After obtaining the Orichalcum divine steel, Meruem left the Sea Realm, though before leaving he told Kanon to continue lying low among the Marinas.
This was the best chance to plant someone at Poseidon's side—why give it up? Besides, Athena was still young and not yet able to reclaim the Sanctuary. In two years the boys would finish their training, and Saori could lead them to take the Sanctuary back.
At that point, as the goddess, whomever Athena wanted to appoint Pope would be Pope. We'll see in four years.
Until then, Kanon would remain a Marina General, second to one and above ten thousand. He only needed to report any unusual moves in the Sea Realm to Athena.
Just like that, Meruem secured a Saint-level general for Saori.
With the Underworld's black gemstone and the Sea Realm's Orichalcum in hand, Meruem immediately turned his sights on the Sanctuary.
There, aside from playing role-swapping in the Pope's Hall, Saga was training Silver Saints en masse.
He'd given up on the Gold Saints, so he shifted focus to the Sanctuary's other main force after the Golds: the Silver Saints.
If trained well, a Silver Saint could reach the Seventh Sense and become a low-tier Gold. The most brilliant among them were Lizard Misty, Perseus Argol, and Triangulum Noesis. There were also two Silver Saints of the Golds' generation: Lyra Orphée and Cepheus Albiore. But one was missing, and the other had set up his own school on Andromeda Island.
Next, Centaurus and White Whale, as well as Cerberus, had considerable strength. Beyond these Silvers, Saga also trained two secret forces outside the formal Saint system.
One succeeded: the Flame Saint and Douglas, whose power rivaled an average Silver. The other failed: the Ghost Saints, whose combat power was only on par with Bronze and who were exiled.
It looked like Saga had a huge roster of Silvers and unofficial Saints. It looked strong, but aside from a few Silvers, before Gold-tier fighters they were just fodder.
Saga's approach was putting the cart before the horse. But he enjoyed it; as long as Saga was happy, who cared, right?
Meruem easily avoided the split-personality Saga's gaze and pulled a good amount of Gammanion and Adamantine out of the Sanctuary, but hit a wall when searching for stardust sand.
Across the vast Sanctuary, Meruem could find only a small pouch of stardust sand. That likely had to do with the Sanctuary lacking Mu, the Saint Cloth repairer.
Besides being used to forge Cloths, stardust sand could repair them. But no one in the Sanctuary currently knew the craft. The only one who could repair Cloths, the Aries Gold Saint Mu, was hiding on the Pamir Plateau because of Saga.
With Mu gone, one of the repair materials—stardust sand—would naturally be scarce. So to obtain stardust sand, Meruem would have to go to the Jamir Plateau.
The Jamir Plateau lay near the Buzhou, or Kunlun, Mountains in the Chinese Federation. It was called the world's second-highest peak and was also known as the Saint Cloth graveyard.
Leaving the Sanctuary, Meruem headed straight for Jamir. The air might be thin at that elevation, but that was no problem for him.
He was a man who could survive in outer space. As the Aries Gold Saint, Mu wouldn't be sitting somewhere obvious. To avoid trouble, Meruem drew on "Source" to conduct a simple search across Jamir and quickly found Mu's location.
"Hey, who are you?" A lively boy with Jamir's distinctive markings—two long red dots where eyebrows should be—blocked Meruem's path.
This was a part of Jamir known as the Devil's Zone. Never mind children—healthy adults couldn't survive in air this thin.
Kiki, Mu's disciple. Like Mu, he was born with telekinesis—a bona fide esper. He also possessed Cosmo, though it was still very faint.
So Mu already knows I'm here and won't show himself? "I've come to visit the Aries Gold Saint, Mu. Please announce me."
Kiki eyed Meruem, then his gaze flicked. "Master Mu isn't here."
"A Gold Saint of Aries, not in the Sanctuary but hiding out here—why?" Meruem ignored Kiki and spoke toward another direction.
"What's with you? I said Master Mu isn't here!" Kiki bristled at being ignored.
He quietly lifted a rock behind Meruem with telekinesis, preparing to teach him a lesson.
"Stop, Kiki."
"Ah—Master Mu."
Mu finally appeared. He sensed that if the stone Kiki controlled struck Meruem, a counterattack would follow. In Kiki's current state, while not fatal, it would at least be a serious injury. Mu had no choice but to show himself.
"Aries, huh? You do have some skill. As expected of a Gold Saint. Compared to Asgard's God Warriors and Poseidon's Marinas—those eyesores—you look like you've got ability," Meruem said after giving Mu a once-over.
"Such big talk. You've been to the North and the Sea Realm?" Mu naturally didn't buy Meruem's posturing and assumed he was bragging.
"More than that. I've been to the Underworld too." Meruem nodded, unfazed by Mu's faintly mocking tone. "Look—this is a black gemstone from the Underworld. This is Orichalcum from the Sea Realm. As for the North, God Robes need Odin Sapphires to show their true power. Ordinary God Robes aren't as useful as Bronze Cloths, so I only took a bit of amethyst used to make them. And here are other Saint Cloth materials—Adamantine and Gammanion."
Meruem pulled item after item from the void as if reciting a list and laid them out before Mu.
Even Mu had to widen his eyes. These things weren't exactly priceless, but each faction kept them under guard, and here was someone laying them out without batting an eye. Not simple. Just as Master Dohko had said.
At last, Mu put away his disdain.
"You came for stardust sand?" Seeing that this was the one material missing from the pile, Mu guessed his purpose.
"Stardust sand is one of them. I want you to teach me how to make Saint Cloths."
"Oh? That? It isn't much of a secret. I can give it to you, but whether repairing or forging Cloths requires extremely high talent. Without it, you'll never learn—not in a lifetime. No one has managed the forging method for hundreds, even a thousand years. Are you sure?"
"In front of me, nothing is impossible."
Arrogant, Mu thought.
"In that case, come with me." If you want to court humiliation, don't blame me.
Saint Cloths are entirely different from Surplices and Scales. For Surplices and Scales—at least the simpler ones for ordinary Specters and Marinas—it's enough to pour vast Cosmo into them.
But a Saint Cloth is different. Even the simplest Bronze Cloth requires an extremely complex process. One misstep and the nearly finished Cloth is ruined.
That's why Sanctuary grunts had no armor—unlike the Underworld's legionaries wrapped in Surplices and the Sea Realm's grunts in half-body Scales.
It wasn't that the Sanctuary was poor, nor that it lacked materials. There was simply no one who could make them.
"This is the death zone of the Jamir Plateau, also known in the Sanctuary as the Saint Cloth graveyard. Watch my hands closely. I can't forge Cloths either, but I can teach you how to repair them. Cloth forging is the advanced level of repairing. Whether you can learn it depends on your talent." Mu led Meruem, face cold, into a cavern full of damaged Saint Cloths.
The real Mu wasn't as easygoing as in the anime. Don't forget—his teacher, Shion, was also of Jamir. Their attitude toward outsiders was never particularly friendly.
Especially since Meruem wasn't a Saint and Athena's reincarnation was in his hands. If not for Meruem's strength and his lack of malice toward Athena, Mu would have struck already.
For a goddess's Saints not to properly protect their goddess—that was a great shame for a Gold Saint.
In the original story, because of Saga's coup, the Gold Saints never met Mitsumasa Kido. Otherwise, they would have brought the goddess back long ago. Look at what Mitsumasa raised Athena into—charitably, a pampered young lady. Less charitably, there was barely any humanity to Kido Saori's demeanor—a constant icy aloofness.
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