palm came before him, grabbing into his face.
A booming sound echoed in the surrounding area.
The next moment, the Knight who had just threatened to attack Gabriel found himself coughing blood as he laid inside a crater on the ground, feeling as if his back was crushed. He didn't even know how Gabriel could be this fast!
The next moment, Gabriel disappeared amidst the crowd, appearing on the other side of the enemies.
He raised his right hand gracefully. "Shield of Undead!"
He cast a shield, not only blocking the path of escape but also to protect himself from what was coming next.
All the enemies were stunned to find Gabriel using a spell. For a moment, they couldn't even believe their eyes.
"T-that is a spell! He can use a spell!"
"Is he a mage?!"
"How can that be?! He hid that from everyone?!"
"So a Mage took over our Empire?! He fooled us all?"
Everyone that saw this was shocked to their core. From the start to the present, the Empire only had one rule for the Royals. It was that the Emperor couldn't be a Mage, no matter what! At this point, it was clear that Gabriel had fooled them by pretending to be a Knight.
Everyone was horrified at the thought of it! Not only was Gabriel a mage, but he also seemed like a powerful mage!
They didn't know what kind of spell it was that Gabriel used, but most assumed that it was a dark spell, which made them believe that Gabriel was a dark mage!
"He's a Dark Mage! That's why he hid from the Church!"
"He's the Devil!"
"We need to let the Churches know!"
"We've been infiltrated by the Demons!"
Most of them were of sound mind, realizing that they couldn't win today. Just one mage at the level of Gabriel was enough to kill them. The only thing which could deal with a Dark Mage were the Churches! If they could somehow get this information to a Church, all their problems were solved.
For the moment, all of them completely forgot that it wasn't the so-called Dark Mage who attacked the City and killed millions. That's how deep the historical bias had penetrated their bones at the moment.
Unfortunately, they couldn't find a way to escape at all. How could they even send the information to the Church if they were stuck here?
"We surrender!" One after another, they all raised their hands, surrendering.
Even though they openly surrendered, in their minds they were clear. It was only if they survived today that they could later leak this information to the Church later.
"We were wrong! Please forgive us!"
One after another, everyone dropped to their knees. Their words were asking for forgiveness, but their eyes were filled with hate.
Gabriel didn't even have to spend a second to understand what these people were truly thinking. It wasn't that they regretted attacking him. It was just that they foolishly believed that the Death Knights were dark mages like him and that they didn't have a chance of winning.
The Dark Mages were supposed to be very powerful after all. For ordinary people, it was understandable to think that they couldn't win. Even the Knights were the same.
"You want me to free you?" Gabriel asked, still maintaining the Shield of Undead.
Everyone affirmed and not a single person was rejected. In fact, they all pretended to be grateful and loyal to Gabriel, saying that they were fooled by the people and led astray to attack the Castle.
Gabriel didn't reply. He just closed his eyes for a moment. The Death Knights on the other hand of the crowd started chanting a spell in unison. Unlike him, the Death Knights couldn't use the Wordless Chants.
"Flame Storm!"
After the spell was finished, a storm of flame arose from the ground, covering the entire hallway.
The flame storm struck everyone in its path. No amount of screaming and crying for help was enough to stop the storm.
The screams kept echoing for a long time before they ultimately stopped. The attackers couldn't even run since on one side, there were Death Knights while on the other side, there was Gabriel.
The black fiery storm swept everything in its path, only stopping when it hit the Shield of Undead, unable to pass through. The Storm finally stopped.
As the storm disappeared, the hallways were completely clean. Only a few weapons could be seen lying on the ground. Even the walls were left scorched.
"You're all free now…" Gabriel softly spoke.
Just as he finished dealing with the intruders, he frowned and glanced back, noticing another strange presence. This time, the presence was much more powerful than Lambard's maid.
