"As expected, the problem lies with that World Tree. For his own ambition, Andreas actually cast aside the lives of innocent commoners. Can that kind of behavior still be called leadership of Asgard?" After throwing Fafner into Yomotsu Hirasaka, Deathmask ignored him, carried Helena back home in a princess carry, settled her in, warned her that Asgard might not be safe for a while and told her not to wander. Then he returned to where the Gold Saints had gathered to report to Saga.
By the time he released Fafner, the man's mind was already half broken. Understandable—Deathmask hadn't just tossed Fafner in alone; he'd sent in all the innocent souls Fafner had slaughtered along with him.
Unfamiliar with the Underworld, with no way to attack souls, and with his Cosmo temporarily sealed by Deathmask, Fafner had been tormented to no end.
Fortunately, the Gold Saints had someone who could hypnotize others with a single rose: Aphrodite. He easily drew plenty of secrets out of Fafner. In Soul of Gold, even under the World Tree's suppression, Aphrodite had hypnotized him with ease; now, not only was he stronger than in Soul of Gold, but his Cosmo was not being suppressed at all.
Once they heard what Fafner revealed, the Gold Saints were furious. As the guardians of justice, the Sanctuary could not permit such evil to exist, even if Asgard lay outside its direct jurisdiction. They could not look the other way.
Thus the Gold Saints had the two Silver Saints stay behind at their lodgings, so they could call for aid from the Sanctuary if anything unexpected happened. The Silvers' power was limited; they would only be a burden on the front lines. And of course, Deathmask also wanted them to help look after Helena. If not for Meruem's mission, Deathmask would have taken Helena straight back to the Sanctuary already.
After saving Helena, his feelings with her had heated up rapidly again. They were a step from marriage. Deathmask had even promised that, once the Asgard incident was over, he would bring Helena and her younger siblings to live in the Greek Sanctuary. With a Gold Saint's benefits, feeding a few extra people—never mind thousands—was no problem at all.
As for marriage, Gold Saints were not forbidden to wed. In fact, the Sanctuary encouraged Saints to marry, since the children of outstanding Gold Saints were rarely lacking in talent.
Like Leo Ilias, who had reached unity with nature; his genius son, little Leo Regulus, was the best proof.
That was called genetic inheritance.
But honestly, was it really okay to set this many death flags before leaving?
With Saga at the lead, the Gold Saints headed for the World Tree. On the way, Aiolia encountered a girl named Lyfia as if by fate. He met her while she was being chased by Asgard soldiers.
With Lyfia, a palace maid, guiding them, the Gold Saints now had a clear destination and deeper understanding of Andreas's ambition as the current ruler of the north.
A mere Asgard priest had imprisoned Hilda, Odin's representative and former mistress of Asgard—and with the support of the Asgard soldiers, no less. This Andreas was no simple man. If Helena hadn't learned of Fafner's atrocities, even Deathmask speaking ill of Andreas in front of her would have made her dislike him.
That alone showed how high Andreas's standing was among the northern people.
"The World Tree is in the territory that used to belong to that cult of Ice Warriors, Valhalla Temple." Saga, once Pope, understood the distribution of power in the world well enough. "Looks like Valhalla Temple has been wiped out by Andreas. They'd been rooted there for hundreds of years; if that's the case, things are worse than we thought."
At the World Tree's topmost chamber, the red-haired Andreas was staring into a crystal ball showing the figures of the Gold Saints.
"Damn those Saints for arriving so quickly. Hmph—so much for that 'war god' of the Twelve Olympians, and that so-called Sun God Abel who shone like the sun. All useless trash, beaten by the Sanctuary in no time." For once, anxiety showed on Andreas's face. The fact that his barrier hadn't suppressed the Gold Saints' Cosmos unsettled him. It meant they had come prepared. Loki's original plan had been to launch the World Tree and Eternal Spear project while the Sanctuary was locked in battle with the Berserkers and Abel.
But to his shock, his plan was only half finished when the Sanctuary crisis ended. Those were two extraordinarily powerful gods, yet they had been resolved so quickly. And worse, as soon as the Sanctuary finished, they noticed something was wrong in the north, giving him no time to adjust. Even if he stopped now and went back into hiding, it was too late.
He would never have guessed that Meruem had been watching Asgard from the very beginning. It was not just Loki who wanted the Eternal Spear; Meruem had his eye on it too. Joking aside, even if Norse myth and its gods were weaker than Olympus in the Saint world, the Eternal Spear was still the mightiest weapon of the Norse pantheon.
It was hardly likely to be inferior to most of the Twelve Olympians' weapons. And Meruem happened to be short one weapon himself.
Since the World Tree that would birth the Eternal Spear could not be hidden, Loki now had no choice but to push his plan through. His one small comfort was that Athena had not come to Asgard in person; if she had, he would be in real trouble.
"No choice. Looks like I'll have to deal with these Gold Saints inside the World Tree. I went to all that trouble to find replacements to provide energy in place of the Twelve Gold Saints, and now you all come walking to my door—too bad I don't need you anymore." Andreas first ordered the gathered God Warriors to kill all the Gold Saints. Once they had donned their Odin Sapphires and left, he turned his gaze to the altar that should have held the twelve Gold Cloths.
Only three men lay on it. If the five Bronze Boys were here, they would recognize two of them as the surviving Mariners Sorrento and Krishna.
The last was the reincarnated vessel of the Sea Emperor Poseidon—Julian Solo.
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