"I don't need you to bring him back! I just need someone to lead my men outside! Lead them to the people that Karyk holds dear in the outside world! We can't bring him back by force but we can definitely force him to come back!"
The Patriarch didn't want to personally leave this place since even he wasn't confident in fighting anyone outside the Nether Realm.
Moreover, if the Upper Realm found out that he had left this place and sent someone to kill him when he was outside, it was even more dangerous.
He wasn't as worried about facing Gabriel as he was about facing those old monsters from the Upper Realm in their domain. That's why, he only wanted to send other people to bring Gabriel's dear ones to the Nether Realm where he could freely do as he wanted!
"Fine. I'll go with your people and help them!" Elora agreed right away! Anything was better than dying.
"Who said you'll be going there?" The old man flicked his finger, sending Elora flying back. A blood prison came out of the ground, trapping Elora inside.
"You'll be a prisoner here. The other girl will go, since she looks like your subordinate! If she doesn't return or fails in the task of guiding my men, you'll be the one who dies!"
The old man didn't know much about the outside world since no one from the Nether Realm had gone outside for centuries. However, from the way Elora behaved initially, it was clear that she had a high position in the outside world.
Sending her outside was no less than releasing a tiger in the forest! There was nothing to stop her from using her outside influence to trap or betray his men. On the other hand, Maya appeared much weaker... As if she was the weakest in the group that came with Elora.
That was also why the old man hadn't killed her yet. All he needed was a guide to lead these people to Karyk and his dear ones. From there, the rest was for them to handle. All they had to do was take his dear ones and enter the Nether Realm.
Elora glanced at Maya, slightly taken aback. That meant her life and death depended on her new disciple?
She tried to give some excuses and explain how it was a better idea for her to leave to help them better, but the old man didn't listen at all.
He had already gathered a few of the strongest warriors from the Blood Clan for this task.
The other two great clans also selected some people. It was partially because they also wanted to deal with Gabriel while at the same time, it was to keep an eye on the Blood Clan to make sure they didn't do anything against their interests.
After a team was prepared at a short notice, they left the Nether Realm, coming out from the other side.
The old man from the Blood Clan had already given a portrait of Gabriel to his men. It was only after his men came out from the Nether Realm that they showed the portrait to Maya, telling her that this was the person they needed to find.
When Maya saw the portrait, she had a hard time believing it herself! The portrait belonged to a young man that looked awfully familiar! She had seen that person many times before. It was none other than her childhood friend.
In the portrait, he looked a little older and more mature yet it was impossible to not recognise him.
"The Lord of Darkness?" she exclaimed.
She had been in the Nether Realm with the members of the Church of Water so she had no idea about what happened in the outside world, or about the new identity of Gabriel that was already exposed. In her eyes, his identity was still the same that she had misunderstood.
What was even more surprising was that this person was the one who offended the old man and yet managed to leave the place safely? Even her master, Elora, couldn't achieve it but Gabriel was able to do it, and in such a way that the old man hated him to the bones?
She couldn't help but wonder how strong he had become in such a short time. It was completely beyond her expectations. In fact, it was her who was left in his shadow now, unable to catch up.
She was still only an advanced mage and that too because she got help from her master. However, without any help, Gabriel was stronger than her master!
Looking at the portrait, she couldn't help but remember their last day in their village where they were both sitting on the roof under the moonlight, talking about the future!
Everything had changed between them in such a short time. They used to be so close yet now they were nothing less than complete strangers. She couldn't blame Gabriel for that either, knowing that it was her who had attacked him, almost killing him!
She thought she was doing good for the world by sacrificing a friend yet it turned out that she had done completely the opposite.
She hadn't sacrificed her friend but she had certainly sacrificed her friendship! Gabriel was still there and he was stronger than her master yet she hadn't heard about any evil deeds targeting the innocents.
He had certainly killed people from the other Churches but that was because the two sides were at a feud. He wasn't anything like a mindless killer that the rumors had mentioned a dark mage to be in the books.
She could only clench her fist tightly. If she could go back to the past, she would've certainly made a different decision if she knew how mistaken she was. Unfortunately it was too late.
Moreover, currently she was leading people who wanted to kill Gabriel yet she couldn't do anything. She had already fallen out with Gabriel and her master's life was on the line. She couldn't do anything but go along.
"Oh? It seems you already know this person." The leader of the group from the Nether Beast Clan revealed his sharp fangs as he smiled. "It looks like this will be easier than we thought."
"I know him." Elora nodded after slight hesitation. "He's the Holy Lord of Darkness Gabriel. But he doesn't have any family or friends. I don't think it's possible to find anyone he holds dear in this world."
"Oh? If that's the case, then the other woman would have to die. So for her sake, I hope you can find that man and someone he cares for. If not, we can only go back and watch your master's execution together!" The man laughed coldly.
