Something that I myself keep forgetting about Halberd is that he’s not actually a real priest, but rather an opportunistic politician who created the whole religion based on the people’s preexisting relationship with Zontik.
He elevated Zontik from a man to God, and as fun as it is to cast Halberd as his devout albeit independent worshipper, I have to remind myself that he knows about the fabricated lie and might not hold the same religious reverence for Zontik that the rest of the nation does. At worst, he acknowledges him as the creator, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he sees him as God, as the image he twists Zontik into certainly would count as blasphemy.
In a way, that makes him similar to Shield, who also knew what Zontik was like before and how fake his godly image is.
Now the question is: did he fly so close to the sun that he started believing his own lies about Zontik’s godhood, or does he remain grounded in reality and pose an extra threat to Zontik that way?