Chapter 35: The Dark Gladiator Leader Atte

“Sisyphus, I have someone I must protect. As for the Sanctuary, all I can say is that I’m sorry.”
Rigel of Orion was deeply grieved, and his sorrowful aura affected everyone present.
“No circumstance can justify betrayal!”
Sisyphus’s eyes were unwavering as he continued, “If that’s the case, then be destroyed beneath my fist!”
Sisyphus was truly enraged. Even Regulus looked at him in surprise, as if seeing this side of him for the first time.
Golden Gale!
Sisyphus instantly gathered the power of his cosmo, spreading it throughout his body, compressing it into a tremendous force. The condensed cosmo could no longer be held back and, in a flash, released a massive golden storm that reduced everything to nothingness.
The raging golden tempest burst out like a supernova, accompanied by a thunderous explosion.
Feng Zhe felt his vision blur, then everything disappeared.
When he opened his eyes again, aside from the five-year-old Regulus at his side, everyone else was gone.
“Where are Sisyphus and Shion?”
Regulus pouted and said, “They went to the Temple of Lepalus, where the body of Eris lies.”
“Why didn’t you go?”
Regulus shot Feng Zhe a glare. “Because of you, obviously. You’re a grown man with such weak telekinesis. I have no idea how you became a Silver Saint.”
Feng Zhe flushed with embarrassment. He truly lacked telekinetic ability, and thus his spiritual power was abysmal.
Regulus moved quickly, and when he saw Feng Zhe hadn’t kept up, he turned and called out, “I’ll wait for you up ahead!”
Then, with a single leap, Regulus vanished into the distant forest.
Was he really being despised by a five-year-old?
Feng Zhe’s face darkened; he felt so awkward he wished he could burrow into the earth.
“I’d better catch up to him.”
After glancing at the enormous crater nearby, Feng Zhe headed into the depths of the forest.
…
As he advanced, Feng Zhe found the silence increasingly absolute; ancient trees, towering and dense, blotted out the sky, casting the entire forest into an endless hush.
“What’s the rush? Seriously…”
He muttered to himself, but he wasn’t worried about Regulus; though the boy was only five, in a real fight, it was anyone’s guess who would come out on top.
Yet, the deeper he went, the stranger it felt, and his steps unconsciously slowed.
No sooner had he stopped than a tree root shot up from behind, lashing toward him.
Sonic Fist!
He smashed the root with a punch, but another quickly appeared, then more and more, all writhing with sharp thorns, powerful enough to pierce flesh.
With a leap, he struck out with countless fists, the sounds of snapping wood and explosive blows echoing around him.
Just as he thought he’d won, tens of thousands of thorny roots erupted from all directions, ensnaring him.
He watched as the roots coiled tightly around him, and everything went black—he was wrapped up, solid and secure, like a finely crafted wooden sphere.
“Ha! So this is all Athena’s Saints amount to!”
A woman’s voice rang out—arrogant and pleased.
Inside the massive wooden sphere, he still struggled, but the female warrior laughed and said, “These bramble roots are no ordinary roots—they’re infused with countless grudges, granting them great power. Once trapped by this technique, you’ll be drained dry by the roots within days!”
Her laughter shattered the forest’s silence with a deafening sound.
Just as she was about to leave, she looked back.
A bright light shone from the center of the bramble sphere, then a thunderous explosion reduced the mass of roots to little more than scraps.
Feng Zhe, clad in the Altar Cloth, stood with sacred flames blazing from his hands, as if he could incinerate all things.
“Who are you?”
Before him stood a woman with long, flowing purple hair, clad in a revealing, sinister surplice, resembling a blooming red narcissus, her grand cape denoting her status.
“So you broke free. I underestimated you.”
She smiled and continued, “I am the daughter of Eris, Goddess of Discord, leader of the Dark Saints—Destruction Ate!”
Feng Zhe was startled. Whether fortune or misfortune, he had run into the leader of the Dark Saints—clearly a formidable foe.
“Where is Regulus, who passed by here earlier?”
Destruction Ate smiled faintly, pointing to a child suspended by vines in the distance. “Is that who you mean?”
Regulus hung there, seemingly asleep, a small smile on his lips.
“You hypnotized Regulus?”
Feng Zhe could hardly believe his eyes; that Regulus had been hypnotized was unimaginable.
“Athena’s Saints are nothing special. Now, slumber forever in my cage!”
Suddenly, masses of vines emerged from the ground—much finer and more resilient than the earlier brambles.
Feng Zhe punched through one, but it instantly regenerated, as if possessing powerful restorative abilities.
In no time, the vines wrapped around him.
“Feng Zhe, my child, where are you?”
His pupils constricted; he stared in disbelief at the figure before him and called out, “Mom?”
A beautiful woman stood in the distance, arms outstretched, like a mother longing for her lost child.
Her appearance was identical to the mother in Feng Zhe’s memories.
“My child, I’ve finally found you!”
Her embrace was so warm that Feng Zhe unconsciously moved toward her.
Her scent, her gestures—everything was exactly as he remembered. In her arms, he felt all his defenses melt away.
Drawing close, he inhaled her familiar scent, lingering in the nostalgia.
But then, unexpectedly, Feng Zhe punched her squarely in the chest.
She stared at him in disbelief, as if she could not fathom his attack.
“Your appearance, memories, scent, even your actions are all identical to my mother’s—but you overlooked something!”
As she fell, the illusion shattered, and once more he found himself bound by vines.
But in his heart, Feng Zhe thought, “You overlooked the fact that I’m not from this era—not even from the world of the Saints. My mother would never be so gentle!”
Thinking of his real mother, dancing in a distant square in another world, he hoped she lived well.
As the vines shattered, Regulus—still suspended—suddenly erupted with an overwhelming cosmo, instantly suppressing the cosmo of Destruction Ate.
“You’ve angered me. How dare you show me an illusion of my mother!”
The ferocious young lion revealed his true strength for the first time, forcing Feng Zhe to take an involuntary step back.