"Hehehe, the war god Ares invades the earth… the former Sun God breaks his seal—how interesting. No idea why all these things are happening at the same time, but for me this is a heaven‑sent opportunity." The ruins of the old Valhalla Church in Northern Europe had already been absorbed into Asgard's territory. More precisely, they were under the control of a priest deeply beloved by the northern people, a man named Andreas.
"World Tree… once you bloom with that exquisite flower, that will be the day I, Loki, rule everything." On a snow‑covered mountain in the north, a gigantic tree had grown overnight.
Its name was World Tree. At the same time, a priest named Andreas, thanks to his own prestige and the sudden illness of Hilda, the former mistress of Asgard, took control of Asgard's power. He spread the message to all the people of the north that the World Tree had come to bring them blessings.
On that day, the snow in the north melted. Not only that, within the area touched by the World Tree, green plants began to grow on the land that had long been buried in snow.
More astonishing still, in this northern, frigid land, fruits and vegetables that only existed in tropical and subtropical regions actually began to grow.
All the people of Northern Europe cheered, supporting Andreas and nearly worshiping him as a god. His words were, to them, no different from divine decrees.
The Evil God Loki's World Tree plan was now being put into motion.
"Mr. Deathmask, buying flowers again?" In a small town very close to the World Tree, a girl with the air of the girl next door held out a bouquet to a stubbly, purple‑haired man who looked like a scruffy uncle.
"Ahahaha, Helena, you know… your flowers are the most beautiful in all of the north. I, uh, really like your flowers…" The stubbly man in front of the girl called Helena was none other than the Gold Saint Deathmask, dispatched to the north to carry out observation duty.
He simply wasn't wearing his Cloth.
Though Deathmask always fancied himself a villain, claimed to have killed countless people without ever initiating the killing himself, believed that power alone was justice, and was one of the Sanctuary's strongest fighters as a Gold Saint…
In front of this girl, he was no different from a shy, ordinary man.
When he met a girl he liked, he stuttered and stumbled over his words.
"Algeti, did you see that? As strong as Lord Deathmask is, the moment he stands in front of that girl, he can't even talk. Don't you think my lord is just…" Hiding not far away, Jamian squinted his beady little eyes and, wearing a sleazy smile, nudged the big guy beside him with his elbow.
The real reason was that Jamian just didn't have a good‑guy face, and Deathmask was afraid he'd scare Helena.
"Shh, be careful or Lord Deathmask will hear you." The big guy, Algeti, slapped a hand over Jamian's big mouth, which never seemed to know when to shut up.
These two were the Silver Saints who had come with Deathmask to monitor Asgard: Crow Jamian and Xianwu Algeti.
Ever since they arrived in the north, aside from their daily training, the three Saints had almost nothing to do. Through a chance encounter, Deathmask met the girl Helena, and then fell for her completely. After asking around from various sources and learning that Helena had adopted a bunch of younger siblings and lived a very hard life, he went to buy flowers from her whenever he had time.
Her strong, self‑respecting, and kind nature touched the heart of Deathmask, who always acted like a brash man who didn't care about anything. Fate truly was strange.
Fortunately, the Sanctuary's welfare was excellent, so Deathmask didn't have to worry about money and didn't need to stoop to unreliable things like gambling, as in Soul of Gold. With his monthly stipend, if he wanted to, he could easily buy out her entire stock of flowers. Even though he knew nothing about romance, he at least understood that would not be a good idea.
He was afraid of scaring her, so each day he could only clumsily buy a small batch of flowers to build up her goodwill. The moment he bought flowers each day was when Deathmask felt happiest.
"Hey, you two." Deathmask's voice sounded behind the two Silver Saints who had been whispering to each other, scaring them both half to death.
Neither of them had any desire to experience Deathmask's Yomotsu Hirasaka firsthand.
"Wh‑what is it, Lord Deathmask? We definitely weren't saying anything bad about you." The big lug Algeti forced out a smile uglier than a cry, then blurted out those words without thinking, like someone protesting too much.
Beside him, Jamian covered his sleazy face in grief.
What a pig of a teammate…
"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Obviously lost in thought, Deathmask ruffled his own hair and didn't even register what Algeti had said.
He just stared solemnly at the massive tree visible in the distance. "I was saying, something's off in the north lately. I have a bad feeling…"
At the same time, far away in Greece, the entire Sanctuary was shrouded in a terrifying Cosmo. All the Saints on standby there felt as if they couldn't breathe under its pressure—that was the Cosmo of the former Sun God Abel.
He was showing off to the Sanctuary. Yet with Athena and Meruem both away, no one in the Sanctuary could oppose him right now.
"Saints of Athena, submit to me and I will spare your lives." A Cosmo dazzling like the sun itself appeared before the Gold Saints waiting in the Twelve Temples and the Pope's Hall.
Standing on a high platform, Abel slowly spoke as he looked around at the Saints crushed down by his Cosmo.
"Never!"
Unfortunately for him, not a single Saint, Kanon included, accepted Abel's offer.
They would rather die than yield. Their faith was in Athena, and besides, this Sanctuary was unprecedentedly powerful compared to any past Holy War. Even a god would find it impossible to make these proud Gold Saints bow their heads.
All the more so since among these Gold Saints were two who had once dared to challenge the gods themselves—Saga, the god‑killer in human form, and Kanon, the demigod who dared deceive the Sea Emperor.
On top of that, there was the man closest to the gods and buddhas, the one who could converse with them, Shaka.
With these three Gold Saints gathered, even the former Sun God Abel could not hope to make them kneel.
"You don't know what's good for you. Corona Saints, kill them." With that, Abel turned his back on them and walked straight toward the Goddess Temple behind the Pope's Hall.
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