A God's ritual had already been set in motion, signifying that God King Melqart's demise was now an unavoidable conclusion.
The heavens declare the glory of the Lord; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. Seiya looked up at the night sky, seeing nothing overtly, yet vaguely, a gentle night breeze seemed to circle around the Saint.
His gaze unexpectedly drifted towards the distance.
His perception, expanding limitlessly with the burning of his Cosmo, stretched from the ruins of Sorrento to Palermo, finally encompassing the entirety of Sardinia within its range, and even then, it showed no signs of stopping. Vaguely, he caught a nostalgic aura, but couldn't discern its origin.
Was it Athena? Seiya had no way of knowing, yet his intuition told him it was Athena.
Saint Seiya closed his eyes, as if concentrating his entire focus on a single point, then stepped forward.
That single step bridged the distance between the human world and the Otherworld, his figure completely vanishing from this realm.
But just after the Saint's figure vanished, two lingering presences surged up from this fear-shrouded battlefield beneath the sands. In the center of the Sorrento ruins, the remnants of flesh and blood resembled embers left after being scorched by a furnace, yet from these very embers, a new presence was born, a pitch-black Dragon-beast emerging from the ashes.
This Black Dragon was none other than Marquis Voban. This miracle of resurrection from death was an Authority he had usurped from Inanna, the Mother God of ancient Mesopotamia. The immortality of the Dragon Serpent rendered his soul indestructible; even if the Dragon's body was destroyed, it could regenerate from its spiritual state. If a human body were killed, even if it turned completely to ash, it could be resurrected perfectly intact by expending a large amount of magical power. However, the expended magical power would not recover for one to two months.
In his current state, Voban could no longer sustain God-level combat. Nor did he intend to. He had lost this three-way chaotic battle. He conceded defeat gracefully. Yet, his eerie green Dragon eyes coldly fixated on another surging presence.
The Heretic God was within that presence, its form identical to the Phoenician God King they had confronted moments ago at the ruins.
"You haven't returned to divinity, Melqart," Voban's voice, raspy like a Dragon's, cut through the night wind. "If this old man remembers correctly, you should also possess the miracle of resurrection from the Underworld, shouldn't you?"
"Under normal circumstances, yes, that would be possible. But that's a miracle that can only be activated by a composite Authority, and the Underworld portion of it was sealed by that brat's sword at the crucial moment." Melqart offered a frank smile, but seeing Marquis Voban before him, his expression immediately turned displeased. "He defeated me, yet he has no intention of even saying a final farewell? What an arrogant child!"
"He probably has another urgent matter," Voban mused, vaguely sensing something.
"Then you, my fellow Godslayer, convey the God King's declaration to him. There is a destined rematch once I recover, so for now, I concede this defeat. Tell him to always maintain his fervent fighting spirit, as a constantly victorious God. After all, he is the Rebellious Beast who slew God King Melqart! If he were to lose to any other divine being, I would never forgive him, even if he were to return to the Underworld! Hahahaha!"
His wild laughter, like a final peal of thunder, echoed in the tranquil night sky. Before his words faded, Melqart's towering form could no longer be sustained, transforming into countless points of starlight, thoroughly dispersing and returning to the origin of all divinity.
Meanwhile, the magicians who had been observing continuously, risking their lives since the battle began, were now exhilarated, utterly unable to contain their excitement. This chaotic clash between God and Demon King had drawn to a close, but in the hidden world, an even greater storm was about to sweep through the entire magical community because of this battle.
The Saint from the Far East, Seiya, had defeated the Ancient Demon King Marquis Voban, and slayed God King Melqart.
And Saint Seiya, having successively defeated the Sword King Doni and Marquis Voban, would now contend for the throne of the strongest Godslayer of the current era!
In the Otherworld, deep within a familiar Forest. Before a steaming hot spring, the Pegasus of the Wolf God halted, his gaze piercing through the rising mist to fixate on the figure he pursued.
"How are you here?" The Goddess gazed at the Pegasus before her.
The Goddess, grasping her Winged Staff, for the first time showed a strange look as she regarded the young man before her, clearly not having anticipated his appearance in front of her.
"The Incarnation of Gale brought me here," Seiya said, walking towards Athena.
The Goddess instinctively recoiled. "You are lying. Verethragna's gale can indeed cross distances, but..."
"...but it requires another's summons, doesn't it?" Seiya interrupted her. "It was you who called me here. Otherwise, how do you think I broke through your hidden protections and arrived?"
Was it her body calling him? The Goddess didn't know. But as she now gazed into Seiya's burning God-like eyes, she had to admit that another part of herself was calling out to the young man before her.
"Do not come any closer, Pegasus," the Goddess raised her Winged Staff, holding it between herself and Pegasus. "Now is not the time for you to appear before me. When the time is ripe, I will naturally welcome you back. By then, we shall become inseparable."
Seiya looked at the Goddess, whose face showed conflict and vexation, yet he remained unmoved. He did not question why she had used the Prometheus Stone Tablets on him, nor did he ask what she truly intended, nor even why she had saved him. Instead, he posed another, seemingly irrelevant question.
"Are you still Athena, or are you Metis?" Seiya asked.
"Does that truly matter?" The Goddess, grasping her Winged Staff, looked at Pegasus. "Whether it is Athena or Medusa, both are pillars of the Holy Mother Trinity. At this moment, I am currently..."
The Goddess, Winged Staff in hand, her eyes narrowed, watched the approaching fist with an undeniable gaze.
—Pegasus Meteor Fist?!
A veil of night instantly enveloped the Goddess, forming a sturdy defense. But for a Saint, this was merely the prelude to a warm-up! He raised the arm he was about to unleash, his tone calm, almost matter-of-fact:
"It's alright, Athena. It's just a split personality; it's not a big problem. Come back with me. I will help you."
How would he help? How would she return? And that Pegasus Meteor Fist just now... In that moment, the Goddess suddenly understood another part of the child before her: his essence. He possessed a completely independent, almost savage, logic of action! He hadn't even questioned what she intended to do, but instead simply raised his hand, his entire body blazing with light!
—God Cloth Verethragna, instant armament!
Although his power had been greatly depleted after continuously battling Marquis Voban and God King Melqart, wielding the momentum of constant victory, his oppressive aura made it impossible to breathe.
"Burn, my Cosmo!"
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