Unfortunately, there was no such thing as regret medicine in this world.
No matter how he thought about it, the Light Pope had never imagined that Locke's soul attack would be so bizarre—so overwhelming that he hadn't even the slightest chance to resist.
"Your Holiness, this is no longer a matter of whether you think I'm qualified to stand alongside you," Locke said coldly.
"It's a question of whether I think you are qualified to stand alongside me."
He twirled the long spear in his hand, forming a crisp spear flourish. Locke could clearly feel that the weapon was constantly trying to break free from his grip and fly back to the Light Pope's side.
Obviously, as the artifact's original master, the Light Pope was calling out to the Sunrise Spear through the connection between himself and the divine artifact.
However, with Locke's current strength, suppressing that disturbance was effortless.
"Y-you—"
The Light Pope's face alternated between pale and flushed, yet he couldn't bring himself to say anything further.
After all, those words had originally been spoken by him—meant to test Locke's strength.
And truth be told, that was genuinely how he thought.
Anyone he could casually kill in an instant wasn't even worth entering his field of vision.
Who could have foreseen that Locke's soul attacks would leave him utterly helpless?
"Lord Locke, I spared your life."
After a long silence, the Light Pope spoke with a darkened expression.
"You took my divine artifact, but you should also know this—if I hadn't held back earlier, you would already be dead!"
"I ask that Lord Locke return my artifact to me."
From addressing him simply as "Locke" to now calling him "Lord Locke," the shift in the Light Pope's attitude was obvious.
"Indeed," Locke nodded, acknowledging the point.
"If Your Holiness hadn't shown mercy earlier, I would have been gravely injured at the very least, if not killed outright."
"But, Your Holiness—"
"Didn't I also spare you once just now?"
"Or do you believe that, with this artifact in my hands, I wouldn't be able to kill you?"
The Light Pope's heart sank.
He knew very well that if Locke used that same technique again, then even wearing a high-grade defensive divine artifact, he wouldn't be able to withstand the Sunrise Spear's power for long.
In fact, it might not even be necessary to shatter the armor itself—
The sheer impact of a high-grade divine artifact could very well震死 him outright.
"…What do you want?"
The Light Pope asked, humiliated to the extreme, after taking a deep breath.
"No, it's not about what I want," Locke replied calmly.
"It's about what you want, Your Holiness."
He casually swung the Sunrise Spear. Wherever the spearhead passed, space itself rippled in visible waves.
Even without channeling divine power, the innate might of a high-grade divine artifact alone was already close to tearing apart the space of a material plane.
"Your Holiness, you spared me once, and I spared you once."
"We're even."
"And this spear—this is my spoils of war."
"If Your Holiness wishes to reclaim it, then draw your line. I'll meet you head-on."
From the moment he seized this divine artifact, Locke had never intended to give it back.
True, a divine artifact not personally nurtured by its wielder didn't have perfect compatibility.
But the sheer might of a high-grade divine artifact was more than enough to offset any loss caused by imperfect resonance.
Even in god planes and supreme planes, high-grade divine artifacts were treasures of immense value.
The forging of a divine artifact was far more than simply nurturing it with divine power.
What truly determined an artifact's rank was its "experience."
Only a weapon that had undergone countless battles—
That had slain vast numbers of god-level beings, absorbing the killing intent and baleful aura released at their deaths—
Could truly be elevated into a divine artifact.
It could be said that the birth of every divine artifact was accompanied by the fall of thousands upon thousands of gods.
High-grade divine artifacts were even more terrifying.
Without tens of millions of years of relentless slaughter and tempering, it was impossible for one to come into existence.
Now that Locke had finally obtained a high-grade divine artifact, how could he possibly return it to the Light Pope?
This was a super-weapon that even high-level gods could wield.
Moreover, under the current circumstances, with the Light Pope possessing a material defensive divine artifact, if Locke didn't hold onto this high-grade offensive artifact, what right did he have to stand above the Light Pope?
Believe it or not—
If Locke returned the Sunrise Spear now, the Light Pope would very likely look for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow and kill him outright.
"Hmph!"
Although the Light Pope knew full well that the chances of retrieving the artifact once it had fallen into Locke's hands were vanishingly small, being outright refused still made his eyes burn red with fury.
Yet after reassessing the current balance of power between them, he could only glare fiercely at Locke before transforming into a streak of golden light and flying back toward the Cathedral of the Light Temple.
The Light Pope decided that the next time the sacrificial ritual opened, he would use the spatial passage created by the sacrifice to initiate trades with his colleagues in the Light God Realm.
A soul-defensive divine artifact would be ideal.
But if none were available, then he would exchange the merits he had accumulated over the years for a mid-level light-element godhead and a high-level godhead instead!
All along, the Light Pope had hoped to rely on his own cultivation to ascend to the rank of high-level god. Otherwise, he wouldn't have languished at the lower-god stage for a hundred thousand years.
But today's battle with Locke made him clearly realize the gap between himself and a true genius.
If the path of a genius was closed to him—
Then he would walk the path of the ordinary.
Next time they met, he would definitely kill that man!
As a high-level god wielding two high-grade divine artifacts, he would have nothing to fear—even from Celes!
If he could kill Celes, then he would do so, turning the Wakanda Plane into fertile ground for harvesting faith.
And even if he couldn't kill Celes, with his own strength, he could still allow the Light Temple to seize even greater territory on the Wakanda Plane!
"That fellow… has quite a bit of resolve," Locke murmured, narrowing his eyes as he watched the Light Pope's retreating figure.
But it didn't matter.
Looking down at the Sunrise Spear in his hand, Locke smiled.
Once he fully refined this high-grade offensive divine artifact, it would make up for his lack of offensive power and greatly elevate his overall strength.
With a flick of his wrist, he stored the Sunrise Spear into his spatial ring. Then, transforming into a streak of blue light, Locke flew back toward Locke Territory.
Frost and Snow Empire — Imperial Capital
Seated upon his throne, Celes rested his chin on one hand, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.
"Tsk tsk… impressive indeed."
"Just stepping into the Divine Domain, and already able to toy with someone of the same level through soul attacks alone…"
"Locke's attainment on the path of the soul is far stronger than I expected."
With Celes's strength, he had long since noticed the movements of both the Light Pope and Locke.
However, he hadn't followed them directly, choosing instead to observe their battle through divine sense.
To be honest, although the Light Pope and Locke had only exchanged two moves, those two exchanges were far more perilous than days and nights of combat at the Saint level.
(End of Chapter)
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