Even though Gabriel didn't care about how he looked, he was still curious about how the illusion showed him to the others.
Avilia realized what he was thinking about and gave him a brief description about his present looks.
"You need to keep one thing in mind. The Seven-colored Illusory Sparrow needs to be in contact with you for that illusion to work. So let it rest on your shoulder for the time being."
Gabriel nodded, observing the fascinating little beast. Even though the tiny bird was small, he found it to be quite useful. The bird wasn't as useful as the Ring of Apophis since unlike the ring, it couldn't hide the aura of a person and could only give a disguise.
"Being a Summoner is quite useful for sure." He was even more impressed by Avilia's abilities. The young lady had many beasts, and if all of them had a unique ability like that, that meant he really underestimated her.
He had only seen three of her beasts and all three were amazing. One could fly many times faster than an ordinary mage. Other could use shadows and most probably could've been used for assassination. And the third could be used for disguise. The more he came to know about her, the more mysterious she appeared.
"You will disguise as well?" he asked the Holy Priestess of Summoning. "Or you'll be coming openly as a Holy Priestess of Summoning?"
Avilia chuckled as she shook her head. "I can't disclose my identity, can I? It would bring too much attention to us. I will enter like an ordinary Mage. I don't think many people here are familiar with how I look."
" The Priests from the Holy Church of Light didn't attend the Saint Summit either, so they haven't met me before. As long as I don't openly declare my identity, I doubt they would know who I am... At least as long as our luck isn't bad enough for us to come across the Izen or the Lord of Light."
Unlike Gabriel, her identity wasn't widely spread. Not many people had seen her before since she didn't deal with the matters of the Church as a representative. It was only recently that she attended a meeting and revealed her face but there weren't any people from Lumen there.
"That's good." Gabriel didn't ask too much about that, shifting his attention to his disguise. "By the way, can you modify this illusion a bit?"
"Modify how? And why?"
"I don't want anyone to see that I'm wearing gloves. If the illusion can show no gloves and only a single Mark of Light on my left hand, it would be good."
Gabriel had two marks. Previously, he was able to enter the City by showing his Mark of Light. However, now that mark had merged with the Mark of Darkness, making it look really strange. He couldn't show that to anyone. As for showing his Mark of Necromancy, that was even more out of question.
"That won't be a problem." Avilia nodded, sending another message to the little bird, modifying the illusion a little more.
Twenty minutes later... The flying beast started going down. Within seconds, it was under the clouds.
Now that Gabriel was under the cloud, he was able to see the Royal City of Lumen in the distance.
The Royal City was still far enough for it to look like a small dot in the distance.
"We will fly on our own from here..."
Avilia started rising in the air. Gabriel also did the same, following Avilia. None of them wanted Avilia's beast to be seen since it had the risk of exposing her identity.
As soon as Avilia and Gabriel got off the air, the majestic flying eagle disappeared into thin air, returning to the realm of summons.
"That's strange. Why don't I see the golden barrier anymore?"
After flying closer to the City, the small speck started getting bigger, revealing the beautiful city. However, Gabriel felt the City looked quite different. Last time he was here, there was a majestic golden barrier which stopped the entry of the Dark Mages. However, now that barrier appears to be missing.
"You brat, did you forget that you broke that barrier last time you escaped?" Avilia burst into laughter. Even she didn't know about this previously. If not for the meeting of Head Priests, she never would've known how much this city suffered in the hands of this young man either.
"They still haven't repaired that?"
Gabriel knew he broke the barrier last time. However, this was the City of the Church of Light. He had assumed that the barrier would've been back by now.
"You think it's easy to cast a barrier of that level?" Avilia rolled her eyes. "Only the Holy Priest of Light can cast that barrier and that too after a lot of effort."
"You mean Lord of Light isn't in the city?" Hearing the news, Gabriel was slightly pleased. One less expert of the Holy Priest level in the city made things a little easier.
"Yeah. From the news I've received, he went to the Forgotten City of Gods." Avilia affirmed. "The last time you caused the damage in his city, he was already out. If he was in the city, I think the outcome could've been quite different."
"Is he that strong?" Gabriel had never seen the Holy Priest of Light and had no idea how strong he was. However, from the rumours he heard, the guy didn't make any moves.
At least a few people had still seen Avilia in this world. However, it was said that no one other than the members of the Church of Light had ever seen the Holy Lord.
"I'm not sure how strong he is either since he never revealed himself or his strength. If I were to say, the current Holy Priest of Light is supposedly the most mysterious, even to us. However, if I were to consider the historical patterns of the Holy Lords, the Holy Priest of the Church of Light should be quite strong..."
"Anyway, you should really be glad that he isn't in the city. If you want to make a move on the City, it's the best opportunity you'll have."
****
Inside the Royal City, the Church of Light had been a hot topic of conversation throughout the days.
A long line could be seen outside the gate of the Church of Light . All the Mages who had the element of Light were called to the Church of Light today, especially the ones who weren't members of the Church of Light.
Usually, no one other than the members were allowed to enter the Church. However, for some unknown reason, the Church of Light came out with a sudden declaration a few days ago, inviting all Mages of Light.
The announcement didn't mention the reason at all. However, it was clear that this wasn't a small matter. Many people had a feeling that whatever it was related to was enough to change the world...
