When Meruem killed Abel and seized his godhead, far from the Sanctuary, atop a pitch-black castle many thousands of kilometers away, a stubbly middle-aged man in a tall top hat seemed to sense something. He bared a mouthful of shark-like teeth and let out a twisted smile:
"Looks like it failed, huh? But that was only to be expected. How laughable—someone of that level actually thought he could covet the position of King of the Gods? Did he forget that, back then, without my help, he could not even have beaten those mid-ranked Olympians? Still, that kid didn't expect it either—to think that in such a short time, he's already grown this strong. What a terrifying monster. If it weren't for the current me…" The stubbly man suddenly cut himself off mid-sentence, as if something had come to mind, and pressed a finger to his lips, shushing himself.
"Hehehe, but that's what makes it interesting. Only when unknown factors appear in the new script does the story become truly brilliant, truly worth anticipating. Hehehehe… hahahahahaha!" Spit sprayed from his mouth as he laughed, disgusting to behold, but he paid it no mind.
"In this time period, in this era, there are so many possible futures. So many possibilities." After laughing himself out, he stopped, and countless images appeared before him. If Meruem were here, he would have cried out in shock, because every single image showed one of the many branching storylines of the Saint Seiya series after the defeat of Hades in the Underworld arc.
Three large images dominated the center, surrounded by countless smaller ones.
In one of the large images, Seiya sat in a wheelchair while Saori led the other four Bronze Boys through time to the previous Holy War. (Saint Seiya: Next Dimension)
In another, Seiya donned the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, while Pegasus had a new inheritor, and together they fought the mightiest Sumerian god, Apsu, before finally confronting the ultimate Roman god, Saturn. (Saint Seiya Omega)
In the last large image, Athena led the five Bronze Boys into the heavens. The other four clashed with the Heavenly Warriors, while Athena and Seiya together faced the mightiest god of heaven, Apollo, head-on. (Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter)
The smaller images showed, among other things, Gold Saints wearing their God Cloths as they fought Loki (Soul of Gold), and Gold Saints drawn in a shoujo style battling the Twelve Titan Gods (Saint Seiya: Episode G), and so on.
"Time goes glug-glug… Since your appearance, the future has changed once again. That god-slaying Pegasus can no longer take the stage as the protagonist. What will happen now, in the future? Truly fascinating." The stubbly man grinned wickedly. "Even I, the god of time, cannot see through this future."
"My cruel brother, my heartless brother… Another being who can affect the future has appeared in this world. What will you do this time? Seal him? Kill him? Hahahaha… can you even do it now? What can you still do?"
"In pursuit of a higher realm, you even abandoned your body, didn't you? Ahahahahaha… Sorry, sorry—I nearly forgot. Unless forced, you're not allowed to act at all."
"Perform to your heart's content. Rejoice. I really want to see what will happen next. It's truly exciting. In this perfect play, even I may fall in the end. But that's what makes it worthwhile."
"Isn't that right, progenitor of the blood race—god Cain?"
"So that's what a godhead is… A core that governs some law, used to enhance one's own ability."
"But this method is nothing more than a crooked path. Relying on a godhead to increase power might grant a huge boost in the short term, but the final achievement it allows is limited. In the end, the only thing one can truly rely on is oneself."
More than a month had passed since Meruem had reclaimed the Sanctuary. During that time, he had done nothing but study the godhead he had taken from Abel—the glowing, floating red sphere in his hand now.
In the end, he reached the conclusion above. Before actually obtaining one, Meruem had placed some hopes on this so-called godhead. Only once it was finally in his hand did he realize that, for him, it was little more than a tasteless chicken rib.
Meruem was, at his core, the archetype of a close-combat fighter. Though he could skillfully use other elemental powers in his human form, fundamentally he was still a melee specialist. Ever since the Dragon Ball world, no one had forced him to get serious enough to reveal his true Chimera Ant form.
"Even if a godhead is a crooked path, it still has some use for my Chimera Ant army. Once I find a suitable Chimera Ant, I can grant it to them." Having finished his research, and knowing how little the godhead meant for his own growth, Meruem lost interest. He casually tossed the godhead—something that would drive the entire Saint cosmos, even some gods, to fight over it—into his four-dimensional apartment like trash and stopped thinking about it.
"But… this Ninth Sense seems to have something to it." The Ninth Sense, also called the Sense of the Gods, was said to stand beyond the human limit of the Eighth Sense—a realm that only gods could reach.
So said the ancient records of the Sanctuary, and they were nonsense.
After spending so many years in the Saint Seiya world, Meruem had more or less grasped what this so-called Ninth Sense really was. Put simply, it was understanding the Dao.
Like Netero in the Hunter world: his 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva was the embodiment of his understanding of the path of martial arts. Meruem had seen stronger beings than Netero in other worlds, but in terms of personal enlightenment and comprehension of martial arts, Netero stood at the very peak.
It was just that the Hunter world had limited how far Netero could go.
The strongest, bar none—even Kaguya and Madara in the Naruto world were no exception. Perhaps, in the Nurarihyon world, the former Abe no Seimei—before he fell—could match him in understanding the Dao of onmyōdō, but after descending into demonic obsession and seeking to destroy the world, Seimei had broken that state. Abandoning his own Dao to chase after raw power was, in Meruem's eyes, an act of sheer folly.
A temporary surge in strength might be immense, but the ultimate height reached would be capped there. As for the likes of Frieza in the Dragon Ball world? In that universe, aside from the Gods of Destruction and Whis, there was probably no one left who still walked the path of the Dao.
That was why the gap between a God of Destruction and Goku lay not in power, but in realm.
Now Meruem was walking that same path. This legendary Ninth Sense was enough to stir even his interest.
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