Chapter 545: The Death of Loren
"If you had just sent out small monsters for me to kill, letting me level up step by step until I could take you down, wouldn't that have been better? Instead, you allied nine gods and came at me personally. Are you really that afraid of me, Amy?"
The sun was drawing closer and closer to Loren, and he couldn't help but let out a helpless complaint.
Back when he was a Player, the gods had indeed acted this way—because they never needed to bother with such a small fry.
They had ruled this world for so long and had seen countless geniuses come and go. A minor anomaly wasn't worth making a huge fuss over.
What Loren didn't understand was why the gods were so panicked this time. He had done far more outrageous things in the past without ever seeing the gods unite or witnessing an Orthodox God personally stepping onto the battlefield.
"It seems... they found out about the Perpetual Observer..."
Finally, Loren figured out the reason. He forced himself to stand up, though his body was still being scorched. If not for him forcefully propping himself up with the Justice Card, he would have long since been burned to ash.
Loren was well aware that he was as good as dead now, but he had to buy some time—enough for the Witches to escape into the Deep Sea.
If they were still in shallow waters, the God of Light and Fire could simply evaporate the entire shallows.
So Loren made a decisive choice. He stood up and spread his arms wide:
"Ligoss, God of Hatred. Cassian, God of Pleasure. Ignafas, God of Fear. Pluto, God of Greed. Iaftogu, God of Sorrow. Goddess of Love..."
Loren rattled off a long list of the Outer Gods' revered names and true names, causing the very sky to warp and twist. Daytime gave way to a starry expanse.
But in the end, only the Goddess of Love and the God of Pleasure were willing to grant him power. The other Outer Gods remained unmoved.
Well, it made sense. Right now, the God of Light and Fire had abandoned its own post, making this the perfect opportunity to invade this world. When it came to resisting the Outer Gods, the God of Light and Fire held the most crucial position.
"I command you by the authority of the Perpetual Observer—give me your power!"
Loren knew he couldn't summon them directly, so he chose to use the Perpetual Observer's authority to force their hand.
And the effect was significant. Beams of starlight poured into Loren's body, and an indescribable power surged from the depths of his heart. He had never felt so strong before.
"This will come with a price..."
Cassian's voice echoed from deep within Loren's heart, accompanied by a manic, cackling laugh.
It was so excited that it nearly laughed itself unconscious.
Loren didn't care about the cost at all. He was already dead either way. Whatever the price, let the Perpetual Observer deal with it.
At this point, Loren wasn't counting on coming back to life. The contingency plans he had left behind were more than enough. Even if he died here, the Orthodox Gods would soon be buried alongside him.
The sun in the sky suddenly erupted with an even fiercer blaze of light, once again swallowing up the starlight.
Behind Loren, a pair of wings regrew, and he launched himself into the air, charging straight toward the sun.
"Die!"
A slender beam of Blood Moon Condensed Light swept across the sun. The effect of the Swan Song hadn't worn off yet, so the sun was sliced cleanly in half. But it was only for an instant—the sun reformed in the blink of an eye.
The God of Light and Fire had fully merged with its own authority. It had become the sun itself.
As long as its authority remained intact, Loren couldn't do a thing to it.
But Loren didn't need to kill it. He just needed to hold it off. The Witches were already making their way toward the Deep Sea.
The sun's response was a beam of light—a ray infused with the authority of light and fire.
The moment it touched him, everything on Loren's body was instantly vaporized. Even the antidote hidden in his clothes. Everything except Loren himself.
The Goddess of Love had already bestowed the authority of indestructibility upon him.
But even indestructibility had its limits. Loren only stayed intact because he had reinforced it with the Justice Card's effect.
"Lose."
Loren reached out and made a grasping motion. A chunk of the sun vanished into nothing. He had taken the God of Light and Fire's heart—but it had no heart at all.
This act, unsurprisingly, only enraged the God of Light and Fire even further. The light it emitted grew fiercer, and the entire ocean began to boil.
Through the Abyssal Gaze Eye, Loren observed the Witches' situation. They were unaffected. Loren breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you scared?"
Facing the God of Light and Fire's onslaught, Loren neither dodged nor avoided. His face began to shift and morph, eventually settling back into his original appearance.
This was the authority of the God of Fear—the ability to show others their deepest terror.
Unfortunately, Loren didn't have a mirror right now. Otherwise, he'd have loved to see what exactly the God of Light and Fire feared most.
But when the God of Light and Fire saw Loren's face, it didn't react much. It just intensified its attack, so much so that Loren's backside caught fire.
In an instant, Loren's legs turned into blazing wheels. He skidded in midair for a long moment before suddenly shooting forward.
The Witches were almost at the Deep Sea, so Loren ran in the opposite direction, away from the ocean.
He was definitely a bigger threat than the Witches, so the God of Light and Fire would surely chase him first.
Besides, the Swan Song's effect had already worn off. Loren couldn't counterattack anymore—all he could do was run.
He was still alive only because of the indestructibility the Goddess of Love had granted him, which staved off the Swan Song's fatal side effects. But Loren knew the moment the Goddess of Love's blessing was lifted, he would die.
And sure enough, Loren's guess was spot on. He and the Witches were in completely different leagues. Without a moment's hesitation, the God of Light and Fire chose to pursue Loren.
Loren ran with all his might, but the damage stored in the Justice Card had reached its limit. Loren's body began to disintegrate.
Finally, Loren stopped in his tracks. He turned back to face the God of Light and Fire and broke into a smile.
The Witches had already entered the Deep Sea. Even the God of Light and Fire couldn't do a thing to them now.
"Let's settle this once and for all, my little Amy."
Loren charged straight at the God of Light and Fire. The God of Hatred's Silent Sob allowed him to fire his own limbs as projectiles—bullets with an instant-death effect—or even launch his entire body.
...
"Master!"
When Movila's clone arrived, she caught a glimpse of Loren running for his life and the sun blazing behind him.
She tried to call out, but Loren clearly didn't hear her. He just kept running, lost in his own world.
This weak little clone had no power to resist the God of Light and Fire. The moment the sunlight touched her, she was reduced to ash.
In the final second before she turned to cinders, Movila saw Loren charge straight into the sun. In the next instant, he was consumed by its flames, burning to nothing.
"Master!"
Movila screamed from inside the ghost ship. When she came to her senses, she was already drenched in tears.
"What happened to Master Mentor?!"
Movila's reaction said everything. An agitated Naclis grabbed Movila by the collar, tears streaming down her face as well:
"Tell me! Now!"
Movila bit her lip. Overwhelming grief choked off her voice, making it impossible to speak. She had no idea how to break the news to the others.