Chapter 94: Lucifer, the Fallen Angel

The Altar Realm

Even after coming here many times, Feng Zhe still found this place mysterious and sinister, with an air of strangeness in every corner.

A month earlier, after returning to the Sanctuary, Feng Zhe had arranged for the five young warriors to rest and for the Gold Saints to stand guard around Lady Saori, then once more made his way to the Star Tower to cultivate in seclusion.

Lady Saori had given him a meaningful glance, but said nothing, as though it were all perfectly ordinary.

The instant the fire of faith was lit upon the altar, a pillar of flame surged skyward and illuminated the entire altar realm.

The current mirror node is the Final Holy War. Total faith: two hundred thousand. Due to major changes in the plot, this instance has been adjusted to task mode. Host, please take note...

Task One: Seal the Sea King, the evil goddess Eris, and the soul of the sun god Abel!

Task Two: Defeat the evil Saga and strip away his divinity!

Task Three: Defeat the fallen angel Lucifer and seize his divinity!

When Feng Zhe saw these three tasks, he was immediately shaken, suddenly realizing that the true purpose of this altar was likely to oppose the gods!

That discovery filled him with dread. Feng Zhe knew very well that, although Athena was the mistress of the earth, the gods of Mount Olympus were the truly terrifying ones, none of them easy to face. Even Athena herself would never permit the existence of anyone who dared challenge a god.

In truth, Feng Zhe had long harbored doubts about this altar; it was only that, back then, his strength was too weak for him to perceive the whole picture.

After passing through several mirror nodes, Feng Zhe had awakened the Seventh Sense, and the sacred flame burned ever more fiercely. In every battle, it had become his greatest support, so that thought could only be held down and buried.

But this time, with the appearance of the Final Holy War mirror node, the altar's true nature was finally laid bare.

"Perhaps the time has truly come to bring everything to an end..."

Now that he knew the altar's ultimate purpose, and it happened to align with his own thoughts, the shock only gave way to a surge of excitement. Then, without hesitation, he stepped into the sacred flame and crossed into the world of the mirror node.

...

After the battle in the Twelve Temples came to an end, the Sanctuary successively endured the wars against the evil goddess Eris and the sun god Abel, and then defeated the cult leader Dolbar and the evil god Loki in the Asgard Palace of the North. In the wake of victory, the Sanctuary also ushered in a brief peace.

At dawn one day, Lady Saori was awakened by a servant and hurried to the Goddess Hall, where she immediately collapsed to the floor.

The head of Athena's statue had been severed, and worse news soon followed: all the Gold Saints guarding the Twelve Temples had been slain!

Seiya, Hyoga, and Shun, who came rushing over upon hearing the news, ran to Lady Athena's side, staring at everything in stunned disbelief.

"Who on earth did this?!"

No sooner had Seiya spoken than an extraordinarily vile cosmos appeared in the distance and slowly approached.

When Saori saw who it was, she cried out, "The fallen angel Lucifer!"

Seiya and the others were unfamiliar with him, so Saori began to explain.

Legend spoke of the Son of Christ, the true Son of God, the Light-Bearer who served as commander of the angels in heaven. Because of his ambition to become an existence above God, he had been defeated countless times across mythic realms by the gods of justice.

In this world, his ambition had been crushed by Athena, and his soul had been cast into the demon realm, never to rise again.

Lucifer's reappearance upon the earth sent Saori's heart plummeting.

"My wish was thwarted by Athena many years ago. This time, now that I have descended upon the earth, I shall make this world shine beneath my radiance!"

Lucifer's laughter made Lady Saori ask sternly, "How did you get out of the demon realm?!"

For gods, death was impossible. To seal one away, no matter how long it took, there would always come a day of escape. But the demon realm was different; it was a god's nightmare, the final destination of gods.

"This is all thanks to you. You sent the Sea King, Eris, and Abel to the demon realm in succession, and by borrowing their power, I was able to return once more to the main plane!"

Lucifer laughed, and behind him appeared the shadows of the Sea King, Eris, and Abel in turn. All of them were laughing madly, as though their ambitions were about to be realized.

"Bastard!"

Unable to stomach their arrogance, Seiya clenched his fists and charged straight at them.

But four sacred demon angels emerged from behind Lucifer and sent Seiya crashing to the ground at once.

Hyoga and Shun sprang into action as well, only to be defeated in a single exchange and sent sprawling to the floor.

"Insect-level weaklings! Even more fragile than those so-called Gold Saints!"

The seraph Beelzebub looked down at the three Bronze Saints with contempt, as though they were no more than ants.

Saori's heart sank to the bottom. Now that all the Gold Saints were dead and Seiya and the other two guardian Saints had been knocked down, what could they possibly do?

Just as Beelzebub was about to finish Seiya off for good, Lady Saori shouted, "Lucifer, order them to stop at once!"

If Seiya died, Saori would have nothing left.

Lucifer smiled. "Is that your plea to me?"

Saori froze, not understanding what he meant.

"I was once made to suffer terribly by the gods of Olympus and by you, Athena. I was cast into a darkness without daylight, into the place you call the demon realm. I endured years of despair, humiliated and tormented..."

"I will make Athena taste my suffering as well. Just like that severed head of Athena's statue, offer your blood to me, Lucifer. Let your holy blood run dry, until your life as Athena is entirely exhausted..."

"Consider it your repentance to me!"

Saori was stunned by those words. Lucifer wanted her to do all that?!

"Impossible!"

Even lying on the ground, Seiya still tried to protect Lady Saori.

Lucifer seemed to have lost patience with the Athena before him. He then said to Beelzebub, "Take her away!"

He turned to leave, while Beelzebub moved in to seize Lady Saori.

At that critical moment, a fist of light-speed shot out and struck. Beelzebub met it head-on and was forced back several steps.

"Who is it?!"

Even Lucifer stopped in his tracks, glancing sidelong at the cosmos that had suddenly appeared.

Amid the blazing cosmos, a man stepped forward. When Saori saw who it was, she was overjoyed. "Alexis!"

"High Priest!"

Seiya was equally delighted, and even Hyoga and Shun were moved.

"Hmph. Mere human insects!"

Lucifer looked down disdainfully at the newcomer. The force angel Eligor beside him vanished in an instant, then, as if dealing with the other Gold Saints before, unleashed from his twin claws a power capable of cleaving through anything.

That power was his greatest art: the Sacred Demon Mantis Fist.

With this technique, even gods could not detect the killing intent; his enemies often died beneath his claws without ever realizing what had happened.

Most of the other Gold Saints had fallen to this ambush, making it a lethal strike against Saints.

Clang!

Athena's Shield appeared before Feng Zhe, perfectly blocking the sneak attack from the force angel Eligor.

"What! You actually blocked it!"

Even Beelzebub, the so-called War God, stared in surprise at Feng Zhe before him, as though he were completely unharmed.