But as the power within the giant Crystal Stone poured in, the small crystal within Yanile's body suddenly blazed with light, like a miniature sun.
The twisted flesh that had previously engulfed Yanile's entire body immediately receded like snow beneath sunlight, unable to resist in the slightest, and was transformed back into pure Holy Power.
Yet during this process, the small Crystal Stone gradually grew, assimilating Yanile's mental space into a crystal-like structure bit by bit.
Silently watching this transformation, the golden-haired young Pope's gaze was profound.
Such a miraculous sight did not come without a price, and that price was Yanile's independent will.
"The mission failed."
Yanile opened his eyes. The dull gray in them had returned to holy white. After awakening, he spoke directly, his tone utterly devoid of emotion.
"I failed to retrieve the target core. The attacker was a Ninth Rank Diviner, most likely the newly advanced Ninth Rank Diviner, the Man in the Mirror, though the Star Gazer cannot be ruled out."
"Report your condition."
"The Holy Body is stable. Mental sanctification has increased by seventeen percent and currently stands at eighty-one percent. It is expected that after two Meetings with God, I will be fully sanctified into an Angel and return to the embrace of God."
After a moment of silence, Saint Messiah III nodded.
"Leave this place. Do not disturb the Lord excessively."
Watching Yanile depart, the Pope stood alone before the enormous Crystal Stone, his figure looking somewhat solitary.
The Paramisius Core being taken by a mysterious existence was no small loss, but Paramisius's appearance had been an accident to begin with. This was not what he truly cared about.
Yanile's condition during that battle had exposed a grave problem—the crucial difficulty facing the Saint Plan: angelification.
In truth, Yanile was already