Support me and be 30 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/Draco_
For every 5 Patreon memberships I receive, I'll release 15 chapters all at once. Your support means a lot to me.
*****
"Tenma Kōfuku!"
"Tenma Kōfuku!"
Six months later, in the Temple of Virgo, Shaka—who had already opened his eyes—sat cross-legged on the ground, panting heavily. He looked at George, who stood opposite him with an air of composed leisure, and said:
"Lord Pope, I can't go on. You should go find Shura and the others to continue your practice."
After the truth behind the past betrayals had come to light, Sanctuary had returned to its former tranquility. Everyone had accepted the narrative woven by the new Pope, George. As the reincarnation of Athena, Saori Kido naturally took up permanent residence within Sanctuary.
Initially, the Gold Saints lived in their respective temples and practiced as usual. However, the new Pope George frequently visited them under the pretext of "enhancing their strength" to engage in sparring sessions.
At first, they found it difficult to refuse. They were also genuinely curious to see exactly how strong George was—the man who had defeated Aphrodite, Deathmask, and even Saga.
The results left no room for doubt. While George's Cosmos was technically the weakest among them, he possessed incredibly powerful secret techniques. Whenever he transformed into his white-haired state, they found themselves unable to overcome him, no matter how intensely they burned their Cosmos.
In this manner, George took turns thrashing them daily. Now, even without resorting to his white-haired transformation, they were no longer his match. George's Cosmos had already surpassed all of theirs.
Furthermore, over the past six months, George had mastered every single one of their signature moves. When George executed those same techniques, they were even more potent than when performed by the original creators.
Of course, during this half-year of being "bullied" by George, their own strength had also improved significantly. George had even suggested refinements to their ultimate moves, making them more perfect and formidable. Now, each of them was capable of taking on three versions of their past selves.
"Shaka, this won't do. Aside from sparring with me, you all should spar with each other. That's the only way to progress quickly," George joked with a smile before heading toward the next temple.
His constant sparring over the last six months wasn't just for power. Although he had used various means to become the Pope, his seniority was shallow; not long ago, he had been a mere foot soldier of Sanctuary. While the Gold Saints didn't say it aloud, there was undoubtedly some lingering dissatisfaction in their hearts.
The solution to dissatisfaction was simple: beat them until they were convinced. The philosophy of "might makes right" worked quite well in Sanctuary. After half a year of being pummeled, all the Gold Saints were now utterly devoted to him as their Pope.
On another level, these battles allowed him to better comprehend the laws of this world.
After sweeping through the remaining Gold Temples and exhausting the physical strength of the Saints, George visited Athena's Temple to chat briefly with Saori Kido before finally returning to the Pope's Great Hall.
"A minor clone eventually hits a limit. The clone from the Lord of Mysteries world should be arriving soon, right?"
Sitting on the throne in the Pope's Hall, George examined his own body and sighed inwardly.
A minor clone was, after all, just one of countless extensions of a tiny sliver of a soul. Even though he had used the laws and authorities of various worlds to strengthen it, the peak of a single-unit universe's power was the absolute ceiling for this form.
In these six months, this minor clone had reached the level of a Sequence 0 Fool, and his corresponding Cosmos had risen to the divine level of the Ninth Sense. Even if the Twelve Olympian Gods like Athena, Hades, or Poseidon were in their fully awakened states, they likely wouldn't be his match.
However, if he faced a God-King level being above the main gods, it was hard to say. Even with all his authorities, he might not win. Figures like the vanished Zeus, the Norse God-King Odin, or the primordial darkness Apsu from the Sumerian mythos were another story.
The world of Saint Seiya did not only consist of the Greek pantheon; it was simply that the Greek gods currently held dominant control over Earth. Gods from other pantheons didn't focus all their energy on Earth, but they occasionally interfered. Mars the God of War, Loki the Evil God, and the fallen angel Lucifer would all make appearances later.
While Hades merely wanted to cause the "Greatest Eclipse" to bring permanent darkness to Earth, Apsu's goal was to plunge the entire universe into an eternal void. Above the God-Kings were even more powerful entities: the Gods above Gods, Saturn and Chronos. They controlled the tens of billions of universes within the Saint Seiya multiverse, and their strength was definitely at the peak of the Multiversal level.
His current minor clone could never defeat them. Therefore, he had summoned the closest major clone—the one that had consumed the world of Lord of Mysteries. If anything went wrong, he planned to have that clone invade this world directly, take down the two primordial gods, and devour this mega-universe.
It was rare to find such a massive universe where the Creator was already dead; he didn't intend to let it slip away. Similarly, another of his clones had already headed toward the world of Dragon Ball. As long as he could devour either one, all his clones would advance to the Mega-Universal level.
His main body in the Marvel world would also advance accordingly. When all the clones merged, his strength would be among the top tier of Mega-Universal beings, allowing him to shatter the Living Tribunal's seal and escape the Marvel Universe.
"Eh? This Cosmos... it seems to be the God Warriors of Northern Europe."
Just as George was calculating how many days it would take for his Mysteries clone to arrive, he suddenly sensed two ultimate Seventh Sense Cosmos secretly infiltrating Sanctuary. As his mental power swept over the sources, he immediately guessed their identities.
"Calculating the time, it seems just about right."
There wasn't just one Gemini Saint; Saga was the elder brother, but he had a twin named Kanon. Kanon's strength was not inferior to Saga's. Thirteen years ago, Kanon had instigated Saga to murder the infant Athena. At that time, Saga had not yet been fully controlled by the evil spirit, so he imprisoned his brother—who possessed such dangerous thoughts—in the stone prison of Cape Sounion.
Under the incitement of Ker, Kanon released the sealed Sea God Poseidon and encouraged him to wage war against Athena once more. Poseidon instructed Kanon to place his soul into the body of Julian Solo, the heir to the world's wealthiest shipping family. He was to awaken in Julian's body thirteen years later.
Using Poseidon's name, Kanon took control of the underwater realm of Atlantis and gathered Poseidon's Marina Generals. After Saga's failure, Kanon used the newly awakened divine power of Poseidon to place the Nibelung Ring on Hilda, the earthly representative of Asgard's Valhalla. By manipulating Hilda's spirit through the ring, he incited a war between the God Warriors and Sanctuary, intending to reap the benefits of their mutual destruction.
At this moment, Hilda had likely already been controlled, and she had dispatched God Warriors to Sanctuary to assassinate Athena.
"The current Sanctuary is not the Sanctuary of the past."
Having identified the intruders as God Warriors, George didn't bother to intervene personally. He waited leisurely in the Pope's Hall for the battle to conclude.
Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, he saw two heavily injured God Warriors being dragged into the hall by Aldebaran of Taurus.
"Lord Pope, these two fellows tried to force their way through the Gold Temples. I have apprehended them."
"Who are you, and why have you trespassed into Sanctuary?"
George looked down at the two men, his eyes radiating a powerful mental force. The two wounded God Warriors immediately replied with vacant expressions:
"We are the God Warriors of Asgard... we came here to assassinate Athena..."
"Take them away for now."
George signaled the guards to lead the two injured men away, then turned to Taurus.
"Aldebaran, notify the other Gold Saints to gather in the Great Hall for a meeting."
The two would-be assassins were Syd of Mizar and his shadow guardian brother, Bud of Alcor. Syd's strength was mediocre; although he had awakened the Seventh Sense, he was weaker than the "Fishery Duo" (Aphrodite and Deathmask), perhaps only at the level of Albiore of Cepheus. However, Bud was quite capable, possessing the strength of an average Gold Saint.
In the original timeline, when the two came to assassinate Athena, a sneak attack had allowed them to defeat Aldebaran. But that was because Aldebaran had previously drained his blood to repair the Bronze Saints' Cloths, leaving his strength severely depleted. In his prime, the two would at most have fought him to a draw.
But now, thanks to six months of constant sparring and George's help in patching the flaws in his techniques, Aldebaran's strength had tripled. He had defeated them with ease.
Half an hour later, in the Great Hall.
Saori Kido sat in the seat of honor, George sat in the secondary seat, and the Gold Saints were arranged on either side.
"Asgard has always lived in peace with us. Why would they suddenly send God Warriors to assassinate Athena? This is highly unusual," Saga of Gemini remarked, a look of doubt on his face.
Having served as Pope for thirteen years, he was naturally well-versed in the world's various factions. The earthly representative of Asgard was a woman named Hilda, who was known for her gentle temperament and lack of ambition. She stayed in her frozen corner of the far north and rarely ventured out. If Asgard had posed a threat to Sanctuary's rule during his tenure, he would have sent Saints to wipe them out long ago. After all, his goal back then had been global domination.
For the peace-loving Hilda to suddenly send assassins to Sanctuary meant something they didn't know about must have happened.
"Regardless of the reason, we must investigate. According to those two God Warriors, Hilda has gained a powerful force that can melt the polar glaciers and submerge the entire continent," Mu of Aries suggested.
Gripping her scepter, Athena looked worried. "Hilda is Odin's representative on Earth. Perhaps I should go personally and speak with her. If the glaciers melt and flood the land, countless lives will be lost."
"It's too dangerous. You are Hilda's target. I'll go instead," George said, waving a hand dismissively. "She is Odin's representative, and I am the Pope of Sanctuary. Our statuses are roughly equal."
The Gold Saints nodded in agreement. After six months of being "trained" by him, they were thoroughly convinced of George's capability. In Sanctuary, George's word was often more effective than Athena's. After all, Saori had not yet fully awakened and still lacked maturity in many respects. Moreover, since even all the Gold Saints combined might not be able to defeat George, his safety was not a concern.
"Then I will leave it to you," Saori Kido said. Seeing that no one wanted her to go, she didn't push the matter. While she worried about the impending disaster, she trusted George's power.
"Guard Sanctuary well. I shall return shortly."
With a flash, George vanished from the spot. The group was momentarily stunned, followed by a collective sigh of admiration.
"As expected of the Lord Pope... he can actually use teleportation within Sanctuary."
It was common knowledge that Sanctuary was protected by ancient barriers left by Athena, which prohibited anyone from using spatial abilities or flight. George's ability to teleport meant his strength was likely infinitely close to the realm of the gods.
"I have a feeling that this Holy War might not be as difficult as the others."
On the other side, George reappeared at the gates of Valhalla in Asgard, carrying the two God Warriors he had taken from the dungeon.
"Who goes there?"
The Asgardian guards drew their longswords at George's sudden appearance. Their faces grew pale when they saw the two men he was carrying.
"Lord Syd!"
They didn't recognize Bud, who was hidden in the shadows, but how could they not know Syd of Mizar? One of the seven strongest God Warriors was being hauled around like a toy.
"George, Pope of Sanctuary, has come to see Queen Hilda!"
George used a simple amplification spell, projecting his voice across the entire palace. Since becoming Pope, he had changed his name from Euler back to George, so everyone in Sanctuary now addressed him as Pope George.
As his voice faded, seven powerful Cosmos suddenly flared up within the palace. Six belonged to the remaining God Warriors, and the seventh belonged to Hilda.
"Pope George, the Queen invites you in!"
A moment later, Hagen of Merak arrived at the gate with a squad of elite guards. His expression soured when he saw the injured Syd and Bud. As God Warriors, they had looked down on Sanctuary and its Saints, believing that sending Syd alone would be enough. Now it was clear that Sanctuary's strength exceeded their expectations.
However, for the Pope to come alone without any accompanying Saints struck them as incredibly arrogant. This was a perfect opportunity to eliminate the leader of Sanctuary and leave them headless.
"These two young fellows seem to be yours. Take them back and let them recover," George said, indifferent to Hagen's obvious hostility. He tossed Syd and Bud toward Hagen and walked into the palace.
Hagen handed the two over to his subordinates and led George into the heart of the palace, arriving at a sacrificial altar beneath a massive statue of Odin.
Six people stood upon the altar: Queen Hilda, who was currently using the Nibelung Ring to accelerate the melting of the glaciers, and five God Warriors guarding her.
"Pope George of Sanctuary greets Queen Hilda. I wonder what the Queen intends by sending God Warriors to assassinate Athena in my Sanctuary?"
George offered a casual greeting and then got straight to the point.
(End of Chapter)