Chapter 606: Thunder Angel

"I need to hurry..."

Loren sped up and arrived at Cecelia's doorstep.

He had originally planned to come for a casual visit, but now he had no choice but to hurry.

Instead of knocking on Cecelia's door, Loren phased straight through the wall with Void-walking.

"Loren?"

Cecelia was in her room at that moment, her walls plastered with photos of Loren, wanted posters included.

She rushed over joyfully, but this time Loren didn't immediately initiate a game session with her.

"Do you have any information on the Witches' Church?"

Cecelia felt a bit disappointed, but she still seriously reported the situation to Loren:

"The Witches' Church has gone quiet recently, no movement at all. I haven't encountered any of them either..."

"Have you encountered the Dawn Magpie?"

Loren explained the situation regarding the Dawn Magpie and Starnight to Cecelia, but Cecelia still shook her head:

"Like everyone else, I only saw the moment when everything suddenly turned to daylight.

"But I do know one thing, a Thunder Angel flew toward the west..."

"The west?"

Loren sensed something off. The one fighting the God of Night and Thunder was the God of Vows and Wind, whose territory lay in the east.

To the west was the God of Bountiful Harvest's territory, which was also where the Dawn Magpie had appeared.

Loren asked around and learned that the Dawn Magpie had appeared in the God of Night and Thunder's domain earlier than in the God of Bountiful Harvest's territory.

"Alright, I'm heading off. Keep monitoring the Witches' Church situation."

Having said what he needed to say, Loren prepared to leave.

Seeing Loren leave so quickly, Cecelia was somewhat displeased, but she knew the bigger picture mattered more, so she said nothing.

"Goodbye."

Before leaving, Loren gave Cecelia a kiss.

"Goodbye..."

Cecelia's face flushed red, a smile blooming across her features.

Even though they had duo-queued all night before, these simple contacts still made her blush.

After confirming that a Thunder Angel was going after the Dawn Magpie, Loren stopped hiding. Once he was a certain distance from Cecelia's residence, he activated the Dawn Magpie's ability as well.

In an instant, the night sky over the Uridia Kingdom was illuminated.

Loren flew directly toward the previous Witches' Church hideout. The people of the Uridia Kingdom felt as though a sun had streaked across their sky.

This was the first time many of them had ever seen the sun, and they were so unaccustomed to it that the blinding light brought tears streaming down their faces.

The vampires fared even worse. Quite a few of them died in that single instant.

Loren felt no sympathy for vampires, especially the low-ranking ones, who were even worse than their high-ranking counterparts.

Those who were at the bottom of vampire society but still held slightly higher status than ordinary humans were the ones who tormented common folk the most viciously.

Loren quickly reached the previous hideout. From the air, he spotted the wooden huts where the witches had once lived.

The huts were now somewhat dilapidated, showing no signs of human habitation.

Loren closed the eye bearing the Perpetual Observer's authority, temporarily deactivating the True Sight Eye, yet he could still see the wooden hut clearly.

That alone was telling enough. Sure enough, when Loren entered the hut, it was completely empty.

So Loren didn't waste any time. After confirming this, he immediately began flying back.

Loren flew at a very high altitude, the same altitude most angels typically flew at.

The one coming was a Thunder Angel. Excluding the more abstract angels like Confusion and Dream, the Thunder Angel was the second-fastest angel, second only to the Angel of Light serving the God of Light and Fire.

But even so, the Thunder Angel's speed couldn't compare to the Dawn Magpie's.

Loren made no effort to conceal his trail. What he wanted was to lure the Thunder Angel out and then beat it senseless.

Since the Severance Ritual couldn't be performed right now and the Thunder Angel couldn't be killed, the only option was to beat it down again and again.

The moment it recovered a bit, he'd cripple it once more.

Later, he could have Anna and the others repeatedly cripple the Thunder Angel while Loren snuck over to the Church of the God of Vows and Wind to steal the materials needed for the Severance Ritual.

This was all part of Loren's plan. The Orthodox Church was preparing Severance Rituals against other orthodox gods, so Loren didn't need to worry about any unexpected situation preventing him from killing angels for the time being.

...

"Master Mentor..."

The moment Loren landed, Anna rushed into his arms. Loren casually lifted her up:

"Did anything happen while I was away?"

Loren glanced around. Everything was just as he had left it. Starnight hadn't returned, and no one else had visited.

"No."

Anna shook her head. Loren gave her a kiss before setting her down.

"Good. Cecelia said a Thunder Angel came this way. I'm going to deal with it."

Loren explained the situation, then prepared to take off again.

"Please be careful."

Anna knew very well that she couldn't help much this time.

Even if a fight broke out, it would be in the sky, where she couldn't move freely, so she didn't ask to follow Loren.

...

After putting distance between himself and the hideout, Loren activated the Dawn Magpie's ability, circling openly within the God of Bountiful Harvest's territory.

The Dawn Magpie was a mythical creature that countered the God of Night and Thunder, so the God of Bountiful Harvest wouldn't harm it and might even protect it to some degree.

This time, before Loren had flown very far, he sensed danger.

It was a clear sunny day, yet a bolt of lightning still tore through the sky in an instant, its brilliance outshining the sun itself.

The lightning was so fast that Loren couldn't dodge it. The Dawn Magpie's speed was impressive, but acceleration still took time.

So the lightning bolt passed straight through Loren's body, obliterating a mountain peak below, while Loren remained completely unharmed.

Acceleration takes time, but Void-walking has no startup delay.

"So it's you, Loren."

A humanoid figure shrouded in dark clouds landed before Loren. Its back bore skeletal wings, which flapped as it hovered in the air.

"I truly admire your audacity. I've killed who knows how many angels by now, and you still dare to show your face before me."

The worst-case scenario Loren had feared didn't happen. The angel didn't flee at the sight of him.

They had their own pride, which forbade such cowardice. To run would be an insult to the glory of the Orthodox Gods.

"Die!"

Loren wasted no words. He slashed directly with his blade, Sin-Burning Flames igniting along the edge while the Judgment card activated.

At the same time, the Thunder Angel erupted with lightning. The dark clouds around its body turned transparent, revealing the skeleton beneath. Its skull resembled a canine's more than a human's, a winged dog-like creature.

The lightning traveled through the Requiem and into Loren's body, but the Requiem also cleaved through a row of the Thunder Angel's ribs.

Loren activated the Justice card, storing the damage he'd taken. Instead of withdrawing his blade, he directly released Blood Moon Condensed Light from the tip of the Requiem inside the Thunder Angel's body.

At the same time, Loren noticed a stretch of starry sky suddenly appearing above.

The one who came was a Thunder Angel, not an Angel of Night, so there was only one possible explanation for this starry sky.