Loren controlled the ghost ship as it sank beneath the sea, sailing toward the distance.
"Where did they go?"
No sooner had the ghost ship left than Melody emerged from the water.
"I almost forgot about you. You should leave too. I'm going to beat up the angel, and if I can kill it, even better."
"Do you need my help?"
"No. Hurry up and leave, so you don't get caught up in this."
Melody didn't leave immediately. Instead, she grasped the pendant on her chest once more, pausing for a while before speaking:
"This time is somewhat dangerous for you. The Orthodox Gods might step in. The danger isn't huge, but please be careful nonetheless."
Only after receiving Fate's guidance did Melody leave, offering Loren that reminder before departing.
After Melody left, Orianna climbed out of the sea. Strictly speaking, this was Orianna's first real combat. Everything before had been pure domination, giving Orianna no chance to truly display her combat abilities.
"It's been a while since I had a real, all-out battle..."
Loren stretched his body. Threads of magic began to spread from his fingertips, connecting to Orianna's body. In an instant, Orianna's eyes lit up.
"Prepare for battle!"
By now, the angel had landed. Its location was easy to find—wherever the crowd was thickest, that's where it was.
As Loren walked, he pulled bottle after bottle of magical potions from under his clothes, downed them, and crushed the glass bottles into powder in his hands.
"Theoretically, I should let people's fear ferment for a while. But if I can kill another angel, that'll be enough—maybe even better."
In the blink of an eye, Loren was already beside the angel. Its body radiated an intense light, and countless attacks struck the Nameless Darkness, but no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't budge it.
The Nameless Darkness remained right there, while everything around it had been destroyed by light magic. Only the Nameless Darkness was completely unharmed.
Occasionally, faces formed on its surface, as if mocking the angel.
The fear in the onlooking crowd grew stronger, but still, no one left.
Disrespecting an angel was a grave sin. They feared that leaving now would be seen as an insult to the angel.
The Nameless Darkness didn't change, but fear continued to spread through people's hearts.
"Even the angel can't do anything about this thing—we're doomed!"
Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted this, and the words struck a chord with everyone. Under the influence of the Justice Card, people's emotions finally reached a breaking point.
Just then, the Nameless Darkness suddenly writhed, completely shattering the crowd's psychological defenses.
"Run!"
"Who dares?!"
The angel suddenly turned around. A sword of light materialized out of thin air, shot forward, and impaled the first person who tried to flee, pinning them to the ground.
This was a highly experienced angel. Even among angels, there were ranks of strength, and this one was among the strongest. Its knowledge was also extensive.
At this point, it had roughly figured out what was happening. It knew it couldn't let the situation spiral further out of control, even if it had to use harsh measures.
"It has to be this way..."
Seeing no results for a long time, the angel ultimately chose to borrow the power of the God of Light and Fire.
It knew this was the work of an Outer God, and only the Orthodox Gods could resist the Outer Gods.
The angel flew into the air, swinging its longsword to send blade after blade of light cutting through the air. These light blades carved a massive ritual array into the ground, trapping the Nameless Darkness within it.
After drawing the ritual, the angel landed on the ground and began to pray.
The angel's prayer echoed throughout the area, and everything seemed to be turning in a positive direction—until another sound rose from the crowd.
Someone was singing. Her voice carried a mechanical quality, ethereal and eerie, as if it came from every direction at once, or from deep within people's hearts.
(Imagine a hymn to an ancient cosmic entity)
A figure in a black robe suddenly stepped out from the crowd. The moment she appeared, people realized where the singing was coming from.
Orianna was singing a hymn to the God of Fear, much like the one Loren had written for the God of Bountiful Harvest.
As Orianna sang, the sky darkened, and specks of light began to appear in the air.
"Stars!"
Someone in the crowd shouted. People looked up and saw countless stars surrounding the sun. It was the first time they had ever seen stars—until now, stars had only existed in legends.
At the same time, they truly witnessed the literal meaning of "twinkling stars."
The fear here was thick enough now to draw upon some of the God of Fear's power.
Meanwhile, the angel's ritual had reached a critical moment. It couldn't be interrupted. The angel didn't even know what was happening behind it, so it could only wait until the ritual finished to deal with it.
If the ritual were broken here, it would only amplify people's fear.
Loren obviously wasn't going to let it complete the ritual. He knew he couldn't deal with the God of Light and Fire himself. What he needed to do was spread as much fear as possible before that god descended.
Orianna, dagger in hand, approached the angel from behind, while Loren pulled the Ten Thousand Soul Banner from his sleeve and fixed it to its pole.
"Ah!"
Orianna let out a piercing shriek as her dagger stabbed into the angel's body again and again.
It was just an ordinary enchanted dagger—its damage output was less than Orianna's fists. But dealing damage wasn't Loren's goal. The Severance Ritual couldn't be performed here anyway, so he couldn't kill the angel.
Spreading fear was enough.
At the same time, Loren's Ten Thousand Soul Banner released countless vengeful souls. After being controlled for so long, their resentment had reached its peak. In that moment, the sky itself was dyed blood-red.
The domain of the God of Light and Fire was eternal daylight, making it hard for undead creatures to cause trouble. Loren had only managed this through the God of Fear's interference.
Loren didn't know how many times Orianna had stabbed the angel. All he saw was that its back was a bloody mess—if it even had blood.
Under the boost from Judgment, the dagger's damage was considerable, and it ultimately interrupted the angel's ritual.
The enraged angel swung its sword with full force toward its back. But the previously chaotic dagger movements now steadily and firmly caught the blade.
Loren's max-level techniques were now being executed flawlessly by Orianna. Connected by magical threads, there was zero delay.
"Die!"
Loren didn't give the angel time to be shocked. A heavy, powerful kick slammed into the angel's chest. It flapped its wings desperately, finally managing to stop just before crashing into a residential building.
The next moment, a dense barrage of Crimson Blades struck its body, slicing it apart like slow execution, peeling off pieces one by one. It could only temporarily wrap itself in its wings.
It didn't need to worry about its followers seeing its pathetic state now, because the followers were already too busy with their own problems.
The warped sky, the eerie stars, the shrieking vengeful souls—one incomprehensible thing after another shattered their worldview. Fear had taken over this place and was now spreading throughout the entire country.
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