Holy Necromancer: Rebirth of the Strongest Mage
chapter-9

The Holy Church of Light... It was a massive entity that was known to be the most influential. It was said that even the King couldn't go against the decisions made by the Holy Church of Light. The Head of the Church of Light was also known as the most powerful mage in the world, even though no one had seen him before.

The Church had the headquarter in the Royal Capital, but it also had branches in other cities and in some towns. The strongest Light Mages of the Holy Church of Light stayed in the Main Church at the Royal Capital.

Meanwhile, mediocre Mages of Light were sent to other cities to handle the Branches. As for the really weak Light Mages that the Church of Light really didn't care for, they were sent to small-town branches.

Even though these Light Mages were weakest in the Hierarchy of the Church of Light, they were still really powerful overall. They were said to be Light Mages that could at least use a Rank Two spell of light and even more.

The Church of Light in the small town of Gabriel was the same. It was a small branch in the grand scheme of things. The priest was a weak Light Mage, but even still, he was the strongest mage in this small town and was highly respected here.

As the Priest arrived after sensing the presence of highly negative energy, his eyes opened wide at sight ahead. He could see a shield made of evil spirits that had swallowed the spear of water as if it was nothing. A pitch-black spell book floated before Gabriel.

As the Priest was standing on the right side of Gabriel, he also saw the Mark of Dark Element on Gabriel's hands.

As soon as he saw the mark, his jaws dropped. After a long time, the element of darkness was seen again, and it was in his town. It was his responsibility to kill this devil!

"After I kill him and take his body back, I should be rewarded for this merit! Maybe my son will be selected for the Church! I can't let this boy escape! What luck! The person who snatched my son's right, now he has become a Devil. It's the Heavenly Punishment for him!"

"Now, he will help my son's selection! God of Light is really great!" The Priest laughed out loud as he raised his right hand.

A formation appeared above his hand, and a beautiful white staff flew out. The staff ended up in his hand. There existed a small white gem on the top of the Staff.

The man raised his staff, but before he could even chant a spell, he saw Gabriel drop to his knees. There was a pained look of disbelief on his face.

Gabriel's Shield of Spirits also disappeared. The Black Book dropped to the ground as Gabriel groaned in pain.

He moved his trembling hand and touched his back to locate a knife that was stabbed in his back. He grabbed the knife.

"Arghh!" He roared in pain as he pulled out the knife. Even though the know had fortunately avoided his vitals but even then, it left a deep wound on his back.

Gabriel weakly looked back with a look of disbelief, finding a middle-aged woman who was trembling in fear.

Maya's mother had been cutting fruits when there was a knock on the door. She came to the door, forgetting to put the knife down; however, as soon as she opened the door, she saw a person standing before her who had used the spell of the undead. In her fear and confusion, she didn't hesitate twice before stabbing the man. She hadn't realized that it was Gabriel.

It was only when Gabriel looked back that she realized who she had stabbed. "Gabr-"

She called out as she stepped closer in worry, but she soon remembered what she had seen. Instead of stepping closer to Gabriel, she stepped back in fear, resisting her urges to help him.

Gabriel saw fear and hate for him in the eyes of the woman that was like a mother to him. That same fear and hate were in the eyes of his childhood friend.

One symbol... Just because of one symbol, they didn't even give him a chance to explain as they killed him. This one symbol and fear was stronger than their years of relationship.

Just to save this woman, he refused to dodge. Just so she didn't get hurt accidentally, he let the world see his reality, yet this was the reward he received for his care.

He couldn't help but flash a weak smile as he saw the reality of his relations. He thought these people would help him, but they weren't going to. They had already given up on him. Their love for him was no more than an illusion, and it took a black book to bring the reality of these people out to him.

He reached out his hand towards the Black Book to pick it up.

"Urgh!"

Another Spear of Water came flying toward him. Just as he was about to touch the book, the spear of water stabbed his shoulder, passing through. A hole was left in his shoulder.

Gabriel coughed out a mouthful of blood, looking into the tearful eyes of Maya. His weak smile didn't disappear even as his vision turned blurry. The smile hid all his pain that he was feeling at the moment.

"Thank you... for... showing me a mirror." Only a few words came out of his lips before he dropped to the ground. His eyes closed... His right hand finally landed on the black book, touching it.

The Priest rolled his eyes in frustration. He wanted to be the one to kill Gabriel, but he was killed by that girl. He knew he needed to take advantage of the situation before it was too late. He could still salvage the situation.

He stepped forward as he yelled, "This Demon! He had been living in your house for years! You think killing him rids you of your sin?"

"W-we didn't know," Maya exclaimed. "He just awakened the element, it seems, and I took action immediately for the betterment of this world! Please don't misunderstand us. We would never help the devils."

"You want my help now after helping a devil? Sigh, since you're both from this town, I'll help you. No one will talk about what happened here, and you shouldn't tell anyone that you knew him or that you killed him. Because then people will start digging why he was at your house! The Royal Family will kill you if the truth is out!"

"I will trust you this time and help you. I will claim that the devil had come to the Church to attack me, and I killed him. Are you fine with that?" The Priest asked, putting his plan in motion.

He didn't just need the body of Gabriel. He also needed a story that he had killed him after a Valiant battle to increase his reputation in the Main Church to help his son.

"I accept." Maya agreed immediately, along with her mother.

She took one more glance at the lifeless body of Gabriel. She couldn't help but remember the countless fun moments she had spent with him. Just last night, they had promised each other that they were going to meet in the future after he was a holy priest of light and she was a priestess of water. And now, she killed him with her own hands.

She felt so bad... It was as if she had killed a family member, stabbing them in the back. But she convinced herself, thinking that she did the right thing. She had saved the entire world.

"Good!" The Priest smirked. His plan had worked. Now all he needed was to take the body back to the Main Church and give them a briefing.

He stepped toward the door where Gabriel was lying unmoving. Unfortunately, before he could even get closer, he stopped. He could feel some really negative energy in the surrounding, which appeared to be even more powerful.

Dark clouds had started covering the sky. Sounds of Crows started echoing everywhere as the speed of the wind increased.

"What is happening?" The Priest explained. "This isn't normal."

He observed his surroundings, noticing his son Javin who was the only Mage of Wind Element here. "Are you messing with the winds and the clouds?"

Javin shook his head. "I'm not, Father. I promise it's not me."

"It's me." A calm yet emotionless voice echoed right behind the Priest.

Shocked, the middle-aged man turned back, only to have a knife stabbed in his chest.