Saint Seiya, but Athena who disobeys?

Seiya turned around, took a step forward, clenched his fist, and unleashed a brilliant fist of light into the air. This light had undergone a qualitative change, even boiling the entire sea surface into a thick soup at high temperatures.

If one possessed the authority over time and slowed the speed of light by several hundred times, humanity would see Seiya's fist strikes ascend at an almost infinite speed, like a meteor shower rising from the earth. Thor, the God of Thunder, would be struck by a meteor, smile, and ultimately transform into a burst of plasma lightning in silence, with lightning and high temperature surging across the sky.

But the meteor shower did not end there; its coverage was so vast that it resembled a natural disaster targeting the gods.

It was a scene reminiscent of the end of the century, with meteors falling like rain, accompanied by lightning and flames. Dionysus was dead, Thor was killed, and standing amidst the foam rising from the waves was the princess of the waves.

The Saint Seiya's aura surged forth like a collapsing mountain, causing the goddess of beauty to instinctively retreat step by step. This was unreasonable; even the Steel God, who descended to earth with the divine status of a hero, would perish before the eleven incarnations of the gods summoned by the Belt of Friendship. But the opponent displayed an even more magnificent power, continuously rising, seemingly without end.

"Friends of our allies, I now beg you... um?" The goddess stared in astonishment at the battlefield before her.

Hermes and Nike, the goddess of victory, had already fled, and even the critically wounded Nezha had vanished. She had originally hoped to use these remaining friends to create an opportunity for her escape, but—where are the people?! Where are the gods?!

How could they run away?! They were summoned by themselves through the band of love, existing solely on their own, and perishing on their own. They could not possibly linger on earth as disobedient gods!

Her thoughts seemed to be about to be cleared, but there was no time to think, because the hateful god-slaying pegasus had already arrived in front of her.

Without a word, Seiya raised his hand, grabbed Athena's neck, and intended to extract her divine core. But for a moment, he hesitated—a rare occurrence. Waves crashed at his feet, but the shell before him was now empty.

"Your princess is not someone you can escape."

------------

------------

Basel, Greece: Temple of Apollo, the Camino de Santiago.

In a shaded alley, a man carrying a cane and wearing a top hat, looking every bit the English gentleman, strolled leisurely through this historic lane. He wore a monocle, observing the antiques, some real and some fake, and occasionally bought an interesting item or two from the vendors.

As he walked deeper into the alley, he pulled an ancient stone slab from his pocket. The slab was engraved with a very primitive and simple pattern: a man with his hands and feet bound. Around the edge of the picture were patterns of outstretched birds, the sun, the moon, and stars.

"Prometheus, the grimoire containing the secrets of the fire-stealing ritual has finally fallen into my hands. Did you, with your foresight, foresee this outcome?" Hermes revealed a smug smile. Unlike those reckless warriors who revel in battle or fools who watch the spectacle, His purpose in coming here was solely for this one treasure.

He even willingly contributed a portion of his power, descending to earth with four powers: thief, fraudster, magician, and traveler. In a sense, he was the strongest of these descended deities. And the powers he held were sufficient to traverse worlds and return to the divine realm.

"It even hides the power of the sun, it's the war god of the East... Heh, and by the way, it can also sell the secret that Stella (Aphrodite) is hiding in this world to that arrogant goddess of war... I'm curious, will she kill this Pegasus that symbolizes the fallen side when she sees Seiya?"

He suddenly felt the shadows wriggling, and the next instant, his smile froze on his face.

"Greetings, my beloved sister... sister..." Hermes coughed up blood, but still managed a forced smile. Athena, standing before him, coldly watched the thief whose lower limbs had been bitten off by the black serpent. "You actually try to awaken my brotherly feelings for you with words, Hermes? You clown, perhaps you can actually make me smile."

Hermes laughed, "The Holy Mother of the Trinity... Heh, Stella has completely chosen another dead end, heh!"

These were Hermes' last words to the world. The serpent opened its mouth wide, and darkness swallowed the messenger of the gods. The stone tablet fell into Athena's hands. But she did not leave immediately; as white wings descended, Nike, the winged goddess holding victory, knelt on one knee.

"Praise be to you, goddess of bright eyes, who oversees the flow of all things. Your wisdom is boundless, your power unmatched." With that, she transformed into a winged staff and landed in Athena's palm.

Now we only need one more person.

—Fusang, Tochigi Prefecture, Nikko Toshogu Shrine.

This is the main headquarters of Toshogu Shrine, a sacred site where the power of Tosho is manifested. But at this moment, a somber atmosphere permeates this sacred place.

"Honorable Great God of the Three Altars and Seas, please stop here for now!" The white-haired, thick-browed monks of the Tiantai school blocked the path of the Lotus Boy holding the Fire-Tipped Spear, their hands clasped together. "Behind us is the palace where the Divine Lord resides, not a place for you to come!"

These Tiantai monks were sincere and devoted, but the barrier they jointly set up blocked Nezha's progress.

Nezha lowered his eyes to look at the edge of the barrier that was slightly stinging his scalp, at the humble but resolute monks before him, and at the magnificent Western Heaven Palace behind him. Suddenly, he raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a cruel smile overflowing with malice.

"--die."

It was just a single, brief word, yet it was the purest command. The spear lashed out, and the old monk at the very front was cleaved in two.

This great deity of the Three Altars and Seas launched a massacre before the monks could react. Wielding his fire-tipped spear, his arrogance tinged with brutality, he impartially bestowed upon each of his disobedient followers the most merciful consequence: death. Broken vajras, severed heads, and boiling blood from the wind-fire wheels—in less than a second, the entire scene was shrouded in a blood mist.

Chapter 49: Saint Seiya, Connect Intimately with Love!

Tenkai, a monk of the Tiantai school and one of the three elders of the official history compilation committee, was watching the scene of the massacre of his own disciple's grand-disciple.

He was once Tokugawa Ieyasu's strategist, a renowned and wise monk who served the third shogun, Iemitsu. Later, he attained immortality through spiritual practice, becoming a living Buddha, and at this moment, his face shows signs of suffering.

Although this Great God of the Three Altars and Seas manifests as a tyrannical hero, His current condition is extremely poor. And for me, a being whose physical body is Buddha, to oppose Him is a sure victory.

But just as he was about to step out of the Netherworld, a chill ran through him from within, making him shiver involuntarily. He instinctively looked towards a certain spot in the Netherworld, but there was nothing there. However, through the spiritual perception of an Arhat, he was able to glimpse the vague shape of a trident-shaped double-edged halberd that had appeared not long before.

He muttered Buddhist chants in a low voice, his face filled with anguish, closed his eyes, turned around, and vanished into the underworld.

These Tiantai monks, even if they were considered eminent monks throughout East Asia, were not even worth mentioning in front of the Great God of the Three Altars and Sea Assembly.

He strode confidently through the torii gate and arrived at a shrine in a peach grove. Around the shrine and the peach trees, shimenawa (sacred ropes) stretched out on all four sides, releasing powerful incantations; these ropes were the core of the great protective barrier. This mandala was created to prevent demonic interference.

Nezha, who forcibly broke in, was also regarded as the demon himself.

"Guanyin?" Nezha scoffed. "Don't you know who I am?"

In the "Heavenly King Recitation Method," Nezha is an emanation of the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteshvara and is regarded as a Bodhisattva's Dharmakaya. Nezha forms the wish-granting mudra with his right hand and slowly covers the surface of the barrier with his left hand. The four directions and four corners tremble simultaneously, accompanied by a clear sound like shattering glass, and there is no longer any obstacle for him on his way.

Nezha was pressed for time because he didn't know how long the goddess of beauty and those divine incarnations could delay Saint Seiya, so he had to speed up his pace.

Ahead, you can see a very magnificent building. It's a huge house... no, it should be called a castle or a palace. It's not a more localized Japanese-style building, but a Chinese-style palace similar to the Forbidden City.

However, Nezha's gaze didn't linger on these magnificent palaces even for a moment, finally settling on a secluded stable within the palace grounds. It was called a stable, but it was just an ordinary, simple horse stable. And inside the stable, among the piles of straw, lay a gray stone monkey statue lying on its side.

"The stable boy, what a disgrace, monkey," Nezha said, looking at the familiar figure before him with a mocking smile mixed with a touch of nostalgia. "Imprisoned in this cramped and confined space by Japanese monks, you plague-bringing monkey, this is enough for me to mock you for another five hundred years."

The Great God of the Three Altars and Seas spoke ruthlessly, but he channeled his already dwindling divine power, spraying it all onto the stone monkey in front of him as blood from his bitten tongue.

"I drink molten copper to quench my thirst and endure the years, I eat iron bullets to pass the time; I have suffered enough from natural disasters and hardships, yet you still do not wake up!" Nezha's eyes widened in anger.

Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and a torrential downpour began. There was no lightning, no gale, and even the bloodstains on the stone monkey were washed away by the rain dripping from the eaves. After a moment of silence, Nezha let out a soft sigh at the sight before him.

"So that's how it is. I arrived too early." Nezha sighed, stroking the monkey's head.

Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, is one of the most famous heroic gods even on a global scale, and the highest-ranking steel god among the rebellious gods who have descended to earth throughout the millennia. The secret ritual that can bind Him is definitely not something that can be resolved by ordinary methods of breaking the seal.

It must be at the right time and in the right place, with the right divine body in hand. Nezha sensed that the right time was only a month away, and the key to breaking the seal was even inside this Western Heaven Palace.

But the timing was wrong, and everything was wrong.

No, it's not impossible. Nezha suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of Mount Fuji. "It's alright, Third Prince." A deep young man's voice sounded from behind.

Nezha was stunned at first, then turned his head in disbelief to look at the figure that appeared behind him, "Second Brother?!"

Erlang Shen, a recluse in the world of China, is an immortal being. But Nezha, who is on the verge of returning to mythology, realizes that the Erlang Shen before him is not a disobedient god, but merely an avatar identical to himself.

How did he end up here? Nezha didn't have time to think about it, because the ritual of breaking the seal had already exhausted the last bit of divine power he relied on to maintain his existence.

When the wind and rain subsided and the sunlight shone again on the Western Heavenly Palace, the motionless stone monkey slowly opened its eyes. Then it rubbed its bottom, turned over, and continued sleeping.

—Tokyo, Japan, shrouded in gloom and rain.

In the victory feedback from the God of War's power, all the divine avatars had perished, but the most core goddess of beauty had not. Only the empty shell named Wanli Valley Yuri remained, along with the victory feedback message instructing him to await the distribution of rewards.

This was the first time Seiya had encountered such a situation. But at that moment, a ray of moonlight, like a ribbon, fell upon Seiya.

The Saint Seiya looked up, and the goddess, holding a scepter, appeared along with the moonlight, her white dress resembling a blooming flower.

Beneath her flowing bangs are sharply defined eyebrows, and beneath those eyebrows are a pair of bright eyes that seem to draw even the night in, radiating a cold light. If her previous girlish demeanor was like a budding thyme, then the goddess who has now descended from the heavens, wielding a scepter, is a blooming white rose.

"Do you know why Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology, has the name Stella?" Athena suddenly asked.

"The proper name of the goddess of love and beauty is Aphrodite, and the corresponding name in Roman mythology is Venus. Stella is not the name of the goddess in Greek or Roman mythology, but means 'star' in Latin." Seiya had at least brushed up on his mythological knowledge.

Athena remained noncommittal. "This name also proves that she is a combination of Ishtar from Babylonian mythology and the descendant of Greek mythology, so you can also think of the power she possesses in this way. She is the princess of bubbles, so she will disappear and leave in front of you along with the bubbles rising from the waves. But she is also a vengeful goddess, so she will surely come back to find you again."

Seiya finally understood why the feedback from the power was that he was waiting for the reward to be issued. It was because she would contact him again.

“Like a little devil,” Seiya suddenly said.

Seeing Athena's raised eyebrows, Seiya explained, "It's a young girl who always treats people with arrogance, haughtiness, disdain, and teasing. To be precise, it's an arrogant, foul-mouthed loli who doesn't know her place."

In fact, Seiya didn't need to explain. Athena, with her wisdom, quickly understood the meaning of those three words: "Little brat, that's a name that suits her very well. And the reason she came into this world is because of your existence."

“That sounds weird.” Seiya raised an eyebrow. “But I’m more curious about when she’ll be here.”

“At that time, and right now,” Athena said, then beckoned Seiya closer. The instant Seiya drew nearer, his eyes narrowed. The girl's face was drawing ever closer, until she… kissed his lips.

In an instant, the rich scent of roses completely enveloped his entire body, and the world seemed to fade away.

--------

Please vote!

Chapter 50: Pegasus, use the Meteor Fist on Athena!

Her long hair cascaded down, like a piece of silk enveloping her curvaceous body. The image of her cupping Psyche's face and lowering her head to kiss her was reminiscent of Antonio Canova's sculpture "Cupid Awakens Psyche with a Kiss." Cupid gently embraces Psyche, awakening his sleeping lover with a kiss; the delicate and graceful gesture of cupping her face symbolizes the sacred power of love.

A similar scene unfolded in reality, yet it possessed an allure that was difficult to explain. The goddess's tongue swayed seductively, searching for the location of Seiya's tongue. A vast amount of information and a pleasurable sensation, as if it were about to pierce through him, raced through Seiya's mind.

Let's just let everything unfold naturally.

Seiya's consciousness gradually sank into a dazzling, exhilarating state. The goddess, seemingly understanding the Saint's thoughts, revealed a faint smile.

Godslayers possess remarkable resistance to all forms of mystery. This applies not only to enemy techniques but also to harmless, beneficial magic. Even magic used by allies will be deflected by the Godslayer. Therefore, the most direct method is to directly inject mystery into the body.

The goddess is now using magic to impart the knowledge she possesses.

It is a history related to the goddess Aphrodite.

According to Hesiod's Theogony, Aphrodite was born from the foam that the symbol of Uranus, the god of the sea, was thrown into the ocean and became, making her the princess of foam. She emerged from a giant seashell that rose from the sea and walked barefoot onto the beach. Wherever she walked, beautiful flowers bloomed.

She is a symbol of beauty and love, and has direct connections to ancient goddesses of fertility and nurturing, such as Hathor, Isis, Inanna, and Astartes. Furthermore, Aphrodite can be traced back to the Phoenicians in mythological lineage, and is the sister of Inanna, the Babylonian goddess of Ishtar and the Syrian Phoenician goddess of Astartes.

Therefore, beauty, fertility, and sexuality were all her powers. Aphrodite was also revered as the patron goddess of seafarers. People living in bays and islands generally worshipped Aphrodite, hence she had several other names such as "Aphrodite of the Bay," "Aphrodite who grants favorable winds," and "Aphrodite who calms the sea." In addition, in Cyprus, Kythora, Sparta, and other places, she was also revered as the goddess of war clad in armor.

But the strongest and most representative bond is love.

The power of love can make all things reluctant to harm her; the power of love can make her easily capture all of humanity; the power of love can make her summon the power of friends who are connected in various mythologies or have had connections in reality; at the same time, the power of love can also unleash amazing power when necessary conditions are met.

For example, now.

Kissing is the most primal contract, symbolizing the connection between people. Many primates also kiss; in earlier times, kissing represented the primitive biological function of exchanging hormones. And now, through this contract, an invisible ribbon binds the two together.

The purpose was to immediately and thoroughly teach Seiya the history and nature of Aphrodite. This was all thanks to the forbidden knowledge transmitted through lips and tongue, sweet breath and saliva, which gradually revealed the true face of the goddess Aphrodite.

The names Aphrodite, Milos, and Stella also represent a shift in his focus.

But at that very moment, the violent moonlight poured down like a heavy weight, merging the sky and the courtyard into a silvery white line.

The deathly night wind swept across the land, but the frail goddess showed no fear. Seiya, with his bare chest, stood before her, forcing Athena to withdraw her attack.

The true goddess of war, the Triune Athena, finally appears, but what comes into view is Seiya, his face cupped by Stella, seemingly devoid of self-awareness. His entire body is enveloped in the bonds of friendship, his original clothes completely melting into the moonlight. At this moment, he is like the naked Cupid in Caravaggio's "Victory of Cupid," his lust having transcended civilization.

In the realm of love, Stella is equivalent to powerful figures like Shaka and Saga from Saint Seiya!

"Oh, Athena, you've come!" Stella wrapped her arms around Seiya's neck from behind, resting her chin gently on his shoulder, looking at the goddess with whom she shared a deep-seated grudge with a playful expression. "Oh, I forgot to tell you... Pegasus tastes really good, very smooth!"

Athena's gaze was sharp. "You vile beast ruled by lust, I will nail you to Mount Etna and let a thousand venomous snakes and a thousand owls peck at your body every day. Prepare yourself!"

"Oh, that sounds terrifying, hahaha!" Stella laughed, wrapping her arms around Seiya's neck. "That's the expression! That look of utter hatred and jealousy! I'm going to record it and spread it to the gods for their amusement!!"

Stella laughed, even hysterically! Her laughter was unrestrained and exhilarating! Her conflict with Athena had been brewing for a long time. From the spark of the golden apple incident, to the division of factions in the Trojan War, and then to their complete opposition in modern philosophy. Athena's wisdom was regarded as the epitome of reason by philosophers like Plato, while Stella's passion was seen as a source of creativity in Greek philosophy.

They represent the two poles of reason and desire, order and freedom in ancient Greek mythology. Unfortunately, Stella, representing the other pole, rarely triumphed over Athena, even nearly being annihilated by her, another goddess of war, in the realm of the gods. The once voluptuous mature woman was reduced to a bland, unattractive loli; her once captivating breasts were reduced to a pair of unremarkable small A-cups. How could she not hate, how could she not resent?

From the very beginning, her goal was Pegasus, which she had glimpsed through her spiritual vision back in the Divine Realm! Don't you understand, Athena? Only the strong deserve to be possessed by the beautiful!

"I will get back what I have lost!" Stella clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

Now that I have obtained this incredibly powerful Pegasus, I will definitely return to the Divine Realm to beat Athena to her knees and make her my Stella's slave! But let me start by taking down this even stronger Triune Mother!

Athena wielded her winged staff, her divine power as vast as a prison. She was not a gifted eloquent deity, nor did she intend to waste words on the lowly Stella. Stella instinctively felt fear before Athena, but quickly she wrapped her arms tightly around Seiya's neck, a smug smile spreading across her face.

I have a sure-win trump card in my hand right now!

"Pegasus, you'll protect me, right!" Stella whispered seductively in Seiya's ear. "Now, unleash the Pegasus Meteor Fist on Athena!"

Stella watched as light rose from the Saint Seiya's fists, and the next moment, she grabbed her own neck.

Chapter 51: Believing that love will never disappear

Huh? Stella stared in disbelief at the scene before her as the white ribbon swiftly moved her to a safe position.