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"You bastards! What do you think you're doing?!" Siren Sorrento's voice was a furious roar.
He hadn't anticipated the Saints' audacity, their blatant disregard for Poseidon's authority. To desecrate his temple, right before his very eyes—it was an unforgivable act of sacrilege.
His rage ignited, his Cosmo surging as he charged towards Airmid.
It was a desperate, all-or-nothing attack, fueled by his desire to annihilate these intruders, to defend his God's honor.
But Airmid remained unfazed.
She simply extended her hand, catching his fist effortlessly.
"Calm yourself. While anger can fuel one's Cosmo, uncontrolled power, no matter how great, is useless. Like your punch, for instance. It's unfocused." Airmid words, a calm, almost gentle critique, only served to further enrage him.
With a flick of her wrist, she shattered his Cosmo, the force of the impact sending a shockwave through his body.
He stumbled back, his earlier rage replaced by a dawning horror.
He finally understood.
The woman before him was strong—incredibly strong. Not just in terms of her Cosmo, but also in her mastery of it.
In their brief exchange, he had seen the vast chasm that separated them.
She surpassed him in every aspect.
If this were any other battle, any other place, he would have already retreated. But this was the Sea Realm, his home.
He couldn't run.
And he wouldn't.
"So, it's a fight to the death?" He knew the odds were against him, but he had no choice.
He would either emerge victorious, or die in service to his God.
"I won't lose. Miracles aren't exclusive to the Saints. I, too, can achieve the impossible!" His Cosmo surged once more, his resolve hardening.
"A brilliant will. No wonder Mika mentioned you—" Airmid said, a subtle smile playing on her lips as she saw him raise his flute to his lips.
Mika had, in fact, mentioned Siren Sorrento, intrigued by his unique fighting style.
While Sorrento had attacked with his fists in his rage, his true weapon was his flute, his ultimate technique was a deadly symphony that could bypass physical defenses and directly attack an opponent's mind, reducing their power to a fraction of its former strength.
He was more of a support-type warrior than a front-line brawler.
Mika, having encountered countless unique abilities during his travels, had been particularly interested in Sorrento's sound-based attacks.
———
Of the seven Sea Generals, Mika only remembered three:
Kanon, of course, whose presence in the later arcs was unforgettable. And as Saga's brother, their fates were intertwined.
Siren Sorrento, with his unique sound-based attacks.
And Chrysaor Krishna, whose Golden Lance had clashed with Shiryu's Excalibur.
Therefore, he had mentioned these three to Airmid, which was why she had chosen Sorrento as her opponent.
"Then let us begin."
Airmid, though polite, wouldn't hold back. Her Cosmo ignited, her body glowing with a golden light.
"Atomic Thunderbolt!"
———
The battle raged throughout the undersea temple.
With the barriers shattered, the seven pillars that supported the Sea Realm were now vulnerable.
The Sea Generals, who had been guarding them, were now scattered, their defenses broken.
They had been targeted by the Saints.
Mika had assigned each of them an opponent:
Airmid, Aiolia, Seiya, Shiryu, Ikki, Shun, and Hyoga, each facing one of the seven Sea Generals.
Mellie remained by Athena's side.
As for the other Gold Saints?
They, as Eighth Sense warriors, had accompanied Mika to Poseidon's temple, their target the Sea God himself—
—While Athena was also present, her role was to provide support, not to lead the charge.
The true protagonist of this battle was Mika.
And Shaka, Saga, and Mu were his assistants, their combined power amplifying his own, bridging the gap between him and Poseidon. As Eighth Sense Gold Saints, they were more than capable of participating in such a high-level battle.
"How arrogant—To challenge a God in his own temple," Poseidon sneered, his voice filled with a condescending amusement as he looked at the four figures who had materialized before him.
He wasn't concerned. In his eyes, mortals were insignificant. His only true enemy was Athena.
"Is that so? I am quite confident in my ability to seal you away once more," Mika replied with a smile.
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For now, that was his only objective.
The eternal conflict between the Gods—Athena, Poseidon, Hades, and the others—it was a war that had spanned millennia, its true origins shrouded in mystery.
Mika suspected a hidden hand was at play.
Having heard of a Saint Seiya sequel in his past life, he knew that the true enemy likely resided in Heaven, a being far more powerful than the Olympian Gods themselves.
Therefore, he wouldn't act rashly. He would defeat his enemies one by one, gathering strength, preparing for the final confrontation.
This was his style.
Therefore, Athena and Mellie, who weren't participating in this battle, were currently on their way to retrieve the Athena's Jar.
"Seal me away?!" Poseidon's earlier amusement vanished, replaced by a surge of rage. The humiliation of his earlier defeat, his imprisonment within the jar, was a wound that had never healed.
To have it mentioned now, by these insects—it was an unforgivable insult.
His Cosmo erupted, a wave of divine power pressing down on them, intending to force them to their knees, to make them atone for their insolence.
But they remained standing, their expressions unreadable.
"What?!" Poseidon stared in disbelief.
He hadn't anticipated this...
He couldn't even sense their true power.
This was unsettling. But not surprising.
The Saint Seiya power system was focused on destruction.
While Cosmo was versatile, developing other abilities required time and effort, resources better spent on honing one's combat skills.
Mika, however, was different.
His knowledge from other worlds, his mastery of various power systems, had given him a unique advantage.
And the technique he had used to conceal their auras was one he had taught the other Gold Saints, a skill derived from his own unique abilities.
And the reason they could withstand Poseidon's divine pressure?
It was Mika.
They stood in a triangular formation, Mika at the forefront, absorbing the brunt of Poseidon's attack, his Cosmo a shield protecting the others.
He wouldn't allow his comrades to kneel before anyone.
"Oh, you noticed? I thought a 'Great God' like you wouldn't be concerned with such trivialities," Mika taunted, his voice filled with a mocking amusement.
To see a God falter, even for a moment, was a rare sight, an opportunity he wouldn't miss.
As he spoke, his own Cosmo, which he had been concealing, erupted, its power filling the temple, clashing against Poseidon's.
And on his back, his Falna glowed, a series of new skills materializing, each one designed specifically for this battle, for this opponent.
Poseidon, in his current vessel, was only at the nascent stages of the Ninth Sense.
And to truly wield the power of the Ninth Sense, one needed a divine body, a vessel capable of containing such immense power. Otherwise, it was like a Gold Saint wearing a Bronze Cloth; while their power might be enhanced, it was still limited.
Unless, of course, they possessed a God Cloth.
But in this era, God Cloths were a relic of the past, their secrets lost, their power dormant. Even the armors worn by Athena, Poseidon, and Hades were merely enhanced Sacred Cloths, not true God Cloths.
The Ninth Sense was the final threshold, the boundary between mortals and Gods.
Those who crossed it, who achieved a divine body, could shed their reliance on their Cloths. Their armor, once a necessity, now became a tool, a weapon to further amplify their already immense power.
Therefore, Poseidon, in his current state, while stronger than Mika, wasn't overwhelmingly so.
Mika's diverse abilities, his knowledge from other worlds, were more than enough to bridge the gap.
And as his power surged, so too did the Cosmos of Shaka, Saga, and Mu.
Four Eighth Sense-level Cosmos erupted within the temple, their combined power shaking the very foundations of the Sea Realm.
"Impossible! Kanon told me Sanctuary was at its weakest! That they were in disarray!" Poseidon stared in disbelief, his earlier confidence shattered.
Had Kanon betrayed him? Or had he been deceived?
The thought filled him with a cold dread.
He had been played for a fool.
"Sanctuary was indeed in disarray. But that doesn't mean we couldn't recover," Mika said, his voice echoing through the chamber. "You only saw what you wanted to see, what you were told to see. You were blinded by your arrogance."
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