Escaped from confinement, Ancestor Cicada's eyes flashed with ferocity as a sharp claw lunged towards Charlie.
Charlie shook his head helplessly and whispered, "Heaven's Blessing."
To Charlie's left, a luminous portal swiftly opened. The Ancestor Cicada's claw passed straight through the portal, leaving Charlie untouched, as if he were merely a phantom standing there.
Charlie maintained his benevolent smile. "Ancestor Cicada, you agreed to accept the protection of the Genesis Church upon your recovery. Are you perhaps trying to renege on that promise?"
"Did someone say your smile is disgusting?"
The Ancestor Cicada's massive form hovered, its malevolent eyes fixated on Charlie.
Charlie touched his face and then shook his head. "My followers cherish such a smile. As for whether heretics like you appreciate it… I do not care."
It had been nearly a millennium since Charlie first took full command of the Genesis Church.
His Cataclysm-level strength granted him a lifespan unimaginable to ordinary humans. Thus, over these past thousand years, he had occupied the position of Pope for at least seven to eight hundred years.
The Church of Glory had always remained under his control. The so-called Divine Descent faction and the Divine Grace faction were both entities he had personally fostered.
Every few decades, he would relinquish the Papal seat to another venerable Pope who would serve for ten to twenty years. Once that Pope retired, Charlie would reclaim the position.
Each time, Charlie's appearance would differ slightly, ensuring that no one ever recognized his true identity.
While serving as Pope, Charlie was required to maintain his smile. After centuries, his only expressions, besides a neutral face, were this particular smile.
Even in moments of extreme anger, he would still smile.
The Ancestor Cicada's wings began to vibrate, emitting a deafening roar. Dense blue light emanated from its body, forming numerous blue energy spheres around it.
Each energy sphere contained enough power to erase a small town from the map, and this was merely the Ancestor Cicada's standard attack.
"I am grateful you freed me, but upon further consideration, a mere forty percent of the world's faith is insufficient to satiate my appetite."
"Therefore, I shall ask you to die. I will establish the Cicada God Church and direct all the world's faith towards myself!"
One energy sphere vibrated, then vanished into the air. It reappeared directly before Charlie, and a blue radiance erupted, spreading across the sea's surface, causing the unified water to fracture into spiderweb-like cracks.
Wen Wen, who was studying the solidified water surface nearby, was suddenly sent flying by a shockwave. He rapidly spun his fan-like wings to stabilize his position.
He looked towards Muhammer Island with horror, sensing the collision of Cataclysm-level powers.
After the blue radiance dissipated, Pope Charlie's robe was slightly torn, and a bruise had appeared on his forehead.
However, Charlie showed no signs of anger; instead, his smile grew more pronounced.
"You possess such immense power! If this strength were to be wielded by me, I could restore the former glory of the Genesis Church!"
The Ancestor Cicada looked at Charlie in confusion. "Have you truly gone mad?"
Whether it was being released or enduring his attack, the old man's attitude had been bizarre from the start.
Furthermore, he was far too confident. On what grounds did he believe he could control his power?
"I am not mad, you are!"
Charlie spoke unhurriedly. "The Creator teaches us to cast aside falsehoods. You have broken your promise, and therefore you must pay the price. Previously, I offered you forty percent; now, it is merely ten!"
"Strange human…"
Although puzzled, the Ancestor Cicada paid little heed to Charlie's words. Strength was absolute; all other schemes were insignificant. If this old man did not leave, he could eliminate him by simply absorbing ten or so energy spheres, attacks that consumed almost no energy for the Ancestor Cicada.
However, the Ancestor Cicada soon discovered that its control over its own power was becoming sluggish, as if the power itself refused to attack Charlie. The energy spheres hovering around it suddenly became shriveled, their energy dissipating into the air, increasing the surrounding energy concentration to an astonishing degree, even stirring up a blue energy storm.
Within the energy storm, Charlie touched his cheek, his smile unwavering.
"It seems it has begun. From this day forward, you are the Sacred Beast of the Genesis Church, with the status of the Creator's mount…"
The Ancestor Cicada immediately swung its massive claws towards Charlie's body. This time, unlike its casual attacks before, these claws could even tear through space.
But the attack stopped in mid-air. The Ancestor Cicada looked at Charlie in horror and roared, "What have you done?"
Charlie looked at the Ancestor Cicada with pity and pointed to his own head.
"It seems you still haven't understood. Indeed, you are ultimately just a beast. No matter how strong you are, your mind is still lacking."
"Have you never wondered why that Archangel merely crucified you and cast you into this world, instead of killing you?"
"Why, when other Cataclysm-level monsters entered this world, they were intercepted by the Church of Glory, but no one stopped you?"
The Ancestor Cicada paused. "I just happened to escape at the last moment…"
Charlie wagged a finger. "Wrong. There are no coincidences in this world!"
"You were let into this world by the Church of Glory, according to the will of that Archangel, to remain in this world and spread the Creator's glory to every corner of it!"
The Ancestor Cicada closed its eyes and pondered. Thinking back to the ten-winged Archangel who had ambushed and crucified it, its actions were indeed extremely unusual. At that time, it possessed the ability to kill it but allowed it to escape into this world.
"Unfortunately, your power was too great for the cross to fully restrain you, so we prayed for an angel to descend and put you into a deep slumber."
"However, Mayiami somehow learned of our plan and forcefully descended into this world through our ritual, causing great chaos. But thankfully, through our efforts, order was restored, you fell into slumber, and the angel's body was shattered."
"For the past two thousand years, you have slumbered on the cross, with every cell in your body being subtly altered. Simultaneously, other divine powers accumulated within you were depleted under the influence of the cross."
"And the final step of the plan was the Crown of Thorns bestowed by the Creator. This miraculous artifact contains an enormous amount of faith. This faith entered your depleted body, revitalizing every cell."
"As for the vast amounts of faith belonging to other deities… for you, it is poison!"