Gabriel was taken to the room in the depths of the mansion where the core of the City was.
Lambard personally opened the door and entered first, as if he was worried that Gabriel was going to think that there was some trap inside.
He didn't realize that Gabriel wasn't worried about traps at all. He entered right beside Lambard.
The room was dark yet it was slightly illuminated by a deep blue sphere that was floating in the middle of the room.
The sphere seemed as if it was made of crystal, releasing a weak light. If it wasn't for the aura of the crystal sphere, it could've easily been confused with an ordinary crystal decoration item.
Lambard stood near the door, right next to his maid. His mind was still wondering how long it was going to take for the Temple of Time to come here. He didn't want to lose his city before that happened.
Unfortunately, at the moment, he felt that it was highly likely that those people weren't going to come in time.
Gabriel stopped before the crystal sphere. A small scratch appeared on his thumb that started bleeding.
He placed his thumb on the crystal sphere, carving his blood mark to refine the City.
Even though the current owner of the City was still alive, that didn't matter since the difficulty in refining the City was the same for him, with, or without the previous owner of the City being alive.
As soon as he completed carving the bleeding moon mark on the crystal sphere, the sphere changed color. It turned from a shade of blue to deep red.
A trail of blood came out from Lambard's lips as his connection to the City was forcibly cut. His face was slightly pale and his body felt a bit weak but he was still mostly fine.
He had lost his control over the City which now belonged to Gabriel.
He wondered just why someone like Gabriel needed a Demigod Tier Artefact like this city. However, he didn't ask.
He only took a random guess that it was because he wanted to somehow use the City in his battle against the Temple of Time and the Churches. As for how he was going to do that, Lambard had no idea.
Gabriel didn't stop with just the City itself. In fact, after taking control of the City, he made Lambard give up the other Numens as well. It was unclear if he really needed those Numens or he was taking revenge because Lambard had taken back the disguise ring when he was in need of it inside the Academy of Elements.
Within the next ten minutes, Lambard lost all his Numens to Gabriel, getting one injury after another.
He felt so aggrieved but he couldn't do anything. At the moment, he wasn't even sure if Gabriel was going to let him live or not. He could only play along while cursing the Temple of Time for being so late.
"Looks like your help is finally here."
Gabriel suddenly spoke, raising his head slightly as if he could see through the walls.
Lambard's eyes didn't show much happiness. What was the benefit of those bastards coming now that he had already lost his everything? Instead, now it was even more dangerous for him since a battle between the Temple of Time and Gabriel could easily kill an ant like him who had nothing to protect him with.
Gabriel didn't pay much attention to Lambard. Instead, he just raised his hand, clenching his fist. The entire city turned into a speck of light, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
The core of the city floated inside his Grimoire, leaving Gabriel, Lambard and the woman standing in the middle of the valley.
Lambard's eyes widened as he felt like cursing Gabriel.
Now that the enemies were here, instead of using the City to protect himself, he brought all of them in the open? It felt as if Gabriel was looking for them to be killed at the hands of the help they called for.
For Gabriel, the protection of the City wasn't much. However, for them, staying inside the city was at least safer than standing in the open in the middle of the battle.
Gabriel flew out of the valley, standing at the edge above. He didn't bring Lambard and the woman with him since his attention was on someone else.
In the distance, he could see a little boy... Floating high in the sky, looking down at him.
Even though the little boy was high in the sky, Gabriel still felt his killing intent clearly.
The man wasn't alone either. It was as if everyone in the Temple of Time who came out this time was there!
Not only the Temple of Time, but even the forces from the Churches were there, including everyone from the Church of Light, who felt as if he had stolen their Grimoire through evil tricks.
He was surrounded from all sides, as if the enemies didn't want to leave him even the slightest chance of escaping.
He could also feel that the space had been sealed completely, making it impossible for even him to teleport.
A majestic formation could be seen high in the sky, which was releasing a strange yet familiar force.
"Isn't that the same formation you used the last time the Temple tried to kill me?" Gabriel asked, gazing at the formation in amusement. "What a pity that I had to kill everyone at that time in such a hurry. I couldn't enjoy the battle at all."
The little boy frowned. Gabriel looked completely calm, even though he was trapped. What was even worse was that he was talking about the battle in which the little boy had lost his brother.
"You've grown even more arrogant, haven't you?" The little boy asked Gabriel. The beautiful gem of time hanging around his neck started shining brightly, releasing an immensely powerful aura that felt as if true gods had descended!
"This time, there's no escape for you. We've been preparing for a thousand years for this moment. Even if there were ten of you, all ten would die Today!" he further added. "By revealing yourself, you've made the biggest mistake of your life! You should've remained hidden like the rat you are!"
"Rat? The reminds me of the man who led the team from the Temple last time." Gabriel's clothes changed, turning into pitch black. Even the aura around him was stronger.
All the plants and trees nearby started dying as soon as this aura came in contact with them.
His body started rising in the air as well. "I seem to remember him being as confident as you, only to beg like a rat when it crushed him. You both have the same personality. Don't tell me he was your brother or something?"
