"Lord Pope, please wait a moment."
At the sound of the voice, everyone's gaze shifted to the back.
A look of delight spread across the face of Deathmask of Cancer.
Leo Gold Saint Aioria had stepped forward and knelt before the Pope on one knee.
"If Deathmask is unwilling, then please allow me to go. I will not let a single traitor who has stained the Goddess's glory escape."
"Oh, splendid, splendid," Deathmask of Cancer was the first to raise his hand and joyfully agree.
The masked Pope Arles hesitated for a moment, his gaze shifting from the ecstatic Deathmask to the resolute Aioria.
"Very well. I shall entrust this mission to you. I trust you will not tarnish the glory of the Saints."
"As you command." Aioria of Leo put on his helmet, turned, and walked out into the vast, empty expanse.
Pope Arles watched Aioria's departure with a cold gaze.
At the Pope's command, several Silver Saints appeared, following in the Leo Saint's footsteps as they headed for the far eastern nation of Japan.
The ocean.
Death Queen Island.
A golden light descended upon the skull-shaped island, isolated in the distant sea.
Using the Genro Maoken he had just learned from Pope Arles, he effortlessly controlled the Saints stationed here, then walked straight to the mountain peak and gazed up at the starry sky.
"Is this starry sky also responding to me?"
Seiya clenched his fist.
His suppressed destructive power and his even more vibrant Cosmo resonated with each other, inside and out.
Driven by the will of Pegasus, even without doing anything, he grew stronger with every breath, every moment.
Just as the Virgo and Aquarius Saints suspected, Seiya had his reasons for leaving on his own accord.
Back when he first watched Saint Seiya, he felt that the five young protagonists had overcome incredible hardships, crossing the Twelve Houses to defeat the Pope.
But thinking about it carefully now, the Bronze and Silver Saints of Sanctuary were successively defeated by those five, which resulted in their weakness and ineffectiveness in the subsequent Holy War.
Of course, this was certainly not the fault of the five young Saints. They were not wrong to protect Saori, the reincarnation of Athena.
And for the most part, those who followed the Pope's orders to eliminate Saori and the five protagonists for attempting to divide Sanctuary were not wrong either.
The real fault lay with the false Pope, Saga.
Seiya certainly could have stayed in the Sanctuary, burning his Cosmo and engaging in a series of great battles with the Saints, but causing massive casualties was not something he wished to see.
Besides, as the Pegasus Saint, he had no desire to be on the verge of delivering a fatal blow to Saga, only to suddenly see three people strike a strange pose and use a forbidden technique more despicable than any animal against him.
If a finishing move meant for an evil god were to hit him instead, Hades would probably laugh himself hoarse.
Therefore, Seiya's idea was the same as those of rebellious emperors: show mercy to the Saints who were blindly following orders, and punish only the chief culprit.
With a thought, the winged golden armor covered his entire body.
The Sagittarius Gold Cloth, a Cloth obtained from Zeus, the God of the End.
Zeus was the third-generation God King in ancient Greek mythology, the supreme deity who ruled over all things in the world, the head of the Twelve Olympians.
And the guardian constellation he represented was Sagittarius.
The Sagittarius Gold Cloth is one of the battle armors worn by the Gold Saints, who stand at the pinnacle of the eighty-eight constellations.
It is an armor of light, always radiating a brilliant glow.
There are twelve in total, and only Absolute Zero can freeze a Gold Cloth.
And upon obtaining this Cloth, he naturally mastered four combat techniques through the feedback of victory: Infinity Break, Lightning Discharge, All-Path Destruction, and Electric Current Propulsion with Arc Discharge.
Although these four Sagittarius combat techniques each had their own marvels and were still extraordinarily useful even for someone of Seiya's level, what preoccupied him at this moment was another matter: the Sagittarius Cloth submerged at the bottom of the sea.
Was there any difference between the Sagittarius Cloth his foolish system had obtained from Zeus and the current Sagittarius Gold Cloth?
If he added another one, could he synthesize a three-star Cloth?
Of course, that was just a joke.
This wasn't the first time Seiya had encountered a Cloth with the same name.
For instance, his own Pegasus Cloth and the Pegasus God Cloth that accompanied the yet-unborn deity Pegasus shared the same origin.
As the original Pegasus, Seiya felt that these two Cloths could become one.
So, if he could gain the recognition of this other Sagittarius Cloth, could he merge these two Cloths in the same way, fusing and sublimating them?
Seiya was confident about this.
Pegasus and Sagittarius have a high degree of overlap in their symbolic timing, making them intrinsically linked constellations.
Moreover, with his arrival, the scattered Sagittarius Gold Cloth had reassembled on its own.
More importantly, the Cosmo of the previous Sagittarius Gold Saint, Aiolos, was still latent within that Cloth.
If there was truly a need, he would surely respond to his call.
Japan, Kido Foundation, inside the castle where the Sagittarius Gold Cloth's helmet was displayed.
Dragon Saint Shiryu, Andromeda Saint Shun, Phoenix Saint Ikki, and Cygnus Saint Hyoga, along with Saori Kido, knew nothing of what was happening in the Sanctuary.
They were merely troubled by the spontaneous departure of the Sagittarius Gold Helmet.
"Doesn't this mean that Sagittarius has abandoned us?" Hyoga couldn't help but lament.
"Heh, a Saint's honor needs no one's validation, not even a Gold Saint's."
Phoenix Ikki stared sharply at the table where the golden helmet was supposed to be.
"I will prove with my actions that Sagittarius was wrong not to choose me."
"The question now should be why the Sagittarius helmet left, and what we should do now," Shun spoke up.
"Since we've already identified the main culprit, the natural course of action is to seek revenge," Shiryu said with his eyes closed.
"Are you suggesting we attack the Sanctuary?" Ikki looked down at him.
"Of course. Or are you afraid?"
Although Shiryu didn't open his eyes, he responded to Ikki with the same powerful spirit.
"Stop arguing! We don't want to start fighting amongst ourselves before the Pope's men even arrive," Andromeda Shun said with a smile, trying to smooth things over.
Then, an explosive shockwave filled everyone's vision—!
The castle garden, covering a thousand acres, was instantly razed to the ground.
The rampaging force continued to crush the Saints before it.
Their Cloths flared with power, their bones cried out in protest.
The Saints, who had been at odds just moments ago, now acted as one, igniting their Cosmos together to resist the sudden catastrophe.
And the result was—all of them were sent flying backward!
"Daring to challenge a Gold Saint without even understanding the difference in our power," a piercing voice rose from the smoke.
Though his figure was not yet visible, the Cosmo that far surpassed theirs already revealed what a terrifying existence their opponent was.
"Face my Lion's Fang!"
Lion's Fang, a combat technique of the Leo Saint. By throwing a punch at super speed, it generates extremely high-density wind pressure that, from a microscopic atomic level, directly destroys hundreds of trillions of the opponent's cells.
It is one of the most representative royal combat styles since ancient times.
And for an enemy to provoke the Leo Saint into unleashing his Lion's Fang, they must be an existence he deems extremely evil.
A green, raging dragon and a phoenix with wings spread wide met the divinely powerful golden lion head-on.
A wall of diamond-like ice crystals formed before them, and Hyoga was heard shouting, "Shun, take Saori and get out of here!"
This was no time to argue about who should stay.
A silver-pink chain wrapped around Saori's waist, and Andromeda Shun sped away into the distance.
Aioria of Leo watched the departing figures with a cold gaze.
He raised his palm, and a gleam of golden light once again formed at his index fingertip.
"Don't even think about it! Diamond Dust!"
Hyoga unleashed his full-power attack.
He was a Saint at the peak of the Sixth Sense, yet his all-out attack didn't even ruffle a single hair on his opponent's head.
A look of utter disbelief flashed in Hyoga's eyes, and in that fleeting moment of shock, his entire body felt as if it had been struck by thousands of fists.
He spat out blood, tracing a grim arc through the air before crashing heavily to the ground.
"Don't be in such a hurry. I won't let any of you go—not you, and not the traitors who use Athena's name in an attempt to divide the Sanctuary!"
On the highway, Andromeda Shun was racing along with Saori.
Saori clung to Shun's waist, the wind roaring in her ears like demonic wails.
The scenery blurred past her, and she closed her eyes in fear, shouting, "Shun, put me down! Go help Shiryu and the others!"
"Not yet! I have to get you to Shimotsuke at least! There's a Kido Foundation helicopter there that can take you away from this dangerous place!"
But at that moment, sensing something, Andromeda Shun instantly veered off his path.
An instant later, an explosive meteor storm rained down from the sky, turning the highway before them into a sea of fire.
"Three Silver Saints!" Andromeda Shun cried out in alarm.
For Saori, the world spun.
With a feeling of weightlessness, she was thrown hard onto the ground, tumbling several times on the pavement before struggling back to her feet.
The sound of exploding cars, people shouting, cries for help, and screams of pain rose and fell, making Saori feel as if she had fallen into hell.
Just as she turned to run, a figure descended from the sky, crashing onto the road in front of her.
A gaunt figure looked down at her, raised his arm with a savage grin, and said, "Well, well, I didn't expect you to still be alive, you traitor!"
"What?!"
Saori collapsed to the ground, her body uncontrollably scrambling backward.
The gaunt Silver Saint watched his prey with the playful cruelty of a cat toying with a mouse, slowly matching her backward steps.
"Saori Kido, by order of the Pope! Today, here and now, I will take your life!"
An ominous green light engulfed her vision.
Saori squeezed her eyes shut in terror, but the expected pain never came.
"Yo, I made it just in time."
An incredibly familiar voice sounded from above her.
"Long time no see, Saori."
It was a young man in a tracksuit.
She had no idea when he had appeared, but he had caught the arm that was about to pierce her chest with one hand.
Though she had never seen this face before, the moment she saw him, Saori Kido recognized him.
"Who are you?!" the Silver Saint roared.
Just as he was about to smash his arm down, a sharp pain shot through his chest.
Then, from his left cheek to the entire side of his head, his features twisted, and his whole body was sent flying.
The other Silver Saints, who were busy fighting Andromeda Shun, also saw the young man who had defeated their comrade.
He wasn't even wearing a Cloth and seemed completely non-threatening, but one of them, the Hound Saint, showed a look of sheer terror.
He raised his right hand, curled four fingers back, leaving only his index finger pointing out.
"One second," he said.
The young man in the tracksuit scanned the area, then tilted his head and spoke to Saori.
"I'll finish them all in one second."
"How is that possible?! Stop bluffing!" Dio of Musca shouted.
"Don't go! He's the one who appeared in the Sanctuary yesterday! He's the guy who nearly defeated the Pope himself!"
The Hound Saint hadn't even finished his sentence before he lost control and turned to flee in a mad dash.
But in less than a second, the young man in the tracksuit had already traced the path of the stars across his chest.
"—Pegasus—Meteor Fist!"
Thousands of blue lights covered the highway and the sky.
The Hound Saint was still screaming in terror as he fled, while Dio of Musca charged forward in anger.
But whether they were attacking or fleeing, at that very same moment, both Saints were pierced by the countless trails of blue light.
Splashes erupted on the wet ground as the attacking Silver Saints collapsed, their bodies steaming.
Andromeda Shun came to Saori's side.
As a spectator and the most perceptive of the five young Saints, he noticed that the magnificent meteor shower had precisely struck the attacking Silver Saints, yet had not caused a single bit of damage to the battlefield.
Even the Silver Saints themselves had their Cloths destroyed, but they were left injured, not dead.
This level of precise control was practically an art form.
He had only ever seen such skill from his grandmaster, the former Aries Saint, Shion.
Not even most Gold Saints could achieve this.
"Who are you?"
Andromeda Shun's clear, bright blue eyes stared at the young man in the tracksuit with his hands in his pockets.
"Seiya. Pegasus Seiya."
A gorgeous, dew-kissed rose appeared in Seiya's hand from out of nowhere.
"Whenever you see this flower, you will think of me."
Andromeda Shun reflexively took the rose, and Seiya snapped his fingers.
A warmth like the sun's rays covered the devastated area.
The destroyed highway, the burned-out cars, and the wailing crowds were all restored to their original state, as if time had been reversed.
But the gasps of amazement from the people made them realize this wasn't time reversal, but a direct restoration of the scene.
Saori looked at her childhood friend, whom she had only met a few times before he left seven years ago.
Over the years, she had constantly seen him in her dreams.
She had thought she would have so much to say when they finally met again, but now she couldn't say a word.
But a figure suddenly cut in between them.
It was Andromeda Shun.
He grabbed Seiya's hand and said anxiously, "Oh, right, Ikki and the others! They're still in danger! If you can, please come with me and help save them!"
"Aioria of Leo, right?"
Seiya placed his hand on top of Shun's.
"Don't worry. That's exactly what I came here for."
_____
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