Chapter 162: The Holy Flame of Helios

Seeing Feng Zhe withstand the Holy Flames of Helios head-on, the Sun God Apollo looked quite surprised.

However, he then said indifferently, "The Olympian Holy Fire of the Altar Cloth originates from the flames bestowed by the heavenly counselor Prometheus. They are of the same source, but how many more times can your body endure it?"

Feng Zhe's face darkened instantly. Just as Apollo said, the Holy Flames of Helios were essentially no different from the Olympian Holy Fire, yet the quality and power of the sacred fire were determined by the person wielding it.

Feng Zhe's mortal flesh still belonged to a human. Although he wore the numbered Altar Cloth, at best it was a sacred garment comparable to a Gold Cloth.

Let alone being matched against Apollo's Divine Cloth, it fell short even of the God Cloths worn by the Bronze Five.

This was precisely why Feng Zhe's arm had been reduced to charred charcoal after a single strike from the holy flames.

At this moment, Feng Zhe's arm was no different from being completely ruined. The God Cloths of the Bronze Five had been vaporized and destroyed, while Apollo remained completely unscathed, still looking down upon them from on high as if gazing upon the dead.

The Holy Flames of Helios gathered once more in Apollo's palm, the fiery glow casting shifting colors across his face.

These flames were capable of burning even gods to ashes; he intended to incinerate Feng Zhe before him first.

Seiya, Hyoga, Shiryu, and Shun found themselves barely able to move under the oppressive force of Apollo's Cosmos.

Just as the Holy Flames of Helios struck toward Feng Zhe, Ikki suddenly stepped in front of him, taking the brunt of the holy fire with his own body.

"The true battle has only just begun. You cannot fall here!"

Then, casting a meaningful glance at Feng Zhe, Ikki smiled and said, "I can finally repay the favor I owed you."

Ikki's body gradually dissipated within the indefensible flames.

Looking at the vanishing Ikki, Shun wept and cried out, "Brother!"

Feng Zhe's charred arm twitched involuntarily; he was truly enraged.

The reason Ikki had thrown his body in front of Feng Zhe was to repay the past debt from Death Queen Island, where Feng Zhe had personally defeated the Furnace Cloth Guludi, thereby releasing Ikki from the daily suffering he had endured.

Never had he imagined that after so much time had passed, Ikki would still remember this favor and repay it with his own life.

Apollo remarked offhandedly, "Even the Phoenix cannot be resurrected after being burned by the Holy Flames of Helios. Only a Divine Cloth can survive within this sacred fire."

Immediately afterward, Apollo once again ignited his Cosmos, preparing to launch another attack against Feng Zhe.

Suddenly, Shiryu grabbed him from behind in a full nelson lock and shouted, "Lord Pope, I leave everything that follows to you!"

Before Seiya and Hyoga could react, Shiryu unleashed the Rozan Koryuha, soaring into the sky while carrying Apollo with him.

Apollo said calmly, "Even if you throw yourself into the sun, the protection of my Divine Cloth will leave me completely unharmed."

"While you will become cosmic dust in a matter of mere seconds."

Having long since resolved to die, Shiryu only wished to drag Apollo away from the Sun Temple.

Recognizing Shiryu's unwavering intent, Apollo remarked, "Had it been earlier, I might have wavered and spared you all, but the appearance of the God-Defier forces me to return."

Shiryu looked at Apollo in disbelief, and Apollo curved his lips into a smile. "You didn't know, did you? Athena's earthly representative is actually the God-Defier. How ironic!"

"The God-Defier?!"

Shiryu's emotions instantly became turbulent. Previously, after Dohko and the Twelfth Apostle of Holy Decree Antares perished together, Feng Zhe had advised Shiryu to retire to the mountains and forests.

At the time, Shiryu had felt a warm comfort from those words, but thinking back now, they were certainly not something a Pope should say; rather, they carried a rebellious undertone.

"Even if you are the God-Defier, I will not let you have your way!"

Apollo sighed. His body suddenly erupted with the intense brilliance of a supernova, burning like a scorching sun.

Shiryu's physique gradually dissolved within that blinding, scorching light, meeting a fate of total annihilation into nothingness.

...

Elsewhere.

The Heavenly Guard had already arrived at the Sun Wheel Gate. Hyoga and Shun chose to stay behind to face them alone.

With his arm injured and unable to proceed, Feng Zhe could only sit quietly at the Sun Wheel Gate, using his healing abilities to slowly mend his arm.

The guard captain Vulcan expressed surprise that Apollo had somehow been defeated, but upon seeing the exhausted Hyoga and Shun, his mind immediately put aside its worries.

Just as Vulcan moved to strike, he was trapped by Hyoga's freezing air. A wave of bitter, biting cold paralyzed his movements, leaving him with no choice but to watch helplessly as Seiya departed.

This was the ultimate secret technique combining Hyoga's Super Absolute Zero and Shun's Nebula Storm. Vulcan quickly shattered the ice, preparing to launch a counterattack.

By this time, Hyoga and Shun had exhausted their Cosmos, lacking even the strength to lift a finger.

Just as the two were about to meet their end on the spot, a massive horde of wandering spirits suddenly surged from the Underworld.

Vulcan gasped in astonishment, "How did you manage to escape?!"

As it turned out, these spirits were the Saints of past generations. Though they had fallen in battle, they borrowed the power of Hades to manifest briefly and aid Shun and Hyoga.

Healing his arm nearby, Feng Zhe looked upon these spirits and muttered, "Hades and the others have certainly been busy behind the scenes."

True to his words, these spirits converged vast amounts of Cosmos, instantly enabling Shun and Hyoga to rise once more and ignite a Cosmos surpassing the Ninth Sense.

With the combined ultimate attack of the Nebula Storm and the Diamond Dust, Vulcan and all the Spectre guards of the garrison were reduced to dust.

Having accomplished this, Hyoga and Shun collapsed onto the ground, plunging into unconsciousness.

At that moment, Feng Zhe's arm had fully recovered, and he prepared to stand and press forward.

Just as he was about to leave, he was blocked by a formidable Cosmos.

"God-Defier, what is it you truly seek by participating in this final trial?"

The Sun God Apollo stood once again before the Sun Wheel Gate, his Divine Cloth completely free of even a speck of dust.

Looking at the towering figure of Apollo, Feng Zhe felt a creeping, bone-chilling dread emanating from his boundless Cosmos.

It was a sensation he had never even experienced in the presence of Athena.

"You... you are not the Apollo of this era!"

A realization struck Feng Zhe, and he gasped aloud.

Apollo laughed, though the smile was deeply chilling.

"Indeed, you, the God-Defier, have already evolved to the threshold of godhood. I can never allow you to leave this place alive."

The Holy Flames of Helios flared once more in Apollo's palm. At that exact moment, a cluster of sacred fire similarly manifested within the Altar mirror on Feng Zhe's chest.

Apollo hurled the holy flames forward, sneering dismissively, "A mere firefly daring to rival the moon in brilliance—utterly delusional."

Yet the next instant, Feng Zhe, wreathed in roaring flames, burst straight out from the holy fire and delivered a heavy punch directly to Apollo's face.

Apollo's face twisted and caved inward before he crashed heavily to the ground.

With a look of bitter resentment, Feng Zhe declared, "The same trick is useless against a Saint!"

Lying on the ground, Apollo had even forgotten who the last person was to knock him down.

Yet instead of showing anger, he smiled and said, "Such pure divine power of death. You must be quite close to the realm of death itself, aren't you?"

Seeing that Apollo had merely been knocked down without suffering any real injury, Feng Zhe's heart plummeted to the abyss.

Just now, Feng Zhe's hand had been imbued with the power of death harvested from the mirror dimension; he had even been confident that a single punch could have shattered Thanatos, the God of Death.

He had never expected that in the eyes of a true deity, his power of death would prove so utterly trivial, unable to inflict even the slightest wound upon him.