"It's not over yet. This level isn't even enough to warm me up. Mada‑da‑da‑ne." Ikki's voice was ice‑cold.
"Arrogant Bronze Saint… I admit I underestimated you just now. But did you really think I'd have no way to deal with you?" Baian slowly spread his hands toward Ikki.
"I'll show you what the true 'breath of a god' is." A gigantic storm formed out of nowhere around Ikki, completely locking down his movements.
"This power…" Even Ikki couldn't break free at once.
"Yeah, compared to a few years ago, this guy's gotten stronger… but still weak all the same," Meruem commented dryly.
"Go up to the surface and reflect on yourself. If… you manage to survive." With Baian's motion, the massive undersea storm hurled Ikki's body upward, smashing him straight toward the surface.
"Big brother!" Shun cried out.
"My divine breath can blast a man from the Undersea Temple all the way up to the surface, tens of thousands of meters above. The pressure alone between those two points is enough to leave the Phoenix with no grave to be buried in."
"That takes care of him. Who's next?" Exhaling in relief, Baian turned his gaze back to the others.
No sooner had he spoken than Seiya, on Meruem's side, couldn't sit still any longer. His temper was much like Baian's—hot‑blooded and impatient. "I'll teach that guy a lesson!"
He had barely taken a step when Shiryu grabbed his arm.
"Shiryu, what are you doing? I'm going to teach that guy in the knockoff bronze armor a lesson and avenge Ikki."
Compared with the bright gold of a Gold Cloth, the brass color of the Scale really did look ugly—like some cheap counterfeit Gold Cloth.
"Seiya, cut it out. The fight isn't over yet." Shiryu spoke in that tone of someone who had already seen through everything.
You know that move? The one where a palm comes down from the heavens—
Not the Tathagata's, no.
It belonged to Ikki's fist.
Like a huge fireball, Ikki's figure appeared again above the Undersea Temple.
His Cosmo‑charged fist slammed down, smashing Baian deep into the temple floor.
"Get up. I know that punch just now didn't finish you." Ikki said coldly without even looking back. "What a terrifying punch… if I hadn't used my Air Wall Defense just now, I probably would've been done for." Climbing out of the crater, Baian was actually uninjured, with only a bit of dust on his body.
At the moment Ikki's fist struck, Baian had unleashed his signature defensive technique, the Air Wall, using compressed air currents to block the blow.
"Still, Phoenix, I admit you've got some skill. But you can't break my defense, and you still can't hurt me. The victor of this battle will be me," Baian pointed at Ikki and said arrogantly.
Ikki raised an eyebrow at that, a note of mockery in his voice. "Ridiculous. You mean that air wall you just used? Let me shatter that ridiculous confidence of yours. I've got at least two ways to break your little shield."
"Even a fellow Sea General would have a hard time breaking my Air Wall. And you're just a Bronze? I'll make you understand the gap between us Sea Generals and you Bronze Saints."
"Phoenix Wing Rise!"
"Useless. Your attacks can't touch me." Baian repeated his trick. The massive air current barrier formed again in front of him to block Ikki's strike.
Clearly, Baian had absolute faith in his Air Wall.
Seeing the wall of air, Seiya exclaimed, "His defensive move is exactly the same as that Silver Saint, Misty's!"
"Exactly. It's just an air wall." Ikki's fist crashed into Baian's body right before his shocked eyes, the Air Wall bursting like paper with a single thrust.
Baian's Scale shattered completely, his armor blown to pieces, even the helmet on his head flying off who‑knew‑where.
"Impossible… how did you know the weakness of the Air Wall?" Baian was down but not dead.
He was, however, gravely injured.
Perhaps because Ikki was in a good mood, he actually took the rare step of explaining. Normally, he wouldn't have bothered, even if it were a dying wish.
"Because I've seen the exact same technique before on a certain White Saint in the Sanctuary. So I know precisely where the weak point in that air wall is. And his Air Wall was stronger than yours. So in the end, you Sea Generals are only about on par with Silver Saints."
At that, Baian spat a mouthful of blood and collapsed, his life or death unknown.
"Damned Bronze brat! I, Chrysaor Io of the Six Beasts, will show you what fear really is!" Baian's defeat was a huge blow to the sea realm's morale.
Losing to a Gold Saint might have been acceptable, but Baian had fallen to a Bronze. For the surrounding Mariners and sea‑realm grunts, that was a heavy blow.
There were several Bronzes on the other side, and two Gold Saints who still hadn't moved.
And that Bronze had just said a Sea General's technique was no different from a Silver Saint's. What did that say about the Gold Saints?
So the moment Baian fell, Io was itching to restore the Sea Generals' reputation.
"Wait." Before Io could step forward, a hand landed on his shoulder.
"Let me go first." With sea‑green hair and a striking single eye, it was Devil Fish Ezdra.
"Fine. Those guys are really unlucky—to have caught your interest. Show them a taste of Siberia's cold wind." Io retreated a step and returned to the Sea Generals' line.
"Hyoga. Come out." Ezdra pointed straight at the Bronze group.
"Hyoga, do you know this guy?" The Bronze boys' ears perked up at the hint of a backstory, and they all turned to Hyoga for answers.
Hyoga didn't respond. He just stared at Ezdra with a deeply conflicted expression. "Brother Ezdra… why are you here? Weren't you Athena's Saint? Are you betraying your faith? Why did you become a Sea General?"
"Because… it was Lord Poseidon who saved me back then." Ezdra didn't answer Hyoga's questions directly. Instead, he slowly began to recount the past.
Ezdra was something of a special case among the Sea Generals. Normally, a Sea General received both Scale and power from the Sea Emperor. Of the seven, only he and Kanon had unusual circumstances—they had both originally been Athena's Saints before becoming Sea Generals.
"Besides… why should I worship that weak, useless goddess?"
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