If one hears the truth in the morning, they can die content in the evening.
That was Casper's state of mind at this moment. As he watched the ocean rush toward him, instead of fear, he felt the urge to embrace it.
In the end, the moment he touched the ocean, he turned into a pool of blood.
Casper hailed from the Nofica Theocracy, the strongest nation within the God of Bountiful Harvest's territory. His strength was far beyond what anyone from a small place like Gedlan Kingdom could compare with.
If even he was instantly killed, others naturally couldn't withstand even a moment.
In an instant, everyone who had come to surround Loren was completely annihilated.
And it didn't end there. The residual waves of the seawater scoured the city, instantly collapsing the surrounding buildings—including Loren's house, along with the cake inside that Anna hadn't had time to eat yet.
"What a waste…"
Loren stood in place. The seawater avoided him, and his body wasn't even slightly damp.
When the Abyssal Sea Collapse faded away, not even ruins remained. All that was left was a bottomless pit.
By now, the angel had been crushed into powder, mixed together with sand and gravel. However, the divine authority here hadn't been stripped away yet, so the angel's deathless trait was still intact.
The ritual materials were with Scarlett. She and the others had already run far away by now. By the time Loren retrieved the materials and returned, the next angel would probably have already arrived.
"The sky is about to change…"
The dark clouds above hadn't yet dispersed. Loren sprouted wings and flew into the air.
At the same time, he pulled several test tubes from beneath his clothes, popped the stoppers, and drank the liquid from several tubes all at once.
These were mana-restoring magical potions—the best among mass-produced options. However, the cost was correspondingly high, roughly equivalent to the same volume of gold.
But their effectiveness justified the price. After drinking more than a dozen, the mana Loren had just consumed was fully restored.
"This way…"
Loren glanced at the witches through the Abyssal Gaze Eye and noticed that their evacuation route aligned with the direction he had originally planned to take.
"As expected of Mirrorheart… We're thinking alike…"
Loren flew eastward, heading toward the God of Plague's territory.
Their goal wasn't just to reach the sea—they would ideally pass through as many divine territories as possible along the way.
Now that Loren had turned against the gods, and had done so by crossing their bottom line, no other deity could continue to accept him. Worse still, the gods would likely unite against him.
This was absolutely not something Loren wanted to see. If the gods joined forces, it would cause him considerable trouble, so he absolutely couldn't allow such a thing to happen.
What Loren needed to do next was provoke a Divine War, leaving the gods too preoccupied to unite against him.
If any god tried to focus on dealing with Loren, they would have to watch their back for other gods sneaking attacks.
Under Loren's full-speed flight, he quickly caught up with the fleeing group.
"Master Mentor!"
The moment Anna saw Loren, all trace of worry vanished. She threw herself onto him impatiently.
"Good, I'm fine. No need to worry."
Loren held Anna, stroking her hair as he walked into the middle of the group:
"I know what I'm doing. This level of encirclement couldn't stop me at all. I didn't even get my clothes dirty."
In truth, this encounter had been quite dangerous. Unfortunately for his attackers, Loren had the High Tower card. No matter how ferocious the attack, it couldn't touch him, and naturally couldn't harm him.
The High Tower card came through in a big way.
Seeing Loren return safely, everyone breathed a sigh of relief—except Corolla, who was as flustered as ever.
Luna exhaled in relief at Loren's safety, but she soon grew tense again. Loren understood her worry—after all, her parents were still in the Royal Capital.
This time, Loren had controlled the scale of damage well enough that it wouldn't threaten the common people. But there was no guarantee about what would happen afterward.
Luna had run away with Loren. Given the Church's usual methods, they would definitely label Luna a witch and then go after her parents.
"Don't worry. I'm here."
Loren set Anna down and stepped forward to embrace Luna.
"Master Mentor…"
Luna, who had been extremely anxious, instantly felt at ease the moment she sensed Loren's body warmth.
Loren was always this reliable. As long as you were on his team and saw him here, you could be completely at peace.
Meanwhile, any Church member who was Loren's enemy would now be trembling with fear.
"Corolla, Flossie, Seraphina…"
Loren suddenly called out to the three maids. Corolla, already on edge, practically jumped:
"Y-yes, Master…"
She still hadn't fully recovered from the shock. Everything that had just happened was still flashing before her eyes—events that exceeded what she could handle.
"None of you are witches, so you won't be hunted.
"If you want to leave, I'll give you a large sum of money and arrange new identities for you in other countries. You can continue living a stable and comfortable life."
"I will always belong to you. I will never leave your side again."
Seraphina was the first to declare her stance. She answered without a hint of hesitation, still wearing that warm, reassuring smile, her eyes full of resolve.
"From the moment I followed you, I've never thought of leaving. No matter what happens."
Flossie was the second to speak. She didn't feel any fear at the thought either—if anything, she was a bit excited.
"I… I…"
In contrast to the other two, Corolla was far too timid. She stammered, unable to get a complete sentence out for a long time.
"The territories of the God of Pain and the God of Night and Thunder are both pretty good places to live. I'll send you over shortly…"
Loren didn't fault Corolla too harshly for her cowardice. After all, she was just an ordinary person.
"No! I don't want to!"
Corolla suddenly cut off Loren's words, steeling herself:
"I want to follow you too! I'm not worse than the others… Not that much worse…"
After a brief moment of boldness, Corolla shrank back again.
"Alright. I respect your wishes."
Seraphina was definitely going to stay. Loren just hadn't expected the other two to choose to stay as well.
"Good. Continue heading toward Bardo Kingdom for now. I'll take Luna back to find her parents."
"Master Mentor…"
Hearing this, tears suddenly began to well up at the corners of Luna's eyes.
"Don't get sentimental. Move out now!"
With that, Loren scooped up Luna and flew back to the Royal Capital.
…
"Luna!"
Loren landed beside Luna's parents, who were in the middle of evacuating. The moment she saw Luna, Luna's mother threw her arms around her.
She didn't bother questioning why Loren had flown there. By now, nothing Loren did surprised her anymore.
"Thank goodness you're safe… I knew Master Mentor would protect you."
"We'll catch up later. Let me keep this brief.
"Luna is a witch. She was exposed just now, so we fought with the Church. That's what all the commotion was about.
"Right now, the Church is definitely going to go after you. I'm here to take you both away."
Loren summarized the situation. But after Luna's mother heard all of this, her expression twisted in an instant.
Shock. Doubt. Fear. And finally, hatred.
"A witch! Why are you a witch?!"
She shoved Luna away like she had gone mad, then directly grabbed her by the throat.
"Mother…"