Chapter 581: Lilith’s Former Residence
"You're really willing to offer that kind of price?"
Loren stared at his own wanted poster. This was likely the highest bounty ever placed on anyone.
If exchanged for wealth, it could even demand infinite riches.
Valentina had worked her entire life without becoming an angel, yet now killing Loren would instantly grant her that status.
But the Church never actually expected anyone to capture Loren. The wanted poster also stated that if anyone encountered Loren, they should immediately notify the Church.
After all, Loren had killed over a dozen angels alone. Anyone normal meeting Loren would only meet their death.
The photo on the wanted poster was still from the old days, when Loren only showed one eye.
Moreover, the information spread too quickly. Loren had just revealed his identity in the God of Freedom's territory, then immediately boarded a Rock Whale and rushed back to the Western Continent.
Yet before Loren could even return, the Church had already rushed out his wanted poster.
"Could they have transmitted the information during the Divine War... they're that afraid of me..."
But even with the bounty on his head, Loren wasn't particularly concerned.
He hadn't wanted to openly break with the Orthodox Gods before because he was worried about his family. Now that things had already gone south, exposing Loren's identity didn't matter.
Either way, things couldn't get much worse.
But before that, Loren needed to check on Lilith and Cecelia.
He needed to make Cecelia adjust her tactics. Now she should prioritize controlling people to start believing in the Perpetual Observer.
He just wondered what Cecelia would think when she saw Loren, back from the dead...
Loren ignored the wanted poster. Not just him—the vast majority of people also ignored it.
They knew their limits. If they had the ability to kill Loren, they wouldn't need to—they could already get what they wanted.
If they couldn't beat Loren, then they couldn't claim the reward. At most, they'd think about reporting him if the chance arose.
If the report succeeded, they might get some benefit too.
"I will defeat the Master of Witches, Loren! And become a great hero!"
A child holding a wooden sword stood on a high place and shouted loudly, his eyes full of admiration.
Under the Church's whitewashing, Loren had become the great demon king, the villain in stories, the dark lord that edgy kids most wanted to defeat.
Loren had been dead for four years. The new generation of children didn't know about any "Master Mentor"—they only knew the "Master of Witches."
As he passed this child, Loren casually snapped his wooden sword in half, then kicked him onto a pile of straw.
Loren was a petty man. He wouldn't allow anyone to talk trash behind his back.
After traveling a bit further, negative news about Loren grew fewer and fewer. Even the wanted posters had been torn down by someone.
Traveling bards from other places who told stories portraying Loren as the villain got beaten badly by angry citizens.
Loren knew this was Cecelia's doing. She had forcibly imposed her thoughts on others, and now people blindly worshipped Loren.
Along the way, Loren encountered no trouble at all. He arrived at Lilith's doorstep as calm as still water.
"So this is where your family from before lived? Looks pretty similar to my place."
Veronica looked at Lilith's front door and commented.
The already old door had grown even older, to the point of rotting.
No lights were on inside either. Lilith was afraid of the dark; even when sleeping, she kept the lights on.
Since the lights weren't on, it meant Lilith wasn't home right now.
And the mailbox was stuffed with money order slips—these were the subsistence allowances issued by the Bloodline.
Vampires really were united. Even with the Divine War ongoing, they hadn't cut off the allowance.
Of course, other vampires' allowances might have been cut. But because of Lilith's connection to Loren, the vampire high-ranking members didn't dare stop hers.
The vampires likely weren't on the opposing side now. They had never been on the Church's side anyway.
The Church feared Loren overthrowing them, but the vampires didn't. They had already sided with Loren long ago.
Even if low-level vampires hated Loren, it had no effect on the high-ranking vampires.
Everyone below Marquis was considered low-level.
Loren picked up those money order slips, told Veronica to stand by, then void-walked into Lilith's home.
He casually flipped a light switch, but the room didn't brighten. The wiring was old, and the bulb was broken. This meant Lilith hadn't been home for a while.
But there was one thing Loren was sure of: Lilith had definitely been here. Her treasured box was now sitting on the bed, with a note stuck to it that read "For Loren."
This was absolutely left by Lilith. She had returned here, then had to leave for something, so she left Loren a note.
And she most likely wasn't in danger. If she were, she wouldn't have leisurely left these things behind.
Loren opened the box. On top was a letter, and underneath were various candies.
Loren picked up a candy and looked at it. Sure enough, it had expired.
Lilith never checked expiration dates. Even if she did, she'd forget instantly.
A key sat among the candies, looking extremely out of place.
There wasn't anything locked up in Lilith's home. She had a bad memory, but she wasn't stupid—she wouldn't lock her house key inside the house.
Eventually, Loren decided to read Lilith's letter first:
"Dear Master Mentor, if you're seeing this letter, I've probably already left.
"I knew you'd keep your promise and come find me first. But to help you fight the Church, I plan to visit the Princes one by one and beg them. I hope they'll help you.
"In the box are all the candies I've collected. They taste great. I figured you probably can't eat well right now. Unfortunately, I don't know how to cook, so I can only leave you some snacks.
"The key is something Mirrorheart asked me to give you. I don't know what it's for either.
"Forever yours, Lilith."
Loren carefully put the letter away, then casually took a lollipop from the box, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.
This lollipop had expired, but expired didn't mean spoiled. And with Loren's constitution, even a hundred years past expiration was no problem.
He put the remaining candies back where Lilith had hidden her things, along with the box itself. At the same time, Loren placed the money order slips there too, then phased back through the wall.
"Let's go. On to the next one."
Loren spoke to Veronica, lollipop still in his mouth.
"The person here isn't home?"
Veronica followed behind Loren and asked.
"No. She went to find help."
The Vampire Princes possessed angel-level combat power, which would be a significant help to Loren.
But Lilith was just a half-vampire. She had no status, couldn't use magic, and had no money. Just getting an audience with a Prince would be incredibly difficult for her, let alone persuading them.
Loren looked at the key in his hand. This key belonged to Mirrorheart, and he had a pretty good guess what it was for.
She had probably locked herself away.