For the first time, Jia was short of words. She avoided Gabriel's gaze yet still didn't pull her hand back from his hands. "A-alright. Since you insist!"
Gabriel stood up, not speaking anything more. As long as the little girl didn't run around randomly, everything else was much safer.
Gabriel followed Alion inside the Abandoned City of Gods, holding the little girl's hands firmly. He didn't notice Jia glancing at him from time to time with an unnatural expression.
The City was still completely intact. It was as if the buildings were still completely new, with not even a single crack or mark of damage throughout the years.
Unfortunately, there were no signs of life in this city anymore. It was as if it was a ghost town in this place.
Along the way, Gabriel noticed a few more statues, all belonging to different beasts that Gabriel had never seen before.
Fortunately, thanks to Gabriel holding Jia's hands, she didn't run around to mess with the statues. If anything, Jia also seemed slightly reluctant to free her hands. Even she didn't understand what she was feeling and why there was this reluctance.
"Are these statues based on the sculptor's imaginations or such beasts really existed in the era of gods?" Gabriel stood before the statue of a nine headed snake. The snake was much bigger than an ordinary snake. It was as if a single head of the snake alone could swallow the entire seven clawed tiger in an instant.
"Not just the era of gods. Those beasts still exist," Alion answered.
"That's true. I think I remember seeing this beast before. It tasted really good." The little girl chimed in. In her eyes, some longing could be seen, as if she really wanted to have a taste of this snake again.
Gabriel didn't know how to react. The snake that looked so fierce was just the food for the little girl?
"Don't be surprised." Alion shook his head, noticing the stunned expressions of Gabriel. "Even though the beasts in these statues might look fierce, they are not particularly strong in reality. The Snake is much weaker than the tiger that crazy girl fought before."
"If the stone statues alone have the strength of a Demigod, shouldn't the real beasts be even stronger?" Gabriel asked, wondering if there were beasts that were as strong as gods.
According to Alion and Jia, those beasts still existed even though he hadn't seen them before. In other terms, they were just like gods and Demigods who were real yet unseen in this world.
"Stronger Beasts?" Alion frowned. He didn't answer the question directly. "I've no idea what the current situation outside is now, but when I last saw, there were definitely some beasts who were as strong as gods, receiving natural blessings."
Jia agreed with Alion. "That's right. There are some really strong beast clans outside, especially the ones who can take a human form."
"Beasts that can transform into a human form?" Let alone seeing one, Gabriel hadn't even considered the possibility of that being the case.
There were so many powerful beings yet he had only seen the Holy Lords and thought that it was the peak of this world? He couldn't help but feel as if he was like a frog at the bottom of the well.
"By outside, you mean...?" he asked.
"Of course the world outside this prison," Jia answered, not even noticing Alion's expressions who was trying to gesture to her to stop speaking.
Unfortunately for him, Jia completely ignored Alion. In her eyes, there was only one person for now... The man who held her hand.
"A world outside this prison?" Gabriel's eyes lit up as he understood what she implied. He had always considered the possibility of there existing another world since Karyk had to kill multiple powerful people to help his sister that he couldn't find in this world.
As Karyk succeeded in the end, that meant there was actually a place where beings like demigods were common. Jia also confirmed his suspicions.
"So the gods and the demigods of this world went to that place? That's why this city was abandoned?" Gabriel asked. "You also came from that place?"
Finally he had an idea as to why the era of gods ended in this place and why the gods who could live for an eternity as long as they weren't killed had disappeared into thin air.
"That's right. This was the reward they received after Karyk's death," Jia replied.
"That's enough! Stop speaking. We're getting late!" Alion forcefully interjected, trying to stop Jia from speaking more. He was finally starting to regret bringing Jia with him.
"No need. I want to know more!" Gabriel didn't let Alion do as he pleased. He always wanted to know just what happened to Karyk in the past. Even though he didn't understand why Alion was hesitant in telling him about what happened in the past, but finally Gabriel had another hope!
It wasn't just Alion who knew what happened! Jia was also a Demigod from that era and knew almost just as much. What was even better was that Jia wasn't on good terms with Alion. He could truly receive the answers he was looking for.
Even though he didn't want to delay rescuing his two teachers, but he couldn't ignore the answers either. He wanted to know everything and better prepare himself for what was to come!
Jia felt Gabriel's grip tightened around her hand. He looked somewhat uneasy.
"Can you tell me more about Karyk's death? How did he die? I heard he was the strongest. He was the Lord who ruled over life and death. So how could he die that easily?" Gabriel stopped right where he was, once again going into his knees, looking straight in the little girl's eyes so that Alion couldn't distract her or interfere.
Jia was surprised to see Gabriel so eager to know about the past. What stunned her even more was that Alion didn't tell Gabriel himself. Alion used to be the closest to Karyk after all.
Unfortunately for her, all her questions disappeared as soon as she looked in Gabriel's eyes. She couldn't say no to that person. She didn't care why Alion didn't say anything. In any case, this wasn't a secret. Almost everyone from that era knew about this truth!
"Alright. I'll tell you how the Death Star was killed..." Jia nodded.
Alion wanted to stop her, but he knew he couldn't force her. If he tried to fight her to stop her, it could only make Gabriel hate him more.
In the end, he just stood frozen in his place, not speaking anything. Even though it was sooner than he wanted, he let destiny play out.
