Chapter 57: Severance
Chapter 57
"Alex!"
The Hound had the ability to read minds, so naturally, he saw into Feng Zhe’s heart and was filled with fury at the silver saints’ internecine struggle.
The Whale remained loyal to the Sanctuary. Though on the verge of defeat, he still asked, “Alex, have you betrayed the Sanctuary as well?”
Feng Zhe shook his head. “I’ve never betrayed the Sanctuary. My loyalty lies only with my own beliefs. Do you two follow the Pope now, or your own convictions?”
His words seemed to pierce right through their souls. Feng Zhe’s deep eyes fixed upon Moses of the Whale, as if to see straight into his heart.
Faced with this, the Whale turned to the Hound, Adrien.
Adrien answered directly, “I have never betrayed Lady Athena. I am still Athena’s Saint!”
At that moment, Misty of the Lizard arrived, choosing to stand with his teammates. The three silver saints stood together.
Feng Zhe cast a frustrated glance at Miss Saori, who still sat quietly as if watching a play. Had she revealed her goddess’s cosmos from the start, these silver saints would never have attempted her assassination.
Yet Saori remained seated throughout, as though merely watching events unfold.
A sense of suffocating loneliness and disappointment welled up in Feng Zhe’s heart. He sighed, perhaps he had always meddled too much.
Maybe from the very beginning, he’d been wrong.
“Miss Saori, you have truly disappointed me.”
There was something utterly different in his cold tone.
Saori could clearly sense the change within Feng Zhe, as though something was slipping away at any moment.
She smiled, still as radiant as ever.
“I’ve heard you studied under the former rebel Pope, Saga. The Gemini Gold Saint is always divided between good and evil. Does that mean you, his disciple, are the same?”
Feng Zhe did not become angry. Instead, he laughed.
His laughter carried a trace of bitterness.
Suddenly, he coughed up blood, as if the filth within his heart had, in that moment, been sublimated.
He looked at the three saints and said, “Misty, all three of you should return to the Sanctuary at once. Don’t get involved in this conflict—it is not for silver saints to meddle in.”
Misty of the Lizard seemed to understand his meaning, and Adrien of the Hound saw into Feng Zhe’s heart.
The three nodded and quickly vanished from the garden villa.
Feng Zhe glanced at Saori, then disappeared without looking back.
The sudden turn of events left everyone with the sense that Feng Zhe would not return this time.
Bright as she was, how could Saori not understand? She stood and faced her Saints, her expression solemn.
“From today onward, you no longer have a caretaker. My safety, your growth—these are things you must strive for yourselves!”
The group nodded blankly, only Shiryu looking at Saori with a peculiar expression.
...
Sanctuary
House of Leo
Aiolia was guarding the House of Leo when suddenly, a figure cloaked from head to toe appeared before him.
“You are... Alex?!”
Aiolia was clearly unprepared for Feng Zhe’s sudden appearance.
“Aiolia, I need your help!”
Feng Zhe’s words left Aiolia momentarily stunned, but then he burst out laughing.
“Two years ago, I heard you vanished in the House of Cancer. I regretted it then. Now that you’ve returned to the Sanctuary, I’ll help you!”
Without hesitation, Aiolia cut his arm, letting blood flow.
Feng Zhe produced the long-unused Shield of Athena, which shone brilliantly in the sunlight, as if gilded in rays of the sun.
Using the reflected light, he shone it upon the blood left by the Leo Gold Saint. Instantly, a vast radiance spread throughout the House of Leo.
A pillar of light shot into the sky above, igniting the sacred fire of Leo.
Feng Zhe’s Altar Cloth also burst into sacred flame, merging with the Leo fire, causing his cosmos to soar anew.
In that instant, his eyes shone brilliantly, and his sense of sight reached its very peak.
His cosmos, too, evolved to the apex of the sixth sense. Had he not restrained himself, he might have broken through long ago.
He swung his fist, feeling the cosmos within him—he could now unleash a punch at nine times the speed of sound.
With these preparations complete, he still hungered for more and set out for the House of Virgo.
As he went, Aiolia said, “Shaka is not easy to deal with. You’d best be careful.”
“Thank you. I owe you one.”
Aiolia laughed heartily in reply.
...
House of Virgo
The House of Virgo was empty save for the towering statue of the Buddha.
Feng Zhe smiled inwardly—Shaka clearly had no intention of meeting him.
“Shaka, I have a request. Please, come out so I may see you.”
He called thrice, but the House of Virgo remained silent.
“If you don’t show yourself, do you think I won’t tear down your House of Virgo?”
“You are now a wanted man in the Sanctuary. You are no longer Acting Pope. Even if you come here, what business do you have with me?”
At last, Shaka’s voice sounded, though not his figure. Clearly, he had no intention of showing himself.
Feng Zhe smiled and spoke, “I don’t understand. That Aved is clearly of ill intent. You, the one closest to godhood—why won’t you come out to stop him?”
“The wheels of fate have long since broken. Only by returning to the original path can the Holy War end...”
Shaka had already glimpsed a higher state of enlightenment and sensed something amiss, so he sought to restore the original course of events.
“If things are already broken, there’s no returning to the start. And that Aved is far more terrifying than you imagine—he participated in the last Holy War...”
“What?!”
At those words, a lotus bloom appeared, upon which sat Shaka, serene as the Buddha.
Shaka’s eyes remained closed, his cosmos radiating a peaceful aura unmatched by most Gold Saints.
“He, like you, is a man whose fate cannot be divined...”
The future was hazy even to Shaka. Feng Zhe smiled and continued, “I was caught in the schemes of Chronos, the god of time. That’s why I disappeared for two years...”
“Chronos?!”
At this, Shaka’s expression changed, myriad emotions crossing his face as sweat beaded his brow.
“I have been tricked!”
With Shaka’s abilities, it was unthinkable he wouldn’t have sensed his own predicament.
He replied, “In that case, I will help you.”
So saying, Shaka drew his own blood.
Instantly, the House of Virgo blazed with light. The Shield of Athena, shining in the sun, descended once more upon the House of Virgo.
This time, Feng Zhe’s hearing was vastly enhanced—his auditory sense reaching its zenith.
His cosmos’ sixth sense evolved once more, and with his hearing at its peak, Feng Zhe could now deliver punches at twelve times the speed of sound.
...
Pope’s Palace
“Have Leo and Virgo betrayed us?” Aved’s face was dark, but he sneered coldly and vanished on the spot.