Chapter 437 - 437: Gold realm mortal?

Hearing Cyrus' words, Blata's face wrinkled as he felt the threat of death looming over his head. Right from the very first day, Castiel changed and became so majestic and charismatic, Blata knew something was up. A member of the spineless royal family suddenly became bold and boldly challenged the church.

His first thoughts were to eliminate Castiel but then, there was something about him. Some sort of aura that kept warning him of the impending doom if he should engage Castiel in a fight and that's why he is yet to face him in battle.

The same goes for Cyrus. Apart from Derik and the beyond, Blata was someone else he felt the threat of death when standing face to face with him. He had seen people spend most of their lives trying to attain the position of a priest or a bishop but someone as young as Blata was able to obtain the post of the archbishop and was sent over to Pelgas to suppress the rising of the new gods. It was obvious this youth had some sort of hidden strength they were not aware of.

Either way, the royal family and archbishop Blata watched from afar, as the seven new gods written about in the history books stood from afar and kept gazing at them from a distance. He could feel his body tremble with excitement as he watched the giant green flaming skull slowly descend from the heavens, threatening to crush the entire royal castle but even then there was not a hint of fear in his eyes, instead the only emotion Derik and the other new gods could feel from this youth was absolute confidence.

How can a mortal stand against gods with complete confidence?

"Do you believe in the lord of light? Do you believe in his strength?" Data ignore the flaming skull about to crush them and turned to the royal family.

"Y-yes we do!" they all answered in unison as they fearfully gazed at the attack which may result in their deaths.

Boom!

Suddenly a semi-transparent barrier appeared around the castle. Derik watched as his killer attack smashed into the barrier and only left a few cracks on it. A powerful shockwave spread across the capital, uprooting stone buildings but the royal palace did not even tremble once.

"Amen to your words and now, we will vanquish this evil in the name of the beyond... Don't worry my emperor, you don't have to lift a finger... Just sit there and watch me deal with these heretics... I assure you, no harm will come to your family!" Blata said with so much vigor and energy that the emperor and his royal family were left speechless. Either way, none of it mattered to them since all they were worried about is their safety. If the archbishop claims he can protect them, they are willing to stay on his side till the battle ends, after which they can easily switch to the victor's side.

"Go... Deal with them, you have my support" The emperor said with a decisive look on his face.

"Yes, your majesty!" Blata replied while assuming a bowing posture as a devilish grin bloomed on his face.

...

Meanwhile, Derik and the other new gods watched with a stunned expression on their faces as they tried to understand what happened right now. For a mere mortal like Blata to block an attack like that from him, he must have a strength that rivals that of a mid grade gold realm master and considering the fact that he didn't even put in much effort to counter-attack, he must have a cultivation base of peak grade of the gold realm. 

"Damn!" Derik muttered as he tried to pull himself together. It has been a long since he has met someone who can take a hit from him with fear in his eyes. He finally realized why the youth spoke with so much confidence and pride.

"Cheer up... At worse, he will be forced to take on the life and death duo... No one has survived this combo, not even the Beyond was spared of our deadly might!" Cyrus tried to console Derik but that wasn't enough to make him break a smile.

"I refuse... How can I let a godly being like myself join hands with you to fight a mortal? Do you really think I will lose because he is two grades ahead in level?" Derik asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's not the issue and you know it... We command life and death and in the past, we have defeated foes a realm above us... Defeating this joker won't be much of an issue... The problem is the time we live in now... This world is filled with powerless individuals... If you go all out, we may end up destroying the empire without noticing" Cyrus said.

Only then did Derik calm down. He and Cyrus gazed at the Archbishop slowly levitate into the air with his hands gently placed behind him. He never thought a day would come when he would have to face off against a human who can possess power that could rival that of peak masters in his past life.

If an archbishop is this strong, doesn't that mean the pope should have the strength to rival demigods?

Derik and Cyrus finally understood how these mortals managed to pin the world powers down with their supernatural strength. They finally realized how these people managed to wipe out most of the supernatural beings in this world. He finally realized why the other gods who appeared half a century ago couldn't rise easily, in fact, they were forced to run with their tails dangling behind them shamefully.

These mortals are so confident in the beyond's strength that they do not fear the new gods. Honestly, Derik couldn't blame them since no one has given them a reason to fear. The highest feat any of them has achieved to date is just defeating a mere bishop.

"It's all good, I will let you taste what true fear is!" Derik said with a vicious grin