“If I really showed off my strength, would the Rebecca Church still exist?”

They were shocking words. He meant that the Rebecca Church could be destroyed at any time. A madness beyond the level of arrogance was felt. It didn’t seem like sane words.

“How can you make such absurd remarks?”

A stir occurred among the church members who were weighed down by the pressure from Grid. They seemed to have forgotten their fear due to confusion. There were many church members who couldn’t hide their anger.

Rebecca, the goddess of light, was a special presence. She created the world and created humanity. Even the noble gods of Asgard considered her a mother. It was why the Rebecca Church was able to reign as the largest and best religion. Who would dare to harm the Rebecca Church that was protected by the Creator?

It was physically impossible. The Yatan Church had proven it many times. The Yatan Church rose up many times and threatened the Rebecca Church, but the Rebecca Church escaped every moment of crisis. Grid was one of the proofs. Grid had fought for the Rebecca Church and indirectly helped the Rebecca Church by killing the Yatan Servants.

...The exceptionally faithful members of the Rebecca Church thought so.

They were half right. One of the reasons why Grid helped the Rebecca Church was Rebecca’s divine message.

“Hiik!” The church members were staring at Grid with disgust when the ground shook with a deafening sound. It was the aftermath of the building tilting slightly.

“You threaten me with force immediately. Can’t you restrain your emotions? Or are you not restraining yourself? No matter what, the world will be flooded with disaster if there is a god like you in the world. People will be careful about attracting your eyes.” The pope never thought Grid would pull a sword out of nowhere with so many witnesses. He even insulted the Rebecca Church. The pope liked Grid’s wild actions. The more disappointed the people were in Grid, the weaker their worship of Grid would be.

‘Is this one of those divine swords?’ The pope moved his blue eyes and looked at the sword next to his face. It was thrown with great power and buried deep in the wall. However, the sword was fine. From his perspective, it was a great sword. ‘It doesn’t look the same as the rumored divine swords. He recently created a new one.’

The pope didn’t acknowledge Grid’s divinity. Still, he didn’t deny the fact that Grid’s battle gear, which was called divine swords in public, was excellent. It was because Asgard coveted them. The pope thought that Grid was a replacement for Hexetia. The clear evidence was that the goddess hadn’t recovered the blessing she gave him.

‘They seem to have no intention of releasing Hexetia. This man will be the next blacksmith god. I need to correct it before sending you up to heaven.”

During Grid’s journey of growth, there were blessings and favors from various gods, including Goddess Rebecca. The pope intended to correct Grid to maintain order in Asgard. There shouldn’t be the illusion that he was equal to the other gods.

The pope pulled out the sword in the wall. His gaze was still fixed in Grid’s direction when once again, a blade brushed by his earlobe. Blood flowed from his earlobe that was cut by the second sword thrown by Grid. A protective shield wasn’t created so he was cut by the blade.

By this point, it was certain that the pope’s identity was an angel. It wasn’t a special fact. From the time the new pope was decided and his appearance seen, the Overgeared Kingdom had inferred the pope’s identity. Just like Amoract was behind the Yatan Church, there were the angels behind the Rebecca Church.

‘At first, I thought it was Sariel.’

Sariel had said that they had been kicked out of heaven and their body couldn’t be replaced. In fact, a copy of Sariel was active in the Rebecca Church. The identity of the Templar was Sariel’s copy. It wasn’t strange for a new copy to appear again.

However, the pope was different from Sariel. The overall atmosphere was similar due to the blonde hair and appearance that was hard to distinguish between genders, but looking closely, there was a difference in the facial features. The facial line was a bit thicker and he was 10 centimeters taller. Sariel gave off a strong impression of beauty, but the pope was a bit more masculine.

“Do you see my wound?” The pope, whose earlobe was covered with blood, raised his hand high. “The Overgeared King has already proved his violence by destroying the symbols of the gods he should serve. He had finally revealed his true nature now. He committed a violent act without giving evidence that he isn’t the main culprit that caused the demonic humans or trying to persuade me through conversation. I am sad and angry at the attitude of threatening to destroy our church.”

“Boo! Booooo!” The congregation started booing Grid. They were NPCs.

The players who were members were sneaking out of the scene. Players saw the world objectively compared to NPCs. It was because they had been exposed to all types of media. It was rare for a player to blindly believe in the pope.

“Engrave his image in your mind. He isn’t a god. He might’ve obtained the equivalent of divinity, but he doesn’t have the sense of justice to wield it correctly. He is just a king. He will prioritize his own territory, not the territory of humanity or humanity’s safety...” The pope’s speech began. The clear and warm voice was engraved in the hearts, not the heads, of the church members. The contents of the speech were simple.

Grid isn’t a god. You must not believe in him or rely on him. You have to deny him who calls himself a god. If he shows violence against our church, I will protect you. So don’t be afraid to blame him

The contents were simple and clear. The pope was very good at acting and he gave people a kind impression that contained sincerity toward the church members.

Grid descended slowly. His eye level was aligned with the pope.

“Booooo!” The boos from the church members intensified.

There was a faint smile on the pope’s face. He looked triumphant and was convinced that Grid would step down from his intention of using violence here. There was a fact he overlooked.

“Your tongue is long.”

There was no point in people denying Grid. Grid had already proven his qualifications and became a god. Even if someone denied him now, his divinity wasn’t shaken. Additionally...

“You will die here.”

Grid’s power was beyond the pope’s imagination. From the time he denied Grid’s identity, the pope had misjudged Grid. The Fire Dragon Sword rotated in Grid’s left hand that extended into the air. It immediately aimed at the pope and fired a breath. At the same time, Grid was holding the Formless Sword in his right hand.

“Kuek...!” Angels ignored long-range attacks. The pope hadn’t felt the need to stop the breath, but he ended up groaning. It was because he was cut by the blade that penetrated through the explosion caused by the breath. He tried to block it with the divine sword he recovered earlier, but the divine sword was broken in vain. He immediately pulled out the Holy Sword, but it was too late. The spiral blade wrapped around his neck and put pressure on it.

The pope’s head was separated from his body. Artistry could be seen in the blood that scattered under the orange light.

“......?”

“......?”

The church members in the square doubted their eyes. The viewers couldn’t shut their mouths. It was in an instant. The pope’s throat was cut off in an instant and even the time—in seconds—couldn’t be predicted. Considering his role and weight in the game, the opponent was likely to be a super named NPC, yet he was reduced to a corpse with one strike. They couldn’t believe it even when they saw it.

“Kiyaaaaak!”

“Your Holinessssss!”

Belated screams echoed. The trees that grew on the mountains surrounding the Vatican seemed to shake faintly. The heals of tens of thousands of church members poured toward the pope. It was a rain of light.

Grid’s gaze fell to the square. The Overgeared God’s Observation triggered, destroying most of the heals. It was just that there were tens of thousands of heals. It was impossible to block the source. In the first place, he hadn’t intended to block them.

Grid moved his gaze from the square to the building. They were still, unlike the members in the square. They didn’t use any heals or buffs on the pope. They didn’t attack or reprimand Grid. Some people looked down as if they were embarrassed and others sighed with relief. Grid stopped his intention to subdue them. ‘There seems to be a story, but I will still eliminate the churches of the three gods.’

For complicated reasons, Grid hadn’t opposed the Rebecca Church, Dominion Church, and Judar Church.

First of all, they were essentially good people. They were different from the reality of the gods. Most of the believers of the three gods took care of the people. They also played an important role in deterring the expansion of the Yatan Church. Additionally, the churches of the three gods were organizations that nurtured healers, which were rare in Satisfy. The weaker the power of the three churches, the more precious that healers became. Maybe they would become extinct. Finally, Grid had a deep relationship with the Rebecca Church. There were many bad memories, but there were also many good memories, so he didn’t want to be hostile to them.

However, he realized it today. The churches of the three gods only existed for the gods of Asgard. The evidence was the pope’s determination to damage the position of Grid and the Overgeared Kingdom in the face of the great human and demon war.

Asgard’s influence was bound to affect the churches of the three gods. It was a landmine that could explode at any time. It was better to get rid of them. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy. The forces were so widespread that it was virtually impossible to root them all out. There was a high possibility that public sentiment would be shaken. There would probably be a lot of backlash.

‘Still, I have to get rid of them. Disband them.’

He didn’t mean to commit a massacre. It was enough to damage the organization. He wouldn’t shy away from any killing that was necessary in the process. It would be painful not to get a healer’s help during the great human and demon war, but... as things stood, these guys wouldn’t have helped in the first place.

Flash!

Light burst out.

[There are no attacks that you won’t recognize.]

His transcendence was triggered. It meant there was a swift attack. In the accelerated moment, Grid struck the straight line of light with his sword. The Fire Dragon Sword in his left hand floated into the air. The moment the second sword was discarded, the Formless Sword became faster and more sophisticated.

It slid over the Holy Sword of the pope whose head was restored. Then he stabbed at the pope’s throat again. This time, the pope was fine. The power of the Formless Sword was minimized due to the curtain of light around his body. It was a strong self-defense using divine power. The Fire Dragon Sword moved on its own and stabbed the pope in the back, but it failed to achieve much.

“Eh...? Ehh?” The church members were baffled by the pope’s recovery that was like a lie. They knew he couldn’t die easily and used heals in hopes he was alive, but they didn't expect him to immediately re-attach his cut off head and resurrect. They were more surprised than happy.

“You are truly a man with experience at killing angels. You are really skilled.”

An angel—an army built only for the gods of Asgard. They were called the invincible army because they had the protection that blocked all long-range attacks, including magic. They couldn’t die from arrows fired from blind spots. In order to kill angels, one had to approach and fight directly. It was a life or death decision without a war of attrition.

Grid was well aware of this fact. Thus, he abandoned the advantages of flying and descended to the ground. The need for that was gone now.

The pope spread out white wings. Feathers fluttered from six wings. The papal tiara fell off and the halo of light floated above his head. The name that was revealed was Michael.

Sariel had said that this was an angel with a high rank among archangels. Was it the gods’ first angel? Another name was a knight or enforcer. He had the most outstanding force after the archangels Raphael and Gabriel. He might be the best when it came to ‘killing’ skills. It was because he was at the vanguard of the angels. He had experienced the most wars and dealt out the most divine punishment.

“Who speaks of the gods?”

The moment Michael recited, the size of the Holy Sword increased along with a series of deafening sounds. It was the result of the continuous absorption of light that had stretched out in dozens of branches. By the time the holy sword was 5 meters long, no one at the scene could open their eyes. The light was so bright.

Thanks to this, Grid learned the hidden characteristics of a myth class. He didn’t become blind in the face of the intense light that spread throughout the Vatican. There was no inconvenience at all. A god was a presence that touched the sun. It was natural for a god to not to suffer from the glare.

“Your approach to being a god is immensely wrong. A god must be born from the goddess or recognized by Asgard. It isn’t done on your own. I am going to correct you. Let’s convert you first.”

Michael proclaimed and lowered his huge Holy Sword. The destructive power was unusual, thus Grid stepped back to avoid it. He immediately realized this was a mistake. Shards of light—they scattered in all directions and stretched out like spears that struck Grid or condensed into spheres that showed signs of an explosion.

Yet for Grid, mistakes weren’t the end. He had many means to make up for mistakes. He also had the foundation of developing from his mistakes based on experience.

Grid didn’t bother to use Shunpo. The principle of Shunpo was to move his body to a place he could ‘see.’ It was possible for a person with outstanding skills to read his gaze and predict the jumping point of Shunpo. Using Shunpo against Michael was likely to be a weakness instead.

Grid rushed in with the defense of the innovated armor of the Four Gods. He used Lightning God around his body to avoid the spears of light while minimizing the explosive damage of the spheres with White Tiger’s Posture. It happened while he was moving through the air like this...

Michael once again lowered the sword of light. The space was cut and shards of light scattered again. It was the moment when this area fell under Michael’s control. Thousands, tens of thousands. No, the infinite shards of light that contained destructive power restricted Grid’s actions while the main body of the giant sword tore at Grid’s flesh.

Michael’s blue eyes moved to his left. The moment of contact with the sword of light, the afterimage disappeared and Grid appeared in the direction he was looking. The big sword of light was growing in real time. Unknowingly, the length reached 7 meters before it was swung at Grid.

The light erased the world. It glowed brilliantly and swallowed up all the scenery. The bright orange light surrounding Grid’s body also lost its traces.

No.

“Sky.”

It wasn’t lost. It carved a small dot in the quiet world of light. The dot soon became a line. It spread like a wave. Grid was crushed in the shoulder by the sword of light, but he rushed forward by relying on the Shoulder Guards of the White Tiger with the Protection of the Red Phoenix. The heavy and sharp blade gradually dug deep into his shoulder blades, but he didn’t stop. He just sped up.

Michael saw the fast approaching Grid and belatedly noticed that the sharp screams coming from the shoulder guards weren’t screams, but a roar.

[Howling! Lv. 1]

[Summons the image of a howling white tiger.

All enemies within range of the white tiger’s howl will stiffen for at least one second to a maximum of seven seconds while allies will have their defense increased by 10%.

Mana Consumption: 2,000

Cooldown Time: 12 hours.]

“......!” Michael had been planning to act the moment Grid got a bit closer, but his expression ended up stiffening. It was because his body wasn’t moving. He wanted to lower the sword even more, but he couldn’t give any strength into his hands.

‘The beasts of the east are interfering.’

Michael was upset, but he relaxed his expression instead of showing it. If his body didn’t move, then he would use magic. He added magic to the divine power surrounding the sword of light. It was a miraculous event. It wasn’t just the light surrounding the giant sword. All the light that filled the area had divine power replaced by magic power. Everything was linked using the Holy Sword as a medium.

Destruction.

It was the development of the great magic he often used when carrying out divine punishment and it could be described as a natural disaster. Michael expected a look of astonishment to fill Grid’s face. He imagined Grid coughing up blood and falling down. It was from his own magic.

He didn’t foresee his own suffering until the great divine punishment was destroyed at the same moment it was launched. Killing intent filled Michael’s heart as Grid approached quickly using a mixture of magic power and silver thread. It was just the beginning. The former sword dance was just the beginning.

Grid was no longer wary of the gods. From the time he became a myth class, he was no longer afraid of the gods. In the world where light had faded, the orange afterimage expanded its range. Every time, there was a deafening roar. It was the sound of the Sky sword dance connecting the single sword dances. They cut through the wind and slashed at Michael. It was like thunder.

It was a true divine punishment.