After becoming the incomplete version of the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, Setsuna spent a year in quiet cultivation.
When the time for crossing arrived again, he handed over affairs to Minato as usual, then opened the spacetime passage.
18th Century Europe. A village was being consumed by raging flames.
"Hahaha, weak humans! Entertain me with your souls!" A man clad in black armor stood in the center of the inferno, laughing.
Within the flames, countless souls wailed as they were sucked into his Surplice, becoming nourishment.
"Stop!" A voice, young yet full of anger, rang out.
From the sea of fire emerged a heroic-looking boy of about twelve or thirteen, his eyes blazing with fury.
"You were once human too, weren't you? Why be so cruel?!"
The armored man laughed. "Human? I am no longer such a lowly creature. I am now Hades-sama's Terrestrial Star Specters, Sylph Edward!"
He spread his arms. The Surplice gleamed with an eerie dark light in the firelight. "Life on Earth is but an illusion! Only death is eternal!"
The boy sneered. "What Terrestrial Star? Just a puppet manipulated by your Surplice. A pitiful insect lost in power."
"You're asking for death!" Edward roared in rage. The black Surplice erupted with a blinding light. "I'll tear you apart!"
He charged at the boy like black lightning, only to see the other assume a peculiar stance.
"Rozan Shoryu Ha!"
A golden dragon-shaped energy surged skyward. Edward's attack was instantly shattered, his entire body sent flying backward.
"Impossible!" He crashed through several trees before stopping, his face filled with disbelief. "No Saint Cloth, yet you've already comprehended the Sixth Sense level? Just who are you?!"
The boy retracted his fist, standing tall. "I am Dohko. A Carving Fist practitioner training in a hermitage, preparing to go to Sanctuary for further training."
Edward gnashed his teeth. "Brat, I remember you. You just wait!"
He then flapped the wings of his Surplice, trying to escape.
Dohko frowned deeply. After comprehending the Sixth Sense, one could develop various superhuman abilities, including flight. But he didn't possess that ability yet.
Just then—
Boom!
A 'meteor' fell from the sky, accurately hitting Edward in mid-air, smashing him heavily into the ground.
As the dust settled, the figure of a black-haired man was revealed.
"Cough, cough..." Edward struggled to prop up his upper body, only to discover the wings on his Surplice's back were broken. He stared at the man before him in terror. "And who are you?"
"My name is Chiaki Setsuna." Setsuna patted the dust off his clothes. "My apologies. I had just arrived and didn't adjust my landing posture properly, so I accidentally broke your toy."
Edward gritted his teeth, 'This bastard actually called a Surplice a toy! Even more frightening, he shattered the Surplice with just his body. Just how hard is this guy's body?!'
Dohko stepped forward, his young face filled with resolve. "Now you can't escape. Atone for these innocent people!"
"Atone?" Edward suddenly laughed maniacally. "I am Hades-sama's warrior! Even if killed, I can be resurrected. Death means nothing to us!"
Dohko frowned deeply, 'These Specters were this troublesome? Even death was useless?'
"Then just cut off his limbs," Setsuna said nonchalantly. "Let him live on as a human stick."
Dohko was greatly shocked, stammering, "W-wouldn't that be too cruel? Saints should uphold love and justice..."
Edward also felt fear in his heart, 'Who's the villain here?!'
Setsuna looked around… burning houses, charred corpses, the air thick with the smell of scorched souls.
"If we let him revive, tragedies like this will repeat." Setsuna's voice was terrifyingly calm. "If this counts as darkness, then I'll bear this darkness."
Edward trembled, feeling the man before him was more like a Specter than he was.
Thinking of the miserable life to come, he looked up to the sky in despair and wailed, "Hades-sama! Please save your loyal servant!"
Suddenly, the sky cracked open. Endless death energy poured down. A figure with twelve arms on its back slowly manifested.
Seeing the twelve arms behind the other party's Surplice, Edward thought of a legendary figure even in the Underworld. He asked in shock, "Are you... Atavaka-sama?"
In the rumors, although this lord wasn't one of the Three Great Judges of the Underworld, he was even more terrifying than them. It was said he was the being closest to a god in the Underworld.
He never imagined his plea for help would attract this lord's attention.
Atavaka ignored his words, his deep gaze shifting between Dohko and Setsuna. "An interesting combination. One carries an important node of the future. The other... a variable outside fate."
Setsuna was also somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected to encounter such a monster right after arriving in the Saint Seiya world. Atavaka was a near-god being who had comprehended the Eighth Sense.
But fortunately, this Atavaka seemed to be only a projection descending.
Atavaka gazed at Setsuna, his voice echoing like from the depths of a tomb. "Young man, would you become my vassal? I can grant you eternal life."
"Eternal life?" Setsuna chuckled lightly. "Isn't that a promise only Hades is qualified to make? You seem somewhat presumptuous."
Atavaka said calmly, "Hades has not fully awakened yet. At this moment, I am the god of the Underworld."
Edward nearby wished he could deafen his own ears, 'Is this something I should be hearing?!'
Setsuna looked at the sky with interest. "I wonder if Thanatos and Hypnos would agree with that statement?"
Atavaka chuckled softly. "The Twin Gods indeed surpass me. But their jurisdiction doesn't extend to my domain. Very well, state your answer."
Setsuna said, "Rather than relying on others, I prefer to obtain eternal life through my own efforts."
"A mere human dares to covet eternal life?" Atavaka's projection suddenly solidified. "It seems you are also a presumptuous one. I shall erase you here."
The ground beneath Setsuna's feet suddenly collapsed. Rocks and soil flew upward for no reason. Gravity reversed.
His body instantly lost control, pulled skyward by an invisible force.
Setsuna violently twisted his body mid-air, forcibly stabilizing himself.
Yet the next second, the space behind him abruptly cracked open. A pitch-black energy spear thrust out from another dimension.
Setsuna, as if foreseeing it, narrowly dodged.
But the next moment, ten more spears thrust out from other dimensions.
"You can't dodge." Atavaka's voice came from all directions, as if the entire space was speaking for him. "Your level is too low. It's impossible—"
Atavaka's voice cut off abruptly. Though the spears struck Setsuna, they only pierced through an invisible barrier, along with the dual defense of Armament Haki and Earth Release Chakra Mode.
"No Saint Cloth, yet his body's defense isn't inferior to a Bronze Cloth?" Atavaka was somewhat surprised but didn't take it to heart.
This was merely his spatial projection, but it wasn't something a Bronze Saint could withstand either.