The world of Saint Seiya, a world... hmm, full of tragedy and disasters.
The storyline of this world is not long, nor is the time span, but among all the characters who appear, aside from the main protagonist group, the Five Bronze Saints, almost every well-known, powerful, and fan-favorite character is basically wiped out.
The most famous ones are the Twelve Gold Saints.
The Gold Saints, named after the twelve zodiac signs, became one of the earliest literary works to popularize zodiac knowledge.
In an era before tarot cards and similar trends emerged, a group of elementary school kids, even kindergarteners, could already recite the zodiac signs fluently. Even many years later, when they reached middle age, they could still perfectly recall the names and order of the twelve zodiac signs, starting from Aries.
Do you think they were memorizing the zodiac signs? In reality, they were just reciting the order of the Twelve Temples of the Gold Saints.
For a work to achieve this, it is undoubtedly quite successful.
So, when the Twelve Gold Saints fell one by one—especially the "Aquatic Duo" of Cancer and Pisces, who died disgracefully with embarrassing performances at the hands of the Five Bronze Saints—those edgy teenagers not only found it hard to accept but also developed a strong dislike for these two zodiac signs.
When asked about their zodiac sign, some even felt embarrassed to admit they were Cancer or Pisces.
Because they were just too weak.
On the other hand, those who were Gemini, Virgo, or Sagittarius, regardless of how astrology books described them, gained prestige thanks to their respective powerful and cool Gold Saints. Even traits like being fickle, obsessive cleanliness, or compulsive tendencies became positive qualities.
As for the Gold Saints, in the Twelve Temples arc, they were just supporting characters—stepping stones and experience fodder for the Five Bronze Saints to progress.
It wasn't until the Hades: Twelve Temples arc that the Gold Saints finally had their moment to shine.
Starting from this arc, when the "Aquatic Duo" wearing Surplices from the Underworld appeared before Aries, the Gold Saints collectively redeemed themselves and, for the first time, became the main driving force of the plot.
In this segment, the Five Bronze Saints were completely overshadowed.
However, since this series is called Saint Seiya, the final battle still had to be completed by the Five Bronze Saints.
So, after their brief moment of glory, the revived Surplice-wearing Gold Saints, who only had one night to live, perished again. The remaining Gold Saints, who could have survived, also sacrificed themselves before the Wailing Wall, turning into their final radiant light.
At this point, the Gold Saints completely exited the battlefield.
Even then, the writers refused to let them rest. In the Heaven Chapter: Overture movie, the Twelve Gold Saints were punished for daring to raise their fists against the Gods. Their souls were trapped in a prison, suffering unimaginable torment at all times.
They couldn't even rest in peace after death.
As for Soul of Gold, in Su Ye's view, it was nothing more than a cash grab, a hastily put-together sequel designed to sell figurines.
Not only was the plot poorly constructed, but the design and depth of the villains were also far inferior to those in the Asgard arc.
Aside from making the Gold Saints the main characters and redeeming everyone (even Cancer Deathmask, who was villainized to the extreme in the original), and giving everyone slick new Surplice designs, the show had basically no redeeming qualities.
The result was that only nostalgic middle-aged fans watched it, and maybe some web novel authors watched it for plot references.
Then, it was completely overshadowed by newer anime releases, barely making any waves in the industry.
There was once a well-made online game, but unfortunately, due to copyright issues, it eventually shut down.
Quite a pity, really.
A few years from now, when these middle-aged fans become elderly, the story of Saint Seiya may be completely forgotten.
After all, a story full of endless battles, bloodied faces, and constant death is bound to receive complaints from parents.
…..
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Su Ye's body gradually faded, and he suddenly appeared on the streets of an unfamiliar city.
Expanding his consciousness and using his abilities as one of the Five Creation Gods of the Marvel Universe—'Death'—Su Ye immediately grasped his surroundings.
This was Japan, the streets of Tokyo under the night sky.
Tokyo wasn't too warm at this time of night, and the streets were empty and quiet, with barely any pedestrians.
Su Ye glanced around and saw a small figure running towards him, panting heavily while clutching something tightly.
Following the universal rule that anyone running at midnight must trip, the small figure indeed fell flat on their face the moment they reached Su Ye.
However, despite looking only three or four years old and grimacing in pain from the fall, the child never loosened their grip on the object in their hands, showing just how important it was to them.
Su Ye looked down and saw that it was a swaddle, wrapped around a tiny infant.
So, was this Shun... and his summoned beast of a brother?
Before Su Ye could confirm, another small figure stepped out from the shadows, also holding a swaddle in their arms.
"You can't escape from my grasp!"
It was a little girl with long, straight black hair. She was incredibly beautiful, like a delicate porcelain doll, but her expression was frighteningly cold. Especially her hollow eyes—they made her look even more like 'Death' than Su Ye himself.
At this point, the situation was obvious.
Thirteen years before the main story of Saint Seiya began, around the same time Athena's reincarnation was attacked in Sanctuary, Ikki, holding his newborn brother Shun, was confronted by Pandora.
The swaddle in Pandora's arms contained none other than the soul of Hades, King of the Underworld.
And Shun's body had been chosen as Hades' vessel.
Hades, with his obsessive cleanliness, never descended personally during the Holy Wars. Instead, he would project his soul into a host and use their body to fight his battles.
This time was no different.
According to the original plan, he would remain dormant within Shun's body for thirteen years, then awaken during the Holy War to become the battlefield's ruler—only to be ultimately stabbed by the Seiya Sword in his own domain, the Elysium, and then speared to death by Athena.
But now, Su Ye had arrived. Hades no longer needed to wait thirteen years to die—he could die today.
In the swaddle, Hades' soul was not in its full power. Just like Athena, when descending to Earth, he had to disguise himself and even seal parts of his power to avoid unnecessary complications.
And this was exactly what made things convenient for Su Ye.
Just as Pandora was about to step forward and threaten Ikki, the surrounding space suddenly froze in place.