I raised an eyebrow when I felt the fluctuations coming from the church.
It looks like the goddess started the ritual, huh.
Right now, she is trying to take over Clara's body.
I frowned and looked at the two old men of the church coldly.
"In other words, you are here to stop me, huh."
"Indeed, Your Highness." They nodded and their expressions turned serious.
So, this is the plan of the goddess, huh.
Stalling me here while she takes over the body of my fiancée.
She knows that I'm pretty powerful. But to her, I should not be more powerful than a fifteenth-layer powerhouse.
And even if I'm stronger than normal fifteenth-layer powerhouses, the two people that she sent should be enough to stop me for a while, at least until she finished the ritual.
And after that?
She must be confident that she can defeat me herself after she takes over my fiancée's body.
After all, I did not show my entire strength the last time we fought, so she does not know about my true strength.
I chuckled softly and shook my head.
"It looks like the goddess has a very high evaluation of me. To think that she sent two fifteenth-layer powerhouses to stop me."
"You deserve it, Prince."
"I indeed do," I said. Then, I took one step forward.
And then another.
With each step, I rose slightly, walking in the air towards the old men of the church.
The eyes of the emperor, the empress, Alan, and many of the nobles in the hall opened wide.
I could feel their surprise, disbelief, astonishment, and even despair when they understood the meaning of my actions.
Alan and the empress turned pale, the emperor's body shook, and Earl Riea's eyes shrank.
With each step that I took, it was as though their hearts trembled and a feeling of fear and dread filled them.
"I-Impossible!"
"How can it be!?"
"N-No, he is just a b-bastard! T-This is not possible!"
The emperor, the empress, and Alan's disbelieving voices reached my ears.
Hearing them, I glanced at them briefly before smirking disdainfully.
Immediately, the three of them froze. At that instant, they got the feeling that they were being observed by a dreadful monster.
They thought that they were about to die.
"Surprised?" I said with an amused smile.
Then, I moved my gaze away, as though they were no longer worthy of my attention.
As soon as my gaze moved away, the emperor, the empress, and Alan collapsed on the ground. They panted heavily with expressions full of terror while they looked at me.
However, I did not look at them again. I will have enough time to play with them later.
Instead, I continued walking towards the two old men of the church until I was in front of them.
Taking out my sword, I looked at Ysnay and smiled.
"Can you help my grandfather, teacher? I can take care of this."
"Of course, my pupil."
I chuckled before putting my attention on the two old men in front of me.
"The pope and the guardian, huh. I'm honored, but are you sure that you can stop me?"
With a smile, I let out my mana.
Fifteenth-layer mana flooded the hall, making many of the nobles that felt it turn pale.
Even the two old men and Hanz could not help but put on grave expressions.
"Fifteenth layer…"
"To think that Prince Claus is at the fifteenth-layer. Dammit, this was not in the plan!"
Now that an unaccounted fifteenth-layer practitioner appeared, the situation turned much more complicated.
Even if their side still had the advantage, it was not as noticeable as before.
But just then, another powerful aura surged out, belonging to a new fifteenth-layer powerhouse!
"Master, please wait."
The sudden voice and aura surprised every powerhouse.
'Another fifteenth-layer powerhouse!? How!?"
They were still surprised when it was revealed that I was a fifteenth-layer powerhouse, only to learn that there was another fifteenth-layer powerhouse hidden in the hall.
And when they saw the identity of the owner of the voice, many people opened their eyes wide. As for the two old men of the church, their eyes shrank.
"… Saintess, you…"
The saintess glanced at them indifferently before looking at me.
"Master, sorry about what happened. I failed to give you the information that you needed."
"You don't need to worry about it, it was not your fault." I smiled.
"Even so, I feel apologetic. Allow me to fight these two in your stead. You should go and rescue Clara."
The pope and the guardian changed their expressions.
"Safelia, what are you saying!?"
"How did you become a fifteenth-layer powerhouse!? Did you truly betray the church!?"
"I did, Sir Guardian," Safelia said indifferently. "I now serve a new master."
The expressions of the two men of the church turned ugly.
"Traitor, I'll kill you!"
With a roar, the pope's mana burst out. In an instant, it turned into a powerful sword of light that pierced towards Safelia.
However, I waved my sword at the next moment, cutting that sword into two easily.
Then, I looked at Safelia.
"Go and help my grandfather. Currently, you are not a match for them."
"But…"
"Safelia, just follow my orders. It will be alright."
Safelia looked at me hesitantly before nodding.
In fact, she knew that she was not a match against them. Although she was a fifteenth-layer powerhouse after our souls fused, she lacked any experience using that kind of strength. At most, she could show the strength of a peak-fourteenth-layer practitioner.
The reason she proposed to fight the two men if the church was to make her stance clear. After all, she was my woman right now.
And also, she was worried about Clara's situation.
However, I was not worried.
I let enough countermeasures in Clara's body. No matter what the goddess tries, she is destined to suffer.
Thus, I decided to focus on the enemies in front of me first.
"Then, should we start our battle? Oh, wait, I should do something before that. Teacher, can you help me with the barrier?"
"Of course," Ysnay chuckled. Then, she took out a sword made of thread and swung it down.
In an instant, the barrier around the hall was cut in half, and one second later, it started breaking into pieces.
Hanz Carmell and the other powerhouses looked at that scene in astonishment.
"Grand, leave!" Creig Quintin shouted as soon as he saw that the barrier was broken. "We will take care of the situation here!"
The emperor nodded and turned around together with the empress.
At the same time, the nobles trapped in the hall escaped in a hurry.
"Don't leave the emperor escape!" Hanz shouted and launched a sword slash in the direction of the emperor. However, Creig stood in front of him and stopped his attack with a sneer.
"Your opponent is me."
Hanz furrowed his brows before sighing.
"It looks like you want to die soon, old friend."
"Heh, you are not qualified yet."
"Really? Show me what you are able then!"
With a shout, Hanz Carmell, the former head of the Carmell Family, attacked the Former Emperor, Creig Quintin.
At the same time, the rest of the battles started.
The battle for the throne had started.