Pandora's tapping on the armrest stopped. She smiled ambiguously. "Hades-sama is a god. Gods do not easily appear before humans."
"As for Athena's body, I, Pandora, can inspect it on his behalf. Or do you not trust me?"
Saga was silent for a moment, then said telepathically, "In that case, we'll have to... use our own methods to see him."
As his words fell, Shura, who had been kneeling on one knee, suddenly vanished, instantly appearing behind Pandora.
His 'Excalibur' arm, tempered by a thousand refinements and capable of cutting stars, was already pressed against Pandora's slender neck.
"Take us to Hades. Now!"
The air in the hall seemed to freeze. The nearby Terrestrial Trick Star, Zelos, didn't even have time to utter a rebuke before being frozen by Camus's cold air.
With the Excalibur at her vital point, Pandora's face showed not a trace of panic.
She merely sighed softly. "Having killed Athena, why choose to betray? It seems Athena's 'death' is not as simple as we saw."
"Enough talk!" Shura's voice grew even colder. His Excalibur arm pressed slightly, drawing a thin line of blood on Pandora's neck. "Lead the way. Otherwise..."
But just then, a ray of sunlight shone down.
"Ugh!"
The moment they were hit by the sunlight, Saga and the other two simultaneously groaned.
Their Cosmo, like snow meeting sunlight, instantly weakened.
"Heh." Pandora elegantly raised her hand, gently pushing aside Shura's Excalibur arm, which was now powerless to threaten. She stood up calmly.
"Hades-sama granted you only 'twelve hours' of life. Now, this brief life has reached its end."
"Twelve hours? The time is already up? How is that possible?" Saga felt the rapidly fading power within him, his heart filled with unwillingness. "How could I make such a mistake? How could I misjudge the time?"
Suddenly, a gentle voice came from outside the hall. "It seems Virgo Shaka... had already entered the realm of the Eighth Sense before his death."
"His [Tenbu Horin] could not strip you of your Seventh Sense, but it did affect your perception of time. After all, the Seventh Sense itself is the perception known as the 'sense of time'."
With these words, two figures walked into the hall of Hades Castle.
"You... who are you?" Saga forced his body, which was on the verge of dispersing, to look toward this suddenly appearing Specter with an unfathomable aura.
"Why haven't you been among the Specters before?"
He considered himself knowledgeable about the Hades forces, yet had never heard of such a figure.
Pandora said with a smile, "He is the Pope of your Sanctuary from the previous Holy War."
Saga sneered. "That joke isn't funny. I killed Shion with my own hands."
Pandora laughed. "I wasn't talking about Shion, but the Pope before Shion."
"The Pope before Shion? Could it be that legendary..." Saga's heart shook.
Pandora no longer paid attention to Saga and the other two, who were about to dissipate. Her gaze turned to Setsuna.
"The Gold Saints who went to the Sanctuary have all betrayed Hades-sama. Lord Pope, I trust you won't disappoint me?"
Setsuna smiled calmly. "That depends on how you define betrayal?"
His ambiguous answer made Pandora frown slightly.
Setsuna's gaze swept over Saga and the other two. "At least, I won't try to assassinate Hades like they did. Moreover, I have brought back the vessel Hades chose, completely intact."
"How dare you! Not addressing Hades-sama with respect!" The already thawed Terrestrial Trick Star, Zelos, jumped out and shouted accusingly.
Setsuna looked at him calmly, and Zelos instantly exploded.
Pandora frowned slightly. She, of course, didn't care about Zelos's life or death.
However, Setsuna was somewhat overbearing, completely disregarding her.
Just then, the three Judges of the Underworld suddenly burst into the hall, wantonly releasing their Cosmo.
Pandora's expression turned icy. Did even the three of them disregard her?
"You three, insolent!"
"Pandora-sama!" Rhadamanthys stepped forward and quickly explained, "The situation is urgent. We had no time to announce ourselves."
Pandora's anger subsided slightly. "What happened?"
Rhadamanthys continued, "Not long ago, an extremely terrifying energy fluctuation erupted from the Sanctuary, even briefly interfering with the spatial stability at the edge of the Underworld."
"Hell Butterflies noticed the energy fluctuation there and transmitted crucial images."
Aiacos snorted coldly, his gaze locking onto Setsuna. "The images show that the Saints in the Sanctuary have obtained Athena's Cloth. And Chiaki Setsuna, he could have taken the Cloth, but he threw it back!"
"What?" Pandora's expression changed dramatically, her eyes showing true shock and anger for the first time.
'Athena's Cloth... so this is why Saga and the others risked everything to get to Athena!' Pandora cursed inwardly, then glared at Setsuna. "Is what they said true?"
Setsuna calmly admitted, "Yes, I did give it back."
Minos let out a snort. "Hmph, these Saints are indeed all untrustworthy."
Pandora gritted her teeth and questioned, "Why did you do that?"
Setsuna said calmly, "You only told me to bring back Hades's vessel. You didn't tell me to bring back Athena's Cloth. How was I supposed to know this wasn't a trap set for Athena by you?"
Pandora was so angry that her chest heaved continuously, 'So this was my fault?'
"Sophistry!" Minos couldn't help but shout harshly, his eyes filled with murderous intent. "Pandora-sama, such blatant betrayal cannot be tolerated!"
"Please allow us..." He looked at Rhadamanthys and Aiacos, a consensus reached in their eyes. "To immediately execute this traitor! As a warning to others!"
The Cosmo of the three Judges faintly rose, locking onto Setsuna. A battle was on the verge of breaking out.
Pandora's expression flickered.
Reason told her that Setsuna's behavior was extremely suspicious, even amounting to aiding the enemy.
But emotionally, Setsuna's unfathomable strength, and the fact that he had indeed brought back the crucial 'vessel', Shun, made her cling to a sliver of hope.
She took a deep breath and put on a commanding tone. "Chiaki Setsuna, if I order you now to return to the Sanctuary immediately and bring back Athena's Cloth?"
Setsuna shrugged indifferently. "I could, but wait until I'm in a better mood."
"You..." Pandora's voice trembled with anger. "How dare you ignore my orders? I represent the will of Hades-sama!"