CHAPTER 58: GABRIEL VS THE HOLY CHURCH

Right in front of the door, Gabriel stood with two corrosive explosions in his hands. His original plan was to detonate the bombs in the hall, but seeing the caged children inside as well, he had no choice but to swap them with his weapon instead.

At the same time, murmurs broke out amongst the audience.

"Who is that?"

"Who allowed someone to walk in like that?"

The security guards tensed, quickly surrounding him.

Neon narrowed his eyes when he saw this person. He remembered sending out the combat squad to handle him. Did all of them get wiped out by him?

’His aura... he shouldn’t be powerful enough to get rid of my elite men.’

"Guards!" Neon snapped out of his thoughts and shouted at the top of his voice. "Attack him!"

Instantly, all the guards inside the hall surged forward.

Gabriel calmly retrieved the stamina herb he had extracted earlier and chewed a mouthful, feeling the delicious taste melt in his mouth.

He felt refreshed, and an overwhelming surge of power coursed through every fibre of his body. It felt as if he could run a marathon for hours and not get tired.

Next, he gulped another mouthful of the mana regeneration potion he had gotten from the mage.

His mana increased to 340 again.

He had done everything with such calmness that the approaching guards hesitated, thinking he had something up his sleeve and was waiting for them to come close.

One of them summoned the courage and charged in, then the rest followed.

Taking a lethal fighting stance, with Crimson Judgement in his grasp, charged with over 50 mana points, the blade flashed rapidly in the air, cutting down all who approached with monstrous precision.

It was a one-sided brutal massacre.

Panic ensued among the crowd.

From the cage, the eyes of the eleven children glinted with hope, and some of them started to shed tears as they shouted.

"Save us, please!"

"Save us!"

"Will ya shut up!" the auctioneer, whose face had gone pale, kicked the cage so hard that some of the children were sent flying backward.

At that moment, a thick chain suddenly wrapped around his neck. His eyes widened, and colour seemed to drain from his face entirely.

He glanced at the person and was shocked.

Anna pulled her chain back, and his head snapped off, flying into the air.

Neon, still seated, clenched his wine glass, shattering it into fragments when he saw this sight. "Anna, you traitor," he growled, his voice beast-like.

In a couple of minutes, Gabriel had dealt with all the guards, dyeing the auction hall with blood.

Silence fell around the room for some time before a seething Neon rose from his seat and shouted, spit flying everywhere.

"Who are you? What do you want?" his angry voice boomed across the room.

"I’m not obliged to answer that question... but if you want to know, bring out the church representative," Gabriel said, putting away his greatsword and channelling mana into his fist.

His tone sounded more like a command than a request, and it made Neon boil.

Neon’s eyes twitched. "And what if I refuse?"

"Then I kill you, make my way to them, and slaughter everyone else along the path."

The pressure Gabriel released was suffocating. Some of the weaker guests collapsed just from the weight of it.

Neon gritted his teeth and waved his hand. "Fine. Bring them out."

Soon, three priests in white robes and a man wearing armour and a winged helmet were escorted to the stage. Their expressions were calm but wary as they glanced at Gabriel.

"So, you’re the intruder causing trouble," the man wearing helmet asked, his tone indifferent.

Gabriel’s gaze sharpened. Instead of replying, he asked, "You’re the highest-ranking one here?"

"Correct." The cardinal nodded confidently.

"Good. You’ll be the one I crush."

The cardinal chuckled, his laugh bouncing across the hall. "You’re bold, but foolish. I am a Level 65 Awakened."

He raised his hand, and divine energy crackled around him.

Swish! Swish!

The priests also stepped forward, preparing their spells.

Gabriel’s lips curled into a smirk. "Perfect. That means I can extract you. I just hope you give me a good option."

The moment he finished his words, he activated Burrow Shift and vanished.

"Defensive formation!" the cardinal barked, his face slightly pale. ’Was that a teleportation-type skill?’

But it was too late.

Gabriel appeared right in front of one of the priests, his fist already in motion.

BAM!

The priest’s barrier shattered instantly, and his body twisted unnaturally as he flew across the hall.

Dead! He was killed with only one punch!

The second priest didn’t even have time to chant before Gabriel’s palm slammed into his chest violently, creating a crater in his torso.

That priest stared at his chest region with wide eyes, wondering how a single human could wield so much strength.

Gasp! Gasp!

The people present in the auction gasped, and some of them tried to scramble away, but the door was already shut, and Anna stood there like a guard.

Since Gabriel had requested only the church representative, they genuinely hoped he wouldn’t lay a hand on them, as most of them had only wealth and not strength.

Neon’s pupils shrank into thin slits. He now understood why his combat squad had failed and why one of them even joined the intruder’s side. This person... he was low level, but his strength and agility didn’t make sense.

’This person... is dangerous,’ he thought, biting his lips.

The third priest attempted to escape, but a chain shot from Anna’s direction and wrapped tightly around his leg.

She yanked him back just as Gabriel appeared behind him.

Crack!

With a simple twist of his neck, the priest dropped dead as well. Only the cardinal remained.

Gabriel didn’t attack immediately. He wanted to test this one.

The cardinal’s expression darkened behind his helmet as he saw how easily all his priests were dealt with, as if they were just powerless insects.

"Y-you, you will regret this." He gritted his teeth. "You dare go against the Holy Church."

"There’s nothing holy about you lot, Mister Cardinal," Gabriel said. "If you were holy, you wouldn’t be here buying eleven children and treating them like animals."

"Tsk, it’s just the little evil we do to keep the world from being destroyed," the cardinal retorted, pointing a finger.

"You disgust me... I shall do the world a favour and get rid of you filth."

BOOM!

Gabriel moved from his spot, travelling at a speed not many could keep up with.

At the same time, the cardinal also charged forward as divine light surged around him, the light so intense that it was blinding.

Everyone present held their breath as they awaited the clash that would dictate their fate.