*****

"Is everything prepared?" After spending three hours in the room reviewing the documents, Gabriel came out.

"As you wished," Callum answered. He had been waiting all this time for Gabriel.

"What about Avilia?" Gabriel asked, looking in the direction of the stairs. "Is she still in the room?"

As Avilia slept late last night, he wasn't sure if she was still sleeping.

"I'm not sure," Callum answered, looking slightly hesitant. "I couldn't gather the courage to check up on her."

Even though Gabriel told him Avilia wouldn't hurt him, there was still an innate fear in his heart. He had been hunted by the members of the Sacred Churches, and now, one of their leaders was there? How could he not be shaken?

Gabriel could only sigh in response.

'This guy is usually so brave, but at his heart, he is also scared. Then again, Avilia does have a fairly impressive reputation. I can't blame him.'

"I'll call her down. You get the carriage ready. We'll be leaving. Oh, and don't forget the gift."

Gabriel went upstairs to check up on Avilia and knocked on the door. "Are you up?"

Even as he knocked, he didn't get any response. He was only greeted by silence.

He knocked again, but still, there was no response. It was as if Avilia was in a deep sleep.

"Just how much does she sleep?" He knocked a third time as he called out to her, but he didn't get an answer.

Eventually, he used the master key that was given to him by Callum. The key allowed him to open any door. Since knocks weren't working, he took a more direct approach.

After unlocking the door, he stepped inside the room.

As soon as he entered the room, he stopped as confusion spread across his face. The room... It was empty. There was no one here.

"Did she already leave?" he wondered, slightly confused. That girl left the room without even unlocking the door or informing anyone?

Looking at the condition of the bed, he was sure that she didn't even sleep in this room.

'That girl, she probably left as soon as I left. As expected, she only came here to watch me fight.'

He could only turn around now that Avilia wasn't here. Even though Avilia wasn't here, he had a feeling that the Shadow Beast was still around him. The question was about Avilia's whereabouts. Just where exactly did she go?

He had expected her to be with him, at least today. What could be more important?

*****

Far away from the Empire of Arecia, there existed a beautiful range of mountains. All the mountains were covered in a thick layer of snow, all except the one which was in the center of the mountain range.

It was as if all the Snow Mountains were protecting the mountains in the middle, which was also the smallest mountain of them all. The Central Mountain was also the one mountain that didn't have even a speck of snow. Instead, the mountain was covered in beautiful greenery.

Even the temperature around the central mountain was normal, quite different from the temperature on other mountains.

Many demonic beasts were roaming around the forests on the mountains freely as if it was their domain, and they were the divine beasts of this domain.

However, on the top of the mountain, there existed a beautiful structure covering the entire mountain peak. The beautiful place was also the place that was one of the most well-known locations in the world... The Mountain was known as the Beast Mountain, and the Palace at the peak of the Mountain was what the world called... The Church of Summoning.

It was said that it was impossible to get to the Church of Summoning through feet. One could only fly to the Mountain of Summons if they even wanted to reach that place. However, even that was filled with dangers. If the Church of Summoning wanted, it could kill anyone in the air since even a powerful mage was at their weakest when they were in the air.

At the moment, a Majestic Beast was flying above the snowy mountain range, carrying a beautiful woman.

Even though the woman was flying above the beautiful picturesque location, she looked angry.

The flying beast reached the Central Mountain and started descending. The beast landed on the ground right outside the Church of Summoning.

A group of Head Priests and Head Priestesses were already waiting for the woman to welcome them.

"Holy Priestess, you-"

"Shut up!"

As soon as one of the Head Priestesses started speaking, Avilia yelled. She was still very upset.

"Didn't I tell you not to disturb me until something big happened, like the entire existence of the Church being on line?!" She couldn't help but scold others.

She had been waiting to see the fun today, accompanying Gabriel. However, all because of their urgent signal, she had to return.

When she was rushing back, she thought that something significant had happened at the church, or the Church was attacked by the others, only to realize now that nothing like that had happened. She couldn't help but feel as if her time was wasted.

"If you don't give me a satisfactory reason, having to apologize would be the least of your worries!"

"Saintess, please calm your anger!" All the Head Priests went down on a knee, feeling a chill run down their spine.

They had experienced firsthand just how much destruction this little girl could cause when she was angry. Even if they all fought her, they were no match for her.

"We had no choice but to call you urgently. The Holy Priest of Flames is here to meet you," the man further stated, explaining why they had to call her with such urgency.

"That's it?" Avilia frowned. "Why didn't you just kick him out? You could've told him that I was out. Isn't that what we've done all this time? I have no interest in hearing what those idiots have to save."

"Ah, Saintess... It's not easy for us to kick him out. He is blessed by a Holy Grimoire. He is very powerful," the Head Priest explained, keeping his head down.

He couldn't believe that Avilia was even suggesting this. If they were as strong as a Holy Priest, won't that mean a Holy Grimoire was useless? The Holy Priests were an existence that were considered gods of the present day. They couldn't be defeated by ordinary people like them.

"Also, We told him that you were out, but he refused to leave. He even threatened to burn this entire mountain down personally if we didn't let you meet him."