As the blinding white light dissipated, Hiroki's feet were already planted on a solid marble floor. He subconsciously raised his hand to block the lingering light spots on his retinas, but his ears first caught the deafening sound of an explosion.
"Boom—!"
The airwave, carrying gravel, rushed toward them. Beside him, Izumi reflexively propped up a Spiritual Pressure shield. When his vision finally cleared, his pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpricks.
"Crap! I knew it!!"
What entered Hiroki's sight was nowhere near the orderly Kido mansion he had expected. Before him was clearly the Asura's killing field of a Sanctuary civil war scene!
In the very center of his vision, a figure as black as night, like the abyss materialized, was repeatedly slamming a figure burning with golden radiance into the ground with absolute crushing power! That heavy, dull thud, carrying a destructive Cosmo, almost drowned out all other sounds of battle.
"Thump!"
Accompanied by the tooth-aching sound of metal clashing, Seiya, wearing the sagittarius gold cloth, was smashed into the ground like a rag doll, spiderweb-like cracks instantly spreading over twenty meters. Hovering above him was a figure with loose black hair, his gemini Cloth glowing with an eerie, dark light.
"Hey! Are you kidding me?! Saga?! Or is it the blackened, grey-haired Saga?!" Hiroki almost choked on his own spit. "You, the dignified Pope of the Sanctuary, a big boss-level character, running to the entrance of the beginner village to camp and bully noobs? What the hell is the meaning of this????!"
The one being rubbed into the ground by him was none other than Pegasus Seiya, clad in the sagittarius gold cloth.
Admittedly, that gold cloth was dazzlingly bright, but at this moment, Seiya was being beaten so badly he had no power to fight back. The cloth's luster had dimmed significantly, and he could barely manage to protect his vitals, struggling to hold on under the storm of punches, kicks, and terrifying mental shocks. In the cratered ground, Seiya was smashed in again and again; the scene was simply too tragic to watch.
Looking toward the other side of the battlefield, Hiroki's pupils constricted sharply, and he immediately scanned another point of intense golden collision nearby.
"leo versus Cancer? Aiolia fighting Deathmask?" He rubbed his eyes. "Wait... Little Dee, what's with you?! Wasn't the script supposed to say you and Aphrodite are the bottom-tier trash of the Twelve Palaces, having risen to the top by kissing ass?!"
The Deathmask before him was emitting a cold, eerie Cosmo far more powerful than his portrayal in the anime. His movements were treacherous and ruthless, and the ghostly claw shadows formed by Sekishiki covered the sky. He was actually fighting on equal terms with the peerlessly fierce Aiolia, whose punches were as fast as lightning and thunder! Gold light flashed, airwaves surged, and for a moment, it was hard to tell who had the upper hand!
Further away, an even more "fantasy-like" duel made Hiroki's jaw nearly drop to the floor.
Flowing platinum-colored hair, Capricorn? No! It's Aries Mu! That elegant and modest psychokinesis master was currently surrounded by a magnificent yet deadly sea of flowers!
"Aphrodite?!"
Hiroki was completely shocked, his eyes bulging like copper bells. "Pisces! Why are you so fierce too??!"
In his "disbelieving" eyes, Aphrodite's figure was as graceful as a dance. Demon Palace Roses, Royal Demon Roses, and Piranha Roses were layered so densely that not even wind could pass through. Mixed with a thick, poisonous fragrance capable of melting gold and iron, they surged like a tide against the Crystal Wall Mu had deployed!
Mu's signature defensive technique constantly rippled with violent waves, even showing cracks under the intense impact! Mu was suppressed to the point where he could only exert himself to defend, finding it extremely difficult to even look for an opening to counterattack.
"My worldview of the universe has shattered into pieces!" Hiroki ranted frantically in his heart. "Was that scene in the Hades Chapter where you were insta-killed by Mu just you two brothers acting?? Taking an early Oscar for your job hop to Hades?! This power level boost is just too ridiculous!"
The scene before him completely overturned Hiroki's understanding of a "Beginner Village Defense Battle."
Just for Gold Saints alone, five had shown up. Including the temporary worker Seiya, that made six—exactly half of the Gold Saints had appeared.
With the Pope himself present, this luxurious lineup was clearly intended to wipe out the noobs who had just left the spawn point in one go!
He turned his gaze to a slightly more distant clearing.
Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, Andromeda Shun, and Phoenix Ikki—the other four of the Five Bronze Saints—were deep in a tragic sea of Silver!
The black wings of Crow blocked the sun, the Auriga chariot rampaged through, the Medusa Shield of Perseus reflected an eerie light, the lightning snakes of Ophiuchus intertwined in a wild dance, the lethal tail needle of Lacerta was tricky and poisonous, the mind-reading tactics of Asterion disturbed one's peace, the arrows of Centaurus whistled through the air, and the colossal strength of Hercules cracked the ground... A total of eight Silver Saints were launching a frenzied gang-up on the four Bronze Saints!
"What the hell!" Hiroki's scalp tingled as he watched. "These experience babies, who should usually be scattered everywhere and sent in batches to give the protagonist team XP to level up, are actually all squeezed together for a team fight?! Eight against four! How many times has the intensity increased?! The Phoenix's feathers are about to be plucked bald!"
Hyoga's Diamond Dust was broken by the siege, Shun's Nebula Chain was struggling to cope, Shiryu's Rising Dragon could barely protect a corner, and although Ikki's Phoenix Illusion Demon Punch hit one or two people, it was instantly submerged by more fierce attacks. The four Bronze Saints were in a life-or-death situation.
As for the so-called "Five Weaklings"? They had long since become the "Five Face-Downs"—lying scattered on the ground, barely even qualified to be background extras anymore.
Hiroki's CPU ran at high speed: "Damn! This Black Saga definitely hasn't lost any intelligence! This is freaking opening a God Eye to know Seiya has cheats, and directly playing a 'decapitation' strike plus snuffing out all sparks of resistance! Bringing the elites loyal to him for a wave of ultimate kills... this move is vicious enough!"
However, a mission was a mission.
Even though it was only 10,000 points, couldn't the boss still add more temporarily?
Hiroki took a deep breath, his eyes instantly switching from shocked ranting to absolute calm, even carrying a hint of unplanned cunning: "Very well, the messier the scene, the easier it is to fish in troubled waters. As for the battlefield? Let the Gold bros and Silver bros play for a while!"
He immediately barked in a low voice to the Uchiha elites beside him: "Don't get involved in the battlefield! Protecting the target is priority number one! Follow me, the target is ahead, bypass them!"
The Uchiha Ninjas were well-trained and nodded silently. Their Sharingan warily scanned the edges of the chaotic battlefield as they exquisitely controlled their Chakra fluctuations to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. The group moved like ghosts, quickly weaving through the gaps of various explosions, crushed rocks, and shockwaves, skillfully avoiding the areas where the fighting was most intense.
The target was right before them! Crossing the last patch of lawn that had been shaved bald by sword energy, Hiroki saw the target at a glance—a white-clad girl with an extraordinary temperament, enveloped in a shimmer that seemed weak but contained an incredible protective power (perhaps the Goddess's Cosmo unconsciously triggered?).
It was Kido Saori! She stood quietly in that relatively safe clearing, her deep gaze fixed on the core of the distant Gold duel. Her expression was calm beyond her years, even... cold?
Just as Hiroki approached with his people, a voice as angry as a lion's exploded: "Stop! Who are you?!"
A bald man with a shiny head, wearing old Kendo armor, suddenly rushed out from the shadows behind and to the side of Saori. The bamboo sword gripped tightly in his hand pointed directly at Hiroki with a sharp wind sound. His eyes were as fierce as a beast protecting its young; he had clearly mistaken this group of suddenly appearing strangers for new enemies.
It was Tatsumi!
Hiroki didn't stop his steps at all, as if the bamboo sword pointing at him was just a twig.
His gaze passed over Tatsumi's angrily distorted bald face and locked directly onto Saori's bottomless eyes. In a cold, precise, and businesslike tone, he said clearly: "Miss Kido Saori. I am Hiroki, here under the emergency commission you signed via the 'Cross-Dimensional Security Guarantee Protocol.' I and the team behind me—the Uchiha (Ninja Force)—are the escort force responding to your summons. Our sole mission objective: to ensure your personal safety."
He paused slightly, his tone becoming even more oppressive. "This place has become a dead zone, as precarious as a pile of eggs. Please confirm the order immediately and follow my unit to transfer to an absolutely safe zone. There is no time to lose."
Saori's gaze finally slowly moved away from the battlefield and landed on Hiroki's face.
That scrutinizing look was as sharp as if it could pierce the soul, carrying a depth that understood everything.
There was no questioning, no panic, only a nearly divine decisiveness.
Her voice was as calm as water, yet carried an indisputable power: "Fine, I understand."
Then, she unexpectedly raised her hand and pointed toward the direction where Seiya was being violently crushed by Black Saga. "However, wait a moment."
Following her gaze, Hiroki saw Seiya being blown away by Saga once again, one of the Sagittarius Gold wings already broken.
"Miss Saori," Hiroki couldn't help but urge, "your guards probably won't last much longer. Every second of delay increases the risk of evacuation."
A hard-to-read arc appeared at the corner of Saori's mouth: "What if I say no?"
Hiroki narrowed his eyes: "Our team also provides a fast and efficient 'Painless Forced Transfer Solution' service. Please rest assured, our methods are very professional."
(Subtext: Knock you out and carry you off!)
Hearing this, the corner of Saori's mouth seemed to twitch very slightly? Or was it an illusion? In the next second, she turned her face again, her deep eyes staring straight at the core of the battle between gemini and Pegasus, as if ignoring Hiroki's "thoughtful service." A cold command came out once more: "No need."
She slightly raised her chin and said with absolute finality— "Let's go."
??? The script has collapsed! The "professional" expression on Hiroki's face almost broke instantly, his heart feeling like ten thousand horses were stampeding: "Go... gone?!! No! Wait! Goddess? Lady Athena! That guy lying on the ground spitting blood down there is your destined Seiya, hey! Where's the legendary bond? Where's the call of love? Your decisiveness is comparable to a clearance sale! My KPI! My little plan for a temporary price increase! Snap—it's all shattered!"
In despair, he tried to communicate with his last "straw" in his mind.
"System!!" He almost wailed in mental communication, "Issue a task! A task! 'Assist the VIP's Guardian Knight to escape'? Make the reward generous! Issue it quickly!"
The cold electronic voice responded without any fluctuation: "Warning, the task trigger mechanism strictly adheres to the 'Client's Core Will.' Currently, the client's core will is only 'to transfer herself to a safe zone.' No additional task requests have been generated; this depends on whether the client changes her subjective focus of demand. The System has no right to interfere with the client's autonomous will."
Hiroki only felt a breath stuck in his chest, feeling suffocated.
He looked at Saori's exquisite side profile, which seemed covered in frost, and felt that his business mind had no place to be used.
Damn! "...Understood." Hiroki squeezed out a few words from between his teeth, carrying a depressed look of "having lost big time." Finally, he could only wave his hand fiercely and barked at the Uchihas behind him: "Confirm transfer! Execute Evacuation Plan Number One! Protect the target, let's go!"
The Uchiha elites immediately formed their most elite defensive formation to protect Saori in the middle, and then Izumi picked up Kido Saori.
The group no longer lingered for a second, rushing like the wind into the evacuation passage leading deeper into the mansion or along a pre-planned route. They left behind only the increasingly fierce sounds of slaughter and Seiya's faintly heard unyielding shouts (as well as Tatsumi's stunned expression as he stood frozen like a stone statue, watching his young lady being taken away by "mysterious people").
Hiroki took one last backward glance at that Asura field where gold collided, ice and fire intertwined, and starlight dimmed. Carrying a belly full of complaints and the depression of a failed plan, he merged into the dust of evacuation without looking back.