As the command was given, the divine domains of Thanatos and Hypnos, deep within the eternal darkness of the Underworld, suddenly lit up.
Thanatos's eyes gleamed with a cold aura of death, while Hypnos's fingertips were wreathed in a purple mist that tempted souls into slumber.
Thanatos and Hypnos, disregarding the gods' oath, directly attacked Human Realm!
This was not a battle, but a one-sided slaughter against defenseless lambs.
In Human Realm, as the eastern sky just began to show a hint of dawn, and before the morning light could penetrate the clouds, a thick, impenetrable black mist poured down from the void.
That was Thanatos's Mist of Death; these mists, imperceptible to mortals, were a materialized force of death.
They spread silently across the land like ink dropped into clear water.
Accompanying it was Hypnos's Eternal Slumber; a pale purple glow swirled at the edges of the black mist, seemingly dreamlike and gentle, yet carrying a temptation that could plunge all things into eternal sleep.
In a rural village, the first wisp of purple mist drifted into a farmhouse window.
The man on the bed, who had been snoring, suddenly curved his lips into an eerie smile after the purple mist brushed his cheek. His breathing gradually weakened, then completely stopped, a look of contentment still lingering on his face.
In the next room, a woman held her baby. As the purple mist coiled around her fingertips, her hand, gently patting the baby, suddenly froze. Her eyes lost their light, and she, along with the child in her arms, fell into an unawakening slumber.
In a bustling city, the black Mist of Death spread like an invisible tide along the streets.
At a crossroads, a red light shone. A bus had just stopped, and black mist seeped in through the windows. The driver, who had been yawning, suddenly stiffened the next second. His hands remained on the steering wheel, his pupils dilated, and his vital signs instantly vanished.
The passengers in the back of the bus were oblivious until the black mist enveloped them. Some were still looking down at their phones, fingers paused on the screen, never moving again.
On the sidewalk, an old man was strolling with a vegetable basket. As the black mist swept past his chest, he suddenly clutched his heart, swayed, and collapsed heavily to the ground.
In an office building, an overworked individual, who had been working overtime all night, was hunched over a keyboard, their finger still on the enter key. Black mist surged in through the vent, and their breathing instantly ceased. The code on the screen remained forever frozen at that moment.
One moment it was a bustling marketplace, the next it had become a morgue.
There were no screams, no struggles, not even a warning. Before fear could even form in their minds, life was completely erased.
In the fields, a robust ox was grazing. As the black mist brushed its body, its hooves suddenly gave way, and its massive body crashed to the ground, unable to even let out a whimper.
In the sky, a flock of birds was soaring through the clouds. As the purple mist coiled around their wings, the birds instantly lost balance and plummeted like kites with broken strings.
The breath of life was disappearing from Human Realm at an unimaginable speed and scale.
At the Summit of Holy Mountain, Saori Kido's white robes fluttered in the wind, her long hair disheveled.
She had been gazing at the eastern dawn, preparing to summon the Saints to discuss strategies for the Holy War.
But when the black and purple mists enveloped the earth, her body suddenly stiffened, and her face instantly turned pale.
"This… this is…"
Saori Kido's eyes widened abruptly, her violet pupils contracting violently in horror.
The power of death and slumber that permeated the entire earth felt like billions of poisonous needles, fiercely piercing the divine core of her as the guardian of the earth, causing her soul to feel a tearing pain.
She instinctively, in an instant, opened the Goddess's divine domain, a thin, almost invisible, faintly shimmering golden light, hastily covering the Sanctuary.
It barely managed to block the death aura that was directly striking the Saints and the residents of the Sanctuary.
But that was all. In this Holy War, she had distributed some of her divine power to the Bronze Five, and she no longer had the ability to fully protect the entire Human Realm.
Saori's face instantly turned ashen, and her delicate body trembled slightly.
"Hades… how dare you use Divine Annihilation…"
Although the attack by Thanatos and Hypnos could not last indefinitely, this time it only took millions of souls. But if it continued, Human Realm would become a ghost realm.
Within the Sanctuary, the Gold Saints, even under the protection of the Goddess's divine domain, felt the same pain.
Saga walked quickly out of the Pope's Palace, his fists clenched, his blue pupils filled with shock.
"Hades, how dare he break the rules of the Holy War!"
Shaka, who was meditating in the Virgo Palace, suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
His state, close to that of a god or Buddha, allowed him to perceive more clearly than anyone the pain of countless souls screaming and perishing at this moment.
His compassionate expression was, for the first time, twisted by anger.
"Hades!"
Mr. Mu's movements of repairing the Cloth suddenly stopped, his eyes filled with extreme shock and sadness.
Shura's knuckles, gripping his Holy Sword, turned white as he gritted his teeth.
Even the usually elegant Aphrodite's rose trembled with fear in his fingertips.
The Bronze Saintss had already arrived beside Saori Kido, kneeling on one knee.
Seiya and Hyoga, among others, clenched their fists, their eyes bloodshot, as they felt the Goddess's intense pain and weakness.
"Lady Goddess… are you…"
Saori Kido forcibly suppressed the intense pain in her soul and the feeling of divine power depletion.
She forcibly gathered her divine thought, and her voice entered the minds of all Saints.
"My brave warriors… Hades's butcher knife has already swung towards Human Realm!"
"But my divine power…"
Saori Kido's pain was clearly conveyed to the heart of every Saint.
"Is no longer enough… to protect every glimmer of life in this vast land…"
At this moment, the Gold Saints of the Sanctuary also arrived at the scene.
Saga took a few steps forward, gritting his teeth and saying in a deep voice.
"Lady Goddess, at present, only attack! Attack the Underworld! Make the Underworld King's gaze… shift away from our world! This is the only way to stop the slaughter!"
A hint of confusion appeared in the eyes of the Saints. In previous Holy Wars, it was always the Underworld Army attacking the Sanctuary, but this time, it was to be the other way around.
The territory of the Underworld was millions of times larger than the Sanctuary, and without awakening the Eighth Sense, they wouldn't even have the right to set foot in the Underworld alive.
They couldn't help but look towards the Aquarius Palace, the one man who might be able to stop all of this, who was not in the Sanctuary at this moment.