Chapter 656: Seraphina Is Gabriel

"So what are you all doing here? What orders did Gabriel give you?"

Now that he had confirmed that these Pseudohumans were, in a sense, actually on his side, Loren spoke frankly.

"Gabriel told us to replace as many heretics as possible, while also providing you with faith."

"How many people have you replaced so far?"

"Unclear. Anyway, this entire village is ours."

"..."

What the Pseudohumans were doing was far more complicated than that. Loren still remembered that when he was in the God of Bountiful Harvest's territory, the authorities had warned about the threat of the Pseudohumans.

Just as Loren was thinking, the Pseudohuman villager spoke again:

"Our ultimate goal is to replace all humans, because humans do not revere you and have become followers of the False Gods. In Gabriel's eyes, this is a capital offense."

"Why do all of you want to exterminate humanity..."

Loren sighed. He could actually somewhat understand them.

There was no helping it. The humans of this world really were a rabble, utterly incapable of uniting.

If you truly wanted to change their deep-rooted beliefs, brainwashing was the only way.

"Forget it. Don't spread any further. Leave the rest to me."

"Yes. Your orders supersede Gabriel's. We will not spread any further."

"But we can only guarantee our own actions. As for what other Pseudohumans do, we cannot interfere."

"Sigh, what a sin..."

These Pseudohumans had indeed committed many sins. They were not human, and they should not be judged by human morality.

But a sin was a sin. Loren should have disposed of them, yet now these Pseudohumans could genuinely be considered his subordinates.

They could also help Loren with some things going forward, so Loren decided to let them off for now.

Besides, they did not really have thoughts of their own. Pseudohumans were essentially tools.

"Does Gabriel have a way to issue orders to you directly?"

"Yes. Pseudohumans all over the world have received Gabriel's message. Our mission is the same."

"Alright..."

That meant Loren needed to find Gabriel first, except Loren had no idea where to look.

"Mirrorheart, let me ask you something."

"Go ahead."

Whenever Loren wanted to ask something, he just asked directly. He rarely emphasized that he was about to ask a question.

The moment he did emphasize it, it meant what came next was important.

"Is Seraphina Gabriel?"

"Yes."

"Well then..."

Loren had actually suspected this for a long time, though he had never paid it much mind.

Even if Seraphina really was Gabriel, so what? She was still his loyal maid either way.

After Mirrorheart's reminder, Loren became even more certain of this thought, and now it was finally confirmed.

Gabriel's description matched Seraphina in every way, especially that flawless face of hers. Even the witches could not compare to her beauty.

"So it really came true..."

Back when Loren had faced the Pseudohumans, he had declared that he would make Gabriel become his maid. Now Gabriel really was his maid.

And this had even happened before he ever met the Pseudohumans.

At this point, there was nothing Loren could do about it. He could only figure out a way to find Seraphina first.

"So this is what you meant before when you said Seraphina went mad. She wants the Pseudohumans to replace all humans."

"She actually did something similar before, which is why the one following you now is me instead of her."

"..."

Mirrorheart had accidentally let slip something very important again. This piece of information was quite significant.

"Is this the reason you two don't get along?"

"Yes."

With that single word, Mirrorheart had essentially confirmed that she was the Perpetual Observer's other Angel.

"..."

Loren fell silent for a moment. He needed time to digest all this information.

"Is there a way to find Seraphina?"

"I don't know where she is. She hates me, so naturally she wouldn't tell me."

"She also killed me once."

Mirrorheart was somewhat vindictive, or at least she held a serious grudge against Seraphina. Now she had finally found the chance to tattle.

"Once you find her, you absolutely must give her a good spanking!"

"That's assuming we find her first..."

Loren had not expected that Seraphina, who seemed the most composed, was actually the craziest one.

"Master, don't be fooled by how Seraphina acts like a good girl in front of you. She's a lunatic and a pervert."

"I know she's crazy, but is she really a pervert?"

Loren now truly understood Seraphina. Replacing all humans with Pseudohumans was something he would never have believed Seraphina capable of before.

"She likes Mind Reading, and she also likes to spy on you..."

"Mind Reading?"

The ability of Mind Reading was far superior to Loren's lie detection. If he found Seraphina, Loren would gain another powerful asset.

He was not worried about Seraphina reading his mind. Even Cassian did not dare speak too much with him for fear of corruption. There was no way Seraphina could read his mind.

Moreover, Seraphina's ability was, strictly speaking, something he had bestowed upon her. It was even less likely she could use it against him.

"Yes. She read too many minds and discovered that many people disrespected you, which is why she planned to do that thing..."

"Say it clearly. What did she plan to do?"

Loren was not about to give Mirrorheart any chance to play the riddler. He pressed for the answer directly.

"Oh, she planned to make everyone's thoughts transparent, while branding their minds with absolute reverence for you. But later you rejected the idea."

"I see..."

In a sense, Seraphina had not actually been wrong.

If she had truly succeeded, the betrayal of the gods would never have happened.

Loren did not know whether he should feel regret now. If Seraphina had really succeeded, then perhaps his current encounter with the witches would never have come to be.

If the gods had not betrayed him, the world would not have faced a crisis, and the witches would never have descended.

Even if Loren were forced to choose, he would still choose to let the gods betray him.

If not for that, he would never have met Anna and the others.

Compared to the safety of the world, Loren clearly cared more about his soft, sweet-smelling witches.

Perhaps that was a bit selfish, but anyone who was not selfish was not human. That would make them a god, a saint.

Loren was not a god, and he did not want divinity. He only wanted to live as a happy, ordinary person.

"Let's continue on. Things here have been sorted out. There's no point in staying any longer."

"Okay~"

Anna followed behind Loren. As long as she was with him, she did not care where they went.

...

The Siren sisters were left on the island by Loren, and he also left them plenty of food. Once they recovered, they would regain the ability for long-distance flight.

Loren did not let them stay with the Pseudohumans. The Pseudohumans were indeed not dangerous now, but if the Church discovered them, they would certainly be cleansed.

Not because they were Pseudohumans, but because they worshipped the Perpetual Observer.

As for Loren, he had now arrived at the God of Light and Fire's territory. Naclis was here.