Chapter 113: The Funeral of Saichi

“A single mortal body can have as much as it desires!”

Darnath’s eyes chilled with defiance, and without hesitation, he lunged at Pope Sage.

“Watch out!”

Feng Zhe moved to intervene but was a step too slow. Manigot also tried to stop him, but it was already too late.

The moment Darnath reached Pope Sage, the pope collapsed onto the ground.

Behind Sage’s shadow stood the grim reaper Darnath himself.

Yet, at this moment, Darnath was not controlling Sage’s body.

“Impossible! I can’t take over his body?!” Darnath roared in disbelief, but it was futile.

Pope Sage chuckled softly, “I have said it before—the true pope is the one who precedes the gods by a step!”

The pentagram on Sage’s forehead still radiated kindness, proving it bore the mark of the grim reaper Darnath.

With that, Sage tore off his robe, revealing the altar vestments beneath.

“Impossible! The altar vestments were supposed to be on that brat—how can there be two sets?”

The grim reaper could barely believe his eyes. Manigot looked at his master Sage, then glanced at Feng Zhe, who was also clad in altar vestments, and let out a faint laugh.

Sage said excitedly, “I have done so much to scheme against you.”

Sage and the White Rite brothers had plotted their revenge for over two centuries, all for this day.

Now, the grim reaper Darnath was like a bird trapped in a snare, imprisoned within the altar vestments.

Enraged, the grim reaper ravaged Sage’s body recklessly. Blood flowed freely, yet Sage’s determined gaze burned with madness, stirring even Feng Zhe’s heart.

Feng Zhe sought to assist but was stopped by Sage, who said, “I am not only the pope of this era but also a survivor of the last. This grudge can only be avenged by me!”

This Sage was not the current pope but the former Cancer Gold Saint. He had prepared for over 200 years for this moment—to avenge his comrades who fell in the last holy war and to avenge Athena in his heart.

Perhaps, in his mind, the true Athena was never the young Sasha but the Athena of the previous generation.

She was the goddess he revered.

He was a true saint, a loyal warrior of the goddess.

As the light blazed upon the circular mirror of Sage’s altar vestments, his hand plunged into his body and drew out the Athena’s Holy Ark.

The moment the Holy Ark opened, the grim reaper’s soul was forcefully drawn in. Without the grim reaper’s power, the gods’ path slowly vanished.

The sky cleared once more to a brilliant blue, and the palace began to crumble.

The battle between gods and humans had finally reached a pause.

...

The Holy Ark soared back to the Sanctuary, while Feng Zhe and Manigot wore expressions heavy with despair.

Athena Sasha immediately sealed the Ark with a talisman and, looking at Feng Zhe and Manigot, whispered, “Grandfather Pope, he...”

The mighty bell tolled again, less than three days since the funeral of Pisces Alphera.

But this time, it was in honor of Pope Sage.

“Pope Sage sacrificed his life to seal the grim reaper. May his soul rest peacefully under Athena’s radiant light...”

The elder in waiting, Feng Zhe, recounted the pope’s shining deeds in a solemn voice, and all the saints below were deeply moved.

The Sanctuary cannot be without a ruler for even a day, especially during the critical holy war.

As Pope Sage’s own brother and a longtime aide to the pope, Elder Jamil White Rite naturally became a top candidate.

Yet, some voices argued that Sagittarius Chiosus should become pope, to lead the saints against Hades.

“I do not agree with Chiosus becoming pope!” Feng Zhe’s opposition sent a chill through all the saints.

As a master of the eighth sense and a key elder assisting the pope, his opinion was one Athena Sasha had to consider.

Even Chiosus had not expected Feng Zhe’s opposition. Yet, this man who always basked in sunlight bore no grudge but humbly said, “As long as the holy war ends, I will do anything.”

Such was Chiosus—an utterly honest candidate, lacking any scheming or political cunning.

“Don’t forget how the previous Gemini died,” Feng Zhe warned.

Previously, Pope Sage had considered two candidates: the perfect man under the sun, Sagittarius Chiosus, and Gemini Aspros.

In the corner, Gemini Deftros clenched his fists but did not immediately step forward.

With opposition voiced, Goddess Athena decided that Elder White Rite would temporarily assume the pope’s role, ending the matter swiftly.

Throughout, White Rite showed no expression and left quietly.

...

The Papal Palace.

White Rite sat on the pope’s throne, hands folded, gazing down at the empty hall with a flood of emotion.

Feng Zhe entered and, seeing the lonely old man, felt a wave of sorrow rise within.

White Rite forced a smile upon seeing Feng Zhe. “So this is what it feels like to sit on the pope’s throne.”

“Sitting on such a throne offers a poor view. For 200 years, I’ve only looked at that door. Loneliness can truly make one ill.”

Feng Zhe presented the pope’s helmet, urging him to carry on the pope’s legacy and see the holy war through to the end.

White Rite accepted the helmet calmly, then said, “Alex, though I accept the pope’s helmet, until the next generation arrives, the one who watches that door should not be me, but one of those who survive...”

His meaning was clear: the true master of the papacy is the survivor of the holy war.

After a pause, he added with a wry smile, “Maybe it will be you.”

Then White Rite left in silence.

...

Elsewhere, Hypnos, the god of sleep, received the grim reaper’s pawn. Outwardly, he wished for his brother to remain calm within the Holy Ark for centuries, but inwardly, he had his own schemes.

From the shadows emerged four figures—the sons of Hypnos, the Four Dream Gods.

Their gaze was different from before, focused now on Sagittarius.

In Hypnos’s eyes, the true threat to eliminate was that Sagittarius Gold Saint, who claimed he could shoot down gods.

He was a relentless adversary, one who kept him restless day and night. Only by imprisoning him forever could he find peace.

...

In the Sanctuary.

When Sasha arrived at the Sagittarius Palace to comfort Chiosus, she found him in deep meditation.

“He’s trying to break through the eighth sense?!”

Indeed, Chiosus knew that strength was everything, and at this critical point, he began to ascend the eighth sense.

To protect him, he had even summoned Capricorn Alcid to assist.

Chiosus seemed burdened by a mental knot, one that had long prevented his breakthrough. This time, he resolved fiercely: if he failed, he would never awaken again.

“You don’t have to go this far...” Sasha’s heart trembled with fear at Chiosus’s resolve.