Chapter 120: The War Concludes (Part II)

"Namo, namo, namo..."

Shaka sat cross-legged on the riverbank, offering no reply. He merely continued to chant in Sanskrit, his fingers moving steadily, bead by bead, across his rosary.

Beside him, Aphrodite of Pisces cast a cautious glance at the two figures, then retreated a small, silent step, a sense of impending danger rising in his heart.

Within the entire Twelve Temples, every Gold Saint knew that Shaka of Virgo was an outlier. This was not true of Shaka alone; it had been the case for every generation of Virgo Saints. They shared a lineage that did not worship the goddess Athena. The deity they followed was an entity known as "Buddha," a god who did not belong to the Olympian pantheon. In a sense, the Sanctuary regarded such beings as heretical. It was unclear why Athena permitted them to retain this faith, let alone allowed them to serve as Gold Saints of Virgo and guardians of the Twelve Temples.

Because of this, the Virgo Gold Saint had always been an anomaly within the temples. It was an open secret that his divergent faith made him an object of private suspicion among his peers. At this moment, Aphrodite knew he was no match for a single Marina General like Kanon; if Shaka were to defect as well, he feared he would lose his life here.

Meanwhile, hearing the Sanskrit chanting grow more intense and sensing Shaka’s tacit refusal, Kanon shook his head in frustration.

"Coward, how boring!"

"Very well, until we meet again!"

With that, he turned and sank into the sea alongside the Marina General Siren Sorrento, vanishing beneath the waves.

"Let’s go. We return."

Once the sea calmed, Shaka ceased his chanting. He signaled to Aphrodite and, transforming into a streak of golden light, flew back toward the Sanctuary without a backward glance. It took a moment for Aphrodite to collect himself before he hurried to follow.

The war in North America was settled, and there was no longer a need for reinforcements; protecting the Sanctuary was now the most pressing priority. The three Judges of the Underworld were still lurking outside the Sanctuary’s gates.

***

On the northeastern battlefield of the North American continent, Yin Shiqi carefully helped Deathmask of Cancer to his feet. Gesturing toward a nearby pile of rubble, he asked, "Lord Deathmask, there is a highly anomalous spatial node three hundred meters to our front left. Do you know what that is?"

Deathmask’s eyes had been scorched, and even his Moonlit Nectar had failed to heal them. Consequently, Yin Shiqi had to be precise for his intentions to be understood.

"Oh, that?" Deathmask turned his head, "seeing" the anomaly through his spiritual perception. He replied nonchalantly, "That is the aftermath of the forbidden technique used by Camus and the others."

"That forbidden move transcends their own level, reaching the point of interfering with the laws of reality."

"Because their power is insufficient to fully control such force, it causes unpredictable destruction to the surrounding environment—things like chaotic laws."

"The laws at that spatial node have been thrown into extreme disarray and turbulence by that technique. For the next hundred years, that area will be unfit for any living thing."

He sighed helplessly.

"Chaotic laws for a hundred years?" Yin Shiqi gasped. "Doesn't that mean the node will become extremely fragile, making it easier for evil gods from beyond the world to invade?"

Lawlessness inevitably led to spatial instability, weakening the world’s defensive barrier.

"Er... something like that, yes!" Deathmask scratched his cheek, offering a sheepish reply. Although they had resolved the immediate trouble, they had left behind a hazard that would persist for a century.

At last, Yin Shiqi understood why the "Athena Exclamation" was a forbidden technique. It created a dead zone and compromised the world’s barriers, providing a convenient breach for extraterrestrial gods. It was essentially a nuclear weapon—devastating in power, but with catastrophic side effects. As for Athena’s claim that it was banned for the sake of fairness, that was nothing more than nonsense.

***

In the northwest, Camus arrived at a battlefield covered in scorching magma. Much of the heat had dissipated, and parts of the surface had begun to cool into patches of black earth. He remembered clearly that there were no volcanoes in the vicinity; it was obvious this magma was the remnant of the battle between Aldebaran and the evil god. An area of nearly a thousand meters had been melted into lava. It was hard to imagine what the Taurus Saint had endured.

"Aldebaran..."

He sighed softly, emitting freezing air from his Cosmo to solidify the magma underfoot, and walked with a heavy heart toward the center of the battlefield.

Originally, Aldebaran had called upon him to help deal with the so-called God of Light. Judging by the scene, Aldebaran’s judgment had been correct; had Camus been here, his freezing air would have made the encounter much easier. Unfortunately, no one had anticipated that there would not only be a God of Light, but also a God of Darkness and a God of Death.

Aldebaran had the misfortune of facing the God of Light, while Camus and Deathmask were separated by the other two. If he had been here, the outcome might have been different. But time cannot be reversed; there were no "ifs."

Suddenly, a golden glimmer caught his eye on a patch of blackened earth. Camus recognized the unique luster of a Gold Cloth. He hurried over and cleared away the solidified lava to reveal a battered Taurus.

It was the Taurus Gold Cloth. Over sixty percent of the armor was destroyed, leaving only enough of the frame to identify what it was.

"Brother Aldebaran, let us go home."

Camus whispered to the armor, then encased it in ice. Using his telekinesis to lift it, he transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished into the horizon, heading toward the Sanctuary.

As for the remaining Saints in North America, he notified Deathmask via telepathy, leaving him in command. Soon, led by the Saints of Pavo, Orion, and Cepheus, the three units regrouped on the western coast of the Atlantic.

All the Bronze Saints had survived without casualties, but the silver-ranked seconds-in-command of the Orion and Cepheus units had fallen. Furthermore, news of the death of Aldebaran of Taurus spread among them.

The gentlest and bravest of the Gold Saints had fallen.

The mood among the ranks was heavy. Although the expedition had been a victory, no one could feel joy. The loss of one Gold and two Silver Saints was a staggering price.

Seeing the gloom, Deathmask spoke with indignation: "Why are you all moping about? Aldebaran would not want to see you looking so weak!"

"Pull yourselves together! Don't let the Marinas or the Specters seize an opportunity!"

He had learned that the Sanctuary’s reinforcements had been intercepted. His only goal now was to bring everyone home safely.