Faced with such a powerful force—one with deep roots within the Church, powerful patrons and backing, and astonishing luck—no Pope in his right mind would dare show them the slightest neglect or offense. But Blackbeard was not a very normal-minded man. Or rather, anyone born in a pirate nest like the Black Tiger Family possessed a way of thinking vastly different from those who followed the rules.
Thus, thousands of clergy watched, dumbfounded, as Blackbeard slapped Caesar across the face, sending blood spraying from his mouth and a large handful of teeth clattering all over the floor. Caesar shot Blackbeard an incredulous look, then his body spun like a top, flying toward the great hall's doors in the direction of Blackbeard's blow with a shrill tearing whistle.
"Is there any place here for you to interrupt?" Blackbeard shook his hand resentfully. His gaze swept darkly over the clergy, who stood frozen in place, not knowing what they ought to say, before he suddenly roared savagely, "Do you have any room to interrupt? What the hell are you? You are our believers! You are merely our believers! No matter what I say, all you need to do is kneel on the ground and obey!"
A blinding golden divine radiance shot into the sky. Blackbeard's entire body was shrouded in sacred, resplendent golden light, and in that instant, he seemed to become a golden statue. Terrifying divine might spread in every direction, suppressing all the clergy present—including Caesar, who lay on the ground battered senseless—until they struggled to prostrate themselves in worship.
Blackbeard viciously swept his gaze across the many clergy present, across these upper echelons of the Church who possessed the power and ability to dictate the fates of countless lives on the Western Continent. A fierce flash of killing intent