32: Gabriel vs the Head of Church of Water?

"I didn't expect that lady to come here. This is really surprising." Lambard stood up. "Though I think I do know what she's here for."

"Gabriel, you want to accompany me?" he glanced at the young man. "I doubt you've ever seen a Head of Church before. It might be a good exposure since you're one of them as well, in a way."

"He can't come," Lira chimed in. "She might not be able to harm you in this place, but it's not the same for Gabriel. She can kill him if she realizes who he is, and I'm sure his aura will give away his identity."

"Heh, don't worry about it. Even she won't be able to sense his aura. Don't forget who you're standing with. This city is my Domain. Here even the gods can't see someone's aura if I want to hide it. I'll hide his aura. Moreover, he already has the gloves to hide his mark, so I doubt it would be much of a problem."

"Come on, let the boy have some fun."

"But it's still dangerous." Lira frowned. Even though the man said he was going to take care of everything, she still felt that it was dangerous for Gabriel to be alone with that lady and Lambard here. 

After thinking for a few seconds, she finally responded, "Fine, I'll come with you as well. Since you can hide his aura, I'm sure you can hide mine as well. She hasn't seen me yet, so she won't know who I am if she can't sense my aura."

"That's fine by me. Not like it would matter even if she finds out who you are. Not like she can do anything to me." Lambard smirked, giving Lira the permission to accompany him as well. 

****

The Head of the Church of Water arrived at the entrance of Lambard's mansion. 

The young lady appeared as if she was only in her late twenties at best. Just based on her age, no one could have expected that she was the Head of one of the most prestigious organizations. She was the Head of Church of Water at such a young age and had just received the position last year itself. 

The young lady was dressed in a beautiful black shoulderless dress that wrapped tightly around her body, highlighting her curves. She had beautiful blue hair like the purest form of water. Her hair came down to her waist, covering her upper back, which was left exposed by the dress. 

Unlike her beautiful blue hair, her eyes appeared to be hazel, giving her a distinguished look. Her innocent-looking face was perfectly calm, not showing many expressions. 

"My lady, are you sure we aren't wasting time by coming here?"

Accompanying the Head of the Church on this trip were the two Head Priestess from the Church of Water, who had the highest authority in the Church after her. They still didn't believe that what they heard about this place could be true. 

"Who knows. But we can't take a chance," the young lady answered. 

"Greetings to the three Mages." Like before, the maid greeted the three as soon as they reached the castle, but she didn't give them water this time. 

"Tell Lord Lambard that I'm here to meet him."

"He already knows you are here," the Maid calmly responded.  "Please follow me inside."

"Huh? He knew we were coming? My Lady, do you trust her? How could he have known?" One of the Head Priestess asked the blue-haired woman in the lead. 

The young woman didn't answer. Instead, she followed the maid inside the castle with the others. 

The maid brought the three Water Mages to the end of the hallway. Surprisingly, at the end of the hallway, there wasn't a door like before. Instead, there were stairs that were going up. 

The maid started going up, followed by the Mages. 

*****

"Lady Elora, welcome to the City of Abadon." Lambard greeted the young lady in the lead. "The two behind you must be Lady Joan and Lady Ruyi?"

"Hmm?" The Two Head priestesses in the back grew stunned as they were called by their names. 

'How did this person know our names?'

They wanted to ask how Lambard knew their names since it shouldn't have been possible. Unlike the Head of the Church of Water Elora, they weren't that well known, especially regarding names. 

"Greetings, Lord Lambard. It seems you know about me."

"Of course I do. Who wouldn't know the names of the Six Heads of Churches of Elements," Lambard casually answered. 

"I suppose it does make sense that you know my name, but I'm still curious about something. How do you know the ones behind me?"

"Lady Elora, I know their names because you told me their names yourself."

"I did?" Elora stared at the man in confusion. "But I don't recall ever telling you their names."

Lambard simply smiled but didn't answer. "Let me introduce you to a few more guests of mine."

"This is Gabriel. And that's Lady Lira. The two came here just today." He introduced Gabriel and Lira. 

Elora casually glanced at the people in the back. She couldn't find anything special about the two. She didn't believe any of the two were special enough for her to remember. 

She didn't even say a word to them in greetings. She just casually nodded. 

Lira rolled her eyes, amazed at the arrogance of Elora. 

Lambard next introduced the three ladies to Gabriel and Lira. 

Just like Elora didn't greet Lira, Lira also didn't greet Elora, which came across as rude from her side. She just nodded lazily as well. 

As for Gabriel, he just stood silent in the back, observing Elora. Lambard was hiding his aura, but he didn't hide the aura of Elora. Gabriel could see the aura of Elora, which was as vast and deep as the sea itself. 

Even though the young woman looked like she was an ordinary lady, the aura of her told a different story entirely. It was as if behind that innocent facade, there was enough strength to destroy an entire city if she wanted. 

'So this of the level of the enemies I would need to face. The Head of the Church of Light would be even stronger than her.'

"You two, don't you have any manners on how you should greet Lady Elora?" Ruyi called out to Lira and Gabriel. 

It didn't matter if Elora didn't meet the two commoners like them properly, but when they were introduced, how dare these peasants ignore the one who was selected by the Goddess of Water herself?!

"Huh?" Hearing the sudden scolding, Gabriel came out of his thoughts. He was in disbelief that these people were scolding them for what they themselves did?

Lira was about to respond to these people in their own language, but before they could, Gabriel did it. 

He took the lead. He had been through hell because of people who considered themselves superior to him while hiding their hypocrisy. He couldn't help but feel the same hypocrisy here. 

He had been through hell, not so he could be scolded like this by some hypocrites. Moreover, since he wasn't looking for any favor from them, he didn't need to hold back. 

"If you want respect, maybe you should learn to give the same respect first," Gabriel calmly stated. His eyes didn't have even a shred of fear.