Pandora spoke again, her voice now carrying a tone of command: "Heavenly Chief Star, since you have now aligned with the Underworld, you should naturally share His Majesty's burdens."
"I have used the power of the Underworld to resurrect all the Gold Saints and Silver Saints of this generation."
"They should be on their way to the Sanctuary right now, to pay homage to their beloved goddess. I imagine it will be a touching reunion."
She looked at Setsuna and issued the true core command:
"As for you, your mission is different from theirs. I want you to go to the Sanctuary and bring back the vessel chosen by Hades-sama… the Bronze Saint of Andromeda, 'Shun', to the Underworld."
"He is the best vessel to carry Hades-sama's soul. There must be no mistakes!"
"What?" Aiacos nearby showed obvious surprise. "A mission of this importance should be entrusted to us, the three Judges of the Underworld, shouldn't it?"
"Having a newly converted traitor approach Hades-sama's vessel? What if he..."
"This is Hades-sama's will." Pandora interrupted Aiacos, her tone unquestionable.
"As the greatest sinner of the last Holy War, having him personally retrieve Hades-sama's body is what will truly satisfy His Majesty."
Since Pandora mentioned Hades's will, Aiacos did not dare to say more.
After leaving the Temple of Hades, Setsuna pondered to himself: 'Sanctuary... Shun... Hades's vessel... the plot is indeed progressing according to the general direction.'
His thoughts raced. 'With my current strength, defeating Hades's true form head-on should not be difficult.'
'After all, during the last Holy War, I had already taken away a part of his divine essence.'
'The problem is that defeating Hades and killing Hades are two completely different concepts.'
Setsuna instinctively thought of Poseidon, the Sea Emperor, with whom he had dealt before.
Poseidon's true body had been destroyed as early as the Mythological Era, but Poseidon's strength had not diminished much, and his will had persisted into the modern era.
'Moreover, even if we exclude the missing King God Zeus, there are still ten other major god-level existences like Hades in Heaven.'
'Without making thorough preparations and seizing Hades's power, rashly exposing all my strength and intentions would be far from wise.'
Setsuna thought to himself, 'In that case, why not go with the flow? Quietly wait for the plot to develop, wait for Athena to kill Hades's true body.'
'Then I can come in and pluck the fruits of victory, seizing Hades's power.'
'This way, I avoid the variables that a head-on confrontation might cause, and I gain the maximum benefit with the minimum cost.'
'Most critically, I can also secure Athena's position.'
Unlike the small skirmishes of previous Holy Wars, in the original work, Hades was completely killed by Athena, to the point where his soul was utterly destroyed.
This act of hers naturally incurred the resistance of all the gods, ultimately leading to her tragic fate of having her divine power destroyed and her memory erased.
He could simply wait until Athena was at the end of her rope, then appear, causing Athena to completely turn away from the position of the gods.
Having thought all this through, Setsuna no longer hesitated.
He casually opened a passage between the Underworld and the Living World and walked through it.
...
Meanwhile, the Living World, Greek Sanctuary.
On the plaza of the Athena Temple at the peak of the Sanctuary, in front of the standing statue of the goddess, dazzling blood was spilled before the statue.
In the center of the bloodstain, a simple-looking golden dagger, stained with blood, lay quietly.
"Saori-sama!"
Four cries of grief and anger sounded almost simultaneously.
Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga, and Shun rushed onto the plaza at top speed.
When they saw the bloodstain and the golden dagger, they already understood what had happened.
Seiya knelt before the bloodstain, pounding the ground. "We're still too late! We are Saints who are supposed to protect the goddess, but... but we can't do anything!"
Shiryu sighed. "If only our strength were a little stronger..."
Hyoga shook his head. "Saying anything now is too late!"
"Damn it, aaaaaah!" Seiya punched a nearby stone pillar, which cracked in response.
"Are we really such useless Saints? We can't even protect the person we're supposed to protect!"
He grabbed the bloodstained golden dagger, as if pouring all his anger and frustration into it, and hurled it toward the distant cliff.
Just as the four sank into the depths of their emotions, overwhelmed by despair and self-reproach, a majestic voice rang out: "Athena is indeed dead, but the battle has only just begun!"
The four jolted and spun around.
There stood a strikingly handsome young man, wearing a pitch-black Surplice whose style faintly resembled the Aries Gold Cloth.
He looked very young but carried an aura of implicit authority.
"Who are you?" Seiya demanded harshly.
Shiryu's body trembled. "This voice... this voice belongs to the former Pope who fought with Master at the Aries Temple, Shion!"
"What? He's the former Pope who defected to Hades?" Hyoga and Shun instantly became alert.
The four quickly dispersed, forming an encirclement around Shion, their Cosmo faintly burning.
Shiryu suppressed his anger. "Where is Master? What did you do to Master Doko?"
Shion slowly raised his head and spoke indifferently: "Useless Saints, step back from here."
Seiya said angrily, "What did you say?"
"I said..." Shion's voice remained calm, yet carried an intangible pressure, "Saints of Athena, reduced to weeping here, drowning in useless sorrow and self-reproach… have you fallen this low?"
"Bastard!" Seiya could no longer hold back. He roared, turning all his grief and anger into a single punch. Burning his Cosmo, he drove it like a meteor toward Shion's face.
"Pegasus Ryuseiken!"
Facing this anger-fueled punch, capable of shattering mountains, Shion did not dodge, nor did he even assume any defensive posture.
Bang!
Seiya's fist slammed heavily into the Surplice on Shion's chest.
However, Shion's body did not move a millimeter, not even a strand of his hair stirred.
As if Seiya's mountain-splitting punch was merely an insignificant breeze.
"!!" Seiya was stunned. The recoil from his fist numbed his arm.
Shion lowered his head, looked at the Surplice on his chest, and calmly asked back, "Your so-called anger, pain, and sorrow… is this all the strength they have? How... insignificant."
Before his words had even finished, Shion, without making any move, unleashed an immensely powerful telekinesis, like an invisible tsunami, that erupted.
"Ugh ah!"
Seiya, bearing the brunt of it, was hit as if by a speeding train. He was sent flying without any ability to resist, crashing heavily dozens of meters away, coughing up a mouthful of blood.