For a moment, the small Holy Scarab shone brightly, caught in a tug-of-war between Grelio and Leo.
After a brief struggle, Grelio grew anxious, chanting more urgently and loudly. The summoning aura glowed brighter and spun faster. Leo was horrified to find that the Holy Scarab in his hand was emitting an immense force trying to break free.
Seeing it about to slip from his grasp, Leo panicked and roared, “I’d rather destroy this thing than give it to you.” With a surge of powerful spirit energy, a fierce flame erupted from his hand, engulfing the Holy Scarab. The intense fire caused the Holy Scarab to wail as if it were a living creature in agony.
Grelio was shocked and shouted, “Despicable fool, you won’t destroy the sacred artifact!” He spat out a mouthful of golden blood onto the summoning aura. With a thunderous roar, the aura trembled and shone even brighter. The Holy Scarab then seemed to transform into a ferocious beast, breaking free from Leo’s hands and shooting towards the radiant summoning aura before Grelio.
The Church members were overjoyed, while the dark clan members felt a chill in their hearts. They knew that if Grelio managed to gather the Crown of Thorns, True Cross, and Holy Scarab, it would spell disaster for the dark clan.
Grelio’s face was filled with fervor and joy as he watched the Holy Scarab fly closer. His body trembled with excitement. With the Crown of Thorns on his head, the Holy Cross around his neck, and the Holy Scarab in his hand, he would be the most powerful pope.
“Come on, come on, my precious,” Grelio muttered, almost like Gollum seeing the One Ring.
At that moment, a sudden change occurred. A powerful black light shot up from below with incredible speed, enveloping the Holy Scarab.
What was happening? Grelio and the Church members were momentarily stunned. The black light then transformed into a sinister figure.
“Trystan!” Leo exclaimed in delight.
“Who are you? Return my Holy Scarab!” Grelio shouted furiously.
“You’re courting death!” Trystan’s killing intent surged as he unleashed a violent black flame that instantly consumed the Holy Scarab. In the black fire’s burn, the Holy Scarab turned to ashes.
Everyone was stunned. “Oh Lord, this demon destroyed the Holy Scarab…” The Church members began to weep uncontrollably after their initial shock.
“You… you dared to destroy the Holy Scarab…” Grelio trembled with rage. “Who are you?”
“You are not worthy of knowing my name,” Trystan replied coldly.
Grelio’s face twisted with anger. “Even without the Holy Scarab, with the Crown of Thorns and True Cross, I can still annihilate you all!”
“Leo, can you still fight?” Trystan asked suddenly.
Leo nodded. “Of course.”
“Let’s join forces and take him down,” Trystan said with renewed killing intent.
The world turned pitch black as if hell had descended. Grelio snorted and unleashed another Deity Extinction. Without the Holy Scarab, he believed Leo and Trystan couldn’t withstand it.
The Dragon Sword soared up, transforming into a fiery dragon that charged at the Deity Extinction beam. Behind Trystan, a massive black lotus bloomed in the wind. The fiery dragon met the Deity Extinction beam with a terrifying clash. Though the dragon was shattered by the beam, it also caused the beam to tremble violently as if it might break apart at any moment.
“How is this possible!?” Grelio’s expression froze for a moment.
Grelio roared again and unleashed another powerful Deity Extinction. This time, it was blocked by the black lotus. As before, while breaking through the lotus, the beam’s power dissipated entirely.
“It’s my turn now,” Trystan said coldly.
With a flip of his right hand, Trystan produced a copper bell. He tossed it into the air where it rapidly enlarged into a giant copper bell.
Grelio’s third Deity Extinction arrived. As the beam struck the copper bell, five streams of black light shot up from the canyon below. These streams exuded terrifying killing intent like five ferocious dragons attacking the beam.
When the black light streams met the Deity Extinction beam, an immense suction force emerged from the bell’s bottom, absorbing both the beam and the black light streams inside. The bell then began to shake and emitted an eerie, clear sound.
Grelio screamed in agony as if countless ants were biting him all over. A black light shot out from the bell’s bottom, striking Grelio’s body and shattering him into pieces without leaving any trace behind. The bell itself shattered and fell from the sky.
Thus, the once mighty pope was slain.
The dark clan members were initially stunned but then erupted in joy, hugging each other.
“The pope… has been killed!? How is this possible?” Barnard trembled with fear. “Lord, have you abandoned your faithful followers?”
Leo looked across and asked loudly, “The pope is dead. Do you surrender?”
“Kill them…!” The dark clan members’ spirits rose as they shouted with bloodshot eyes.
“No, we will never surrender,” Gus stepped forward with renewed strength and shouted in grief and anger. “The pope has gone to heaven to defend our Lord’s glory. We must follow him faithfully and never be cowards!”
“Yes, let’s unite and fight to the death against these damned enemies,” another knight stepped forward. “Even if we die, we must defend our Lord’s glory.”
“Right, we will never surrender…”
Barnard shouted, “Let’s join forces for Deity Extinction! The pope said that even he couldn’t withstand its power alone; maybe we can turn the tide.”
As Barnard finished speaking, a massive pressure descended from above. Both sides looked up in astonishment at where Grelio had been shattered. Two items hovered there mournfully but undamaged: the Crown of Thorns and True Cross.
The Crown of Thorns glowed brightly as drops of blood dripped from its spikes. The blood merged instantly and was enveloped by a powerful Holy Light. The blood boiled within as if a strong life force struggled violently inside.