Chapter 27: Black Sa's Aspiration to Become the God of War

“Since you’ve become one of the dead, then go where the dead belong!”
Sacrifice!
Infernal Azure Flame!
Suddenly, a holy fire erupted from the altar armor Feng Zhe wore. This sacred blaze illuminated the surroundings and blinded Zhaka in its radiance.
“What is this...?”
Zhaka had never witnessed a technique like this. He only felt his entire body searing with heat, and when he regained his senses, he saw his own form engulfed in flames.
“No! Ahhhh!”
A mournful wail resounded as Zhaka’s body was consumed entirely by fire, leaving behind only the Orpheus Silver Cloth spinning in the air.
Feng Zhe reached out to claim the Silver Cloth, but to his surprise, it possessed its own spirit. The cloth vanished on its own, its whereabouts unknown.
With a sigh, Feng Zhe realized that within this mirror node, it was impossible to bring the Sacred Cloths back to his own timeline.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, he noticed Miss Saori’s astonished expression—she seemed utterly shocked by his Infernal Azure Flame.
Moments later, accompanied by the thuds of falling bodies, the four undead Saints were defeated, each sent to their proper place in the afterlife.
“Miss Saori! I didn’t expect them to be so weak!”
Seiya bounded over to her, pointing excitedly at the defeated Sagitta Saint.
Miss Saori, however, understood the truth. It wasn’t that the enemies were weak, but rather that, after their special training under the Altar Saint, the four young warriors’ strength had risen significantly, enabling such an easy victory.
“High Priest, let’s go find the Goddess of Discord!”
Feng Zhe nodded, then, after a moment’s thought, said, “There is someone else by her side whom you wish to see!”
“Someone I wish to see?”
Miss Saori was puzzled, but Feng Zhe, with mysterious air, led the way ahead.
...
Temple of the Goddess of Discord
The place was deserted save for a few ruined shrines. Eris cursed furiously.
This time, she had hoped to use the not-yet-fully-awakened power of Athena to restore herself, but unexpectedly encountered that accursed Altar Saint.
“If only I had a little more power, I could revive my Evil Spirits—my children are a hundred times mightier than those undead Saints.”
Yet the wounds on her body brought her back to reality.
Just then, Black Saga entered. Eris immediately commanded, “Saga, bring me Athena’s head at once!”
Black Saga did not move; instead, he regarded Eris with a playful, almost mocking expression, as if she were merely a toy.
No one had ever looked at Eris in such a way. Incensed, she roared, “Don’t forget—it was I who resurrected you! I can return you to slumber just as easily!”
Saga shook his head and replied, “When you obtained the Golden Apple, I had already saved you. We are even; there is no debt between us.”
“What! How dare you speak to me that way? Die!”
Eris brandished her trident, summoning a bolt of thunder.
This thunderbolt could obliterate any Saint, infused with divine power and supreme might.
But Saga merely smiled, dodging in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, Saga was before Eris, and struck her across the face.
The Golden Apple fell and rolled to Saga’s feet, who seized it at once.
“You should thank that Altar Saint—he’s given me a new goal: to become Ares, the God of War!”
With those words, Saga plunged his fist into Eris’s chest, and, as terror filled her eyes, crushed her heart.
The destruction of her mortal body unleashed a shriek from the Goddess of Discord as her spirit burst forth.
Saga then raised the Golden Apple, and before the goddess could comprehend what was happening, she was sealed once more within the apple.
Gazing at the divine glow emanating from the fruit, madness flared in Saga’s eyes.
In that frenzy, he swallowed the Golden Apple whole, and at once, his cosmos soared to new heights.
With his hair billowing, an evil power burgeoned within him.
With this newly acquired strength, Saga broke through the Seventh Sense, leaping directly to the Eighth.
He had ascended into a new realm, and Saga felt an unprecedented exhilaration.
Madness gleamed in his eyes, now accompanied by the divinity that only gods possess—Saga had become unparalleled among all Saints.
Laughing wildly, Saga departed the Goddess of Discord’s ruined temple, his whereabouts unknown.
Meanwhile, Miss Saori, the four young Saints, and Feng Zhe arrived at the temple, just in time to witness its devastation.
[The Goddess of Discord has fallen. Mirror Node—Golden Apple forcibly terminated. Please return to the Altar Temple immediately!]
“What? Who killed the Goddess of Discord?!”
Feng Zhe’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
Seiya, always the fastest, emerged holding the lifeless body of Kyoko.
Kyoko was utterly devoid of life. The gaping wound in her chest bore silent testimony to her tragic end.
“Saga!”
Feng Zhe realized instantly who the culprit was. He did not know exactly how Saga accomplished this, but it was clear the course of events had shifted dramatically, and a new story was about to unfold...
Feng Zhe turned to Miss Saori and said, “I must go now...”
Startled, Saori asked, “Where will you go? Won’t you stay by my side?”
Feng Zhe shook his head, then advised her, “A new evil god has awakened. For your own safety, I urge you to go to Sanctuary, where the Gold Saints can protect you.”
Saori seemed persuaded. “Very well, I’ll give it serious thought. But what about Seiya and the others...?”
“They can only grow stronger through battle—you know this well.”
Saori nodded, then asked softly, “Will we meet again?”
“We will. But next time, I hope you will have truly grown—worthy of being the Goddess of the Saints.”
With that, Feng Zhe departed, fading into the distance as the temple of the Goddess of Discord collapsed, his cosmos soon undetectable.
“Miss Saori, I can’t shake the feeling that the High Priest doesn’t belong to our era,” Shun, ever perceptive, was the first among the four to notice something amiss.
But Saori replied, “Wherever he is, he will help us again—because he is the Altar Saint, a true Saint.”
Had Feng Zhe heard this assessment, he might have reconsidered his impression of the wealthy young lady, but he would never hear it.
Elsewhere, Mu, the Aries Gold Saint in Sanctuary, gazed up at a twinkling star in the sky.
That star, shimmering among the zodiac, was the Altar constellation.
As a shooting star streaked by, the Altar vanished from the heavens.
“He is not the Altar Saint of our era.”
Shaka of Virgo teleported nearby, appearing beside Mu.
“Indeed. I didn’t realize it before, but now I see—we let him take Saga’s body. I fear a greater crisis is upon us!”
“Yes. Saga has been revived—truly revived—and is now far beyond his former self.”
Shaka’s extraordinary senses could perceive this, even from within Sanctuary.
“I wonder what he’s thinking. Next time I see him, I might just give him a punch to vent my anger!”
For Mu, usually so gentle, to be angered, made Shaka smile. “Perhaps it’s for the best. Who knows?”
“Let’s hope so.”