Athena's talismans—charms refined by Athena herself using her own divine power and blood. They contained her godly might, and even a god had to take their effects seriously.
The Sanctuary had existed for ages, so naturally it held many powerful relics. The talisman papers Shion now used were among them, though most would have little effect on a god of Abel's level.
As the talismans, covered in intricate runes, fluttered down onto Abel, the divine power of Athena sealed within them burst into white light, binding him tightly in place.
"Damnable Saints… You think something like this can hold me for long?" Since his appearance, Abel had always worn a detached, world‑weary expression, but now he finally showed a rare flash of anger and frustration.
The former Sun God, of all beings, had been tricked by a Saint. He had not suffered any real damage, but his dignity was in tatters.
A pity that the spirit blade capable of cutting through any barrier had been destroyed by Hades in the last Holy War. With that blade to assist them, the effect would have been even better.
That blade, which could shatter any barrier, was the very charm‑blade Libra Alone had used in LC when he went alone to Hades's castle to seal the god of sleep.
"I never expected that alone to restrain you." For the first time since his resurrection, Shion's Cosmo flared up. He tore off his cloak, revealing the white mirror embedded in the chest of the Altar Cloth. "What I'm relying on is this—the Altar Cloth that can seal gods."
"Though I never trained in the Sekishiki techniques themselves, I can still use this Altar‑exclusive move. Abel, witness the power of a Saint!" A blue Cosmo erupted from Shion in all directions, a Cosmo that even made Saga's heart tremble.
Over more than two hundred years, Shion's thinking had grown old and rigid, unable to keep up with the times, but he had never once neglected his Cosmo training.
"Sekishiki Tenryōha!" Waves of corpse‑Cosmo, like white dragons, burst from Shion's body and rushed toward Abel.
They exploded beside Abel like a crashing thunderclap.
An immense suction force streamed from the white mirror on the Altar Cloth's chest, trying to pull Abel's soul inside.
"Looks like I'll have to give it everything I've got." Seeing Abel still standing on the high platform, locked in a stalemate with his Tenryōha, Shion steeled himself.
But before he could burn his Cosmo again, his vision went black, a tightness seized his chest, and a mouthful of blood burst from his lips.
"Master Shion! (Master!)" The surrounding Gold Saints were horrified. Supporting their battered bodies, they rushed toward him.
"I'm fine." Shion waved a hand to signal that he was all right, but the Gold Saints remained deeply worried.
He had pushed himself too far, using a technique he had never fully mastered.
Yet now there was no other way. Abel was a god whose power nearly rivaled that of Hades.
Even if he burned up this newly regained life, he could not allow the Sanctuary, entrusted to them by Athena, to fall into someone else's hands.
Even the strongest Gold Saint was like a child before Abel.
Even if it meant burning his life away, even if he turned to ashes, Shion was determined to seal him.
Blood dripped continuously from the corner of his mouth, but Shion paid it no mind, pouring out his Cosmo and his life without reservation.
"Master, don't!" Mu, as Shion's disciple and one of the successors of Jamir, knew far more than the average Gold Saint. He was the first to understand what Shion was doing.
But aside from shouting, he could do nothing. It was his master's choice, just as in the Hades Twelve Temples arc, when he had been unable to oppose what Shion had decided to do.
For the first time, Mu felt a desperate hunger for more power. If only… if only he were a bit stronger…
Damn these gods. Humiliation burned in the hearts of all the Gold Saints.
They were supposed to be the strongest defenders of the Sanctuary, yet now an elder who had protected the Sanctuary for centuries had to stake his life while they could only stand and watch.
"Sekishiki Tenryōha!" A blinding white light blazed from Shion's body and shot toward Abel, enveloping him completely.
The white light came and went in an instant.
Soon, it faded from the Gold Saints' sight.
The Goddess Temple fell deathly silent. The drop of a needle would have been clearly heard.
"D‑did it work?" Shion now looked as if he had aged decades. His once long green hair had turned white, his skin had withered like old bark, his once‑rounded arms shriveled into dry sticks of skin and bone, and his eyes were dull and clouded.
His life force had been drained away by the Tenryōha, leaving him with only a single breath.
Then, from the high platform, a voice rang out, plunging the Gold Saints into despair.
"Fools. I told you already—the Altar Cloth has no effect on me." Abel stood there unharmed. The talismans of Athena that had covered him had exhausted all their divine power and crumbled to ashes at his feet.
"So… it failed after all…" Shion closed his eyes in pain. "Goddess… it seems I can no longer serve you."
"I'm just… not willing to accept it. In the end, I still failed to fulfill the mission you gave me."
"The rest… I leave to you." Clinging to his last breath, Shion spoke slowly to Shaka and the others.
"My comrades… I'm coming to join you." In his fading vision, he seemed to see the comrades who had fallen more than two centuries ago.
The peerless beauty, warrior Albafica; the wild and untamed Manigoldo; the rock‑steady Hasgard; the ever‑reliable "commissar" Sisyphus; the unparalleled genius Regulus…
Forgive me, brothers. Shion is late.
"Mortals, your stupidity enrages me. I have decided to annihilate you all." Abel's voice drifted down from the high platform, but none of the Gold Saints paid him any mind.
They simply watched the frail old master before them—the elder they all respected. Let Abel kill or torment them as he pleased; Gold Saints only fell in battle.
"Sorry, you there, dressed all in red like some clown—who did you say you were going to annihilate?" A cold voice rang clearly in every ear, its anger plain to anyone who heard it. A figure in white, like a savior, appeared at the hall's entrance.
"Try taking one more step."
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
For every 50 Power Stones, one extra chapter will be released on Saturday.