"Tut, tut, tut… so you saw through it."
A thin, rasping voice came from Auriga Capella's mouth.
Looking closely.
Capella's face suddenly began to change. His mouth split open, his skin turned ashen gray, and his body started to swell. Veins and muscles bulged all over, his face twisted and deformed, the bridge of his nose collapsed, and the corners of his mouth curled up like a clown's.
Weird tumors surfaced all over him. In the end, a single blood-red eye replaced his big face.
But his body did not enlarge like a giant's. He remained human-sized.
Only the already-cracked Silver Cloth showed signs of crumbling, its surface gone dull.
Which meant the Silver Cloth was dead.
Clearly, the Auriga Silver Saint was dead too.
The Capella before him was just a trap—one set specifically to hunt Saints.
"Didn't expect a green kid without a Cloth to show up. I thought I'd hooked a big fish. This trap was specially prepared for Saints. And I only reeled in a little fish… not even enough to pick my teeth."
Capella's expression was contemptuous.
It was a setup just to hook the fish that bit.
He really didn't care for a little fish like this.
Looking at him, Damian asked, "Who exactly are you people, and why are you invading the human world?"
It was clear this monstrous being was intelligent. He should be able to converse.
"Petty human, since you asked, I'll be merciful and tell you: we are Apostles, collecting sacrifices for my Lord, awaiting my Lord's resurrection and descent upon the world."
"My Lord will rule the earth and annihilate Athena."
The Apostle was arrogant, his tone crazed.
"An evil god's resurrection, huh?"
Damian was speechless.
In the Saint Seiya world, there are countless mighty gods, mainly those from Greek myth, each fighting on their own, seizing control over various realms—basically a bunch of war fanatics.
A few evil gods showing up wasn't strange.
But this evil god annoyed Damian.
Their appearance had already disrupted the main plot, affecting the future. The butterfly effect was already interfering with his desire for a quiet life.
"Your master needs sacrifices to awaken… then it's some sealed monster. Is it a cyclops?"
Damian muttered.
"What? How do you know?"
The Apostle's deformed single eye bulged like a light bulb.
Well, I just tossed that out from myth and it hit the mark.
Come on—looking at your mug, that single eye already sold you out. Guessing it right is only normal, isn't it?
"Foolish human—you dare speak my Lord's name—"
The Apostle roared, but before he finished, the human man before him vanished without a trace.
At the same time, a rush of wind rose behind him.
He had just turned when a roar sounded: "Die!"
In a flash, a sky of fist shadows covered his vision. The Apostle's armor shattered at once, and his body was riddled by the supersonic blows.
Yet the Apostle did not die.
His limbs still thrashed madly—until a bowl-sized fist descended and smashed his head hard.
The Apostle's head rocked; his body arched; spiderweb cracks burst across the ground beneath his feet as dirt and stone flew, his legs driven into the stone.
Damn!
From that one punch, the Apostle knew he'd hooked a big fish.
No—the other wasn't a fish, but a sea monster!
Another fist smashed into his cheek. His body, even more massive than a giant's, flew back and punched a hole in the stone wall opposite.
The Apostle was far stronger than he looked. His body had been pounded like by heavy artillery, bones utterly shattered, flesh bursting—and yet it regenerated at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Well now!
What recovery—you cockroach, are you?
In midair, the Apostle's eyes bulged as he searched for his target.
Just then, Damian roared, "Plasma Lightspeed Punch!"
Suddenly, countless golden beams blanketed the air, forming a golden web that enveloped the Apostle.
In an instant, his body was hammered into mince by the golden net.
Only his head remained intact.
Next, another heavy punch, wind howling, smashed down squarely on the Apostle's head.
The blow fell like a thousand-pound hammer, bursting his skull completely.
"Urgh…"
The Apostle let out a muffled grunt. The headless corpse sagged to the ground.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Damian's chained attacks were as swift as lightning. The Apostle didn't even have time to react before his face was turned into a meat pie.
The Apostle's life faded.
Still uneasy, Damian flicked his fingers, slicing a few times. Translucent strands of Cosmo and telekinesis snapped from his fingertips, hacking the corpse into eight pieces.
He cut the fragments into dozens of chunks—and still frowned.
"This Apostle really is strange."
The pile of meat below writhed—kept writhing—as if something lived in the flesh.
Damian simply used telekinesis, prying the meat apart by force—and dug out a wormlike thing.
It was more like a maggot, its body covered in tentacles, about half an arm long. Anyone with trypophobia would jump at the sight.
An Apostle's vitality was no joke. Their bodies seemed to carry a self-healing gene. Blows that could drop a Silver Saint—he could withstand many of them. Even with his body destroyed, he still had an eerie life force.
Was that life force tied to this worm?
The worm seemed to sense danger and crawled desperately toward a nearby corpse.
Damian twitched his will—and the worm burst apart in midair, turning to a lump of meat paste.
"Uuuu…"
Just then, the little girl on the ground let out a sound.
Damian stepped up to check the widow and child lying there.
"Hey, wake up…"
The woman was dead, had been for some time. Her blood was nearly dry. Only the little girl had a breath left.
"The injuries are serious!"
"Lower abdomen pierced, arm broken, bruising on the neck, a contusion on the back of the head—she must have taken a blunt-force hit."
Damian pressed his palm to the girl's head. A trickle of telekinesis flowed out, and he instantly sensed the condition of her body.
Then he used a modified version of Scarlet Needle—"Healing Needle."
Scorpio's Scarlet Needle strips an opponent of the five senses, inflicting paralysis and agony, making them bleed nonstop.
Healing Needle is a modded Scarlet Needle—its effect the exact opposite, able to heal various internal injuries, quicken blood and dissolve clots, stop bleeding and regrow flesh, and bring an unparalleled sense of comfort.
Damian's fingernail turned sharp and pale and pierced the girl's brow star.
"Ah!"
The girl, whose breath had been faint, reacted at once. Color returned to her pale face. Her small mouth opened, and a smile spread—utterly at ease.
As the Healing Needle took effect, the little girl seemed to wake.
But the first thing she did on opening her eyes wasn't say thanks. She suddenly raised a hand and—who knew from where—pulled a small knife.
"Die!"
The blade shot for Damian's face!
Well now!
The farmer and the snake—in real life?
(End of Chapter)
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