Conspiracies Lurking Everywhere

Feng Zhe held Andromeda Shun in his arms, while Tres warily eyed the suddenly appearing Pope of the Altar Constellation. Suddenly struck by a thought, he exclaimed, “Could it be that you are...?”

Feng Zhe shouted loudly, “We’ve waited long enough. If you don’t show yourself soon, this battle may be over.”

At Feng Zhe’s call, a phoenix’s cry pierced the dark, silent realm of the Underworld. A fiery phoenix soared in with a roar—the one who arrived was none other than Ikki, the Phoenix Saint.

Originally intending to confront Zeus head-on, Ikki had lost his way and stumbled into the Underworld. There, he nearly perished but was saved prematurely by Feng Zhe, who intercepted him before he could act.

Tres, recognizing Ikki as Faust, the former Thirteenth Apostle and Flame God, declared his intent to deliver a death sentence upon him.

Proud Ikki retorted disdainfully, calling Tres a fool and boasting of his immortality like a phoenix.

With that, he launched his Phoenix Illusion Fist.

Tres’s face immediately darkened with fear. Ikki demanded Tres lead him to Zeus, to which Tres shouted, “Zeus is right behind you!”

The sudden cry startled Ikki, who indeed sensed a mighty presence akin to Zeus’s looming behind him.

That Zeus-like figure struck suddenly, and Ikki’s body was cleaved in two.

Gasping to regain his senses, Ikki broke into a cold sweat, stunned that Tres had instantly countered his Illusion Fist.

Tres mocked Ikki’s incomplete awakening of the Ninth Sense.

Then, with a mighty roar, he unleashed:

Spectral Illusion!

Ikki was flung into a dazzling, color-shifting space before crashing hard back onto the ground of the Underworld.

Tres declared Ikki unworthy of the title of the Thirteenth Apostle and prepared to finish him off.

Suddenly, a godlike cosmos flared powerfully behind Tres. Turning, he saw Andromeda Shun.

Feng Zhe, too, stared in astonishment at Shun, sensing that this cosmos was not of human origin.

Sure enough, behind Shun appeared the spectral form of Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

Tres never expected Hades, his former master, to intervene and aid the Saints.

Well aware that Hades was bound by the laws of death within this realm, Tres believed he could not move freely.

But now, Shun lifted his head, revealing his signature white eyes and an aura that belonged to a god.

“No, it’s Hades,” Shun—or rather, Hades—spoke. “My soul is linked to this body within the Underworld, enabling the awakening of the cosmos.”

“I see,” Tres finally understood. Shun’s ability to locate the exit from the Underworld was thanks to Hades’s assistance.

Hades then revealed that since the age of myth, he had planted Tres within the heavens to spy on Zeus’s movements—only for Tres to betray him and become Zeus’s puppet.

Hades suddenly realized that the Gemini twins, who had incited war against the Saints, were agents placed by the heavens within his own ranks.

He challenged Tres, asking if the chaos between himself, Athena, and Poseidon was orchestrated by Zeus.

Tres admitted Hades was correct; the heavens’ plan was in motion. The Saints, Sea Warriors, and Underworld Warriors were locked in endless attrition.

Except for the Saints, the heavens’ new Genesis obstacle had been cleared, and Tres had pledged allegiance to the omniscient and omnipotent Zeus.

As for Hades’s soul here, it could never be fully freed.

With that, Tres launched an assault against Hades, whose spirit began to dissipate.

Tres arrogantly proclaimed that after the new Genesis, he would become the ruler of the Underworld.

At that moment, Ikki and Shun rose again behind Tres.

Looking at the two Saints, Tres spoke coldly, “Souls that would defy the gods even in death—I, Tres, will do everything to erase them.”

Spectral Illusion!

Tres unleashed his strongest secret technique once more, while Shun and Ikki simultaneously activated their own ultimate powers: Nebula Storm and Phoenix Wings Soaring.

The clash of such immense energies triggered an earth-shattering explosion.

When the smoke cleared, Tres was astonished to find himself reduced to a mere husk.

In his dying breath, Tres gasped, “The cosmos of Shun and Ikki has transcended the domain controlled by the gods—this is the realm I have dreamed of reaching.”

Tres had long dreamed of fully freeing himself from the gods’ dominion, to truly ascend to godhood.

Then, his body dispersed into the infinite void of the Underworld. Exhausted, Ikki and Shun collapsed, unable to stand.

“This... is the true power of the gods,” Feng Zhe sighed, watching it all unfold. He gathered Ikki and Shun and prepared to leave the Underworld.

On the surface, Ikki and Shun had briefly surpassed the Ninth Sense to reach the divine realm and defeat Tres.

In truth, this was only possible because of Hades’s sudden intervention.

From this alone, the famed Underworld—supposedly the gods’ final resting place—was revealed as little more than a farce to true divinity.

Feng Zhe was now uncertain how many gods had truly attained the divine realm or the so-called Tenth Sense.

But from what he could tell, Athena, Poseidon, and Hades had already reached this level.

Julian had not, but judging from Poseidon’s temperament, he was likely being groomed to become a true Sea Emperor—though for what purpose, Feng Zhe did not know.

Thus, this ultimate trial was merely a test in the eyes of true gods.

Realizing this, Feng Zhe broke into a cold sweat.

“This final trial exists to eliminate Saints who have awakened the Ninth Sense!”

It was well known that since the age of myths, any human who mastered the Ninth Sense would ascend to the heavens and become a Saint.

Whether the Thirteen Apostles, the 47 Saints legion, or other Saints, they were still fundamentally human.

This ostensible final trial was designed to select which god would participate in a coming battle.

But if Zeus’s cosmos approached the Genesis level, then the purpose was far more complex.

After this battle, few of the countless heavenly Saints would survive; the remaining elites would face another trial.

By then, all humans and gods alike would return to chaos.

This was Zeus’s ultimate goal: a vast cosmos ruled by a single deity.

What remained unclear was whether Athena, the Sea Emperor, and Hades understood this—and what roles they played in it.

Recalling the demonic realm passage Julian had once shared, Feng Zhe considered another possibility.

“Could he be finding himself an escape route?”

With too little information to analyze the full picture, Feng Zhe knew he must press onward to uncover the truth.

...

Meanwhile, at the Sun Wheel Gate, Seiya and Shiryu faced the strongest Saint of the heavens—the First Apostle, Apollo, the Sun God.

Apollo held the lifeless body of Virgo Shaka.

After killing dozens of heavenly Saints, Shaka had ultimately fallen to Apollo.

Seiya and Shiryu, overwhelmed with sorrow, had no time to mourn Shaka; their resolve to defeat Apollo only grew stronger.