Seiya's thoughts were completely consumed by the goddess before him. In an instant, an embrace. Nowhere to run, a kiss to last the ages. His
Seiya's thoughts were completely consumed by the goddess before him.
In an instant, an embrace. Nowhere to run, a kiss to last the ages.
His God-slaying instincts were screaming warnings, constantly transmitting battle signals to his brain. Yet his eyelids were as heavy as lead. His face, and indeed his entire body, felt as if controlled by invisible threads, sinking into this unsettling intimacy.
The power belonging to the serpent of the rainbow, to the woman who bleeds monthly, the immortal authority that crosses the gap between winter and spring—Seiya had experienced it before, but this time was completely different.
From between Athena's tongue, a slumbering power was quietly being transferred into Seiya's body.
The goddess sensed his questioning gaze and revealed a perfect smile that was absolutely not one Athena would have—a smile that seemed to encompass the vast, starry night sky. She gently pulled the Saint into her embrace, and the scent of orange jasmine surrounded him.
"The places a Saint goes are usually places of death... Seiya. When the time is ripe, you will truly become my Pegasus."
His final consciousness forced Seiya to stare intently at the goddess before him. In this moment, he finally realized the subtle difference.
—Hair that shone with a faint silver, as if dissolved in the moonlight.
—Pupils as black as night, as if they had condensed all the darkness.
—An ancient goddess with an even more sacred form.
Metis. The original symbol of the triune holy mother system. She was the mother's sigh, the queen's shame, the crone's wisdom. She was the primordial earth mother, and also the first father in the later evolution of the myths.
At this moment, the maternal period belonging to the Gorgon was over. Now, appearing before the Saint was a Heretic God, as an enemy.
The final sight was Seiya seeing this triune goddess holding the Prometheus Grimoire. The light of the fire-stealer enveloped his entire body.
Possessing the Authority of secrets, she ensured that no human or god in this world could perceive what was happening here. To humanity, they had witnessed another Heretic God return to myth, and a powerful God of Steel at that.
Thirty kilometers away, a luxury yacht, converted from a former Royal Netherlands Navy Kortenaer-class frigate, was moored quietly in the harbor like a solidified behemoth, having not advanced another inch.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It seems we were a step too late, old wolf king." On the deck of the yacht, the King of Swords, Doni, had his hands in his pockets, pursing his lips as he looked in the direction of the Ryukyu Islands.
The owner of the yacht, that old Demon King whose emaciated frame exuded an aura like the abyss—Marquis Voban. His withered gaze was fixed on the last rays of the setting sun at the juncture of sea and sky.
The sea dragon Tiamat, which he had spent years of effort to successfully summon, had been intercepted and killed halfway by Perseus. He had intended to let that arrogant God of Steel serve as a "substitute," to become his new prey and rival. Yet the result was that his opponent had not deigned to wait for their intervention, but had taken the first step and settled life and death in a mutual slaughter with the "Pegasus."
"Stealing my prey... This newcomer is just as ill-mannered as you are, Doni," Marquis Voban's voice was as soft as a phantom wind.
"Haha, you think so too?" Doni said, scratching the back of his head and flashing his signature bright (or one could say, simple-minded) smile. "Actually, the first time I saw him, I knew Seiya and I were the same kind of people!"
Since birth, Doni had been able to keenly sense the good, evil, joy, and sorrow others felt towards him. After he had polished his "mind's eye" to the ultimate realm, this ability had reached a state of perfection. Therefore, the moment he first saw Seiya, he was absolutely certain—he had to have a good, hearty fight with him!
"Brat, did you think I was praising you?" Voban shot a cold glance at the youth in the gaudy shirt on the deck. After dropping that one line, he turned as if to leave. "Since he dared to steal my prey, then don't blame me... for going after his prey as well."
"Hey, is that really okay? Interfering in someone else's promised battle is not the act of a knight!" Doni shouted after him.
The old wolf king no longer responded to him, because the gray-clad knights had already blocked the King of Swords' path forward. What knights? In the past three hundred years, all knights had become the wolf pack loyal to him. Whether they submitted to him or defied him, the result was the same.
Seeing this, Doni could only shrug helplessly, his gaze once again turning towards the island in the direction of the sunset. Looking at those knights who had arrived here either through spatial transfer, by borrowing a path through the spirit world, or by running a thousand li, he scratched his golden hair and muttered in a low voice:
"Actually, what I wanted to say was... that Hero of Steel, he was supposed to be my prey."
When Seiya opened his eyes again, what came into view was a Japanese-style folding screen, as well as two knights keeping watch by his bedside—Erica Blandelli and Ena Seishuin.
"Seiya! You're awake!"
"Great Sun-Illuminating Avatar!"
The nominal first and second knights. The faint dark circles under their eyes were clearly visible. Seiya instantly understood that they must have been watching over him until now. Ena Seishuin's vigil was perhaps still tinged with the Japanese code of putting one's lord first, while Erica's... was probably more the result of her rivalry with Ena.
After the two of them had carefully helped him up as if he were a seriously ill patient, Seiya took the hot soup Erica handed him, took a sip, and asked, "How long was I asleep?"
"It's still three days? That's a bit rough." The thought made Seiya frown a little. At this moment, his memory replayed the smile of the goddess at the end. He never would have thought that Athena would make a move against him. This was something he had never guarded against.
"Should we summon Chief Sayanomiya? She has already gathered the Hime-Miko of Musashino and is preparing to perform a secret rite that may be effective for you," Ena Seishuin finally found a chance to interject.
Seiya waved his hand, signaling that there was no need for such a big fuss.
He knew very well that his physical condition was not only fine, but... abnormally good.
Before falling asleep, he hadn't been worried about his own safety, because no matter if the one who had shown herself at that moment was Athena or Metis, or even Medusa, her love for him... well, for now, one could call it love, that emotion had not changed. But the thought of this made Seiya's heart ache faintly, yet it seemed he hadn't lost anything.
Seiya clearly remembered that at the very end, Metis had raised the Prometheus Grimoire. Speaking of which, it was ironic. Athena completely fulfilled the conditions for using this divine artifact, because her time with him, her understanding of him, and the relationship between them all matched the conditions for using the Prometheus.
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