The Light Pope was, after all, a god who served the Light Sovereign, Augusta.
As far as Locke knew, on the Wakanda Plane alone, the Light Pope had already successfully sacrificed the souls of eight Pure-Souled individuals to the Light Sovereign.
Given how highly the Light Sovereign valued angels, even if those eight Pure-Souled individuals were transformed into nothing more than two-winged angels, the treasures Augusta bestowed upon him would certainly not be few.
After all, unlike the gods of the Sovereign's Legion—
Angels were "biological weapons" created directly by the Light Sovereign through the Angel Rebirth Pool. They were the Light Sovereign's private property, absolutely loyal to their master.
One could say that, in the eyes of the Light Sovereign, the status of an angel far exceeded that of most gods within the Sovereign's Legion.
Even the lowest-ranked two-winged angels possessed a standing at least comparable to that of high-level gods within the Sovereign's Legion.
By granting Augusta eight additional angels, it was entirely reasonable for the Light Pope to receive two high-grade divine artifacts as a reward.
Although a lower god could not fully unleash the true might of a high-grade divine artifact, even the portion they could wield vastly surpassed the limits of any lower-grade artifact.
With both a high-grade offensive artifact and a high-grade defensive artifact in his possession, the Light Pope—so long as he did not encounter an ordinary mid-level god proficient in soul attacks—was not incapable of killing such an opponent in reverse by relying on the overwhelming power of those artifacts.
To think that the very first enemy he faced after stepping into godhood would be an elite among lower gods…
His luck was truly something else.
"I have to say, Your Holiness, you've taught me a very valuable lesson."
"But—"
Locke raised his left hand and extended it toward the Light Pope.
"If your reliance is only on a high-grade offensive artifact and a high-grade defensive artifact…"
As he spoke, Locke's soul power had already begun to spread out silently.
With the Light Pope's level of attainment in soul matters, he was utterly incapable of perceiving Locke's soul power.
Under Locke's control, that soul power infiltrated directly into the Light Pope's soul space.
Within it, Locke saw a stone wrapped in a mass of golden radiance.
The golden light was the profundity of the light-element laws the Light Pope had comprehended.
The stone was the core of his soul.
Clearly, the Light Pope had not reached the extravagant level of being able to afford a soul-defensive divine artifact.
At present, his soul was protected only by the law profundities he himself had mastered.
If Locke wished to launch a soul attack, he would have to break through this layer of protection.
"Many thanks to the Knight Commander."
At that moment, Locke offered a silent thanks in his heart.
Because of the Knight Commander's contribution, Locke's understanding of the soul had advanced by an entire level, allowing him to grasp the connection between the soul and the laws one comprehended.
That thread of soul power rapidly expanded, transforming into a faint mist that completely enveloped both the Light Pope's soul and the golden radiance around it.
"Celestial Dance Treasure Wheel—"
"Deprivation of the Five Senses!"
With Locke's shout, the Light Pope suddenly felt his vision plunge into darkness.
No—
It wasn't just his vision!
Taste, smell, hearing, touch—every single sense was completely stripped away.
"How is this possible?!"
The Light Pope's heart jolted. His divine sense instantly radiated outward.
Yet what filled him with terror was that even after releasing his divine sense, everything he perceived was still pitch-black.
It was as if he were trapped in a void—
A world without sound, without light, without anything at all.
"Huff… huff…"
Having lost his sense of touch, the Light Pope could not even control his own body.
Without his consciousness guiding it, his body lost the ability to remain suspended in the air, plummeting toward the ground like a bird with broken wings.
"Whoosh!"
Locke's figure transformed into a streak of blue light. Countless white sword phantoms descended like a torrential storm, bombarding the Light Pope!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
When the thunderous sounds finally faded, the Light Pope's white papal robes had been completely shattered, replaced instead by a suit of golden armor.
This was his high-grade defensive divine artifact!
With his current strength, Locke simply could not damage a high-grade defensive artifact.
Seeing this, he stopped wasting divine power and instead seized the long spear in the Light Pope's hand, delivering a kick that sent him flying and forcibly tearing the offensive high-grade artifact from his grasp.
The moment that artifact left the Light Pope's hand, it was as if it had broken free from some kind of restraint, erupting with boundless sharpness.
Especially at the spear's tip—
As Locke moved it, ripples actually appeared in the space of the Wakanda Plane itself.
It felt as though, with just a bit more force, space itself would be torn apart.
"Hiss—"
Locke sucked in a sharp breath.
It seemed that during their earlier battle, the Light Pope had been exerting every effort to suppress the true might of the high-grade artifact.
Otherwise, that spear strike earlier might very well have resulted in his death.
Even if he had survived by sheer luck, he would have had to expend at least half of his stored divine power to reconstruct his divine body.
Glancing at the Light Pope lying on the ground, Locke hesitated for a moment before finally dispersing the soul power enveloping his soul.
"Boom!"
As his senses returned, the Light Pope immediately activated the full power of his high-grade defensive artifact to safeguard himself.
Once he could perceive the outside world again, it was obvious that he let out a breath of relief.
But in the very next instant, when he looked up at Locke—especially at the golden spear in Locke's hand—his expression changed drastically.
"Lord Locke, I acknowledge that you possess strength equal to my own."
"Now, may I ask you to return my divine artifact to me?"
The Light Pope rose into the air, stopping more than a hundred meters away from Locke.
Previously, he had dared to engage Locke at close range because he was certain that Locke, having only just become a god, would not possess any divine artifacts. With a high-grade defensive artifact, even standing still, he believed Locke would be unable to harm him.
But now—
On one hand, the events just now had made it clear that Locke's soul attacks were extremely bizarre. At the very least, he had no desire to experience that pitch-black state of total sensory deprivation ever again.
On the other hand, it was because the high-grade offensive artifact Locke now held—
The Sunrise Spear.
As the spear's rightful owner, the Light Pope knew all too well the terrifying power of a high-grade divine artifact.
With that spear in hand, Locke now possessed the ability to threaten his very life.
At this moment, regret welled up in the Light Pope's heart.
If, in that previous strike, he had not been afraid of killing Locke and angering Emperor Celes of the Frost and Snow Empire—causing Celes to disregard his status and intervene personally—why would he have suppressed the Sunrise Spear's power in the first place?
(End of Chapter)
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