Now that he had been seen through, Seiya no longer concealed his intentions.
"Come, for the sake of victory, come to my side."
The newly repaired Cloth, the God Robe Verethragna that housed the Authority of the God of Combat, completed its armament. The moment Sun Wukong saw it, he understood completely.
It was due to the resonance between their Authorities that this armor, when in close proximity to him, held a portion of his own Victorious Fighting Buddha Authority.
Authority—God of Combat.
Authority—Victorious Fighting Buddha.
Although they did not share the same mythological origins, the two similar myths, and even their correspondingly similar Authorities, now produced a subtle rhythm.
And in that brief moment of distraction, Seiya seized his chance.
Focusing all his power into a single point on his fist, he unleashed the Pegasus Comet Fist, striking with the terrifying force to shatter Sun Wukong's bones and sending his figure flying beyond the heavens.
Initially breaking the fourth cosmic velocity, Sun Wukong, transformed into a meteor streaking toward the endless sky, instantly pierced through the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere... With a sense of disorientation, he found himself in the exosphere, the vast universe sprawling above his head.
"So this is the mortal realm of today? Above the sky are stars, not the Heavenly Court...!" Sun Wukong was momentarily lost in thought.
But his velocity did not cease, for the ceaseless Pegasus Meteors were still attempting to break through his vaunted Indestructible Vajra Body.
"To challenge a Gold Saint without understanding the gap in our power... now, face my Lion's Fang!" Seiya declared.
A technique inherited from the constellation of Leo, and one of Seiya's most frequently used combat skills. The light-speed Lion's Fang roared, transforming into tens of millions of lightning bolts that ascended from the earth, continuously erupting in electric sparks against Sun Wukong's Indestructible Vajra Body.
—At this moment, Atomic Lightning Plasma!
In this battlefield set against the backdrop of space, Seiya was completely unleashed. The brilliant lightning strikes swept everything in the vicinity into this terrifying torrent of golden meteors.
To those on the ground, what they could see was the infinitely beautiful Leo meteor shower streaking across the sky. But only Sun Wukong could truly feel these ever-intensifying golden clusters overlapping, generating an even more massive distortion field—all of which was converging and compressing upon his position.
The asteroid belt was easily disintegrated, and even the space debris for tens of thousands of meters around was obliterated. Finally, the golden light, converged to a single point, landed before Sun Wukong.
—BOOM!!!
The fourth cosmic velocity escalated once more, a heaven-storming golden light that twisted all of creation before it, ultimately crashing into the moon's surface and carving out a massive crater. The resulting shockwave rippled for hundreds of kilometers, forming waves visible to the naked eye even from Earth.
But what of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, struck by those myriad meteors? What had become of him?
He was seen exploding like a cluster of stars, evading the most ferocious core of the attack. Within the golden blast, hundreds of millions of monkeys sprayed forth, covering every inch of the battlefield. Some were excited, some enraged, some scratched their ears and cheeks, others brandished iron rods—but all of them stared at Seiya with a seething, murderous aura.
Authority—External Incarnation. As the saying goes, once one attains an immortal body, their divine transformations know no bounds. Ever since Sun Wukong achieved the Dao, he possessed eighty-four thousand hairs upon his body, each one capable of transformation, changing at will to suit the occasion. To become ten from one, a hundred from ten, and then billions from there—such is the art of the External Incarnation.
"Come, brothers, let's get to training!" the leading Sun Wukong shouted, raising his arm. The monkeys, already impatient, swarmed forward as one.
Seiya swung his fist, leveling thousands of the surrounding monkeys, only to be enveloped by an even larger multitude.
Just as Sun Wukong was clapping and cheering, a familiar, searing brilliance erupted from the center of the swarm, like countless glorious blades tearing through the dim, starry sky.
—Pegasus Corona, fully released!
In a mere instant, the corona, rapidly climbing to tens of millions of degrees, incinerated the monkeys.
And at the center of the Pegasus Corona, three and then another three layers of wings unfolded. Propelled by his Cosmo, the combat technique of Bennu, the Star of Heavenly Violence—the Triple Corona Gale—was replicated in Seiya's hands.
"Hah, Sea-Fixing Divine Iron!" Sun Wukong likewise swung the divine rod in his hand.
A magnificent, heaven-piercing pillar met the incoming Triple Corona Gale. He was like a hunter lying in wait, anticipating just such an opportunity.
The Authority of the Victorious Fighting Buddha allowed him to perceive this perfect moment. Sun Wukong crouched, bent his legs, and leaped—in that instant, the staff was already in his hand.
"Boy, take a taste of Old Sun's staff!" Sun Wukong swung the needle-like weapon in his hand.
A pure golden light, a perfect arc, an attack unparalleled in all of history.
At this moment, the weapon finally shattered the undefeated defense.
"Hmph! Pretty lady, stop doing such vexing things and come have some fun with Old Pig!"
Seeming to sense the approaching danger, Zhu Ganglie brandished five weapons. He fired arrows and launched a continuous assault with a halberd, sword, axe, and club, trying to halt the demonic winds.
The demonic wind blowing around the three-headed, six-armed giant god and the Hierarch was a wind capable of sweeping away all of nature's creations. The Nine-Toothed Rake could not break through at all, completely unable to affect the fair lady weaving her song of destruction. A barrier formed of gas was blocking the assault.
"Swiftly, swiftly, as per the law! By the sacred edict of the Northern Emperor's glorious might, I command!"
The Dharma-Image Zhu Ganglie chanted the incantation, exerting all his strength. His five weapons slowly began to move, gradually approaching Luo Hao's body.
But by now, the Hierarch of the Demonic Cult's ultimate technique was finally complete. Mixing light into the demonic wind, a golden radiance emitted from Luo Hao's body and merged with it.
This, too, was a manifestation born from the Divine Skill of the Mighty Vajra King, but it was not a golden Deva King. The light gathered and took shape between Luo Hao and Zhu Ganglie, finally becoming a gigantic palm!
My heart is void, but my palm is like a vicious hurricane—
"Power from the bone, force from the sinew, this is the Palm of the Innate Ultimate!"
A golden palm, the same size as Zhu Ganglie's enormous body—this was the attack launched by the giant hand.
An explosion—the three-faced, six-armed giant god took a direct hit. Its face, body, and rake were all devastated. Its brain was rattled, the impact pierced its organs, and its bones were completely shattered.
Her palm struck towards the heavens. It was a golden palm imbued with immense power. After firmly grasping Zhu Ganglie, it flung him into the sky.
Despite sending her opponent flying, Luo Hao furrowed her brow. She had felt Marshal Tianpeng's power weaken significantly in that instant.
She quickly thought of the Great Pact Law. Could it be that the other two Heretic Gods were in trouble?
Sha Wujing was tens of kilometers away, still entangled with that Western god of love. Then that meant the strongest one... the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was in trouble?
Without the aid of any modern equipment, her Thousand-Mile Eyes were enough to let her observe the events unfolding in space.
She saw a golden sword of victory pierce through Sun Wukong's spine from behind. He turned his head in disbelief, and Seiya likewise released his grip and retreated.
"My bad, really. It was a conditioned reflex." Seiya gave a rare, awkward laugh.
He had gotten so used to it in the Saint Seiya world that when Sun Wukong announced his title, the Strong Wind Authority was triggered, and he instinctively drew his sword for a backstab.
Seiya swore he was innocent. While he didn't mind using despicable means to win, against Sun Wukong, he truly intended to use him as a whetstone to sharpen his own skills.
"If you're going to blame someone, blame that inherently evil bunch of Specters," Seiya murmured. It was definitely not the Saints' fault.
This brief instant set up a combination attack for Pegasus Seiya. Using the concept of death to tear a small opening, the golden sword of victory from the God of Combat, symbolizing the concept of the warrior, pierced Sun Wukong's spine.
Not a single drop of blood flowed, but as Seiya chanted his incantation, the most crucial [Steel] Authority was partially sealed in an instant.
Although the Golden-Hooped Rod was still in Sun Wukong's hand, his Indestructible Vajra Body, which had always protected him, had fallen silent. Even if the seal was incredibly brief, for powerhouses of Seiya and Sun Wukong's level, it was the distance between life and death.
"Heaven and Earth gave birth to me, Sun Wukong!—Watch the staff!"
The monkey's shout was thunderous as he unleashed all his remaining strength.
That figure charged at a peerless speed towards the sovereign who was like a sun between heaven and earth.
The Lion's Fang once again collided with the iron staff. His As-You-Will Gold-Banded Cudgel actually managed to strike down all the attacks.
Amidst the fiery light, a pair of pitch-black eyes lit up. "Weapons are unnecessary! A true hero kills with his eyes!"
A combat technique propelled by the Authority of the God of Death—Death Gaze—flowed from Seiya's eyes into Sun Wukong's.
The Fiery Eyes of Gold shattered the light of death in a single breath, but this momentary blindness cost Sun Wukong his opportunity. He could no longer use his Fiery Eyes to track Seiya's figure, and the light of the Holy Sword once again pierced through his chest.
Again, no blood flowed, and Sun Wukong completely disregarded his injuries. The Somersault Cloud technique continuously propelled the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, reaching a state of acceleration.
Accelerating ceaselessly, the Great Sage once again entered the realm of Divine Speed. Regardless of whether he had the protection of [Steel] or not, he would fight to the very last moment and seize victory. No matter the predicament, if you don't believe you can win, then victory will never smile upon you!
Seeing this, Luo Hao already understood that the victory was more or less decided.
Even though the two junior brothers summoned by Sun Wukong had transformed back into divine light to protect him, as long as the fight continued like this, with his injuries accumulating, Sun Wukong's defeat was a foregone conclusion.
But as a hero god of China, how could she not witness the moment of Sun Wukong's return to myth with her own eyes?
"—In the northern darkness there is a fish, and its name is Kun. The Kun is so huge I don't know how many thousand li he is. He changes into a bird, and its name is Peng. The back of the Peng is I don't know how many thousand li across. When he rises up and flies, his wings are like clouds all over the sky!"
As she finished the incantation, the ground suddenly darkened, but not because the sun was obscured by clouds.
The giant divine Buddhist bird—the Great Peng, the Golden-Winged Roc—answered Luo Hao's call, its wings like clouds hanging from the sky, blotting out the sun.
The moment this Kun-Peng flew overhead, the fair lady's figure vanished.
The returning Zhu Ganglie transformed into armor, and Sha Wujing into a circling azure dragon, but they crumbled before that brilliance.
Sun Wukong's Indestructible Vajra Body had recovered, but it was now meaningless. His body was already riddled with wounds; in fact, Seiya was surprised he hadn't returned to myth yet.
But Seiya recalled a passage from Journey to the West: the monkey was tied to the Demon-Executing Pillar, where he was hacked at with knives and axes, pierced by spears and sliced by swords, yet none could harm his body. The Southern Dipper Star Lord ordered the gods of the Fire Department to burn him, but they could not even singe him. Then he had the gods of the Thunder Department strike him with thunder-axes, but they couldn't damage him in the slightest.
Translated to reality, he likely possessed an Authority similar to his own super battle continuation. But was there any point to it now?
The light around Seiya intensified, transforming him into the most immense sun. Amidst the shattered asteroid belt, Sun Wukong waited quietly. He waited for that one moment when the dark sky was suddenly split open by a colossal bolt of lightning.
Sun Wukong leaped up, pointing his Golden-Hooped Rod directly at the sun.
"Come!"
Pegasus Meteors and the As-You-Will Gold-Banded Cudgel crisscrossed. In that moment, between the two figures illuminated by the electric light, the Saint activated the Wheel of Friendship, and an ancient stone tablet landed in his palm.
"Ha! What a greedy little brat!" Sun Wukong, after his initial shock, actually burst out laughing.
The Prometheus Tablet, a grimoire that ranked among the highest-tier support divine tools.
It could extract a god's Authority and house it within the tablet, but its conditions for use were both simple and demanding: one must have spent a certain amount of time with the target and understand them well enough.
Seiya already fulfilled the latter condition. As for the former, as the administrator of this land of Japan and the nominal owner of the Nikko Shrine, he barely met that one as well.
The light of the fire-stealer enveloped Sun Wukong's entire body. Seiya could feel an Authority intimately related to his own being absorbed into the tablet.
Forcibly activating the tablet even caused cracks to appear on the extremely rare divine tool. If not for possessing the Covenant of Decay and Revival, with its restorative abilities, Seiya would not have dared to use the Prometheus Tablet in this way.
He hurriedly put it away, his heart aching at the damage, as his fist finally pierced completely through Sun Wukong's chest.
Three consecutive fatal blows; even the life force of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven could not continue the fight.
Faintly, the long-unheard, clear sound of a spinning disc echoed in Seiya's ears once more. Although Sun Wukong had not yet returned to myth, his divine power, divinity, and godhead had already been ground into the Disc of Usurpation by Pandora.
"That was a real thrill. Live well, kid." Even in his final moments, Sun Wukong wore his usual arrogant expression. "The next time I descend to this realm, Old Sun won't be so careless!"
Without waiting for Seiya's response, Sun Wukong once again recited the poem from his time of wreaking havoc in Heaven:
"My form, one with the Primal, forged through eons, is but nature. Vast and effortless, I am the Great Oneness; serene and unmoving, the First Form. Long refined in the crucible, not of lead or mercury; eternal life beyond matter is the true immortal. Endless transformations beget more change; of the Three Refuges and Five Precepts, speak no more."
As the golden light dissipated between heaven and earth, the Heretic Great Sage Equaling Heaven returned to myth.
______
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