If possible, Gabriel didn't want to enter the Nether Realm since he was sure that the Nether Realm was going to go all out this time, in order to stop him from ever leaving!
Last time, he somehow managed to leave alive. He knew precisely how dangerous that place was. However, he had a feeling that this time, it was going to be much harder than last time.
Last time, he was attacked after he freed the soul of his sister. However, this time, they were trying to kill him before he could even get to the souls!
"So that's why these stairs were made... To make it impossible for me to escape or have enough space to dodge..." Gabriel finally realized why there were stairs here which weren't here last time.
Most people would've already tried escaping when faced with a Lich with such strength. Not only could the Lich also control magic, but it could also use the undead to fight! It was said that it was easier to kill a god than it was to kill a strong Lich.
However, Gabriel didn't hesitate in the slightest. Even though the presence of the Lich made him concerned, but if he couldn't even pass through the first obstruction, how could he reach the area where the souls were kept.
His aura also intensified, spreading out. The Lich sensed Gabriel's aura. Unfortunately, even before Gabriel's aura, it didn't feel a single shred of fear. As they were both beings of Death, their auras didn't affect each other much.
Moreover, the Lich before Gabriel was out of his contribution. Gabriel's control over the death was limited and the Nether Realm and its beings were precisely the things that he couldn't control. It was like he was a King of one Kingdom while they were in an entirely different Kingdom altogether!
"Are you really sure you can stop me this time?" Gabriel asked as his voice turned colder.
The Godly Staff that he hadn't used before appearing right in his hands, amplifying his existing control over the undead even more.
Instead of being scared, the Lich nodded. "Today... You die..."
The Lich raised both his hands. None could hear what the Lich said next. However, after a few seconds, its figure disappeared as if it had left already. However, that didn't make Gabriel feel better. If anything, he prepared for a battle!
The stairs that were unbreakable started splitting apart, as if cracks were developing in the middle of the stairs. The cracks widened soon as hands kept coming out of the cracks.
Before long, multiple undead beings were standing before Gabriel, from Skeleton Mages to powerful undead Orcs. Gabriel could even see some undead elves that held bows and arrows made from dead tree branches, standing far away in the distance, aiming at him.
In such a short time, there were already over a hundred undead beings before him with different specialties.
Some could use brute strength, without being scared of pain. Others could use magic and then there were long range attackers that used bows. It was like a short yet powerful army was created right there on the stairs to face him.
What was worse was that the dangers weren't just ahead of him! There were even more troubles behind him.
In the first ninety nine steps that Gabriel took, he saw blood marks in each of the steps. However, all those blood marks started changing into a pool of blood!
From each of the blood pools, a being appeared, each made from only the blood itself!
"Blood Demons?" Gabriel frowned, glancing back. Unlike humans, the blood Demons didn't have bones or flesh. They were purely made of blood. What was worse was that they could heal themselves again and again, as long as each drop of their blood wasn't destroyed.
Gabriel rubbed his forehead, having a little headache. All this preparation was done, just for him. It made him feel slightly impressed that these people took him so seriously. He could only imagine how frustrated they had been for the last thousand years ever since he stole something from right under their noses.
****
While Gabriel was faced with so many undead, the situation of Jia and Alion wasn't very optimistic either.
After leaving Gabriel, the Lich appeared before Jia.
Unlike Gabriel, Jia wasn't calm at the sight of the Lich. She had only heard about these beings in legends. It was her first time seeing one in reality.
Jia held her heavy sword in her hand firmly. Just the aura of the Lich alone was enough to give her a sense of danger.
Fortunately, the Lich didn't take Jia seriously. Compared to a god like Gabriel, Jia was nothing in his eyes.
He didn't even speak with the little girl. He summoned close to ten Undeads to deal with Jia before leaving.
It was only after the Lich left that Jia slightly calmed down. She much preferred to deal with the Undeads than to deal with a Lich who was almost impossible to kill! She only believed that Gabriel was the only person here who was capable of killing one.
She raised her heavy Sword, pointing it toward the Undead Orc that was closest to her. "Let's finish it fast before he returns!"
****
The Lich next appeared before Alion. Even though he was only here to stop Gabriel, but he didn't want to let others pass through either.
He considered Alion to be more threatening than Jia and summoned over twenty Undeads before disappearing.
Only Alion was left behind, slightly confused. He didn't understand why the Lich didn't try to kill them directly, instead of Summoning twenty undead. He wasn't as strong as Gabriel to last against a Lich after all.
Alion didn't know that it wasn't that the Lich didn't fight them directly. It was just that he couldn't. He was sent here only to deal with Gabriel. He couldn't surpass the rules placed on him and attack others directly. In fact, what he was doing was already more than enough according to it.
The Lich could only personally fight Gabriel. However, he didn't do that either. Even though the Lich didn't show it before, but he was also a little hesitant in fighting Gabriel directly. There was an innate sense of fear inside him that he didn't let Gabriel realize.
He knew that it was dangerous to fight Gabriel directly. That's why he left his undead there to deal with Gabriel or at least exhaust him so he could take advantage of the situation.
It was only after he placed all his pawns in position that he relaxed. Now all he had to do was wait... Wait for the right opportunity to strike at the so-called thief!
