Chapter 604: The Dawn Magpie Calls

Starnight could transform into a Starry Sky Whale, but her size was much smaller.

Moreover, as far as Loren knew, the Dawn Magpie had been corrupted long ago, and the corruption it suffered was far more severe than that of the Dusk Crow. It basically never appeared before humans.

The Dawn Magpie didn't have the terrifying size of the Starry Sky Whale, so the corruption harmed it even more.

And Loren only knew that Starnight could transform into a Starry Sky Whale, but he didn't know what her Arcane Ability was.

So, Loren had reason to suspect that the Dawn Magpie was also Starnight's transformation. Her Arcane Ability was likely the power to become mythical creatures.

The reason she transformed into a Dawn Magpie and a Starry Sky Whale was that the Dawn Magpie had the greatest speed, while the Starry Sky Whale had the greatest combat strength.

The Dawn Magpie was said to possess speed capable of chasing the sun.

Thinking of this, Loren felt a surge of excitement and began investigating the locations where the Dawn Magpie had appeared.

After identifying these locations, Loren actually ruled them out instead.

If the Dawn Magpie truly was Starnight, he could probably guess her purpose, which was to find Loren.

She had heard news of Loren's appearance elsewhere, and then figured he would return to the God of Bountiful Harvest's territory, so she came specifically to look for him.

Therefore, Loren didn't need to go out of his way to find Starnight. All he had to do was wait at home.

If Starnight heard the nursery rhyme Loren had spread, she would come back to find him. What Loren needed to do was place something by the door to prove he had already returned.

Otherwise, even if Loren saw Starnight, he wouldn't be able to catch up to her.

After learning about Starnight, Loren was in a great mood. Besides ingredients, he also bought a lot of desserts.

At the same time, Loren also took a trip to the Front Lines to check things out. At that moment, the city was being attacked by Plague Believers.

There were no major conflicts, but minor skirmishes were constant, and many Bountiful followers had contracted strange illnesses.

This was the best possible outcome for Loren. The Orthodox Gods were wearing each other down, weakening one another, but no single god could truly gain a complete advantage.

Forget losing a few followers, even if an entire country was destroyed, it wouldn't mean anything to the God of Bountiful Harvest. He never lacked followers.

Even if all the followers died, there were still the flesh giant trees created during each Bountiful Harvest Festival. In fact, those flesh giant trees were the true source of faith for the God of Bountiful Harvest.

Followers experienced birth, aging, sickness, and death, but the flesh giant trees did not.

These flesh giant trees were hidden in the most secretive locations, and their positions kept changing. Loren did know a few places, but he wasn't sure if they were still there now.

After buying everything he needed, Loren didn't linger outside and went straight home.

When he got home, Mirrorheart had just finished cooking. Loren simply told everyone about Starnight's situation.

"You found traces of Starnight?"

Anna was somewhat delighted. She still remembered how Starnight had come to the rescue when they faced the Angel, buying them precious time until Loren arrived.

Otherwise, they would have been killed by the Angel before Loren got there.

Among the Witches, Anna and Starnight shared the deepest bond. If Anna hadn't begged Loren to save Starnight in the first place, Starnight might have truly died in that place.

The first time they met, Anna saved her; when they parted ways, she saved Anna.

"I can't say it's a hundred percent certain, but it's about ninety percent likely."

Loren still spoke tactfully. Unless he had absolute certainty, he wouldn't make definitive statements.

"Starnight..."

Veronica was also looking forward to Starnight's arrival. Loren had previously introduced all his Witches to her one by one, including Starnight.

The moment he returned, Loren had erected a massive Inverted Cross pattern on the rooftop. Anything that flew over this place would absolutely be able to see it.

At the same time, from such a distance, no one else would be able to see it. People from other countries couldn't see it, and even if people within the Gedlan Kingdom saw it, it would be useless.

Moreover, since Loren had started using the Inverted Cross symbol, it was perfectly normal for the Witches to erect this symbol in response to him. The Church wouldn't pay too much attention.

If Starnight passed by, she would most likely come and take a look.

After the meal, Loren directly started a three-person gaming session with Mirrorheart and Anna. Since they had nothing better to do anyway.

Veronica felt a bit bored and simply went to sleep. There were no entertainment facilities here, and Veronica had long grown accustomed to a boring life.

Even when she was at home, she spent most of her time zoning out or sleeping. At most, she'd go for a stroll, but here there wasn't even a place to wander, so she could only sleep.

Anna had invited Veronica more than once, but Veronica refused every time.

Anna let out a sigh. Mirrorheart's teaching materials weren't here, so lecturing from memory alone was too dull, and Veronica couldn't absorb it anyway.

At most, after finishing, she could give Veronica an extra meal.

Loren teased her about it, but not too much.

...

When it was time to sleep at night, Anna casually draped her leg over Loren and fell asleep in her carefree manner.

Veronica was used to sleeping alone and couldn't sleep peacefully. She tossed and turned restlessly.

Only Mirrorheart was the most well-behaved. She curled up like a little puppy in the corner by the bedside, even though the bed was so big...

Loren wasn't sleeping deeply, not because of the Witches. He had long grown accustomed to their bizarre sleeping positions.

"Kill me..."

A voice suddenly rang out in Loren's mind. The voice was extremely miserable, heart-wrenching and soul-tearing.

"Kill me..."

The voice sounded again. This time, Loren was completely jolted awake. He looked around in confusion as light from outside the window filtered through the curtains.

This light wasn't moonlight or starlight. If anything, it was more like daylight, but it felt incredibly sinister and eerie.

"Kill me..."

Just as Loren was thinking, the voice sounded once more, so loud that even Anna and the others were startled awake.

"What's that noise... so annoying..."

Anna's first action upon opening her eyes was to search for Loren. Only after seeing him beside her did she feel at ease.

"You heard it too?"

"Yeah, sounds like someone's slaughtering a chicken. It's crying out so pitifully..."

"What you heard was a chicken's cry?"

Loren sharply noticed something was wrong. What he heard was crystal clear, the thing was saying "Kill me," while Anna heard a chicken's cry.

"Not exactly... Anyway, it's some kind of bird call. The kind of struggle before death..."

"I'll go out and take a look..."

Loren grabbed the Requiem and jumped out the window. Then he saw the thing. It stood openly outside the window of Loren's house, making no attempt to hide itself.

It was a large bird. Its head drooped to the ground, its feathers were almost completely gone, and its entire body was covered in holes about a centimeter in diameter.

As the large bird moved, black liquid continuously seeped out of these holes, making Loren feel a wave of nausea.

"Kill me..."

The large bird opened its mouth that dragged along the ground, confirming for Loren the source of the voice.

Moreover, Loren spotted a single intact feather at its tail. This feather was multicolored.

And so, Loren fully recognized its identity.

The Dawn Magpie. The real Dawn Magpie. The corrupted Dawn Magpie.

Since the corrupted Dawn Magpie had already become like this, then the other Dawn Magpie must be Starnight.