From God of Lies to Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 394: When Wish Power Transforms into God Power, It Is the Great Prophecy!

"Boom!" Massive waves brought tremendous force. Lightning and hurricanes joined the fray, all bearing down on an eighty-year-old man in this Sea Area.

Of course, no one in the world right now would view Mario merely as an eighty-year-old man.

Or rather, compared to his other titles, his age was the least important thing about him.

He was the Pope, a Transcendent Being, the leader of the world's largest Supernatural Faction, and widely recognized as potentially the most powerful Transcendent Being on the planet!

After all, he was the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, universally known as the apostle of God and the representative of Saint Peter!

And now, as the last hope of this planet, he was about to engage in a final clash with the otherworldly False God before him!

The ocean waves were the Sea Giant's weapons. The crashing surf, powerful enough to shatter an ordinary person's bones, slammed heavily into Mario, sending the Pope flying backward instantly!

This was the sheer disparity in size, and it was the primary reason why Bennett Angus and the others had failed in their initial battle.

Their strength was simply too miniscule. Even if they barely reached the same level through Self-Sacrifice, they were often unable to sustain themselves against such colossal power.

This was the power of divine authority. The authority allowed them to accomplish massive feats with very little energy expenditure!Mario, naturally, did not possess this authority either. The authority of Heaven was concentrated entirely in one person; even the Angels merely borrowed it rather than owned it.

Therefore, even backed by endless Wish Power and wielding immense strength, he still found it difficult to hold his ground in this confrontation.

"Is it still not enough?" Facing this situation while hovering in the air, his body protected by the Power of Holy Light, Mario appeared exceptionally calm.

He knew his strength was undoubtedly greater than the others, but he also knew that aside from that particle-crushing beam of light, he lacked any truly formidable Combat Power. Now, everything was playing out exactly as he had expected.

"Trying to fight against a God, even a False God, is pushing it too far!" Mario muttered with a hint of regret. "Past Popes, how did you manage it?"

In the classified archives unlocked in the Vatican, there were indeed records of Popes and Bishops battling Evil Gods. In those historical precedents, The Church had emerged victorious without exception, though the price of such victories was always devastatingly high.

Usually, these conflicts ended with the death of the Pope, the loss of more than half of The Church's personnel, and the inevitable severing of certain inheritances and lineages.

But Mario also knew that from the very beginning, they never had a choice!

Earlier, when Caroline began her journey eastward, The Church had already learned of Heaven's predicament. The Lord had countless lambs to protect and could not keep His eyes fixed on their side at all times. Therefore, they had to resolve this crisis themselves.

Mario, of course, was well aware of this. That was why he unflinchingly wagered everything The Church had—even his own life—on this terrifying crisis!

If they could not even defuse a crisis like this, how could they prove to their Lord that they truly possessed the strength to stabilize this world?

This was their duty in this world, and it was something they absolutely had to achieve.

For a religion, there was no such thing as a mere slap on the wrist for failing. This was a zero-sum game between The Faithful and the Deities, offering only two outcomes: live in success, or die in failure.

In the eyes of the Deities, living as a failure was the greatest Sin!

If you died because of a failure, it merely meant your abilities were lacking, not your Faith. After Death, the Deities would not blame you.

However, if you failed the task yet managed to survive, then the Deities would start questioning the loyalty of your Faith!

This was the greatest difference between religion and human society—for humanity, the most important thing was survival, but for these religions led by Deities, both life and Death held equal weight.

They firmly believed without a shadow of a doubt that after Death, they would ascend to Heaven!

The Deities governed not only their lives but also their deaths. Even the afterlife fell squarely within the Deities' domain.

Your parents might lie to you, your boss might deceive you, and your friends might mislead you. But in the Divine Kingdom, a Divine Promise would always become reality, because it was a fundamental truth etched into Faith itself! Mario had already confirmed this with his old friend Rasinger during a joint prayer. Ascending to Heaven meant becoming a Saint, where one could revel in the Heavenly Kingdom, or choose to descend to the mortal realm to spread Faith in another world.

A Believer was immortal and indestructible. As long as their God remained, even if they were entirely obliterated, they could still be resurrected in the Divine Kingdom!

Under such circumstances, who wouldn't lay down their life for a Divine Promise?

In death, there was still a new future. But if The Church failed and you were still breathing, you might as well go talk to Satan about a job opening.

Because of this, the devotion of the Deities' followers was bound to be indestructible!

"O Lord, I shall offer my devotion. May You shower us with Your radiance and save this world!" With these thoughts, Mario's resolve solidified. His old friend's words echoed in his ears. "Perhaps... meeting them in the Heavenly Kingdom wouldn't be a bad choice either?"

A flash of determination crossed his eyes as he took the Holy Thorn Crown from his breast and placed it upon his head.

This Holy Thorn Crown was certainly not the one kept in The Church's collection, nor the one in the Vienna museum, but it was undoubtedly authentic. This was because this crown had come to him during a prayer within a Dreamscape.

During that prayer, he had complained slightly about his status. As the Pope, he lacked an exclusive weapon or crown, and even his Transcendent Power was shared with the Bishops.

Naturally, he wasn't complaining for his own sake. Rather, he was concerned that if things continued this way in the long run, wouldn't certain Bishops gain too much authority and shake the very foundations of The Church?

After all, everyone followed the exact same Precepts, so what gave him the right to be Pope?

Over time, this would breed a terrifying contempt for the authority of The Church and even God Himself. Therefore, Mario wanted to turn the situation around.

It was in that Dreamscape that he met Rasinger, learned about the Heavenly Kingdom, and received this gift. However, his old friend had not wanted him to use it:

"Mario, my old friend, this Holy Thorn Crown is precisely the one you think it is. It is the crown worn by Jesus during His crucifixion. It is a true Holy Relic, but also a cursed one. Once you wear it, your life will enter a countdown. You will have only three years left, and then the crown's curse will claim your life!"

'Three years? Heh! That's more than enough!' Mario thought. He had no other ulterior motives; he only hoped to weather this crisis. The Church had already lost far too many people. If they lost any more, they would likely be erased from the face of the earth.

"You are the merciful Father, You are the perfect Lord, You are the Lord of Hosts!

The Lord of Hosts shall bless His believers, and when they sing their songs of triumph, He shall descend with Divinely Bestowed Radiance!

May the Lord of Hosts be with us!"

The prayer he murmured at the end was his final prayer, because the Holy Thorn Crown upon his head had begun to grow wildly!

Under everyone's watchful eyes, and amidst the relentless attacks of the Sea Giant before him, the crown bloomed!

Yes, it bloomed. A tiny white flower blossomed upon it, accompanied by a terrifying, majestic aura of near-unbelievable proportions that erupted from Mario's body.

Mario could feel this aura himself. It was clearly the Wish Power emanating from his own body, but after being converted by the Holy Thorn Crown, it had transformed into a vastly more vibrant and monumental force, pouring back into him!

In that moment, Mario suddenly understood exactly where The Church's near-Unrivaled Power of the past had truly come from.

With trembling hands, he steadied himself from being thrown backward. Looking at the Sea Giant before him, he gently waved his hand. "Cancel!"

The infinitely dense giant, standing hundreds of meters tall, instantly dissolved back into seawater and crashed down into the ocean.

From Mario's lips came a phrase right out of the ancient records: "As the Pope, I shall wield the authority to govern all. My words are the law, and the wave of my hand is a Divine Miracle!"

He had originally thought this was nothing more than an exaggerated declaration, but looking at it now, it was a literal reflection of the truth!

What difference was there between his abilities and those of the so-called Deities?

"Is this the Great Prophecy? Influencing the fabric of the world through words, thereby altering everything within it... No wonder it is called the Great Prophecy..."