Chapter 370 - 186: Liberating the Saints, Believe in Me One More Time! (Part 2)

Chapter 370: Chapter 186: Liberating the Saints, Believe in Me One More Time! (Part 2)

Aiolos took a deep breath.

"And the Holy War... it has never stopped. Generation after generation of Saints have stepped forward to fill the breach, repeating the same sacrifices. We... what exactly did the sacrifices of us Saints buy? Was it merely... to allow this endless cycle to continue?"

His words held no fierce accusations, yet they pierced the hearts of all the Saints like a cold dagger.

The eyes of the newly liberated past Gold Saints also revealed a faint trace of resentment.

They had fought and died for the Goddess, only to be trapped in the Underworld for millennia, watching the Holy War repeat time and again as new generations were continuously imprisoned for eternity in the Ice Hell.

Were they truly nothing more than playthings in the hands of the gods?

This sense of insignificance was even more suffocating than death itself.

Facing Aiolos’s questioning that struck right at the essence of the matter, and seeing the silent accusations in the eyes of the past Saints, Athena’s eyes grew slightly red.

She bit her red lip, putting away the arrogance of a Goddess, her voice carrying an unprecedented sincerity and heaviness.

"Aiolos... and all the heroic spirits imprisoned here..."

She bowed slightly, making a gesture of apology that represented a deity.

"I... feel a deep sense of guilt. Your loyalty and sacrifices should not have been let down, much less forgotten. Imprisoning your souls was Hades’s wicked deed, but it is also... my dereliction of duty for failing to thoroughly end the Holy War."

She raised her head, her gaze sweeping over all the Saints—whether of the current or past generations, whether living or recently returned heroic spirits.

"This guilt, this apology, I will engrave in my heart. But please believe me, I have never forgotten your contributions! Liberating you today is not only for the battle at hand, but even more so... to end all of this!"

Athena’s voice suddenly rose, carrying unquestionable resolve.

"I swear it here and now! This battle will be the end of the Holy War! I will give my all to sever this curse of death that entwines the earth! I will ensure your sacrifices are no longer in vain, so that your heroic spirits may rest in peace! I will answer your pain and doubts with final victory!"

Athena pressed her hands against her chest, her eyes shimmering with tears.

"Please, everyone, believe in me one more time! Fight by my side, and fight for the last hope of humanity!"

The light of hope and fighting spirit reignited once more in the eyes of the many heroic spirits of the Saints.

Then, in silence, their souls transformed into streams of light and set off toward the first seven Prisons!

Following in the footsteps of their predecessors, the current Saints charged toward the first seven Prisons!

...

A few minutes later, the final resistance of the Underworld army was declared thoroughly disintegrated.

Seiya’s Pegasus Meteor Fist rained down like a squall. Combined with Shiryu’s Excalibur, they shattered Radamanthys’s final line of defense.

Hyoga’s Aurora Execution froze Minos’s Cosmic Marionation threads.

Shun’s Nebula Storm thoroughly tore apart Aiacos’s Galactic Illusion.

Ikki’s Phoenix flames incinerated the remaining Terrestrial-tier Specters.

With the help of the returning past Gold Saints, the current Gold Saints erupted with power that surpassed their limits.

The main forces of the Specters in the first seven Prisons were completely routed!

Witnessing the defeat of the three Underworld Judges, the Goddess descending to liberate the heroic spirits of the past, and Hades’s soul being expelled from his human vessel to an unknown location...

The surviving Specters completely lost their will to fight.

They dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground, their eyes hollow as they awaited their final judgment.

The Underworld army now existed in name only.

In Elysium, Hades watched through a mirror of divine power as the Underworld army he had built over millennia crumbled into dust, and his three most powerful Judges were utterly defeated.

Hades’s peerlessly handsome face revealed extreme fury and savagery!

He abruptly stood up. Pitch-black divine power of death erupted like a boiling volcano!

"Athena! How dare you... how dare you trample on the dignity of the Underworld like this! Releasing these lower lifes! Do you think you can defeat me just like this?"

Unable to endure it any longer, he took a step forward, preparing to personally enter the fray. He would step out of Elysium and use his true body as the King of the Underworld to crush all the invading enemies!

Oneiros and Icelos threw themselves forward in desperation, grabbing onto Hades’s thighs from the left and right!