Luckily, Dohko's face was eggplant-purple right now; otherwise someone would surely have noticed how red he'd gone.
As one of the elder Gold Saints, to be scared into that sorry state by a mere Meikaiha… Shameful, utterly shameful. If that brat Manigoldo found out, he'd probably mock him for a lifetime.
He really missed those old comrades.
"What about the Meikaiha?" Seeing Dohko return to his earlier, unruffled look the moment he heard the name, Deathmask suddenly had a bad feeling.
Because he clearly caught that same infuriating contempt in Dohko's eyes when he looked his way. The bad feeling grew stronger.
Seems he'd gotten something wrong… looked like Dohko had misunderstood something earlier.
The Meikaiha didn't seem as powerful as he'd imagined.
A twinge of guilt rose from the bottom of his heart.
"Stand down, Shiryu. You're not yet a match for the man before you." Dohko ignored Deathmask and instead turned to warn Shiryu.
Looks like there'd be no need to transform this time to deal with Deathmask.
"Damn that old fossil…" Deathmask muttered under his breath, glaring at Dohko.
"You're lucky this time, old man. For the sake of having once taught me, I'll spare you. Next time we meet, I'll take your life. And you're Shiryu, right? The next time we meet will be your death day." Still mouthing off like a cooked duck flapping its beak, Deathmask tossed out the words and left in a bit of a hurry.
He'd already wanted to retreat, and he did so at once—decisively, so much so that even he couldn't say why he withdrew. Why would a dignified Gold Saint choose to retreat before a two-hundred-year-old codger halfway to the grave and a newly minted Bronze Saint?
It was simply that the extreme unease in his heart left no time to think—he chose to withdraw on the spot.
"To have become a Gold Saint, Deathmask does have his merits. His Sixth Sense is sharp to this degree, huh? Heh—was just about to use the Rozan Hundred Dragons on him. Lucky he ran fast." Perched like an old eggplant, Dohko stared a bit speechlessly at Deathmask's decisively retreating back.
"Shiryu, remember this: becoming a Bronze Saint is only the first step on a Saint's path. Above you are the Silver Saints and the Sanctuary's strongest—the twelve Gold Saints. They decide the Sanctuary's fate. They're the truly strongest. Do not grow complacent. All right—you can leave now."
"Master."
"When you go, stop by to see Chunli."
"Yes." At Chunli's name, a bit of bashfulness showed on Shiryu's face.
"Young folk have their blessings… Can't help but sigh—youth is good." Seated on the peak, Dohko watched Shiryu depart and spoke softly.
On the outskirts of a certain city in the Chinese Federation—the very place where the six boys had departed three years ago.
It was no longer as desolate as before. Now countless gifted children were training on the grounds.
Leading them were two faces very familiar to Seiya and the others: Wang Hu and Bado. Or rather, Black Tiger Saint Wang Hu and White Tiger Saint Bado.
Yes—two Chimera Cloths designed personally by Meruem. In hardness and Cosmo amplification, they were in some respects no weaker than an average Gold Cloth.
Since Meruem made them, they were dubbed Chimera Cloths.
Don't forget, the Sagittarius Gold Cloth was in Meruem's hands. Using it as a model to forge two Cloths not inferior to Gold wasn't all that hard for him.
Meruem was, after all, the man who forged four Four Evil Cloth–class armors.
The only shortcoming compared to Gold Cloths was that, for now, these two couldn't evolve into God Cloths.
That was exactly what Meruem was researching. Aside from those four Four Evil Cloths, no matter how he tried, he couldn't make Cloths on par with them again.
The limit was these Chimera Cloths that approached Gold. Of course, Bado and Wang Hu's were high-grade Chimera Cloths. There were also mid-grade and low-grade Chimera Cloths.
The mid- and low-grade ones weren't made by Meruem. Other than earlier failed attempts at God Cloths, he no longer made mid- or low-grade Cloths.
Those were mass-produced on Bi Gao Star. There were also the Steel Cloths worn by ordinary members. Over the past years, Meruem had made several trips to the Underworld and Sea Realm to fetch Cloth materials. Steel Cloths, however, were products of advanced tech and used different materials—synthetic metals from Bi Gao Star.
As his power in the Saints' world expanded, Meruem gave his organization a familiar name.
Akatsuki—the Dawn.
All over the world he gathered a vast number of extraordinary children. The most outstanding had already mastered Cosmo; only a very few had reached the Sixth Sense.
Fewer than ten.
But thanks to Chimera Ant modifications, the number rose to fifty. Several had even brushed the late Sixth Sense—meaning their power was nearly that of high-tier Silver Saints.
In other words, even compared to the Sanctuary, Akatsuki was a considerable force—and that wasn't counting the Dark Saints Meruem had taken in.
Wang Hu and Bado had both reached mid-Seventh Sense. Wang Hu himself was touching the threshold of late Seventh Sense—just a matter of time.
And these were only Meruem's overt forces. As King of the Chimera Ants, his real trump card was his army of millions.
Those were for the Celestial gods, though—not to be revealed yet.
Compared with the Sanctuary—where training a Saint took ten years or more (the five boys were exceptions; normally it's about a decade)—Akatsuki needed only three short years. And they had no shortage of Cloths—none of that mess where several or even a dozen people fought over one Cloth.
In overall growth potential, Meruem's Akatsuki surpassed Saga's Sanctuary.
"This place has changed a lot." Back from Greece, Seiya and Jabu sighed in unison. Three years ago it was nearly empty; now so many people had gathered.
High walls and fencing stood around the grounds, and there was plenty of modern kit—cameras, keycode doors, and more. The two were halted at the gate upon arrival.
Fortunately, Meruem had set their permissions. After the gate scan, they were allowed in.
They also noticed many members with Cosmo, whose strength was no less than the Saint candidates they'd seen at the Sanctuary.
"Seiya, you're too slow." Clad in Tang garb, Shiryu walked over from the far side of the grounds to where Seiya and Jabu were watching Akatsuki members train.
The Five Old Peaks were near the Chinese Federation, so Shiryu, however slow, would arrive faster than the others.
"Ikki and Shun got here ages ago. We're just waiting on Hyoga. And listen—when you see Ikki, you're going to be shocked."
After so long apart, the friends chatted warmly.
"Shiryu, what's going on here?" Feeling the different atmosphere—and being a simple soul—Seiya spoke first. The changes were so big he needed a moment to process them.
"It's complicated. I'll explain later. Right now, answer me one thing—do you still believe Miss Saori is Athena?" Shiryu looked at Seiya with unusual seriousness.
Time changes minds. Even if Meruem had met the boys a few times over the three years, that didn't mean they wouldn't change. They'd been young then; their thinking was still immature. They still weren't old now—but people's minds are influenced by circumstance.
Ikki had been taught by Musashi and wouldn't betray Meruem. Shiryu had trained under Dohko, and since Dohko had confirmed Athena's identity, Shiryu knew the most aside from Ikki.
Shun never had much of an opinion, and since Ikki hadn't entered as a villain this time, Shun would follow his brother and stay aligned.
That left Seiya, Jabu, and the yet-to-return Hyoga. Seiya and Jabu had trained in Greece—near the Sanctuary—so some influence was likely. As for Hyoga, who knew? Camus might sense something off about the Pope, but he didn't know the truth. In the original story, he sent Hyoga to the Galaxian Wars to keep watch; now, who could say?
So Shiryu's probing question mattered.
"What do you mean by that, Shiryu?" Seiya's eyes turned unfriendly in an instant. "Miss Saori is Athena. I've always believed that! Even after three years in the Sanctuary, I still believe it. Have you forgotten Lord Meruem's kindness to us? Shiryu, you're doubting his word now?"
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