"I need some answers, and the answers lie in Lumen," Gabriel briefly explained. "That's all I can tell you."
He didn't tell the Holy Priestess where exactly in Lumen he was going, or what his true goal was. His answers were vague enough to protect his real goals while also giving away some information to keep the young lady happy.
Avilia wasn't stupid either. She understood what Gabriel was trying to do here. However, she didn't interrogate too much. No matter where he was going, with her Shadow Beast following behind him, she believed that it was only a matter of time before she found out about this.
"When are you leaving?" she asked.
"Tonight." Gabriel answered, waving his hand to disperse the isolation barrier. He had already answered everything he wanted to.
"Do you need to borrow a beast again?" Avilia asked, watching Gabriel who walked toward the balcony.
"It would be faster if I could," Gabriel replied, without looking back. Even though his relationship with Avilia wasn't very close, he knew that they were close enough for him to borrow a beast.
"One last question. Can I come with you?" Avilia inquired after a brief pause.
"Who will keep an eye on the girl then? I'm leaving you behind for a reason." Gabriel rolled her eyes. Why would he even need her to stay here in the first place if that was the case.
"It's not a problem. I can leave a shadow beast behind to keep an eye on her. She can't use any of her strength anyway. And with my other beasts around, as long as there is the slightest risk of Lambard coming in, I should be able to return immediately."
Avilia had expected Gabriel to immediately reject her proposal but she didn't expect him to have an attitude which made it seem like he might agree.
"Can you teleport back?" he asked the young lady. Even Gabriel himself could only teleport in short range. For the young lady to say that she could immediately come back from Lumen to Arecia? It was indeed surprising.
"I can switch places with my beasts," the young lady replied. "It won't be a problem."
"Something akin to the Undead Switch of mine." Gabriel frowned. It was only now that he realized that he had forgotten about such a versatile skill after all! The only problem was that he only had one Undead that he could use this skill on... Raphael.
This skill could only be used on the beings from the Realm of Death and not on the artificially created Death Knights.
That flaw made the skill a little redundant since he didn't want to leave Raphael behind. Raphael was his secret in case of emergency after all.
He didn't answer right away, taking some time to think about it. Honestly, taking Avilia with him wasn't bad at all. He knew the advantages of such a thing. Moreover, it wasn't as if he was going to collect some treasure that she could steal from him.
There were many safeguards in place even if he took her. On the other hand, her presence could help him get rid of a lot of unnecessary troubles!
"Alright. Assign a Shadow Beast to the lady. You are coming with me." After a long time, he finally agreed. This was also something which could help him bring Avilia closer to him for his future goals.
A graceful smile spread across the lips of Avilia. She knew it was going to get boring if she had to stay behind. Even if Gabriel didn't take her, she was planning to sneak out after he left, leaving only a shadow beast behind. However, now that he agreed, it was much easier.
She assigned a Shadow Beast to keep an eye on the young maid who was escorted to a prison cell by the Death Knights. At the same time, she also assigned some other beasts to keep an eye on the outskirts of the Empire so she could know whenever a threat entered Arecia.
At the moment, the Royal Palace of Arecia was completely under the protection of two Holy Priests!
****
It was six in the morning. Gabriel sat on the roof of the palace, looking at the rising sun in the distance.
If one was to just look at nature like this, the world appeared to be so peaceful. However, it was only when people looked deep within the undercurrent that they could see how chaotic this entire world was, especially for an existence like him.
"Are you ready?" Avilia arrived on the roof where Gabriel was waiting for her already.
Gabriel stood up.
Avilia raised her hand toward the sky. She didn't speak a single word and she cast a Summoning Spell.
A majestic Summoning Circle appeared in the sky which was close to thirty meters wide. From the Summoning Circle, a flying beast rushed out, spreading its beautiful wings so wide that for a moment, it felt as if the beast was covering the entire sun!
After circling the sky once, the beast stopped above Avilia.
Both Avilia and Gabriel flew up, landing on the back of the beast.
The majestic beast was beautiful as well as huge. It was enough to carry over fifty people on its back easily and still have enough space for everyone to rest comfortably.
"Where in Lumen City are we going?" Avilia asked.
"The Royal City," Gabriel answered. "It's time to go back."
As soon as Gabriel spoke, the Beast started flying. Its speed was many times faster than the peak flying speed of Gabriel.
"How many people in Lumen have seen your real face and believe that you're a Dark Mage?" Along the way, Avilia asked.
"Not many," Gabriel replied. "Only Izen and the Head Teachers of the Academy."
Hearing the answer, Avilia couldn't help but facepalm herself. "Doesn't that make it to almost everyone significant then?"
"Your aura is well hidden so as long as you don't come across a Holy Priest, no one should be able to sense your real identity. However, your face will give us away, creating some troubles," she continued on her train of thoughts, trying to find the safest option without creating too much noise.
"It doesn't matter even if they know," Gabriel responded. "In any case, it's impossible to achieve what I want in Lumen peacefully."
Avilia didn't understand what Gabriel was implying or what his goals were, but she had a really bad feeling about all this. Just what was this guy planning that couldn't be achieved peacefully? There were many questions in her head.
"Don't tell me you're really going to target the Church of Light?" she asked after a brief pause.
