The God Cloth responded to Seiya's call, and the brilliant golden Cosmo, as if alive, instantly reached its peak state!
The Saint traced the trajectory of stars across his chest, and amidst the long cry of Pegasus, a torrent of meteors swept forward.
Atomic Thunder Bolt, Pegasus Light-Speed Fist—these two pinnacle combat techniques, infused with the Saint's unshakeable will, erupted from his hands. Though he had endured successive fierce battles, his aura was now unstoppable. Their power had reached its zenith, ushering in a fleeting moment of light in the realm of life and death.
As for the Goddess, her face still carried a sorrow that could not be described with words.
After the light, came a darkness that swallowed heaven and earth. A chilling arc of light intercepted the light's advance, and split the entire battlefield.
The Goddess's divine might was like a prison, as she wielded a black scythe as long as her body. This was the Death God Scythe, its black blade capable of absorbing all light. The Goddess gripped the hilt, and the domain of Ancient Night furiously expanded outwards from its center.
The Death God Scythe swept down; the concept of death condensed into a streak of light. The blade's mark stretched endlessly, and finally, the Ghostly Forest, the God Altar, space itself, and even the Saint's Atomic Thunder Bolt were all severed in two!
"Seiya, what is it that you seek?" the Goddess suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.
Seiya did not answer, but continued to advance relentlessly.
The Triune Mother was indeed an unprecedentedly powerful foe, but the more so, the more it called forth the Saint's combat nature. Seiya could feel his God Hunter physique frantically sending battle signals to his brain.
—Even if Athena's guidance has been shattered, please wield your power for justice on Earth!
Different combat techniques manifested on his left and right: the fiercely glowing Raging Tiger Gale Purple Lightning Fist and the Raging Dragon Blizzard Frost Source, taking the form of a white Dragon and a purple Tiger respectively, roaring as they unleashed a Dragon-Tiger assault upon the Athena before him.
The Goddess's face was devoid of joy or sorrow. At this moment, she had reined in her inner emotions, and with equally unshakeable resolve, swung the Death God Scythe in her hand.
The Dragon-Tiger clashed with the Death Night, and at that very moment, Seiya himself transformed into light, piercing forward to stand before Athena.
Without Seiya's support, the Dragon-Tiger instantly crumbled, but he himself had already leaped skyward. From his palm, the holy sword's radiant light traced a semicircular arc as he brought it down in a vertical slash, directly at Athena's Death God Scythe.
The holy sword clashed with the scythe, but the Saint, channeling his immense kinetic energy, forced the Goddess to fly backward, crashing into the ghostly forest behind her that billowed like spectral moths. Seiya's figure pursued her like a shadow; even the most elite Knight could not comprehend their fighting style. Their movements completely defied the laws of physics, moving like light itself.
But in the next instant, a massive giant snake rose from the ground, and opened its bloody maw towards the Saint.
"Mindless beast, die." Seiya frowned, and in the next instant, the holy sword's radiance, distilled from his palm, cleaved the giant snake before him in two. But this brief instant was already enough for the Triune Mother to call forth a high-speed God incantation.
"Come forth, Winged Goddess, present the fruits of victory to Athena, who presides over wisdom and war!"
The Authority of the War God and the God Cloth he wore both resonated with a faint hum, and brilliant platinum light actually rose in this Ancient Night. A figure incredibly familiar to the Saint appeared before him.
She appeared in the form of a beautiful woman, dressed in white, with pure white wings on her back, like an angel's.
The Saint, Seiya, looked at the Goddess, gracefully spreading her wings and soaring.
It was Nike, the Winged Goddess of Victory. One of the last three missing out of the eleven Godly avatars summoned by the Goddess of Love and Beauty, Aphrodite. Seiya had thought she was awaiting the end of time to automatically return to Godhood, but it seemed she had re-pledged allegiance to this realm's Disobedient Athena.
The Goddess's voice rang out from behind Nike, "My Pegasus, now is not the right time for you to return and entrust yourself to me. Once the stars align, I will personally welcome you back to our throne."
Though the voice was loud, Seiya was not affected by Athena's words, for he sensed a power transcending space was being activated. He looked at Nike, who stood before him, and raised his hand.
Nike assumed a Godly, sacred combat stance, "As Pegasus, the avatar of the fallen Lord, you should not oppose your master..."
"Silence!" The Saint grabbed Nike's head with one hand, then with the other, punched her into the ground.
However, Athena's figure had already vanished.
In the silent world belonging entirely to Ancient Night, the Goddess, wielding the Death God Scythe, emerged from her throne.
A moment later, she raised her hand, and the Winged Staff reappeared in her palm, then transformed into Nike's form, though a large hole had been torn through her chest. Yet even so, her first action was to kneel before the God King.
"I am sorry, my Lord, I failed to stop your Pegasus." Nike was deeply ashamed.
"It's alright. For you to resist Pegasus was in itself an impossible task for a mortal; to have achieved this much is already commendable." Athena comforted her.
Nike was both a retainer of Athena, the War God, and one of Athena's avatars. As long as it wasn't Death (Thanatos), nothing could sever the rainbow bond between them.
With a wave of her hand, Nike once again transformed into the Winged Staff, landing in her palm.
Immediately after, she tapped her finger on her brow, and a few breaths later, two completely distinct figures appeared in this domain.
One was a War Goddess clad in white robes, the other was a demonic woman whose face was etched with sorrow.
Metis, Athena, and Gzirgon—the former Triune Mother had now manifested as separate entities within this Dark Sanctuary. However, the other two existed merely as avatars.
But why, the Goddess wondered, did Seiya's words come to mind?
Was it her own call... that made him appear before her through the Authority of the Strong Wind?
"Was it truly my call, or did I, during Gzirgon's maternal phase, also possess..."
But soon, her thoughts were drawn to the bronze Pegasus statue before her. Do not worry, soon, very soon, this defiled world will be purified.
—The realm settled, at the original site of the battlefield.
The barren land, the shattered Ghostly Forest, the destroyed hot springs—Seiya's heart felt a trace of regret. After all, this was where he had first met Athena, and where he had resurrected from death. For it to be destroyed like this, even Seiya couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. Yet, vaguely, he seemed to sense something. He walked into the dried-up hot spring, and to his own disbelief, from the bottom, he unearthed a Godly grimoire that was incredibly familiar to him.
"The Prometheus Stele," Seiya lightly brushed off the dust from its surface.
Within it, there was even a familiar yet nascent Authority, calling out to him.
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