Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Air split with sharp cracks. Both men were throwing lightspeed punches so fast their arms blurred, fist on fist, impossible to see the moves.
Da-da-da-da…
Facing Saga's lightning-fast fists, Damian swung with everything he had.
Right now, he was exhilarated.
He rarely got the chance to cut loose. Only Gold Saints could really fight him as an equal, and normally he didn't want to expose his power.
Trading blows with the Sanctuary's strongest Gold Saint was pure bliss.
His Cosmo signature camouflage was solid. Unlike last time, the aura he showed brimmed with force and aggression.
After all, he'd synced with several Gold Saints in the graveyard and knew their Cosmo signatures intimately; faking one was child's play.
No need to worry about being recognized by aura alone.
Their fists overlapped and collided, detonating with massive shockwaves. The force shredded floor and walls alike. As rubble flew, a stone clipped Pansy.
Ah!
She cried out, a shard slashing her shoulder and tearing her clothes—blood gushed.
"No—this mysterious man is too strong. He's holding his own against the Pope!"
"I have to get away or I'll be caught in it."
She'd thought the Pope would dispatch the intruder with ease, but the longer they fought, the bigger the blasts—and she'd been hit twice.
Right—use this chance to summon Underworld troops. Let Gordon and the others kill that lunatic gravekeeper.
Let them wreak havoc in the Sanctuary to draw the Pope's eye so she could keep hunting for the box sealing Death and Sleep.
She glanced toward the graveyard and sent her will racing, calling the Specters stationed in Hirasaka to buy herself time.
It was like a stone sinking into the sea.
What was happening?
Same as last time. The troops she'd prepared had vanished without a trace—and never answered again.
Boom!
Another punch blew apart stone by Pandora's side; the blast hurled her to the floor and added new wounds.
To her shock, the masked man seemed to be baiting the Pope's strikes—guiding the pressure of the punches toward her.
Wherever she fled, the masked man sidestepped there, and the shards and shockwaves followed.
No—keep this up and someone will die!
She turned, and a chunk of stone streaked straight for her brow.
Just as she had nowhere to dodge, a golden figure appeared in front of her…
.
"Great Horn!"
Catching the brief slack in his foe's offense, Damian fell back, drew his arms in, and fired.
Two golden lances shot straight at his opponent.
Saga moved to block—and the fist‑force slammed into his chest.
Oof…
He flew, spine smashing a stone pillar, a bright red fist-print blooming on his chest.
The man's attacks were too fast—even he couldn't preempt them all.
"Taurus Gold Saint's technique."
"You're the mystery man Shura mentioned?"
"You killed the Cyclops progenitor?"
"Attack…"
Saga signaled.
Before the word left his mouth, two black roses screamed through the air.
Damian snapped off two lightspeed punches and shredded them to powder.
Piranha Roses.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Aphrodite in the Pisces Gold Cloth guarding Pansy, a red rose between his lips, gaze like a blade.
As expected, fighting in the Pope's Hall would bring Aphro.
Pisces was the last of the Twelve Temples and a step from the Pope's Hall. Any Cosmo spike there, and Aphrodite would sense it and come.
Two-on-one meant trouble.
So…
Damian flashed forward like lightning—straight for Aphrodite.
Scarlet Needle!
At near-lightspeed he appeared before Aphro and loosed all fourteen needles.
Crap!
Aphrodite hadn't expected to be targeted first. He flicked a Piranha Rose—Damian slipped past it.
He knows not to take a Piranha Rose head-on?
Ting-ting-ting…
Fourteen red points glowed; a faint metallic scrape rang out.
Agony ripped through Aphrodite as he was knocked flying.
"It hurts—especially where the Gold Cloth doesn't cover."
He steadied himself and looked down—over a dozen scarlet points gleamed on the Gold Cloth, embedded in it, each radiating pain.
Where arms and legs were unarmored, the pain was savage—blood welling and a numbness creeping in.
Worst of all—the butt.
Damn it—what a vicious, tricky strike. One needle had tagged his rear.
He'd eaten far too much spice lately; even after treatment from the gravekeeper Damian he'd only just recovered. Now it had relapsed—and worse.
Who could understand the gut‑wrenching, bloody pain… like eating ten pounds of ultra‑spicy hotpot base.
Aphrodite clutched his butt and curled up, face white as paper.
Blood pooled on the floor…
Why aim for my butt? [voice cracks…]
Aphrodite was out—temporarily.
"Scarlet Needle works best on spots a Gold Cloth doesn't protect—and can even seep into covered areas."
"The butt… is a weak point, as expected."
From Aphrodite's reaction, Damian gauged the effect.
Among the twelve Gold Saints, Aphrodite's assassin‑style kit wasn't built for head‑on brawls—and this wasn't his home field.
But his ambush game was strong. Damian couldn't risk being pincered.
Aphro, forget hotpot for the next month—save me the money and base.
You'll owe me another favor…
A sudden gale hit.
No good!
Saga's sneak attack.
Damian had barely turned when a fist caught him in midair.
No time to guard.
Saga had used a finisher.
Genrō Maōken!
A fine golden thread of fist‑force pierced straight into Damian's brain.
At the hit, his mind felt electrocuted—everything froze.
Genrō Maōken attacks the brain's nerves directly, seizing total control of the target's mind. The victim becomes like a hypnotized puppet, obeying the caster's will.
Unless he kills the person the caster designates, he never awakens. Under heavy attack he becomes violently berserk—a killing demon who won't stop until he's slain his foe.
He hadn't expected to get tagged.
It felt awful—like something rammed into his skull—thoughts seized.
Saga relaxed. "Speak. Who are you? What do you want?"
Damian opened his mouth—and ten seconds later said, "My true name is Zeus—lord of the heavens, peerless God‑King ruling Olympus. This is my reincarnated body."
"I merely wished to see my daughter, Athena!"
"And I will command the Sanctuary in Athena's place."
Zeus?
Saga, Aphrodite, and Pansy all went slack with shock—breathless.
Impossible.
This man was the fabled God‑King Zeus?
Too outrageous.
"Impossible!"
Saga recovered first and barked, "You cannot be Zeus of legend. Impossible!"
"Zeus vanished at the end of the mythic age."
"Show me your face. Remove your mask."
Under the order, Damian slowly reached up—agonizingly slow, as if his arm were rusted.
Saga lost patience and reached to yank the golden mask off himself.
Damian struck in that instant—arms whipping, fist‑light bursting—firing a Great Horn at Saga.
Thud!
Caught with little guard, Saga was blasted back dozens of meters.
He slammed down, smashing the floor to rubble.
"A terrifying demon fist."
Damian exhaled—his clothes were soaked through.
That fist was brutal—mind going dead in an instant—like waiting for death.
If he hadn't used the Tarantula's Star‑Absorbing Art a split‑second before impact to siphon off the fist's energy, diffusing it, Saga might have taken him for good.
Good thing the Star‑Absorbing Art can drink all kinds of energy, not just Cosmo.
The strongest Gold Saint indeed.
One tiny opening and Saga had found it.
And he'd gone for control instead of a kill. If he'd followed Genrō Maōken with a Galaxian Explosion, Damian would have been crippled if not dead.
He still lacked battle experience. Against a crafty old fox like Saga, one slip could mean doom.
"You're strong… you actually hurt this seat!"
Saga rose, blood at the corner of his mouth, a fearsome Cosmo boiling off him.
Three clear fist‑prints marred his chest, the one on the abdomen blooming with bruise.
"What tenacious vitality."
Damian couldn't help admiring Saga's body.
A Saint's flesh is transformed by Cosmo; life force becomes monstrous.
Saga had eaten three lightspeed blows from the Great Horn and still stood. His body's training was extreme.
Did he deflect with Another Dimension?
Or was this Saga even stronger than the one he knew?
In first gear, his Cosmo topped out at the Seventh Sense, with limited fist power and moves.
First gear couldn't suppress the strongest Gold—not even without a Cloth.
So…
Damian flicked over to snatch the sack with Shion and the scroll—then felt a violent space ripple.
Another Dimension!
"Stranger—let's fight somewhere else!"
Space twisted. The world flipped. Scenery shifted. A ruined temple floated in endless void—only floor and a few pillars remained.
Saga stood at its center. Damian faced him.
"Whoever you are—you're not leaving alive."
"Even if you were a god, I'd crush you."
"Descend—my Cloth!"
Saga pointed upward. A gleaming Gold Cloth appeared from nowhere—crossing space to him.
Right—Saga was done pretending.
(End of Chapter)
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