Facing Anna's attack, Phoris neither dodged nor avoided. An extra hand suddenly grew from her back, holding an identical kitchen knife. She intended to use this method to block Anna's blade.

However, she clearly underestimated Anna's strength when enraged. A witch's power is quite subjective; when emotions become extreme, a witch's strength multiplies exponentially.

That ordinary enchanted longsword directly cleaved through Phoris's kitchen knife, its momentum not diminishing in the slightest. In one breath, it severed Phoris's newly grown arm and her spine.

Yet Phoris seemed as if she had activated a data-ification mode. Even with her spine severed, it didn't affect her movements at all. Moreover, no blood flowed from the wound. Through the gash, one could see that beneath her skin wasn't flesh and blood, but an indescribable, unknown substance.

Glitched data. That was the only way Loren could describe it.

Phoris used the force of Loren's slash to retreat, successfully putting distance between them. Loren wasn't in a hurry to pursue, instead beginning verbal interference:

"This ability to materialize things out of thin air is the God of Dreams' authority, right? Have you accepted your identity already?

"You're just an ordinary Dreamwalker, no different from those Divine Envoys who die so easily."

"I am actually the Brave One summoned by the goddess, and you are this world's final BOSS, even raising a bunch of minor BOSSes. Now, before you all fully develop, I'm going to eradicate you root and branch."

"Then you really didn't come at the right time."

"What?"

Phoris didn't understand Loren's meaning. By the time she reacted, thorns had already entangled her ankles.

Before she could cut the thorns from her ankles, arrows shot from afar pierced through her heart. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Such an injury would be fatal to most, but for Phoris, it was at most a critical hit.

She grabbed the arrow in her chest, struggling to pull it out, but dense roots had already grown from the arrow's shaft. To extract it, she'd have to first pull these roots out from within her body.

Perhaps Phoris didn't fear pain, but her inherent strength wasn't that great. Extracting the arrow would require considerable effort.

Before she could pull it out, more arrows struck her body squarely.

"Master Mentor, are you alright?"

The Bishop threw down his bow and hurried to Loren's side to inquire about his condition. Behind him followed many Scarecrows, diligently performing finishing moves on Phoris.

Within seconds, Phoris had been turned into a human pincushion by these arrows.

This was the reason for Loren's confidence. In the Royal Capital, the people protecting Loren would only be more numerous. Moreover, today was Christmas, and many important figures would visit Loren, making it easier to surround Phoris.

"She is the Dreamwalker who attacked me before. Last time, we didn't succeed in killing her."

Against a Dreamwalker, keeping one alive serves little purpose.

The Scarecrows' finishing moves successfully reduced Phoris's health bar to zero. Her entire body began to dissipate, leaving behind only a pile of arrows and tangled roots.

"So what should we do?"

Upon learning the opponent was a Dreamwalker, the Bishop felt a headache coming on. He genuinely didn't know how to deal with Dreamwalkers. The God of Dreams' domain was always isolationist, not communicating with the outside world, so few people understood their situation.

To learn more, they could only ask Loren.

"Her true body isn't here. To deal with her, we can only start from the dream realm?"

"How do we do that?"

The dream realm is the God of Dreams' territory. No one can outplay the God of Dreams in matters of dreams.

Trying to target a Dreamwalker within a dream was fundamentally hard to comprehend, and no one could possibly achieve it. But the one saying this was Loren.

"I have my own methods. It's just that when the time comes, I'll need you all to take a risk."

Loren patted the Bishop's shoulder, then took Anna's hand and walked back home.

Loren wasn't very likely to undertake truly risky ventures himself. When the time came, he'd just have to trouble these Bountiful followers.

Being able to contribute to the God of Bountiful Harvest would surely make them very happy.

"Since Christmas won't even let me have peace, then don't blame me for not holding back..."

The joyous atmosphere was suddenly shattered by the attack, leaving Loren quite displeased. So he also planned to give the God of Dreams something big in return.

Actually, Phoris wasn't the most critical issue. Loren merely saw her as a jumping clown. The main thing was that Loren had thought of some other matters.

For example, how did Koranda know about the Sacrificial Ritual, and why was she so persistently targeting Loren?

Only the God of Dreams had both the capability and the motive.

Truthfully, Loren was also somewhat wary of the God of Dreams. Loren feared the God of Dreams confirming his connection to The Perpetual Observer and then informing the other Orthodox Gods.

Compared to the threat posed by The Perpetual Observer, Loren's contributions were insignificant. They would still target Loren regardless.

However, this possibility wasn't high. If the God of Dreams was truly that certain, He should have acted directly long ago.

In the end, Loren still didn't let them ruin the festive atmosphere. After returning home, Loren didn't immediately research methods to counter the God of Dreams. Instead, he continued enjoying Christmas with the others.

In the afternoon, many more people came to deliver gifts. Loren accepted them one by one. Among the gifts was an exceptionally lavish one—compensation from the Church.

But Loren wasn't lacking in such things now, so he casually tossed it to Scarlett, telling her to store it in her spatial inventory.

Today, Loren also received gifts from many others. Luna personally sewed a black robe for Loren. Lilith gave Loren a piece of candy she had treasured. Laila helped Loren this morning...

All the witches were raised by Loren, so apart from themselves, they couldn't really give any proper gifts. They thought the same way...

Only Naclis fell into anxiety. She genuinely didn't know what to give Loren.

Just as Naclis was lost in wild thoughts, Anna was the first to rush in front of Loren.

"Master Mentor, for your birthday, I'll give you a kiss!"

She directly jumped up, hanging onto Loren's neck. Just as Loren thought she would kiss his cheek, Anna's lips lightly touched the peak of Loren's lips.

"!"

Naclis, watching from the side, was instantly stunned. Wasn't the place Anna kissed a bit... off?

But she didn't dwell on it, thinking it was normal. After all, Anna was still young; not understanding these things was understandable...

Most people didn't directly present their gifts, waiting instead for nightfall...

Today, Loren was truly exhausted. The witches' stamina was equally formidable. Loren nearly couldn't withstand it. Only Scarlett was comparatively weaker, quickly defeated.

The most creative was Cecelia. She chose to simultaneously sing a song for Loren. Her breathing sounds and singing complemented each other. As a singer, Cecelia's professional skills were unparalleled.

Meanwhile, Naclis was still agonizing over what to give Loren.