Dealing with "Galaxian Explosion" was a cycle of suffering—eating dirt and dying repeatedly. Just as everyone finally made some progress, Saga revealed his "Another Dimension." The audience wasn't Seiya; they didn't have Athena calling them back every time they were teleported away. Once hit by this move, a player was directly expelled from the battlefield, which was equivalent to an immediate loss.
After the group finally learned to dodge "Another Dimension," they were met with the "Demon Emperor's Fist." This move was even harder to defend against because it left no trace; once it hit, the player fell under Saga's mind control, resulting in another instant loss.
Crucially, the experience segments for end-bosses had pain sensations turned on by default. Whether it was the spellcasters facing Voldemort or the melee group challenging Saga, everyone was drenched in sweat from the pain after being knocked down several times. They had to take off their glasses and gulp down coffee or ice-cold cola to calm their nerves.
Pirelli, who was in charge of collecting payments, told Wayne that sales of drinks had skyrocketed over the past few days.
However, the price of this "suffering" came with compensation. Chen, for one, could clearly feel his defense and damage-soaking abilities improving significantly under the constant pressure of these challenges.
In the end, it was McBride who, through sheer willpower, managed to dodge "Another Dimension" and "Demon Emperor's Fist" while tanking three consecutive "Galaxian Explosions." He held out until Athena arrived, officially concluding the Sanctuary Arc.
But as they moved into the "Asgard Arc," new trouble arrived.
If the fight against Saga was a test of evasion and defense—stalling until the "scripted kill"—then the fight against the God Warrior Siegfried of Dubhe was a test of offense, particularly speed. Furthermore, this time it required the coordination of two people.
The first person was the absolute key. They had to mimic Shiryu's plot: during a frantic exchange of blows with Siegfried, they had to seize a window of opportunity said to last only "one hundred-thousandth of a second" to strike the opponent's chest, thereby breaking Siegfried's invulnerability. Otherwise, no matter how fierce the assault, it would have zero effect on his God Robe.
This corresponded to the Norse myth where the hero Siegfried became invincible after bathing in dragon blood, except for a spot on his back blocked by a leaf—his fatal weakness. In this battle, because one had to catch that split-second gap, the first player had to completely abandon defense. Their job was to hit that one Rising Dragon Punch at all costs. Once successful, regardless of how badly injured they were, they could hand the fight over to their teammate.
The second player's job was to decisively defeat the now-vulnerable Siegfried. Although the top God Warrior had lost his impenetrable defense, his attack power remained immense. Siegfried's two moves, "Odin Sword" and "Dragon Blizzard," were incredibly powerful direct-attack skills.
Fortunately, having been devastated by Saga, the audience had gained considerable combat experience, and they didn't stay stuck for too long this time.
Finally, Chen led the charge to pave the way for Li Li. After she landed several hits on Siegfried and crippled him, the mastermind appeared at the critical moment—Sorento the Siren. He began the traditional villain's performance: talking too much.
He told everyone that the Asgardian priestess Hilda had transformed from a peace-bringer to a warmonger because she was controlled by the "Nibelung Ring." The one who had placed the ring on her finger was one of the gods on par with Athena—Poseidon, the Emperor of the Seas.
With this revelation, the loyal Siegfried was no longer willing to fight the Saints. He proactively plucked out the Odin Sapphire from his God Robe, allowing the players to summon the armor worn by the supreme god of the Aesir, Odin. Using the accompanying Balmung Sword, they cut the evil Nibelung Ring from Hilda's hand, ending the threat of the glaciers melting and drowning the world.
Unfortunately, the armor was borrowed; it had to be returned after use.
The players and the five Bronze Saints moved on without rest, dragging their battered and bruised bodies from Asgard into the undersea kingdom. The Gold Saints claimed to be the strongest every day, yet the hard and dirty work always fell to the "Bronze kids."
The Poseidon Arc featured seven enemies known as the Marina Generals, who guarded the seven Mammoth Pillars supporting the seven oceans in the undersea world of Atlantis. However, this arc only had 15 episodes—two-fifths shorter than the Asgard Arc, which had 26.
A shorter length meant the combat process was less complex, and the players' experience confirmed this. Whether it was Baian of the Sea Horse with his defensive wall, Io of Scylla who could transform into six different beasts like a circus act, Krishna of Chrysaor from Sri Lanka with his golden spear, or Casa of Lyumnades who only turned into the person most important to his opponent but was essentially a weakling in actual combat—they all had plenty of gimmicks. But the players, having been baptized by the Twelve Palaces and Asgard, were no longer impressed by these Marina's moves.
Basically, after getting familiar with the mechanics and failing once or twice, they passed through them directly. Casa, the illusionist, was a weakling that everyone could one-shot. Even Kanon of Sea Dragon—Saga's younger brother and the one who instigated the war between Poseidon and Athena—used moves that were nearly identical to Saga's, with the only difference being "Another Dimension" becoming "Golden Triangle Dimension."
Let alone Chen or Shadowbreaker; even Arator, who had died so many times against Saga, found this place familiar and easy.
However, no one expected that after cruising through the seven Marina Generals, they would face a nearly broken, god-tier Poseidon. He was an overpowered existence unlike anything they had encountered before.
As the battle and plot progressed, Poseidon would go through three stages, gradually increasing the awakening level of the sea god's soul within his mortal body. In just the first round, he possessed "Divine Defense." This meant that if a player's Cosmos hadn't reached an extremely high state, any attack launched at him would not only fail to land but would be reflected back in its entirety.
It became a battle of hitting oneself.
But there were rewards. Through constant attempts and heightened focus, the Sagittarius Gold Cloth would appear as outside help. Once the player put it on, their strength surged instantly. At that point, they had to use their maximized Cosmos to fire the Golden Arrow, wounding Poseidon's forehead and triggering his second stage...
Just for this first stage, everyone had been trying for days. It was not any easier than the group raid on Voldemort.
Shadowbreaker even complained, "With such powerful strength, why doesn't he just kill his way to the surface? I don't think those Gold Saints are a match for him at all."
Chen, of course, knew the trick: "It's like in tragic love stories; they let the young couple fall in love first before the bad parents or rivals appear. If they were never allowed to meet in the first place, how could the plot continue?"
Hearing this, the older players immediately thought of the opera Romeo and Juliet that used to be performed at the Karazhan Opera House.
McBride and his subordinates were also unable to pass. He took off his glasses to find Shadowbreaker. "Duke, why don't you go find Wayne, or ask the old knight to help? They might have more ideas."
Shadowbreaker sighed. "Them? They've been busy farming these past few days."
McBride: "Farming?!"
Chen stroked his round belly and stuffed a piece of stinky tofu into his mouth while saying, "Yes, they are farming on a manor. Actually, I really wanted to join them... but mainly because I can't get past this part, I'm just too unwilling to quit..."
McBride turned to look out the windows. "Them? I don't see them farming outside?"
Li Li spoke up then: "They are farming in a place called 'Stardew Valley'!"