Chapter 53: The Battle with Ikki

On the helicopter

"Shiryu, the Pegasus Cloth has been repaired magnificently!"

Seiya couldn't stop fiddling with the restored Pegasus Cloth, his excitement clear.

Watching Seiya act like a child with a new toy, Feng Zhe turned to the silent Shiryu and asked, "Mu didn't give you any trouble, did he?"

Shiryu froze for a moment, his face turning a shade paler. "If it weren't for you, Lord Alex, I would've almost died there."

Hearing this, Seiya hurried over to ask what had happened.

As it turned out, repairing a Cloth required the blood of a Saint, and the stronger the Cloth, the more powerful the Saint's blood needed to be. For example, a Bronze Saint repairing a Bronze Cloth would need ten liters of blood, but if they wanted to repair a Silver Cloth, it would require a hundred liters. Conversely, if a Gold Saint wanted to repair a Bronze Cloth, just a few drops would suffice, and it could even enhance the Cloth’s rank. This was precisely why, later on, Saori forced the Gold Saints to donate blood to repair the five young warriors’ Cloths.

Shiryu, carrying two Bronze Cloths and possessing only the high-level Bronze Saint’s Cosmo, would have had to give all his blood to restore both. Fortunately, before he left, Feng Zhe had given him a vial of his own blood, enabling the repairs to succeed.

Feng Zhe’s Cosmo was now at the advanced Silver Saint level, so repairing two Bronze Cloths was no problem.

When Mu saw the blood, he immediately recognized it as Feng Zhe’s and didn’t make things difficult for Shiryu, simply repairing both Cloths.

“So that’s how it was!”

Seiya glanced at Feng Zhe with gratitude, bowing deeply in sincere thanks.

“All right, you kids and your constant bowing—don’t you ever get tired of it?” Feng Zhe said.

Seiya could only smile awkwardly. Just as they were talking, the helicopter reached its destination.

“So this is Death Valley, the Valley of Life and Death in the Northern Alps?”

Shun looked at the barren, lifeless earth, naturally feeling a sense of dread.

Seiya opened the hatch and leapt out without hesitation, followed by Shiryu and Hyoga.

Feng Zhe patted Shun on the shoulder, signaling him, and the two of them jumped out together as well.

…

The Valley of Life and Death

The four young warriors each faced their dark counterparts, and the entire valley was marked by the scars of battle.

Feng Zhe stood on a high vantage point, observing the scene. This was Seiya and Shiryu’s fight—it had nothing to do with him.

Soon, Seiya defeated the Dark Pegasus, but not before taking a blow from the Black Death Punch.

Poisoned, Seiya staggered as if drunk and accidentally tumbled into the bottom of the valley.

Elsewhere, Hyoga faced the Dark Cygnus.

There was little suspense as Hyoga quickly defeated the Dark Cygnus, mercifully letting him go.

Unexpectedly, the Dark Cygnus used the last of his Cosmo to telekinetically send the bird’s head, imbued with freezing energy, to Ikki.

Ikki soon found Hyoga, not only withstanding Hyoga’s freezing punch completely but also reflecting the force back, embedding Hyoga into the mountainside.

Feng Zhe watched from afar, shaking his head. One was arrogant, the other careless—despite their overwhelming power, they sorely lacked combat awareness. Forget fighting seasoned Silver Saints; even veteran Bronze Saints could easily take them down.

Ikki cast a challenging glance toward the mountaintop, then unleashed his Phantom Demon Emperor Fist, aiming to finish Hyoga.

Yet Hyoga’s will was unbreakable, and his faith unwavering. Instead of being defeated, he was driven to a fierce rage.

In his anger, he unleashed the Aurora Thunder Attack.

But Ikki, with a faintly dismissive smile, remarked that a Saint’s technique was useless the second time it was seen, easily breaking through Hyoga’s attack.

With a single punch, Ikki shattered Hyoga’s chest. Even Hyoga’s last attempt to freeze Ikki before dying was dodged with ease.

The whole process was swift—Hyoga collapsed, his fate uncertain.

Watching Ikki leave, Feng Zhe leapt down, checked on Hyoga, and was relieved to find Ikki had held back, not piercing the heart. Otherwise, there would have been nothing he could do.

“Sacrifice!”

“Heal!”

After a gentle wave of Cosmo, Hyoga’s eyes fluttered open. Spotting Feng Zhe, he instinctively tried to avoid him but found his body weak.

Feng Zhe, without ceremony, left him on the ground and walked off.

Hyoga gazed at Feng Zhe’s retreating figure, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Seiya was climbing out of the valley’s depths, his body blackened by the Black Death Punch, looking like a man from Africa.

Shun, passing by, saw him and quickly rescued him with his chain.

By coincidence, they encountered the Dark Andromeda, who showed no honor, attacking with the Dark Chain, both poisonous and biting.

Shun was tormented, and Seiya, seeing this from below, could only cut the chain himself.

Angered, Shun unleashed the Nebula Chain, instantly defeating the Dark Andromeda.

At that moment, the Dark Dragon and Shiryu arrived. Shiryu told Shun to help Seiya while he faced the opponent alone.

They fought evenly, but soon Shiryu defeated the Dark Dragon.

By then, Shun had rescued Seiya. Seeing Seiya poisoned, Shiryu used the Rozan Pressure Point Technique to draw out the toxic blood.

Afterwards, the two hurried off to find Ikki.

With them gone, Feng Zhe jumped down, sighed at the bloodied, poisoned Seiya, then invoked his powers.

“Sacrifice!”

“Heal!”

A gentle Cosmo flowed, and Seiya’s eyes slowly opened.

“Feng Zhe?”

“Hurry and go find Ikki!” Feng Zhe replied, then leapt away, vanishing.

At that moment, Ikki told them he had already dealt with Hyoga.

Shiryu was shocked. Right then, Shun’s chain wrapped around Shiryu, and he knelt, presenting himself as a devoted younger brother.

Annoyed, Ikki kicked Shun away.

Watching from the mountaintop, Feng Zhe couldn’t help but slap his own face. Shun’s mind was truly that of a child, and at critical moments, he might even betray his comrades—a trait that, among Saints, was unforgivable.

As Ikki prepared to finish Shun, Pegasus Meteor Fist came hurtling in from afar—Seiya had arrived. Hyoga, weak but alive, also joined.

With Hyoga’s arrival, the four surrounded Ikki.

“We're finally all together!” Shiryu declared, his strength unscathed.

Just as they prepared to gang up on Ikki, he burst out laughing.

Seeing Shun as the weakest link, Ikki tried to break through, but Shun, in another display of odd logic, rushed over to hug Ikki, hoping brotherly love would change him.

Ikki, finding it revolting, kicked Shun aside again.

Feng Zhe slapped his forehead once more—Shun’s thinking was truly beyond comprehension.

Hyoga, thirsting for revenge, declared he no longer feared the Phantom Demon Emperor Fist.

Ikki, intrigued, used the technique again.

This time, in front of Hyoga, an ice mirror appeared, reflecting the Phantom Demon Emperor Fist back at Ikki.

Seeing this, Feng Zhe finally nodded. “Hyoga isn’t so foolish after all!”

Struck by his own technique, Ikki stood there dazed, mimicking his own punching posture.

The scene fell into utter silence.