Chapter 703: Human Nature

“Rule the world?”

William’s mind raced, and he quickly understood what Loren meant.

Loren was definitely going to pull all the Orthodox Gods from power. And given Loren’s personality, he certainly couldn’t be bothered to rule over the people himself. He would obviously need to find someone to rule the world for him.

William was a very good choice.

“Is that really possible?”

William was somewhat excited. He had thrown in his lot with Loren completely a long time ago.

He knew it had been the right choice, but he hadn’t expected it to be this right. In one step, he would become the ruler of the world.

Besides, William hadn’t questioned whether it was possible. He had no doubt Loren could kill the gods. He just wasn’t sure Loren would really let him be the one to rule.

“It is, but someone else will be king. You can serve as a minister.

“The king will step down soon. By then, you’ll basically have the final say.”

Loren didn’t mention AI. William wouldn’t have understood even if he had.

“Yes!”

William was especially excited. All his efforts over this period had finally paid off.

Loren didn’t say anything more. He simply left William with some technology, then departed.

If he hurried back, he might still make it in time for a hot meal.

On the way, Loren stopped to buy some food that was a specialty of the Nofica Theocracy and took it home. His family wasn’t short on food now, but bringing it back had a different meaning.

Even now, news that Loren had destroyed a city hadn’t spread everywhere.

That burst of Heavenly Fire had just killed quite a few people, causing Loren’s experience bar, which hadn’t budged in a long time, to rise by a notch:

Name: Loren

Level: 54 (90%)

Strength: 10

Stamina: 46

Agility: 28

Intelligence: 58

Mana: 5580/5580

Remaining Attribute Points: 0

Accessories: [Weeping Blood Wedding Ring] [Lurking Fangs] [Virtue Rings] *7 [Emblem of Bounty] [Crimson Elegy] [Synchronized Heartbeats]

Blessings: [Truth Discernment] [Pluto’s Mouth] [True Sight Eye] (See through falsehoods, dispel illusions, detect lies, shareable) [Clear Conscience] [Heart of the Abyssal Tide] [Fate of Descent]

Curses: [Shattered Love] [Scorn of All Beings]

Talents: [Sensitive Heart] [Necromancy Affinity] [Everything Has a Spirit] [Dreamwalker] [Awaiting selection...]

Without realizing it, Loren had become a stat monster himself. He no longer needed to rely on mechanics to make things difficult for his enemies. He could simply overwhelm them with his stats.

The higher his level got, the harder it became to level up. Defeating ordinary enemies no longer granted much experience. Unless, like this time, he wiped out an entire city.

Gradually, a wild idea suddenly came to Loren.

“Luna.”

As they flew through the air, Loren suddenly called out to Luna.

“What is it, Master Mentor?”

Luna sensed that something was off in Loren’s tone this time. There was a hint of excitement, along with a little hesitation.

“You’ve seen my Heavenly Fire, right? What do you think of it?”

“The invention of this magic is truly remarkable. It can purge evildoers without harming the innocent.”

Luna’s nature had long since changed. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with Loren killing so many people. In fact, she had even begun to think about learning this magic from him.

With Luna’s approval, Loren’s idea grew stronger and stronger.

“What if we let Heavenly Fire sweep across the whole world and burn for seven days and seven nights?”

By then, Loren would gain a great deal of experience, and the Orthodox Gods would lose a significant amount of faith as well.

With the Judgment card and Heavenly Fire together, even people who had once stolen something might die.

Besides, Loren felt that those who had died deserved it. Their greatest sin was betraying the Perpetual Observer, especially since they had even worshipped those traitors as gods.

The only problem was that if Loren first brought Heavenly Fire down on a certain god’s territory, that god would be weakened instantly, giving the others a chance to take advantage.

As he thought about this, Loren suddenly came to his senses.

Loren was increasingly thinking of himself as a true god. Even the words he had spoken while unleashing Heavenly Fire had carried some genuine conviction.

It seemed he really did believe that Heavenly Fire was a judgment upon those people.

“Forget it. I should use Heavenly Fire less from now on.”

Loren abruptly changed his mind. He only wanted the position of a god, not its divinity.

And this time wasn’t the first. Loren realized he had had thoughts like this before.

“I’m Loren. I’m human, someone with the power of a god...”

He emphasized this to himself. He was suddenly worried that one day he might lose his humanity.

Luna didn’t quite understand why Loren suddenly wanted to use Heavenly Fire less, but since he had said so, she would naturally obey him without question.

Loren remained somewhat quiet along the way, recalling everything he had experienced recently. Fortunately, there hadn’t been many times when he had truly thought of himself as a god.

Most of the time, Loren thought of himself as a human who had obtained the authority of the Perpetual Observer. He had humanity, all the usual emotions and desires, and even the seven deadly sins.

“Master Mentor...”

Luna’s call interrupted Loren’s thoughts. He looked over at her, and his gaze grew a little clearer.

“What is it, Luna?”

Loren’s voice was very gentle. He was always like this when speaking to the witches.

“Your emotions seem a little off... Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

Loren smiled. When speaking with the witches, he truly did feel much more stable.

“With you all here, I’m fine.”

He stroked Luna’s hair as he answered.

Without realizing it, the witches had become Loren’s anchors. With the Perpetual Observer’s authority, Loren wasn’t afraid of corruption, but he was still afraid of losing himself.

And just as he had begun to lose his way, Luna had pulled him back.

“Let’s go home.”

Loren sped up. They arrived just in time for dinner, and everyone at home was waiting for him to return and eat.

“Master Mentor!”

When she saw Loren come back, Anna excitedly threw herself into his arms.

They hadn’t been apart for long, but that didn’t stop Anna from being thrilled.

“I’m back.”

Loren smiled and stroked Anna’s hair. When she hugged him, he felt even more stable.

He looked at the witches. Every one of them was watching him now. Everyone here was one of Loren’s strongest anchors.

Loren sat in his usual seat, and the others all instinctively moved a little closer to him.

Mirrorheart also brought Loren a glass of milk. He didn’t need to guess what was in it. He had long since let it go.

He didn’t tease Mirrorheart as he usually did, but he didn’t drink it either.

“It’s wonderful having you all.”

Loren suddenly sighed.

“Most likely, we’ll have some downtime for a while. I’ve already sent a Puppet over to Noah. He hasn’t finished researching nuclear bombs yet, so we don’t need to go looking for him for now.

“So, for a while, we can return to the leisurely days we used to have.”