I Became The Pope, Now What?



Sylvester quickly ducked to avoid the flames and jumped back to create some space. Right then, Aurora fell from the sky, her entire body shining in bright blue light, thunder crackling around her. She moved as fast as light, but the moment she came closer to Sylvester, she was left shocked.

Sylvester raised himself instead of dodging Aurora and accelerated toward her. She did the same, confident in her abilities.

"Got you!" She roared. 

Woosh!

Sylvester vanished from her sight, leaving her confused. "Up!" 

BOOM!

Sylvester swung his blade toward the ground. A massive, curved blade made from materialized light magic hurtled toward Aurora at the same speed as her lightning. It was too massive for her to react in time, and she was struck first with it. The scorching magical attack from Sylvester left Aurora burned, her armor tattered, and a deep wound on her shoulder. 

"Argh!" Sylvester suddenly felt immense pain in his body. His eyes glared at Soulbreaker, "You can't do that anymore!" 

Recognizing the threat, Sylvester kicked the ground with destructive force and zoomed toward Soulbreaker. He kept his blade pointed at the man, intending to strike a very painful blow. 

Clash!

"Did you forget me?" Emperor Raz appeared before Soulbreaker and threw bone spears. 

Sylvester swung his sword and deflected the bone spears away. He knew they were bad news as they were quite sharp, and even worse was the poison they held. However, he didn't go forward and stood his ground,  "I didn't… That's why my one hand is empty." 

Bam!

Sylvester deflected Felix's strike again and pushed him far back with a kick. He knew Felix was strong, but the knight was at a disadvantage as Sylvester was a wizard. Sylvester focused on the main threat and raised his palm toward Emperor Raz, the Supreme Wizard Lich. 

Crack!

Out of nowhere, a sphere of white light formed around Emperor Raz's body. It kept getting denser and less transparent over time, appearing more solid than light itself.

Boom!

Emperor Raz tried to attack the sphere but couldn't break it. He used his own magic, created hundreds of bone spears around his body, and stabbed the sphere from within. However, each time Raz made a move, the sphere grew smaller and eventually strangled him into a fetal position, rendering him immobile. 

However, from the outside, the sphere looked as big as before. Meaning it was the sphere's insides that filled up overtime and locked Emperor Raz in one place. 

"Uh!" Sylvester clenched his teeth. His left hand extended toward Emperor Raz and appeared to strain as veins bulged on his arm. His fingers tried to clench tighter as if he were physically squeezing something. 

Right then, Lord Inquisitor sent waves of fire attacks at Sylvester, from scorching storms of fire in the shape of dragons to pillars of flames that rose from within the ground. The man wasn't a knight, so he tried to fight Sylvester from a distance. 

"Aargh!" Sylvester suddenly felt a surge of pain and glanced behind him. Aurora was attacking him with her thunder magic. But with short intervals and unpredictability, it was clear that she was randomly moving around too. 

"He can't move!" Aurora shouted. "Attack him at the same time!" 

Sylvester kept his left hand focused on Emperor Raz. With his right hand, he wielded the sword. He also gave Chonky the green light, as it was time for the last strike. 

"Wraaaa!" Felix was serious now. He landed beside Sylvester and swung his blade at Sylvester's neck. 

Ting!

The light blade in Sylvester's hands blocked the strike. After that, he swung the blade behind himself and stopped the thunder strike from Aurora while the woman inched closer to him. From a distance, Lord Inquisitor sent fire attacks, albeit mostly being ineffective. Soulbreaker tried to neutralize him, but the mental training Sylvester had done with the Elder God helped him. 

Bam! 

Felix kicked Sylvester's legs, throwing him down on one knee. But Sylvester didn't let Emperor Raz go free. He used his sword and exchanged blows with Aurora and Felix at the same time, with just a single hand. It looked like a magical dance as Sylvester moved his arm at a speed unmatched, invisible to the naked eye. One moment, he deflected Felix, and the next, he countered Aurora behind him. His focus remained unchanged, and at times, he pushed back with offensive strikes. 

However, as if a stalemate had been reached, Sylvester effortlessly blocked all the attacks, "I can do this all day." 

Gritting his teeth, Felix decided to change his tactics, "Try this then!" 

Felix activated the runes on his sword. He used air magic to form invisible blades and slash at Sylvester. It was soon proven effective since Sylvester's hands were busy blocking the physical attacks. 

Soon, still on his one knee, Sylvester started to bleed from his shoulder, face, and neck as the blades of air struck him. 

"Do it!" 

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared out of nowhere and abruptly struck Felix. Sylvester found a chance in that moment of shock and let his light sword go, allowing it to slowly disappear while blocking Aurora behind him. However, before the sword could disappear and seal his defeat, he threw a punch at Felix's stomach. 

"Gaaaah!" Felix's mouth went agape, and he immediately vomited blood and food. His ribs cracked, and his stomach caved in so much that Sylvester's hand almost touched his spine. It was a painful and enlightening lesson. 

BOOM!

Felix was sent hurtling, thrown toward a mountain in the distance. The moment his body collided with the rocks, the entire mountain shook and formed a massive hole that went all the way to the other side. 

Sylvester grunted and caught his sword behind him, shaping his light sword back into form. He deflected Aurora's thunder attacks and rose to his feet. 

Sylvester looked at Lord Inquisitor and Soulbreaker standing in the distance. He roared like a madman. His bloodied face and the swollen veins all over his body was a frightening sight to see. His armor had once again crumbled, revealing his peak body. His long, blonde hair billowed with the wind, and his red eyes glowed, with a halo forming behind the head as well. 

"Haaaaaaa!"

BOOM!

He stomped on the ground with one foot. The earth instantly collapsed, the lower layers collapsing beneath the upper crust. Everything crumbled in deafening chaos as if it turned into dust that flew outward into the sky like a storm. Everyone except Sylvester lost their balance. 

However, that was merely one move, and the effect was yet to come. The gigantic kilometer-wide crater he made began to fill up with liquid light plasma, so bright and shining white that it blinded Lord Inquisitor, Soulbreaker, and Aurora. 

It was clear that falling into the otherworldly lake meant a certain death. The three had nowhere to go except for jumping in the air to save themselves. Even Aurora left Sylvester and tried to save herself, heading toward the shore by creating lightning beneath her feet to gain altitude.

"We can't win," Lord Inquisitor voiced aloud. "He's consumed by rage—He's fighting us with mere instincts instead of conscious thoughts within." 

"He's like a God of War!" Soulbreaker's voice shivered, showing some fear.

Sylvester growled ferociously and chased after the three in the sky since they couldn't change their trajectory. He swung his blade from a distance and sent a massive slash of light toward Lord Inquisitor and Soulbreaker. The two men couldn't dodge it and were quickly struck.

Woosh!

Their armor was burned, and their bodies were sent flying through the sky, leaving behind trails of blood. They landed in the distance, away from the strange, shining white lake beneath them. They couldn't imagine the amount of magic required to form something so otherworldly—a lake filled with magic itself.

"Aurora! He's not acting in a blind rage! It's his planned way to engage!" Lord Inquisitor roared. "Yield to His Holiness! You can't defeat him—his mind, magic, and body are in complete harmony! You cannot challenge his magical mastery!"

Aurora heard those words, and it annoyed her. She had seen Sylveste grow, and he had surpassed her strength now. It was somewhat damaging to her own pride. "Wait! He's only been using light magic this whole ti—"

Snap!

Sylvester appeared in front of Aurora with such speed that she didn't even notice him move. His blade rested on her neck, burning her skin as it was made of light. She was shocked, bloodied, and in pain.

She stared into Sylvester's crimson eyes, his face looking terrifying with the backdrop of the halo behind him. His body appeared far more muscular now, and he seemingly looked much older than yesterday. Defeating them all with just one element—she felt shudders and goosebumps all over. 'Did he become a God of Light?' she wondered in horror as the pain of his sword burning her skin reached her mind.

In confusion, she glanced at Emperor Raz in the distance, the only being who could challenge Sylvester. But he was still stuck in the sphere. "Y-You… But you can't move while holding him there." 

Sylvester grabbed Aurora's neck with his hand while retracting his blade. Then, he flew down to the ground and slammed her down with force, making sure she felt the pain—the powerlessness. 

"Argh… I-I… yield…" Aurora coughed up blood and lay in place; her body wracked with pain in the small crater below her.

Sylvester stood upright and allowed his sword to vanish, but the halo remained, "Yes, you 'believed' I couldn't move."

Aurora's eyes widened as the realization dawned, "Y-You were fooling us?" 

Sylvester's eyes slowly returned to normal, and his breath steadied. The massive lake of pure magic behind him also began to dissipate as it was simply solarium. 

"The first move of any battle is made here," he tapped one finger on his temple before pouring healing potions on Aurora. "Our minds."

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