"Disobey an order?" Setsuna seemed to find the word interesting. He shook his head slightly, his tone still calm.
"Pandora, it seems you have... misunderstood something."
"The Underworld has never been a place that demands absolute obedience."
"Even the former Terrestrial Chief Star, Atavaka, could form his own faction, listening to orders but not obeying them. It's perfectly reasonable for me to merely 'feign compliance', isn't it?"
Pandora's pupils contracted sharply. The reason Atavaka had been able to ignore the Underworld's orders back then was because he had attained the realm of the Eighth Sense and could break free from the shackles of the Underworld's laws.
"You..." Pandora's voice trembled. "Have you also attained the realm of the Eighth Sense?"
Setsuna smiled slightly. "Is that strange?"
Pandora took a deep breath. "No, it is indeed very reasonable."
A gloom settled over her heart, 'Chiaki Setsuna had been able to slay Atavaka, who possessed the Eighth Sense, while he himself was only at the Seventh Sense.'
'Now that he had also reached the realm of the Eighth Sense, how powerful would he be? Could he rival the gods?'
The three Judges of the Underworld, however, were stubborn. In essence, they were puppets of their Surplices, trusting the Surplices more than their own Cosmo.
"Pandora-sama!" Rhadamanthys clenched his fists, his golden Cosmo swirling around him like a storm. "Even if he has truly attained the Eighth Sense and can ignore the Underworld's laws..."
"He is still a Specter! His power, his Surplice, are all connected to the origin of the Underworld!"
"Let us, the three Judges of the Underworld, teach him a proper lesson! Make him understand who the true powerhouses of the Underworld are!"
Rhadamanthys's fighting spirit erupted like a volcano. Minos and Aiacos also stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Rhadamanthys.
Three powerful Cosmo intertwined and resonated, forming a terrifying pressure capable of instantly crushing even ordinary Gold Saints.
Like three mountains of death, they pressed down heavily upon Setsuna.
"The three Judges of the Underworld?" Setsuna sneered. "Don't you know that among the sequence of the 108 Evil Stars, the Heavenly Chief Star is the true 'King'?"
As Setsuna spoke, he extended his right hand and pressed down toward the three.
The bodies of the three instantly froze. The space around them, the light, the dust… all seemed to have had their pause button pressed.
Their flailing, threatening postures looked as ridiculous as a grotesque painting.
But Pandora couldn't laugh at all. Her heart was filled only with fear.
Atavaka had indeed been very strong back then, but not strong enough to overwhelm the three Judges.
What was happening before her eyes?
The three Judges of the Underworld, before this man, were as weak as children, easily manipulated.
Not only her, but Saga and the other two were also deeply shocked.
With a casual press, he had subdued the three Judges of the Underworld, freezing the space-time of that area without affecting them at all.
This level was simply like that of a god.
Setsuna slowly withdrew his hand, looking at the trembling Pandora with a slight smile. "As punishment for their offense against me, I will freeze them here for twelve hours."
"Twelve hours!" Pandora was somewhat flustered. This was a critical moment for the Sanctuary's counterattack. Losing the combat power of the three Judges at this time was a major blow to the Hades forces.
But looking at Setsuna's indifferent eyes, she truly did not dare to disobey.
After speaking, Setsuna turned his gaze to Saga and the other two. "You won't be needing them, right? Let me take them."
Pandora felt a deep sense of powerlessness. She could only nod with difficulty, her voice dry. "As... as you wish..."
She comforted herself, thinking that Saga and the other two had already reached the end of their lives and were about to dissipate anyway. Letting Setsuna take them didn't matter.
Setsuna said no more. A spatial force enveloped Saga and the other two, taking them away.
Only after Setsuna's figure had completely disappeared did Pandora breathe a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted.
She looked at the frozen three Judges, gritted her teeth, and tentatively reached out her hand, trying to touch Rhadamanthys, who was closest to her, to see if she could release the freezing.
However, the moment her finger touched the edge of the frozen space—
Boom!
A power, too powerful to resist, suddenly erupted from that solidified Space-Time.
"Ah!" Pandora cried out in surprise. She was hit as if by a heavy hammer, sent flying, her entire body embedded in the wall, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
"Damn it! That guy's strength is too strong!" Pandora wiped away the blood.
The level of power that froze Space-Time was too high, beyond her comprehension.
'Should I go and request the Twin Gods to release the spatial seal?' Pandora hesitated. After all, according to the memories left by the previous Pandora, the Twin Gods did not value these Specters.
…
Deep within the Underworld, the exclusive palace of the Heavenly Chief Star.
Unlike the gloomy style of most buildings in the Underworld, this palace belonging to the [Heavenly Chief Star] was unusually simple, spacious, and carried a cold sense of order.
Saga's aura had already weakened to the extreme. He used the last of his power to convey his telepathy:
"Thank you... for allowing us to retain... the last shred of dignity as Saints before we die..."
"If possible, please convey our faith to Athena... we never truly betrayed her or the future of the earth..."
To this, Setsuna simply said calmly, "If you want to convey it, do it yourselves."
Saga smiled bitterly. "Our lives have reached their end. Perhaps in the next moment..."
The next moment, he felt his fading power and life return.
"Th-this is..." Saga and the other two were shocked beyond measure.
Their nearly transparent bodies became solid. Their nearly extinguished Cosmo reignited.
Even their stripped 'four senses' were restored.
"Have I been... resurrected?" Saga found it unbelievable, 'Wasn't this an authority mastered only by Hades?'
"What is happening?" Camus and Shura also couldn't believe it, as if their near-death experience had just been an illusion.
"There's nothing to be surprised about." Setsuna said calmly. "In the Holy War 243 years ago, I seized a part of Hades's divine essence. Therefore, I also possess part of Hades's authority. Resurrecting you is not difficult."
Although Setsuna spoke lightly, Saga and the other three were shocked beyond measure.
'That rumor was actually true. This former former Pope had truly, as a mortal, wounded Hades and even seized his power.'
This was no longer describable as 'wounding'. This was blasphemy against and seizure of divine authority. This was true sacrilege!
Camus took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the stormy waves in his heart, and voiced the confusion in his heart:
"Setsuna-sama, since you possess such powerful strength, and even control part of Hades's authority, allowing you to ignore the laws of the Underworld, why don't you return to the Sanctuary to protect Athena?"