Beyond Humanity

I had no idea what the man before me was thinking, but he had to be unbelievably frustrated. A second ago, he had still been the pope, ruler of billions of lives across the entire Star System, possessing what seemed like an endless lifespan, power far beyond that of mortals, and three years of blissful transcendence. That last part alone would probably have been enough to make Wang Cai, the listless kid next door from my childhood, stand tall and bark with the confidence of a husky. But that was all in the past. His glorious career had just come to an abrupt end because he had been fired.

No matter how many stains there had been on his rule, he was someone worthy of sympathy at this moment. Perhaps he could still appear before the civilians of Moblado as a puppet afterward, maintaining the stability of this theocratic society. But for someone in his position, losing authority was basically another kind of death.

After Bi Lu Na finished speaking, the pope remained silent for a long time. I could feel his gaze constantly sweeping over us through that mask. Clearly, the current situation still felt somewhat unreal to him. Yet the light from the Imperial warships outside the window had not completely faded, and with a glance outside, he could see large crowds still gathering toward the Papal Palace. That left him no room to doubt what was happening. Of course, that was only part of it. The most important reason was probably that he had discovered he had lost the power he trusted most.

Sandora had just severed his outward mental connection. In other words, aside from his physical constitution, the Holy Pope was now no different from an ordinary Moblado resident. His most powerful weapon, Sharpness of