Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

Having seen so many dead people tonight, Anna still slept soundly.

Loren, on the other hand, didn’t sleep at all. He couldn’t fully trust what the robed figure had said. Loren ultimately needed to verify it himself.

Movila was still monitoring key locations, while Gwen stood guard at their base.

After so long without any news, the mastermind behind the scenes would definitely send someone to check the situation. That would be a good opportunity to continue the investigation.

Gwen hid near the base and activated Entwined Roots. The spell’s range continuously expanded, and with Loren’s massive mana reserves fueling it, the scope of Entwined Roots nearly covered the entire forest.

There were plenty of animals here, some even passing right by Gwen. Since she had no life force, these animals completely ignored her.

It wasn’t until the late hours of the night that Gwen detected someone approaching. Loren immediately perked up.

Entwined Roots had some limitations—it could only distinguish the species of the approaching figures, not their faces—but its range was more than enough.

Once the group got close enough, Gwen activated the Hermit card’s effect.

Three people arrived, all wearing identical black robes. Investigating through the black robes did seem like a good approach.”Wait at the door. We’ll go inside to check.”

”Alright.”

Two went inside, leaving one person alone. This was a good opportunity to strike, but Gwen didn’t act rashly. After all, Loren’s target was the mastermind. Killing these few wouldn’t accomplish much.

Still, Loren planned to remember them. Once he dealt with the mastermind, these people couldn’t be let off either.

This was the troublesome part of dealing with human relationships—you had to clean house completely.

Soon, the two who had entered the base came back out, their tones impatient:

”There’s nothing inside. Noah isn’t there, and neither are they.”

”Then what do we do? They didn’t run off with the Ember Radiance, did they?”

”The effects of the Ember Radiance have spread across the entire world. Even if they left the Nofica Theocracy, they could easily trade it for a lifetime of wealth and glory.”

Hearing the gatekeeper’s question, the other person shook his head:

”Unlikely. We have a grip on them. They wouldn’t dare escape.”

Like Evan’s family, for instance. Because Evan’s family was in their hands, he had been so hesitant when faced with his choices.

”Then that means...”

The gatekeeper thought of a terrifying possibility. He knew very well that it was likely true.

”They’ve probably already been dealt with by Loren. But the question is how Loren handled it. The Church hasn’t made a move. He didn’t rely on the Church’s power.”

”...”

Loren gleaned a lot of information from their conversation. Every time Loren sought the Church’s help, he at least directly called for the Bishop. Not many people knew about Loren’s movements.

From what they were saying, there was someone in the Church working for them, and their position wasn’t low.

”Looks like the Church needs a purge too. The Nofica Theocracy’s Church isn’t exactly clean either.”

Loren muttered to himself, jotting this down in his little grudge notebook.

After a brief exchange, they left. Gwen silently followed them.

Loren figured they were probably heading back to report now. This was a good opportunity.

Gwen followed them back to the Royal Capital. That was when Loren realized he had underestimated their caution. They didn’t go to any noble’s territory. Instead, they entered an ordinary, unremarkable residence.

The Royal Capital of the Nofica Theocracy was bustling, and it wasn’t strange for people to check into inns late at night. They didn’t attract any attention.

Gwen followed them into an ordinary room. Someone was already waiting inside, wearing the same black robe.

They reported the situation to the robed figure, then jumped out the window. Some time later, the robed figure also left the inn.

Following the robed figure was the top priority now, but Loren didn’t want to let the others go either. Unfortunately, Movila couldn’t see them.

This place wasn’t far from Loren’s residence, so Loren came over personally.

He was also wearing a black robe, passing by them on the street.

”I just suddenly felt the threat of death...”

After Loren passed by, one of them suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He touched his neck in terror, as if trying to confirm his head was still attached.

”I felt it too...”

The others chimed in, though their reactions weren’t as strong.

”Let’s get out of here quickly. I feel uneasy...”

The group sped away. Loren didn’t follow them. There was no need to keep tracking these low-level lackeys who couldn’t even meet the mastermind’s direct subordinates. Just killing them would do.

That feeling they had wasn’t an illusion. Loren had genuinely slashed each of their necks, storing the damage with the Justice Card.

...

Gwen followed the robed figure to an ordinary household. After a brief exchange with an ordinary person there, the robed figure left.

Then Gwen followed that ordinary person. Loren secretly replicated his method, giving the robed figure a slash too.

The ordinary person went to meet a guard, and only then did the guard finally enter a noble’s mansion.

”That’s ridiculously cautious.”

Loren knew they were cautious, but he hadn’t expected this level of paranoia.

After giving the guard a slash as well, Loren switched places with Gwen. Gwen stayed outside to observe while Loren entered the noble’s mansion.

This was indeed the Langton family’s territory, but Loren couldn’t be sure this was the final layer.

The guard went to meet a servant, and eventually the servant entered a house. The house wasn’t large, but its interior was extremely luxurious, leading Loren to guess that someone important lived here.

After going through so many layers of transmission, Loren was getting frustrated. He felt the urge to just cut down whoever was inside.

Still, their efficiency at passing information was impressive. From the time they learned about Evan’s disappearance to now, only about an hour had passed. Most of the time was spent on travel, and their information relay was seamless.

This made Loren realize that even with so many procedures, high efficiency was still achievable.

Inside the house was a young man. Upon hearing the servant’s report, he put on a worried expression.

He didn’t seem to intend to inform anyone else. It looked like he was the key figure.

Loren walked directly behind him. The man didn’t notice a thing.

At the same time, Loren spotted something very important on the table—an invitation. The Chailros family’s invitation, inviting him to a banquet.

The head of the Chailros family was about to celebrate his one-hundredth birthday, and he was the main star of this banquet.

Now Loren understood why so many people wanted the Ember Radiance. That family head was probably at death’s door. He had already tried every method to extend his life and was desperately in need of Loren’s Ember Radiance.