Speaking of the results of the last assassination attempt on Athena being reported back to the Sanctuary, the Fake Pope Saga was both shocked and enraged, and a long-forgotten trace of fear arose in his heart.
According to the original work, this time the Pope would send Aiolia of Leo to assassinate Athena, while instructing his subordinates, Deathmask and Aphrodite—the Pisces and Cancer duo—to deal with the Cepheus Saint and Dohko of Mount Lu.
Aphrodite was a Gold Saint after all. Although he was a bit weak, he still easily eliminated the Cepheus Silver Saint, who was also Shun's master.
Deathmask, on the other hand, was very lucky. When he went to assassinate Dohko, he happened to run into Mu; otherwise, the enraged Dohko would probably have beaten this guy to death with the Lushan One Hundred Dragons technique.
As for Aiolia, he was blocked by the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, which led him to suspect the Pope—but that is a story for another time.
However, this time, the Fake Pope was not so careless. Are you kidding? The Silver Saints sent to assassinate Athena defected on the spot. How reckless would he have to be to let Aiolia, a Gold Saint who didn't know the truth, go assassinate Athena? Wouldn't that be directly gifting the enemy strength?
This time, the Pope simply sent Aiolia to trouble Dohko, and the Pisces and Cancer duo plus Shura to trouble Athena. In Saga's eyes, these two people were characters who already knew the truth and were committed to following him to the end. This way, he wouldn't have to worry about them being swayed.
Unaware that three Gold Saint had arrived this time, Saori Kido was still preparing for her visit to the Sanctuary, and the preparation activity... was continuous training.
In addition to forging cloth, Shin fought a match with Saori Kido almost every day. Initially, he used the Centaurus Silver Cloth, but soon, as Saori Kido absorbed all the experience from the Sagittarius cloth and broke through to the Eighth Sense, Shin had to switch to the Sagittarius Gold Cloth to continue fighting Saori Kido using only his Cosmo.
What was originally a one-sided victory every time has now turned into various intense battles. Unless Saori Kido was beaten until she was bruised and battered and on her last breath, the battle usually wouldn't yield a decisive winner.
In fact, Saori Kido's Cosmo alone is not much weaker than Shin wearing the Sagittarius Gold Cloth; the reason she loses is that the difference in their defensive power is too great.
Even using the staff of victory in her hand, Saori Kido had no way to harm Shin. Even if Shin restrained all his abilities and only used the Cosmo contained within the cloth, his physical strength would not decrease. In a situation where she couldn't break his defense, it would be a miracle if Saori Kido could win.
Besides Saori Kido, the other Saint naturally trained diligently during this period, seeing how hard the Goddess was cultivating. Especially with Shin's Yang Release Chakra, no matter how severe the injury, as long as they still had a breath left, they could be saved directly.
And even if the cloth had any problems, as long as it wasn't completely destroyed, it was very easy for Shin to restore it using the Gulp-Gulp Fruit.
Under these circumstances, those Saint could naturally fight without restraint, and this kind of battle, which was no different from actual combat, greatly accelerated the progress of this group of Saint.
At this time, the Four Bronze Saints finally showed their brilliance. After several battles, their Cosmo skyrocketed, quickly advancing to the peak level of the Silver Saints. Excluding the bug that is the Medusa Shield, Seiya and the others would have no problem fighting two or three Silver Saints alone.
This is also because the Silver Saints have made considerable progress during this period. Otherwise, perhaps any one of the Five Bronze Saints could directly defeat three Silver Saints without the Medusa Shield.
The confidence of Seiya and the others also increased significantly through these battles, otherwise watching the fights between Saori Kido and Shin was simply too discouraging!
When these two started fighting, even the Bronze Saints and Silver Saints watching were in danger; a random ripple could crack a cloth. Especially since Shin's strength was unfathomable, and Saori Kido was improving every moment, the pressure on the group of Saint was even greater.
Many times, the Saint asked themselves inwardly, "Can I really participate in this kind of battle? Does my strength even matter to the Goddess?"
Fortunately, they felt their own progress during their mutual battles, which barely kept their confidence from being completely shattered.
Just at this moment, the three Gold Saint sent by the Pope arrived in Tokyo, Japan under the cover of night.
After sensing the Cosmos of the three Gold Saint, Mu immediately left. It was said that he was going to Mount Lu to visit the senior Dohko. In reality, he was completely at ease about Athena's safety; after watching Shin directly block the staff of victory with his bare hands many times, he was absolutely confident in Athena's security.
Before leaving, he also told Shin to let Goddess Athena fight for herself first to train her strength. He, on the other hand, was going to Mount Lu to help Dohko guard the seal and deal with the enemies sent by the Pope.
Shin shrugged and waved his hand dismissively at the guy. To Shin, three Gold Saint were no different from three golden meals; it conveniently saved him the trouble of searching for them in the Sanctuary.
However, for Saori Kido, one-on-one or one-on-two was acceptable, but one-on-three—even with the Pisces and Cancer duo, the shame of the Gold Saint, lowering the overall quality of the three Gold Saint—it wouldn't be easy for Saori Kido to win.
The main reason is that Saori Kido still doesn't have her own cloth, so her margin for error is low. The Little girl is also unwilling to wear the Sagittarius Gold Cloth because she has already sensed that the Divine Cosmo puts great pressure on the cloth. Moreover, the Sagittarius cloth is overly subservient; every time Saori Kido wears it, it frantically burns itself to match the Divine Cosmo within Saori Kido.
Especially as Saori Kido's own Cosmo grows stronger, the Divine Cosmo gradually awakens. Even if she doesn't use it normally, when she puts on a cloth, those cloth will constantly stimulate the Divine Cosmo, regardless of their own essence being consumed.
Given Saori Kido's personality, she naturally doesn't want to wear those cloth anymore. Her goal has always been the God Cloth from the Sanctuary, as mentioned by Shin.
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Now available - Chapter 698: Finale (ENDING)