Chapter 15: Maling’s Antidote

After searching all around the Cancer Temple and failing to find Seiya, Feng Zhe had no choice but to leave the Twelve Temples. Guided by a trainee, he arrived at Marin’s special training ground. There, Seiya was punching stones, one after another. Even though Marin wasn’t present, Seiya showed no sign of slacking off; he continued to train diligently, every movement precise and earnest.

Feng Zhe was speechless—after all this time, he realized he’d been played. He really wanted to find that attendant and give him a beating to vent his frustration!

“Feng Zhe? What brings you here?” Seiya was delighted to see him, immediately lowering his fists.

“I was passing by and thought I’d visit you,” Feng Zhe replied, tactfully hiding the fact that he’d been duped.

“I heard you’ve become a Saint. Congratulations—though I haven’t had the chance to say it until now.” At this moment, Seiya’s face clearly showed his simple-hearted envy.

“It was just a stroke of luck. By the way, where is your teacher?”

“Sister Marin went on a mission. She should be back by now, judging by the time.” Seiya glanced into the distance, clearly looking forward to Marin’s return.

Just as they spoke, Marin appeared in the distance, cloaked, staggering as she approached. The moment Seiya spotted her, he was overjoyed and immediately ran toward her, shouting, “Sister Marin!”

“Seiya…” Marin managed to utter, then collapsed to the ground.

“Sister Marin!” Seiya cried out in alarm, rushing to help her, but Feng Zhe stopped him.

“Don’t touch her—she’s been poisoned!” Feng Zhe went closer, noticing a strange fragrance lingering around Marin. He took a sniff and immediately felt dizzy, his mind overwhelmed with gruesome visions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Quickly, he covered his nose, grabbed Seiya, and retreated.

“What’s wrong with Sister Marin? Sister Marin!” Seiya shouted frantically, having lost all sense of reason. Feng Zhe, unable to bear the noise, struck Seiya at the base of the neck, rendering him unconscious. Enduring the poisonous aroma, he picked up Marin and carried her away.

Within the Sanctuary, only Aphrodite of Pisces was known for mastery of poisons.

Fortunately, Aphrodite was usually quite approachable, so asking him to cure Marin shouldn’t be too difficult. Although Marin was suffering greatly, she still managed to say, “Thank you for saving me!”

Feng Zhe smiled gently. He couldn’t reveal that, in another timeline, he had once taken Marin as his disciple. Instead, he simply told her, “Save your strength. Don’t speak.”

Like a lamb, Marin nestled in Feng Zhe’s arms and quickly lost consciousness. Seeing her faint, anxiety welled up in his heart once more.

…

Pisces Temple.

Aphrodite was tending to his roses with elegance befitting the Warrior of Beauty, whose radiance shone between heaven and earth. He took great pride in his appearance.

“Lord Aphrodite, please save Marin!” An urgent shout came from outside the Pisces Temple, darkening Aphrodite’s mood at being disturbed.

“Who dares? Don’t you know not to intrude at this hour?” Aphrodite especially detested interruptions, particularly when enjoying his coffee or arranging his roses. Such moments were sacred to beauty!

“I am Altar Star Alexis. Please, save Marin!”

“Altar Star? The Pope’s disciple?” Within the Sanctuary, only the Pope could make Aphrodite set aside his roses. As the guardian of the final temple, Aphrodite was well aware of the Pope’s true identity. Yet, he never considered exposing him. He admired strength, believing that power equated to justice. Because of this, he was one of the few Gold Saints who openly supported Saga.

As Aphrodite approached and saw the strange aroma enveloping Marin, his expression darkened.

“Underworld miasma?”

“Please, save her—she’s dying!” Feng Zhe pleaded, anxiety gnawing at him. He knew well that Marin had been poisoned by a toxin used only by the Specters of Hades. That was precisely why he had come to Pisces Temple for help.

Aphrodite, looking troubled, said, “The antidote isn’t hard to make. She need only drink rose dew distilled from the roses in my garden.”

“But…”

Feng Zhe looked at him in confusion.

“If she drinks the rose dew, her body will develop immunity to my roses. Should she ever trespass in my rose garden with ill intent, my roses might be powerless against her. Do you think I would hand over such a vulnerability to her?” Aphrodite’s tone was both amused and indifferent as he toyed with a blood-red rose, seemingly unconcerned about the female Saint before him.

“I can help you,” Feng Zhe offered. Aphrodite’s amused smile deepened, as if he’d just heard a ridiculous joke, and he looked at the Altar Star before him with undisguised disdain.

“Lord Aphrodite, is the Piranha Rose your strongest technique?”

“Oh? So you know my secret technique?”

“I once read some ancient records in the Star Tower, documenting the feats of Cardinal, a previous Pisces Gold Saint.”

Aphrodite laughed dismissively. “You may not know, but Cardinal was in fact my ancestor.”

He was intimately familiar with Cardinal’s illustrious deeds, which played a part in his own selection as Gold Saint.

“The Piranha Rose was developed further by Albafica, the previous Pisces Saint, who used it to defeat the Celestial Noble Star, Minos. It is considered Pisces’ ultimate technique.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“Albafica’s true strength lay not in his technique, but in the venomous blood unique to his body. Surely you know this well, Lord Aphrodite.”

Aphrodite regarded Feng Zhe, unclear on his intent.

“I know you aspire to rival Albafica, which is why you perfected the Piranha Rose. But no matter how much you train, you cannot replicate the unique power that belonged solely to Albafica.”

“Rather than futilely striving for the impossible, why not choose Cardinal’s technique, the Dagger Rose, which is even more powerful?”

Aphrodite fell silent, considering the validity of Feng Zhe’s words. As the Warrior of Beauty, Aphrodite’s talent and dedication were the envy of many. Even in his training, he chose the most challenging path—the Piranha Rose—his pride wouldn’t allow anything less. Yet, no matter how hard he worked, he could never compare to Albafica, the previous Pisces Saint. This drove him to near madness.

“Whether it’s the Dagger Rose or the Piranha Rose, both possess immense power when mastered. Cardinal once used the Dagger Rose to wound Virgo Shijima and even crack his Cloth—proof of its might!”

Aphrodite, inherently proud and especially so as the Sanctuary’s Warrior of Beauty, could not admit inferiority to anyone, not even his two predecessors.

“You’ve convinced me. Very well—let her drink this rose dew.” Aphrodite, being a reasonable man, produced a bottle of fragrant rose dew.

Sure enough, after drinking the rose dew, Marin regained consciousness.