Start of the Counterattack

Saga POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1987

I'm still calmly observing the situation as Violate charges at me like a raging bull as she yells "You will die here!", I look at our connected shadows and think, 'Hmm... So she summons the souls of the dead from the underworld and orders them to restrain her opponents, while at the same time, she hides them in her shadow with her Cosmo... Not a bad technique but...', and as she is about to punch me, I make my Cosmo explode, freeing myself from the souls' grip, and dodge Violate's punch yelling "...Such trick won't work on me!", and jump back.

Seeing me free, Violate exclaims in shock and surprise "Impossible! No one was able to escape my Shadow Seal!!", and at the same time, her punch hits the ground creating a huge crater in the middle of the hall, I look at her and say "As you can see I completely surpass you... Give up!", she looks at me, and I can clearly feel the rage hidden behind her red eyes and she says "You are clearly a genius... but... BUT! THAT! I CANNOT ACCEPT TO LOSE!!", and as she yells, her Cosmo explodes in strength and aggressiveness causing the whole Temple to shake.

She then gathers her Cosmo as she says "Strength to me is what allows me to fight so that I can escape this earth full of mediocrity! Like everyone else, I wish to reach the sky! I might have to crawl, but I never cared if I was wounded in order to win, and thanks to that I was able to take flight! I can't allow myself to be defeated by you! For that great man who took me away from the mud I crawled in!", I look at my opponent and say "It's is a shame that you are a Specter of Hades, I feel that I could have become friends with someone like you...".

I concentrate all of my Cosmo energy to the maximum in between my hands and say "Behemoth Violate, I hope that at the end of this war you can finally be free and reincarnate once again to live a better life...", in response to this violate yells "Die, Gemini! Brutal Reality!!", and as her Cosmo explodes, she stomps on the ground, causing it to crack and rise, generating a very strong tremor all around, but at the same time, I yell "Galaxian Explosion!!", and release all the energy I gathered in the form of a gigantic shock-wave capable of obliterating nearly anything in its path, and this time, I didn't hold back.

First, all the upturned ground in the shock-waves path is pulverized, then it dispersed Violate's Cosmo without losing any strength, and after that it hit Violate herself with such strength that obliterates her Surplice, and disintegrates her body, leaving nothing behind if not the aftermath of our fight, I look at the spot where she stood a few moments ago and say "I'll make sure that you and the other Specters like you will finally be free!".

Aphrodite POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1987

"Argh! Shit!!", I'm standing in one of the corner halls of the Libra Temple, calmly standing in front of me there is my opponent, a tall man with a muscular build, fair skin, and long reddish brown hair tied with a ribbon, he is Dryad Luco, and all around us there is an apparently paradisiac garden made of beautiful pure white bell-like flowers that slightly reminds me of the lily of the valley, but these flowers releases a rotten smell, that I recognize has some hypnotic property.

But that isn't the problem, as I'm able to easily withstand it, thanks to the immunity I've developed by living close to the Royal Demon Roses, the problem is that right now, I'm being bound by the Pirhanna Roses that I had thrown at my opponent, and feel them digging from the gaps of my Cloth into my body and in pain, I exclaim "Arg! What!? My... Black Roses... They act against my will!!", at the same time, I hear Luco's voice "Every herb, tree or flower are kinsmen to Dryad, the tree spirit, your roses will obey me as well...".

Hearing that I think, 'Goddammit! He is like my perfect counter! What kind of luck is this!!', and at the same time I try to struggle to free myself, but Luco says "Stop! If you struggle any more, you will spray blood from your pretty face and die... Why don't you let me heal you... This way you will still live... as a servant of Lord Hades! This is the end, Pisces! Even the poison of the Royal Demon Roses can't save you, as the Flower of the Underworld will heal me! You can't win! Surrender!".

I relax my body and say "It's true, you counter me perfectly and I can't beat you... But I'm a Saint of Athena, and I won't give up!", then I smile and add "Moreover, there is something that we Saint have that you Specter don't... Comrades you can trust your back to!", and as my words come out, and fast bright golden arc of light appears from behind Luco, who is able to react just in time to dodge the fatal blow, but the arm that was holding the Flower of the Underworld is still cut off cleanly.

And I take advantage of this moment of distraction to make my Cosmo explode and break free from the Pirhanna Roses' hold and bring out my trump card, which I know for sure he can't control, the Bloody Rose, a pure white rose as beautiful as it is deadly, and the next moment I throw it with all my strength "Bloody Rose!!", and before Luco can do anything, the Bloody Rose, hits its target and pierce Luco's chest.

Seeing the rose piercing his heart he yells "I-impossible! Why I can't control this rose!? I can't even pull it off!!", and I explain "The Bloody Rose is special, the instant it leaves my hand, it will pierce my opponent heart, no matter what, it is infallible and not even I can remove it, it can be only pulled off by another Saint of Athena, moreover, once it has sucked all of your blood, and turns bright red, it will kill you... It's inevitable", and as I'm explaining this, the rose on Luco's chest turns bright red and releases a strong Cosmo pulse that not only obliterates the heart but also destroys the soul, and I look as Luco's body falls on the ground, and at the same time, all the Flowers of the Underworld withers.

Then I look at the one that helped me and say "Thank you, Shura! It seems that we made an error in estimating his capabilities from the visions... Who knew that he was able to control all plants, if I had known, I'd have opened with the Bloody Rose...", but Shura shakes his head and says "Admit it... You got careless... I've always said that you are too reliant on the roses...It is true that every Pisces Saint has to master them as they are the last defense to Athena, but you need to learn how to fight without them in case something like this happens again", and to that, I can only reply with "Sure, sure... Now, I feel that every Specter is gone... Let's go back to Athena and prepare for our counterattack".

Jayr POV - Greece, Sanctuary -1987

I'm standing in front of Saori and next to her there are Dohko and Shion, and behind the trio, there is the huge Athena Colossus, all around me there are the other Gold Saints, plus Kanon, and there are also Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga, Shun, and Ikki, we are all here to listen to our next orders.

Saori looks at each one of us and says "First of all, Thank you... Thanks to your efforts we were able to repel the Specters' assault with minimal loss, but this was the easy part, now the real battle will truly start, and with it our counterattack, but for that to happen I have to die first", Saori's words shocked everyone but Shaka, Shion, Dohko and me, the first 3 because they already know about the 8th sense and already have an inkling of what her plan is, while I discussed the plan with her many times in these years.

Just as chaos was about to erupt, Shion yells "Calm down! What is this disgraceful appearance!? Are you really Athena's Saints? Be still, lads! Listen closely, I will now tell you the meaning behind Athena's death... And everything else...Then I'll give you my last order as Pope of the Sanctuary!".

After that, the Gold Saints regain their calm and listen to Shion, after all, his prestige as the Pope didn't die with him and all the Gold Saints really respect him, seeing this Shion nods and starts to explain "Well Athena's death is needed for two objectives... The first is that her blood is needed to awaken her God Cloth, something fundamental if we want to defeat Hades... And the second is to infiltrate the Underworld without being found by our enemies...", hearing that many of the Gold Saints understand the implication, and at the same time, Saga and Kanon who know a little more than the rest realize something and yell at the same time "Arayashiki!!".

Hearing that Dohko nods and continues in place of his friend "Something that many of you don't know is that there is another sense above the 7th... It is called Arayashiki or the 8th sense and usually, it can only be awakened in death... With it, you can resist the rules of the Underworld and can stay there with a living body, but if you can't awaken this sense you will die as soon as you set foot in the Realm of the Dead...".

And at this point, Saori says "And among all of you here the only ones that can awaken this sense in time are, Saga, Kanon, Seiya, Shiryu, Ikki, Shun, and Hyoga... Meanwhile, Shaka and Jayr have already awoken this sense, with Shaka having a greater mastery over it... Unfortunately, everyone else won't be able to do it in time...", then Shura asks "Then what will we do stay here and do nothing hoping for the best!?", Saori shakes her head and says "No you guys will assault the headquarter of Hades in this world and make way for the one who will come to the Underworld", and Shion adds "But be careful, in that place Hades placed a barrier that will obstruct your Cosmo making so that you can only use 1/10 of it so focus only on defeating as many weak specters as possible the more you kill here the less opposition will the other face on the other side...".

After explaining everything, Saori turns to Saga and says "Saga... Your dagger... the one you used when you tried to kill me 13 years ago...", hearing that Saga shakes a little, before he pulls out an ornate case, and kneeling he offers it to Saori, who opens the case and pulls out an ornate gold dagger from it, at the same time, I move next to her and notice that her hands are slightly shaking, so I use my Cosmo to send her a telepathic message, 'Don't worry, I'm here with you and together we will kick Hades' ass!', and at the same time I hold her hand, and in response, she smiles at me, so I simply say "I'll see you on the other side...".

Saori nods then she pierces her throat with the dagger, and I can only look as she bleeds, but the next moment she disappears leaving behind only her blood on the ground, and I also notice that some of it end up on my Cloth, meanwhile, even knowing that she isn't truly dead, many of the Saints have a downcast expression on their face, so much that Shion once again yells "What are you simpering? This is the start of the real battle, and we have to do our part!".

After that, Shion dips his hands in the blood of Goddess on the ground, and facing the Athena Colossus, he raises his hands to the sky and yells "Divine Cloth!! After 243 years it is once more time for you to awaken!! Awaken again in great Athena's blood!!", at the same time, I quickly notice that what he is doing is the same operation that a Cloth repairer does when he wants to revive or awaken a Cloth, he uses the blood of a Saint, but in the God Cloth case, it needs the blood of the Goddess.

Under Shion's control, the Colossus starts shining and vibrating, and it also starts to absorb Athena's blood on his hands, then in an explosion of golden light it disappears, and in its place, there is a small Athena statuette the size of my hand, under the shocked eyes of everyone else, I move toward the statuette, and gently pick it up and discretely put it into my Soulbound Territory, right next to the Athena's Bidoof.

Meanwhile, Shion flicked the remaining blood of Saori on Seiya and the other's damaged Cloths and starts repairing them with Mu, and the two together quickly fix and upgrade their Cloth, and now, all their Cloths changed, Seiya's Pegasus Cloth's design is very similar to the previous one, but with wider guards that cover more of the body, especially at the legs and waist.

(Image Here - Pegasus Seiya Final)

Shiryu's Dragon Cloth had small changes, notably the lengthening of the shoulder pieces, which protrude above the shoulders, and the ornamental antennae on the dragon head that appear on the front of the headband, while the size of the chest piece is reduced and the two antennae decorating the belt are diminished, while the left arm piece is less massive, the notable new feature of this version is the addition of new armor to cover the lower legs at the tibia and fibula.

(Image Here - Dragon Shiryu Final)

Hyoga's Cygnus Cloth is the one with the least changes, the chest is the same as the previous versions, the only difference with the previous version is that now it has a waist piece like the first version, only this one is smaller, and covers only the waist, the shoulder protection is more pointed, whereas in the previous version it was more rounded and the color of it is clearer giving a colder feel.

(Image Here - Cygnus Hyoga Final)

Shun's Andromeda Cloth had more changes, on the headpiece, the central piece changes, becoming U-shaped, thinner, and more pointed, the shoulder pieces are even more pointed than before and slightly more protruding, the chest piece is more triangular and covers the whole chest and the central area of the abdomen, the belt is the same, only the central piece is in the shape of a hexagon, the arm piece are unchanged, the left arm guard retains the end of the circular chain and the right arm guard the end of the triangular chain, and a pair of boots is added to the leg guards and knee pads, which cover almost the entire leg.

(Image Here - Andromeda Shun Final)

And finally Ikki's Phoenix Cloth, its shape remain more or less the same, the shoulder pieces are sharper, the chest piece more robust, the waist piece, from a simple belt, becomes larger and now protect also the waist, while the limbs are also more solid, and the color pattern once again changed, it is now white with indigo limbs and orange ornament.

(Image Here - Phoenix Ikki Final)

After fixing their Cloths, Shion turn to us and says "Now, prepare to attack, I don't have much time left before my 12 hours end, I want to help you one last time... I'll move ahead of you and distract them... follow my Cosmo and be careful...", and at the same time, Saga removes his Cloth, which then equips itself on Kanon body, and says "As the current Pope I have to remain here and protect the Sanctuary... But you do not have this duty, so as the ruthless Gemini Saint go and lay waste of Athena's enemies!", Kanon nods and replies "I'll show them no mercy brother!".

(Image Here - Gemini Kanon)

Shion POV - Germany, Hades Castle- 1987

I'm standing on the stone bridge in front of the Heinstein Castle, a fortified medieval castle located in Germany, built atop a steep hill, this castle originally belonged to the noble Heinstein family, which lived here peacefully for centuries, but now it is known as "Hades Castle" as it became Hades' Earth headquarters, occupied by skeleton guards and Specters under the direct command of Pandora.

(Image Here - Heinstein Castle)

I have in my arms an empty white cloth, dirtied with Athena's blood, and I'm using my telekinesis to maintain the shape of a woman's body so that I can fool the Specters long enough, soon I'm stopped by two Skeleton Specters, and one of them yells "Halt! State your purpose!", and showing the blooded empty cloth I say "I'm Aries Shion, I'm here to deliver Athena's corpse to Lady Pandora", the two looks at each other for a few moments, then one of them moves inside the castle to report the news.

After waiting for a few moments, I'm led inside the castle, and soon find myself standing in front of Pandora, a slightly tall and slender woman with a fair complexion and long purple hair with purple eyes, she wears dark clothes in a very gothic style with a snake-shaped ring on her finger that turns into a bracelet on her wrist and wears around her neck a necklace made of what appear to be spheres with yellow fang-shaped amulets.

(Image Here - Pandora)

Pandora is the most loyal servant of Hades on earth and she reincarnates every 200 years or so to help his soul possess a new host and serve her God to the best of her abilities, in fact, her birth most of the time signs the start of this Holy War, she looks at me sitting next to her harp and says "Athena's corpse is ours within the 12 hours, the once almighty Aries Gold Saint has served us well... Of course, if you'd have failed, your temporary life would have ended at sunrise anyway, you must have been desperate... Now remove that cloth and let me gaze upon Athena's lifeless face".

I slightly lower my head, trying to buy more time for them to come, place the empty cloth on the ground, kneel down and say "First, one thing", and in a bored tone of voice, she asks "What is it?", and I ask "Lord Hades promised me eternal life if I killed Athena, correct?", hearing that Pandora in an amused tone says "Ho, is that all? Lord Hades is ever kind of heart, he would never lie to you be at peace", hearing that, I keep my head lowered and say "Then, I'd like to present Athena's corpse to Lord Hades directly".

Hearing my request, Pandora exclaims "What? Go before Lord Hades? Absolutely not! He is a God, he does not show himself to a mere human, it will be enough for me to see it, remove that cloth!!", but I stay still and ignore that order, at the same time, I start feeling my strength leaving me, 'It seems that 12 hours are almost over... I did everything I could to help one last time, now it all rests on the shoulder of Athena and the young Saint!'.

Meanwhile, Pandora loses her patience and yells "Why do you just kneel there? Skeleton, remove the cloth!!", and one of the foot soldiers present here silently moves forward and removes the cloth, then it exclaims in surprise seeing it empty, "Wh-what's all this blood?" and I answer "Athena's blood, of course", and hearing that, Pandora asks "Where's the body? Blood alone is not proof of her death".

And with a slight smile on my face, I slowly answer "I'm not sure... It disappeared in transit, perhaps Athena went to see Lord Hades D... I... R...E...C...T... L...Y", and at the same time, I use my telekinesis to slam all the Specters in this hall against the wall and kill them, then standing up I say "Even though you are an enemy, I don't like to harm women... But if you want to live... Take me to Hades!".

Naturally even if under my threat, Pandora remains calm, as she knows that I'm on my last leg, so she simply says "I see... Once Athena's Saint, always a Saint, eh? So everything up to now was a sham to mislead us... But haven't you forgotten something?", and right on cue, light shine on the windows of the castle, and I feel my remaining strength sap, and fall on the ground powerlessly.

Seeing me in this state, Pandora says with a wicked smile on her face "Fool! You exist here only through the temporary life Lord Hades granted you!! Ungrateful soul!! Return to the Underworld for your eternal torment!! The 12 hours of life that Lord Hades granted you have come to an end", but then she calms down and once again tries to find more information for her Lord "Does it hurt? ...Or do you fear returning to the land of the dead? Ho, ho, ho... Just answer one question, if you do, I may ask Lord Hades to extend your lives just a little longer... Athena... Where is Athena?".

I use my remaining force to raise my head and with a smile I say "She may be a Goddess... But her form is only human... Where can a dead human go... But the land of the dead?", hearing that, Pandora narrow her eyes and says "How dare you persist?", but the next second, her eyes open wide as she realizes something and mutter with increasing panic in her voice "Wait a moment, perhaps Shion is speaking the truth... Perhaps Athena chose death so she could cross the Underworld... Could she planning to exchange blows with Lord Hades?".

Then Pandora quickly orders "Courier!", and as a Specter runs inside and kneels down, she commands "We are abandoning Castle Hades and retreating to the Underworld immediately! Order all troops to enter defensive patterns to protect Lord Hades at once!", then I feel the last of my time running out, and I close my eyes one last time still with a smile on my face as I feel the Cosmo of the young Saints and my friend Dohko getting closer and with the last ember of my Cosmo, I send my last message to them, 'Abandon your fear! Look forward! Move forward and never stop! The peace of this world rest on you! Together bring hope to this world once more!! May Athena be with you, my fellow Saints!!'.

Jayr POV - Germany, Hades Castle - 1987

I'm flying above the perimeter of the Hades Castle, closely watching the situation below, the Gold Saints are attacking the castle from afar, making sure to not enter the barrier's perimeter, but once their attacks reach the castle, they are instantly weakened by that annoying barrier, 'As expected from a God... A simple barrier he erected and it weakens attacks strong enough to destroy this world so much that they can only damage the castle walls a little... Luckily these Cosmo Blasts are still strong enough to kill at least the Skeleton Specters'.

At the same time, I check on the others that will come into the Underworld with me, 'Shaka is not here, he probably already teleported into the Underworld, Saiya and the others are now taking advantage of the chaos to climb over the castle wall and infiltrate... and Kanon is simply walking hidden among the retreating Specters like he own the place and nobody seems to notice him... He probably brainwashed them..', all of the sudden, I hear Shion's last telepathic message, 'Abandon your fear! Look forward! Move forward and never stop! The peace of this world rest on you! Together bring hope to this world once more!! May Athena be with you my fellow Saints!!', and the next moment, the intensity of the attacks increases, and I notice that now Seiya and the others are about to enter the main all, so I prepare to land and say "It's time to act...".