"Hehehehe!" With a series of piercing cackles, Jamian, the Crow Saint, who looked nothing like a good person, descended from the sky, riding on his crows.
"Poor little girl, how dare you defy the Sanctuary's orders? Come with me!"
The Crow Saint ignored Shin, who stood by. Although Shin looked tall and strong, he had no Cosmos, so the Saint naturally didn't pay him any mind.
As for Saori Kido, whether it was her human or Athena's Cosmos, under her intentional concealment, it was impossible for this fellow to perceive.
"I will go to the Sanctuary and speak with the Pope," Saori Kido said calmly, "You can go back and report to him!"
"Ha, little girl, did you not understand me? And you want to see the Pope? Who do you think you are? Hurry up and come with me."
As he spoke, the Crow Saint intended to use force, reaching out his hand. His Cosmos manipulated the crows, and countless fine threads were about to entangle Saori Kido's body.
Saori Kido wanted to go to the Sanctuary, but not as a prisoner! She narrowed her eyes slightly, and the Cosmos of Goddess Athena swept out. Immediately, a flock of crows cawed and flew away without looking back.
"Come back, come back!" The dumbfounded Crow Saint shouted twice, then looked at Saori Kido furiously, "What have you done?"
Saori Kido glanced at him lightly. The Goddess's Cosmos, which this fellow had just been unable to perceive, pressed down on the Silver Saint, immediately knocking him flat on his face.
The original Saori Kido couldn't have used Athena's Cosmos to do such a thing; at most, she could only activate a large-scale inspiration technique. But now, she could gradually use Athena's Cosmos to produce some offensive effects.
"Ugh... how is this possible? This Cosmos... this vast and boundless Cosmos... can it really be wielded by a human?" The Crow Silver Saint's face was filled with horror. He tried desperately to move his limbs, but the Cosmos within his body did not respond to his hopes, instead suppressing his body as if aiding the enemy.
A faint light flickered in Shin's eyes, and he secretly took a deep breath.
Perhaps Saori Kido was a naive sweet girl, but Athena was definitely not an idiot. Shin saw at a glance that all Saints' Cosmos would likely unconditionally surrender when faced with Athena's Cosmos.
This could absolutely not be a universal phenomenon, otherwise, the Holy War wouldn't need these Saints, Mariners, Specters, or whatever to appear. After all, facing a god's Cosmos would surely result in instant submission.
Clearly, this was a contingency left by Athena. Ordinary Saints, even if they wanted to resist their goddess, would be completely unable to do so.
"Hmm... I'm afraid it's not just the Cosmos; the Cloths should be the same! Perhaps there's no reaction normally, but if they truly face Athena directly, the Cloths would instantly defect."
Thinking back to Cancer in the original work, when he faced Athena's soul, his Cloth completely abandoned him. Clearly, this wasn't just due to his character, but because Athena's soul was present at that time.
Shin didn't find anything wrong with this. Learning someone else's skills and using their weapons, only to be counter-controlled by them in the end, was a perfectly normal thing.
The Crow Saint's Cloth was still on him. On one hand, the Silver Cloth's self-awareness was relatively weak, meaning its intelligence level was low. Athena's Cosmos would need to awaken to a certain extent before it could be directly stripped off.
On the other hand, Saori Kido didn't even care about this Crow Saint. She felt that whether this guy wore his Cloth or not, he couldn't pose a threat to her.
After all, among Saints, those who are beautiful aren't necessarily strong in combat, but those who are ugly are definitely at the bottom of their rank. At most, they have some strange tricks.
Hydra in the Bronze Saints, Cancer in the Gold Saints, and Sea Dragon in the Mariners, all undoubtedly illustrated the issue of appearance determining fate. And this Crow Saint was clearly no exception; ugly people just have no human rights.
"You... who exactly are you?" The Crow Saint finally couldn't help but ask.
Saori Kido didn't directly reveal her identity. With mere words, even with the Cosmos as evidence, these Saints wouldn't change their minds in a short time. She just coldly told the Crow Saint, "Go back. Tell the Pope that I will personally visit the Sanctuary in a few days. He doesn't need to trouble himself by sending people to invite me."
"Don't... don't joke around! You're just a little girl!" The Crow Saint roared, and finally... sat up.
"I said I would bring your head to the Pope!"
Shin stroked his chin, thinking, if that's the case, why didn't you just kill her in the original story, instead of staging a crow kidnapping a maiden?
Shin was still lost in thought. At this moment, Saori Kido was a little angry; after all, anyone who heard someone clamoring for their head would certainly not be in a good mood.
She ignited her Cosmos, gradually floating into the air, looking down at the Crow Saint and asking, "Do you know how to write the word 'death'?"
It was originally a very imposing sentence, but unexpectedly, Jamian the Crow Saint thought for a moment: "I'm illiterate, I don't know how to write it!"
His answer almost made Saori Kido laugh in anger, and Shin simply burst out laughing.
As mentioned before, there weren't many educated people in the Sanctuary. At most, someone like Virgo, who had some research in philosophy and theology, was considered highly educated, which was rare even in the entire Sanctuary.
But even so, those who couldn't even read were still a minority. Could such a person become a Silver Saint? Were the Sanctuary's requirements too low?
However, this interruption did extinguish Saori Kido's anger. As if she had thought of something, she stretched out her hand, and with a rattling sound, the Crow Saint's Cloth was directly stripped off him.
"Leave here. I don't want to fight you!"
"How... how can this be? Could it be, could you be?" Even if this Crow Silver Saint was an idiot, now seeing the Silver Cloth fly to Saori Kido like a fawning dog, he also realized something: "The Cloth has completely lost control, it's as if it met its god... there's no mistake, there's only one reason! Even if it's the most impossible thing..."
"The legendary Goddess who protects the Earth, Athena!?"
*******************************
If you would like to gain early access, you can join me at www.patre on.com/bookbattalion
Now available - Chapter 698: Finale (ENDING)