"Don't worry. It's not surprising that you don't know that old hag," a man's voice came from a distance. The voice was filled with some mysterious power, as if it perfectly complemented the laws of heaven.
Gabriel turned around, noticing another person in the place. It was a man, donned in a beautiful silver robe that fluttered with the wind, making him look even more mysterious.
Just like the woman before, the dark haired man also had the Mark of Element of Light on the back of his hand.
The man stood with the support of the blue slab with his arms folded around his chest. His eyes remained on Gabriel, as if he was judging the young man from top to bottom.
It really intrigued Gabriel to see the man call the young woman an old hag, especially since he looked much older than the seemingly young lady. The man had a well built body and looked to be in his early thirties.
"Can you two stop bickering like kids? Is that how you want our first impression on the little one to be?" Another voice came as a third person appeared near another stone slab.
"Let them play around. It's been a long time since we had a person come here." Laughter echoed in the place as a fourth person appeared.
One after another, more and more people appeared. What was surprising was that all of them stood near a stone slab! There were nine stone slabs and there were exactly nine people around Gabriel!
Amongst the nine people, there were five women and four men. Most of the nine people had a friendly tone and were talking to each other as if they had been friends. However, there was one amongst them who wasn't speaking anything.
The person who stood around a dark golden slab was standing silent. He had only once taken a glance at Gabriel and from that single glance, Gabriel could see that the man wasn't friendly to him. Fortunately, the man didn't do anything. He just stood silently, not even taking a second glance.
"Can anyone tell me where I am?" Seeing no signs of the people around him stopping their chatter, Gabriel had no choice but to intervene and stop them himself.
"Little brat, can't you even let us talk for a little? It's been a long time since we last met with each other," the dark haired man rolled his eyes. "You're quite eager to become a Holy Lord, aren't you?"
"Long time since you all met? Who are you all?" Gabriel inquired. He couldn't feel much from them. Their identity was unclear. All he could sense was that all nine of these people were strong, at least that was what came across from their behaviour.
"We are your seniors," the young woman who was the first person to appear explained. "We are also the ones who decide if you can become a Holy Lord or not."
The woman didn't speak more than she needed to. However what she said was enough to surprise Gabriel. They were going to decide if he could become a Holy Lord? Why did he never hear such a thing before? Just who were they all?
They all claimed to be his seniors and all of them had the Element of Light. From their words, Gabriel had managed to form some guesses but he waited to hear from them first.
"Didn't I get selected by the Holy Grimoire already? So why do I need your permission to become a Holy Lord? Just who are you?"
The place was strange and the people here were even stranger. Gabriel wasn't even sure if this place was safe for him or not.
"You're right. The Holy Grimoire selected you. But did you really think it was that simple to become an overlord of the millennia old heritage of Light?"
Gabriel could see some people laughing, probably at how naive and ignorant he was.
"You are the previous Holy Lords?" he asked after a brief period of silence.
He wasn't sure if his guess was correct. However that was the only thing he could come up with when they claimed to be his seniors.
Before this moment, he had already become the Holy Lord of Necromancy. However, he didn't have to go through something like that.
According to his guesses, it was because he was the first person to be selected by the Holy Grimoire of Necromancy after Karyk himself! That's why he had no seniors! It was different with the Holy Book of Light.
"Not bad, kiddo. From just the small hint, you've managed to decipher our identity. You are much better than Guo." The first woman laughed as she glanced at the man who had been silent from the start. "He was the last person to come here before him and we had to literally spell everything out for him and even then he couldn't guess."
The middle aged man known as Guo rolled his eyes, scoffing. He didn't say anything.
Gabriel also looked at the man. 'So he's the person who waged a war on the Dark Mages! Is that why he showed his hostility toward me?'
The middle aged man glanced at Gabriel again. Gabriel felt a little suppression acting on him as the man glared. However, it was nothing before what he faced at the Holy Church of Flames. Gabriel remained standing tall.
"Enough." The first woman gently spoke. As if her words were sprinkled with a mysterious healing force. Not only did Gabriel feel as if his soul became stronger after hearing her, but the suppression of Guo also disappeared.
Guo scoffed but still didn't react.
"You are the first Holy Lord?" Gabriel asked the woman who looked to be the youngest here. He didn't pay much attention to Guo for now.
"Oh? Why do you think that?" The first woman to arrive here smirked. "Don't tell me it's left because I came here first?"
"That's not all. Even though that also plays an important role in my guess," Gabriel answered. "You said Holy Lord Guo is the last Holy Lord to be here. He also appeared last. That makes me think you all appeared in proper order."
"What else?" the woman asked, taking even more interest in Gabriel.
"The person who appeared after you called you an old hag," Gabriel answered, only to hear the stifled laughter of the second man who appeared here. The others also looked as if they were trying hard to suppress their laughter. It wasn't often they heard the first Holy Lord be called an old hag by a newbie.
