The view before him shimmered slightly, like the light distorted and folded by the water vapor on a riverbank on a hot summer day.
Pope Arles, sitting on the throne, saw the robed woman transform into the present-day Saori Kido, holding a golden scepter.
He saw the distant Sagittarius become the figure of Seiya walking toward him.
But as Arles focused his eyes again, only the completely empty Pope's Palace remained.
He knew this was not an illusion, because this was the future that was about to unfold.
"This is the fate you were always meant to have! Hahahaha! You will ultimately pay the price for assassinating Athena all those years ago!" The unrestrained laughter echoed from the mirror again.
"What can be protected by relying on that weak Athena? To what heights can Aiolos, who knows neither sorrow nor despair, lead the Saints?!"
"You naturally evil seed, repent before the Goddess right this instant! That way, you can at least die as a Saint!"
"No one can take what is ours, neither Aiolos nor the Pope! Kill them!"
"Only I! Only I, Saga of Gemini, am the hope of this Sanctuary! Only I can lead the Sanctuary to unprecedented heights!"
Two different voices roared in Arles's mind, like a red-eyed madman and a devil from Hell. He didn't know when, but that domineering will had already taken control of his mind.
He was subconsciously carrying out the Pope's will. He controlled the Sanctuary, which meant he wielded the greatest power in this world. Anyone who dared to approach, he would crush!
Arles looked at the deep, dark Pope's Palace before him, his eyes fierce and cruel. He slowly lowered his hand from his forehead... "Come, Saint Seiya. I'm waiting for you here!"
The Tenth House, Capricorn House.
His body was rent asunder by an even purer Excalibur. Shura felt no pain; only the broken Excalibur in his hand made him realize he had lost.
"The Excalibur with infinite potential, bestowed upon the Capricorn House Saint, famed as the most loyal to Athena. Just like Deathmask, you knew of the Pope's betrayal yet still submitted to power, bowing before his throne..."
"Because power, because victory, is justice." The Capricorn House Saint, Shura, looked up at Seiya, repeating the phrase word for word. "Because only the strong who have truly understood sorrow and despair are true Saints. Therefore, even if you kill me, I will only feel joy."
Seiya looked at this peculiar Saint before him, a man who knew of the Pope's conspiracy yet still chose to serve him, and lowered his gaze.
"Hahahaha! Come! With the will to cut me down, go and defeat the Pope! Seiya, go and take back everything that is rightfully yours!"
Shura's laughter came to an abrupt halt, his heart stopping. Seiya stepped over his body and proceeded to the Eleventh House, the Aquarius House.
Standing before him now was the Aquarius Saint, Camus, one born with a spirit of sacrifice. His long, grayish-green hair flowed, and a frigid atmosphere permeated the entire temple.
Unlike the other Saints, Camus lacked the resolve to fully carry out his own will. Like Shura in the previous house, he was a gatekeeper for the truly powerful Gold Saints. Those stronger than him were the Tier-1 powerhouses, while those weaker lacked proper inherited combat techniques or could not fully master the Seventh Sense.
"You have finally arrived, Saint Seiya. I know I cannot stop you, nor do I intend to. However, as the guardian of the Aquarius House, I must still fight."
A cold air covered the entire palace, and the temperature plummeted... -50°C, -100°C, -130°C, -170°C, -200°C. Behind Camus, the spectral image of the goddess Aurora appeared, and the bracers on his arms reconfigured into a semi-translucent water jar.
Facing this Pegasus who had come all this way, Camus unleashed his ultimate technique.
The goddess Aurora opened her eyes. She raised the urn, and Camus held it by the mouth. As his Cosmo burned completely without reservation, a freezing aura of absolute zero, shimmering with the colors of the aurora, poured forth from the opening.
"——Aurora Execution!!"
The world came to a standstill. All kinetic energy in matter vanished. Whether it was Cosmo or anything else, all energy was completely lost at this moment. Although it bears the name of the Goddess's forgiveness, it is a devastating freeze of spacetime.
Even the Saint Seiya before him was no exception; his form was utterly frozen within this solidified moment in time.
However, Camus exhaled a breath of white mist, and the frozen spacetime shattered, allowing time to move forward once more.
It wasn't that he had spared Seiya, but that he had already realized his own defeat.
Even though he had frozen Seiya's figure in time, Seiya had already appeared behind him in the palace. The figure before him was merely a residual image from the past.
The Twelfth House, the Pisces House.
Looking at the familiar scene, Seiya slowly exhaled, a nostalgic expression on his face.
It was a sea of Royal Demon Roses. As the final House, Pisces and its Saint bear the duty of guarding the Pope and Athena. The path to the Pope's Palace was paved with roses, and blood-red petals danced in the air. Standing atop a great stone pillar in that sea of petals was the Pisces Gold Saint, Aphrodite, who held a rose in his mouth and slowly opened his eyes.
"This is as far as you go, Seiya." Aphrodite looked at the Saint before him. "If you are still a Saint loyal to the Goddess, then you will advance no further. I know the current Pope has done things you cannot comprehend, but now that the reincarnation of the Goddess Athena has returned, let her be the judge, not you."
With a beauty that rivaled Albafica's, Aphrodite of Pisces looked down from his high perch at Saint Seiya, who paid no heed to his words and continued to advance.
"What a pity. You've made the wrong choice." Aphrodite sighed. "Though you have broken through the guardians of the first eleven houses, your wrong choice means you will fall before the Pope's Palace. Don't blame me; blame yourself."
Royal Demon Roses are lethally poisonous red roses that were planted around palace courtyards in ancient times to repel invaders. The path from the Pisces House to the Pope's Palace is covered with countless Demon Roses and thorny vines.
Seiya's mistake was stepping into this beautiful, poisonous domain.
Aphrodite could feel the fragrance of his Royal Demon Roses seeping into Saint Seiya's body through his breath and pores.
As Seiya approached, the poison circulated completely through his body. The moment Seiya was within arm's reach, he snapped his fingers.
"——Royal Demon Rose!"
Nothing. Nothing happened.
The Saint who should have collapsed was still standing before him, as if the poison of the Royal Demon Roses had no effect on him... No, it was as if his Royal Demon Roses no longer belonged to him.
In an instant, the Pisces Gold Saint, Aphrodite, realized this terrifying truth. He didn't even notice when Seiya walked past him.
Because this sea of Royal Demon Roses already belonged to Seiya. He imitated Aphrodite and snapped his fingers behind him.
Snap!
The sky filled with dancing roses, and their rich fragrance enveloped Aphrodite's entire body.
He felt no pain. An extreme pleasure, a warmth that surpassed his own will, caused Aphrodite to instinctively collapse into the sea of flowers. Even the pain of the thorns piercing his body was blissful.
Seiya's own Pisces combat technique, "Paean of Flowers," was complete.
All twelve houses had been breached, and even the Zodiac's defenses were dispelled.
Saori Kido, holding the golden scepter, suddenly turned. It wasn't just her; the other Saints, and even distant mortals, felt a dominant presence rising from the summit.
"So it has finally come to this." Shaka, the Virgo Gold Saint, formed a mudra. He once again pushed his Cosmo to the level of the newly awakened Eighth Sense. His will broke through the lockdown of Another Dimension, seeing the entirety of the Pope's Palace.
"The time has come where we must fight." Mu's footsteps sounded nearby. The Another Dimension surrounding the Twelve Houses was dispelled, and all the Gold Saints gathered, sensing the Cosmo of Athena's reincarnation.
With few exceptions, most of the Gold Saints knelt before Saori Kido without hesitation.
At the same time, footsteps echoed in the empty Pope's Palace as Seiya once again pushed open the golden doors. Light pierced the darkness within like a sword. Seiya looked at the throne at the far end of the empty hall and the figure seated upon it.
An imposing figure, a red robe, a red helmet, and a blue-purple mask with a grim expression.
The Pope Arles before him hardly seemed like a living person, more like an immutable statue sitting on the throne.
Seiya slowly walked up to him, standing beside the throne. The moment they met, they did not fight, but stood together looking at the Pope's Palace like long-lost friends.
"If you're interested, why don't you try my seat?" Pope Arles spoke.
As he spoke, Pope Arles vacated the throne he had occupied for fourteen years and stood aside, watching Seiya sit in his place.
Seiya rested a hand on his chin and gazed at the Pope's Palace before him.
"How is it?" Pope Arles was somewhat curious about the Pegasus Saint's feelings.
"So this is what it feels like," Seiya said slowly. "The view from the Pope's throne... the line of sight isn't always good from here. To sit here for two hundred years, constantly watching that door, must be incredibly lonely."
Two hundred years. Very few Popes could rule the Sanctuary for two hundred years.
In just an instant, Arles understood that Seiya was referring to the old Pope from before the previous Holy War, Sage.
Pope Arles's voice rang out like a bell. "Because loneliness is the norm for a Pope. If one cannot even endure such an emotion, how can they command the Saints and govern the Earth in Athena's stead?"
"And what about you? As the Pope who has ruled Sanctuary for fourteen years, even as an imposter, what do you feel?"
Seiya's words were calm, asking a question to which he already knew the answer. Pope Arles shot him a sharp glance with his crimson eyes.
"Just like Sage, I sat here and just now saw a scene similar to you opening the door and walking in. I've seen it countless times over these fourteen years. A Sanctuary fallen to ruin, a Sanctuary in turmoil, Saint after Saint stepping forward, new comrades gathering here, opening that door."
Arles's voice grew louder.
"If the gods walk in the heavens, then the Pope is their proxy on Earth. The Goddess Athena should just be a sublime symbol hanging above. The one who truly has the right and ability to make choices for the Saints should be the Pope, and only the Pope!"
More arrogant than a god, more domineering than a god, a man who tried to seize the authority that should belong to the Goddess—that was Pope Arles.
"I think I understand you," Seiya said.
He rose from the throne. Pope Arles also turned to face the Saint.
They both took a step toward each other. At this close range, the Cosmos burning within them collided. The distorted atmosphere whipped into a whirlwind, sucking in a massive amount of air that connected heaven and earth, forming a celestial tree visible for tens of kilometers.
——Let's fight!!!
Pope Arles tore off his cape, burned his Cosmo, and unreservedly unleashed the Genro Maoken.
Fist met fist. The moment they struck, their gazes clashed, cracking with lightning. A fissure appeared on Arles's mask, but this time he did not use his Cosmo to protect it, instead letting it shatter completely before him.
Long, grayish-white hair danced wildly. Such a ferocious, powerful body could only belong to one Saint.
Saga of Gemini, once the star of hope for Sanctuary, hailed as an incarnation of a god, and a Saint who, like Aiolos of Sagittarius, was considered a successor to the Pope.
And beneath the mask, Saga's eyes were filled with tears. "The moment I put on the mask, I made up my mind to cast aside my identity as a Gemini, to discard my name as Saga, and to devote myself wholeheartedly to the role of Pope! Why did you have to force me to take it off? Why must you force me to do what I do not wish to do!"
"Saga, stop pretending," Seiya beckoned to him with his finger. "It's time to settle the final problem."
Saga smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Ha, if that's what you're hoping for."
A powerful shockwave forced the two apart.
"Come, answer me, Gemini Cloth!" Saga raised his arms. With his declaration, the Gemini Gold Cloth from the Gemini House flew in as twelve streams of light, assembling onto his body.
His absolute strongest state. How could the Arles concealed beneath the Pope's regalia compare to the Saga of Gemini before him now? Returning to his true form, his power surged, soared, and skyrocketed, climbing to an insurmountable peak!
Seiya smiled and stepped forward. The moment he raised his hand, the Sagittarius Gold Cloth belonging to Aiolos assembled around him.
——Sagittarius, Gemini.
Saga was momentarily stunned, but soon a genuine smile spread across his face. "Is that you? Continuing the unfinished battle from fourteen years ago... is this your will, Aiolos? Then come! Saint Seiya!"
The Gemini Saint, Saga, roared like a ferocious dragon and leaped across the Pope's Palace, his fists burning with flames as he charged toward the Seiya standing before him.
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