Karyk spent seven days in the maze, wandering from place to place in search of an exit. His entire body was covered in wounds. His clothes were tattered, but he still appeared full of life.
Fortunately, in the seven days, one way or another, he managed to survive the eternal maze that was filled with traps in each step, each trap being strong enough to kill an ordinary man a thousand times over already.
At the end of the seven days, Karyk finally saw the exit of the maze. The exit was large enough for thousands of humans to be able to leave at the same time.
Moreover, it was only around ten meters away from Karyk. However, those few steps looked like a thousand, since between him and the exit, there stood a fierce beast, around fifty meters tall.
Just the single teeth of the beast was bigger than Karyk's entire body, able to rip him to shreds.
The beast's physical appearance was incomparable to anything Karyk had ever seen before. Its scales were as black as coal and had a red glow, it had wings so big they could cover the entire maze and its eyes were as fiery as the sun.
For Karyk who couldn't use any of his magic, facing this beast was like an impossible task. But he knew he had to try. Karyk slowly drew his sword that he had managed to pick along the way.
The fierce beast didn't move. Only its flaming eyes looked at Karyk, like it was looking at a pitiful prey.
....
A figure shot out, making it impossible to see who it belonged to. The figure crashed through multiple flaming buildings, before falling to the ground, creating a crater.
The figure belonged to none other than Gabriel.
"The Lord of Flames..." Gabriel wiped the blood off his lips as he pushed his body up.
He was about to fight the Lord of Flames when he felt something strange, as if his connection with his domain, that he shared with Karyk was cut.
In the moment he was distracted,a flaming spear came flying straight to him.
He cast a Shield of Light, but the shield was broken right away by the flaming spear. At the last moment, he used his aura to create a world before him.
However, he could only create half a word before the flaming spear hit.
The word acted as a shield, but even if couldn't stop the impact for long, before exploding, sending Gabriel flying through the buildings.
Still holding the statue in his hand, the Lord of Dark Flames flew closer to Gabriel, whose disguise was long destroyed.
"Karyk... To think that you would show yourself here. You made things easier for me. I was about to go look for you myself."
Gabriel stood up slowly, clutching his chest. "Do you know what you're trying to do? You're killing so many people to free that thing? Do you know what that thing will do after it's free?"
The Lord of Dark Flames smiled cruelly. "Are you really asking me about the number of people I kill? You...? The person who killed millions just to save your dead sister? Do you have any right to tell me anything? Just how much blood is on your hands?"
Gabriel frowned. It wasn't completely wrong. Karyk indeed killed many people, all to get back the one he held dear. However, as Gabriel, he was different from Karyk. Even though he also killed many people, he only killed those who went against him. He didn't kill people who had nothing to do with him!
Moreover, he also didn't kill people in such a cruel manner to free an evil being!
Gabriel wiped the blood off his lips, as he heard the Lord of Flames continue, "I'll kill as many people as I want! And I'll keep killing them until I free my Lord from the shackles! The world shall be ours, and there will be no power which will be able to stop us, not even you, Karyk!"
"Your era is long gone!" The man further continued. His eyes revealed a craziness that he didn't use to have in the past. "The time where you used to be the strongest is long gone! Now, you shall be at my mercy! Even the King of the Upper Realm can't stop me now, let alone you!"
The Lord of Flames raised his hand, summoning a burst of flames to surround Gabriel. The flames engulfed Gabriel in itself, as if trying to swallow him whole.
The flames weren't ordinary either. They were now the flames of a True God, which was hard to defeat even for Karyk in the past, without the external help from his Domain.
Gabriel felt the heat emanating from the flames, but he remained calm. Even as his skin was being burned by the flames, he didn't panic.
He carved a word before him, aiming toward the Lord of Flames.
With each passing second, Gabriel's skin burned even more, to an extent where even some of his bones were visible. However, he didn't stop.
As soon as the word was completed, a bright beam of light shot out, destroying the Barrier of flames, creating an opening.
Taking advantage of the opening, Gabriel flew out of the flames. At the same time, the bright beam of light continued straight to target the Lord of Flames.
The Lord of Flames was momentarily stunned to see that Gabriel still hadn't burned to ashes. For someone who wasn't a true god yet, it should've been impossible! What shocked him even more was the bright attack that looked out of this world.
"How long has it been since I saw something like this..." The Statue cackled, as if recognizing this attack. It was too familiar to him.
A dark energy came out of the statue, which swallowed the entire attack, absorbing it inside itself.
It was the strongest attack that Gabriel had managed to master in this time, but shockingly, it couldn't do anything before that statue, which was still sealed!
He could only wonder just how strong the one inside the statue was going to be if he was freed.
