Regarding Unity's words, Sisyphus wasn't angered but smiled slightly. "It seems you've been disconnected from the earth too long. You overlooked the strongest combatant among us."
Unity's ice-blue pupils abruptly contracted. He sharply turned to look in Setsuna's direction.
However, it was too late.
"Genro Maoken!"
Purplish-black demonic light shot out like a venomous snake, accurately piercing between Unity's eyebrows.
His figure instantly stiffened. The sea god patterns on his scales flickered unsteadily.
"Disperse the coral." Setsuna's voice was very calm.
Shockingly, Unity's face, shrouded in demonic light, began to twist and struggle.
Veins bulged on his neck. A low growl, unlike a human voice, emerged from his throat.
The coral restraining the Gold Saints trembled violently yet didn't retreat.
"What powerful willpower?" Rasgado's eyes widened. "He can resist even the Genro Maoken?"
Setsuna's expression was grave. "The leader of the Sea Warriors is certainly powerful, but not to the extent of ignoring the Genro Maoken."
"This is Poseidon's sealed place. It seems Unity's earlier claim about Poseidon's will leaking wasn't fabricated. Otherwise, he couldn't have become a Sea Warrior."
As if confirming Setsuna's speculation, terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from Unity's body.
Even with just a trace of consciousness seeping through, Poseidon-controlled Unity still displayed overwhelming power.
The divine pressure at close range was tangible. Sisyphus and the other two fainted before they could even struggle.
Setsuna gritted his teeth. The Phoenix Gold Cloth emitted groans of strain.
"Within my domain, even light must submit." The overlapping divine voice echoed through the seabed. Blue light like a miniature sun bloomed at Unity's fingertips.
Setsuna instinctively crossed his arms to defend. Yet that beam directly pierced through the Gold Cloth, exploding into countless ice spikes within his body.
Blood gushed from Setsuna's seven orifices, instantly freezing into crimson ice chunks in the seawater.
"Cough, cough!" Spitting bloody foam, Setsuna plunged his hand into the seabed rock layer. Sekishiki poured through the cracks into the earth's veins.
Dark blue ghost flames suddenly erupted beneath Unity's feet, but he merely swayed slightly.
"Hades's power?" Poseidon sneered. Those ghost flames were forcibly transformed into sea-blue ice flames, backlashing at Setsuna.
The instant the flames reversed, Setsuna's figure abruptly vanished. The next moment, he was already close before Unity.
"Hoyoku Tensho!"
Golden-red flames wrapped in power sufficient to pierce stars slammed heavily into Unity's chest.
Yet the fist force that should have torn through the sea now seemed to strike a bottomless abyss.
Setsuna shockingly discovered his Seventh Sense Cosmos radiated outside his body was completely suppressed back within.
As if blocked by an intangible barrier, it could no longer resonate with the macrocosm.
This was equivalent to using one's own Cosmos to contend against the other party's power controlling the macrocosm.
"Surprised? Only comprehending the Eighth Sense truly merges with the cosmos." Poseidon, using Unity's hand, grabbed Setsuna's wrist. A trident phantom directly pierced into the core of his Cosmos.
"Before the macrocosm's power, Cosmos can onl—" Poseidon suddenly stopped speaking.
Setsuna's Cosmos, which should have collapsed, now displayed astonishing resilience.
"Such a powerful origin… actually using Cosmos to contend against divine majesty…" Even Poseidon was somewhat surprised now.
Setsuna suddenly understood. No wonder the future Bronze Saints could face gods with human bodies.
Likely because, starting from the Twelve Houses, they continuously used their own Cosmos to contend across realms, tempering their Cosmos to incredible strength.
So much so that they didn't need to rely on radiating into the macrocosm. Their own Cosmos alone could rival gods!
Thinking this, Setsuna burned his own Cosmos to the extreme.
Unlike other Gold Saints, his greatest advantage was precisely his Cosmos.
The foundation from multiple worlds made his own Cosmos immensely powerful. Long before comprehending the Seventh Sense, this foundation allowed him to contend with Gold Saints.
"Thanks for helping compress it!" Setsuna grinned savagely. Under Poseidon's pressure, Chakra, Ki, Gourmet Energy, Haki, Cosmos… multiple forces actually merged together.
Pale gold of Senjutsu Chakra, dark blue of Sekishiki, pitch-black of Haki, pure white of Spirit Energy, crimson of Gourmet Energy… interwove into an unprecedented energy torrent in his palm.
"Hunyuan - Kikoho!"
A five-colored light pillar smashed through the temple like rotten wood. When Unity was directly hit, that face manifesting divine will showed astonishment for the first time.
Unity flew backward like a kite with a cut string, his aura rapidly declining.
Poseidon's consciousness flickered faintly within Unity's body. The deep sea's divine power receded like the tide. But those eyes still held divine majesty.
"Interesting human." Poseidon's voice echoed within the temple, carrying some amusement. "Your strength is indeed commendable. However, I will eventually break the seal and return to earth. Then, what can you stop?"
Just as Poseidon prepared to withdraw this trace of consciousness, Setsuna suddenly spoke. "Perhaps… we can cooperate."
Poseidon was stunned, then laughed. "Cooperate? You want to betray Athena?"
"No." Setsuna shook his head. "I mean against Hades."
Poseidon's pupils contracted slightly. He was silent for a moment, seemingly somewhat surprised by this answer.
But quickly, he narrowed his eyes. "And then?"
"That's all." Setsuna said calmly. "That's the entire content of cooperation."
Poseidon laughed in anger. "What kind of cooperation is this? Athena sealed me for thousands of years, and I'm supposed to eagerly help her deal with Hades?"
Setsuna responded calmly. "For eternal gods, a millennium is but a flicker. What truly angers you probably isn't being sealed itself but the act of being sealed… it stripped your dignity as a god."
Poseidon's gaze slightly froze, then he snorted. "You know that well enough."
Setsuna continued. "I also know the reason you failed is your true body was destroyed in the ancient god war. Hades, each Holy War, descends through soul reincarnation, never daring to participate with his true body. Likely influenced by your true body's destruction."
Poseidon asked somewhat impatiently. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
The corner of Setsuna's mouth lifted. "Have you ever thought about… seizing Hades's true body?"
"Since he doesn't use it himself…" Setsuna's voice was low and tempting. "…why not donate it to a god in need?"
Poseidon was silent for a long while, finally sneering. "Such a thing is impossible. Hades's true body is hidden deepest in Elysium, guarded layer upon layer by the Twin Gods and Specters. Even gods find it difficult to reach."