Chapter 59: Transferring Death

At the same moment, in the Papal Palace, Pope Avide burst into hearty laughter. Chief of Staff Burton, eager to please, poured him a glass of red wine. Avide then declared, “Go summon the dancing girls—I want to enjoy myself tonight!”

Burton scurried off, all too willing to arrange for music and dance.

In the Twelve Golden Temples, many of the Gold Saints sensed Feng Zhe’s cosmos fading away. A shooting star streaked across the sky, and the Gold Saints in each temple let out a sigh.

Meanwhile, in the Land of the Rising Sun, Miss Saori suddenly stood up and gazed into the distance, as if she had felt something momentous happening in Sanctuary. Her heart tightened inexplicably.

“Miss Saori, is something wrong?” Seiya asked, puzzled. With his limited cosmos, he could sense nothing amiss.

“Feng Zhe’s cosmos seems to be vanishing…”

“Huh?”

“And the last place it flickered was in Sanctuary…”

Though Miss Saori had sometimes been displeased with Feng Zhe’s actions, over these many days she had come to understand that everything he did was, in the end, for her sake.

When someone who truly cares for you stands before you, you may find them annoying; but if they suddenly disappear, a surge of anxiety and dread overtakes your heart.

Miss Saori found herself praying, hoping Feng Zhe would be safe, but as a reincarnated soul, such prayers were surely futile.

Just as Feng Zhe’s life was about to reach its end, the sacred fire within him seemed to sense something. A burst of flames ignited at his chest.

The Star Chart of the Altar appeared before him, transforming into an old man clad in a white Cloth.

Through his haze, Feng Zhe recognized the elder and murmured, pointing at him, “Master Baili?”

It was Baili, from the year 1743—the very Baili who had taught him so much before.

Baili approached, gently touched Feng Zhe’s forehead with his finger, then produced a golden apple.

Feng Zhe immediately recognized it. This was the essential artifact with which Sisyphus had, with Feng Zhe’s aid, sealed the evil Eris.

“Thank you, Master Baili. I will never fail you…”

Tears welled up in Feng Zhe’s eyes. Then the Star Chart of the Altar dissolved, leaving only the golden apple before him, radiating a dense cosmos.

As Feng Zhe touched the golden apple, his cosmos suddenly erupted with dazzling brilliance.

Sacrifice!

Transferring death!

This was the supreme secret technique Baili had realized at the moment of his own death—the most powerful ultimate move of the Altar constellation.

Using the sacred fire as the medium and the cosmos as the trigger, it allowed one to transfer his own impending death onto an enemy with an awakened Eighth Sense.

If the order was reversed—cosmos as the medium, sacred fire as the trigger—it became a surefire path to mutual destruction; even a god would be utterly annihilated.

Baili had named this ultimate move “Termination of Death.”

Now, Feng Zhe’s task was to transfer his death onto the golden apple.

And within this golden apple was the soul of the evil goddess Eris—who just so happened to possess the Eighth Sense…

As the sacred fire passed through him, the wounds inflicted by the golden dagger began to mend, while a crack appeared on the golden apple.

A blinding light exploded within the Sagittarius Temple. When it faded, there was no trace of the dagger in Feng Zhe’s chest, but beside him, the golden apple stood impaled by the golden dagger.

Crack!

The golden apple shattered, falling to the ground as dust.

“Feng Zhe, the gods of Olympus will not forgive you!” came Eris’s final voice, which faded into utter oblivion amid boundless hatred.

Feng Zhe stood up, ready to leave, when a ray of light appeared in the Sagittarius Temple.

The Sagittarius Gold Cloth descended from the heavens, landing neatly in the temple.

“Hmm?”

The Sagittarius Cloth suddenly fired an arrow, striking the distant wall and shattering it to pieces.

“Keep moving forward, young man!”

It was a message left by Aiolos, as if he had foreseen this very moment.

Beneath the message seemed to be a box.

Feng Zhe opened it, revealing a vial of fresh blood inside.

“He’s become a god? How did he know I would need his blood?”

Feng Zhe’s heart pounded with excitement. Then it struck him—this message was not for Seiya, but for himself! Aiolos had truly meant it for him.

Had altering the pivotal moment of the Saga Rebellion changed his own timeline?

Feng Zhe was confused, but there was no time to dwell on it.

While it was still midday, he poured the blood onto the ground, then drew out Athena’s Shield.

Suddenly, a great radiance filled the Sagittarius Temple, bright enough to illuminate the entire Sanctuary.

A cluster of Sagittarius sacred fire appeared before Feng Zhe; he swallowed it whole.

Instantly, his cosmos exploded in power…

At that moment, his sense of touch reached its peak among his five senses, and his sixth sense—his cosmos—evolved once more.

Now, all five of Feng Zhe’s senses had reached their zenith; his mind was clearer than ever before.

He threw a punch—its speed was a hundred times the speed of sound, an enormous leap in strength.

“One Hundredfold Sonic Punch!”

Excitement shone in Feng Zhe’s eyes—for this instant, he was one step closer to the Seventh Sense.

…

Elsewhere,

Pope Avide, just moments ago enjoying the dancing girls, suddenly turned grim. His wineglass slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor. The startled dancers cowered, no longer daring to move.

“Send word to Shura of Capricorn. Tell him the time has come to prove his loyalty!”

Burton, terrified, rushed off to deliver the order.

Shura of Capricorn had been prepared long before; he was polishing his arms as though they were blades.

But Feng Zhe did not approach the Capricorn Temple. Instead, he took a path known only to the palace stewards, arriving directly at the door of the Aquarius Temple.

“Camus!”

Camus looked at Feng Zhe coldly. “Why have you come to me first?”

Feng Zhe smiled. “Shura is not the most sympathetic man, so I came to ask for your help first.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll freeze you solid?”

“I know you’ll help me, just as you once helped my teacher, Saga.”

It was Camus’s freezing technique that had preserved Shion’s body in the Star Tower for so long. Few knew of this, but as Saga’s disciple, Feng Zhe certainly did.

“I’ll help you, but you must do something for me in return.”

Feng Zhe considered, then replied, “The Crystal Saint—I’m sorry about what happened…”

“No! Once the Crystal Saint became a private soldier, he was no longer my student. But Hyoga—I have high hopes for him…”

“Hyoga is indeed a rare talent among you of the Freezing School, perhaps even capable of awakening the Eighth Sense.”

Feng Zhe was not exaggerating; Hyoga’s extraordinary gift, combined with his calm demeanor and resolute will, made him the natural successor to Aquarius.

“I promise I’ll do everything in my power to help him elevate his cosmos…”

“No! What I ask is that, at a crucial moment, you save his life. Whether he succeeds or fails, let fate decide.”

Feng Zhe immediately understood Camus’s intent—all was for Hyoga’s sake, and even death was a form of growth.

Feng Zhe found himself reflecting even more deeply on the nature of the Freezing School.