After Ezdra's defeat, the blow weighed heavily on both the Sea Sorcerer and Io.
Io slipped for just an instant and Shura seized the opening, running him clean through with one thrust. One of the vaunted Six Beasts had fallen beneath the holy sword.
Although the Sea Sorcerer was stronger than Deathmask, Deathmask held him off with Sekishiki Meikaiha and his Will‑o‑Wisps. As a result, Sorrento, for all his might, could not bring Deathmask down with his flute alone.
Two evenly matched Gold Saints trading blows could end in a thousand‑day war. The Sea Sorcerer was strong, but nowhere near strong enough to one‑shot a now‑empowered Deathmask.
The remaining Mariners and sea‑realm grunts were no match at all for the Bronze boys and Black Saints. It was like mowing the lawn in a musou game—one move and a whole swath of grunts went down.
Sorrento knew that if things continued this way, he'd soon be facing the combined assault of two Gold Saints and several Bronze Saints.
Even as one of the Three Great Warriors and a powerful Sea General, he could not withstand being swarmed by that many.
The fact that the remaining three Sea Generals still hadn't shown up filled Sorrento with a growing sense of dread.
When the Sea Dragon arrived, he finally let out a slow breath of relief. He didn't get along with the man and didn't particularly like him, but the Sea Dragon's strength was beyond question. As a comrade, he was dependable.
Terrifying strength, overwhelming ferocity—truly the strongest Sea Dragon in the sea realm.
"Wait—where are you going?" The Sea Dragon appeared before everyone, but instead of moving to help Sorrento, he walked straight toward Meruem's group.
"Here's a little greeting gift." Kanon tossed something twisted beyond recognition at their feet. From the remains of the Scale and the clothing, it was still barely possible to tell it had been a Sea General.
"Your subordinate Kanon is late. I beg the goddess's forgiveness." Under Sorrento's stunned gaze, the Sea Dragon dropped to one knee before Saori.
"So the Sea Monster was your doing. That explains why you're late. But a single Sea Monster shouldn't have taken you that long," Meruem said, picking up the thread once Saori nodded to show she took no offense.
Kanon removed the helmet from his head, revealing a cascade of beautiful blue hair.
What shocked everyone was the face beneath it—identical to Saga's.
Saga's younger twin brother, and Meruem's planted undercover agent in the sea realm.
"That's right, Lord Meruem. A mere Sea Monster fell to a single attack. It was the last one—the Sea Emperor's son, Chrysaor Chrysa—who was the problem. His Golden Lance was troublesome. I managed to seriously wound him, but unfortunately he still got away," Kanon said with a hint of regret.
Other than Chrysaor and Sorrento, every other Sea General had been wiped out.
"Sea Dragon, how dare you betray Lord Poseidon! Aren't you afraid of suffering divine wrath?" For the first time, Sorrento felt true fury.
Kanon ignored him completely.
"How ridiculous, Sea Sorcerer. Betrayal? From where, exactly? From the beginning… I have always been Athena's Saint."
"What?" Sorrento stared, dumbfounded. A Saint from the start? Then how had the man become a Sea General at all—and one of Poseidon's most trusted at that?
Then something clicked.
Although the Sea Dragon was one of the Three Great Warriors, his origins were by far the most mysterious.
He had also been the earliest to awaken, the first to appear by the Sea Emperor's side. From the moment Sorrento awakened, this man had already been there. Thinking back, many of the Sea Dragon's actions had carried a strange undercurrent.
Could it be that this man had actually dared to deceive a god?
"Audacious" didn't even begin to cover it.
"Damn… I have to tell Lord Poseidon!" Sorrento burned his Cosmo, wounding himself as he unleashed his most powerful, most fearsome requiem.
"Even if it costs me my life—Requiem of the End of Death: Final Movement!"
Not to kill the enemy, but to break away and warn Poseidon's reincarnation.
"If I let you run after all this, wouldn't I look terribly bad?" Kanon flipped his hands, ready to unleash a Galaxian Explosion at the Sea Sorcerer.
But a large hand settled on his shoulder, stopping him.
"Lord Meruem… why?" Kanon asked.
"Shh." Meruem pressed a finger lightly to his lips. "Don't you think it'd be better to have someone lead us? After all, there's only one person left in the entire sea realm now—and he's not even fully awakened."
Sorrento's heart was in chaos. As the saying went, concern breeds confusion. So anxious was he over the Sea Emperor's safety that he'd forgotten one simple fact: standing opposite him was a goddess on the same level as Poseidon—Athena.
A mere mental attack, before Athena, was like a drop in the ocean.
A single raindrop falling into the sea could not stir the slightest ripple.
Even so, Sorrento managed to escape—for Meruem and the others needed him to guide them to Poseidon's reincarnation.
At the exact center of the Undersea Temple stood the thickest Main Black Pillar, the seat of Atlantis. It was there that Poseidon—or to be precise, Julian Solo—sat slumped on the lofty throne, lost in thought.
He had not fully awakened, and Poseidon's soul was slowly seizing and eroding Julian's. In essence, until that process was complete, Julian Solo was still Julian Solo, just with a slightly altered air about him.
In truth, the Sea Emperor Poseidon was no different from Hades. Neither dared to truly reincarnate as Athena did. Strictly speaking, they were only possessing hosts. Athena, on the other hand, was different. In the Saint Seiya world, Athena truly loved humanity; each reincarnation carried genuine risk for her.
Yet she still chose humanity without hesitation.
That was why, in every Holy War, so many Saints laid down their lives without fear to defend her.
Some said that because Athena had abandoned her status as a god to stand with humanity, all the other gods now targeted mankind.
Out of pride, out of face.
There was a grain of truth there, but mostly it was nonsense. Even without Athena, would the gods truly value humans?
Would you place ants on the same level as yourself? For a god, not crushing humans outright was already an act of mercy.
And they dared not be grateful?
"Lord Poseidon… bad news!" The flustered Sea Sorcerer no longer had even a trace of his earlier, cool, literary demeanor. He looked more like a panicked fool.
"Such agitation is unseemly. And you call yourself one of my Sea Generals?"
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