Chapter 74: Strife Within the Celestial Palace

Somewhere in Asgard, inside a vast villa, Freya welcomed the Sanctuary group with great warmth and prepared a sumptuous dinner for them. During the meal, she reassured Saori and the others that they could return home without worry—Hyoga would safely return to Sanctuary, and they need not be concerned.

Meanwhile, outside the villa, Fengzhe finished off a warrior with a single punch and took from him a fragment of the Aries Cloth. This shard was clear proof that Hyoga had suffered an attack—a scheme deliberately orchestrated by Doluba to provoke a full-scale war.

After giving Freya a few instructions—under no circumstances was anyone to re-enter the palace—Fengzhe made his way to the divine palace.

Elsewhere in the palace, an orange-clad God Warrior leaned against a wall. His face was obscured, but his piercing blue eyes radiated undeniable power.

“Should I call you Midgard, or should I call you Hyoga?”

Fengzhe’s smile seemed to cut the orange God Warrior to the quick. The warrior immediately unleashed a frost punch, but Fengzhe easily blocked the attack. With a swift counter, he struck Hyoga, sending him flying into the wall and shattering his God Warrior armor.

Fengzhe shook his head. As expected, a Hyoga brainwashed by the Demon Fist was far from gold-class strength—he could hardly measure up to even a silver saint, fit only to ambush Shiryu.

Walking over, Fengzhe saw the twisted expression on Hyoga’s face, as if he refused to yield. Fengzhe struck him again, slamming him to the ground and sending him into unconsciousness.

Yet the matter of how to break the Demon Fist’s control remained. Fengzhe had never dealt with this before. Still, every demon fist was just a form of brainwashing; it could not truly alter the soul. Fengzhe unleashed the Praesepe Underworld Wave, ripping Hyoga’s soul from his body.

When Hyoga regained consciousness, he found himself at the River Styx, surrounded by wandering spirits. Shocked, he looked around in horror.

“Who are you, really?” Hyoga now realized the man before him was no palace priest, but far more like a Saint.

“Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is that Athena is in danger—she needs you.”

At the mention of Athena, determination flared in Hyoga’s eyes. He turned to Fengzhe and declared, “I am a Saint of Athena. It is my duty to protect Miss Saori!”

Fengzhe breathed a long sigh of relief. Hyoga’s soul was intact; had he remained lost to the Demon Fist, unable to break free, Fengzhe would have had no choice but to consign him to the abyss.

Back in the palace, Hyoga glanced at his own hands. What had happened on the River Styx felt dreamlike, yet the memories were vivid and real. As he watched Fengzhe depart, Hyoga suddenly called out, “Thank you. You remind me of a friend of mine.”

Fengzhe smiled gently, gestured with his hand, and then disappeared into the forest.

Inside the villa, Miss Saori received an invitation from Grand Pontiff Doluba: the palace had news of Hyoga, and she was to come alone. Doluba had even thoughtfully arranged for her carriage to wait at the villa’s entrance.

Freya rushed to intervene, raising her voice. “My brother specifically said, under no circumstances are you to go back to the palace!”

The God Warrior in charge of inviting Saori, and acting as coachman, was Lunge—a massive man, the strongest among the God Warriors. The giant boomerang known as Thor’s Hammer was like a toy in his hands.

Saori hesitated at Freya’s words, but Lunge’s face darkened as he pressed, “Miss Saori, this is the Pontiff’s order. Please do not be swayed by outsiders.”

He even produced a fragment of a Saint Cloth.

“The Aries Cloth—Hyoga’s!” Seiya instantly recognized the piece. Even Saori could see that to get to the truth, she had to see Doluba again.

She turned to Freya. “Thank you for your kindness, but I must find Hyoga no matter what.”

With that, she boarded the carriage. Just as it was about to depart, Hyoga appeared.

“Miss Saori, don’t get on that carriage!”

Hyoga’s sudden arrival made Seiya’s eyes light up. Shun hurried over to support him, and, seeing he was unharmed, finally relaxed.

Suddenly, the carriage sped away—Lunge, with Saori still inside, was headed straight for the palace.

“Miss Saori!” Seiya cried. Before he could react, the carriage was already out of sight.

“After them!” Shiryu shouted.

The four Bronze Saints came to their senses and took off in pursuit.

Just then, a God Warrior slashed the ground with his sword, cutting a massive fissure as easily as slicing tofu.

“Your opponent is me—the Flame Sword, Uru!”

“Nebula Chain!”

“You go after Miss Saori—I’ll handle him!” Shun focused on Uru, while the others raced after the carriage.

Meanwhile, Fengzhe entered the palace alone and came before Doluba.

“Freyal, you don’t even bow when you see me?” Doluba sneered.

Fengzhe looked calmly at Doluba, his face expressionless. “Doluba, by inciting conflict between Asgard and Sanctuary, you have defied the will of Odin. As Odin’s priest, I sentence you to exile. Do you accept?”

Doluba burst out in manic laughter, as if it were the greatest joke he’d ever heard. “Do you not know that I am Odin’s earthly representative? Even in Valhalla, I am the High Pontiff by right. What authority do you have to judge me?”

“What if we add our voices?” came a new voice.

A group of priests in ceremonial robes stepped into the palace, led by another priestess long unseen—Hilda.

“Hilda?!” Doluba’s pupils contracted in shock. Her arrival was a surprise, but even more so was the crowd of elderly women behind her—each a former priestess, the true foundation of the palace.

When Freya left, Fengzhe had already sent a secret message to Hilda, urging her to come to the palace that very night before things changed.

After reading the letter, Hilda had gone straight to Valhalla’s most sacred place and summoned many former priestesses to confront Doluba together.

“You—” Doluba stammered.

Hilda stepped forward. “Odin desires peace for the earth. Even in the face of cold and hardship, he would not wish for war.”

“Doluba, you have defied the will of Odin. You are no longer fit to act as his representative.”

One of the former priestesses spoke out, and many others at once voiced their agreement.

Doluba’s face darkened. At that moment, a new voice sounded.

“Pontiff, all those from the Valhalla Temple faction are here. They’ve always held you back. If you wish to rule the land, their presence will only hinder you.”

Fengzhe shouted in fury, “God Warrior Loki! It’s your manipulations that led Pontiff Doluba astray. You are the one who deserves to be damned!”

At Fengzhe’s words, all eyes turned toward Loki, and at once the weight of their gaze pressed down upon him.