Under the cover of night, the three Gold Saint arrived beneath the Graad Foundation building with very serious expressions.
"Strange, I could sense those Cosmo just a moment ago, why have they all vanished now?" Deathmask asked, looking up with a puzzled expression.
Aphrodite frowned. He wasn't even holding a rose in his mouth at this moment; Athena actually left a tremendous amount of psychological pressure on these few Saints.
It was one thing to proclaim resistance against Athena's rule in daily life, but it was quite another to actually raise a fist against the Goddess. If the few Gold Saint hadn't already committed to this path of no return, they probably wouldn't have had the guts to come and cause trouble for Saori Kido.
Don't be fooled by how loudly the three of them shouted slogans like "carrying out the evil rule to the end is justice" or "might makes right." When truly facing the Goddess they had always worshipped, the three Gold Saint were all incredibly anxious and unsettled.
To put it bluntly, in the entire Sanctuary, there was really no one else who dared to directly harm Athena except for that madman, Saga. Even the Sagittarius from the original story who almost killed Saori Kido—if you had really told him that Saori Kido was Athena, he probably wouldn't have had the guts to throw a punch.
But there was no help for it; the three Gold Saint were now part of Saga's faction, and even if they claimed they wanted to turn over a new leaf, there had to be someone who would believe them.
Furthermore, regardless of anything else, these Gold Saint still had some pride of their own. This kind of last-minute defection was something they simply couldn't bring themselves to do before being beaten to the ground.
The taciturn Shura glanced around. "Indeed, just a moment ago, the Cosmo was right here, and then it suddenly vanished. Hmm!? How did they run off over there?"
The three Gold Saint quickly sensed the Cosmo coming from outside the city. They looked at each other, unable to fathom how the opponent had suddenly run so far away.
"Is it psychokinesis or a space-type ability?" Aphrodite, the Pisces Saint, remarked. Shura didn't really answer, just turned and walked toward that direction: "I can feel it, those Cosmo are burning! They are issuing a challenge, aren't they?!"
"Very good, then let us show them the terror of the Gold Saint!" Deathmask said. "They are just a bunch of Bronze Saints and Silver Saints."
...
Knowing that the enemy might launch an attack, Shin naturally wouldn't let everyone go back to their own homes and find their own mothers like in the original story.
Go home to what, find which mother? What if someone came looking for them? In the profession of Saint, there was never any saying that numbers were meaningless; if three or five opponents of roughly the same level came, basically no one could win.
Everyone was dispersed together. They didn't even need the Gold Saint to make a move; if five or six Silver Saints were sent to surround and attack, unless one could instantly comprehend the Seventh Sense, the Five Bronze Saints would definitely not be able to win!
Therefore, during this period, everyone had been living in the Graad Foundation. Anyway, Saori Kido was wealthy, and she didn't lack the food and drink for a few Saints.
But now that the enemy was attacking, that was no fun at all. As the largest conglomerate in Japan, the Graad Foundation's building was naturally in the center of the bustling city. If a battle were to unfold here, even at night, quite a few people would likely die.
Saori Kido was soft-hearted and couldn't bear to see such a situation, so Shin took everyone outside the city and had them emit their Cosmo to issue a challenge.
Saori Kido had originally wanted to say that she would step up herself, but the Bronze Saints and Silver Saints who had been training day by day during this period insisted that there was no need for the Goddess to make a move. This was the reason why the three Gold Saint could only sense the Cosmo of some Bronze Saints and Silver Saints.
Otherwise, if Saori Kido had emitted the Athena Cosmo that she could now fully control, whether the three Gold Saint would have had the courage to walk in front of her would truly be an unknown.
When three streams of golden light flowed down from the sky, the group of highly spirited Silver Saints were instantly dumbfounded.
Damn! Gold Saint! And three of them at once! Did they think that highly of them?
The Silver Saints had a good sense of their own limitations and were well aware of the power of the Gold Saint. Among the four Five Bronze Saints—Seiya and the others—except for Hyoga, none of them had this concept.
They figured that the gap between the Silver Saints and themselves didn't seem too big; even ordinary Bronze Saints, two or three together, seemed able to fight a Silver Saint.
Then, by that logic, weren't Gold Saint just a bit stronger than two or three ordinary Silver Saints? There wasn't much difference between them and their own strength!
It was Hyoga, whose own master was a Gold Saint and who had truly seen Camus in action, who wore an expression of astonishment. "Three Gold Saint!? Is the Pope... that desperate to kill Athena this time?"
What did three Gold Saint mean? It was basically one-third of the entire Sanctuary's combat power! At this moment, the Twelve Zodiac Temples were not full. Excluding Sagittarius, Libra, and Aries, and counting some powerful Silver Saints who had comprehended the Seventh Sense, it was no exaggeration to say that three people represented one-third of the combat power.
As for those who hadn't comprehended the Seventh Sense, there was no point in them going to participate in the Holy War as cannon fodder; they were basically just goods used to maintain public order and were not counted as combat power at all.
To enter the Underworld and fight the Specters, the absolute minimum requirement was to comprehend the Eighth Sense. Otherwise, one could only have the Goddess expend her divine blood to imbue the cloth. You could figure it out with your toes—where would the average Bronze or Silver Saint get that opportunity? At the very least, you had to comprehend the Seventh Sense! Otherwise, why would you go to the Underworld?
Sweeping his gaze over the crowd, the hot-headed Shura immediately raised his hand, a faint golden light swirling around it: "Athena, surrender your head!"
His shout really gave the group of Silver and Bronze Saints a huge shock: This guy actually knew that Saori Kido was Athena! Not only that, but instead of kneeling to the Goddess upon seeing her, he actually dared to strike!
Little did they know, Shura was also pushed to his limit. Because Saori Kido had now fully awakened her Goddess Cosmo, even when she wasn't using it, that aura of Athena's Cosmo could faintly permeate the air. After one look, Shura felt his resolve waver and almost collapsed to the ground to repent directly.
At such a moment, he could only strike immediately to interrupt the wavering in his heart; at the same time, the words he shouted were also to ensure he had no retreat, to firm up his own conviction.
The faint holy sword slashed toward Athena. At this moment, Shiryu didn't say a word, and the dragon shield in his hand blocked in front of Saori Kido.
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Now available - Chapter 698: Finale (ENDING)