Even though the Sword Fairy, Liliana, had long heard the tales of this young God-slaying Rakshasa and knew that he was a warrior who took it upon himself to protect the Earth, seeing him in person, she found him to be even more remarkable than the rumors suggested.
The Dragon of the Ley Lines of Naples was now resting meekly on his chest, the very picture of docility. This was not achieved through force, but purely through the attraction of his personal charisma, which had made the other cling to him for shelter.
"If you all truly wish to protect that land, you shouldn't have pushed Parthenope so hard," Seiya said, stroking the girl's head. He had already learned from her mouth of the grievances she had suffered during this time.
The water demon, or rather, the siren Parthenope, was the dragon's true name. The dragon was formed from the essence of the ley lines, but its form was endowed by the cultural pulse carried by the land.
An Asian woman in a cheongsam from the knightly order spoke up. "I dare not deceive Your Majesty. We also wanted to protect it from the hands of the Heretic God and the King of Swords. Now that the Heretic God has awakened first, that hero-god who targets dragon-serpents will surely recreate the scene from the myths, cut off its head, and complete his own power."
"Don't worry about that. Since it came to me seeking shelter, I will naturally guarantee its safety," Seiya said, taking on this trouble himself.
A Saint is a warrior who protects the Earth. Broadening the scope a little, whether it was an earth mother goddess or a dragon formed from the ley lines, they were also within his scope of protection. What's more, the Parthenope in his arms was intimately connected to the life force of the land of Naples. If her head were truly cut off and her power seized by a Heretic God, Naples would naturally become a barren wasteland, its life force withered.
As a Saint, Seiya would naturally not allow such a thing to happen.
Seeing such a reasonable king, the Sword Fairy, Liliana, was moved to tears. But she did not forget her duty. "What is more important now is to find the whereabouts of the Heretic God. He chased the dragon all the way to this Far Eastern island nation."
As the girl in Seiya's arms whispered in his ear, Seiya also looked up at them. "Parthenope says that the hero-god that terrifies her is nearby. If nothing unexpected happens, He will slay the dragon-serpent of this land to restore himself to his complete state."
Seiya thought of Athena's warning to him. The ley lines of Japan had also been quietly changing during this time. If nothing unexpected happened, a new dragon-serpent might also be born here.
Seeing this Far Eastern Demon King take the initiative to shoulder the responsibility, the Bronze Black Cross was moved to tears of gratitude.
After all, Naples was their home base, the land where the members of their knightly order had lived for generations. And now, with the King of Swords lost at sea, only the Saint before them was qualified to be the rival of that hero-god.
But as Seiya looked at Parthenope, who was hugging him tightly, he suddenly thought of the sun arrow that had collided with and canceled out his own fist of light. It was also light, also divinely fast, but there was an extremely familiar feeling to the power of that sun.
That's right, Seiya remembered, it's just like the White Horse that carries the sun.
As the first knight, Erica naturally held a higher level of authority compared to the followers who came later. Although she had only arrived in Japan half a day before Liliana, she still acted as a semi-host and arranged for them to stay in a nearby hotel.
As for her and Ena Seishuin, they merely exchanged a glance, then politely returned to their hotel and mansion respectively.
Late at night, Parthenope was still nestled in the Saint's arms. Seiya was looking at the Naples news on his phone's screen.
Almost just a few seconds after the sun arrow had pierced her, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake had occurred in Naples, followed by an aftershock at ten o'clock at night. Mount Vesuvius spewed thick smoke, the sea level rose, and the ground subsided by four centimeters.
This was the terrifying impact caused by Parthenope, the Dragon of the Ley Lines of Naples. If her life force were truly taken by the hero-god, the entire city would fall into ruin and become a wasteland. Seiya thought of Doni the dummy, who had fallen into the sea and he didn't know if he had been fished out yet. It was understandable that a Heretic God would want to kill this dragon, but for him, the Demon King of Southern Europe, to also want to kill the dragon... Naples was his territory, after all. No wonder the Bronze Black Cross was driven to desperation by him.
But this was not the end. As long as Parthenope had not recovered, these disasters, big and small, would continue to occur.
"You want to help her recover?" At this moment, Stella, holding a bucket of popcorn, walked out of the room and looked at Parthenope, who was still clinging tightly to the Saint in her sleep, and raised an eyebrow.
Seeing Stella, Seiya's eyes lit up. How could he have forgotten about this earth mother goddess? She was the specialist, the attending physician for this. "Do you have a way?"
"Of course! The omnipotent, perfect goddess Stella can naturally do anything. Not only do I have a way, I have three of them," Stella said, walking to the fridge and taking out two bottles of ice-cold happy water, tossing one to Seiya. "The first method is to transition the spiritual ley lines of another land. For you, the Great Sun-Illuminating Avatar of Japan, this should be the easiest way."
"But that would cause permanent damage to the land whose ley lines are being transitioned, right?" The Saint caught the cola and expertly twisted off the cap. The Seiya of today was no longer a novice in the mystical side of things. To restore the vitality of one piece of land at the cost of destroying another—that was something he could not do.
Stella was not surprised by the Saint's reaction. After taking a first sip of the ice-cold cola, she closed her eyes in comfort. "The second method is to wait for a long time to recover. Of course, this process can be accelerated with some secret rites or Authorities."
Seiya thought about the four Authorities he currently possessed. It seemed only the Great Sun-Illuminating Avatar was slightly related. "Then what about the third method?"
Based on his understanding of this female gremlin goddess, the first two options could basically be disregarded, because she was only using them as a lead-up to the third.
"That's even simpler. Even simpler than the first." Stella looked at Seiya before her and revealed a bewitching smile. "That is to simply replenish her essence. And to replenish essence, what could be more suitable than your magical power?"
Seiya was stunned. Although Stella's words were extremely implicit, looking at her expression, Seiya understood what she meant.
"To put it bluntly, it's a mana transfer!" Stella tore through the last layer of pretense without any politeness, spreading her hands, her tone as casual as if discussing a dinner menu. "Something like this, for an experienced warrior like you, should be a walk in the park, right?"
In a sense, Stella had hit the nail on the head.
"This... this isn't very appropriate, is it?" Seiya looked down at Parthenope in his arms, who had manifested in a young girl's form due to the severe damage to her power. Her youthful, innocent face made him feel a strong sense of moral unease. "She's just a child!"
"Oh, my friend, there's no problem at all!" Stella suddenly leaned in, her face blooming with a smile so brilliant it was almost guileless. "Have you forgotten? Today is Children's Day! And the best thing to do on Children's Day is...
______
👻 Join the fun at: patreon.com/Walnutchan