In a hidden cave deep in the graveyard.
From the oddly shaped dead tree, a golden dead leaf drifted down and settled before four tombs built of white jade beneath the tree.
Damian stood quietly under the tree, sweeping his gaze over the four Gold Saint graves in silence, eyes flickering as if pondering something.
The white jade graves before him were spotless, their gilded headstones gleaming.
First tomb: Hasgard, Taurus Gold Saint. Tomb grade: Silver. Grants finisher: Great Horn.
Second tomb: Kardia, Scorpio Gold Saint. Tomb grade: Silver. Grants finisher: Scarlet Needle.
Third tomb: Regulus, Leo Gold Saint. Tomb grade: Silver. Grants finisher: Plasma Lightspeed Punch.
Fourth tomb: Manigoldo, Cancer Gold Saint. Tomb grade: Silver. Grants finishers: Sekishiki Meikaiha, Phosphor Control.
Gazing at these four important Gold Saint graves, Damian was silent for a long while.
Each had granted him a large amount of Cosmo, attributes, and signature Gold Saint finishers.
But the tomb grades were all Silver, and the skills provided were only these Gold Saints' basic moves.
The other techniques of these Gold Saints hadn't dropped, especially their hidden ultimate finishers.
Based on experience, only by raising the tombs to Gold grade could he farm the rest of the Gold Saints' moves.
Yet these four Gold Saint graves had stayed at Silver grade and hadn't reached Gold.
For a Bronze or Silver Saint, using white jade for the headstone and adornments, building a stone sarcophagus, and adding carving, flowers, and gilded motifs could raise the tomb to Gold grade and yield that Saint's lifetime finishers and attributes.
But Gold Saint graves were different. Even doing all that only raised them to Silver at best.
He had tried countless other ways to upgrade Gold Saint graves to Gold grade, but all had failed.
To raise a Gold Saint grave's grade, a special method was required.
"…The highest honor for Saints under Athena is a headstone cast from Cloth materials, with the headstone's material chosen according to the Saint's strength.
"In the mythic age, Athena crafted special graves for the strongest fallen Saints—their headstones made from materials nearly equal to a Cloth's—to commemorate these peerless warriors… Athena ordered a red spider lily planted before the grave to bridge the world of the living and the Underworld, and she bathed the headstone in divine blood so that the Pegasus Saint's soul could rest in peace even in the Underworld…"
Studying the ancient parchment scroll in his hand, Damian read its contents.
He had gone through untold hardships to obtain it—an ancient scroll handed down from the Pope's hall. Getting this piece of old parchment had cost him plenty of effort.
The parchment was tattered, its characters mottled by time, and he could only barely make out what was recorded.
"Headstones made from Cloth materials in the mythic age?"
Damian looked toward the heap of Cloth-tomb spoils.
What the scroll described was a mysterious burial method closely tied to his graveyard System. His idea to use white jade for headstones and decorations had been inspired by this burial scroll.
After many failed attempts, his only option left was to use Cloth materials to upgrade the headstones.
Now Saga had come knocking.
That brewing-storm pressure spurred him to fight with everything he had.
Right.
He had to upgrade the graveyard, gain more power and finishers, and find the capital to stand against Saga.
These Cloth fragments were his stockpile for forging a future Cloth. He had quite a lot piled up—enough to barely forge a Gold Cloth.
But he couldn't forge a Gold Cloth yet, and these materials were only a collection for now.
To upgrade the graveyard, he had to dare to take risks and try.
He'd use these Cloth fragments to try upgrading the graves.
There were many Gold Cloth fragments among the materials. Upgrading one Gold Saint's grave should be no problem.
"Phosphor miasma, gather!"
Damian extended a finger, and a ripple of telekinesis flared. Phosphor miasma in the graveyard surged from all sides.
Corpses release all sorts of phosphorus gases. The Sanctuary graveyard held a great deal. By day they were invisible; at night they appeared as ghost fire.
Now, streams of phosphor drifted in from every direction, forming faintly glowing gray-white ribbons that finally condensed into a giant gray phosphor sphere.
Under Damian's telekinetic control, the sphere gathered into a mass over two meters across, packed with phosphor.
It gradually enveloped the pile of broken Cloth.
Ignite!
At a thought—
The sphere turned into an immense ice-blue phosphor fireball, burning fiercely.
The cave's temperature soared, blazing hot.
At first, the discarded Gold Cloth fragments showed no reaction—Gold Cloth base materials were extremely heat resistant.
Burn!
Damian poured on more telekinetic force, feeding the phosphor flames to burn hotter.
The phosphor flared brighter, dyeing the cave ice-blue. The heat within surged wildly again.
The scorching temperature sent hot waves billowing. Even the cave walls were melting, their surfaces turning viscous and liquid.
Under his driving force, the phosphor flames turned white.
More phosphor ribbons appeared, frantically feeding the blaze.
They were, after all, Gold Cloth base materials—their heat resistance was beyond imagining.
They say Gold Cloths contain no actual gold. They're forged of three rare materials: orichalcum, gammanium, and stardust sand.
Each is extremely rare—some nearly impossible to find on Earth. Burning them would take tremendous power.
Fortunately, this was a graveyard—phosphor was plentiful, and the burn was practically limitless.
At last, under the relentless phosphor-fed heat, the pile of Cloth materials began to melt, turning red and merging into one.
"Good—just like that."
"Forge!"
As the Cloth materials softened, Damian drove his telekinesis again.
The softened mass lifted into the air, as if hammered by a heavy mallet, shifting shape again and again.
Before long, the Cloth materials had been forged into a crimson headstone.
"Water!"
Damian crooked a finger, and a stream of clear water flew up from the pond below the mountain and poured through the cave mouth, hissing as it doused the crimson stone.
White steam roiled, filling the cave.
With a breeze drifting in, the steam thinned.
A gleaming golden headstone floated in midair.
It was the Gold headstone Damian had forged by consuming all his Gold Cloth fragments.
He'd staked his reserves.
Time to upgrade a grave.
To stand against Saga head-on without losing, he had to be able to tank that ultimate—Galaxian Explosion.
Galaxian Explosion is famed for the strongest single-target output. Even Gold Saints of the same era can't withstand a single blast.
He could only look for something on par with Saga's attack.
Among these four Gold Saints, which finisher could match Saga's Galaxian Explosion?