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*****
"Are you saying that Cepheus, Libra, and Aries have all defected?!"
Inside the Pope's Great Hall, Saga listened to the report from Pisces and Cancer, unable to stop himself from crushing the armrest of his throne.
In truth, he had long anticipated the betrayal of these three.
Cepheus had ignored his commands for years, failing to attend meetings at the Sanctuary or follow his deployments. Libra, arrogant in his seniority, used the excuse of monitoring the seal on Hades' 108 Demon Stars to never give him the time of day. As for Aries, Saga had personally exiled him thirteen years ago for attempting to protect Aiolos; Mu had lived in seclusion in Jamir ever since, ignoring every summons.
Saga's original plan was to eliminate them one by one after capturing Athena's mortal vessel and recovering the Sagittarius Cloth. He hadn't expected the three of them to already know Saori Kido's true identity and move to protect her ahead of time.
"Yes. Originally, the Silver Saints led by Perseus had the absolute upper hand against the Crystal Saint and those few Bronze brats. We were on the verge of capturing them all.
"Then, Cepheus arrived with the Saints from Andromeda Island. Cepheus possesses power rivaling our own, and the Silver Saints were no match for him, so we stepped in.
"How could we have known that Mu of Aries and that old fossil Dohko of Libra would suddenly appear? We were overwhelmed in the ensuing fierce battle. Fortunately, at that critical moment, George awakened his Seventh Sense mid-combat and helped us hold off Cepheus. That gave us the opening to seize the Sagittarius Gold Cloth and retreat."
Under George's control, Aphrodite and Deathmask took turns reciting the fabricated story George had prepared.
"We were incompetent. We await your punishment, Your Holiness!" After the explanation, both men wore expressions of deep shame.
"I cannot blame you. After all, Dohko is a survivor of the previous Holy War, and Mu is equally formidable. Besides, you at least brought back the Sagittarius Gold Cloth."
Saga cursed them as "useless" in his heart, but on the surface, he offered words of comfort. He had no choice; currently, Aphrodite and Deathmask were the only Gold Saints truly loyal to him. Even though he knew they were the weakest of the twelve, he had to keep them close.
Once he cultivated stronger Gold Saints, he would replace these two failures without hesitation. His current implementation of brutal training in the Sanctuary was specifically to produce Saints with real potential. When the time came, he intended to replace every Gold Saint—save for his own Gemini seat—with followers of absolute loyalty.
"George, isn't it? You've done very well!"
After consoling the other two, Saga turned to George with a look of genuine appreciation. Within a few short days, George had promoted from Bronze to Silver and then broken through to the Gold level by awakening the Seventh Sense. This was clearly the mark of a true genius.
His potential far exceeded that of those two "useless" veterans. He was exactly the kind of candidate Saga needed to inherit a Gold Cloth—provided, of course, that he remained loyal even after learning that Saori Kido was Athena.
"Regarding the claims made by those traitors... what is your take?"
"How can the words of traitors be trusted? I serve only His Holiness, the Pope. It was His Holiness who bestowed this Cloth upon me. Therefore, I follow only your commands!"
Knowing Saga was testing him, George immediately pledged his loyalty. Saga was delighted; this was exactly the kind of Saint he required.
"Good. Excellent. From this day forward, you are the Sagittarius Gold Saint of the Sanctuary, one of the twelve most noble protectors."
With this, three of the twelve Gold Saints—excluding himself—were now fully loyal. Shura, that fool, believed his words without question. Shaka was too self-righteous and would likely remain on his side. Aldebaran was a simple brawler and Aiolia was too naive; both could be easily deceived or, if necessary, controlled with the Demon Emperor Delusion Fist.
Camus and Milo harbored suspicions but lacked evidence and were currently wavering; they could be ignored for now and eliminated once Athena was dealt with.
The real problem was how to handle Dohko and Mu, two top-tier Gold Saints. It had to be done quickly. If Dohko used his status to reveal the truth, the wavering Milo and Camus would surely flip. Furthermore, Athena hadn't fully awakened yet; once she did, killing her would become nearly impossible.
Done! George thought, a slight smile playing on his lips as he heard the command. From today, he was a legitimate Gold Saint of the Sanctuary. With this status, everything that followed would be much easier.
"Your Holiness, since Libra and Aries have defected, I believe we should immediately convene a meeting of all Gold Saints and sentence them swiftly!" George prompted, controlling Aphrodite to speak.
"You three go and rest first." Saga thought for a moment and nodded, then turned to his attendants. "Announce to the Sanctuary that George has performed a great service by recovering the Sagittarius Gold Cloth and has been promoted to Gold Saint. Then, issue the Gold Summons: every Gold Saint must assemble in the Great Hall by six this evening, or be branded a traitor!"
The high-profile announcement of George's promotion was, of course, to win hearts—to tell the Saints of the Sanctuary that as long as they were loyal and served the Pope, even a common soldier could rise to the rank of a noble Gold Saint.
The meeting served two purposes: to test Dohko and Mu, and to prepare for their subjugation. If they dared to attend, it would be a "Hongmen Banquet"—a trap from which they would never return. If they didn't, it would be an open act of rebellion, giving Saga the legal grounds to lead the majority of the Gold Saints to crush them. Once Dohko and Mu were dead, the others would be no threat, and Athena's life would be in the palm of his hand.
Returning to his stone house with the Sagittarius Cloth, George quickly synchronized with it. He communicated with the lingering soul imprint left by Aiolos, gaining full mastery over the armor.
When the previous Sagittarius Saint died, he left behind a spiritual trace that made the Cloth more sentient, allowing it to aid Saints truly loyal to Athena in dire moments. This was why Seiya could wear it and perform at a Gold level despite being a Bronze Saint.
In theory, a Saint could only use one Cloth because their essence resonated with a specific constellation. To use another—like moving from Silver to Gold—one had to "change constellations," rendering the previous Cloth unusable. However, George was no ordinary Saint; his authority over Deception allowed him to trick both the constellations and the Cloths themselves. He could wear any Cloth, Scale, or Surplice he got his hands on—and even modify them. If he could find a Kamui (God Cloth), he could probably wear that too with enough time.
"Is that George? Why is he wearing a Gold Cloth?!"
"It's the Sagittarius Gold Cloth!"
"Wasn't he just promoted to the Crateris Silver Cloth?"
As George walked through the Sanctuary's central plaza, every Saint and soldier who saw him wore a look of utter disbelief. If it weren't for the dazzling gold armor right in front of them, they would have thought they were hallucinating.
They had been surprised by his promotion to Silver, but they could accept it—after all, he had defeated every Bronze Saint in the Sanctuary, including the powerful Docrates. But a Gold Saint? They were the ultimate peak of the Sanctuary, limited to twelve per era, masters of the Seventh Sense.
Even Shaina, the mentor of George's original host body, stood frozen at the training grounds as he approached.
"George... you... how?"
"I completed the Pope's mission and awakened the Seventh Sense during the battle. Consequently, the Pope has promoted me to be the new Gold Saint. The official notice will be posted soon."
George gave a brief, fabricated summary of the mission. Shaina stood in a daze for a long time.
Sure enough, a notice was soon posted on the bulletin board in the plaza. It detailed how Cepheus, Libra, and Aries had betrayed the Sanctuary and joined an evil force, leading to the deaths of over a dozen Silver Saints. It praised the heroic Silver Saint George for fighting his way through the encirclement to recover the Sagittarius Cloth, which had been missing for thirteen years.
The news sent shockwaves through the ranks. While they were furious about the betrayal of the "strongest Silver" and two Gold Saints, they were in awe of George's feat. Looking at him now, their eyes were filled with reverence. They felt that only a genius like George was worthy of the Gold Cloth.
6:00 PM, inside the Pope's Great Hall.
Every Gold Saint was present, except for Libra and Aries. Saga had Aphrodite recount the events, carefully omitting the fact that Saori Kido was Athena and framing the mission as a simple recovery of the Cloth that fell into an ambush.
Silence followed the report. After a moment, Camus stood up. "Dohko is a teacher to us all, tasked with watching the seal of the Underworld at the Five Old Peaks. How could he possibly betray the Sanctuary? Is there not some misunderstanding?"
The other Saints nodded. While the betrayal of Mu was vaguely plausible—given he had helped the "traitor" Aiolos thirteen years ago—the idea of Dohko being a traitor was hard to swallow. Even Shaka and Shura looked hesitant.
Saga had anticipated this. "It is not impossible. Based on my research of past Holy Wars, before the war begins, Hades' sister Pandora is often born ahead of time to make preparations and gain an advantage. I suspect this 'Saori Kido' may be the reincarnation of Pandora. Dohko and Mu may be under her delusion or control. The reason Cepheus has ignored our orders all these years is likely the same."
The Gold Saints wavered. No one knew the history of the Holy Wars better than the Pope. As Gold Saints, they also studied past records to prepare for the future, so the scenario Saga described sounded plausible.
"And do not forget," Saga pressed, "Dohko has been monitoring the sealed Specters for over two hundred years. Because of that proximity, the likelihood of him being corrupted is extremely high."
He had provided a logic they couldn't easily refute.
"Of course, this is currently just a theory. To verify it, I have decided to dispatch six of you—Shaka, Shura, Aiolia, Aldebaran, Camus, and Milo—to Tokyo. Bring Saori Kido, Dohko, and Mu back to the Sanctuary. There, the Great Athena herself shall judge them."
Impressive. Truly impressive, George thought from his seat, watching Saga play the other Gold Saints like a fiddle. This man really has a brain.
Saga's reasoning was incredibly solid. Even if the others didn't fully believe it, the seeds of doubt were sown. When they got to Tokyo, even if Saori revealed her powerful Cosmo, Saga could just claim it was Pandora pretending to be Athena. Since most of them had never actually seen the real Athena (believing she was being raised in the Goddess Hall), the deception was near-perfect.
If Dohko and the others agreed to come, they'd walk into a trap. If they refused, it would look like they were guilty and controlled by Pandora. Either way, a battle would ensue. Six against three meant that even if Dohko was exceptionally strong, they would likely lose. And if Athena's side somehow won, it would be a pyrrhic victory.
Saga would then step in with his loyalists—George, Aphrodite, and Deathmask—to finish the job. It was a perfect plan.
"Unfortunately, you're one move short. And that move benefits me."
George smiled inwardly. The situation had shifted slightly from his original prediction, but the end result was the same. Saga had planned for everything except one thing: George's loyalty was a sham, and Aphrodite and Deathmask were already his puppets.
The moment Shaka and the others left for Tokyo, George would use his puppets to take Saga down directly.
(End of Chapter)