His entire field of vision was completely enveloped in white. Alone looked up as a meteor streaked across the heavens, falling straight towards his head.
A meteor shower enveloped Alone, yet these were brand new golden meteors, tens of thousands of them, blasting against his divine body, inflicting explosive, tearing damage. Even the Cosmo he took such pride in could not protect him. The immense power stacked relentlessly, forcing him to retreat continuously!
But he did not retaliate immediately, for his entire focus was on the Seiya before him.
Great wings unfurled behind him, and a tide of clouds churned beneath his feet, glowing a brilliant gold as they reflected the sun's light. Only now could Seiya truly be considered his equal.
Though still Pegasus, his form was now elegant and divine. His entire body was clad in a silver Cloth, its edges flowing with golden, sun-like patterns. The three-meter-wide Pegasus wings spread behind him, their sharply defined feathers like curved blades. Beneath the Cloth, his muscles rippled slowly, and with every breath he took, the very elements of heaven and earth were commanded by his will, a display of magnificent power.
Compared to Alone, the human vessel of Hades, Seiya seemed to be the one who truly reigned supreme over all creation. He was a mixture of human and god, Saint and angel, youth and ancient being—he possessed the essential qualities of both man and deity.
"Pegasus God Cloth," Alone—or rather, Hades—spoke softly. "It has been a long time."
At this moment, fueled by his soaring battle spirit, Hades unleashed a new domain centered on himself. An ancient and solemn power obeyed his will, blanketing the world behind him. A magnificent painting slowly unfurled in his wake.
It depicted the myriad scenes of the mortal world, a painting of the world as it now existed—the paradise Alone had poured his entire being into creating. As the paradise unfolded, the same pure red that Seiya had first witnessed appeared before him. Within this crimson light, all things were killed: steel corroded, life drained away, and even light itself was twisted into the colors of the Underworld upon entry.
Seiya's Cosmo flared once more as he charged straight for Alone. At the edge of their contact, a distinct atmospheric boundary formed, where one-billion-volt white-purple static and black fire-serpents of tens of millions of degrees slithered. The point of impact was shrouded in a white light so pure it seemed colorless, and the darkness left in its wake was like a light-devouring black hole.
If Kagaho of Bennu were to witness this, he would likely be dumbfounded, for the ultimate attack he unleashed by burning his very life force was nothing more than the aftershock of their battle.
Yet, amidst this deadly clash, Alone was smiling. He looked up at the meteor streaking across the sky as his paradise gradually consumed it. This final trump card, long in preparation, was the key to his victory.
"My paradise will entomb the world, and the first to be buried will be you—Pegasus!"
At the very center of the paradise was a figure that resembled a child's simple drawing. It was the very painting that Alone had created with his own blood when he first met Seiya in that forest. When Alone had awakened to his fourth phase and obtained the Surplice of Hades, he thought this painting would never be of use, but now, it was his ultimate, kill-shot joker against Pegasus!
But Pegasus's response was a fist burning to its absolute limit! Pegasus Meteor Fist slammed into his cheek, and Hades spat out a mouthful of blood.
This was the Pegasus God Cloth, a completely new experience. Seiya was well aware of the wounds he had sustained in the continuous life-or-death battles, but at this moment, as the new Cloth resonated with him, he clearly felt a powerful, forceful pulsation originating from deep within his chest.
A latent, unknown courage was accumulating like a breath of energy. At the same time, it accelerated his soul, his will, and the spirit that fought on through adversity.
As long as the will to fight remains—
—that latent, unknown power is ignited like a flame!
"Show me your courageous heart, Alone!" Seiya unleashed a deafening roar from the depths of his soul. A power that defied all logic erupted from within him, striking Alone's chest.
The sound of something shattering echoed from deep within Alone's body. To those on the surface world, all they could see was a meteor streaking across the heavens.
—The Blue Land, Brandt.
A white line, visible to the naked eye, appeared on the horizon—a monstrous tidal wave about to crash upon the border. Galuci, the lord ruling Brandt, watched as two meteors, one black and one white, descended from the sky, parting the sea and shattering the frozen earth.
There was no time to do anything, nor could anything be done, for the immense divine pressure had already stunned the minds of all who witnessed it.
—Jamir, at the border of Tibet, China, and India.
All the people of Jamir could feel an immense power passing overhead. Then, to their astonishment, they discovered that all the fragments of Cloths began to ring out in resonance.
—Fairyland, the sacred ground of the Taoist Sculptors who practice Shinra Banshō.
At this moment, a majestic white dragon, hundreds of zhangs tall, suddenly raised its head. Immediately after, all the Taoist Sculptors felt the natural energy they cultivated erupt into an uncontrollable frenzy.
In the Underworld, for the demons who endlessly endured pain and torment, a sun falling from the sky once again pierced through Hell.
Two blazing stars intertwined, spiraling around each other. As they crashed into Hell, a tremendous roar could be heard across realms.
The stars pierced the earth, tore through space. The shattering Hell let out a sound like a wail, which formed a duet with the deep bass of the next layer of space being pulverized immediately after.
The bailiffs of the first layer were still crying out in agony when the demons of the second were already bathed in the sun. The souls of the dead could not even scream before they were reduced to ash and smoke by the searing light. This cataclysmic scene replayed itself on every level.
The two spiraling, intertwined black and white meteors thus continued to extend forward without end, racing through Hell—
—CRASH, BOOM, THUD!
After a momentary pause, a strange vibration, like the sound of countless metal chunks colliding and being crushed together, echoed throughout the entire world.
The two combatants finally came to a halt at the border of the Seventh Hell, and their two radiances at last dimmed.
Because both had fought through several great battles before clashing with each other, they had reached the very brink of death.
But now, the one whose aura was fading was not the more battered Hades Alone, but rather the Saint, Seiya. Although Alone had been pushed to the brink of defeat several times during the fight, he was still the ultimate victor, solely because of the so-called Sword of Hades he wielded in this duel.
It was a divine weapon of the highest order, an artifact on the same level as Zeus's Lightning Bolt, Poseidon's Trident, and Athena's Shield, capable of completely erasing the very concept of one's existence from this world.
"You are worthy of my admiration, Pegasus. I doubt I will ever forget you for the rest of my life."
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