Gabriel waited to hear the story, having no idea what it could be about, but seeing Lira's disgusting expressions, he felt that it must be something terrible.
Not making him wait for long, Lambard started the story.
"Apophis was a demigod that lived in the era when demigods were more often seen than not. He was known as someone who couldn't care less about the moral rules that this world had established. He did whatever he pleased, as long as he desired. He even robbed mortals at times just to see their expression."
"That's why he is also called the most annoying demigod amongst the ranks of demigods. Still, despite all his tactics, the other demigods didn't stop him. They let him do as he pleased since his small tricks weren't causing any serious harm and deaths."
"With time, the boldness of Apophis only increased as he moved from City to City to get rid of boredom. One such city was the city of Eloran. It was a city he had never visited before, but as soon as he entered the city, he decided to settle there. You know why?"
"He liked the city?" Gabriel took a guess.
"Nope." Lambard shook his head. "It's because he fell in love with a woman who lived in the city... A married woman. He tried to pursue the woman, but she avoided his advances at every instance and refused him many times."
"Ultimately, Apophis got frustrated and decided to do something really foolish. He sent some men to keep the husband of the lady distracted with some tasks to make sure he couldn't go home the entire night. At the same time, he used his divinity to transform into the lady's husband and went to her house. Hiding his real identity, he slept with the woman..."
"It was only after he finished that he stopped his disguise and told the woman the truth. He told her that he already had her body and now she was impure for her husband. He asked her to come with him and leave this town."
"This..." Gabriel didn't know how to respond. Apophis sounded like a really messed up guy. What he didn't wasn't just a trick; it was evil!
"Apophis told the woman to come to the city's entrance by the evening to leave with him, or he was going to tell the entire city that the woman slept with him to sully her reputation. Not only did he do something vile, but he also blackmailed her using that information."
"He waited at the city entrance for the woman's arrival, but she didn't come. After getting tired, he went back to her house to force her to come with him but as soon as he got to her house, he saw her hanging by a rope. The woman had killed herself."
"Shocked, Apophis ran from the city, not realizing that the woman had left a letter on the table before dying in which she wrote everything that had happened."
"When the woman's husband returned home, he saw the wife he loved more than his life... Dead. For a long time, he was in disbelief before he started crying while bringing her down. He placed her dead body on the bed and asked her why she would do this, but the dead couldn't answer."
"It's said that the husband discovered the letter and found out the truth. He wanted revenge on the man who did it, but he didn't have the strength, but he knew someone who did..."
"After giving his wife a proper burial, the man left the city and went to the city of Divinity... A city where most of the demigods lived at that time. And one of those demi gods was the brother of his dead wife..."
"Apophis didn't know that the woman he was after was the sister of Demigod Raini... One of the more powerful demigods."
"Apophis was allowed to do as he pleased because he was careful not to annoy the powerful demigods. As for the seven gods, he didn't even dare to be in the same city as then. Unfortunately, this time his luck had run out since he didn't know who was the brother of the lady he was harassing."
"This one mistake finally brought him to his death's door. The Demigods who refused to stop him throughout the years finally took action as his acts had crossed the limits and had tainted the reputation of the demigods."
"Apophis tried to run, he tried to hide, he used all the tricks he could to survive as long as he found, but ultimately he was caught and killed."
"All that was left of Apophis was his Numen Artefact... The ring that was given to him by his mother when he was a kid... The time he never took off. The ring of Apophis," Lambard explained. "This ring is an amazing Artefact that can help you disguise and change your looks to anyone you want."
"Unfortunately, this ring isn't without flaws either. You can disguise yourself as someone else with this ring, but your disguise stops working whenever the person you're disguising as gets within hundred meters of you. So one must be careful before selecting who he wants to disguise as."
"There is one more flaw to it. Since you're only using the divine energy of Apophis through the ring, you can only draw out a weak transformation, unlike the real Apophis. There are people in the world who can see through your disguise, for example, the Heads of the Five Churches of Elements that still stand."
"The Dean of the Academy of Element might also be able to see through your disguise, so when you use the ring, you should do everything you can to avoid them when you're in disguise, alright?"
Lambard had already promised to give the ring of Apophis previously, and he decided to keep his promise.
He took off the beautiful golden ring from his left ring finger and placed it in the hands of Gabriel.
"I'm only giving this to you temporarily. And it's only for seven days from the moment you enter the Royal Capital. After seven days, the ring will return to me on its own. Think of it as a safety mechanism in case you fail. I don't want to lose this precious piece of history."
"Only seven days?!" Lira exclaimed. "That's not enough time! We might need longer!"
"I'm sorry, I can't do more. You'll only have seven days after you enter the Holy City. You can either take my offer or leave it. I'm not forcing you. Moreover, if you can really succeed, seven days are more than enough to do it. If you can't do it in seven days, then chances of your success were probably never there in the first place."
Lambard wasn't phased by the questioning of Lira. He didn't back off. Once he had made up his mind, it was done.
"Seven days should be enough." Gabriel took the offer. He wore the ring on the middle finger of his right hand, right beside the black ring on his ring finger.
The golden and the black ring on his fingers created a nice contrast. Even if he had received only five days, he would've taken the offer even then since he wasn't going to the academy to study. He was going there to steal, and one attempt was all he was going to have...
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