Saint Seiya: Heretic Athena?

The first three seconds were just the time given for Susanoo to react, a mercy from the Saint. By the seventh second, true hell had descended upon Susanoo.

His defensive cuirass shattered, the vambraces and spaulders of his gauntlets exploded, and the Ame-no-Habakiri was completely knocked from his hand. The sendan-no-ita and kyūbi-no-ita plates on his chest were even ravaged by the fists and driven into Susanoo's chest. All the armaments and weapons he had taken such pride in were dismantled.

He desperately called for the distant Ame-no-Murakumo. He who held so many Authorities could not even counterattack. When the seven-second countdown began, his body no longer belonged to him. Susanoo possessed an unprecedented wealth of Authorities, a thousand years of experience that allowed him to orchestrate myths, but, but... that piercing will, in the form of light, ravaged his suffering body.

The Storm Authority, the Region Authority, the Sea God Authority, the Lightning Authority, the Eclipse Authority, the Kagura Authority... the Hunting Authority, the Demon-Quelling Authority, the Hyakki Authority, the Authority to Slay Dragons and Serpents. None of them were effective at this moment. By the fifth second of the countdown, the Saint had already broken his four limbs. When the fourth second arrived, the Ame-no-Murakumo, moving at Mach 29, a near-divine speed, was smashed into the ground with a single punch.

This was the Pegasus Light-Speed Fist, the superior technique to the Pegasus Meteor Fist. The characteristic of this move was that the destructive power of each punch was stronger than the one before it. With an increasing number of uses, its power could theoretically be enhanced to infinity. It was a secret art that materialized fighting spirit, and Seiya's ever-inextinguishable fighting spirit was the foundation that allowed this move to be infinitely enhanced.

At this moment, the Saint stomped on Susanoo's chest, forcing him to his knees on the ground. The Light-Speed Fist had long since pulverized His armor along with his pride, revealing Susanoo's unconscious, vacant face. This Old Gentleman who had ruled Japan for a thousand years had never imagined before stepping onto the battlefield that he would lose so completely, so hopelessly. From the moment the countdown began, his world was a purgatory made of light.

Compared to the physical pain, the ravaging of his spirit by the countdown was what caused Susanoo more suffering.

Behind him was a brilliant sun. The Saint looked down upon the evil god, his brownish-black pupils devoid of any warmth. Although there were still three seconds left, there was no longer any need to continue the fight.

"Your words have almost exhausted my patience. As a declaration, it was atrociously bad. And as a final testament, it wasn't much better." This was the Saint's first sentence in this battle, and also his last.

A Heretic God who has lost his madness is still a hero-god with a strong personality. But even with so many Authorities, he was just a curb on the side of the road.

As if a final burst of life, Susanoo's blood-soaked eyes looked at the Saint. His lips moved, but no one could hear the meaning of his blurred words. The sunlight overhead was gentle, the bamboo forest of San'in swayed, and seagulls rose and fell by the cliffside. The primordial hero-god lay on the ground, looking up at the sky, as if gazing at the even more distant High Plain of Heaven.

"Sōjō, what is this situation?" the Lapis Lazuli-Eyed Princess asked her friend in an extremely soft voice.

"I cannot see either. My talent for spirit vision is not as good as yours. But I think... it is over." Tenkai Sōjō pressed his palms together and closed his eyes.

At the San'in dojo, the God War came to a close.

The first to disintegrate were Susanoo's arms. His entire divine body, like porcelain fired in an incorrect kiln, was covered in cracks, from his limbs to his torso and then to his head... A golden light burst forth from within, slowly illuminating the earth. As his ruined divine body disintegrated back into immense magical power, accompanied by the soft laughter of Pandora, at this moment, Takehaya Susanoo-no-Mikoto, who had returned to his Heretic form for only ten minutes, returned to myth.

They could not see the light, nor could they see the process, but they could see the result.

"Fifty years of a man's life, compared to the heavens, is but a dream and a phantom. Once born into this fleeting life, who can escape mortality? If one does not wish to know this seed of Bodhi, can the flow of life and death be controlled by the heart?" At this moment in Tokyo, Sayanomiya Kaoru, who had been fortunate enough to witness this God War through her spirit vision, recited the death poem from the Noh play Atsumori.

This sacred scene stirred mixed feelings in many people. Whether it was the Official History Compilation Committee, the Onmyo Agency, or the Shinto Grand Shrine. Not every one of them was a fervent believer in the Old Gentleman, but at this moment, whether they were exultant or empathetic, there was both joy and trepidation among them, as well as furious anger.

But in the end, they all realized one undeniable fact.

Japan had entered a new era.

In the unseen world, the Saint Seiya seemed to hear the clanging rotation of a steel wheel. He soon realized this was Pandora's god-slaying ritual, the ultimate secret rite that took the defeated Heretic God as a sacrifice and usurped their power.

But why could he hear it this time?

Soon, Seiya found the biggest difference from when he had slain the Eastern war god before: the Seventh Sense.

In this moment, the changing winds and clouds in the sky, the swaying sea of bamboo, the flapping of a dragonfly's wings all stopped moving. The consciousness of the Saint, Seiya, was accelerating... ten times, fifty times, a hundred times, a thousand times!

Above the five senses is the sixth sense, and the seventh sense is the true essence of Cosmo. In the real world, some scientists believe that within certain living organisms, there may be a structure that functions like a clock, which can both produce instinctual reactions to external stimuli and also allow the organism to subjectively and consciously decide to do things with purpose and planning.

What is the sense of time? Let's start with a simple example: a paratrooper jumps out of a plane from an altitude of eight thousand meters, falling towards the ground like a heavy stone. In two minutes and twenty-two seconds, he descends seven thousand nine hundred meters. When he is only two hundred meters from the ground, he pulls the ripcord to open his parachute and lands safely on the ground. If he had delayed opening the parachute by another two or three seconds, it would have been too late, and he would have been smashed to pieces. So, what guided him to open the parachute in time?

It was the feeling for time, the time sense.

Vaguely, the Saint could feel the myth belonging to Susanoo, the Authorities symbolizing his mythological power, turning from the disk of usurpation. Based on compatibility, based on his own consciousness and needs, one of them would become his own Authority.

The King of Swords, Doni, for example, preferred a combination of simple and powerful Authorities. Marquis Voban preferred a richer system of Authorities. The Black Prince of Divine Speed preferred mechanism-based Authorities designed to counter his enemies. Lady Aisha, hers was a bit strange. But no matter who it was, under normal circumstances, a Godslayer could not interfere with the ritual. But at this moment... Seiya's consciousness, breaking free from his body, transcending his spirit, was peeking into the process of this ultimate secret rite. Until a flash of gold appeared within the disk.

Yeah! A Golden Legendary!

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