"How is she so hard to kill..."

After killing Koranda, Loren did not receive a level-up prompt, which meant Koranda was not dead yet.

Therefore, Loren immediately began a frenzied series of Finishing Moves. The Sin-Burning Flames kept burning incessantly, and Loren would occasionally add a few more shots of Blood Moon Condensed Light.

Even after Loren saw the kill notification, he did not stop. He added a few more bursts of Sin-Burning Flames before finally casting Return to Earth, completely destroying Koranda's corpse.

[Level-up successful. Current level: 48. Attribute point +1.]

Loren allocated the extra attribute point to Agility. He had already given up on Strength. As a mage, he didn't need much strength anyway. If it ever came down to close-quarters combat, Loren had magic suitable for melee, like the kick he just delivered to Koranda, which was actually magic.

Moreover, this world had quite a few methods to convert magic into physical force. Even if Loren one day truly needed to brawl, he could use similar methods.

Anyway, Loren's stamina was high enough that he didn't need to worry about the strain on his body.

Actually, Loren was a bit curious about one thing: why was Koranda so determined to kill him? Even if she really needed to perform sacrifices, she could have just kept doing them within the Nofica Church; there was no need to specifically target Loren.

Now that Koranda was dead, Loren's remaining questions could not be answered.

The most likely possibility was that Koranda knew Loren would definitely develop a way to counter the sacrifices, which was why she was so fixated on targeting him.

It's just that when Koranda first came to find Loren, she didn't seem to think Loren was that powerful. Of course, all of that could have been an act.

Koranda's corpse and the items on her had been utterly destroyed, except for the Justice Card with its indestructible effect.

The indestructible effect of the Tarot cards was extremely exaggerated. In the past, Loren had tried various methods but failed to cause even the slightest damage to a Tarot card.

Loren picked up the Justice Card, blew the dust off it, and examined its face.

It depicted an old man on an execution platform. He wore a serene smile, having died a natural death before the executioner's blade fell. He was surrounded by a group of his children and a large crowd of cheering commoners.

[Tarot Card · Justice]

Effect: Can store damage received or inflicted.

Description: Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent.

Loren summoned the Unabandoned Casket, placed the Justice Card inside, and then the casket vanished once more.

"Now I have to go deal with the Hands of Greed..."

While Loren was fighting Koranda, he hadn't forgotten to monitor other areas through Gwen.

Due to the information gap, the Hands of Greed had caused quite a bit of trouble for others. Currently, the Pope and the Bishop were still entangled with them.

Of course, part of the reason was their desire to protect others as much as possible. Since the Gray Mist had been dealt with by Loren, they were unburdened and could afford to slowly wear down the Hands of Greed. However, they genuinely didn't know how to deal with them, so they couldn't resolve the situation quickly.

"I'll have to handle it..."

Loren wasn't in a hurry either. He walked slowly towards the attacked area.

......

"Dammit..."

The Pope's side had fallen into a deadlock. The magic he cast was completely ineffective against the Hands of Greed; at best, it could only delay them for a while.

Once the Hands of Greed finished devouring the plants summoned by the church, they would continue advancing.

Similar situations occurred in various places. They simply had no way to deal with the Hands of Greed; all they could do was delay.

The Pope was better off; his Mana was still relatively plentiful and he could hold on for a while longer, but some Scarecrows were already starting to run dry on Mana.

"This can't go on..."

Gritting his teeth, the Pope cast a spell to trap two of the Hands of Greed together, which allowed one group to break free:

"I'll hold them off, you go find Master Mentor!"

Whenever they encountered such difficult-to-solve situations, the church people always thought of Loren first. They clearly understood that as long as Loren came, these would no longer be problems.

"No need, I'm here."

Right after he finished speaking, the Pope heard Loren's voice. Instantly, he felt the heart suspended in mid-air suddenly drop, and the tense feeling of walking a tightrope vanished completely.

"These monsters are called Hands of Greed. They devour anything of value, even including magic.

"Dealing with them is simple: attack them with things that have no value."

Loren casually picked up a stone and threw it at one of the Hands of Greed.

Loren didn't use much force throwing this stone, but even so, it made a dent in the Hand of Greed.

The definition of 'valuable' aligns with common perception. If the vast majority of people consider something to have no value, then it has no value to the Hands of Greed as well.

Like a random stone Loren picked up.

After Loren arrived, everyone present found their pillar of support and began acting according to Loren's arrangements.

Many people present had greater Strength than Loren, so the stones they threw had more destructive power.

The scene suddenly transformed into something resembling primitive humans hunting large beasts. Firearms and magic had already failed, leaving only the most primitive method of throwing stones.

Fortunately, the main body of the Hands of Greed was very fragile. Under the barrage of stones, they were soon smashed to pieces.

The church people also relayed this information to others elsewhere. After this disaster was completely resolved, the exhausted Pope walked over to Loren:

"Master Mentor, thank you for once again saving the Gedlan Kingdom, for saving the Bountiful Church..." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The Pope was truly moved. No matter how terrifying the disaster, Loren always resolved it with such nonchalant ease. He felt grateful once again that Loren was a member of the Bountiful Church.

"Don't mention it. It's what I should do."

This time, Loren spoke sincerely. Having obtained the Justice Card, he was very pleased and couldn't be bothered to ask for any other rewards.

The most crucial point was that Loren had reached a stage where there was nothing left to reward him with. Now, the church's possessions might even be fewer than what Loren had at home.

"Have you seen Bishop Koranda? It's been so long, and I haven't seen any sign of her. She's usually the most active when contributing to the church."

"Oh, she's dead."

"Dead?"

The Bishop showed a shocked expression, seemingly unable to believe Loren's words, yet he also knew very well that Loren wouldn't lie:

"How did she die?"

"I killed her."

Loren's answer was direct and equally nonchalant.

"She betrayed the church? How dare she!"

When Loren said he had killed Koranda, the Bishop's first reaction wasn't to question Loren, but to show a look of gritted teeth and seething anger.

In his view, Loren was always right. If Loren killed Koranda, then Koranda must have committed an unforgivable grave sin, one that even the merciful Master Mentor could not forgive.