The fluctuation of that Cosmo felt very familiar to Seiya. He went over to take a look and was shocked to find Kanon locked in fierce battle with the three Judges of the Underworld, while Shiryu and Hyoga were supporting from the side.
The aftermath of the battle tore through the Underworld's earth. The faces of the three Judges were filled with shock, anger, and disbelief.
They had thought that after being unsealed, they could easily crush these Saints who had intruded into the Underworld and salvage their dignity.
However, reality dealt them a heavy blow.
"What? You've finally decided to come out now? Where were you hiding before?" Kanon drove back Rhadamanthys with a Galaxian Explosion, a defiant sneer on his face.
Rhadamanthys's face was livid. He withstood the attack and roared, "Hmph! If we hadn't been sealed by that damned guy for a few hours, you would have been dead long ago!"
Minos also said coldly, "Fortunately, the Twin Gods released our seal, so we didn't waste too much time."
Aiacos said in a deep voice, "Now, I will kill you and make up for my previous mistake!"
However, when the battle truly reached its peak, the three Judges realized with horror that Kanon before them, and the nearby Shiryu and Hyoga, had strength completely different from the Saints they knew.
Kanon's Cosmo was vast and deep, carrying an agile and penetrating power that transcended material shackles. His attacks often bypassed the physical defense of the Surplices and struck directly at the soul.
"The Eighth Sense?" Aiacos exclaimed in shock. "How could you possibly have attained the Eighth Sense?"
If it had been before, they might not have paid much attention to the Eighth Sense.
But after witnessing Setsuna's power, they had now equated the Eighth Sense with that level of strength.
Not only Kanon, but also Shiryu and Hyoga nearby displayed astonishing power.
Although they had not reached the Eighth Sense, the strength, speed, and perfect control of the Seventh Sense they displayed made the three Judges feel extremely troublesome.
These two had already reached the level of top-tier Gold Saints.
Kanon punched and shattered Minos's puppet threads, a cold smile on his lips. "This is the direction Saga pointed out for us with his life!"
"Only by transcending the fear of death, burning one's own conviction and will beyond the boundary of life and death, can one catch a glimpse of this higher realm!"
"You Specters, who submit to death, will never understand this realm!"
After Seiya and the other two joined the battle, the situation completely tilted.
Two with the Eighth Sense, four top-tier Gold Saints.
Even for the three Judges of the Underworld, facing enemies of this caliber, there was only the path of defeat.
They simply could not understand how, in just a few hours, the strength of these Saints had undergone such earth-shattering changes?
It was simply too unreasonable!
Amidst their grief and anger, the three Judges were beaten to death by the group.
...
Having defeated the powerful enemy, Seiya successfully joined forces with Kanon, Shiryu, and Hyoga.
After a brief exchange, they learned of each other's experiences.
There was no time for celebration. The mission to rescue Athena was urgent.
The six pressed forward. Along the way, there were no more significant obstacles.
Finally, they arrived before the ultimate barrier separating the Underworld from Elysium… the Wailing Wall.
It was a pitch-black wall radiating despair and the aura of death.
Just approaching it, one could feel the pull on the soul and the helplessness of hope being devoured.
And here, they saw even more figures.
Doko, Mu, Aiolia, Milo, and other Gold Saints had already arrived.
Shun and Ikki were also among them.
"Shun!" Seiya rushed over excitedly. "Are you alright?"
Shun nodded, tears in his eyes. "It was Saori-sama. She rescued me from Hades's control..."
"But Saori-sama herself was taken by Hades's soul to [Elysium]."
"Elysium?" Seiya and the others' hearts tightened.
"It's behind this Wailing Wall." Doko stepped forward, his aged voice filled with gravity. "But we have tried various methods, and we cannot break this wall in the slightest."
Mu looked at Doko and asked the question everyone was concerned about. "Master Doko, how did you break this [Wailing Wall] in the last Holy War?"
Hearing this, a look of reminiscence appeared in Doko's eyes. "Last time, it was because Setsuna-nii was powerful enough. He single-handedly broke through this Wailing Wall!"
The others exchanged bitter smiles. They hadn't expected to hear about that legendary Pope even here.
However, he was indeed legendary. The Wailing Wall that so many of them, Gold Saints, could not shake, he alone had broken through.
Unfortunately, they, the younger generation, could not replicate the miracle of their predecessors.
Seiya said in a heavy tone, "Setsuna-sama told me about the Wailing Wall. He said that if one cannot forcibly break the Wailing Wall with absolute power, there is another way."
"What way?" Everyone looked at him eagerly.
Seiya took a deep breath. "Gather the power of the twelve Gold Cloths, channel the light of the sun, and that can also penetrate this Wailing Wall."
"But the cost is..." Seiya's voice lowered. "All the Gold Saints involved... will sacrifice themselves."
'Sacrifice... all the Gold Saints?'
The air instantly froze.
However, this silence did not last long.
Doko was the first to step forward, a relieved smile on his face. "For Athena, for the love and justice of the earth, what is a mere life?"
"Master!" Mu also stepped forward. "I am ready too."
Aiolia and Milo went without saying, but even the Aquatic Duo did not hesitate, stepping forward firmly.
"Don't look at me like that." Seeing everyone's strange looks, Deathmask snorted coldly. "I've just died a few too many times. I've seen through life and death."
Aphrodite smiled slightly. "Consider it our atonement."
The Gold Cloths began to resonate. Even the souls of the departed were summoned.
Aldebaran, Shaka, Aiolos...
One by one, the Gold Saints, whether still alive or already fallen heroes, at this moment, driven by a common conviction and mission, crossed the boundary of life and death and gathered here.
On their faces, there was no fear, only the honor of warriors and the calm acceptance of facing death.
"Then..." Doko, as the eldest, was the first to burn his vast Cosmo, which dimmed the world itself. "Let's begin!"
"For Athena! For the love and justice of the earth!"
The roar of the twelve Gold Saints echoed through the Underworld.
A golden light shot up into the sky, breaking through the eternal darkness of the Underworld.
Like the first light at the dawn of the universe, it erupted from the deepest part of the Underworld, carrying the unyielding will to shatter all darkness, and slammed fiercely into that eternal, unchanging Wailing Wall.
The faint sound of cracking arose, then rapidly spread.
Before that ray of sunlight, which gathered the most brilliant light of humanity, even the Wailing Wall, which separated life and death and represented absolute despair, began to crack.
Light seeped through the cracks.
Hope blossomed in sacrifice.
The path to Elysium, paved with the lives of the Gold Saints, slowly opened.