In the world of Saints, gods symbolize the supreme ruling power, and they also possess Cosmos that humans can never hope to match.
The upper limit of human Cosmos lies at the Eighth Sense. Of course, the gap between the Seventh and Eighth Sense is not like that between the Sixth and Seventh—there is no qualitative leap in Cosmos itself.
Strictly speaking, the Eighth Sense is the awareness of life and death: the ability to transcend death so that even if the body is destroyed, the soul endures.
In other words, a Saint with the Eighth Sense does not necessarily defeat a Seventh Sense Saint in a straight fight. But a Seventh Sense Saint will absolutely crush a Sixth Sense Saint, because the Seventh Sense forms a threshold—once crossed, Cosmos undergoes a qualitative transformation. An Eighth Sense Saint, however, can keep fighting even if the body is destroyed, by condensing a soul‑body to continue the battle. Put simply, a Saint at the Eighth Sense effectively has two lives.
At the root, Saint vs. Saint battles come down to the quantity and quality of Cosmos, and the so‑called human limit is the Eighth Sense. Even so‑called demi‑gods share that limit.
Compared with true gods, humans lack two things. First is the realm beyond the Eighth Sense: the Ninth Sense, also called "Amalashiki"—the state all beings once sought: ageless immortality, true eternal life. The second is the special powers gods wield, which they call "godheads."
For example, Athena governs war and wisdom; Hades governs death; Poseidon governs the sea.
Only beings who possess both a godhead and the Ninth Sense can be called true, full gods. Of course, not every "god" has both. Most so‑called deities simply have a godhead but lack the Ninth Sense. That's why many Third‑tier and even Second‑tier gods can't necessarily beat a Seventh Sense Gold Saint.
A godhead only boosts the quality of Cosmos, but in the Saint Seiya world, fights are still decided by the overall quality and quantity of Cosmos. Once a Saint reaches the Seventh Sense, their Cosmos quality has already leapt forward—so even a god with a godhead at Third‑tier might not be able to win easily.
Incidentally, Hades's twin gods truly are proper gods, both possessing the Ninth Sense and godheads, and are among the ancient, old‑guard First‑tier deities. Thanatos commands death; Hypnos commands sleep.
Their subordinate dream gods, however, are Third‑tier. Fused together, they reach Second‑tier. Even then, they can still be killed by Seventh and Eighth Sense Gold Saints.
As for the Heavenly Warriors who guard the Heavens—though they lack godheads, none of them are below the Eighth Sense. All twelve of them basically carry divine blood (Touma is the only purely human Heavenly Warrior in history). Clad in Heavenly Raiment once worn by demi‑gods, and trained in Heaven's highest martial arts, they are opponents that ordinary gods may not be able to defeat.
The followers of other gods vary in strength, but none match the Heavenly Warriors.
Even among First‑tier gods there are gradations. The Twelve Olympians and the Lord of the Underworld stand at the top of that echelon. Among them, Hades and Poseidon are the standouts.
Poseidon's strength needs no explanation—he has reached the Ninth Sense and commands the power of the sea.
Meruem's side, of course, is also anything but simple. Though Meruem lacks a godhead and has no idea what the so‑called Ninth Sense even is, the "Source" he wields is a higher‑order power than ordinary Cosmos. At the same time, the sheer volume of Cosmos in his body far exceeds that of typical main gods; even Poseidon is considerably behind him.
It's hard to imagine how strong Meruem would become if he ever acquired a godhead and reached the Ninth Sense.
He might truly step into that so‑called Tenth Sense, the realm of creation and destruction that exists only as a distant myth.
For now, however, Meruem first had to deal with the enemy before him: Poseidon. The two clashed violently, and for a time they were locked in a dead heat.
Poseidon lashed out again and again with his Trident, pouring divine and sea power into every blow, while Meruem answered with nothing but his iron fists. Their battlefield was the ocean itself, where Poseidon's power was greatly amplified, and he wore a God Scale and wielded a divine weapon.
Meruem, on the other hand, wore only a well‑made Chimera Ant battle suit. Yes, just a Chimera Ant suit.
On the surface, the gap was obvious.
The Four Fiend Cloths were not something that could be used lightly. Right now, most of the gods in Heaven—aside from a few with ulterior motives who hadn't been sealed—were not paying much attention to mortal affairs. But the moment Meruem brought out those legendary cursed armors, they would have no choice but to look.
Aside from Athena, no god would tolerate humans or non‑humans standing as their equals.
Without a God Cloth, the Ninth Sense, or a godhead, no matter how strong Meruem became—even if he reached main god level—most of the Heavenly gods would not care overly much. Ancient monsters of that caliber were not unheard of. In fact, some gods might even watch Poseidon's misfortune with glee.
There was plenty of conflict among the gods themselves.
But once a God Cloth came into play, everything changed. It would mean Meruem might have gained the power to slay gods.
In Saint Seiya's lore, Ninth Sense gods are supposed to be immortal and unkillable—only sealable. But is that really true? Clearly not.
Gods can die—not of old age, perhaps, but they can be killed. First, gods can kill other gods. Second, with a God Cloth or God Robe‑class weapon, humans can also potentially kill gods.
In the human Golden Age, things like that did happen. That's precisely why, after Athena and the Five Bronze boys killed Hades in the original story, the gods reacted so strongly—they felt truly threatened.
"Poseidon… weren't you going on and on about 'ants' this and 'ants' that? Then today, let me show you the tricks of those ants you despise so much!" After driving Poseidon from the seabed up to the surface with a punch, Meruem spoke coldly.
The two had long since fought their way from the Undersea Temple into the deep sea. The temple might have been sturdy, but it still lay in the deep ocean. Without Poseidon's barrier, the water pressure alone would crush it.
As for those still in the temple—Saori was there. There was nothing to worry about.
"Try this, Poseidon. This is a human technique!"
"Aurora Execution—goddess of dawn's forgiveness. Freeze, ocean!"
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