I impersonated God in America

They used up a lot of military resources and worked hard for a long time, but in the end, the stronger Onix crushed their entire position like a grandson.

That snake was only a few hundred meters long.

The giant in front of us is at least ten times larger.

"We almost couldn't stop a stone snake last time, what do we do now?"

Cavalli pointed his hand at the screen.

"Inform the nearby troops to prepare for the worst, even if it means bombing the residential areas as well. This guy must be kept in Naples!!!"

"Beth, go contact the church and see if they have any good solutions. If they don't ask for too much, we'll accept it."

"At the very least, we must minimize the losses."

------------

Emergency meeting room at the Apostolic Palace.

On the main screen, the RAI live stream showed the giant had fully risen from the crater.

Black smoke spread out, enveloping the flames.

The Pope leaned back in his chair and pointed with his thumb at the giant, fiery hand on the screen behind him that was blocking out half the sky.

"It looks like things are worse than we thought."

Sibyl's voice suddenly seeped out from the table.

"While it is true that the seal has been broken, he has been suppressed under the volcano for thousands of years, and his power is no longer at its peak."

"The most terrifying thing about giants is their immortality when they are on their own homeland."

"So the reality isn't as bad as you imagine."

"As long as you gather enough faith, you can inject the power of faith into the Holy Sword in the same way you activated the Holy Lance last time, and you will be able to unleash a powerful attack."

Everyone present secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Hearing the prophet say this, they were finally relieved.

The prophet's greatness needs no further explanation.

It's worth noting that the mass they held on the coastal highway last time was, overall, extremely successful.

At least it has been proven that the method proposed by Sibyl is extremely effective.

Coupled with their mutual interests, their trust in Sybil had reached its peak.

Moreover, for them, it wouldn't be a bad thing to use it again now.

This is at least an opportunity for the Vatican.

"The last Mass already brought many political entities to our side and resulted in the cession of a great deal of interests. If we can demonstrate the Church’s power in the supernatural world in the same way again, then the Pontifical’s global influence will rise once more."

"This is a chance to turn danger into safety."

Another cardinal echoed this sentiment.

Just as everyone in the room was feeling overjoyed, Sybil poured cold water on them.

"But I'd better tell you in advance that the reason we were able to unleash all the power of the relic last time was mainly because of the remnant soul of Saint Longinus remaining inside the relic. Otherwise, your storyline should have been that the power of the Holy Lance suppressed the Stone Serpent's growth, and then we relied on modern firepower to bombard it."

"However, considering the preservation of the Holy Sword this time, it is highly likely that the user of the Holy Mark will be sacrificed. I suggest you be mentally prepared."

"..."

Everyone in the conference room stopped.

"Prophet, you must be joking. Bishop Giovanni is our only remaining superhuman strength. What if he really sacrifices himself..."

"Uh, are you serious?"

Chapter 50 Conqueror's Haki (To celebrate the 10th anniversary!)

When Giovanni stepped out of the stone gate, volcanic ash had already covered the entire hillside.

The sky was pressed down by black smoke, turning it a leaden gray, with dark red flames flickering inside the smoke layer.

The streets of Elcorano were packed with people, all frantically running towards the port.

[Worse than the Sardinia incident.]

He stood beside a protruding basalt rock on the hillside, watching two Typhoon fighter jets fly low over the Bay of Naples in the distance, their fuselages laden with missiles.

Woohoo!

Air raid sirens blared continuously behind us.

He had never seen a fighter jet swooping down on a giant that was half-climbing out of a mountaintop from this angle in his entire life.

Boom boom boom!

The Typhoon fighter jets unleashed their full payload onto the giant's shoulders in the first barrage of bullets.

The Hellfire missile, trailing white smoke, crashed into the lava crust, and the explosion tore several gashes through the black smoke layer.

The giant turned his head and raised his right hand, waving it horizontally in the air.

The smoke-filled arm swatted at the fighter jet like swatting a fly.

Boom!

The first typhoon exploded into a fireball in the sky, while the second was slammed onto a steep scree slope on the side of the volcanic cone, its wreckage rolling hundreds of meters down the slope before coming to a stop.

Bang bang bang!

Several fighter jets were shot down almost entirely in the smoke and fire barrage, turning into scattered sparks that fell to the mountainous ground.

Explosions and flashes continued in the sky, and shattered metal fragments fell from above the dark clouds.

The giant swung his arm outwards.

The thick smoke from the volcano enveloped his body, which was covered in flames, and was simultaneously hurled outwards in a wide barrage of fire.

Dense fireballs spread out in a fan shape down the mountain, crashing into the ground and creating huge craters on the spot.

A gas station on the edge of Elcorano was struck by a fireball, which caused a pillar of orange-red fire to erupt, with black smoke spreading from the base of the fireball to the surrounding roads.

The wild olive grove on the nearby hillside burned into a long, moving orange strip, and the fire spread eastward toward the driveway on the hillside with the wind.

[It was a scene straight out of a nightmare]

Giovanni's earpiece still held the discussions within the Papacy.

Mixed with numerous excerpts of discussions by cardinals.

They were frantically debating whether Giovanni was a worthy sacrifice.

If it's worthwhile, how much benefit do we need to secure from Italy?

How much damage can the power of a lava giant cause?

Is it possible to deduce how much Italy is willing to pay for this?

Bishop Giovanni is over seventy years old and his health is not very good. How many more years does he have left to live?

This is the bishop from the political faction; everything in the church is just a bargaining chip on this ship.

But the church needs these people.

He looked at the catastrophic scene before him and listened to the discussions coming through his earpiece.

Giovanni's lips trembled slightly.

In the end, he didn't press the call button on the microphone, but instead strode forward.

--------------

Rome, Ministry of Defense command center.

Kavali stared at the giant's half-body silhouette on the screen, covered in smoke and lava.

The evacuation team has relocated all residents of several towns surrounding the crater to Naples for emergency resettlement.

The side closer to the mountains is mostly comprised of Pantelleria-style villas and coastal sightseeing areas, with no densely populated settlements.

The giant had already stood up from the crater.

If we push this guy any further forward, past the mountainside, we'll reach Pompeii and El Corano, plus the urban clusters further away.

"If it moves another three kilometers forward, the loss figures will have to be rewritten."

The adjutant had already projected the draft of the most extreme plan from the operations department onto the auxiliary screen.

Once the giant leaves the crater and enters open ground, abandon the entire area and unleash a saturation bombardment.

At that moment, the church's hotline voice cut in.

“General Kavali, the reason the giant was awakened directly is that your people took away the sealed holy relic. This incident was entirely due to your unauthorized actions.”

"But your church didn't tell us in advance either. You should know that according to the agreement, you should provide some assistance for supernatural events."

"Lord Cavalli, you may not yet realize the gravity of this incident. The cost of this sealing is different from the past. For the Church, organizing a large-scale Mass is not a difficult task, but the problem is that the holder of the Holy Mark is very likely to pay with their life after the ritual."

There was a moment of silence in the command room.

Kavali understood what the other person meant.

If the other party truly does not wish to perform the ritual, they will not state the corresponding cost.

These guys are trying to raise prices arbitrarily.

Cavalli put the pen back on the table.

"So you want us to consider compensation terms?"

"The value of the Stigmata cannot be measured in money."

Then, the negotiations between the two sides became a tug-of-war.

Cavalli was calculating how many times the losses from the saturation bombing would have been multiplied if the old priest hadn't gone.

The Secretary of State, Cardinal, was calculating the weighting of the Vatican's discourse on supernatural matters.

Actually, he didn't want to send Bishop Giovanni out now, but he had seen the other's medical examination report...

The old bishop might not survive the next extraordinary event...

Unless divine intervention, he couldn't think of anyone who could pull the old bishop back from the brink of death.

At this point, both sides probed each other's prices several times over the encrypted communication line, neither willing to reveal their final terms to the other.

They all knew that continuing these negotiations would likely exacerbate the losses, and countless residents might lose their chance to escape.

But negotiations still need to be held.

--------------

Tents behind a temporary supply depot at a military assembly point on the outskirts of Mount Vesuvius.

The hat was placed on a makeshift table made from ammunition boxes.

The advance team soldiers stood around their hats for almost half an hour, still waiting for news from their superiors.

The sounds of fighter jets being smashed to pieces outside the tent had stopped, while the sirens of fire trucks and ambulances continued to blare in the distance.

A young soldier repeatedly glanced at the location of the hat.

"Is this the legendary sacred object? It looks like it would smell terrible."

hula.

Giovanni lifted the tent flap and came in.

His face was covered in volcanic ash, and half of his white beard had turned grayish-black.

Is that the guy from Sardinia?!

I remember my superiors saying that if the people in the church...

But it seems there hasn't been any notification from higher-ups yet...

While the soldiers were still hesitating, Giovanni quickly stepped forward and put his right hand into the cap opening on the table, and the stigmata suddenly lit up.

He gripped the sword hilt tightly and pulled it out of his hat.