Shion felt immense pain. How could that gentle and reliable Setsuna have become a traitor?
Seiya and the other three were also completely stunned. They had just cleared the former Pope Shion of suspicion, and now another former former Pope who had betrayed Athena appeared?
'Could it be that the position of Pope was cursed?'
Facing Shion's questioning, Setsuna simply looked silently at his target for this mission… Shun.
Shun hugged the God Cloth tightly, a hint of fear in his eyes.
Noticing Setsuna's gaze, Shion suddenly awakened.
"Oh no!" Shion snapped back to reality and shouted at Seiya and the other three, "Quickly! Seiya, immediately take the Cloth to the Hades Castle and enter the Underworld! We must not let Athena's Cloth be taken!"
At the same time, he burned his entire Cosmo and sent his telepathy into the depths of the Sanctuary:
"Mu, Milo, Aiolia, come to the temple plaza immediately! A powerful enemy is approaching! We need to join forces!"
Hearing Shion's call, the three Gold Saints currently remaining in the Sanctuary rushed to the plaza instantly.
They were: Aries Mu, Scorpio Milo, and Leo Aiolia.
"Master!" Mu immediately stood by Shion's side, his handsome face full of gravity. "Who is the enemy exactly, to make you actively request reinforcements?"
His gaze fell on Setsuna. The other party's aura gave him a feeling of palpitations.
Shion's voice was heavy. "He is the former former Pope, Chiaki Setsuna!"
"What? That legendary strongest Pope, the hero of the last Holy War?" Milo and Aiolia were very shocked, apparently also having heard of Setsuna's name.
That was the supreme existence considered the pinnacle of Saints!
"Correct, but his current identity is the Specter's Heavenly Chief Star..." As Shion spoke, he noticed that Seiya and the other three hadn't moved, and immediately became anxious. "Why haven't you left yet?"
Seiya frowned in confusion. "With you, Lord Pope, and the three Gold Saints here, do we still need to leave?"
Shiryu nodded. "Yes, senior. Let us contribute our strength as well!"
"Foolish! Who do you think the opponent is? He is the legendary Pope who made Hades bleed!"
"Even with the four of us joining forces, I have no confidence that we can hold out for long."
Shion shouted angrily, "Go now! Do you want to become the sinners of the Sanctuary?"
Seiya and the other three were shocked, 'The former Pope actually thought that even four Gold Saints couldn't stop this person?'
Even Milo and the other two felt that Shion was exaggerating too much.
Although the Sanctuary's records spoke of the power of that legendary Pope, wasn't the life experience of every Gold Saint also legendary?
Moreover, they could combine to use the ultimate technique of the Gold Saints… the Athena Exclamation!
Although Seiya and the other three still found it hard to believe, facing Shion's gaze, they had no choice but to obey the order.
"We... understand!" Seiya gritted his teeth. "We will complete the mission!"
"Go!" Shiryu said in a low voice.
The four immediately moved, preparing to head to the Hades Castle.
"Did I allow you to leave?" Setsuna raised his fingertip and lightly pointed at Seiya and the other three.
Seiya and the other three were instantly frozen in place, unable to move.
"Damn it, what's happening? Move!" Seiya was extremely anxious. He could still speak, but his body couldn't move.
Milo's pupils contracted sharply. "This technique uses extreme speed and power to vibrate the air, forming invisible needles that hit the acupuncture points of Seiya and the others' bodies. It's an extremely advanced acupressure technique!"
Milo said in a deep voice, "His understanding of the human body and the operation of Cosmo is simply terrifying! I recall he isn't a Scorpio Saint, is he?"
Without waiting for Shion's response, he took the initiative to act.
"Scarlet Needle!"
His figure moved like lightning, instantly charging to Setsuna's side. His right index finger glowed with a crimson light, like a scorpion's tail, and with a sharp sound piercing space, he thrust toward Setsuna's neck.
However, the moment his fingertip touched Setsuna, his own body erupted with dozens of spurting lines of blood.
"Milo!" Aiolia exclaimed in shock and anger.
"How is this possible?" Mu was also shocked. "He completely reflected Milo's attack? And it landed precisely on Milo himself?"
"Let me!" Aiolia roared, his golden Cosmo erupting like a volcano.
"Lightning Plasma!"
His fists turned into countless golden meteors, like dense arrows of light, carrying the force to shatter stars, raining down toward Setsuna from all directions.
Each punch contained the will of Leo to crush evil!
Setsuna raised his fist. "Lightning Plasma!"
It was also countless golden fist shadows, but the punch Setsuna threw was superior to Aiolia's in both power and speed.
The two golden nets of fists collided in the air with a roar.
After staggering for less than 0.01 seconds, Aiolia's fist net was like fragile paper, shattered by the absolute advantage of Setsuna's fist shadows.
The remaining fist shadows, undiminished in force, solidly struck Aiolia's body.
"Waah!" Aiolia vomited a spray of blood, his tall body like a torn sack, sent flying and crashing heavily into the temple wall behind him.
"Lightning Plasma, how does he know it too, and its power is even stronger than Aiolia's?" Mu was completely speechless.
Shion's expression was grave. "This is the strength of the former former Pope. His talent is so great it's despairing. He once learned the special moves of all the Gold Saints, and his versions were even stronger than the originals!"
Mu couldn't help but gasp, 'Learned the special moves of all the Gold Saints? Just what kind of monster was this?'
"Mu!" Shion looked at his disciple, his eyes burning with a will to fight to the death. "We have no way out!"
"Attack together! Use our strongest defense to buy Aiolia and the others the opportunity to transfer the Cloth!"
"Yes, Master!" Mu instantly understood Shion's intention.
Facing an opponent of such overwhelming power, attack was ineffective. Defense might strive for a sliver of hope.
The two exchanged glances, simultaneously burning their Cosmo to the limit.
"Crystal Wall!"
Shion and Mu, two Gold Saints of Aries, master and disciple joining forces, elevated the strongest defensive technique of Aries to an unprecedented height.
Two layers of invisible, transparent prison cages enveloped Setsuna.
"Crystal Wall? Two layers?" Setsuna sensed the transparent light wall before him, and a soft laugh came from beneath his demon helmet. "Interesting, but not enough."
Setsuna extended his right hand again, fingers together like a sword. "Excalibur!"
His arm transformed into a holy sword, the edge of his palm glowing with a condensed to the extreme golden blade.
Setsuna lightly slashed at this invisible light wall.
Rip!
Like a sharp blade cutting paper, or a hot knife through butter.
Under the horrified gazes of Shion and Mu, the Crystal Wall they had jointly erected was casually torn open by Setsuna, the erupting aftermath sending the two flying.