Chapter 167 : Eternal Eclipse is launched, previous generation gold vs. contemporary gold!
As soon as he finished speaking, a chilling will, as if corporeal, descended from the sky, enveloping the entire temple.
Hades's mocking laughter echoed through the hall.
"Such lies, do you really believe them?"
The God of Death and the God of Sleep exchanged glances, shaking their heads in unison, yet a slight smirk played on their lips.
They naturally knew the Saints' loyalty, but they didn't want to dampen My Lord Hades's spirits.
Hades's voice once again reached their ears.
"No matter. Grant them twenty-four hours of life, and dispatch the Four Dream Gods to monitor them. I want to see what tricks Athena is playing this time."
He paused, his tone suddenly turning cold.
"Remember, without my command, no other Specters are permitted to venture into Human Realm. Those who disobey shall have their souls scattered!"
"Yes, My Lord!"
The God of Death and the God of Sleep replied in unison.
"Then, initiate the Eternal Eclipse!"
The next second, the Hades statue shattered with a crash.
Black divine power of death surged out like a volcanic eruption, originating from his celestial divine kingdom, Pluto, and piercing directly through the entire firmament.
In the Solar System, the trajectories of the nine planets, which had been running in an orderly fashion, were forcibly rewritten by this supreme divine power.
The nine planets broke free from their predetermined orbits, as if pulled by invisible threads, slowly aligning into a cold, straight line that traversed the heavens.
Nine Stars Alignment! The shadow of Pluto began to spread, like a massive ink stain, slowly covering the other eight planets, completely blocking the Sun's light.
At this moment, it was the peak of Hades's divine power; the mighty force of celestial movement was twisted, and the balance of the Universe was utterly desecrated.
Cold starlight fell from the sky, like chains lowered from the Underworld, dragging the entire Earth into an endless abyss.
Immediately after, Thanatos, the God of Death, and Hypnos, the God of Sleep, simultaneously rose, pushing their divine authority to the extreme.
Thanatos spread his arms, and a deathly Underworld wind swept in from the depths of the Underworld; Hypnos waved his scepter, and a mist of slumber spread like a tide.
The Underworld wind and mist intertwined, forming a black divine curtain that covered the sky and the Sun, then crashed down upon the Sun.
The Eternal Eclipse descended!
The glorious light of the Sun was instantly extinguished, like a burnt-out candle.
Warmth and light were instantly stripped from the Earth, and the entire World plunged into absolute darkness where one couldn't see their own hand.
This was not the tranquility of night, but the prelude to the end of all things, Hades's final judgment upon the living.
Bone-chilling cold, accompanied by the aura of death, permeated the air; plants in the fields withered instantly, their leaves losing their luster and turning into ash that crumbled at a touch.
The surfaces of rivers, lakes, and seas froze at a visible rate, quickly turning into inky hard ice, with fish and shrimp beneath the ice solidifying into rigid specimens!
Creatures on Earth huddled in corners, their souls trembling under the heavy pressure of darkness, emitting silent wails.
Even the Sanctuary, Athena's sacred land, was not spared.
The holy radiance that once bathed the Twelve Palaces was completely devoured, leaving only the grotesque silhouettes of the magnificent palaces, submerged in suffocating darkness and deathly silence.
Only from the direction of the Goddess Temple did a faint but tenacious light of Cosmo flicker in the darkness; that was Athena desperately resisting the Eternal Eclipse's erosion of the Earth's vitality, like a flickering candle in a storm, capable of being extinguished at any moment.
However, the true fatal crisis did not come from the sky, but from the back mountain of the Sanctuary, connected to the Saints' tombs of departed souls.
In the tombs of successive Saints, the ground suddenly and silently cracked into countless fissures, from which a dense aura of death surged out, spreading like a tangible substance, carrying the scent of sulfur and decay.
Immediately after, figures slowly rose from the defiled earth; they were clad in pitch-black Surplices that gleamed with a cold, eerie light, the patterns on the Surplices radiating a deathly sheen.
The faces of these figures were no longer those of decaying dead, but had returned to the youthful prime of their lives.
Their muscles were full, their lines smooth, their eyes sharp as blades, and around them coiled a terrifying Cosmo far more powerful than when they were alive, yet steeped in the deathly aura of the Underworld.
Leading them was none other than the previous Gold Saint of Aries, the former Pope Shion, who once guarded the Sanctuary and taught the young Saints!
After resigning from the position of Pope, he returned to Jamir Plateau, where he quietly passed away one night, sitting by the window.
And now, he wore the Aries Surplice, the sharp horns of the ram on his shoulder guards gleaming coldly.
His face was solemn and stern, his eyes hollow yet burning with a cold fighting spirit, having long lost the warmth and radiance of the living.
In the queue behind him stood the other former Gold Saints in order.
Hasgard of Taurus, still burly, his muscles bulging on the arm not covered by the Surplice.
Aspros and Defteros of Gemini stood side by side, their eyes holding the same indifference.
Manigoldo of Cancer, his fingers caressing the skull decoration on his Surplice, his eyes filled with a sigh of regret.
Regulus of Leo, Asmita of Virgo, Cardia of Scorpio, Sisyphus of Sagittarius, El Cid of Capricorn, Dégel of Aquarius, Albafica of Pisces.
All twelve of the previous generation of Gold Saints, except for Dohko who had consumed Athena's blood and performed the technique of suspended animation, had returned!
These former Gold Saints, who had once shed their last drop of hot blood for the Goddess and were symbols of the Sanctuary's most glorious era.
Now, they were resurrected by Hades's power, clad in the Surplices of death, transformed into blades pointed at the Goddess's heart.
Shion's emotionless voice echoed in front of the silent Sanctuary plaza, carrying the unique reverberation of the Underworld, piercing through the darkness with chilling intensity, like the tolling of a death knell.
"We, by the will of My Lord Hades, have come to take Athena's head!"
Before his words finished, he raised his arm, and the Aries Gold Saint's Cosmo, tainted by the power of the Underworld, transformed into a destructive crimson light, intensely condensing in his palm, twisting the very air with its power.
The other resurrected Gold Saints also simultaneously unleashed their Cosmos, which were tainted by deathly aura yet even more ferocious.
Taurus's Great Horn began to charge, Cancer's Praesepe surrounded him, Gemini's Galaxian Explosion flickered at his fingertips... Their target was deep within the Goddess Temple, the Goddess whom they had once defended with their lives, but were now commanded to kill!
"Athena!"
The resurrected Gold Saints collectively let out inhuman roars, their voices like the trumpets of hell, proclaiming the cruelty and betrayal of the Holy War.
Twelve ultimate techniques, which once represented the supreme glory and honor of the Sanctuary, now enveloped by the power of death, surged into the sky, tearing through the absolute darkness that shrouded the Sanctuary, and crashed towards the Goddess Temple!
At this critical moment, within the Sanctuary's Twelve Gold Palaces, the Cosmos of the current generation of Gold Saints flared up!
Mu's Aries Cosmo, Aldebaran's Taurus Cosmo, Saga's Gemini Cosmo, Camus's Aquarius Cosmo, Shura's Capricorn Cosmo, and the Seventh Sense Cosmos of the five Bronze Saintss... Fifteen golden lights converged, like an unyielding shield, meeting the attack of the previous generation of Saints head-on!
Boom! The two forces collided violently in the air, golden and crimson lights intertwining, canceling each other out, and finally dissipating into nothingness after a thunderous roar.
Dohko's voice came from the direction of the Libra Palace, filled with sorrow and anger.
"Shion! I never thought you would betray Athena too! If you want to take the Goddess's life, then honestly make your way through the Twelve Palaces; I will be waiting for you at the Libra Palace!"
Shion's lips curled slightly into a cold smile.
He waved his hand.
"She is your Goddess, not ours. It's time for these juniors to witness the true power of a Gold Saint!"
Behind him, the other eleven Gold Saints remained silent, marching in a synchronized pace towards the Sanctuary's Twelve Palaces.
The previous twelve Gold Saints against the current ten Gold Saints plus the Bronze Five!
In the Goddess Temple, Saori Kido's eyes were tightly shut, her beautiful face filled with anxiety and pain, her brows furrowed tightly, and fine beads of sweat oozing from her forehead.
The oppressive darkness brought by the Eternal Eclipse, combined with the hostile, chilling impact of her former comrades' Cosmos, felt like countless sharp blades cutting into her soul.
She clasped her hands together, holding them to her chest, praying with all her divine power, her voice trembling.
"Return to the Sanctuary! Li Yu! My Saint... return!"
The power of this prayer was so intense that Li Yu, far away in the Marvel Universe, felt his soul tremble... Had the Holy War finally begun?
Teacher Shion must have returned too!
Ultimately, there wasn't enough time!
Li Yu slowly sighed, opening his eyes, which were completely filled with electrical light!