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*****
Within the Temple of Hades in Elysium, the King of the Underworld and the Twin Gods were stunned. It was, quite literally, the first time they had encountered a human with the audacity to provoke them so flagrantly.
For a moment, they were paralyzed by the sheer absurdity of the insults. Once the realization sank in, Thanatos erupted in a fit of rage.
"Arrogance! A mere mortal dares to insult Lord Hades? I, Thanatos, will ensure you suffer the most sadistic punishments of Hell! I will—"
He cut himself off mid-threat, realizing the medium for the transmission had been shattered. The enemy couldn't even hear his fury. This realization sent his temper into an absolute meltdown.
"Lord Hades, please allow me to go now and claim the soul of this blasphemer!"
"I shall go personally," Hades commanded, his voice cold with a resentment that burned no less fiercely than the Death God's. "Lead the Specters to the gateway. I intend to trample the mortal realm into dust."
Hades' soul detached from his true body, hurtling toward his vessel in the human world. He had originally chosen a body of pure innocence to deceive Athena and to serve as a physical shell for his rule after the Grand Alignment. Now that the alignment had failed and he had been humiliated by a common Saint, his pride as a primordial god would not allow him to endure such a slight.
He intended to launch a surprise attack while the Saints were reveling in their perceived victory, assassinating Athena and the Pope to throw the Sanctuary into chaos. Then, the Twin Gods and the Specter army would arrive to mop up the remaining resistance.
"He's coming!"
At the entrance to the Underworld, George had been keeping a close eye on Shun. As he sensed a sudden, alien surge of Cosmo within the boy, a slight smile played on his lips. Knowing Shun was the chosen vessel, George had never let his guard down.
"Saori-san!"
At his signal, Saori Kido immediately unleashed the full breadth of Athena's Cosmo. She had been briefed by George long ago, and she reacted instantly. Simultaneously, twenty-nine other Saints who had awakened the Seventh Sense—all privy to the truth—ignited their ultimate Cosmos in unison.
A collective tidal wave of divine and peak-human energy crashed down upon the nascent spark of Hades' Cosmo within Shun, suppressing it before it could even manifest.
"How can this be?"
Hades had only just awakened within Shun's mind, preparing to strike from the shadows. Instead, he found himself the victim of a pre-emptive strike.
"You think mere mortals can suppress me?" Hades' icy voice projected from Shun's mouth as he began to burn his divine Cosmo.
Among those present, only Athena's Cosmo was on his level, but her current reincarnation had yet to master its full potential. He calculated that he only needed a minute to break through their collective suppression and begin a slaughter.
"Get out!"
Suddenly, George appeared directly in front of the possessed Shun. He slammed a palm into the boy's chest.
Hades felt a bizarre, specialized force physically rip his soul from the host body. He tried to resist, but pinned down by Athena and nearly thirty Ultimate Cosmos, he was momentarily powerless.
"So this is the Great King Hades? You don't look like much," George remarked. He didn't follow up with another attack; instead, he simply stared at Hades' ethereal soul with a look of pure, unadulterated disdain.
This look did more damage to Hades' pride as a Master God than any physical blow could.
"You are dead! You are dead! I will deny you reincarnation! You will suffer the harshest tortures of Hell for every moment of eternity!" Hades' screams echoed through the gateway.
"Begone."
George flicked his wrist. Deprived of a vessel and forcibly expelled, Hades' soul was snapped back toward his true body in Elysium.
"Pope George of the Sanctuary... Very well. You have successfully enraged me!"
In the depths of Elysium, Hades' true eyes snapped open. He instantly donned his Divine Surplice and grasped the Sword of Hades. In a flash of light, he teleported to the side of the Twin Gods, who had just finished gathering the remaining Specters.
He wasn't blind; he knew George had provoked him specifically to lure his true body out of Elysium. But as the King of the Underworld, he had never suffered such humiliation. He could not swallow this insult. Furthermore, he didn't believe there was any danger. He had avoided using his true body in the past only because he didn't want his perfect form to suffer even the slightest blemish.
If he used his true strength, he believed the Holy War would have been over centuries ago. This time, he would show them the meaning of playing with fire.
"Lord Hades!"
Thanatos and Hypnos were stunned. In all their eons of service, they had never seen Hades' true body leave the sanctuary of Elysium.
"Leave none alive."
Hades' simple command carried the weight of a volcanic eruption. The Twin Gods didn't dare ask questions. Leading the 108 Specters, they followed Hades as they surged toward the entrance of the Underworld.
At the gateway, George turned to the gathered Saints after dispelling the lingering traces of Hades' soul.
"If my calculations are correct, we are about to face Hades in his true body, along with the true forms of the Twin Gods and every remaining Specter. If we can slay Hades' true form here, we will end the cycle of Holy Wars forever. This generation will be the last."
The Saints' fighting spirit soared. They burned their Cosmos to the limit, preparing for the final decisive battle.
"However," George continued, "the strength of Hades and the Twin Gods in their true forms will be beyond anything you can imagine. In the past, they fought through human vessels, which likely limited them to less than half their power. Therefore, I have a plan."
George looked at the group. "If you believe in me and are willing to lend me your strength, I may be able to end Hades, the Twin Gods, and the entire Specter army in a single strike."
"George, we trust you. Just tell us what to do," Saori replied without a second thought. The others nodded fervently.
Between destroying the planets and manhandling Hades' soul, George had proven his near-omnipresence. They trusted him more than they trusted themselves—perhaps even more than they trusted Saori.
"Good. Then do exactly as I say."
George first laid down a barrier around the gateway to prevent Hades from retreating. Then, he entered his Ultra Instinct state and raised his hands high above his head.
"Raise your hands! Lend me your Cosmo!"
He was using the Spirit Bomb—the ultimate trump card from the Dragon Ball world. But whereas Goku gathered Ki from the lifeforms of a planet, George was gathering the concentrated Cosmo of thirty peak-tier warriors and the Goddess Athena herself, combined with his own.
The Spirit Bomb is a mass of absolute positive energy, specifically designed to annihilate those with evil or dark auras. There was nothing in this world that represented negative, dark energy more than Hades and his Underworld legion.
Because of their complete trust, the energy gathered at an incredible speed. Augmented by Athena's divine Cosmo, the sphere grew to an impossible size, literally bursting the remains of Hades Castle. From a distance, it looked as if George were holding a second moon aloft.
"Done. Fall back to the Sanctuary!"
Once the energy was gathered, George sent the others back to watch from a safe distance while he suppressed his own aura, hiding the Spirit Bomb's presence as he waited for his prey.
He didn't have to wait long.
Moments after the Saints retreated, Hades emerged from the gateway in his Divine Surplice, flanked by the Twin Gods and a thundering host of Specters.
"What is that?"
They froze at the sight of George holding a moon-sized sphere of pure, blinding light. Before they could even process the sight, George flashed a "gentle" smile.
"Say goodbye to this world, Hades!"
With a powerful shove, George sent the massive Spirit Bomb hurtling down toward them. Because of the barriers he had set and his perfect control over the energy, the explosion was contained entirely within the vicinity of the castle. Had he let it loose without restriction, it wouldn't have just destroyed the Earth—it could have reset the entire universe to point zero.
"Danger! DANGER!"
For the first time in his existence, Hades felt the cold touch of mortality. This wasn't just a threat; it was the end. He burned his Cosmo to the absolute peak.
"Divine Destruction!"
He fired a massive orb of black energy to intercept the light.
"Black Hole!"
The Twin Gods simultaneously opened two massive voids, hoping to swallow and weaken the terrifying mass of energy.
"Galactic Death End!" "Greatest Flap!"
The Specters unleashed their ultimate techniques in a desperate, final chorus.
George, who had already teleported back to the Sanctuary, watched the struggle with his hands behind his back. He whispered to himself, "A pity. You aren't the protagonist of this world, and I'm not the villain. You don't have a 'invincible' plot armor, and there's no chance of a last-minute power-up to save you."
Every world has its protagonists created by the "Creator." Unless one surpasses the Creator in power, logic often fails when facing them. If George were trying to kill Saori or the Bronze Saints, things might not have gone so smoothly. But Hades enjoyed no such protection.
"Settled."
George snapped his fingers as he watched Hades, the Twin Gods, and the entire host of the Underworld vanish into nothingness under the weight of the Spirit Bomb.
"Is... is it really over?"
Saori and the Saints were in disbelief. Even with their faith in George, the sheer efficiency of the victory was staggering. They had come prepared to die, yet in the end, they had simply contributed a bit of Cosmo.
Relief and joy quickly replaced their shock.
"Go back ahead of me," George said simply. "I have some cleaning up to do."
He handed Shion the method to control the flying Sanctuary and turned into a streak of golden light, diving back into the Underworld.
The Underworld and Elysium were the creations of Hades. With his death, both realms would naturally begin to collapse, reverting to their primal state—the Cycle of Reincarnation. In its original form, all souls would simply pass through to be reborn. Hades had merely built his prisons and paradises around that central hub to punish those who offended him.
"Fooling! Usurping!"
As the realms began to shudder and dissolve, George activated his Authorities. In the blink of an eye, the tremors ceased. The Underworld and Elysium stabilized as if the King of the Underworld were still alive.
Using his powers, George had usurped the entire realm, tricking the laws of the world into believing he was the King of the Underworld.
His goal wasn't to "save" Hades' creation—souls being reborn naturally isn't a bad thing. His goal was to steal Hades' authority and power to further bolster his own avatar's strength. Furthermore, it served as a permanent seal. The gods of this world are notoriously difficult to kill; even if their true bodies and souls are destroyed, they can slowly reform as long as their divine spark remains in the Heavens.
By usurping the mantle of the King of the Underworld, George ensured that even if Hades' spark attempted to return, there would be no throne waiting for him.
(End of Chapter)