"Why do I feel like you've become even stronger ever since your return?" Alion asked, taking a subtle glance at the pool of blood in the back. "I don't remember you ever having a trick like that."

"My strength resides in my soul." Gabriel raised his right hand in the direction of the blood pool. A small portal appeared above the blood pool that started sucking in all the blood from the pool, as if it was a black hole.

"With the merging of two lives, my soul is certainly stronger than it was in the past," he explained. However, only he knew if he was telling the truth or not. Alion knew that even if Gabriel wasn't stronger than before, he wasn't going to accept it before outsiders like Jia.

After what happened in the past, Gabriel had been very careful in what information to give Jia. Even though he looked as if he was answering everything that Jia asked, only Alion knew that Gabriel was only giving her the information that he wanted to give her.

Even if Jia ever spread the information he gave her, it could only make his enemies more wary about him.

After all the blood was absorbed, the blood pool disappeared, leaving only the red marks on the street.

Gabriel's robe fluttered in the wind as he turned his back toward Alion and continued treading ahead.

****

Half an hour later, Elora also reached the spot. The small group of people from the Church of Water still hadn't faced any dangers. They didn't even realize that it was because they were indirectly following Gabriel who was way ahead of them.

All they saw along the way were battle marks and destroyed formations.

"This looks fresh... As if blood was spilled here but long ago." Elora touched the spot on the road where the blood pool used to be.

Even most of the blood was cleaned, but as a Holy Lord of Water, she could still feel the blood easily. She also felt that the blood didn't belong to anyone weak! If anything, it was the blood of someone who was as strong as her, if not more.

"Could it be that there really is someone else here other than us?" Maya asked.

"The sounds of battles in the past and all the traps that were destroyed along the way... It can't be anything else. We aren't alone here." Elora nodded, slightly wondering who else could come here that wasn't worried about these traps and could easily walk through the deadly City!

"Could it be another Holy Lord? Should we try to catch up to them?" One of the Head Priestesses asked. "If we can work with them, we might be able to get more information!"

"What if they aren't friends?" Another Head Priestesses asked. "If they try to kill us, could we really survive? I think it's better if we follow the compass and move slowly."

"Master, I think the same." Maya also nodded. "Since they're moving so fast, it only means they're in a hurry. The deeper they go, the more dangers they'll face. It won't be long before they are dead if they aren't careful. We don't need to work with idiots like them."

"Exactly. They can lead the way as long as possible. And when they are dead, we can move ahead with the help of the compass, avoiding dangers." The Second Head Priestess also agreed, licking her lips.

Since they were safer in the back, they didn't have to worry about anything. All they had to do was pick up the fruits of someone else's hard work!

She further added. "Let them be the tools for our use! Thanks to them, we must be the ones who truly enter the core region of the City and find out the secrets that no one could!"

Elora could only rub her forehead. She wasn't ruthless enough to watch others die if she could save them. However, she also knew that the others were right. It was a good opportunity for them to take advantage of.

Moreover, there really was no guarantee that the other side wasn't going to kill them first if they went to them. In the end, she agreed with the decision of the others and intentionally slowed down even more!

****

The traps of the inner city were made to stop people from getting close to the core region. The traps were strong enough to hold even ordinary gods back. Unfortunately, it was different for Gabriel who had already been to that place once.

Not only did he know all about the traps in advance which he faced in the past, but he also had strength to force through all those traps, destroying them completely along the way!

The defenses of the City collapsed one after the other in the face of Gabriel's true strength. When Gabriel came to this place for the first time, it was still somewhat hard for him to get here since everything was so new for him. However, this time things were different.

"I didn't think it would be so easy to pass through this city," Jia scratched the back of her head. She didn't even have to do anything from the start. She was like a child who was just following the adults.

"Don't get complacent," Gabriel responded. "The defense of this city is nothing in comparison to the place we're going. Passing through the City is the minimum criteria to reach that place... Just the 'minimum' criteria."

"I'll keep that in mind." Jia didn't talk back to Gabriel. Not only did she not have the courage, but she also believed that he wasn't lying.

Moreover, she knew that if it wasn't for Gabriel traveling with them, it would've been almost impossible for them to get so far, let alone having strength to enter the Nether Realm.

Thud~

Jia walked right behind Gabriel. However, as Gabriel suddenly stopped, Jia hit him from behind.

"This is strange..." Gabriel stood still, frowning. It was the first time throughout this entire trip that Gabriel showed such expressions.

Along the way, it was as if he knew everything about everything. However, for the first time, even he appeared confused.

"Did something happen?" Alion asked, wondering why Gabriel stopped so suddenly.

He looked ahead, trying to see what Gabriel was looking at. However, since everything in this place was new to him, he didn't understand what was out of place.

He could only see the stairs before them. There appeared no end to the stairs at all. Both sides of the stairs were covered by a strange chaotic energy, making him feel as if he was going to die if he touched that black energy.

"I don't remember these stairs being here in the past..." Gabriel frowned. He tried to use his magic to disperse the black mist to see if he could walk past the stairs without taking them.

However, even he didn't succeed. The black mist had the same element of death as him which countered his spell, making it impossible for him to do anything to it!

"This chaotic energy... I only remember seeing it in the Nether Realm. Why would it be outside?"

Frowning, Gabriel stepped closer. He reached out his hand, touching the black chaotic mist. However, he soon pulled his hand back, feeling a terrible pain as if his hand was being destroyed by that mist.

His hand was completely pale, as if most of the blood had been sucked dry by that mist. Fortunately, he pulled his hand back fast enough.

Alion also saw what that mist did to Gabriel. It was clearly more dangerous than anything they had faced before. "It looks like we can only take the stairs if we want to go further."

Gabriel frowned, looking at the stairs. He didn't know why, but he had a really bad feeling about this