After the Bronze boys passed through the Leo (River Crab) Temple, they arrived at the next palace, guarded by the Virgo Gold Saint Shaka, who bore the title of the man closest to God among the Twelve Temples.
Compared with the other Gold Saints, Shaka was even more powerful. As a child he had already grasped the cycle of life and death, a terrifying existence said to be able to converse with gods and buddhas.
"There's actually not a single person in the Virgo Temple?" Because of Shaka's presence, behind the Virgo Temple lay a connected pocket dimension, a place known as the Sala Twin Trees.
It was also where Shaka usually sat in meditation, so in general he spent far less time in the Virgo Temple itself.
"Wait… there seems to be someone sitting over there… a Gold Saint?" Shiryu pointed toward the depths of the Virgo Temple. Since he had never fought Perseus, he hadn't gouged out his own eyes, so his vision was still excellent.
"Hey, why is a Gold Saint still sitting there even after seeing us come in?" Seiya scratched his head in confusion, then it was as if something suddenly clicked. He rubbed the tip of his nose with his right index finger and continued, "I get it. He knows he's no match for us, so he sat down because he wants to talk things out and then let us pass."
"Seiya, are you joking? That's not funny at all." Even Shun, the easiest to fool among the Bronze boys, didn't believe what Seiya just said.
Seiya only shrugged at that, since he himself didn't really believe what he'd just said either. "Well, well, but it doesn't look like he has any hostile intent."
Of them all, only Ikki said nothing, simply staring at Shaka in the distance, lost in thought. "Hold it." When they were only a few dozen meters from Shaka, Ikki stopped the group.
"Lord Meruem said before that among the twelve Gold Saints in the Twelve Temples, there are two people you must never provoke."
"One is the Gemini Gold Saint Saga, who left the Sanctuary at some unknown point but is known as the incarnation of a god. The other is the Virgo Gold Saint Shaka, the one called the man closest to God."
Shaka, however, paid no attention to Ikki's words. He kept his eyes tightly shut and said nothing.
That irked Ikki a bit, but he didn't dare be careless. Shaka was different from the Gold Saints they had met before—whether in combat strength or otherwise. Ikki remembered what Meruem had told him: Shaka had been able to converse with gods and buddhas since childhood, so his reverence for Athena was the weakest among the Twelve Temples.
"The man closest to God"—for the Bronze boys, that domineering title was quite a shock.
"For what purpose have you come here?" A clear, ethereal voice echoed from all directions within the Virgo Temple, making it impossible to tell where it came from.
But Ikki knew the voice belonged to Shaka.
"To break through the Twelve Temples, bring back Athena, and confront the Pope." Shiryu replied briefly yet respectfully. The man before him was someone even his own master could not see through.
"In that case… please turn back."
There was not the slightest emotional fluctuation in Shaka's words. It was as calm as asking what to eat for dinner.
"Are you kidding me? What do you think we came here for?" At Shaka's words, Seiya's stubborn temper flared instantly. Though he usually joked around and never acted serious, when it came to sheer hardheadedness, he was the most stubborn of all the Bronze boys. Once he lost his temper, he didn't care who he was up against.
"I don't care if you're the so‑called man closest to God. We are getting through here no matter what."
The others groaned inwardly at Seiya's declaration, but none of them bothered to explain further. They all felt the same way he did.
"How do you know the Pope is necessarily wrong? Or how can you be sure there is no true goddess in the Goddess Temple? Or how do you know you aren't being used by some people with ulterior motives?" Shaka's questions were razor‑sharp, and there was even a bit of sophistry mixed in.
And who those so‑called people with ulterior motives were was more than obvious.
"You bastard… how dare you insult Miss Saori and Lord Meruem." This time it wasn't just Seiya who was furious; the others also felt a surge of anger in their chests.
It seemed a battle in the Virgo Temple was unavoidable.
"Pegasus Meteor Fist!" Having grown impatient, Seiya struck first. In battle, his fists always moved faster than his brain.
Yet those countless blue, meteor‑like punches couldn't even make Shaka take a single step back. They all vanished about a meter in front of him, as if blocked by an invisible wall.
"This guy really isn't simple…" Ikki's eyes narrowed. Among the Bronze boys, he alone noticed that, just before Seiya's Meteor Fist was about to hit Shaka, a barrier made entirely of Cosmo appeared.
That one move alone was enough to prove that Shaka before them was in no way inferior to any of the Gold Saints they had faced in the previous temples.
"Kahn!" Shaka merely formed a simple seal with his hands.
A surge of golden Cosmo swept out like a shockwave, instantly blasting all the Bronze boys except Ikki into the air and slamming them into the walls of the Virgo Temple.
Still keeping his eyes closed, Shaka said to Ikki with a hint of surprise, "Oh? So you're the strongest among them. You've actually reached the Seventh Sense… not bad. But that still isn't enough."
"Heavenly Overlord: Demons and Phantoms!" Countless demons and specters emerged from behind Shaka and rushed toward the Bronze boys as they struggled to rise from the ground.
This time even Ikki was sent flying along with the others.
"As you are now, you cannot break through me. You'd best leave while you still can." When they came to their senses, the Bronze boys seemed to be in another dimension. A gigantic statue of Buddha appeared out of nowhere before their eyes, then transformed into Shaka's form and addressed them.
An ordinary Saint would have been scared witless by such a scene.
Unfortunately for Shaka, the Bronze boys had a master illusionist among them. "Hmph, cheap tricks. Phoenix Wing Rise!" The blazing phoenix tore through space, shattering the colossal Shaka image like broken glass into countless fragments.
The group returned from that bizarre pocket dimension to the Virgo Temple.
"Oh? No wonder you could break through the previous temples. So your strength has already reached the level of a Gold Saint."
"In that case, go on ahead."
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
For every 50 Power Stones, one extra chapter will be released on Saturday.