"Really have no idea how that useless fool Ares, that filthy Aphrodite, and that arrogant Poseidon ever reached the Ninth Sense." With no clue where to even start with the Ninth Sense, Meruem could not help complaining about the gods he and Saori had already sealed.
The world of Saints really did favor these gods outrageously. That Ninth Sense, which made even Meruem drool, was something most gods of heaven were simply born with.
No matter how Meruem pressured them—beating them all into pig‑headed lumps—he got only one answer in the end: they did not know.
Did not know. What, were they just born understanding it?
Sigh… yes. They really were born knowing. Meruem only realized this after getting the same answer from Saori as well.
It was infuriating. If it were only the Eighth Sense, that would still be manageable. Since ancient times, plenty of humans had reached the Eighth Sense, which at least gave Meruem a general direction to push toward. But the Ninth Sense was different. No pure human had ever reached that realm.
In Meruem's eyes, this so‑called Ninth Sense, the "Sense of the Gods," was about as vague and intangible as it got.
Don't be fooled by the legends of demigods driving heavenly gods into headlong retreat; those beings with divine blood had not reached the Ninth Sense. At most, they possessed godheads. (As said before, the Ninth Sense is a state of understanding; it does not mean a Ninth‑Sense god will automatically beat an Eighth‑Sense demigod. In the Saint Seiya world, power is still judged primarily by Cosmo.) Most gods were simply born with the Ninth Sense, and the only way for them to advance further was to seize new godheads.
A god with a godhead could easily defeat one without. Even an Eighth‑Sense demigod who obtained a godhead could surpass ordinary gods.
So, in the eyes of almost all gods, the value of a godhead far outweighed that of the Ninth Sense. That was the common wisdom of the divine.
They had the order completely backwards—that was Meruem's final verdict. If they did not want the Ninth Sense and only wanted godheads, they could just hand the extra Ninth Senses over to him. Meruem already had plenty of "source" power—something even higher in grade than Cosmo—but a higher realm could still transform that power in quality and let it leap forward.
As for godheads, they were optional at best. Even if he got one, it would not strengthen him much; at most it would add another trick to his arsenal, and Meruem already had more trump cards than he needed.
Yet he could see it but not grasp it. Even a training monster like him could make no progress here. In the end he had to shelve the matter for now.
"Your Holiness, a classified report has just arrived from the north from Deathmask."
With the news Deathmask had brought back from the north, the Gold Saints once again gathered in the Pope's Hall. The Council of Twelve Gold Saints convened again.
"What do you think of Deathmask's report?" Ever since Abel's attack on the Sanctuary, Kanon had grown more and more like a true Pope. Shion's example had clearly left a deep mark. Incidentally, Shion had already regained his life force.
"World Tree, the Asgardian priest Andreas, new God Warriors, and a barrier suppressing Gold Saints' power." Those few phrases were enough to show how unsettled Asgard was.
Calling it undercurrents surging beneath the surface would not be an exaggeration.
According to Deathmask's report: after the battle of the north, former Asgard mistress Hilda had been placed under house arrest. The two remaining God Warriors, Mi Ming and Chekfreed, were expelled from the ranks and then attacked by mysterious assailants, after which they disappeared.
Next came the meteoric rise of the priest Andreas, his appointment of new God Warriors, and his constant preaching to the northern people about the blessings of the World Tree, urging them to believe it would bring them happiness. Yet Deathmask's investigation found that the life force of the people living near the World Tree was steadily draining away—and the source was likely the legendary tree itself.
What was more, the closer one came to the World Tree, the more heavily a Saint's Cosmo was suppressed. In his report, Deathmask stated that his own Cosmo had been cut down by at least thirty percent—and that was while he was still only in the surrounding villages, not even near the tree itself. For a Gold Saint, losing thirty percent of his Cosmo meant dropping to around high‑rank Silver Saint level.
Deathmask did not know what Andreas's true goal was, but sensing that something was wrong, he had already requested aid from the Sanctuary.
"Although Asgard's affairs don't have much to do with the Sanctuary directly, that Andreas is clearly up to no good. I propose we send forces to suppress him." The speaker was Aiolia, ever the hawk of the group. Milo, sitting beside him, nodded in firm agreement.
"I obey whatever orders are given." Shura's answer was as brief and sharp as ever.
"Seconded." Camus's reply was even shorter, his tone just as icy.
"Let's report this to the Goddess and Lord Meruem. It was Meruem who first suggested sending Deathmask to Asgard to observe their movements. He must already have had his suspicions back then." Mu saw further than the others; he was the first to recall that the idea for Deathmask's northern posting had come from Meruem.
"Seconded." "Seconded." "Seconded." Mu's suggestion quickly won the approval of the surrounding Gold Saints.
While they were discussing how to report to Meruem, Meruem himself was staring at Shun in front of him the way a wolf eyed a lamb.
Shun was so frightened he was nearly in tears, since he had no idea what he had done wrong. At least, that was what he thought. He also felt waves of cold air at his back.
Of course, Meruem was not thinking about anything indecent. His focus was on the presence inside Shun's body—Hades. Meruem was planning to use Hades's soul somehow and see if he could profit from it.
In the Underworld's deepest frozen hell, there were apparently many former Saints imprisoned for rebelling against Hades, including high‑level and even Eighth‑Sense Gold Saints. Meruem had his eye on them—and, if things went well, could even gain a reputation for caring deeply about his subordinates. Why not?
With the combo of Impure World Reincarnation and Samsara of Heavenly Life at his disposal, he had no worries about actually reviving those past Saints once he obtained their souls.
The only question was how to do it, in what way, and without provoking an overreaction from the Underworld. And that… required some thought.
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
For every 50 Power Stones, one extra chapter will be released on Saturday.