Chapter 624: Laila's Reunion

"Lord Observer..."

After Loren arrived in the sea, the Eternal Ember Serpent obediently prostrated itself before him.

"Alright, I have urgent business, so I'll keep this brief.

"I need your help with the Severance Ritual, to completely kill the God of Light and Fire."

Loren was anxious to find Laila, so he didn't waste a single word.

"When?"

"I don't know, but within three years. Can you even live that long?"

"With you helping me purge the corruption, surviving another three years won't be difficult."

"Good, then it's settled."

With that settled, Loren turned to leave, but he was soon called back by the Eternal Ember Serpent:

"Lord Observer, take this..."

Loren turned around and saw the Eternal Ember Serpent plucking a scale from its own body:

"This is my scale. Through this scale, you can summon me. Whenever you need me, I'll come at your call."

"Good."

After accepting the scale, Loren didn't linger and left immediately. He had to go find Laila as quickly as possible.

"Anna, go rendezvous with the others. I'll search for Laila alone and draw their fire for you in the meantime."

"Yes."

Anna knew she couldn't keep up with Loren's speed anyway, so she didn't bother following him and headed straight for the rendezvous point agreed upon with the others earlier.

Loren had shattered the Floating Prison, which was no small commotion. By the time Loren reappeared, all the angels within the Kingdom of Anselm had rushed over.

But only a single angel remained there now, and even the Wind Messengers had been reduced to a pitiful few.

Thanks to Loren's rampage, the Kingdom of Anselm was now unprecedentedly vulnerable. Anyone who launched a surprise attack could take it down.

But that wasn't Loren's concern. The Kingdom of Anselm was merely one nation within the God of Vows and Wind's territory. Even if Loren blew the whole place up, it wouldn't completely tip the scales of the war.

Right under everyone's noses, Loren nonchalantly flew into the sky and transformed into the Dawn Magpie.

The radiance Loren emanated nearly outshone the sun itself, naturally drawing the attention of both the angels and the Wind Messengers.

When Loren had shattered the Floating Prison earlier, similar light had appeared, so they could easily guess that the owner of this radiance was the culprit behind it all.

But before the angels could even chase after him, Loren had already vanished from the area.

Never mind the angels, even the Orthodox Gods themselves wouldn't be able to catch up to the Dawn Magpie.

...

"I hope I can find Laila..."

Loren flew along the meteor's trajectory. He didn't know the meteor's point of origin, but the meteor influenced by Laila's Arcane Ability moved in uniform linear motion, so as long as he followed the trajectory, he would find Laila.

The only difficulty was the sheer scope of the area. Even Loren's eyes couldn't necessarily lock onto her.

So after flying beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Anselm, Loren didn't fly too fast.

Even with his reduced flight speed, Loren still used the Dawn Magpie's ability. It was flashy enough to be noticeable, and Loren was traveling alone now with his identity already exposed. He wasn't afraid of being discovered at all.

In fact, this would draw attention and make it easier for Laila to spot him.

Following this route, Loren flew all the way to the Kingdom of Maraze, the country currently embroiled in civil war, the one that worshipped the God of Plague.

It was the closest nation to the Kingdom of Anselm, but Loren still couldn't confirm Laila was here.

However, Loren could ask around.

It was just that there weren't many people on the streets. This country was in the midst of civil war, with warlords carving up the land, and one of them was even the holder of the Emperor Card.

But the most important thing right now was finding Laila. As for the Emperor Card, Loren could wait until that person became king before coming after him. After all, Loren had no idea who he was right now anyway.

The residents of this country were all hiding in their houses, afraid to come out, so Loren had no choice but to grab a random soldier and ask:

"Excuse me, have you seen any meteor or anything like that flying across the sky around here?"

"Yes..."

"Oh? Which direction did it come from?"

"Can you let go of me first? I don't know my north from south or east from west. Let me just point it out for you..."

"Fine."

Only then did Loren release the hand twisted behind the soldier's back, while also sheathing the blade he had held against the soldier's neck.

The soldier glanced at the group of his fallen comrades lying on the ground, still shaken from the ordeal.

"It was over there..."

The soldier didn't even dare to move his body, quickly pointing Loren in a direction.

"Oh? The west? Did it fly in from outside the country?"

Loren looked at the direction the soldier was pointing and continued asking.

"Yes... I was in the west at the time..."

"Oh, alright."

Loren drew Bloody Battle and knocked the soldier unconscious with a single swing, then continued flying westward without any attempt to hide himself.

Loren flew and asked, flew and asked, eventually pinning down a precise location. Along the way, he also knocked out several groups of soldiers, two of which had been mid-battle with each other.

Since Loren never bothered to conceal his trail, news of his arrival quickly spread throughout the entire country.

By the time Loren stood atop the western city wall, the soldiers originally stationed there had all gone into hiding. They were utterly terrified of him.

So Loren simply rose back into the air and used the most direct method:

"I am Loren, the Perpetual Observer! I'm up in the sky right now! Are there any witches here in need of protection? Come find me!"

Through wind magic, Loren amplified his voice, and not only could the entire Kingdom of Maraze hear it, it would probably carry all the way to the next country over.

Even with him being this blatantly conspicuous, no one dared to come and stop Loren.

Who knew how many angels Loren had already killed? Unless an Orthodox God stepped in personally, or unless those overly zealous types from the Church of the God of Vows and Wind showed up, no one truly dared to confront Loren.

So Loren escalated further and kept shouting:

"Laila! If you can hear my voice, throw something else out there! I'll follow the path to find you!"

This method was far more efficient than Loren searching bit by bit. If she wasn't here, then Loren would just go to the next country and keep shouting.

And who knew, he might even flush out a few more witches in the process. Loren was brighter than the sun right now, so the witches would have no trouble finding him.

Loren remained suspended in the sky, waiting.

After some time, a massive boulder streaked across the sky, flying straight toward the territory of the God of Light and Fire.

Spotting the boulder, Loren instantly transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the direction it came from, pushing the Dawn Magpie's speed to its absolute limit.

After flying for some distance, Loren finally spotted a familiar figure on the ground.

The person was short in stature, with short blonde hair, dressed like an adventurer, covered in dust and grime.

"Loren!"

Even from afar, Laila spotted Loren in the sky. She immediately tossed aside the wooden stick in her hand and spread her arms wide.

A streak of light flashed by, and Loren was holding Laila as they soared into the air.

Tears streamed uncontrollably down Laila's face. Since her face was covered in so much dust, two extremely visible tear tracks were left behind.