Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

”Ah!”

The Angel began to scream. Loren tightened his grip on the Requiem blade, unleashing the Sin-Burning Flames with everything he had. During the time the deity had disguised itself as the God of Happiness, it had committed many grave sins, so its guilt ran deep. The Sin-Burning Flames combined with the Judgment card nearly maxed out the extra damage.

”Deathly Silence!”

There weren’t many souls trapped inside the Requiem right now, and most were ordinary people. Loren wasn’t sure whether Deathly Silence would affect the Angel, but something was better than nothing.

”Kill him.”

The Angel spoke, its tone unnervingly calm. Its earlier screams weren’t caused by the Sin-Burning Flames either; they were still the punishment for speaking forbidden names.

”Who is it ordering?”

No sooner had Loren wondered than he had his answer. The Angel was commanding the area. Two houses beside him shot straight toward Loren.

The houses warped as they flew, shifting into chaotic, irregular shapes that made Loren unsure how to dodge.

”Crimson Barrier.”A translucent crimson shield appeared before Loren. The houses slammed into it without shattering; instead they grew soft. From the blind spots of the crimson barrier several hands extended, cutting off every escape route around Loren.

If he tried to Void-walk now, he might get stuck in the terrain. That would be disastrous.

”I’ll have to take it head-on.”

Loren gritted his teeth and cast Thorn Armor on himself, at least raising his defenses a little.

At that moment a knife shot out from Loren’s shadow, slicing through those hands.

The next instant, a figure nearly identical to Naclis rose from Loren’s shadow, a manic grin on her face, two shadowy long knives in her hands.

Loren recognized it as Naclis’s Arcane Ability. He hadn’t expected her to still be hiding in his shadow after all this time.

By then the Sin-Burning Flames surrounding the Angel of Confusion had already died out. It no longer screamed; it rose into an eerie posture, with Loren not even seeing its joints bend.

All the mouths on its body had been sewn shut. Two pairs of wings had been ripped apart. Only now had the God of Confusion’s punishment ended.

Its body was an absolute black, forming a sharp contrast with the colorful surroundings. Loren couldn’t even make out the Angel’s injuries.

”You only said a true name, and your master turned you into this.”

With the help of the shadow double, Loren managed to break free. He now stood on higher ground, looking down at the Angel.

That level of taunting meant nothing to Angels — they had long since lost any trace of humanity. Even if the God of Confusion had tortured it into this state for such a baffling reason, the Angel would only think it had been insufficiently devout.

”Come on, repeat after me: The Primal Songstress created the world, The Perpetual Observer watches the world, The Final Singer manages the world, the authority of the Orthodox Gods within the God of Confusion were stolen from them, so they dare not speak their names!”

Loren shouted, but the Angel showed no reaction. He suspected its five senses had been completely sealed; everything was designed to stop it from learning more.

Moreover, once all the mouths were stitched closed, the surrounding scenery stopped moving and turned into truly inanimate objects — just more colorful.

”Master Mentor! We can escape from here now!”

Movila suddenly called out, but Loren did not feel relieved, because the Angel of Confusion had moved, turning its barely headlike part toward Loren.

”You go first. I’ll see if I can kill it. Otherwise it won’t let us go.”

”But it’s just a crippled Angel. I can handle it.”

Loren said that more to soothe everyone. A crippled Angel remained an Angel, still extremely dangerous.

”I’ll leave this place to—wait, so fast!”

Before Loren could finish, the Angel of Confusion was right in front of him. Loren barely made out its movement; it had only taken one ordinary step, not even a fast one.

This was the authority of Confusion. If it thought the distance between them was short, then it truly became short. That was the terrifying thing about the Confusion authority — it did more than bewilder others.

The Angel’s hand passed through Loren’s body. Loren stepped forward as well, as if they were walking through a duplicated model.

At the instant their bodies separated, Loren suddenly reversed his hand, grabbed the Requiem, and thrust it toward his own back.

The Requiem pierced the Angel’s body, but only pierced — this was the first time the Requiem had behaved like this.

Loren understood why. Even crippled, its flesh retained Angelic-grade toughness. If not for the Requiem’s noble true-damage property, Loren would not have been able to hurt it at all.

Even so, when he pulled the Requiem out its wound healed instantly.

As long as it believed it hadn’t been injured, it simply wasn’t injured.

Its Confusion could affect reality, even muddle certain laws.

”The authority stranger than dream itself. Disgusting enough to kill your father.”

Loren had plenty of experience fighting Angels. Only by rising above their authorities could you truly defeat them; otherwise you had to rely on position and Arcane Ability to deal effective damage.

Loren happened to have strong resistance to the Angel of Confusion. Its attacks targeted consciousness and mind, and Loren was least afraid of those.

He was sure he’d sustained many assaults by now, yet he felt nothing.

”This deck is stronger than I thought.”

Loren didn’t waste the chance. The Unabandoned Casket suddenly appeared in his hand; he immediately drew out all the Tarot cards inside.

”The High Tower that helps escape sin, the Pope who twists truth, the Judgment that punishes the wicked, the Strength that overturns hegemony...”

Each time Loren spoke a card name, he produced a card and set it afloat in midair. The Tarot cards seemed to defy gravity, suspended there.

”Only four, but that’s enough to deal with a crippled Angel.”

The cards hovered beside Loren. The Angel of Confusion, realizing mental attacks wouldn’t work on Loren, switched to physical methods.

Loren guessed it had been watching him for a long time, attempting countless times to beguile him. When it found that had no effect, it had to create illusions through physical means...

”Feels a bit targeted, doesn’t it?”

Loren muttered, planting the Requiem in front of him. Sure enough, the Angel charged straight through. This time the Requiem pierced it completely.

At the same moment, a scythe struck its neck. It caused no obvious damage at first, but blood ran down the handle and climbed to the blade. Only then did the blade truly cut into the Angel’s skin.