Chapter 4: The Bloodstained Wedding Ring

"The situation is exactly as I've described. Because I possess extensive knowledge about the Outer Gods, I've become a thorn in the side of these Outer God believers, which is why they went so far as to send assassins after me. I'm certain this won't be the last time."

Shortly after Loren obtained the tarot card, church members arrived, and Loren promptly explained the situation to the church's Scarecrows.

Those followers of Pluto knew Loren's secret, but they had no evidence. Just imagine—a group of Outer God believers accusing Loren, a high-ranking church official, in front of church workers—how could that possibly be effective? Loren could even sarcastically ask, "Who dares accuse this official?" So Loren had no need to fear the church people; in fact, they were his greatest allies.

"Rest assured, Master Mentor, we will definitely protect you. May the God of Bountiful Harvest bless you."

The Scarecrow drew several upward strokes across their chest, representing the growth of crops—this was the symbol of the God of Bountiful Harvest.

"Indeed, may the God of Bountiful Harvest bless you all."

Loren also made the same gesture across his chest as a return courtesy.

Then the Scarecrow simply waved a hand, and the corpse in the living room was wrapped in straw before being carried out of Loren's home by the Scarecrow.

Soon, the spacious two-story standalone house became empty again, leaving only Loren and his companions.

Only after everything had temporarily settled did Naclis finally ask her question. Anna also looked at Loren with curious eyes, while Mirrorheart maintained her cold expression as usual, her face giving no hint of her inner thoughts.

"Ah, it's nothing major. I was the one who performed the sacrifice during the festival—I offered the children of the God of Bountiful Harvest to the God of Greed in exchange for power."

"But because of this, I've attracted the attention of the God of Greed's followers. The one who attacked us was one of them."

There was no need to hide things from the child he'd raised from infancy, and for their safety, Loren directly revealed the truth, though he didn't mention the God of Greed's true name.

"So it was you! What did you gain? Doesn't sacrificing to Outer Gods grant many rewards?"

Anna felt excited about this. She didn't care about right or wrong—as long as Loren was the beneficiary, that was fine.

This was exclusive information known only to Loren, Outer God believers, and a few witches—Orthodox God believers would never know about it.

Orthodox God believers gave everything to their gods, yet only received empty praise from the church in return. Meanwhile, with Outer Gods, you received rewards simply for making sacrifices. Such pragmatism—any sensible person would know which to choose, which was why Orthodox churches constantly fought against Outer God believers.

Of course, this didn't mean Outer Gods were good either. Their true purpose was to devour this world. If not for the Orthodox Gods blocking them, the Outer Gods would have destroyed the world long ago. Every sacrifice to an Outer God was another step pushing their own world into the fire.

But what did that have to do with Loren? The Orthodox Gods had been resisting the Outer Gods for thousands of years—his couple of sacrifices wouldn't make much difference. Besides, many high-ranking church officials were also making sacrifices.

Loren was a hypocrite—everything done by those he liked was right, while everything done by those he disliked was wrong. Since the Orthodox Gods had persecuted witches for so long, he was merely collecting some interest.

Moreover, the Orthodox Gods weren't exactly virtuous either. The reason the Outer Gods had discovered this world was because these Orthodox Gods had been gnawing away at the world's essence for authority.

"I gained a substantial amount of mana, but now isn't the time to discuss this..."

Obtaining the Tarot Card: The Tower was only the first step in Loren's plan. There was still a long time before the game's storyline began, with many opportunities waiting for Loren to claim.

After eating a few bites of food, Loren returned to his bedroom under Naclis's watchful gaze, placing bullets one by one on the pre-prepared magic circle on his desk.

As Loren softly chanted incantations, the enchantment book before him began flipping pages, with runes from the book flying out and ultimately landing on the bullets, which then emitted a strange glow.

"Continue."

Loren planned to enchant the bullets himself this time. Ordinary bullets were easy to purchase, and Loren wasn't short on money, but enchanted bullets were difficult to obtain. Firstly, few people would be so wasteful—enchantments were typically applied to swords and blades. Only Loren possessed enough mana to enchant bullets.

Secondly, enchanted bullets genuinely posed a threat to those noble lords—their bodyguards could at most block regular bullets.

Loren remained in his bedroom for an entire day. He suffered from severe firepower deficiency anxiety disorder—he wouldn't dare go outside without preparing several hundred bullets.

Many church members continuously patrolled around Loren's home, and Anna watched them curiously through the window. Anna was the first witch to treat the church with such an attitude.

Even now, Naclis still felt somewhat apprehensive around Scarecrows, having genuinely been hunted by them before, unlike Anna who had been raised by Loren since she was just an infant.

The church members also respected Loren greatly, silently protecting him until evening when Loren's door was knocked on again. Before Loren could even answer, the visitor was pinned to the ground by a group of Scarecrows.

"I'm from the Falling Star Merchant Guild! I've found what Master Mentor wanted!"

Empty claims meant nothing, and the church naturally didn't believe the man's one-sided story. By the time Loren emerged, they had already stripped half of the man's clothes off.

"Release him. He really is here to see me."

Loren examined the man's appearance—his face was deathly pale, his hands wrapped in thick bandages, yet blood still seeped through the bandages. His pallid complexion resulted from excessive blood loss.

"Understood, Master Mentor."

The church members showed extreme obedience to Loren. Since their protection target had spoken, they could only comply.

"Sorry about that. Please come in and sit."

Loren helped the man up, but even this slight movement left the man gasping for breath. As soon as Loren closed the door, the man eagerly handed a box to Loren.

"This is what you requested. We purchased this item for just one copper, but the commission fee is twenty gold—you have no objections, right?"

"None. You've earned it."

Loren handed a check to the man. Knowing what was inside the box, Loren understood perfectly that the merchant guild's efforts were worth this price.

One hundred copper equaled one silver, and one hundred silver equaled one gold. This world's currency system closely resembled Terraria's, though not exactly identical. The gold here wasn't actual gold coins, just a designation—one copper's purchasing power was roughly equivalent to one dollar in real life.

Loren opened the box to reveal a ring inside. The ring itself was crafted from gold, with a cracked diamond mounted on top.

"The . The wearer's body will never heal naturally, becoming more fragile with drastically increased stamina consumption, gradually turning ugly, suffering perpetual misfortune. Once worn, the curse lasts a lifetime unless the ring is given to someone else with their full knowledge."

The merchant's description frightened Naclis. Everyone would avoid such an item, but Loren had other plans for it. He knew there was a tarot card that could reverse curse effects—if he obtained both items simultaneously, an assassin could instantly become a tank.

And the opportunity to acquire that particular tarot card was coming very soon.