Izen was on the other end of the City with Avilia when he sensed that powerful aura of Light that disappeared soon after. However, it wasn't before he noticed something.
"That aura... It's the aura of the Holy Grimoire!" He frowned. "Did the Church really fool everyone by claiming that the Holy Priest of Light wasn't in the City?"
He only felt the aura of the Grimoire which could only be used by the Holy Priest. It was enough to make him believe that the Holy Priest of Light was still in the city. What really surprised him was that the Church of Light lied to all of them by claiming that he wasn't there.
"Or did he just return to the City?" He wasn't sure just what the case was. However, he decided to check things out personally. He left Avilia behind and flew toward the Church of Light. If the Holy Lord of Light was in the city, he was sure that Avilia wasn't going to play around the city for long.
Avilia didn't speak much. She also flew in the direction of the Church of Light. Her thoughts were slightly different from Izen.
Gabriel was inside the Church. If the Holy Lord of Light was really inside, he would've caught Gabriel the moment he stepped inside the Church. Since that wasn't the case, she was convinced that the Holy Lord of Light wasn't there! However, it couldn't be denied that the aura she felt was indeed the aura of the Holy Grimoire of Light!
These two points made her realize one thing! It was that the Holy Lord of Light wasn't in the Church but the Holy Grimoire was there! That only meant one thing... There was currently no Holy Lord of Light in the world! If there was, the Grimoire wouldn't be away from him.
All the absence of the Holy Lord of Light, and the rumours, they all started making sense to her. She understood everything! The Church had lied to everyone. It wasn't that they lied about his absence from the city. Instead, they lied about him existing entirely!
'Calling all these people here, inviting them inside the Church one after another as if they were trying to find someone and now the awakening of the Holy Grimoire? There's no denying it anymore! The Church wasn't looking for a Holy Child! Instead, they were looking for the next Holy Lord of Light that could awaken the Grimoire!'
Avilia understood the Church's mindset. For far too long, they had been without a leader. Moreover, they were also weak in this way so they couldn't let the information leak. That's also why they were so secretive about this entire thing. However, she was still confused about one thing!
The Holy Grimoire of Light had awakened! That meant it selected the next Holy Lord! She was really curious as to who it was! The next Holy Lord was new, so she didn't have to worry about him finding Gabriel right away.
That meant Gabriel was at least safe enough to be able to exit safely. Unfortunately, there was still Izen outside. She knew things could get really complicated if the two came face to face.
Izen landed before the Church of Light, only to find a defensive barrier already being activated. All the Mages of Light who were invited here were told to go back where they came from. What was even more shocking was that three Head Priests were standing outside the Church of Light, personally guarding the place.
Eliana found Izen returning. She rushed to him and caught up.
At the same time, Avilia was looking around the crowd, trying to find Gabriel. Strangely enough, she couldn't sense Gabriel anywhere.
Since everyone was already pushed out of the Church, she thought that Gabriel was also made to leave. Unfortunately, she still couldn't feel his presence.
'Did he already leave his city?' She wondered. She stared at Izen. 'Probably because he expected Izen's return and didn't want to fight yet? Maybe it's for the best.'
She looked into the distance, wondering where Gabriel could've gone next. According to his plan, he wanted to go to the Academy of Elements next, but if that was the case, she could've still sensed him.
What was even stranger was that she couldn't sense her Sparrow that she lent to Gabriel for his disguise. It was as if Gabriel had cut her connection with the sparrow somehow, or he was somewhere where even she couldn't feel the sparrow.
If Avilia wanted, she could've cancelled the summon. Even if she couldn't reach her sparrow, the spiritual sparrow would've disappeared. Fortunately, he didn't do it. She let Gabriel keep it. No matter where he was, she felt that he probably needed it.
"I want to meet your Holy Lord." Izen approached the Head Priests who were guarding outside the Church of Light.
"Our Holy Lord just returned from a long journey. He's resting now," the Head Priest gave an excuse. "If you have anything important to talk to him about, you can leave a message with us. We'll deliver it to him when he finishes resting."
There was no way the Head Priests could allow anyone to meet the Holy Lord, especially someone the calibre of Izen who couldn't be stopped by ordinary means. Izen was strong after all.
They didn't want anyone to know that they had just finished selecting a Holy Priest as that would've meant that the Holy Priest of Light was at his weakest he was ever going to be. That could've stimulated the Church of Darkness to attack the Church of Light since it would've been the perfect opportunity for them!
They didn't want to go down the route of the Church of Flames, especially since it was going to be even more embarrassing if they were to have their Church destroyed while their Holy Priest was still there! What they needed the most was time... Time for their new Holy Lord to become as strong as the previous generation of Home Lords!
Izen was rejected but he couldn't do anything. He could force his way inside the Church, but that wasn't a good option as that would've easily offended the Church of Light and brought trouble to the Academy of Elements.
Moreover, he didn't know much about the Holy Lord that he never met before. He still wasn't confident enough to fight him, especially for no reason.
Izen still had no idea that the Holy Lord that he was so respectful toward was none other than the person that he intercepted and fought against not too long ago.
