Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

While the others evacuated, Loren brought Anna to the entrance of the Church.

With Veronica’s Arcane Ability at work, Loren wasn’t worried about them being discovered, especially with him drawing all the attention over here.

”So what’s the plan? Kick the door down?”

Anna hoisted the Scythe of Harvest, looking eager to try.

”Yeah, we fight our way in. Hit anyone we see, then grab a few High-Ranking Members for questioning.”

”Got it.”

Anna felt a surge of excitement, then kicked the Church’s massive doors clean off their hinges.

The doors were heavy and thick, but that didn’t stop Anna from sending them flying with one kick. They embedded themselves deep into the wall inside.

The Church fell dead silent in an instant. Every pair of eyes locked onto Loren.

”If you don’t want to die, now’s your chance to leave.”Loren drew his twin blades and stepped forward.

The followers of the God of Vows and Wind were the most stubborn believers around. Even with Loren’s warning, none of them showed any intention of fleeing.

”Anna, hold back for now. Leave these ordinary folks to me.”

Loren actually had a measure of respect for these people of principle. As long as they didn’t actively provoke him, he couldn’t be bothered to kill them.

He sheathed the Requiem and gripped Bloody Battle with both hands, cutting down everyone who tried to approach.

Bloody Battle had long since lost its edge. Even striking someone directly wouldn’t cause real harm, so Loren swung without the slightest hesitation.

He wasn’t holding back either. Every single strike crippled a person completely. Leaving them alive was already the height of his mercy.

Just as Loren was standing atop a pile of bodies, the Wind Messengers finally made their move.

One Wind Messenger dropped from the sky, but before his feet even touched the ground, he was impaled by the Abyssal Hunt in Anna’s grasp.

”Get over here!”

Anna withdrew the Abyssal Hunt, its barbed hooks locking firmly into the Wind Messenger and dragging him back by force. She casually pinned him to the ground, and in the same motion, Loren pressed the Requiem against the Wind Messenger’s throat:

”Do you know where that giant serpent that attacked the Kingdom of Anselm is now?”

”Not telling you!”

Even captured, the Wind Messenger remained defiant. He wouldn’t even admit whether he knew anything, which meant Loren couldn’t even run a lie-detection check.

”Anna, block the others for me. I’ll do the interrogation.”

”Okay.”

Anna released the Abyssal Hunt and stood in front of Loren, the Scythe of Harvest resting on her shoulder.

The vast majority of people were already crippled by Loren. Barely anyone was left standing.

This effectively meant Loren had shown mercy to yet another batch of people, and Bloody Battle underwent another subtle shift. Still, it refused to evolve.

”I’ll ask you one more time. Do you know where that giant serpent is?”

Loren swung the Requiem, slicing off one of the Wind Messenger’s arms.

At the same time, he got an odd sensation, like cutting through paper.

”Not telling you!”

Severing just one arm wasn’t enough for the Requiem to completely cut through his will. The blade turned into a blur of afterimages, stabbing into the Wind Messenger again and again.

Between each stab, Loren kept questioning him, just like a certain needle-wielding auntie from the old tales.

”I don’t know...”

Finally, in his dying moments, the Wind Messenger spoke the truth. Loren’s detection confirmed that it really was the truth.

Meanwhile, Anna had finished off the rest on her side. Following Loren’s example, she hadn’t killed them either, just drained out a substantial amount of blood until they passed out.

Whether they survived afterward was none of Anna’s concern.

Still, they’d bought enough time. More Wind Messengers had already arrived.

”Honestly, there was no need for you to stall. We weren’t planning on leaving anyway.”

Facing the entire swarm of Wind Messengers, Loren tossed out a remark to those still conscious. Whether they heard him was anyone’s guess.

He also couldn’t help but admire the Wind Messengers’ response time. He’d only been here for a few minutes, and they’d already surrounded him.

Even the militaristic followers of the God of Light and Fire had taken much longer to show up.

”With this many people, at least one of them has to know something, right?”

...

”That serpent is at... the Floating Prison...”

Loren finally got the intel he needed and pulled the Requiem out of the Wind Messenger’s body.

”Let’s go, Anna. The Floating Prison.”

Loren stepped over the Wind Messenger’s corpse and walked to the window.

”Oh.”

Anna casually peeled the blood stuck to the Scythe of Harvest and followed behind Loren:

”What’s the Floating Prison?”

”It’s the largest prison in the Kingdom of Anselm. It floats in the air.

”Most threats get executed outright. The criminals locked up there aren’t anything special, really. Who would’ve thought they’d stick the Eternal Ember Serpent in the Floating Prison...”

As everyone knows, in many stories, those ”impenetrable prisons” exist solely for the purpose of being breached, to the point where they become recruiting grounds for armies.

But the Floating Prison was different. Sure, it was also touted as impenetrable, but even if it got breached, it wouldn’t matter much.

The prisoners inside were all criminals who didn’t deserve death. Even if you tried to recruit them, they wouldn’t dare leave.

After all, if they stayed, they might eventually get out legally. But the moment they escaped, their sentence became a death sentence.

So even recruiting them would be useless.

”Anna, can you fly?”

”Yeah.”

Anna snapped her fingers, and a surfboard simply grew out of the ground.

Creating objects directly with Abundant Magic. Anna’s mastery of magic was nearly catching up to Loren’s.

After that, the blood spilled by those believers began to coalesce. By the time Anna jumped onto the surfboard, the blood had already formed a platform lifting her up.

”Alright, let’s move out.”

Loren carved the window wider with a few swings of his blade and flew straight out. Anna followed right behind.

The Floating Prison wasn’t far. It was a small island suspended in the air by the wind.

Not far from the Floating Prison, an Angel stood guard. The Angel’s presence confirmed that the Eternal Ember Serpent was definitely here, and it also showed just how valuable the serpent was to the Church of the God of Vows and Wind. They were willing to station an Angel to guard it even during wartime.

It was an Angel of Wind. Only when he got closer did Loren get a proper look at its true form.

It looked like a tornado, except floating inside the tornado were its internal organs and eyes.

There wasn’t just one eye either. They spun continuously with the cyclone. Its intestines had literally become part of the tornado’s shape, rotating endlessly.

”It looks so disgusting...”

Anna felt nauseated just looking at the Angel of Wind.

Even among all the Angels, the Angel of Wind was one of the most revolting.

”Doesn’t matter. Since we’ve confirmed the Eternal Ember Serpent is here, let’s just finish this quickly.”

Just as Loren was about to make his move, he felt a wave of heat wash over him. Two suns appeared behind Loren, growing larger by the second.

”Why are Fire Angels here? And two of them?”

Even facing three Angels at once, Loren showed no sign of panic. He was just a bit puzzled.

Then, in short order, Loren figured out the reason.

The God of Vows and Wind knew the Eternal Ember Serpent countered the God of Light and Fire, so He wanted to trade the serpent in exchange for Angels of the God of Light and Fire to help fight His war.

The Church of Night and Thunder had prepared a Severance Ritual to deal with the Angels of Vows and Wind, but they hadn’t prepared anything for Angels of Light and Fire.