In the south of Sardinia, deep within a subterranean cave, a stout, middle-aged giant sitting on a waterside altar suddenly opened his eyes.
"To think he would start a battle so recklessly after recovering only a portion of his divine power. He truly does not take me, his rival, seriously." The stout man gazed in the direction of the battlefield.
This island was his territory. It was difficult for anything that happened here to escape his notice. As the God King Melqart, he had been using slumber to rapidly recover from his injuries, but he was awakened by the distant battle.
Though he spoke dismissively, the victorious war god Verethragna, even having reclaimed only a few of his divine avatars, was still a formidable enemy. For a human to fight him to such a standstill—could he be a Paladin among mortals, or a martial artist at the pinnacle of the Nirvana realm?
But soon, He sensed another presence.
"Could there also be a Lord of the Underworld, come from the other side of the vast ocean?"
—Sardinia, near the coast of Aranci.
A brilliant light flashed, and thunder surged. The rolling peals of thunder drew closer, and the heavy gates of the heavens were thrown open. In that instant, golden serpents of lightning tore through the dark clouds, illuminating the figure bathed in divine might.
"The simple warm-up is over. Now, face my judgment!" The white-robed youth stood at the gate of the storm. The wind roared like a frenzied dragon, and He was the supreme sovereign who held the great power of heaven and earth.
A warm-up? That earth-shattering battle was just a warm-up? Erica was dumbfounded. But when she looked at the resolute face of the other figure in the standoff, an expression that seemed to say "That's right," she felt her entire worldview being turned upside down.
But things would not proceed according to her thoughts. The only ones who could bend the heavens and earth to their will were those who wielded such authority.
"Lightning! Lightning! Lightning! I am the conqueror who can defeat a thousand with a hundred, ten thousand with a thousand, and tens of thousands with ten thousand! Now, for the sake of I who stands on the side of justice, shine with a brilliant light and grant me divine power! It is I who shall smash all men and demons—all enemies and all enmity!"
The wild grass on the ground was pressed flat by the gale. All the light on the earth could not compare to the brilliance in the sky.
The war god Verethragna commanded his newly acquired avatar. The thunder that had long been brewing in the sky coalesced into a golden goat. As it charged, it transformed into a rain of golden lightning, shooting towards the man on the ground.
But Seiya, at the very moment the incantation was chanted, broke into a genuine smile.
His opponent was neither holding back nor hiding anything, but was eagerly unleashing a strike with his full power.
Although he lacked the power of the god of victory in his complete form, the essence of that power was unchanged.
"Just like that, my dear friend! Use all your strength to kill me! Otherwise, I'm dying to trample on that divine pride of yours!"
In the next moment, light burst forth from his own body. While not dazzling, it was impossible to ignore. His hands traced the trajectory of the stars, and he too went all out, his fists moving faster than sound, releasing the power of the constellations.
—Pegasus Ryuseiken!
Tens of thousands of streams of meteoric light clashed with the lightning from the sky.
Exploding starlight and lightning. Fragments of meteors streaked past the two youths. One walked the heavens, bathed in thunder and lightning; the other stood upon the earth, shimmering with light. But as the sky and the earth faced off, their gazes were equal.
The young war god smiled as well. In the next instant, he took a step.
The moment he took his first step, Seiya kicked out in the other direction.
The fist of the war god, who had suddenly appeared behind Seiya, collided with Seiya's left foot. This was the power of his first avatar—the Wind. In myth, the war god appeared before the prophet Zarathustra in the form of a strong wind and declared: I am the strongest. I am he who is ever-victorious in battle, and I am he who crushes the enmity of men and demons.
The wind would carry him where he needed to be, but Seiya had anticipated this move.
"Do you think the same trick works on a Saint twice?" Though it was a question, Seiya's voice was firm and resolute.
The war god's smile grew even wider. "I see. You possess a warrior's essence similar to my own victory. The ability to perceive weaknesses in battle, to constantly break your own limits, and to seize victory."
The youths' voices were soft, as if old friends reminiscing, but their movements were brutal and ruthless.
Erica watched the men's deadly struggle in shock. Both were top-tier warriors. The war god's figure moved like swift lightning, but Seiya's slender frame also contained terrifying explosive power. In this situation, the slightest carelessness would lead to death. But both were warriors who had mastered the highest level of combat sense. Seiya could leap to his enemy's position in an instant, but Verethragna would raise a leg as if he had already predicted it.
This time, the collision of fist and leg made Seiya's bones ring out. After a sharp crack, the whitish bone pierced through the skin of his arm, dripping with blood.
It was his physical body. His body could no longer sustain such a high-intensity battle. Before the body of a god, Seiya's flesh, not even clad in his Cloth, was still too weak. Even his burning Cosmo could not bridge this gap.
In fact, his Cosmo, overloaded from burning far beyond its limits, was already spent.
The young war god stood before Seiya, whose aura was gradually dimming, and with his usual archaic smile, placed a finger on his forehead.
"It is your honor to have fought me to this point. Rest assured, I will remember you forever after your death. If my Bull and Camel were still with me, the power to shatter mountains and sink continents would be yours to..." But in the next second, the war god's leisurely smile froze on his face. He let out a sharp cry of pain.
Seiya had reached out and grabbed the young war god's wrist. A sudden burst of power shattered His entire arm. The young war god cried out in agony. But it wasn't over. Suddenly shining even more brilliantly than before, Seiya flew forward, driving his knee into His chest. There was a tremendous crash, mixed with the sound of cracking ribs and the agony of an arm about to be torn from its socket.
What a brutal scene. In a burst of brilliant light, the two figures separated. Seiya was resplendent, his Cosmo continuing to burn!
Neither the spectating god, nor Erica, nor the young war god himself had anticipated this. It was completely irrational. In terms of both combat and mythology, it was something almost impossible.
A gravely wounded warrior, a warrior whose internal energy was completely depleted, had, at the moment of his death, erupted with unprecedented fighting strength.
But only the Saints themselves knew—so what?
If your strength is exhausted, then burn your life. If your life is also exhausted, then burn your soul.
As long as consciousness remains, the battle does not end. As long as you exist, you can always grasp onto hope.
_____
Greetings! ✨ Walnut here with another translation! Saint Seiya united by their strength!
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