As soon as the Head Priest told Gabriel to go with him to bring Avilia back, he monetarily froze. Was this guy really asking him to go out with him? Was he really looking to cause a large-scale war?
He knew that there was a good chance of Izen being outside along with Avilia. There was no way he wouldn't have sensed the large-scale commotion caused by the Grimoire of Light. As long as Gabriel was inside the Church, Izen couldn't sense who he was. However, once he left, everything could go bad!
He still had the Death Knights inside his Grimoire. He had faith that he could hold on even if Izen and the others joined forces. However, winning wasn't easy unless Avilia joined forces with him. He had a feeling that Avilia wasn't going to work with him. He had to do everything himself!
"I think my wife would've already left by now. She was just escorting me here," Gabriel gave an excuse. "After helping me get here, she probably left for the next City since she had something to do there."
"There's no loss in checking. Maybe she's still waiting?" The old man who brought Gabriel inside the Church replied. Gabriel felt like thrashing the old man but he controlled himself.
Gabriel kept his silence. He had a feeling that the more he spoke, the more suspicious he was going to make others. He had to do something on his own.
'Izen would be outside. If he's there, he probably already met Avilia. He also knows that Avilia is the Holy Priestess of Summoning. If these idiots went out, claiming her to be my wife, it could be quite a headache. Even if I hide my face and don't step out of the Church, it would be troublesome.'
'As if Izen's attention wasn't enough, once the other Holy Priests know that Avilia has a husband, they'd come here as well. The best thing here is if Avilia already left. But if she hasn't...'
****
Gabriel was already near the exit. Just like anyone outside couldn't sense who or what was inside, anyone inside couldn't sense outside either. He didn't know if Avilia and Izen were still there or not.
"Do you have a mask?" he asked Qian.
Even though he also had a mask, the mask he had was already used when he destroyed the Church of Light. He didn't want to use that mask with this identity. Moreover since Izen had already seen him before and the illusion was useless before him, he wanted to use a mask to hide his face.
"Why do you need a mask?" Qian asked, confused. Something didn't seem right but he didn't think too much about it. In the end, he didn't even wait for an answer before giving a face mask to Gabriel.
The mask not only covered the top half of Gabriel's face but also the left side of his face, leaving only a small part of his face visible Gabriel immediately placed the mask on his face. With this, he at least had some measure of protection.
'If I stand at the entrance of the Church, just inside the threshold, Izen shouldn't be able to sense. The Head Priests of the Church wouldn't find it too odd either.'
'Now there's only one more thing left to cover...'
After a brief pause, he spoke again. "Can I ask you for one more thing? When you invite my wife inside, can you do it without letting any outsider know that she's married? It's for her safety in the future."
"Ah, I see." Qian smirked, as if realizing something. "So that's why you wanted a mask! You're thinking about the future! Not bad, young man!"
The group of Head Priests finally reached the threshold of the Church of Light. From here, they could see outside and the outsiders could see them. However, the space on either side was different. One more step and Gabriel could've been sensed by Izen!
****
Izen was outside the Church of Light with Avilia standing not too far from him. The Church of Light had already refused to allow him a meeting, saying that the Holy Lord was resting.
Since he didn't want to force them, he was willing to wait or leave. However due to Avilia's presence in the city, he couldn't go back yet. He had to wait for her to leave first.
During this time of waiting, Eliana informed her about Gabriel, a young man who she saw inside the Church that she found somewhat familiar. She also expressed her doubt about the identity of Gabriel to Izen.
"Everyone who went inside is outside except that young man. I have a really bad feeling about this," she told Izen.
Izen didn't ignore her concern either. She knew that Eliana wasn't the one to exaggerate things. If she sensed something wrong, then he was sure that there was definitely something wrong about that young man.
However, one thing still didn't make sense to him. Even if Gabriel really used an illusion to fool everyone inside, he couldn't have fooled the Holy Lord of Light.
'Since he isn't out, does that mean he has already been killed by the Lord of Light? The aura we sensed before... Was it the Holy Lord using his strength to kill that intruder? That could also explain why everyone was told to leave right after...'
He had thought of a possibility. Due to his misunderstanding about the Holy Lord of Light being present inside the Church of Light, he couldn't think of any other possibility. Out of everyone in this World, the Holy Lord of Light was the only one who was truly immune to even the greatest of illusions!
"He's probably already dead. Don't think much about it," he told Eliana.
Unfortunately, just as he finished his sentence, the door of the Church of Light opened, revealing a group on the other side.
Even Izen was surprised since that group included all the Head Priests.
One of the Head Priests pointed in his direction. However, his finger was pointing more toward Avilia.
"As expected, he sensed Avilia's presence," Izen muttered, giving some credit to the Holy Lord of Light, again misunderstanding the situation.
However, one thing confused him. Amidst the group of the Head Priests, there was one person... From his build, he looked like a young man who was barely twenty years old.
The young man stood with his hands behind his back.
"There! He is the one! He's the one I was talking about!" Eliana pointed at Gabriel.
At the moment, Eliana was pointing her finger at Gabriel. The Head Priest was pointing a finger at Avilia. Also, Izen and Gabriel were looking at each other…
