The voice of Hawrin also stopped. For a while, it appeared as if there was finally peace; however, Gabriel was too naive to think that.
As the boat kept moving, the voices made a return. Sometimes he heard the voice of the Head Priest, who told him he was banished and he was going to die being nothing. At other times, there was the voice of Maya's father, who blamed him for not saving his daughter and his wife despite all they did for him.
Things went overboard when he even heard the voice of his mother. The voice that he hadn't heard for over a decade fell in his ears, sending a chill down his spine.
It took a lot of effort not to react to the voice of his mother, but he knew that it wasn't real. It was just an illusion! There was no way the soul of his mother was going to be in the river of damnation! He was sure that she was going to be in Heaven.
Whatever these voices were, they were trying real hard to instigate him, and he realized that. The only goal behind something like this could be to make him jump into the river of damnation, and he wasn't going to do that at any cost.
He kept his eyes closed as he ignored the voices of his mother.
The torment continued for an hour straight before the voices stopped, just as Gabriel was feeling like he was going to go crazy.
At the same time, the boat also stopped.
With a frown, Gabriel opened his eyes, wondering why the boat had stopped.
As he opened his eyes, he noticed that he was out of the tunnel of darkness. The boat was waiting before something that appeared like a platform for him to get down. In the distance, he could also see a giant stone door.
This was also the end of the river as the black river disappeared into nothingness just a few meters ahead. There was no other place to go to.
After waiting a few seconds to be sure, Gabriel got off the boat and landed on the platform.
As soon as he got off the boat, he noticed that the boat started going back against the flow.
From start to finish, the Spector didn't even gaze at Gabriel. It was only when the boat was going back that it seemed like he took a glance at him.
The boat disappeared into the darkness, leaving Gabriel here alone.
He faced the giant door, wondering what could be behind the door. Was this the exit from this place? The Spector had brought him here, so there must be a reason, he thought.
He picked up another flaming torch from the wall and moved closer to the stone door.
The stone door appeared to be twenty meters tall and ten meters wide. Just the sheer size of the stone made Gabriel wonder if he was even able to open the door or not. A door of this size was going to be really heavy, especially when it was made from the strongest of stones.
"If I can't open it, it'll be a dead-end once again. I can't let that happen. If the exit is on the other side, I need to get to the other side, no matter what it takes."
Even though he believed it wasn't going to work, Gabriel still prepared to give it his all. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and adjusted his body to push the door.
He placed his hands on the stone door and took a deep breath before pushing.
Creek~
Without even waiting for his push, the doors started opening on their own as soon as Gabriel's hands touched them. To be more accurate, the doors began opening as soon as that black ring touched the door.
The heavy doors started opening on their own, surprising Gabriel. Doors that could open on their own? He hadn't seen anything like that in this life.
He straightened his back and waited for the massive doors to open.
After the majestic doors opened, Gabriel finally took his first step inside.
Unfortunately for him, this place didn't appear to be the exit. He still couldn't see the clear sky even as he passed through the door. Instead, he appeared to be in a massive hall. This time, the hall was even more majestic.
Even though the place wasn't bright, it wasn't too dark either. Gabriel could see inside the room, even without the torch. Moreover, what he saw wasn't even close to what he had expected when he stepped inside.
He placed the flaming torch on the wall before stepping to the center of the place, which appeared more like a massive Temple.
There were multiple statues in this place, each hundred feet tall. Except for the one statue in the middle, which was damaged, every other statue appeared to be intact.
Moreover, each of the statues were holding a book in their hands. Since Gabriel was standing on the ground, he could see the cover of the books in the hands of the statues.
The books appeared to be made from stone as well, more like a depiction of the real book.
Gabriel moved closer to the first statue and looked up to observe the cover.
The statue appeared to be of a woman who was wearing a tight-fitting dress. On one hand of the statue, there was a beautiful magical staff, while on the other hand, there was a book.
Noticing the Symbol on the cover of the Book, Gabriel frowned. He recognized that symbol. It was the Holy Symbol of the Church of Water.
"This book… Is this supposed to represent the Holy Book of Water?"
Just based on the symbol, he couldn't be sure if it actually depicted the Holy Book or just an ordinary book from the Church of Water that used the same symbol. Still, there was a feeling in his heart that the book was supposed to be a depiction of the Holy Book.
As for who the woman in the statue was, he had no idea.
Gabriel moved on to the next statue to observe the book. The Statue, this time, appeared to be of a proud young man who had hair so long that they came down to his knees. The man hadn't tired his hair. Gabriel appeared to be more interested in the book instead.
"Holy Symbol of the Church of Lightning," Gabriel grimly stated. "Are these the Founders of Churches of Elements? Or just the Heads at the time the statue was made? Or could they be more...? The Gods of Elements?"