The Underworld fiends turned to ash before they could even draw a breath, while the Specters burned their own Cosmo to resist. But under this ultimate, destructive torrent, all things were destined for dissolution. How long could their resistance possibly last?
Only then did they realize a despairing fact: Pegasus had no need to dodge. This was because the chasm in power between him and them was insurmountable. His proclamation was, in itself, the final judgment from a god. Death or surrender; there was no third choice.
Hanuman Of Tokusa Heavenly Skillful Star hesitated for a moment before entering a combat stance. He made no attempt to flee, because it was clear the Pegasus before him would not let them go until every Specter, and perhaps even Hades's castle itself, was completely obliterated. At this moment, a tremor originating from his soul compelled him to unleash his strongest combat technique.
The Praesepe Cluster of the Cancer Saint spun in his palm; only this Underworld miasma that linked to the abyss had any chance of harming Pegasus. The power from the depths of his soul, guided by his will, transformed into a beam of abyssal light that pierced the heavens.
—Underworld Miasma: Spiritual Manifestation!
This miasma passed through the solar flames unimpeded, striking the Saint in the sky with perfect accuracy.
Like a sunspot on the sun, a look of joy appeared on everyone's faces. But in the next instant, the complexion of Hanuman Of Tokusa Heavenly Skillful Star turned deathly pale. The authority of a god from a higher dimension was now twisting this body that had once been transformed by the God of Death.
"Did your master, Hakurei, not tell you that Underworld miasma is a targeted combat technique? Using your move so haphazardly is less effective than simply spitting at me." Seiya's cold gaze fixed upon Hakurei's student. "Specters, submit to death."
The solar radiance flared, transforming all the Specters' attacks into beams of scorching light that shot back at them.
Yet, facing these world-scorching flames of the great sun, triple upon triple layers of wings unfolded on the other side.
"Detestable sun… I am now utterly convinced that my battle with you is no accident, but the inevitable result of destiny!" Kagaho of the Heavenly Violent Star charged into the heat, transforming into a streak of black light.
As the wings behind him unfurled, a nearly identical solar majesty rose from him, a heat exceeding twenty million degrees Celsius, soaring to meet the Pegasus's Sun Scorpion.
—Combat Technique: Triple Sun Scorpion Gale!!!
If Seiya was the sun, then Kagaho at this moment was the Divine Sun Bird. Two Sun Scorpions, born of different myths but the same concept, clashed. What made the blood of all the Specters boil was that Kagaho's Sun Scorpion Divine Bird had reached the demon-slaying, god-felling Pegasus.
"I see now. Though you are a divine bird that has become the sun, you actually despise the sun with an unparalleled hatred." Only in such a clash of fists could Seiya truly comprehend the essence of the Specter before him. "That is why you were able to pass through the golden light of the sun's halo and reach me."
It was precisely this hatred that allowed him to command the power of the Sun Scorpion; and it was precisely this obsession that imbued his combat technique with a special property against the sun.
"No, Pegasus! Lord Hades's conviction is my only beacon in this endless hell!"
The two, unable to tolerate each other's existence, glared at one another in silence.
The golden Sun Scorpion and the yellow aurora instantly swelled. The swirling atmosphere screamed, announcing to all that the two Saints had completely unleashed their power.
These were the techniques of legend. Grasped in the hands of mythical warriors who had galloped across battlefields through countless cycles of reincarnation, they roared to slay enemies and pierce through demonic phantasms. They were both wielders of the sun, they were both warriors of opposing factions, and thus—they were both enemies that had to be struck down.
Kagaho could feel Aiacos's Cosmo still pushing him ever forward. Visible arcs of black-purple lightning traveled along the Wings of Divine Scales and into Kagaho's spine. Aiacos's Cosmo surged through his entire body without reserve. In that moment, it was as if a familiar spirit had descended from the heavens, tightly embracing the trembling man.
"Pegasus, to defeat you, I must unleash a strike of absolute destruction!"
No one knew what images flashed through his mind; only he himself knew. He had always remembered those things but was unwilling to recall them—the pain over his deceased younger brother, his first clear memory of this world.
Defeat him! Defeat the nightmare in my heart!
Four layers of wings unfurled behind Kagaho. This stacked Sun Scorpion Gale, carrying his longing for his dead brother and his obsession to defeat a powerful foe, transformed into an even more terrifying sun.
—Solar Black Flame: Sun Scorpion Storm!
A temperature of nearly forty million degrees, along with his own Surplice, began to dissolve in that moment. This was the absolute limit of his power.
A new Sun Scorpion domain, centered on Kagaho, covered the original battlefield—a single strike fueled by longing and fighting spirit, far surpassing his own limits. The elemental torrent within the domain converged into a solar cyclone commanded by Kagaho, wrapped in blinding electric arcs, and blasted Seiya head-on. Even his Cloth began to melt; by the time it reached Seiya, it was a pure torrent of destructive energy.
Can he win? He will win! This power could surely strike down even a god! Every conscious Specter watched this sacred scene, perhaps to recall it in their dreams for a hundred reincarnations to come.
But the expanding solar black flame came to an instantaneous halt. Pegasus was right before him, yet Kagaho himself suddenly coughed up black blood laced with the fragments of his internal organs.
"This power is…!" At this moment of near-death, Kagaho was shocked by this power that should not have existed.
The black lines traced by the descending palm completely severed the ability of his wings. It reminded him of a person, or rather, a god who should have been slumbering.
Thanatos, the God of Death—that ability to utterly kill connections, to erase concepts. It was now manifesting in Seiya's hands.
As for Seiya, he could naturally sense the departure of Hades Alone, with whom he was so deeply connected.
He did not intervene, because for the two Popes, this was the exact situation they had wished to create.
After several days of rest and recovery, propelled by The Covenant of Decay and Revival, all his physical injuries had completely healed. Only on the level of his consciousness were there still traces of damage from the Death God's power that had yet to mend.
But compared to what he had gained, this was a trivial matter.
The reward for devouring the Death God's power was an upgrade to The Covenant of Decay and Revival, granting it a portion of Thanatos's authority—namely, the two expressions of death.
—Granting life to the inanimate, and bestowing death upon all things.
From Seiya's fingertips, the [Terrifying Mandate of Death] completely locked onto the souls of the Specters. After this single strike, for their souls to even be able to return to the cycle of reincarnation would be an act of Pegasus's mercy.
"O Specters, embrace death."
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