Chapter 18: The Crazy Request

"No, I'm not a crazy person, and this isn't a crazy idea. If we can pull it off, it'll be a great help to our cause," Lira tried to persuade Gabriel, but he still appeared to look at her like she was crazy. 

"Only you can call this plan not crazy." Even though he had just become a Mage, he understood the difficulty level of what she was asking him to do.

"I've just awakened my element, and I don't even control more than a few spells, yet you want me to enter the Holy Bastion of the Church of Light? If that's not crazy, then what is?"

"Ask someone else to help. I'm not interested." He turned his back on Lira and started leaving. 

If she was asking for a small help, he might've even considered it for a second. However, her request was literally a suicide mission, especially now that he had awakened his second element. Moreover, there was still that strange feeling in his heart that was telling him to stay away from that woman. 

"I'm asking you because only you can help me," Lira explained, letting out a tired sigh as she followed after Gabriel. 

"At first, when I sensed your energy, I didn't think this plan was even possible. I only wanted to see who was using this dark energy so I could form a team and work together to spread the influence of the Church of Darkness, but after seeing your two elements, I realized that you were more special than I thought! Only you can pull off this mission!" She exclaimed. 

"This suicide mission, you mean," Gabriel rolled his eyes. "They'll catch me right away if I go there. The only time I'll step into the Royal Capital is when I believe I'm strong enough, and this isn't that time! Moreover, I have more important things to finish. I don't have time for you."

For now, he didn't want to focus on anything other than his main objective. 

"More important things like taking revenge on the people who hurt you?" Lira inquired, taking a guess. "You can't do that either."

"What do you mean?" Gabriel stopped and looked back at the young woman. Why couldn't he do that?

"The citizens of the town have already vacated it. The commoners shifted to other towns while the mages ran to the Royal Capital to hide, dreading your return. And I can guess that one of them was the mage who hurt you."

"That would mean that the people you want your revenge on... They are already in the Royal Capital, also known as the Holy City. You won't find anyone even if you go back to the town."

The young lady explained how futile Gabriel's effort of revenge was going to be since the town was empty now. 

"They can't leave so fast. It's only been a few hours since I was hurt. They should still be on the way," Gabriel stated in response. 

He wondered if he could catch up to them. 

"A few hours? I think you might have a slight misconception," Lira chimed in. "You weren't hurt a few hours ago. It has been three days since you disappeared from the town. And three days are more than enough for them to get to the Royal Capital."

" In fact, if I'm not wrong, those people must've informed the Holy Church of Light about you as well. It's quite possible that the town would be surrounded by the Mages of Light at this point. Go back, and you'll end up falling straight into the trap," she further added. 

"Why should I believe you?" Gabriel grimly inquired. 

If what she was telling was the truth, things were certainly quite messy. That meant to do what he wanted to do; he had to infiltrate the Holy City. However, he couldn't be sure if she was lying to him. It was just too convenient since the place she wanted him to go to was also the Holy City. 

"Because I have a reason to keep you safe," Lira answered. "You are a potential future ally and too important to me. Moreover, lying to you about this would be really stupid since this lie would've been easy to catch."

"I already need you to go to the Holy City to help me. If you go there, you could easily find out if I was lying. Why would I even do something so stupid?"

"All I'll say at the end is that you really should avoid going to the town this time. If you thought the Town Priest was strong, you'd be in for a real surprise. That person was nothing before the ones who might be present in the town for investigation."

"If you were able to sense me using my energy, why can't they do it? How come they aren't here yet if they are that strong?" Gabriel inquired before plucking another apple. 

At this point, it was clear that the woman wasn't here to kill him, at least for now. She certainly needed his help. But still, that uneasy feeling prevented him from agreeing. 

He took a bite from the apple and waited for the woman's response. 

"They can't sense it. Even though you have a different element than me, yours also contains some semblance of darkness but not quite the same. I was able to sense it because of that, but they can't unless you're using your spells while you're in close proximity to them."

"And how close would that proximity be where they can sense it?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but if I were to take a guess, I would say five hundred meters or more," Lira answered. "So you're somewhat safe for now."

"Will you help me?" she ultimately asked. 

Gabriel stood calmly and didn't respond. He just gazed back into the distance. 

"Infiltrate the Holy City and steal the Ancestral Staff of Darkness which is being kept in a high-security exhibition at the Holy Academy of Elements," he muttered after a long time before shaking his head. He gazed back at Lira. "As I said before, this is impossible. You're asking me to go to war with the Holy Academy."

"I'm not asking you for that. All I'm asking you is to steal something for me."

"Steal something that is kept in high security? To me, that sounds the same as going to war with the Academy." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "All the Mages of the Academy will surround me within minutes if I even attempt it. I can't face them all as I am now."

"Aren't you also a mage with the Element of Darkness?" he asked, taking another bite of the fruit in his hand. "You also have the Holy Grimoire. Why don't you do it yourself? Why do you need me to do it?"

"Because I'm not as special as you. You have what I lack!" Lira exclaimed. "You have the Dual Elements! The security of the Royal City is too tight. Even the Advanced Mages from the Holy Church are stationed at the Security Stations."

"Moreover, the city is surrounded by a barrier that was created by the Head of the Holy Church of Light himself! As soon as a Dark Mage passes through the barrier, it leaves a mark on their soul. And also alerts everyone about your presence."

"For the next twenty-four hours, the mark can't be removed. The Dark Mage can be detected by the Holy Mages because of that mark. They are chased, hunted, and killed."

"So there is no way for me to sneakily enter the city to steal something. Especially not until I get the strength to destroy the Barrier, and I can only get that strength with the help of the Ancestral Staff of Darkness. That's why I want you to steal it. As soon as the staff returns to me, the barrier will become useless! We can finally have an equal footing!"

Hearing Lira's explanation, Gabriel finally understood why she was asking for his help. Her words did make somewhat sense. 

"And because I don't exactly have the Element of Darkness, I can get through the barrier undetected..." He finished what Lira was going to speak.