The hawk truly was weak in defense. It died from a single strike of Richard's fist.

At the same time, Richard's spreading wave suddenly detected another bird rushing swiftly toward Purple Rose Village.

Richard grew intrigued by this bird, for a scroll was tied to its leg.

He watched as it flew into the village before heading to the orphanage.

"Perhaps from Mrs. Wilson…"

Richard made a guess.

He returned to the orphanage and saw Sister Lisa receiving the bird out front, untying the scroll from its leg.

"Richard, this is from my aunt, quickly read it. I'm sure she's sent news of what happened."

Lisa eagerly handed the scroll to Richard.

After receiving it, Richard immediately opened it.

(Richard, are you safe? I have good news for you. The governor has been killed and his teacher Old Wood has fled with serious injuries, now Wren no longer has his supporter. He's even being hunted down because a sudden mission appeared to kill him, with a reward of thirty thousand Spirit Souls for anyone who succeeds. His whereabouts are currently unknown.)

Richard's mouth hung open as he read the news.

The governor had been killed. Though Mrs. Wilson hadn't said whether it was connected to the person she asked for help, Richard was sure it was because of them.

To be able to kill the governor, that person was naturally powerful. Richard couldn't help but wonder who it was.

Of course, the most interesting part was that Wren was being hunted because of a mission to kill him?

Richard pondered who could have issued such a mission.

He didn't think it was Mrs. Wilson—it was likely someone else had a stake in Wren's death.

Who else if not Gray.

"Richard, what did my aunt say?" Lisa asked.

"Like this…" Richard read the contents of the letter aloud.

And Lisa instantly grew excited about the mission to kill Wren.

"Thirty thousand Spirit Souls—we'd be rich if we got it," she blurted out.

Richard only gave a wry smile at that.

It was indeed a tempting reward, but where could anyone even find Wren?

For such a mission to exist, it likely meant Wren had already disappeared without leaving a trace.

'It would be nice if he somehow came to me,' he thought.

But as that thought crossed his mind, Richard's eyes widened.

Suddenly, he saw a massive hawk flying at tremendous speed from the distance.

It was so fast, and upon its back stood a black-robed man.

"Wren."

Richard was certain it was him, already familiar with his figure.

He had truly come to him.

Shua!

In Richard's hand, dozens of Spirit Souls appeared. He quickly sent them into his mouth.

Having consumed much Aether in spreading his wide-ranging wave, he was depleted. To recover quickly, Spirit Souls were his only solution.

Swallowing dozens at once, his Aether rapidly filled to the brim.

Although he had his Mind Attack that could throw Wren into disarray, he still needed to be ready to fight such an opponent head-on.

At this moment, he began to feel Wren's gaze fixed upon him.

Though there were many people in the village, Wren's eyes seemed directly linked to him, finding him instantly.

"He actually came here." Sister Lisa realized too late, but when she saw Wren, she immediately activated her armor, transforming into a raven-armored knight.

The villagers and orphans were shocked by her sudden transformation.

But they had no time to dwell on it.

The arrival of the great hawk carrying Wren unleashed a mighty gust of wind that swept through the village.

"Stop!" Sister Lisa shouted.

Yet Wren seemed to pay no heed to those around him.

His hawk soared over the village road, diving swiftly toward Richard.

Several villagers were flung into the air by the powerful gust.

"Sister, leave this to me!" Richard pulled Sister Lisa behind him and thrust his hand forward.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Ten shadow hawks manifested before him.

Each was as large as the hawk Wren rode, stretching nearly four meters long.

They surged forth, crashing into Wren's hawk, which was caught off guard and unable to evade.

Their claws tore into its body from many sides, sending it plummeting at once.

One shadow hawk even tried to stab Wren with its beak.

But a swing of Wren's massive sword forced the shadow hawk back into pure shadow, its beak passing harmlessly through him.

The man then leapt onto a villager's rooftop, staring at Richard in disbelief.

"Shadow Beasts—how do you possess this Arcane Art? Isn't this the Moonshadow Clan's Arcane Art?" he exclaimed.

He had meant to arrive with words full of threat, but instead, he was stunned by Richard's power—far beyond his expectations.

"Hmph!" Richard smirked coldly.

A Mind Attack—he sent it into Wren once more.

The man's eyes went wide, but unlike last time, Richard found him able to remain steady under the attack. Though his strength fell drastically, he no longer lost all control.

It seemed he had advanced in resisting this weakness.

But so what? He was still weakened, and to Richard's eyes, weakened far more than someone of his strength should be.

"You should never have come to me," Richard said.

As he spoke, he aimed the Ignis Volt Core at Wren.

It began to glow.

Under Wren's widening eyes, a blazing laser wrapped in violent lightning shot forth from the golden coin.

The chance to kill him had come far sooner than expected. And so, Richard would kill him all the sooner.

The laser was so fast, Wren had no time to dodge or block, nor was it even possible for him to withstand it.

It struck his chest—directly at his heart—piercing through with ease before streaking far into the sky beyond.

By the time Wren realized what had happened, the light of life had already faded from his eyes.

BANG!

He crashed heavily to the ground, his chest hollowed and smoking.

Buzz!

Black smoke erupted from every orifice—eyes, nose, mouth—right after his death, spreading with a sinister aura of evil.

"Is… is he dead?" Sister Lisa, removing her helmet, asked in astonishment, never expecting Wren to die so quickly after his arrival.

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