Underworld, Eighth Prison - Cocytus.
This was the coldest place in the universe, where even souls would be frozen, suffering eternal torment from cold and loneliness.
Not long ago, Seiya had attempted to sneak into the Hades Temple to rescue Shun. Hades, having initially awakened, struck him casually, throwing him like trash into the deepest part of this frozen hell.
The extreme cold nearly froze his Cosmo instantly, but with his unyielding will and the faint light of the Pegasus Cloth, he tenaciously held on.
As he was painstakingly searching for a way out, the sound of mocking laughter came from a nearby area.
Seiya endured the biting cold and quietly approached. The scene before him made his heart sink.
He saw two figures in battered Surplices being surrounded by several Specters, wantonly humiliated.
The two were none other than Cancer Deathmask and Pisces Aphrodite.
Deathmask's face was pale, with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. He tried to summon his Cosmo, condensing a faint green [Sekishiki] at his fingertips.
But that light was extremely weak, easily dispersed by a Specter's flame-infused fist, the aftermath sending him stumbling backward.
Aphrodite's situation was slightly better, but his most skilled rose attack seemed severely restricted in this extremely cold environment. The petals of the Royal Demon Rose were frozen brittle, their attack power greatly reduced.
He barely managed to defend himself with the Piranha Rose, but another Specter pierced him with an ice spike, adding new wounds.
"Haha! What Gold Saints? In the Underworld, in Cocytus, you're nothing but two frozen stray dogs!"
"You were resurrected by Hades-sama. Not only do you not feel gratitude, but you dare to betray him. Now you know regret, don't you?"
Seiya watched, burning with anger. Although he had no good feelings for Deathmask and Aphrodite, they were still Saints. How could he allow Specters to humiliate them like this?
Just as he was about to throw caution to the wind and rush out to help, a calm voice sounded.
"Enough."
As the words fell, the Specters surrounding and beating Deathmask and Aphrodite instantly exploded into a rain of blood.
A figure in a pitch-black Surplice appeared. It was Setsuna.
"It's him!" Seiya clenched his fists.
Although Shion had said this legendary Pope was on their side…
He was, after all, the one who had taken Shun.
Thinking of the cold, icy look on Shun's face in the Hades Temple earlier, Seiya felt a surge of anger.
Deathmask and Aphrodite, however, did not recognize Setsuna. Their voices were full of caution. "Who are you? Why are you helping us?"
Setsuna did not answer. He simply said disappointedly, "As the Gold Saint of Cancer, you can't even defeat a few no-name Specters?"
Deathmask was somewhat annoyed. "What do you know? Sekishiki is a power of the Underworld. Isn't it normal for me to lose to them on their home turf?"
Setsuna sneered and mocked, "Specters are not Hades. Their affinity for the aura of the Underworld is not much greater than yours. The use of Sekishiki, in the end, depends on your own understanding."
"Blaming failure on the environment is just the self-comfort of the weak... With such capacity, no wonder the Cancer Cloth abandoned you."
Deathmask was rendered speechless and flushed with shame. Being abandoned by the Cancer Cloth was especially an utter humiliation.
He gritted his teeth. "Bastard! Who are you?"
Just then, a voice abruptly sounded. "He is the Pope of the previous Holy War, the same as you who trained in Sekishiki."
Deathmask turned his head and saw three figures suddenly appear on the icy plain.
Two of the figures seemed woven from starlight and shadow. Just standing there made it difficult for him to breathe.
The one who spoke was Pandora, following behind them.
After introducing Setsuna, she said rather arrogantly, "The Twin Gods have arrived. Why aren't you paying your respects?"
"What? The Twin Gods?" Deathmask was so scared his whole body trembled, his voice changing tone.
These were true gods, the right-hand men of Hades!
Secondary gods in charge of Sleep and Death, whose power far surpassed mortal imagination.
Aphrodite's face also turned deathly pale, and he instinctively stepped back half a step.
Seiya also held his breath, his heart pounding wildly.
Only Setsuna, facing the descent and pressure of the two gods, remained calm, not even looking at them, as if they were merely insignificant flying insects.
Thanatos narrowed his eyes. "How dare you ignore us? How arrogant. Mortal, how did you manage to alter Hades-sama's authority?"
Setsuna ignored him, looking again at Deathmask. "Your use of Sekishiki is far too shallow. It is a power sufficient to counter the gods."
"Counter the gods?" Thanatos laughed instead. "In the last Holy War, there was also a Cancer Gold Saint who used Sekishiki before me. I casually crushed him."
"How many times must you foolish mortals learn that between mortals and gods, there is an insurmountable chasm!"
Setsuna chuckled softly. "Deathmask, you're in luck. There just happens to be a foolish god making noise. Let me demonstrate how true Sekishiki is used."
With that, Setsuna swung his fist toward Thanatos.
Pandora felt somewhat incredulous. She had expected that once the Twin Gods arrived, Setsuna would kneel and beg for mercy, regretting his previous actions.
She never imagined that this arrogant man would dare to actively raise his fist against a god.
'Unlike 243 years ago, Athena was not here to support him. Where did he get his confidence?'
However, the expressions of Thanatos and Hypnos changed.
They sensed an extremely powerful force of death in the other party's fist, almost as if he were the ruler of the Underworld.
They did not know that the Three Worlds Setsuna had created in the Bleach World, though far less vast than the universe, were comparable to the Underworld.
"How could a mere mortal truly touch the authority of a god?" Thanatos roared, his fist wrapped in ending energy swinging out swiftly.
The two forces representing [Death] collided in the sky above Cocytus.
There was no violent fluctuation, as if just two ordinary people throwing punches.
But everyone present sensed an indescribable terror, as if the slightest touch of that ending power would lead to complete annihilation.
The two forces deadlocked for a moment. Ultimately, Setsuna's beam of death proved stronger. It pierced through Thanatos's power and, undiminished, struck Thanatos.
"Ugh!" Thanatos grunted, his divine body shaking violently.
The areas grazed by the black beam had their divine light dimmed, and even his divine essence showed faint cracks.
Though insignificant, this damage to his divine essence made Thanatos feel a long-forgotten fear.
He even felt as if he were facing Hades.