On Earth…
"Diamond Dust!"
Cresto's fist slammed down, conjuring a glacier.
A powerful freezing aura swept across the battlefield.
The two armies on the verge of clashing were separated by the cold.
A great battle was thus averted.
"The lands are in such chaos now?"
Phoebe frowned.
In just a week of traveling the Earth with Cresto,
They had witnessed no fewer than twenty battles, large and small.
"Something's off with these humans."
"They seem… influenced."
"Some force is amplifying their hatred, intensifying their negative emotions."
Cresto retracted his right fist, frowning at the armies on either side of the glacier.
Their eyes were bloodshot, filled with rage.
As if they wanted nothing more than to slaughter their foes.
Even their warhorses neighed and roared.
If not for Cresto's overwhelming freezing aura,
They'd likely have already clashed.
This state was clearly abnormal.
"Could an evil god truly be manipulating the battles on Earth?"
Phoebe frowned.
He, too, sensed something amiss.
"It's hard to say."
"But among the gods, only two could cause such turmoil."
"The War God Ares and the Goddess of Discord, Eris."
"But both should still be sealed."
Cresto had a bad feeling.
"Do you remember the human army we encountered three days ago?"
At those words, Phoebe immediately recalled the army he had annihilated three days prior.
"I remember. That army was off too."
"They seemed ravenous."
"As if they wanted to devour everything."
"They slaughtered a village and then ate the villagers."
Phoebe's face darkened at the memory.
That scene was like Hades' Underworld, if not worse.
For the first time, Phoebe felt Hades was right.
The Underworld existed to punish such irredeemable sinners.
"At the time, I thought they were just starving."
"That's why they became like that."
"But thinking back, their state wasn't right either."
"They must have been influenced by a god's authority."
"That state resembled the sin of Gluttony from the Seven Deadly Sins."
Cresto shared his suspicion.
"Gluttony?"
"One of the Seven Lords of Hell?"
Phoebe's expression shifted.
Hell, a dark force not inferior to the Underworld.
The Sin of Pride, Lucifer, was even stronger than Hades.
In the original Saint Seiya story, Lucifer could command Poseidon, Eris, and the Heavenly Emperor Abel to serve him.
Though he ultimately lost, those who understand know.
Lucifer's power was unfathomable.
To be precise, all seven lords of the Seven Deadly Sins were formidable.
At the very least, they were first-tier gods.
"Is this a replay of the Mythological Era's battles?"
Phoebe wondered if there was any hope in such a battlefield.
Even with Athena's immense power, facing so many gods would be overwhelming.
"Don't panic."
"It hasn't reached that point."
Kaiser's figure appeared beside Cresto and Phoebe.
"How did you get here?"
Cresto was surprised.
He had sensed the battle in the Nordic Icefields.
He hadn't expected Kaiser to find them so quickly.
"Hell is still sealed."
"Even if some of its power is leaking out."
"The Seven Lords of the Sins won't all awaken together."
"Especially Lucifer."
"Without the Cosmos of a god to sustain him, he cannot possibly revive."
"After all, he was sealed by Zeus and the Heavenly Gods together."
Kaiser was well aware of Lucifer's existence.
"So what should we do now?"
Phoebe felt the situation on Earth was harder to handle than a Holy War.
"First, purify the Earth."
"Once this purification is complete."
"It should stay calm for a while."
Kaiser was somewhat resigned.
If the Earth continued in such chaos, the Sanctuary would be dragged down.
The only option was to find a way to purify it.
"Purify the Earth?"
"Can we even do that?"
"Those gods could revive at any moment."
Cresto frowned.
"Use the Golden Cloths to forge a Mythical Sun."
"It can temporarily calm the Earth."
"Buying the Sanctuary some time to grow."
…
"But that would leave the Sanctuary with only two usable Golden Cloths."
Cresto frowned.
"It's the only way."
"The discord on Earth has persisted for too long."
"If this is indeed the work of Ares and Eris."
"They've likely recovered to at least second-tier god status."
"They're only held back by the lack of suitable human vessels, so they haven't walked the Earth yet."
"Now that I think about it, the divine Cosmos I sensed in the Nordic Icefields"
"Was probably either Ares or Eris."
Even with only two Golden Cloths, it would suffice.
Kaiser's current strength, even without a Cloth, was formidable.
Cresto and Itia, even if not wearing their native constellation's Cloths, could still wield most of their power.
They could handle ordinary crises without issue.
Everyone's Cosmos began to burn.
Kaiser sliced his fingertip, and golden divine blood traced stellar patterns in the air.
Twelve golden beams shot up from across the Sanctuary, weaving into a spinning star disc in the clouds.
No one wore their Golden Cloths.
The Cloths were in the Twelve Zodiac Temples, ready to channel the Zodiac's Light.
"The Cloths are resonating!"
The Scepter of Victory in Athena's statue's hand erupted in brilliant light.
The Zodiac star chart appeared behind Kaiser.
Radiant starlight shimmered.
Then, the shadowy forms of the twelve Golden Cloths slowly materialized within the star chart.
The Virgo Cloth's Buddha patterns glowed with Sanskrit, the Capricorn Cloth's holy sword sliced through space, and the Scorpio Cloth's ruby-tipped tail refracted a crimson halo.
Cresto gazed at the golden blood floating at the altar's center.
Kaiser's divine blood felt stronger, purer than his own.
"The Zodiac Star Lock doesn't need complete Cloths."
"It needs the constellation origins etched in their legacy."
Kaiser slammed his palm down.
A star chart groove appeared on the altar in the statue plaza, and the divine blood filled its engravings.
Hum!
The Zodiac star chart behind Kaiser dispersed, descending into the Sanctuary's Twelve Zodiac Temples.
As Kaiser's Eighth Sense Cosmos swept through, the twelve Golden Cloths merged with their shadowy forms in the star chart, unleashing a golden radiance that illuminated the heavens.
"Let's begin."
The other Saints ignited their Cosmos.
A surging power permeated Athena's Temple plaza.
Kaiser's eyes suddenly flashed with golden light, a sign of his divine vision pushed to its limit.
The unmanned Golden Cloths of the Zodiac began to move.
The Gemini Cloth split in two, light and dark twin shadows forming mirrored seals on either side of the altar.
Auroras surged from the Aquarius Temple, coalescing into icy chains that clashed with the Capricorn sword's light, sparking brilliant starfire in the sky.
"Zodiac First Temple... Aries: Crystal Wall!"
With Kaiser's chant, three hundred sixty prisms unfolded in the clouds, enveloping the Mediterranean in a barrier of refracted rainbow light.
On Sicily, Eris suddenly clutched her chest. The discord absorbed by her Golden Apple was cut off.
"Damn you, Sanctuary!"
Eris roared in fury.
But she didn't dare set foot in the Sanctuary.
The massive Cosmic disturbance there had already drawn the attention of many beings worldwide.
"Zodiac Second Temple... Taurus: Great Horn!"
A shadow emerged atop the Taurus Temple, a golden bull trampling the void, its shockwave sweeping across Eurasia.
In a city's ruins, a newly awakened beast had no time to react before being crushed to dust by the golden hoof.
"Sanctuary!!"
"Athena!"
"Do you really think the Sanctuary can suppress the Earth?"
Countless sealed entities roared in fury.
But Athena's Aegis Shield began to glow.
The Aegis, with its power to purify and dispel curses, aided by Athena's subtle intervention, suppressed the defiant evil gods.
As the ritual reached the Libra Temple, an anomaly erupted.
Black waves surged in the Aegean Sea, and a fifteen-meter shadow of the War God rose from Troy's ancient ruins.
Ares, yet to reincarnate, glared with fiery eyes.
Having just shared his plans with Eris, only to face the Sanctuary's suppression, his rage was boundless.
The diminishing wars and discord on Earth disrupted his plans for two centuries hence.
Ares thrust his flaming spear toward the Sanctuary, but it shattered upon touching the Zodiac Star Lock, struck by Athena's Scepter of Victory.
"Athena! Sanctuary!"
"Do you think these toys can trap a god?"
The War God's voice shook the Twelve Temples, dust falling.
"Sanctuary should've ended in the Mythological Era…"
His curse halted abruptly.
Kaiser unfurled twelve pairs of light wings behind him, each feather shimmering with a different constellation totem.
In the Pisces Temple's courtyard, Demon Emperor's Roses bloomed, their divine-blood-stained thorns entwining along the ritual's veins, trapping Ares' projection in the vortex of Cancer's Accumulated Corpse Qi.
"You talk too much. We'll settle this in two hundred years, Ares!"
"Zodiac's Twelve Radiances! Mythical Sun!"
As the final array node activated, a golden grid covering the globe began to contract.
The Golden Cloth shadows in the Zodiac star chart solidified, and a golden Mythical Sun rose high, illuminating the world without a single shadow.
Evil god kin wailed across the Earth. Asura beasts crawling from Himalayan crevices turned to ash in the holy light.
Even solid mountains were pierced by the Mythical Sun's radiance.
Kaiser's pupils glowed molten gold, seeing countless golden chains descend from the sky's sun, re-pinning struggling evil god kin to their seals.
As Cresto infused the Aquarius Temple's Absolute Zero into the array node, a shadow of Asgard's palace lit up the Nordic sky.
Odin's Gungnir resonated with the golden array, his final divine power in the mortal realm merging as a meteor.
The Nordic Queen's voice echoed in Kaiser's ears.
"Asgard can only do so much…"
It was a powerful boost.
"Not enough."
"Teacher, Cresto, it's time to push!"
Kaiser's eyes blazed with golden flames, his Eighth Sense Cosmos burning to its limit.
Itia and Cresto pressed their palms to Kaiser's back.
With Odin's divine power and three Eighth Sense Cosmos, the Golden Cloths of the Zodiac aligned in Earth's synchronous orbit.
They would circle the sun, drawing power to sustain the Mythical Sun.
Ares' soul in Troy's ruins seethed with fury.
His war authority was forcibly suppressed by the Zodiac Star Lock. Without a physical form, he could only watch under the Aegis Shield's pressure.
Eris tried to stir human rage with her Golden Apple, only to find her divine spark trapped in Gemini's Another Dimension, lost in a temporal rift.
As the final array sigil lit up over the Pacific, all surviving humans witnessed a stellar miracle.
The twelve Zodiac constellations shone, Golden Cloth shadows guarding each continental energy node.
The Sahara's evil god altars crumbled, and Bermuda's temporal rifts were sealed by Gemini's Another Dimension.
"This is… the Mythical Sun?"
Kaiser stood amid the Twelve Temples' ruins, feeling feedback from each Golden Cloth.
Aries' Crystal Wall repaired the ozone layer, Taurus' horn purified polluted oceans, Cancer's Accumulated Corpse Qi consumed earthly resentment, and Virgo's Six Paths of Reincarnation transcended battlefield souls.
"We did it…"
Kaiser's exhausted voice rang out.
The Zodiac Star Lock scattered across the Earth, the Zodiac's array and Golden Cloths suppressing all energy nodes.
Athena's Temple unleashed a rainbow light rain.
"Kaiser, you've done well."
Athena's voice echoed in his mind.
She had exerted considerable effort.
Without her, suppressing gods like Ares and Eris would've been impossible for Kaiser and the others.
"Phew~"
The Sanctuary's Saints collapsed to the ground.
"Now we can rest for a while."
"With Asgard's aid and Odin's power, we should suppress the Earth for decades."
Gazing at the Mythical Sun and the clearing Earth,
Everyone smiled.
Though the Sanctuary now lacked its Golden Cloths,
Silver and Bronze Cloths remained.
For them, that was enough.
"Next, the Sanctuary's task is to select new Saints."
"They may not live to see the next Holy War."
"But for the century or two before it."
"We must ensure the Earth faces no issues."
Kaiser panted.
The Zodiac array had drained much of his strength.
"The evil gods and their kin won't stop breaking their seals."
"The Mythical Sun and Zodiac Star Lock are powerful."
"But when the gods reincarnate and awaken their Cosmos, breaking them will take mere moments."
"We can't let our guard down."
The seemingly mighty Zodiac array could only guard the Earth for a few decades.
"This generation's Sanctuary…"
"It's absurdly strong."
On the Nordic Icefields, sensing the Earth's changes, the Nordic Queen couldn't help but marvel.
"But Your Majesty."
"Giving up Odin's power like that…"
Jekfried hesitated.
It was Asgard's trump card.
"Asgard has no choice."
"We must stand with the Sanctuary."
"No one survives a fallen nest."
"If the Sanctuary can end the endless cycle in the next Holy War."
"The Earth will know true peace."
"I'm willing to bet on it."
The Nordic Queen gazed toward the Sanctuary.
Across the Earth, in countless dark realms,
"This generation's Sanctuary is too powerful."
"They can suppress us…"
"But in the next Holy War, it will all end."
Countless evil gods glared at the Sanctuary.
Athena's recent display of war authority had alarmed the evil gods and Heavenly Gods.
Even the Heavenly Gods hadn't expected Athena to hide such depths.
If her soul weren't slumbering,
She might've been recalled to the Heavenly Realm.
The Earth's discord and chaos gradually faded.
The world welcomed long-lost peace.
The Sanctuary's Saints took up their duties,
Searching the world for children to train in the Sanctuary.
Even if they couldn't become Saints, they could serve as support.
In these chaotic times, it was a coveted opportunity.
None refused.
In just months,
Nearly a hundred children were brought to the Sanctuary.
Each was one in a hundred, if not a thousand, with great potential.
"I hope the next Holy War sees a full roster."
Saori smiled at the near-hundred children.
"You're dreaming nonsense."
"Besides the Mythological Era's first Holy War, when have we ever had a full roster?"
Shiryu mercilessly teased his sister.
"Can't I even dream?"
Saori sighed helplessly.
Itia and Cresto retreated to the Stargazing Tower for seclusion.
Kaiser sat on the Libra Temple's steps.
The sudden calm felt unfamiliar but pleasant.
His task now was to await the next Heroic Spirit mission and boost his strength.
***
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