"Is this... an Angel..."
Naclis stood on the hotel rooftop beside Loren, witnessing the moment of the Angel's descent with her own eyes.
It had been barely an hour since the Blackened attacked the Royal Capital, and already an Angel had descended. The Angel was a man. He wore a green formal suit, half his body was flesh like tree branches, and the other half was tree branches like flesh. He tore through the black miasma in the sky, descending from above, bathed in sunlight.
He was indeed an Angel, but Loren felt that even among demons, he would rank among the most terrifying-looking ones. Demons would probably get a fright just seeing him.
So, the moment Naclis saw him, she was scared off. Loren estimated she would need company to sleep again tonight. At least now Naclis wouldn't wet her pants.
Earlier, Pastus had desperately held off the Blackened for a few moments. By the time the Angel descended, Pastus was left with only half his body.
This Angel touched Pastus's body with his branch-like flesh. Pastus's belly began to swell rapidly, and finally, a complete Pastus tore his way out of his own belly to be born.
Then, the Angel lifted his clothes. Fortunately, his stomach still looked relatively normal, just with slightly enlarged pores. From these pores, sesame-like seeds continuously grew, falling to the ground one after another.
The moment the seeds touched the soil, they sank down, eventually sprouting into a plant.
Some drifted like dandelions in the wind, some crawled like snakes, some simply teleported bit by bit like a glitchy video... In any case, these things all burrowed into the brains of the Blackened, after which the Blackened reverted to their original forms.
It looked similar to Luna's purification from being Blackened, but Loren knew that half of these people's brains had turned into plants.
Sometimes even Loren wondered if he was actually playing a horror game. Otherwise, how could there be such underworldly things?
Not long after the Angel descended, the crisis was resolved. Only half the nobles were slaughtered, all the Blackened returned to normal, few truly died in the literal sense. A cause for celebration.
These events didn't affect Loren, after all, Loren was a law-abiding citizen, weak and incapable of harming a chicken.
Loren also didn't plan to deal with the mess left in the Royal Capital. The Church would handle it. No matter what happened, Loren would leave first thing tomorrow morning. He was still the revered Master Mentor.
However, that night was not peaceful. The hotel gave them a two-bedroom suite. The two maids slept together, and Loren slept with the others.
Naclis's sleeping posture wasn't great. When she slept, she not only rode on top of Loren but also drooled. By morning, the pillow was soaked.
Anna wasn't much better. She ended up completely upside down and even kicked Loren in the face.
It took a long time for Loren to fall asleep. But before he could sleep for long, Mirrorheart, who was used to waking early, came to him for "breakfast."
When Loren discovered her, she calmly asked, "Would you like some milk this morning, Master?" Then she took off her high heels and prepared a fresh cup for him right there.
Every time she said such utterly outrageous things in that calm tone, Loren could barely hold it together. Heaven and conscience be his witness, Loren's tastes were really normal. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had such an incredibly cute and obedient maid for ten years before...
Seeing Loren didn't respond, Mirrorheart just put them back on, all damp. Looking at that familiar color, Loren didn't need to think to know Mirrorheart was having some strange fantasies.
And Mirrorheart was wearing black stockings...
"Master Mentor, what's wrong?"
During breakfast, Naclis noticed Loren seemed somewhat unhappy.
"Nothing."
Loren shook his head and continued eating breakfast. Today counted as a rare early rise for him.
It was just lack of sleep. Loren wouldn't show such an expression in front of the children. What truly troubled Loren was Gwen's discovery.
Gwen had searched every one of Eldrin's bases. Although she found all of Eldrin's research results, there was no trace of the most crucial Tear of Condensed Wishes.
In the original story, Eldrin never used similar methods. Killing him directly made the Tear of Condensed Wishes drop as loot. There was no need for all this trouble.
"Oh, right, Master Mentor, what is this box?"
"I stole it from Eldrin earlier. The box was emp... Huh? There's something in it."
Scarlett handed Loren the box she had stolen earlier. When she opened it, a small tear-shaped vial suddenly appeared inside.
"The Tear of Condensed Wishes?"
Loren took the small box, somewhat excited. He closed the lid, took a look, and let out another exclamation.
"The Unabandoned Casket?"
This Unabandoned Casket was a great item! After storing something inside for a period, it would form a binding. Thereafter, no matter where that thing went, as long as the holder of the Unabandoned Casket willed it, the item could be recalled back into the box.
That wasn't the most crucial part. The most crucial part was that the Unabandoned Casket could not be found by others. If it weren't for Scarlett this time, Loren would have truly never found the Tear of Condensed Wishes in his lifetime.
"Fantastic, Scarlett!"
Loren didn't even have time to put away the box. He directly cupped Scarlett's head and gave her a firm kiss on the cheek.
In that instant, Naclis and Luna both stood up simultaneously. They glanced at each other, then sat back down at the same time.
"Hehehe, it wasn't that amazing..."
Scarlett looked at the ground, put her hands behind her back, swayed her body, and giggled foolishly.
Loren patted Scarlett's head approvingly. Everyone looks down on you, yet you're the one who comes through...
...
After the meal, Loren and the others embarked on the journey home. Originally, all the carriages in the Royal Capital had been taken by fleeing nobles, but Luna's parents provided a carriage for Loren.
The horse pulling the carriage wasn't a fine steed, but it was sufficient. Loren had no particular pursuit of speed;
saving effort was good enough.
Loren placed Gwen inside Scarlett's Life Thief space. Having a portable space was indeed a good thing.
"Goodbye, Mom and Dad."
As they left, Luna waved goodbye to her parents.
Luna's parents showed no sadness at parting. Their eyes held only the contentment of seeing their daughter heading towards a better life.
It wasn't just Luna saying goodbye;
Loren had farewells too.
"Little bird, Simone is dead. You've already helped me. Do you want to return to nature, or do you want to continue following me?"
Loren still retained his habits from his Wildlife Conservation days. After rescue comes release. However, Loren would still respect Nightingale's own wishes. She was no longer an ordinary wild animal.
Nightingale's choice was clear. She flew from Loren's finger to his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek.