The Pope frowned after seeing that one of the Pseudo-Gods was defeated, and another one had decided not to fight.
Only three remained and two of them were fighting against the Monkey King, while the last one, Belle, was being attacked by three Pseudo-Gods who were hell bent to defeat her.
'Although they were defeated sooner than expected, this was already part of my considerations,' the Pope thought.
From the start, she had expected that the Palace of Light would be overwhelmed by William's forces. The Half-Elf had the upper hand in both quality and quantity, but even then, the Pope was confident that she would be the last one standing in this battle between the forces of Light and Darkness.
The magical cannons in the palace of light once again gathered magical energy as the Pope aimed the cannons at the targets she had in mind.
She had noticed that the Dark Prince was making a beeline towards Belle, and she would use this opportunity to take her plan to the next stage.
"Lex Eterna!"
All the magical cannons unleashed their powerful attacks, which headed in the direction of the black-haired beauty who was fighting against William's forces.
—-----
'Astrape, Bronte, Titania, make sure that she won't be able to get away,' William ordered. 'Corner her until I arrive!'
The Half-Elf had already coated Sharur with the Flames of Darkness because he intended to kill the black-haired beauty in a single strike.
Belle, who had sensed a presence approaching her from behind was about to turn around to see who it was, but Astrape and Bronte took that opportunity to attack her on her left and right sides.
Understanding that she couldn't afford to be careless, Belle immediately split her bow in the middle, creating twin blades, and blocked the two Pseudo-Gods' attacks.
This prevented her from blocking the attack that was coming from behind her, forcing the black-haired beauty to take drastic measures.
"Magna Celeritate!"
Belle's body turned into a blur, disappearing from the spot where she was standing a moment ago.
William, who was just about to smash her body from behind, stopped mid-air because his target had disappeared.
Suddenly, he sensed a strong magical attack behind him, which forced him to make a last second decision to use Sharur to block it.
Astrape, Bronte, and Titania were in line with the attack, which made it impossible for William to dodge it, knowing that the three Pseudo-Gods would be hit by the deadly attack that could fatally injure them.
He had already used the power of wind to blow the three Pseudo-Gods away, as he blocked the attack that was aimed at all four of them.
"Damn! I'm not a shield, but OKAY!" Sharur complained but it still unleashed its might, holding firm against the attack that sent William crashing towards the ground, and skidding for hundreds of meters because the magical beams still hadn't run out of juice.
When the giant beam of light receded, the Half-Elf's body was smoking because Sharur wasn't able to block everything completely,
William had coated his body with the Flames of Darkness to mitigate the attack, but he still received damage from it. The clothes he was wearing were burned in some places, as smoke rose up from the seared parts.
The black-haired teenager then stared at the Pope who stood at the top of the Altar of Life, with a sneer on her face.
"There's more where that came from," the Pope stated as she once again gathered the Divinity of the four unconscious ladies who cared about William, and used their power to hurt the person whom they also held dear.
This twisted logic made the Pope laugh internally because she knew that this act would anger the Half-Elf and force him to deal with her first.
"Belle, take this sword!" the Pope shouted as the sword embedded in the very center of the Altar of Life hovered in the air and flew upwards, towards the black-haired beauty whose body was shining radiantly.
After using the ability to gain a burst of Extreme Speed for a few seconds, Belle reappeared in the sky above the Altar of Light.
The majestic crystal blue sword glowed faintly as it waited to be wielded by the greatest Champion of Light.
When Belle touched the handle of the sword, the runic word inscribed on the blade's surface lit up. Empowering its wielder with its divine might.
'Speak my name, Champion.'
The sword urged as its name appeared inside Belle's mind. Only by saying its name would it be able to unleash its full power, that had been sealed for thousands of years.
"Cleanse the world with your Holy Light!" Belle declared as she raised the tip of the sword towards the heavens. "Claiomh Solais!"
A beam of golden light descended from the heavens, and hit the blue crystal blade, blessing it with the power of the Goddess of Light.
A circle of radiant light spread outwards with Belle at its center. This radiance incinerated the monsters that had breached the palace walls, and the interior of the Palace of Light.
The defenders of the palace all cheered as their morale shot up due to the Divine power that washed over their bodies. All of their injuries were instantly healed, and they could feel their strength soaring due to the blessing of the Goddess of Light.
"This looks bad, Partner," Sharur said as it stared at the beam of light that was descending from the heavens. "I know that sword. It's bad news."
William held Sharur firmly in his hands before taking a step forward.
"It doesn't matter," William replied. "Our goals don't change."
"Damn right," Sharur replied. "Let's go, Will. Time to clap her cheeks."
William smirked before flying in the direction of the Palace of Light.
It didn't matter what aces the Pope had under her sleeve. His goals remained the same and that was to kill the black-haired beauty, who was holding the Sword of Light, and capture the Pope, so he could torture her until she drew her last breath.