The young mage was stunned to hear a calm yet intimidating voice coming from behind him. As soon as he was touched, he felt as if his body lost complete strength, as if his life energy was being sucked inside a black hole by a powerful force.

"You!" Another Priest stepped out of the nearby room, shocked to find his friend being attacked by a stranger.

He didn't know who Gabriel was, but from the expressions of his friend who couldn't move, he knew he had to do something to stop him.

He raised his hand, casting a spell.

"No interference." Before the second Priest could even finish his spell, he heard another voice. It was evident that Gabriel wasn't alone here. Shocked, he turned around, only to find another young man, whose face wasn't clearly visible.

The second man had a cloak which was covering the top half of his face, making it impossible for his face to be seen. However, what was clear was that as soon as the Mage of Flames saw the figure of Raphael, he felt as if he was looking at death itself. There was an innate fear in his heart that was telling him to run as far as possible.

His lips froze. He wasn't even able to continue his spell before his body started burning in fire itself. Within seconds, his body turned into dust...

On the other hand, Gabriel had also finished absorbing the strength of the young Priest, whose body fell on the ground.

Gabriel observed the scorching mark in the distance.

"When we meet the Head Priests, try to leave their bodies intact... After we are done here, I'll be needing their bodies," he informed Raphael as he continued walking deeper in the Church of Flames.

****

Back inside the Empire of Arecia, the Lord of Flames stood with his hands behind his back. The two Strongest Head Priests of the Church of Flames stood behind him.

They had just finished sealing the entire Empire, making it no different than a massive prison.

Most of the citizens were scared and hiding inside their houses but there were also many who were on the streets.

The Holy Priest of Flames raised his right hand toward the sky. He didn't chant any spell. He didn't even need to use words to create spells. Just like Gabriel, he could also use Wordless Chants.

A massive wave of flames shot out from him towards the sky, taking the shape of the Majestic dragon that circled the sky like the overlord of Arecia.

The Flame Dragon was bursting with energy. It was evident that if the giant Flame Dragon came crashing down, it could destroy most of the city itself. And this wasn't even one of the strongest spells of Lerian.

Lerian closed his eyes, calling out his Ancestral Staff of Flames! A mystical light surrounded his entire body.

"Citizens of Arecia!" He spoke in a calm voice. He didn't yell or roar. If anything, he was talking in his usual time. However, for some reason, his words reached every corner of the Empire inside the Domain of Fire, as if some mysterious force was transferring his voice while amplifying it.

"I am the Holy Lord of Flames and I am here to find a person! If that person comes forward on his own, not only will he live, but the entire Empire will live! However, if within six hours, that person doesn't come forward, I will make sure this entire Empire and everyone in it dies with him!" The Holy Lord declared, shocking everyone in the Empire.

The Empire of Arecia wasn't associated with any Churches but they had heard about the Churches and knew how powerful they were, especially the people known as the Holy Priests! They definitely had strength to destroy an Empire, but the citizens of Arecia couldn't understand why a Church would be so evil to destroy an entire Empire just for one person?

"The person who destroyed the Fate Stone yesterday....come forward and you may live! This is the last chance you may ever have!" The Holy Lord declared again before going completely silent.

The Flaming Dragon kept circling the sky while the shocked citizens tried to understand just who the Holy Lord was looking for?

"He's looking for someone who broke a stone yesterday?"

"He wants to destroy the entire Empire over a stone?"

"Has he gone crazy? Wasn't the Church of Darkness said to be evil?! Why is it the other side that looks more crazy? Killing millions for a stone?!"

"Father, are we really going to die? We should run!"

"Little girl, can we even run? The entire place is sealed! We can't run anywhere!"

With time, the situation started getting chaotic as fear started setting in with people realizing the situation they were in. All their lives depended on one person stepping forward! However, was the person really going to step forward?!

Most of the citizens were already praying for that person to step forward already!

Inside his mansion, Duke Callum was sitting in silence with grim expressions on his face. "Six hours... We only have six hours... You can't afford to fail! At any cost! If you fail, we'll all die!"

All his hopes were now resting on Gabriel. He knew that even if he wanted, he couldn't do anything. If it was an ordinary mage, he could've fought back, but Lerian was personally there! There was nothing he could do.

*****

Not too far from Arecia, there was a strange valley at the depths which didn't have much resources. No one even tried to go into the valley since it was a waste of time. However, presently in the valley, there was a mysterious City that had appeared recently out of nowhere.

Not a single person in the surrounding knew about the City appearing here.

Since Lambard had recently used the City teleportation, he felt really weak, as if most of his strength was sucked in. He spent most of his time resting in his room, rarely going out of his mansion.

Not a single person was allowed to go outside the city at the moment since Lambard wanted to be at his peak first, before taking any risk.

He only kept an eye on the nearby cities through his Numens which weren't able to get him too much information.

Through one of the Mirrors in his room, he could see outside the valley. It was also the mirror which showed him the Empire of Arecia which was covered in a flame dome.

p1ease visi(t) nove1B(in).ne)t

"What is happening in Arecia? Why is there a barrier surrounding it?"

"That looks like the spell of the Church of Flames. For them to use such a large-scale spell on Arecia, I wonder what might have happened." The young maid stood next to Lambard, observing the situation as well.