Lance's Role

by Thrudgelmir2333

A 'shonen' fic that sequels Next Dimension and Lost Canvas. In 1960, the Pope of Athena receives three prophecies from an old enemy that irremediably set the course of his reign over Sanctuary's tragic history and almost two decades later a Saint of Pegasus finds himself put through the unfolding of a new age of violence caused by the Pope's actions. Please enjoy and review.

58. 2A: The One Closest to God - Part 3 of 3

Notable OCs: Pegasus Lance's Saint Generation, Civil War Saint Generation, World War Saint Generation, Daemon Lucifer's Specters, Maiden Elisa, Priam's Black Saints; Cyrulian Refugees

Notable Original Concepts: Mount Olympus Training Ground, Sanctuary Court, Teos Cloth, Athenian Empire mythology, Isle of Gardens, Stardust Prison, Hades' Dark Princes; Desert Beyond, Sanctuary Town Layout & Buildings; Kido Mount;

Recurring/Cameo OCs of Jenny DeVic: Mrs. Schafurwatt, Cyrus

Recurring/Cameo Concepts of Jenny DeVic: Great Bodyguard Legend, Golden Line Heritage, Sanctuary Orphanages, Andromeda Island's Geography & Tests, Sanctuary Nobility, 88 Knights Festival

Author Notes:

-Exceptionally, this chapter was beta-read by "Siena". She uses a differently style of annotation from Jenny so I'm not sure if I've scratched it all off for release, but I think I have. Appreciate your help, though; Siena;

-The story has officially passed the 1.2M mark

-Today we found out that the author of 'Berserk' and 'Giganto Maxia', Kentaro Miura, passed away on May 6th. I can't publish this without making a note of mentioning it. His manga was a huge influence on me and one of the few last mangas I still followed religiously up to this day, so it's heartbreaking to know he is no longer with us and we'll never see the end of Guts' journey. I spent the day with his death in the back of my mind at work. RIP : (

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Please enjoy and review (^_^

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"It's easy to underestimate Specters because, for the most part, they are lost souls guided by Hades' lies that don't even train to get cosmos. Added to that there are borderline comical stories about their failures which only get reinforced with each Holy War, like when Vermeer's men somehow got themselves vortexed into Deathtoll's coffins.

After the war I spent some time thinking about what went wrong… and I think some of us took those stories too much to heart. In retrospective, it's also easy to think me and my friends should have been more vigilant and wiser, and it's then easy to think that there was no way we could have known better without more experience, but… the pain of loss is still there… and so is the thought that it could have been avoided. How many 'what-ifs' must torture me still?

How do I prepare for the future? Do I cower in fear because my friends have been hurt and killed? What if Poseidon has a Prince, too, or there's some monstrous warrioress among the Satellites as well? Is Sanctuary permanently doomed to fear the next Daemon? More importantly, how do I get new young Gold Saints to share that concern? Especially with Athena telling me I can't talk directly about it to… preserve our common future? I'm sure this line of hers is wiser than I'll ever be, but it still jars me.

The power of cosmos can be intoxicating…. It can make us arrogant and fearless, especially those among us who develop special abilities. Am I forced to just hope that the sheer power of heroism will see them through? Teneo is getting close to retiring and he already is having a hard time being taken seriously by the new Saints. I will be a wise grandpa figure when the next war with Hades comes… and if my own experience with Master Hakurei and Lord Sage are any indication, most of them are not going to take me seriously either."

-Pope Shion's thoughts, dated to late 18th Century

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The Past – The Lost Canvas War

Pandora's Castle

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The towering redoubts of Pandora's Castle looked out to the huge expansive plain, offering an excellent point from which winged Specters like Michael could scout the grounds cleared around the fortification with their eyes before taking off at will to their destinations. It was also where the Specters kept their kinetic weaponry, like ballistae, to shoot giant arrows through any hoplite formation that might be approaching the domain, as well as express their taste for towering Gothic architecture that struck terror in onlookers. The Right Hand of Hades liked going up there simply to be at peace at times, but right then he had a job to do.

Strapping his gauntlets tighter and flexing his large, black-feathered wings, he looked southwestwards; the problem of Death Queen Island to light-speeders was that it was almost exactly on the other side of the Planet relatively to any given spot in Europe, but not actually so, so he was undecided which direction was truly the closest and which force he should apply and how softly in his launch.

Usually he would stay clear of Lucian's ventures, as the Pride Star would get insanely furious every time Michael, the person responsible for many of his insecurities, intruded in his work, but the Daemon was bringing Kagaho with him in large part to spite the Dark Angel Specter, so the silver-haired bastard bit first. Moreover, the conversation with Pandora had left him uneasy about what might happen with Lucifer confronting Phoenix Haisaku.

Finally, he wished to make sure that the Princes didn't get the first blotch on their reputation now that their Masters had resurf-

"Where are you going, Michael?"

A shiver of someone caught with his hand in the cookie jar came to him and the red-eyed blonde warrior turned to the invisible source of the voice.

A golden outline of a person formed in the air before it shone with light, materializing Hypnos' mortal vessel on the scene. His black robe tails floated with the air boom of his sudden appearance and the pentagram on his forehead brimmed with cosmos. "Heading for a flight? I did not order you anywhere."

"Master." Michael greeted, lowering his gaze respectfully. Before him hovered the person who taught him Eternal Darkness, as well as most of his other abilities and knowledge of the Cosmos. "A worrying premonition came to me; I must head to Death Queen Island."

The God of Sleep chuckled. "Really? A premonition? I thought myself the Tarot card reader." He mused. Faintly in his golden aura, the shadows of floating cards were detectable to the keen eye. "Now is not the right time for both Princes to be out for no good reason. We have just finished putting Alone to rest in his cage. What are you so concerned about, Michael, that you'd bring yourself to leave his side without need?"

The Absolute Star dared not offend his Master with lies. "I am concerned with what might be happening in Death Queen Island. I believe Lucian once again underestimates his opponents." He reasoned. "The Gold Saints have been insidiously cunning in this Holy War. They have defeated Minos early on, recruited the help of mysterious God Slayers and crafted a seal that may be used against us indefinitely. I believed he'd be back by now, yet the battle lingers. I intend to put a stop to their advances, before another hidden card is pulled on Pride Star."

The blonde deity took this in consideration carefully and the Prince waited anxiously to see if he won this right. The good side of Michael being so dedicated to the cause was that he actually earned enough trust from the Twin Gods that they would stop for a second and listen him out, especially Hypnos, unlike what the two beings would usually do; trample over their concerns and accuse the Specters of lack of bravery. Moreover, Hypnos personally raised the Absolute Star and understood his thoughts better than anyone save for Hades himself, much like Thanatos did with Lucian. Surely the Sleep God would see things in his way.

Hypnos feared often, however, that this concern from the Absolute Star left Michael too controlling of what the Specters did, causing him to overextend his duties. "It is sometimes wise to let others act out their destinies at will, Michael. Mortals are not meant to be all-commanding, like Gods are. What do you expect out of intruding in that battle? More resentment from Lucifer?"

Michael gasped. "My lord, do you think I should allow something tragic to happen, when I can help it?"

The God's golden eyes closed in reflection. "It matters very little what happens in that mission, Michael… Me and my brother Thanatos are here, now. Like we instructed you earlier, we will be taking command of the war effort. Athena's days are counted. This Holy War will soon end and then the fallen Specters can be brought back to be raised to Elysium….I believe you've even told that to the Judges yourself?"

The Prince gritted teeth, not doubting the God's wisdom, but feeling frustrated that he was advised to act against his own nature. As much adoration he had for his teacher, moreover, he was getting the feeling that Lord Hypnos and Thanatos were too confident about their chances to single-handedly end the war. They had already proven this plan to be flawed in the 16th Century War, when they were originally fought off by Athena, Cancer Sage and Altar Hakurei.

"Lord Hypnos, if I may ask…" Michael dared. "How long will Alone have to stay in that cage?"

"Until every last human, especially Pegasus Tenma, drops dead." Hypnos clarifies. "Hades needs no more distractions from painting the Lost Canvas, much less the temptation of another grand appearance at Sanctuary for you and Lucian to bodyguard him about. When I heard you had to save him from Sagittarius arrow, my blood chilled!"

The Angel nodded. He felt great sympathy for Alone, the human vessel, though. He saw much of his former self in the painter; weak, frail and adoring of others, but also absorbed into their ideals and supremely passioned towards pursuing them. He concurred with Hypnos that his mission to free mankind from their current mortal toil was paramount, but he also couldn't help but sympathize with the need that Alone felt to confront the figures of his old life. This need from the Emperor's vessel was extremely problematic, though, as it not only accomplished very little, but forced the Specters to prolong the violence that both he and Alone despised. If they couldn't get the blonde painter to see that… then perhaps there was no choice but to isolate him, indeed.

Hypnos could practically read his thoughts stamped on his cringed face. "…Do you have so little faith in our call, Prince?"

Michael shook his head. "NO! I merely…" Oh Hades, how would he voice his concerns without insulting his Master by calling him weaker than Athena? "Lord Hypnos… Me and Lucian have reason to believe that Pegasus is not the only Godslayer in this war."

The God descended unto the ground and held hands on back contemplatively. "Mm… Yes, I believe you told us about these other three Bronze Saints. I also, believe, though, that Alone incapacitated one of them?"

"Master Hypnos,…. Cygnus, Andromeda and Dragon are extremely dangerous. Two of them are at Death Queen Island. My Fire Weave Armor technique, which you taught me to resist the thunderbolts of Nike herself, could barely sustain the force of their attacks*." Michael argued. "If there is even the slightest chance that they have the power to injure a God… then I must insist my body be thrown between yours and theirs on the battlefield!"

* Chapter 46

The God of Sleep paused some more. Michael was being very alarmist, which concerned him. However, if they started sending their best Specter to babysit their second-best one on every little thing, then nothing would get done by any of them in this war, not to mention it would be a show of inferiority and cowardice to the Saints. While Thanatos was typically the one to feel stinged by that, Hypnos recognized it would displease Hades if his Specters were so incompetent that they walked on eggshells about a single attack on a single Saint party on a location that Athena had an especially hard time supervising.

"You told me earlier… that you encountered the Virgo Saint." Hypnos recalled, wondering what the source of Michael's sudden fear was. "Did he put these ideas of fear in you?"

The Prince gulped. He had walked out of that battle victorious, but shaken. "Insidious as Asmita was, my Lord, I was able to obliterate him. He was no match to me once he realized he had no power over my sins, as he called them."

"That is not what I asked." Hypnos stressed, making the day suddenly seem darker to the Prince. "I feel a shadow of nightmares in you, Michael… You have allowed that Saint to create a doubt in you about what you're doing. Much like the One Closest to God in Sanctuary, you too must cleanse your mind of these foolish emotions if you wish to keep being seen as the incarnation of Lord Hades' ideals."

As always, Master Hypnos spoke with cold, certain wisdom. Michael exhaled, letting these concerns out. "Of course, my Lord."

"It is embarrassing that I have to remind you of that." Hypnos stressed, truly not having expected his pearl of a student to be showing these cracks. "Am I forced to put you to sleep until you calm yourself, much like with Alone?"

The Dark Angel humbly shook his head. "No, Master. I will stamp these ugly thoughts myself. Nothing will stop me from putting an end to the world's violence … just as you wish me to."

The God of Sleep nodded approvingly. "Good… you are the only one in this army that understands these Holy Wars the same way I do, Michael… Do not lose sight of it. When the world is put into its endless sleep, the last violent act witnessed by it will be Athena's head being taken. Then we will restart everything as we dream of it, my student; a utopia of silence, ridden of the polluting barbarism of Saints, and Asmita's foolishness will be laid in stone on a palace built to honor your feats!"

The Prince nodded. "Yes, but…so that I may more quickly put an end to this War, please allow me to go to Death Queen Island!"

Hypnos sighed and walked towards the redoubt edge, contemplating their surroundings. "It is true that Prince Lucian has a track record of letting his pride blind him…My brother raised him so poorly. I also do not entirely disagree that Athena having obtained extra Godslayer hands to help her this time around is very worrying. Seeing you panic so easily about it, Michael, concerns me more. You are very important for me to have around."

The blonde Specter was touched. "Thank you, Master. I shouldn't have offended you with my weakness."

The God's eyes squinted, temporarily absorbed in picturing Hades' enemy. "Blasted Athena… Three more Godslayers? How did you do it? Was it not enough to have Pegasus? Where do you get these outrageous sinners who so sharply raise their fists against the heavens?! Do you perhaps baptize them with your blood, not content with all the other decadences you've forced us to see you subject yourself to?!"

The Specter observed the deity attentively, for it was not common to see the Sleep God's blood boiling. Athena's persistent deviances and lies were about the only thing that could get the otherwise calm and collected Hypnos to stern his voice like this. It hurt Michael's own feelings to see his teacher be so tortured by the Olympian Goddess' sacrileges. If Athena understood how much she hurt the feelings of her family with these betrayals, she would surely sink her face in shame.

Hypnos then seemed to dispel this concern. "No matter,… my brother's servant, Veronika, will soon get rid of Pegasus. That pathetic little Bronze Saint will stand no chance once his own orphan friends are Zombified back to Earth to remind him that Hades promises liberation and paradise to humanity. It will be best to have that weed uprooted before it grows into a large, thorny shrub." He then smiled devilishly. "Then it will be a matter of deciding what to do about this one…"

Just as Michael was about to ask who he meant, Hypnos' hand laid out and showed the glowing image of a small Sagittarius armor in his hand, a projection of Sisyphus' subconscious completely trapped in the abysmal mires of Eternal Darkness.

"This was a wonderful welcoming gift from you, Michael." Hypnos confessed. "The second champion of Sasha is totally at my mercy. While his body is in Sanctuary, his mind is completely sunk in the shadows of my Eternal Darkness. Such is the power over him that you have gifted me with this feat… that I can't even decide what the first nightmare I should have him endure should be."

The way his Master spoke of the projection was as if he had a voodoo doll in his hand of Sagittarius Sisyphus, which wasn't far from the truth. "It's only by his insistence. Originally, I aimed the spell for Athena."

The mention of the Goddess seemed to inspire Hypnos, who snapped his fingers. "Phantasos!"

There was a burst of darkness next to them, like an opening portal, which spawned out a feminine-looking deity of yellow-green hair and elaborate Surplice of multiple wings. "Yes, daddy?"

The blonde Prince immediately cringed at the arrival of this person. As much respect as he had for every member of the Olympian family, Portrayer Phantasos was easily the most deviant and predatory of Master Hypnos' four children, who often entertained themselves at the expense of the Specters, for lack of better playthings. The Daemon Specter had even harsher words than Michael for this one, often labeling Phantasos as "a cowardly, prideless, two-faced freak who was probably the real culprit behind half of Zeus' dream rape stories".

Much nicer than the Pride Star as he was, the Celestial Absolute Star unfortunately couldn't think of a way to dispute this. Suddenly, a dread for Sisyphus' fate was felt by him.

Hypnos handed the shining projection to the offspring, who beamed in happiness at the gift. "Share this one with your brothers. I want Athena's favorite Gold Saint made into a twisted mangle of his former self by the time me and my brother are ready to destroy Sanctuary."

The look of the delight on Phantasos' face sent a chill down the Specter Prince's throat. "Oh, thank you! He looks so yummy!" the deity squealed, making plans to keep Sisyphus all to itself.

The God of Sleep chuckled. "Thank Dark Angel instead."

This seemed to make the creature finally notice Dark Angel's presence. "Oh, it's you…"

The Specter sweated, discretely raising his guard. In two and a half centuries, he has always gotten the bad eye from the four children of Hypnos. They seemed to think their father shouldn't spend so much time with humans, even if under the Emperor's orders.

The deity refused to show any appreciation towards the Prince and turned its back. "I suppose you are good for something."

Hypnos shook his head lamentingly and decided to speed matters along. "Michael, if you are heading for Death Queen Island, I want you back in short fashion. There's no telling what these Saints will do once the coup de grace is delivered. Thanatos has also been very impatient… he wants to put an end to Sanctuary sooner rather than later, like always."

Affronting the Gods' whims was dangerous, but Michael had to try it as diplomatically as he could. "I'd be forever indebted, Master, if but half a morning could be given."

The sly God shifted his eyes. "I'm sure I can convince my brother to a quick chess game before we make our grand entrance. Be back with Lucian before then." He then hovered away. "Come, Phantasos."

The offspring giggled out in a way that made whispers seem to creep up Michael's soul. "Of course, dad!" it then eyed the Prince jealously before warping away. "(And once this Holy War is done,… we can be rid of you, too.)"

Oblivious to these ill intents, the Absolute Star stepped unto the tower's battlements, readying himself to fly off. With the Dragon Godslayer crippled, if Michael reinforced Lucian quickly enough, perhaps he could find a way to press their advantage on Athena in such a way that it wouldn't hurt the Pride Star's ego. He would surely value ridding the Emperor of two violent Slayers over his hubris, right? More importantly, Michael had to make sure Kagaho wasn't used and tossed away the second Daemon felt like it.

He hesitated, feeling a worried beat in his heart. The illusions Asmita showed him of his past in his Rikudo Rinne were still present. The worst had been the World of Humans, Jinkai. In it, the emotions of the world had invaded Michael with the force of all of humanity's history. It nearly had driven him mad to experience it. He saw things he swore he would never allow himself to be affect by once he had donned the Dark Angel Surplice, yet their malice penetrated his heart anyway, hurting him.

Though he denied it to Pandora and Master Hypnos, those thoughts stayed with him, the feelings of all the lives of all the tortured humans on Earth, humans that Michael wished to save and redeem as a Specter. Perhaps Asmita's strategy, upon seeing that the battle was hopeless, was to cripple the Dark Angel in the long run by making him doubt his conviction? How diabolical.

His fist tightened, thinking of those he loved in his old life…those he died for. In the name of his Flaming Sword that cut down the blasphemous Virgo, Michael would see Hades' vision come true. With this personal vow, he shot off towards the skies with a single wing flap, booming through the clouds as dark feathers floated down in the air.

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Chapter 58

Episode 19

The One Closest to God

Part 3 of 3

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(?)

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In the dark world in which he stood, surrounded by the unknown and the mysterious, young Shaka raised his leg to take another step in the colossal staircase heading nowhere, weighed down by the white robes on his body. His body shook with the knowledge in the step, as if his foot touched freezing jagged rocks, invading his heart like a scalding torch of light and exposing more of the vacuum that surrounded him. It made his breath cold and staggering, as if a great blow was delivered upon him.

Lessons were always painful, and that was why they stuck with you. Such were the steps of Duhkha.

His young, blue eyes looked up and saw billions of more steps spiraling upwards. Each one was as wide as a street and as deep as a bed, yet all transparent as glass, allowing him at every point of the path to gaze upon the terrifying abyss below it. In this cosmos of the universe surrounding him, there were no comets or stars, just the darkness of ignorance. Left behind him, countless corpses were fallen down the staircase, each laying their arms out as if they died trying to reach just one more step above the one already they were at. The sounds of their last whispers echoed in that world, telling tales of lives spent in search of Nirvana.

The only reason he was able to even perceive where he stood was because of blessed Siddhartha, the original Enlightened One, he who completed his path in glory, whose healing light radiated from the mythical top of the staircase, compelling all to follow suit. Yet, Shaka must still be far, far away, for only the faintest radiance illuminated the climbers yet.

More importantly, for him to be back here, able to perceive his path in life, it meant that the unthinkable had happened.

His eyes had opened!

"Shaka." someone called.

With a burst of light before him, Astraea emerged. The Goddess of Innocence, Purity, Precision and Justice who incarnated the Virgo Constellation was homely for an Olympian, not representing anything that was widely glorified in Hellenistic society, as opposed to War, Lust or Thunderbolts. Yet, her looks were shaped by all those who had worn her Cloth, much like all the other human shapes Constellations took, possessing caring blue eyes, a peaceful smile and Mediterranean skin. Her long wavy hair had both blonde and green mixed in its color and her toga was simple and modest as opposed to the pristine dresses of Hera or the silver-dusted attires of Artemis. A Buddhist red mark was seen in her forehead flanked by her bangs and a leather belt with scales engraved in its golden lock, symbolizing both her ideals and the Golden Age of Titans, was the only ostentatious thing on her.

Cosmos radiated from her pale skin and her hand extended itself kindly to the boy, who took it. "Do not relent, Shaka…A long road still lies before you."

While accepting her aid, the blonde boy trembled in confusion, feeling the aftershock of a great blow having been delivered upon him. "Lady Astraea…Something happened."

"A moment of testing, Shaka, much like the many others you have faced. Darkness is climbing through the Temples and it seeks to supplant Athena's laws. Now it has reached your House and tested your limits." Astraea reminded him, helping him slowly take another step.

"I was… bested." Shaka realized. "A great force lunged unto me, and my Kha did not stop it. How can this be?"

Her head shook as the boy slowly arched his leg over the tall step. "No, Shaka… you've just learned. There is no besting."

Yet, the Gold Saint was consumed by this puzzle. "An alter-ego?... No, it was a blade wielded by two different hands. The strange one came from beyond the reaches of Death. And I judged the living one instead." His face rose to the endless reaches of the staircase. "To think that in this world something so incredible could be done with the Cosmos."

As always, the Goddess merely guided him, just as she had done with Asmita, Shijima, Haisaku and countless others. No force was given through her hand, just the assurance that Shaka was not alone in this road. "Now you see. There are those in this world who, despite collapsing, leave their words and wills behind through others."

These words made cogs in Shaka's mind turn, applying all the wisdom he had obtained in his yet short existence. As he did so, just like with every other mystery of the Cosmos he had contemplated, his legs gained strength to raise unto the step, just like they always did. Such great effort was put into this that he had climbed further in his six years than many had in their entire lives. One day, he hoped, this would lead him to Enlightenment.

Yet, a great sadness became of him, as it did to all those who obtained wisdom. "Astraea, if our thoughts can be left behind in the Cosmos upon death like words in the sand…-"

The Goddess already knew what haunted him. "…Do you wish to know if the same has happened to everyone you've seen dying?" And she saw his small blonde head nod. Unfortunately, with a sad sigh, the Goddess had to explain the truth. "To convey the most intimate of ourselves like that, even with the power of the cosmos… that is something that can only be done by those who have known love."

"I see…" Shaka accepted, lowering his head. "Then, to all those abandoned who have fallen while I've marched on, to those who hungered by the Ganges to the ones who fell defending the Temples… only the darkness of death awaits them. There is nothing left of them in this world…"

The Goddess was silent. Immortal as she was, it was not her place to judge humans for what they went through with mortality. Even after ages, it baffled her that their spirit remained strong and curious before the tyranny of their fate. Yet, to those who pursued enlightenment under Buddha like Shaka, confronting this great fear that most humans pretended happily to not be there was mandatory. This tragedy saddened her greatly and had defined why she chose Athena's side.

The tears flowed out of Shaka's eyes copiously. "I will be strong… and defend Athena!" he vowed, but his voice expressed a desire to speak of the hole in his heart. "But… one day I too shall be ash. Is all we build, all we learn, all we fight for ultimately for oblivion?..."

Astraea could see the strength in Shaka's climbing vanish before her eyes as his heart plunged into darkness momentarily. "In this battle with the Specters, Shaka, you will have a precious opportunity to face that mystery. They are the carriers of the flag of death and in their bodies the evil Damascus metal brings an era of endless darkness to everyone."

The boy nodded, understanding this well. The tears dried in his cheeks. "Yes… I am far from beaten. These carrion birds will know their folly. I will thoroughly contemplate their sins, master the knowledge of death and, by Athena's law, they shall all be punished! Especially that arrogant Daemon!"

The harshness in this last word was not lost to her. The deity's concern was that Shaka's powerful enemy would detect folly in him as well. "Remember, Shaka, you are still human. You are not God."

"My eternal curse, lady Astraea. For by being human, I am ignorant, weak and finite." Shaka argued. "If I had been born an Olympian, I would understand the errors in this world… and correct them… and never allow creatures as foolish as Specters to exist!"

The Goddess thoroughly disagreed. "No, Shaka. You being human is incredibly more precious than you being a God." she argued, surprising him. "Olympians like me… are far too above you to understand your suffering. We are also eternal, so death means little to us. We do not see the flaws in our painting. But you do."

The boy wasn't sure if he agreed. "Yet, everything I protect as a human will inevitably crumble."

"That is at the heart of the ultimate truth, Shaka; that death is only the beginning." Astraea reminded him. "Even if your House crumbles to the ground, even if the Pope is crucified and Athena's icons are burned in a pile celebrating the enemy's triumph, you must continue to pursue Truth. For only then, with that undying determination, will you be unbridled by the curse of fearing your end and achieve Arayashiki."

The word alone stirred Shaka, like contemplating a great golden treasure. "The 8th sense…"

She smiled kindly. "This battle is just another step on this staircase, but an important one. Shaka. Only you can do this." she reminded him. It was unfair to put so much weight on a small human boy, but perhaps unavoidable as well, if the Goddess wished to do her duty to Athena. "Only you, who've seen so much death, can discover within yourself how to solve this great puzzle that mortals gripe with. If you don't…. mankind may very well truly be doomed."

The boy nodded determinedly. Light engulfed him from out of his eyes, returning his senses to the real world.

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Sanctuary,

Virgo Temple

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The light that filled the Hall of Innocence blinded everyone and struck the walls and pillars of the Virgo Temple with ferocious force, sending quakes across Sanctuary felt by all those present in the invasion, from the Pope down to Aldebaran, whose senses all shot in alarm at the event occurring in the 6th Temple. More locally, the False Specters gasped, screamed and panicked, while Daemon Lucifer himself gasped, feeling the black sword forming out of his hand being dispelled by the colossal cleansing force, and his body was shot away from Shaka, scalded all over its Surplice.

Blindly digging his fingers unto the ground, he screeched his flight to a halt and cringed in pain at the white light filling his red eyes. Despite the destruction just caused, the entire building was silent, as if the crumbling marble dared not offend the Gold Saint. Lucifer himself felt immersed in a peaceful world where all his actions carried no meaning and it was only with the greatest of wills that he pulled himself together in this maddening flash released by Shaka's eyes.

As powerful as it was, the massive shockwave of cosmos had an end to it and receded, causing the blinding light to gradually dissipate away and leave behind a ravaged temple, where the sounds of crashing and breaking marble finally caught up with everyone's senses. Everything further than a foot away from Shaka was now a crater all around him, leaving behind only a protected pedestal of ground upon which his throne stood, and the roof had been blown off above him by the geyser of cosmos. The direction the pillars closest to him fell towards faced all away from him, proving yet again the source of the Cosmos that assaulted them all, and the far-off walls of the Hall of Innocence were scorched, wiped away of their Buddhist parchments and candles.

Slowly but surely, the False Specters collected themselves. The bodies of the ones that fell to Shaka prior to Lucifer's arrival had been blown away to smithereens, including Lemon, and some of their survivors were knocked out on the ground, hit by the blunt of the blast. Lucifer himself felt his body reeling, but the pain was quickly forgotten when he realized he accomplished what he set out to do with Flaming Sword.

The barrier of Kha, which had reversed all of their attacks, was shattered and Shaka's eyes were open, revealing their startled clear blue to them all.

The triumphant Specter raised himself with an arrogant scoff. "Ah, you couldn't turn away those eyes from this battle anymore, could you?"

"His eyes are open!" a False Skeleton remarked, not sure if what he was seeing was real. "That blasted barrier was broken through! The Prince is winning!"

The Gold Saint of Virgo panted, feeling returned to the real world. Every time his eyes opened and released this destruction that his stored cosmos was capable of, the realignment of realities was so strong that he was transported briefly to the metaphorical world where he climbed the stairs towards enlightenment, which typically only existed in his own thoughts. It was a climb he made whereas his eyes opened or not on a set of stairs that was only in his mind, but releasing his sense of sight caused such a rush of the Cosmos in him that it would briefly physically materialize that world in his imagination around him, allowing him a conversation with Astraea that subverted the rules of time itself.

Such conversations were useful towards processing the odd event that managed to get Shaka to utilize the huge battery of energy he kept locked by suppressing his sense of sight and, as such, he was quick to calm his breath, knowing that simply because Kha was broken through, it did not mean he lost the advantage on these foolish adversaries.

"If anything… the real battle is about to begin!"" he thought, steeling his gaze on Daemon determinedly.

The glare was not lost on Daemon. Eyes were a powerful thing. Seeing them was the primary way one could get their mirror neurons to empathize with someone else. They also expressed emotions like panic and surprise very easily. As such, Lucifer felt a sudden shift in perception in himself towards the boy, now feeling somehow he was more child than warrior. How lamentable. Perhaps it would now be slightly more difficult to bring himself to do what he had to.

Lucifer suddenly glanced at his men. "…Treble!"

The Golem False Specter presented himself, stepping forward and expecting to join the battle. "Yes, Prince?"

"Considering our recent loss, I'm naming you our new 5th Elite!" Lucifer announced. "Lemon's men are now in your command for the rest of the battle."

The round-plated giant raised his fist in celebration and kicked Lemon's body, already punished and abused by Shaka and Lucifer. "YES! Take that, you whiney loser! Aha! Who's in charge now?!"

Daemon's orders weren't done. "Specters, take half the Skeletons and go the Libra Temple!" he ordered, riling them all. "The other half is to stand guard outside at the stairs to Leo! I want to be notified the millisecond those Gold Saints below manage to get past Treble's Cataclysm Clay!"

The False Specters naturally everything Shaka put them through, they'd rather take their chances walking through a pit of tarantulas.

"Prince… won't he try to stop us again?" Neferti asked.

The Specter stared at the bewilderment, revolt and disgust stamped on the blonde Gold Saint's face, all directed to the Pride Star. He knew this feeling well; the feeling of believing yourself able to fly higher than anyone else, only for someone mightier to suddenly block the sun above your face and smash you down to the ground, like a bird of prey. It was something Lucifer had painfully experienced at the hands of many, from Thanatos, to Michael, to Haisaku, to Dohko.

Daemon Lucifer knew this humiliation so well, that he also knew the obsession that came after. "Shaka of Virgo no longer perceives any of you as worthy of his attention… from this moment on, he will dedicate all his incredible powers to destroying me, as he should have from the start. I would suggest you all move, before our hero changes his mind." He advised, stressing in his mental tone the urgency in it. "Conquer Libra expediently enough, and I may forgive you for the time you made me waste here."

There was a collective gulp from Lucifer's subordinates, who all looked towards Sphinx Neferti and Golem Treble to set the example. The two more powerful Specters felt eyes on them and built up the nerve to take the first steps towards Shaka's flanks, practically rounding around the Virgo like he was a pestilence victim. With every move they made, they worryingly eyed the Virgo Saint, expecting at any moment for him to raise his pinky and shower them with destructive golden cosmos, but little by little they found out nothing happened, and all the grunts began following them, too.

Shaka would be glad to stop them, but he could no longer afford to. He now understood where the true threat to Athena lied. His comrades up the stairs, from Milo to Camus, and perhaps even including the disaffected Aphrodite, were more than capable of dealing with the lesser villains. Shaka would therefore dedicate all of his energies into doing his own part and slay the enemy dragon before his vile breath touched Athena's toes.

The tense stare between Virgo and Daemon maintained itself all the way, promising mutual destruction should anything about the silent understanding between them be broken as the False Specters one by one passed Shaka. Some felt the intense need to yell at or curse the Virgo, but all the ones they did quickly gave up the second their faces turned to the boy, as if reminding them of what would happen should Sanctuary's champion be teased.

The sound of their careful marching and the blowing of the air currents into the Temple were the only thing heard for a while. Eventually, the remaining Skeletons left towards the back as well and the doors both far behind Shaka and far behind Lucifer were both heard being closed, leaving behind the two warriors.

Daemon's red eyes turned to the ruined roof at this and he saw the far-off flames of the Fire Clock. The fire of Virgo was dying, but still there. It proved once more that Shion tied it to Lucifer's cosmos. It would not burn away until the Pride Star defeated Shaka and moved on as well.

"You just made a huge mistake, Daemon…" Shaka warned. "With your men around, perhaps you could have sacrificed one to save yourself from the Hells I am about to unleash on you."

The bluff did not work on the experienced Lucifer. He could see pretty well that Shaka letting the False Specters through meant that he no longer believed he could stop them all from advancing and wished to focus on eliminating the most important threat, the Celestial Pride Star. This, however, would be a fatal mistake on Shaka's part, as one-on-one battles were decided by the greatest will and cosmos, and none was greater than of the proud Specter Prince.

He tightened his warm arm, feeling the last of the black ember specks of Flaming Sword burn away. None were greater anymore, at least.

"TENMA KOFUKU!"

Lucifer gasped, seeing the locomotive beam of light firing off at him instantaneously, and instinctively raised his hands once more, upon which the blast crashed into with meteoric force, pushing the Specter back once again.

The Pride Star's teeth gritted, feeling the attack more powerful than ever before! "You… brat! Do you think-…" and his body fought back against the sizzling, golden force, pushing back against it with great struggle. The ground cracked all around him and broke apart while the shadows of objects raged around under the effect of the burning light. Lucifer felt his armored hands burning and his very spirit being bit unto, but he would not let this cursed attack defeat him! "DO YOU STILL THINK THIS CAN STOP ME?!"

And with a mighty roar, the Specter, using the last sizzling burns of the Flaming Sword, dug his fingers into the cosmic plasma of the sun-like force and hurled it up, directing the blast upwards and sending it off to the skies, further blasting the roof apart and stumbling backwards at the recoil of the effort he subjected himself to. Tenma Kofuku flew off towards the heavens and exploded among the clouds, briefly turning the Sanctuary night into day.

Ainsel's jamming barrier sizzled, containing all the radiation and light of the move as best as it could. Lucifer panted, a bit riled up that the kid still thought he could get rid of him this easily, but he had to confess that somehow the move carried new force to it, either because Shaka had opened his eyes or perhaps because he was just all the madder for it. It would be a cold day in the Underworld, though, before Lucifer let himself be beaten by the Virgo Saint's equivalent of an exorcist's command.

Accepting the difficulty of the task before him, the Gold Saint finally spoke. "Very well… So you carry the spirit of a lost one in that arm of yours. Of course… only a trick like that could get past my Kha!" he claimed. "I should have understood lady Astraea's words more quickly… but from now on, with that in mind, I will focus all my energies on separating you from your cosmic ally, Specter! That improved Tenma Kofuku was just the beginning! Prepare to be cleansed…"

"I thought you'd appreciate this lesson, Virgo. Aren't you all seekers of knowledge? Now you know your barrier isn't foolproof." Lucifer provoked.

The very idea of this revolted Shaka. "For all I know, that cosmos in your arm is a poor victim of yours that you trapped in yourself with your dark Underworld spells." He voiced, though Astraea had said it was only something possible through deep bonds.

Quite frankly, Daemon had to admit this would not be out-of-character for Specters. "I'm afraid it's not, Virgo Shaka. The Flaming Sword is a gift entrusted to me, along with many others, by my closest friend, so you will not be robbing it from me. But look on the bright side-" he appealed, laying out his arms. "I've finally gotten to make you look past yourself and let my Specters through to continue my conquest. Now we can focus on thoroughly destroying one another. Isn't that grand?"

The boy irked. "You think the chaos you bring into Athena's houses is grand?!"

Lucifer chuckled; the Gold Saint was trying hard to hide it, but what happened with Kha and Michael's sword clearly disturbed him. He wondered if Dark Angel had done the same thing in his battle with Asmita, in whatever magical world that encounter took place in.

"Absolutely, it is my objective even! To become king of Sanctuary and claim my deserved prize, I must prove to the fates themselves I am not merely someone taking advantage of Shion's carelessness. Triumphing over the powers of Sanctuary's strongest is necessary to truly dominate it. Also…" and the edge of Lucifer's lips curved. "…there may be some truth to Gold Saint claims that my Pride Star curses me… I simply can't let go of the opportunity of seeing for myself all you can do, Virgo, and prove it all futile!"

With the sudden sharpening of these last words in the Daemon's voice, the darkness in the Hall intensified, as if a cloud moved over to block the moonlight now coming from above them.

"Your deserved prize?" Shaka wondered. His mind returned to his battle with Alraune. "Do you mean Teos, perhaps?"

Feeling confronted, Lucifer felt little reason to hide it anymore, but he'd rather the Gold Saints kept questioning themselves in terror at what he was trying to accomplish, so he stayed quiet.

Shaka, on the other hand, was almost entirely sure. "Ah, ah, ah. Are you a fool, Specter? That Cloth isn't real!" the boy bragged. "It's another power fantasy for the unenlightened; the sort of lie to tell children to make them dream about becoming Saints. Even I know that. Getting to the top of these stairs won't help you get what doesn't exist."

Even if he agreed with the Gold Saint on this, the Specter found his conclusion rather limited. "Perhaps I merely wish Athena's blood-soaked laurels to myself, Virgo, the ones my family used to be crowned with."

"NONSENSE! Another fool's prize!" Shaka instantly declared, his voice sounding like a judge's gavel in the Hall of Innocence. His golden aura reemerged, making the blue in his eyes shine with a cosmic depth and his blonde hair raise up. "There is no King of Sanctuary, merely those who defend Athena and her will! And a Specter who wishes to subvert that shall be crushed into a black blot on the ground like he deserves!"

Lucifer reignited his aura, tensing his body into a bracing pose and ready for another possible Tenma Kofuku. Immediately pebbles raised from the ground around him as if the mere summoning of his Darkness energy made him into a sort of black hole. "Then do so, Virgo,… if you can!"

Waving the Japamala rosary housing the Specter seal in the air, Shaka then clasped his hands together with them in prayer, humming in monkish concentration and causing his energy to rise to its maximum level, unleashing a blunt shockwave of force as if his body's very presence in the world was reaffirmed. With his eyes open, he saw physical shapes of the world and his powers would only grow more dangerous as he targeted the chinks in the Specter's spirit harsher than ever before!

Feeling these incredible energies in his 7th sense, Lucifer couldn't help but be amazed. "Incredible… he's just a small boy, yet these heathen powers make him as dangerous as my old teacher Thanatos himself! I feel like the very ground beneath me could open up at a command from his mouth! I have no choice;-" the Specter decided, tensing his glare at the severity of his decision. "-If I wish to truly defeat this adversary, striking the body will be meaningless! I must destroy his mind and soul with Eternal Darkness instead!"

But Shaka's judgement would begin doing so immediately! "Your first punishment shall be on your very condition of a Specter! Tenkū Haja…" And the Gold Saint allowed a gap to form between his palms, causing a golden ball of cosmos to be revealed like a magic trick, which shined out like an exploding star. "CHIMIMŌRYŌ!"

The world went chilly and dark to Lucifer, who gasped at the sight of the star in Shaka's hands bursting into a firework of damned souls howling into the air in all directions, reflecting a hecatomb of death he had only witnessed manifested by the likes of Thanatos' Tartarus Phobia technique! Once again broadening the horizons about the horrors available to Shaka's powers, the spirits of the mountains and rivers that existed in the shadowy corners of the world amassed unto the Specter like a meteor shower of golden skulls.

"But with that damn barrier… how can I possibly target him with anything but Flaming Sword?!" The Specter then braced himself, crossing his arms and ready to take on the attack! "I will create an opening! Somewhere that Gold Saint must have another weakne-"

It all collided on him in a firework display of golden explosions amassing unto one another, cutting his thoughts short, bombarding the hall of innocence and biting its sheering light on the Specter's very spirit, promising to drag him all the way back to hell. Shaka's recitation continued, and so did the summoning of the evil spirits condemned by Buddha's faithful! Nothing would remain of the Specter after this battle!

"Shaka, please be careful!"

The determined Gold Saint minded his Cloth's advice, but fired off more spirits to further blast apart the Specter! By Athena and the Gods, Shaka would annihilate this messenger of death!

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

House of Sagittarius

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

New flashes of lights coming from the 6th Temple's damage orifices illuminated the air, alarming the Sagittarius Saint. "Shaka is still fighting… he's still alive!" he concluded, before taking another arrow of cosmos.

The reason that made him doubt the boy's survival now climbed the stairs to the Libra Temple. The Specters were now close enough to his own house that Aiolos could detect details about them, like the color of their faces, and they had just gotten past Shaka's House while his dying flame in the Fire Clock still endured. Nocking a light missile consisting of thousands of condensed arrow bolts into his bow, Aiolos charged his cosmos, aimed high and fired it, allowing the shooting star to arch hover Milo and Saint Dohko's Houses before descending on the Specters with a burst that turned it into a shrapnel shower, forcing them on the defensive instantly.

Some fell immediately, but most of them endured. Aiolos readied another one.

"So they've gotten past Shaka… things are beginning to look quite grim." Shura commented.

"AURORA VEIL!" a voice commanded.

Aiolos looked up in alarm and side-stepped as a glacial wind scoured down the stairs of the Golden Zodiac once more, frosting the stairsteps all over again, going right through each house and biting at their booted feet. The Sagittarius Saint gazed back down and saw the tip of the freezing front descend unto the Specters, about to freeze them solid.

However, this time the enemy was prepared. The entire enemy battalion sounded alarms, burned their cosmos in unison and the two Elites took the front to form a common energy barrier that blocked Aurora Veil from progressed further, while the rest of the Skeletons kept their shield wall up to protect them from ice shrapnel.

Aiolos sweated as he saw the killers charged right back up the steps, unabated.. "Just as we thought… I'm sorry, Camus, but it won't be so easy as when they were back at Taurus."

"Is Milo still in his House?!" asked Camus.

Aiolos released the second barrage. "I believe so…"

"We should do something, ready another combined attack!" Camus insisted, suddenly sounding very involved for someone of his particular emotional training. "If things keep going as they are-"

"It's not so easy to aim another Orion's Ray without Shaka's help... or yours." Shura objected. He couldn't believe he was being the rational one out of them both. "Without Aurora Veil and Shaka's sensing, we could kill Milo instead. It could even land on our friends further down below…"

Camus irked from his House. "…. I understand." he had to confess.

Aiolos tensed his glare as he aimed and fired a third wave. He was very relieved and thankful to Shaka to know his little brother was okay, but as demonstrated by Camus' fears it didn't mean at all that their loved ones were out of the frying pan. The scariest part of all of this is that he never realized how much all of them had grown to rely on the 7th and 6th senses to stay informed of everything going on around them, and now a simple jamming field robbed them of this ability so easily and turned them into gold-clad headless chickens. The enemy definitely knew what he was doing.

Said jamming field that was oppressing them, however, seemed to have ceased advancing up the stairs. It had already been some time since it reached the Scorpio Temple, yet Aiolos still felt no interference when communicating with everyone behind him, indicating that the source of it had parked itself somewhere down the Zodiac. It was very likely it was whomever Lance battled when he returned to his House. Aiolos was pretty confident it was the Cancer Saint who was back, too, given the pattern of what they saw happening at the Aries Temple and the fact the hellish flames in Leo seemed to be slowly receding now. Saga was strong, but he was not as showy.

His blue eyes narrowed in alarm when he felt a burst of dark cosmos and saw a gigantic boulder suddenly being hurled into the air over the Scorpio House towards him! Aiolos sidestepped, allowing the huge rock to loudly meteor his front door's entry stairs, before firing back more arrows to destroy more incoming objects being somehow catapulted at him.

Barely dodging another dark comet which absolutely wrecked half the thick marble pillars supporting the left side of his temple's entablature, Aiolos clicked his tongue, sensing the energies off the object now rolling off the wall to the mountain side. "Tsk, I'm finally in their range! This looks like the work of a Golem Specter. Fine then!" he then cringed another arrow on his metal string and aimed it back. "Come and get us, you murderers!"

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

House of Virgo

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

The cavalcade of golden explosions continued, with Shaka expanding his senses to monitor every photon of Cosmos radiating off the target as the evil mountain spirits immersed in Buddha's light turned the Specter's spot into another crater in the Hall of Innocence. Resounding sounds of explosions and cracking ground formed an authentic cacophony, but Shaka's casting hand remained firm. No mercy would be given to impure existences.

Yet, as the smoke and dust spread around, obfuscating the light, a dark burst of power fired in all directions as the Daemon spread out his arms in a roar, enacting the power of a Specter of the pathetic ghouls of Cosmos and dispelling the attack. Pride Star's hands immediately cupped forward, already crackling thunder and darkness in them! "DARK REVENGE BLAST!"

Shaka's 7th sense spiked, alarming him, and he tucked the 108 beads. "KHA!"

Bloodthirsty red eyes narrowed as he aimed the condensing orb of destruction. "FIRE!" and the ball shot off with ferocious speed, releasing a booming sound through the air.

The barrier sizzled around Shaka transparently!

But then the Specter turned two fingers in his hand up, releasing an electrical signal that caught up with the sphere of darkness fired at Shaka! "UP!" he commanded, causing Dark Revenge Blast to suddenly snap upwards right before reaching Shaka.

The boy gasped, taken by surprise and seeing the threatening blast of cataclysmic energy seemingly remotely directed far around him to nowhere, but kept his barrier up! This proved to be a wise decision when it was suddenly slammed full force from the front by Lucifer's cosmos-drenched diving kick, which screeched like a drill against it. Enacting his powers, Shaka let out a low shout, reflecting Lucifer's violent karma back at him, and the Specter was invisibly blasted off by the force of his own attack!

As he flew away screaming in pain, he spun his body upon landing and swing his fingers back down with Shaka seeing, causing the distant Dark Revenge Blast to switch directions back at the target like a boomerang, aiming right at Shaka's neck with enough speed to catch him by surprise. Shaka's 7th sense easily detected the movement pattern despite it aiming at his nape and prepared himself for the impact, but a last remote command from Lucifer ensured the surprise element by remotely detonating the powerful attack, startling Shaka!

The explosion was massive and vicious, swallowing the boy in an expanding dome of cosmic destruction, The Gold Saint's transparent barrier rose in perfect time, doming him as well, and its pristine surface was struck with the violence of a high caliber tank shot, shattering the cratered ground around Shaka further and spreading white lightning everywhere as the Blast's terrifying power fought against the mystic wall's canceling forces. Supreme in the face of such basic violence, Shaka held firm, yet his bead hand shook as if the attack carried in it such outrageous strength that it violated the very laws of the Cosmos.

Still, the Virgo Saint would not be bested! This attack, unlike the fire sword, did not carry the wrong will to judge after all. "BEGONE!" he sounded out, and the barrier burst outwards, shattering Dark Revenge Blast into a shower of smaller blasts of purple cosmos the shrapneled all over the ground, destroying the House's grounds further in a quaking spectacle of exploding light domes.

Undeterred by its violence, Shaka still had to stumble back at the pulses of cosmos released by all this collateral damage, a moment of hesitation that was preyed on by the Specter who blitzed straight towards him with a fistful of blue lighting swinging from the side! The Gold Saint's hand, however, gently tapped the enemy's wrist with a ball of clear light, nullifying its force completely before using lightspeed to move out of the lunging Specter's landing, which crashed the lotus throne apart.

The Prince squinted, analyzing what happened. "So it's not about his awareness of what I'm doing… or his own concentration…"

Lucifer's close-range assault continued by him turning around and testing Shaka's reflexes further by firing a lightspeed electrical blast of pale blue which just singed yet another transparent Kha surface, unable to harm the Gold Saint. The caped Specter then practically rammed his cosmos immerse body against it, personally feeling all the ferocity and power he put into his tackling energy field vanish as if never summoned in the first place, and forcing the Specter to stick out his foot in landing as the distance between him and his target was as if made into a huge expanse.

Shaka narrowed his young blue eyes in suspicion. What was the Specter doing? Did he know not already how the barrier worked?

Roaring and summoning the devil's image, Daemon Lucifer immersed his knuckles in the crackling lighting and the dense blood of the dark and thrust forward. "DARK SPEAR BARRAGE!"

Once again, though, the technique failed, this time making little use of the enclosed distance from the move's previous attempt other than managing to fly off like rockets towards Shaka's face only to suddenly grind to a halt.

Shaka was about to make the missiles burst to nothingness like before, but then he noticed something that genuine confused him; Lucifer was closing his eyes and gathering electricity in his hand? In this state of suppressing his sight, Lucifer attempted to abstract himself from what he was doing, imagining he had fired these javelins at no one, and then commanded with a single signal of his Electric cosmos for all fired missiles to go unstable.

Seeing the blows sizzle furiously as if struck by a whip, Shaka understood what the Specter was trying to do and rose his arms in guard, using his cosmos defensively in a far more primitive way as the Dark Spears exploded into showers of electrical cosmos which shocked the armored child, who recoiled screaming.

As the electromagnetic pulses faded, Lucifer reopened his eyes and evaluated the damage. As he thought, it was very little, with Shaka only gasping a bit as if his wrist was slapped and looking himself over as if this was the first time in his life he was ever struck, but the Specter's strategy definitely worked; by using a two-stage attack of fire and detonation, Lucifer gave himself a chance to try to separate his own mind from what he was doing in an attempt to cut the tie of violent intent that Shaka preyed on. The rest was a matter of commanding his own attack to do something different before Shaka turned the Dark Spears against him.

"I see it clearly now… it's all about his enemies' intentions. About what I am trying to do…" Daemon realized. "But… how do you defeat an enemy without wanting to do it?"

Time for experiment two.

The revolted child braced himself. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Lucifer's open hand rose to the air, immersed in cosmos, and Shaka gasped as suddenly the ground beneath him erupted in an explosion of purple Cosmos, attempting to blast the child from underneath.

Once more the barrier of Kha cancelled out the violence of the move by negating all damage within its premises, causing instead the ground of the Temple to be wrecked apart a third time in an even grander way, but Lucifer then closed his hand harshly and burned his darkness cosmos, causing the rising energy he casted to suddenly converge unto Shaka!

As expected by both, however, this second attempt to harm the Gold Saint was completely futile and the dark cosmos merely hugged the surface of the barrier, clothing it entirely in a black layer of energy which poked every bit of its surface, searching for weakness.

Seeing this, Shaka scoffed. "Your foolishness never ceases to amaze me, Daemon. How many times must you learn? Trying to crush me inside my barrier is no different than all the other worldly attacks you've thrown at me. Sooner in this world you'd reach the face of Zeus with a spear thrown from the bottom of the ocean!" Shaka then enacted his cosmos, commanding Lucifer's sins to be righted in the karma with a raise of his rosary. "NOW FACE YOUR PUNISHMENT!"

The beads swung in the air… and rested down. Nothing happened.

Shaka's mouth dropped. The layer of blackness around him was unharmed, and so was Lucifer. "What?!"

An evil smirk filled the Specter's lips as his knowledge over Shaka's limitations grew. "You can't do anything, can you?"

The blonde child staggered. "W-what are you talking about?! What have you done?!"

"Nothing. That wasn't an attack." Lucifer explained, maintaining the field of his darkness cosmos by burning it off his raised fist. He made the black egg open a window through which to see the Gold Saint. He imagined this boy never faced anyone in combat who tried to turn his game against him like this. "Your powers operate on your karma beliefs, do they not? The Cosmos of Darkness is very fluid, though… and very easy to shape! It loans its power from the ignorance and fear of men, which can take any form. It's child's play for me to mold it into something harmlessly dressing your barrier, instead of striking it."

The Gold Saint's blue eyes looked all over, realizing that the Specter spoke the truth; not a single speck of the blackness surrounding him was trying to harm Shaka, instead merely coating his barrier like a gentle cloak, in which case there was no cosmic violence enacted unto him.

The Specter laughed. "Mm, mm, I could leave you like this, you know, and walk up the stairs? Perhaps that would not be a bad idea- "

Unwilling to being made fun of, the child swept his arm and the blackness was blasted off of him with a basic burst of Cosmos. "No silly games, Specter…!"

Lucifer lowered his casting fist. It was true that Shaka could still simply resort to basic cosmos use like what the rest of them typically used, instead of his fancy powers.

However, the fact Lucifer forced him to was highly satisfying. "I think I understand your powers a bit better now, though… These barriers, these ghouls, these purifying blasts, this holier-than-thou attitude of yours… You're another one of those spiritual types I hate!"

The blonde boy lowered chin reflectively, once more sensing the history of bloodshed in the Specters karma. "I suppose over the course of this long thread of life of yours you've faced other Virgo Saints…"

"I told you already, you're the first." Lucifer reminded him. Another provocative smirk was seen on him. "You're just not that special or unique, you see?"

As predicted by the Prince, there was a sudden crushing shift in the atmosphere, where, in sync with a subtle tensing in Shaka's young eyes, the sensation of a thousand elephants being slowly pressed unto his armored shoulders was felt. Even the shadows in the room grew darker and alive, as if trying to flee from the boy.

"You dare imply the sacred path of the Virgo Saint is mundane?" Shaka voiced, as if he couldn't believe it.

Lucifer scoffed. "You can spare me the scary speech you've certainly given my men; I'm not so easy to frighten with a lightshow and a bedtime horror story about the depth of your powers as the False Specters… Instead, do you know who you speak to? I've looked Gods in the face and spat at them just this last few week! Gods who could make my Surplice crumble to dust with a snap of their fingers and with a wag make my entire body twist like a towel until all my blood came off! Before that, I braved the hordes of the Underworld and the most terrible attacks the Gold Saints of the last war had to throw at me, and I stand today!"

The Gold Saint of Virgo staggered, feeling none of the fear he inspired in the phantoms earlier come off of this man.

Lucifer continued. "I've faced those dragons,… and now a small child like you now dares press their cosmos upon ME?! Out of what right?! Because you're dressed in that pathetic excuse of a Goddess?!" he then charged his cosmos around his jaw in anticipation to what he was about to say. "Astraea is a treacherous cunt, just like Athena, and her constellation will be better put to use in my crusade against the heavens than in coddling a little punk like y-"

Thrusting his finger at the Specter with a golden snap of cosmos, Shaka struck his sense of taste, with Lucifer's head snaped back as if struck by a powerful blow! "KEEP THE NAME OF THE GODDESS OUT OF YOUR TONGUE, PRIDE STAR!"

But the faint, preemptively risen barrier around Pride Star's chin was what was struck instead, and Lucifer turned down back at Shaka, rubbing the protection off himself like dirt on his chiseled jaw. "So predictable… You won't even shut your enemies by dirtying your fists, instead striking their senses like an Olympian would. You're just like the Geminis!"

Breathing fast, the Gold Saint felt himself stepping back, not having expected his behavior to be so easily foreseen and parried.

Lucifer just stepped forward in tune. "Your pathetic soliloquies about my 'karma' don't frighten me, and neither do your silly demonstrations of what you can do to my stupid men! The Cosmos is a mighty thing, and can do much with human imagination! Do you think perhaps it shocks me that you've given reality to these silly fantasies of karmic retribution?! It's just another technique! There's nothing celestial about you or your Cloth!" he then glanced at the lotus throne he just broke to pieces. "And especially nothing about the starved Indian priest that inspired this ridiculous faith of yours!"

With the name of Buddha evoked in spite, Shaka now felt personally offended. In fact, his very hair roused with the golden energies now rising around himself. "You… truly deserve the worst of hells! How dare you?!"

Looking around, Lucifer felt forces beyond his immediate comprehension being invisibly raised against him. Clearly his sensitivity to Shaka's mysterious powers was growing. Soon, Shaka would peel off another layer of secrecy and strike him with even more terrible techniques available to him. However, what Shaka failed to understand was that doing this was telling Lucifer more about the nature of what he was capable of, which would be his undoing.

However, Lucifer could not afford to endlessly spend his endurance on figuring out what made Shaka tick. More and more, Lucifer felt only the spell passed down by Hypnos was fitting to end this battle. He wasn't lying when he claimed he hated Shaka's type; men like Yona, Asmita and Atavaka always made it sound to everyone like they held the keys to the universe because they themed their abilities after some spirituality or other, with Yona in particular acting like he was omniscient or something, as if the cosmos wasn't so versatile it could not emulate divinity without some sort of blessed guidance from the heavens.

The reality was that Cosmos was such an incredibly flexible power, as it reflected the make-up of the universe itself, that any sufficiently specialized form of it could make it look indistinguishable from miracles. While this did not mean that there wasn't truth to Shaka's claims that his particular style of employing the cosmos was superior or blessed, as many Virgo Saints famously became the most dangerous members of the Zodiac and seemed to have an incredible mental advantage over Specters, it did ultimately fall under the umbrella of Cosmos as everyone comprehended it, which meant that it was by no means a thing of Gods, nor unsurmountable.

Yet, the road to Godhood was clearly Shaka's goal to climb, which revealed something else about him to the Pride Star. "A power that the 7th sense cannot detect, yet it has all the ability to interact with Cosmos…. You make a poor secret of your dabbling in the 8th sense, Virgo."

Shaka hid his concern that the Specter would know of Arayashiki. "So you recognize this sacred power? Impressive for a Specter,… who are blind as bats to it." Shaka characterized. Being caught only served to sharpen the rising energies around him as the Hall of Innocence was increasingly put into darkness, though.

"Fool, do you think that sense is something to be trifled with?" Daemon lambasted. He may have severed ties with Hades, but 500 years of Specter sensitivities would not leave him overnight, and Specters looked upon the 8th sense as an offensive subversion of the Book of the Dead's decrees. "Screwing with the barrier between life and death is not something meant for you, Virgo. You should accept your condition AND your place in the food chain, like the rest of us, humans."

This line was laughable to the Gold Saint. "A man of Hades criticizing others for subverting death should be more aware of their hypocrisy."

Lucifer's red eyes squinted, finding what he had been looking for. The 8th sense was sought for one reason, and one reason only. "Just like I thought earlier, you're afraid of dying, aren't you?"

Shaka continued. "The sanctity of Arayashiki should also not be commented on by those who by virtue of their deal with Hades could never hope to achieve it. I'll take great pleasure, Pride Star… in showing you the heavenly treasures available to those who pursue it."

The Prince scoffed. "More ascetic crap, I presume? You priest and monk types are all the same! Always finding excuses to lend virtue to your weakness!" he criticized, having seen this narrow-mindedness and self-excusing all his life. "Denying yourself the pleasures of life grants you no enlightenment, child. The world exists for those who live in it to seize upon it. If you wish to triumph over death, only your power and your ego will allow you to do so."

Shaka smiled knowingly. "Is that why you joined Hades? You sold your sold for power and pride?"

Lucifer bit his tongue. These days, the moment he joined Hades was looked back on with great shame.

Delighting in his silence, Shaka clasped hands together and focused his cosmos, causing rays of light to gather into his palms. "I thought as much… but since once upon a time with happiness you've journeyed into Hell for those things… I'll happily send you back!"

The Pride Star's eyes widened, detecting a new form of cosmic arrangement coming from Shaka's energies. Was this the technique that defeated Lemon?

"Let's hope this will be enough to defeat him!" Shaka opened his clasp, revealing a bright sun of enveloping rays that scoured through the Hall! "RIKUDŌ RINNE!"

As the golden beams filled his sight, Lucifer gasped, losing all sensation of his body and feeling his very ego uplifted from its mortal coil!

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

House of Taurus

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

Aldebaran gasped, feeling his body pushed back by the force of the ramming blow and his heels scratching the ground of the Hall of Daedalus as his back crashed through thick marble pillars supporting what was left of the roof. Crashing into the wall, he fell to his hands and knees as blood poured out of several creases and cracks in his Gold Cloth, dizzy.

He struggled to keep his eyes open, nearing exhaustion, and his vision doubled, showing him two pairs of his own hands dancing left and right. By Athena, he really thought the fight was going to get easier. Instead, as he rose to behold his confident Specter opponent, Aldebaran realized that depriving Behemoth Torak of the source of his armor repair ability only made the black-haired adult bolder and more determined in his attacks.

The Specter approached him, cackling. "You seem distracted, Taurus… perhaps that explosion earlier is concerning you?" he teased. "That weakness of yours will be your death… forget about your friends and battle me!"

Aldebaran sneered. That was definitely Shaka's cosmos that made the mountain shake. Only he would be that stupidly strong. Did the Indian open his eyes or something?!

Still, the Brazilian would not relent. Tensing his hands and filling them with light, his whole body shot back at the Specter with the force of Great Horn, becoming as if a huge golden meteor! Torak of Behemoth steeled his arms and took the blunt of the attack head on, absorbing the force with his strong body with only a short pushback. Amidst the shower of golden light resultant from the impact, Aldebaran lunged forward with a punch and a roar at the speed of light!

But the grown-up felt it coming, dodged with a side-step and a back lean and then dug his own punch straight into Aldebaran's cracked cuirass, stunning the Taurus with the fierce impact. What followed was a combo of heavy punches that pummeled the Gold Saint back and forth, sending him back two or three steps with every bone-cracking blow and weakening the Taurus more and more, who bled on the battlefield like a corrida bull. Torak finished it with a head-cracking headbutt that made the Gold Saint scream and stumble back, resorting to his cosmos to not fall once more.

Tensing his fists, Torak beheld his bleeding foe. "Where has your strength gone, Taurus?" he asked, not expecting much of an answer. The battle was going as the False Specter predicted, with his experience becoming the deciding factor.

Aldebaran only breathed deeply, unable to respond. They had been fighting almost since the beginning of the invasion and the Taurus couldn't say he had much left in terms of stamina.

The silence was rewarded with a dash punch that snuck through Aldebaran's pathetic attempt at a counterpunch and then landed with rock sliding force on his chest, sending shockwaves through his burly body that practically lifted him off the ground. Time slowed down and Torak prepared himself to finish him off with a short leap and a raise of hands into a hammer clasp!

In that instant, with his consciousness fading, Aldebaran felt the voice of his ancestors once more, urging him to fight. His eyes filled with furious golden cosmos and his fists tightened.

His hand thrust up at the leaping foe. "G-GREAT HORN!" and its unparalleled speed fired off in the air a blast with a force that would make Orion's Ray proud, sounding like a thunderbolt in the air and striking at the Behemoth in near point blank range.

But Torak's body seemingly dissipated into a shadow, obliterated by the blast to nothing before the beam flew off to annihilate another section of the roof. In reality, the Specter had twisted to the side with the force of his jump and angled just right to swing a cosmos-immersed foot at Aldebaran's head. "BRUTAL REAL!"

The bellowing of the rhinoceros was heard and a dark, blunt force struck Aldebaran's head like a swinging sledgehammer, seeing the screaming Gold Saint flying off to the side and crash through the ground in a rolling succession of impacts, like a skipping stone, until colliding with a crater formed by their fighting.

Landing flawlessly, the Specter scoffed, triumphant. He saw that resurgence of Cosmos coming a mile away. Every warrior worth their Cosmos understood well that it was in moments of despair that it could explode the strongest, so the Behemoth anticipated that the advent of his finishing blow would trigger it in his young foe. He had therefore feinted the overhead hammer and in reality prepared the much more powerful Brutal Real.

Aldebaran would need Titan blood in his veins to get up from this one!

Walking towards the Gold Saint, Behemoth Torak was not unscathed; not only blood oozed from many injuries from head to toe, but the fighting with Aldebaran and Cancer Lance had drained him somewhat and sections in his Behemoth Surplice were ruined until he got a chance to get back to Erika and get a solid stockpile of Underworld shadows back from which to reunite the Damascus of his protection. Like a true warrior, though, this issue only made Torak's strength shine out brighter and Cancer Lance left his comrade behind to get progressively stuck in a losing match.

Now standing above a fallen, helmetless Taurus, Torak felt the Saint's previously stalwart cosmos shy away even more. Perhaps Aldebaran used what was left to save his neck from being broken. In any case, there was no need to prolong the fighting further.

"You fought nicely, kid… but in a battle with an adult, you have much to learn. Blame your teacher for leaving you guarding this place. Taurus Daniel would certainly have stalled me longer. Now…" He then raised his hand at the Taurus, charging a large ball of purple cosmos. "…no hard feelings, but I need to blast you off that armor… the longer it stays here, the longer it will be until we can skip this mountain's defenses!"

The orb whirred loudly, illuminating the Halls of Daedalus with purple light. Its texture was rugged and pulled small pebbles off the ground unto it to be burned, reflecting an innate Earth element mixed with Darkness. The force of it would burn away Aldebaran's body, leaving behind a cracked, yet living Gold Cloth.

Aldabaran's eyes faintly opened and sterned, seeing his fate shining down on him. A faint line of energy began to burn in him. Even if he died, by Athena and the Cretan Bull, he would not just lay there and tak-

A five-fingered vice of golden cosmos shot through the air, screeching in both their 7th senses, and Torak gasped when it gripped his wrist with the force of a galactic crash, twisting it to the side and colliding the two cosmos with the arrival of this new party. It made the orb fire off in the wrong direction, lasering through the ground away from Aldebaran!

The Taurus Gold Saint gasped. "S…. S-Saga!"

The Behemoth Specter staggered, finding himself confronted by the stalwart, blue-haired Gemini Gold Saint, whose cape fluttered heroically and whose blue eyes locked the False Specter in place, promising untold annihilation should Lucifer's Elite as much as spare the Taurus Saint any new look. He held his helmet in his other hand.

Gritting his teeth furiously, Torak snapped Saga's grip off and leaped away, burning his cosmos in preparation for a new battle. Torak's aura then surged with new volume that he had not shared with Taurus. "So you've come, Gemini! I wasn't expecting you to come save your friend… but I won't pass this chance to avenge Deadly Beetle and Worm!"

The Gemini beheld the Taurus. "Are you okay?"

Aldebaran struggled to get up, shaking all over, and lied. "O-Oh yeah! J-just about to win, a-actually!" he then messaged the rest. "Thank you for showing up… I was at the end of my rope, there. I didn't think I'd get a third hand… You guys are really doing everything to help me tonight…"

Saga felt his cosmos dwindling almost to nothing. "Of course…" he then eyed the Specter. "Your rampage through this House has lasted long enough, Behemoth. Now you face two warriors of Athena! Prepare for destruction!" and he accentuated this last word with a surge of cosmic energies around himself.

Wiping some blood off his jaw, the Specter was skeptical. "I don't think so…" he hissed. "You're not the first to interrupt this battle, Gemini… and I have more than enough strength for the both of you. Children and teenagers should stay off the battlefield of the fully formed warriors."

The confidence in his brag surprise Saga, given the adversary's condition. "Overconfidence has not served Athena's enemies well over the centuries, Specter…And this is no mere Gold Saint you face!" He then glanced at his friend. "Aldebaran, get to my side now!"

As the Taurus struggled to climb out of the crater, Torak shrugged his shoulders. "I disagree, Gemini… it is your comprehension of what's happening that is limited. In fact, all you Gold Saints barely understand what's at stake in this battle…" his eyes then looked up the blasted ceiling at the far-off Fire Clock, where the Virgo flame slowly died. "Even now my Prince prepares to crush your champion in his palm, your Virgo Saint… whose pathetic creeds will do him no good in the face of a warrior's steeled spirit."

Saga scoffed as his energies began to focus unto his free hand. "Are you claiming the same fortitude as your boss, Specter? Your Prince will soon be gone. Shaka is no easy opponent, I'm afraid." He had to confess. Saga took a lot of pride in his own hard work to become one of the best of his generation, but their 6th House contemporary was someone whose abilities outraged even him.

Yet, Behemoth seemed unabated. "So what?... You think that counts for anything?!"

As this was said, Gemini Saga widened his eyes, feeling a sudden tension in his 7th sense about his opponent; Torak's cosmos was focusing with unprecedented density, transmitting to the Gemini an energy that was forged on the toughest of anvils. For a brief moment, Saga felt his own foot retreat a step, intimidated, as the strength he sensed off the Behemoth promised a spirit of relentless determination to crush his foes, like standing in front of someone who lifted an impossible weight right in front of your eyes.

An involuntary bead of sweat formed in his temple and Saga understood why Aldebaran lost this bout.

Torak pointed his finger at him and his narrowing eyes promised death. "I've heard you possess strange powers as well, Gemini… but the cosmos is mighty. If you throw a galaxy at me, perhaps I'll harness the strength to crush it down to a cube! If you trick me into thinking I cannot touch you, perhaps my fist will scour the universe in search of your face! It all depends on how you burn the Cosmos, does it not?"

Seeing the image of the Behemoth monster emerging, Saga steeled his own will, not to be easily intimidated. "It does… question is, Specter, can you burn it higher than mine?"

Aldebaran left the crater and saw Saga beginning to brim with a golden aura as his rousing energies finally charged to their maximum level, threatening to release an attack that would obliterate the House itself. "S-Saga, be careful! He's even tougher than he looks!"

Meeting the challenge, Torak clasped his hands, forming the rhino head with his fingers, and he chuckled at the Gemini's challenge. Already he sensed in this Gold Saint a stronger mind than in Taurus. It would be precisely in that battlefield that he would best the Gemini, with his jarring Mountainous Chaos! "Very well! Then another great battle I have found in my way! PREPARE TO DIE, GEMINI!"

Aldebaran recognized the pose. "SAGA, do NOT USE GALAXIAN EXPLOSION!" he urged. "The attack he's preparing –"

But Saga ignored him and swept his own arm aside, summoning the image of galaxies and stars! "Feel the brilliance of the stars!"

Torak fired off his move, which carried the power that only the densest of mountains could stop! "MOUNTAINOUS CHAOS!" and the ferocious shockwave of yellow, purple and white fired off, wrecking across the temple!

And Saga countered! "ANOTHER DIMENSION!"

Surprised, Aldebaran heard the sound of the barrier between this world and those parallel to it being shattered like a piece of glass and he screamed, feeling his whole body pulled into a vortex force around Saga as Mountainous Chaos flew at them!

Torak saw his move striking through Saga, but there was no impact with either the two Gold Saints or any offensive countermeasure. "He didn't fire the Galaxian Explosion?!" Half-expecting his move's energy to be sucked into another dimension in a futile attempt to absorb the entirety of its energy, the blast instead flew off harmless and blasted through the Hall's walls, forming yet another whole.

Seeing the almost atomic explosion that followed, Torak realized that there was nothing left in the temple of the two Gold Saints. They were gone.

His teeth snarled as shockwaves from his own attack's impact point battered him. "COWARDS!"

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

House of Cancer

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

Deathmask gazed down the stairs with his binoculars from the roof of the Cancer House, seeing Mountainous Chaos firing off the Temple below Saga's and exploding into a small mushroom cloud, releasing strange, frightening energies everywhere.

"Whow, cool!" he swooned. He didn't notice the vortex opening up above his head immediately and screamed when he saw a pair of golden clad bodies fall out of it, making him jump to the side with a scream. "AHH! H-HEY, WATCH IT! You two almost crushed me!"

Saga held Aldebaran's injured body and slowly rested him down. "Are you okay?"

The Taurus Saint looked around in a panic. "Ah… w-where are we?" he then saw Mephisto stare at them with his dumb look. "The Cancer House…?"

The Gemini Saint wiped his sweaty forehead. "It's about as far up as I could take you… one more step up these stairs and I'd probably land the both of us at the Andromeda Galaxy. It's not a good idea to test Athena's blessings like this…" his gaze then glanced away. "I shouldn't have made it this far to begin with… this is a sign that the defenses are already weakening with all the armors off their Houses. The enemy has got nothing but time on their side and we're sitting ducks waiting to get shot!"

Relaxing his breathing, Aldebaran processed the meaning of all of this bit-by-bit. Saga likely felt that if he fought Torak then and there, he would put him in danger, so he took the chance violating the temple's defenses to get Aldebaran as far away from Behemoth as possible.

…Which meant Aldebaran failed. The Taurus House was in enemy hands and, consequently, Aries was back off their reach as well.

A horrible, irrational shame beset itself unto him and Aldebaran irked painfully, feeling tears in his eyes forming. With his adrenaline lowering, all he could think about was how his House was undefended and they were back to losing the war after all the trouble Lance went through to storm up the stairs.

Saga noticed the same phenomenon he felt in himself and witness in Aiolia now beset Aldebaran. "Remember, the important thing is that you're alive and the Taurus Cloth is off their hands."

Aldebaran covered his crying face. "R-right… Right!" he repeated to himself.

Yet Saga kept more worrisome thoughts to himself. "It's a good thing we kept the Leo Cloth around its Temple….if we had sent it back down with Aiolia, we'd now be six Cloths in their Temples for six off of them, similar to when Priam bolted into the Pope Halls and attacked Arles." He looked up at the remaining Houses. "No matter what, Shaka and Milo can't allow their armors off their Houses! If that happens…"

Deathmask cringed at the sight of Aldebaran's weeping. "Ugh… another crybaby. Everyone in these Temples are a bunch of posers!"

"Do you want Shinta to slap your face again?" Saga warned, instantly silencing Deathmask. He then tried to discuss their next move. Fortunately, he already forced Kanon to go hide again. "In any case, it's no good staying here with Aldebaran. That Behemoth Specter will be charging up the Temples looking for us. I'd take him on myself… but I'd be happier doing so with you guys in better hands."

"WHAT?!" Deathmask squealed. "What the hell, Saga?! Why didn't you kill him?! Are you only good for dorking around with those dimensions of yours?!"

The Gemini just raised his hand. "Five fingers. They're girly-looking, but that's all they'll take to kill you!"

Hissing like a scared cat, the Sicilian rephrased himself. "I just want to know why didn't you blast that guy to smithereens!"

The Gemini looked at their broken friend, who rested against the edge of the balcony barely able to lift himself. He had considered battling the Behemoth, but Saga felt that getting Aldebaran out of his House was more pressing. The reason why was because he detected a fairly more powerful Cosmos in their adversary than even compared to the other Elites attacking the Zodiac. He wouldn't be shocked if Behemoth was Daemon Lucifer's strongest subordinate and, considering how the Papillion survived such an onslaught from three Gold Ranks going at him at once in the House they currently stood in, Saga got a feeling that picking Galaxian Explosion over Another Dimension would have been a big mistake. At the very least it would have put the very vulnerable Aldebaran in danger.

Reminded of their previous opponent, Saga turned to Deathmask once again. "Any sign of the Papillion?"

The boy shook his head. "Not since he disappeared off the curve of the mountain. Maybe he's dead."

Looking up, Saga felt the buzzing of the jamming barrier still up. "I doubt it very much. He must be very injured, though. Since Lance took his armor up anyway, perhaps we should take this chance to get the two of you to Leo."

Deathmask groaned. "Ugh, this is your fault, Saga! I was going to stay hidden here just fine but now the guy you didn't kill is going to come through here! I guess you want my help carrying this buffoon, uh?"

Saga nodded. "You guessed it! Now come on! The sooner you help Aldebaran to safety, the sooner you can go do whatever the hell you want instead of helping out!" he blamed, getting on Aldebaran's left side and glaring at Deathmask till he did the same on the right for the two of them to balance up the tall Taurus and help him walk out of there.

Frankly, how did Lance put up with him? Mephisto could be such an inconsiderate brat!

As they moved out of there, though, Saga's concern returned to the battle itself. "Damn it… if only I could contact Mu, I'd have him bring the Aries armor back to its home. That would leave me less anxious about moving Taurus up… but I never guessed the enemy would really make it this far. Shaka better stop him before things get even worse!"

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

House of Virgo

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

Seemingly pulled into the karmic whirlpool between Shaka's hands, Daemon Lucifer's body twisted like spaghetti in the air and he screamed in horror, reliving a sensation terrifyingly similar to when he and Kanon spiraled through the cosmos from Another Dimension back to the real Gemini Temple. This time, however, the Specter felt uplifted from his very body, still clad in the Damascus of Daemon yet absent of his body weight. He was swallowed up by the golden light and that, in turn, gave way to a winding abyss through which he fell down like a shooting star.

Immediately he was gripped with a new set of familiar forces; this time the familiarity came from how these forces resembles the evil chains of Hades' Underworld. Yet, rather than biting down on his flesh and robbing him of his will and strength, Lucian felt as if tranquilized by soft hands that spoke directly to the softest part of his spirit. Similar to the sensation of striking the Kha barrier, the Celestial Star of Pride felt appeased, rather than blocked, as if suddenly realizing he had no reason to boil his blood.

Beholding his descent like a gigantic ghost, Shaka of Virgo lamented the Specter's doom. "How sad… so even a mighty Specter claiming the title of 'Prince' cannot help but fall into the Samsāra. Hades' Underworld must truly be an affront to the Cosmos if it does not match the nature of the Six Realms."

Falling completely out of his own control, Lucifer's red eyes opened to see Shaka. "You… t-think this will defeat me?!" he gasped, struggling to pronounce even a single word in the pacifying existence he felt trapped in.

The Gold Saint gazed lamentingly at his ignorance. "Defeat you? Dear Prince, I merely manifest your fate!"

Lucian's eyes widened. "W-what?!"

"NOW –" Shaka declared, raising his beads and making his cosmos shine. "Let your karma decide the realm unto which you must fall! Rise to the surface, oh spirit of Lucian, son of Julian! And lay bare your sins!"

A shining force then emerged from deep within Lucifer's heart which made him howl in agony, as if falling under the spell of Balance of Curse! However, instead of manifesting the Feather of Ma'at, Shaka made the Wheel of Life emerge around him, which was branded with six Hindu letters that shined in different colors.

Just like he did earlier, Shaka read out Lucifer's karma. "A long life is more difficult to judge, but the condemnation is inevitable anyway…I see… battle, power hunger, cruelty, arrogance… but most of all, like your star indicates, an embarrassing amount of unwarranted pride! Added to it… an unwavering will to conquer everyone around you." Shaka then chuckled. "The conclusion is obvious, is it not?"

The Specter braced himself, expecting the violence of Shurakai. "Do your worst, then!"

One of the six letters began shining brighter than the other five, manifesting a crimson color. Seeing it, Shaka nodded and declared his sentence. "By the brilliance of Athena and the wisdom of Buddha, I, Shaka of Virgo, condemn you, Daemon Lucifer, to the only world befitting of your sins! JINKAI, the realm of HUMANS!"

The Prince barely had time to manifest his surprise and confusion before his body was sucked down at even faster speeds towards a shower of red blood beneath him!

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

(?)

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

The sensations were maddening!

Lucian held his ears, shut his eyes and howled in pain, feeling as if inside a ringing church bell, his body penetrated thoroughly by the vibrations of hundreds of thousands of years of human chaos!

All around him were nothing but the faces of the countless that had lived and experienced and suffered and learned and screamed! The entirety of human existence was being condensed into a single microsecond which the Specter was forced to experience in one mind-boggling, miscellaneous moment! It was as if his eyes were being forced to notice all the colors of an intricately detailed granite at once, or made to answer a thousand different questions of different urgencies being made from every direction. His ability to ignore it was being suppressed and his well-trained indifference as both a warrior and a Specter was being returned to infantile empathy, unable to stop caring about these unprocessable experiences.

His body finally collapsed onto the ground, having fallen from what felt to be an Everest height, landing on his arms and knees with meteoric force. His crawling body kept being assaulted by the voices and stares and judgmental looks which pierced his armor like nothing and invaded his soul.

Worst of all, he was made to relive the Hell that was the Underworld after the Lost Canvas War; all the undead uprisings and the hordes of damned that thirsted for his blood, the blood of their tormentors.

"Do you feel it… the wail of the tortured souls?" Shaka beheld the weakening Specter with pity. "Can you hear it, the lamentation of the damned? As you see, Prince… your fate is but many among a hundred billion…and your pride redundant."

Yes, he could see all that, for the weight of all humanity now pressed down on his ego, threatening to crush it into a small diamond!

"Such is the world of Jinkai… the realm of humanity itself." Shaka elaborated, descending on him like caring for a leper victim. "In manusya, one is reborn after death with endowments befitting of one's karma… but not before the painful punishment of your end. Prince or pauper, all are given new roles after realizing how little their old one meant."

The Specter shook with the ferocity of the invisible assault made unto him, probing at his very being. His mind felt as if about to snap like a twig!

"Yet, am I not so generous, for this is the kindest of the 6 realms?" Shaka gloated, confident in his triumph. "Unlike Alraune, who fell into a world of predators, you shall be given a chance to shine ane-"

"S-SHUT UP!" Lucifer roared in his crawl, startling the Gold Saint.

Virgo lowered his chin contemplatively. "Oh…so your spirit resists? Not for long, I'm afraid…"

However, the Specter further shocked him by struggling against the emotions invading him and slowly raising himself to his knees. The emotions echoing in the room like the blaring of a concert hall, making every bone of his body vibrate, tortured him relentlessly and threatened to snap his brain in half. The emotions transmitted in that world were so extreme and incompatible with each other, being originated by so many different souls, that no single person could resist it for long.

Yet, though his body grew weaker, a great fury invaded Lucifer's heart in response as well. This fury was directed at every pathetic whimper he's always hated in those around him, signs of the same ugly weakness that motivated those who lit his home ablaze and murdered his parents, half a millennium earlier. This collective of disgusting chaos around him was what originally motivated Lucian's brutal philosophy, so even though his body was breaking down, his spirt was set ablaze just hot enough for a moment to give Shaka a hateful look.

"I a-already told you…! This spiritual bullshit doesn't impress me!" he snarled, losing his sense of restraint due to the shock treatment he was being put in. He looked up and met Shaka's glare. "I am not some Bronze Saint you can p-push around with these illusions! I am Daemon! The Archdevil of Despair!"

The Gold Saint stepped back, confused. "He should be powerless… did I make a mistake judging him?" he thought. "Instead… this world seems to be awakening something…"

Shaka was not wrong. Deep inside the Specter's spirit, something did stir; a bloodthirsty will that had been dormant since Michael's death. Being in Jinkai reminded Lucifer of the foolishness of the world he lived in, the world in which his parents' home burned down and from which afterwards he was taken by Pandora's lies. The world he despised so much that he vowed to make use of Hades' contract to impose his vision upon it. It was a world that infuriated him with its weakness and imperfection, as well as the destiny it insisted on robbing him of.

His fists in the ground tightened, reminded of the desire to brand his scalding will on the planet's surface. The more futile screaming he heard from all around him, the hotter his blood boiled and the more sparks of blue lightning crackled all around him! It was as if a strange mist that had grown before his eyes without him noticing was being lifted. "Have I become so dull?!..."

All Shaka saw was a spirit growing stronger instead of weaker. The Specter's black cape was seemingly swelling with rising dark energies and the added effect of the sparks made the man look more like a storm than a human. At that moment, he too began to see Lucifer's karma more clearly. It still looked perfectly befitting of Jinkai, which confused Shaka further about the reason for such a reaction, but now he also detected more intimate events in the man's line. In particular, his hopes and vision for the world rose to the surface, before the memory of a death of a friend and two hundred years of having to bide his time in a broken Underworld both contributed to this demon being numbed.

Strength began tensing in Lucian's arms in that spiritual world, fueled by pure disgust of what surrounded him! Not even his battle with Minos and Aiacos on his way out of the Underworld stirred such dormant adrenaline in him. His senses began sharpening, instead of breaking, and his determination to reshape Jinkai into the world he envisioned was reinforced, instead of dashed away!

And the black-caped man rose all the way up, standing like a proud, but shaking, warrior. "This Hell is n-nothing to me! The Realm of Humans?! You think that will defeat me?! This challenge… only proves that it's not my destiny to be crushed by the tide of humanity's foolishness…-" and his cosmos then appeared out of nowhere, in a world where he should be cut off from it "… BUT TO CONQUER IT!"

And with this scream, the Specter's Darkness cosmos exploded in all directions, counteracting the hellish sensations of mankind's buzzing existence. Even Shaka, who was supreme in the Rikudo Rinne, felt the faintest heat from these energies. More importantly, he saw the man's will carried in this cosmos, and he felt it imposing itself in the Jinkai, silencing the chaos around him.

Tucking his beads, Shaka's blue eyes shook in alarm. "This has never happened before… I must have made an error!" Quickly gathering his thoughts, he waved the beads once again. He must not allow a second mistake in this fight to endure. Underestimating the Flaming Sword had been bad enough! "Then to your true hell you shall go, you fool!"

And just as Lucifer triumphed over Jinkai's insanity, the beams of Rikudo Rinne swallowed him up again!

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

Feeling sucked into another world, Daemon Lucifer fell down like a shooting star into the world of perpetual warfare, where warriors swung their bloodied scimitars, possessed by unbridled anger. Such world, known also as the world of Demigods, was for those that made the world the spectacle of their strength, which surely fitted the Daemon for having lived a life of forcing others into submission through war.

Yet, as the thundering comet fell upon the many warriors already there, Lucifer landed on his feet, his spirit unabated. He snarled at the skies, sensing Shaka's meddling as warriors attacked him. "So it is Shurakai, now?!"

Shaka floated at a distance as thousands of powerful warriors engulfed the Daemon in a cavalcade of fighting. "Yes, here your violent impulses will be rewarded…and my mistake corrected."

Lucifer chuckled as he welcomed the fighting, returning the violence thrust upon him with a vicious assault of punches and kicks that stormed through the berserk warriors. "He, he, he… HA, HA, HA!" he laughed. "I have found it!... The chink in your karmic armor!"

The young Gold Saint watched as the Daemon battled the ghouls of Shurakai, not losing strength of sense of self-awareness. If anything, Shurakai was working even worse than Jinkai, stimulating the Specter's ego rather than drowning it. As the darkness of Lucifer's cosmos began wetting the air like black ink on a canvas for every face he smashed or heart he ripped off, Shaka felt the chains of this world cracking as well.

He sweated; he had to do something before the technique collapsed! He would not bring Daemon unto Heaven Realm just yet, but perhaps Preta…

Smashing through a dozen other warriors of different time periods and backgrounds in a delightful cosmos swipe, Lucifer's mind was invaded with such ecstasy that his 7th sense stirred, heightening even more and detecting a new force above their heads. Looking up, he finally felt it.

It was beyond the reaches of time and space, but it was there!

The shine of Shaka's cosmos!

Lucifer saw more warriors leaping at him and he shoved his booted foot through the air, kicking the head off one of them who held a spear, which he caught as he rolled on the ground! He ran as fast as he could, not minding any particular direction, jumped over a larger foe's shoulder and then swung his spear arm at the source of the signal!

The Gold Saint's hands gathered once more. "Rikudo RINNE! World of Hung-" but his 7th sense reeled as a lightning bolt was sensed and Shaka widened his eyes and gasped as he saw a spear clad in a thunderbolt going straight at him!

The impact released a shining shockwave that reeled a screeching sound and filled the air with light!

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House of Virgo

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The golden cosmos in Shaka's hands wavered and the Gold Saint gasped, feeling blood come out of his nostrils! The mental collapse of what he was projecting made him scream and the invisible grip on the Specter's body, which had been floating in front of him, was released. A loud snapping sound like a rubberband break was heard and Lucifer's ego returned to its body, causing the Specter to gasp as he fell to a material ground, having forgotten what it meant to be in a world you could touch and feel real resistance from.

Shaka practically coiled, horrified. "AGH, N-NO!" he screamed. He saw the blood dripping down his nose to his hands and widened his blue eyes in terror. "W-what happened?! W-What is going on?!"

Rolling defensively over himself and jolting off the ground in alarm, Lucifer faced the Gold Saint, ready for anything! With his sense of self slowly readjusting to being back in the real world, the Specter breathed carefully and gathered his surroundings, remembering what happened.

He had beaten Rikudo Rinne.

And he found, or rather created, Shaka's weakpoint.

His eyes narrowed. Now all he had to do was seize upon it or die like a fool!

Shaka, however, was still recuperating, his body shaking like it never had before! "I don't understand… How could this have happened?! Your mind should be trapped in its proper Realm!"

"Shaka, calm down! Don't lose concentration! If you do…"

The Specter was very careful with his words, for while he wished to gloat, telling Shaka too much would likely make him notice the new hole in his defenses. Discretely, Lucifer began gathering his Darkness cosmos in preparation for his final move, condensing it into a small, spiraling orb in his hand that he could easily conceal.

"You were right, though, Shaka… my deserved hell truly was the Realm of Humans! I've done more than enough to deserve being torn apart by my peers!" Lucifer realized about himself. "You misunderstood my defiance for immunity, because the spiritual types like yourself don't understand a real warrior's spirit! And they never will…"

Unlike in Shurakai, which only stimulated Lucifer's awareness and allowed him to detect Shaka beyond the stars themselves, Jinkai was wearing him down with a force he knew not how to combat. If anything, Jinkai brought to life old terrors in Lucifer of being drowned by the numbers of those around him, like a Prince lynched off his throne, or more accurately a Dark Prince made to pay for his crimes by the undead. Had he stayed there for much longer, and Lucifer's determination would suffer a test like it never had before and only a will matching that of the Gods themselves would have saved him. Given Shaka's inexperience, however, his rousing cry to himself was more than enough to convince the young student of Buddhism that something was wrong. Added to the obvious fear Shaka demonstrated after already having his Kha barrier fooled once…and Shaka couldn't help but be made to doubt himself again.

Shaka then made a serious mistake; trying to shift him to a new realm when he should have kept Lucifer in Jinkai. Not only did he make things better for Lucifer, but it gave the Specter the opportunity that he needed to break out and, most importantly,… Shaka broke his own rules.

"For if Shaka of Virgo is an adversary who, through the teachings of Buddha, preys on his opponent's intentions and passes flawless judgement upon their karma… then what he has just done was a serious offense to Buddha." The intelligent warrior deduced. "Perhaps you should have not wasted your time with such a pathetic technique, Virgo?"

Shaka's attention snapped back at him, hinting a degree of fury. "You… rotten… evil… blasphemous murderer!" he hissed, sounding like no one had ever made him bleed before. The nosebleed, however, was nothing compared to the injury done to his pride, ironically. His Gold Saint cosmos re-emerged, sounding the continuation of the battle. "You will PAY for this!"

The shockwave of Shaka's charging cosmos battered the Specter with startling force, making the Pride Star realize the Gold Saint still had the worst of his arsenal of powers to show him. While Lucifer certainly felt his chest swelling with having beaten the Transmigration of Six Paths, he felt the battle dragging for too long and that Shaka would undoubtedly show him an even more terrifying technique that Lucifer knew even less about.

Holding the ball of darkness in his hand, he analyzed every frame of Shaka's movements, waiting for the moment to strike… If he casted it too soon, Lucifer would expose his cards and doom himself. But if the right opportunity was seized, then soon this battle would hit the climax it deserved!

Meanwhile, Shaka combated the great confusion he felt in himself. His eyes wavered in hesitation of what to do next and his mind rushed to try to understand and rationalize his own mistake. By Gautama, this couldn't be happening. He had to stop this Specter not matter what, even if the very treasures of Buddha had to be called upon!

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House of Leo

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Keeping watch on the Fire Clock nervously, Andromeda Shinta awaited with the Papal Guard for Lance to make his way into the center of the Leo House. A lot of the hellish flames had been exorcised and soon they'd be able to make their way through, but every second that passed, the flame on the 6th dial of the tower looked like it would die out only to linger further, and the shockwaves felt both in the ground and the 7th sense worried him further.

He rushed to his friend. "Lance, how much longer?!"

The Cancer Saint sweated as he focused his cosmos on another batch of fire. His face was illuminated by its green and he, too, felt the urgency in what was going on. "Not much, but if I don't do this right, this crap will reignite all over again!"

The green-haired Bronze Saint wished there was a way he could help, but Lance was the only trained Cancer at the Zodiac. Deathmask himself said his help would be no good. If only there was a way to talk to the upper houses…

As he wondered this, words from the lower houses came in. "Shinta, Lance, we have Aldebaran and are heading up!"

The Andromeda gasped to the air. "Saint Saga?!"

Lance chuckled. "He did it!" and joined the conversation while trying not to lose track of what he was doing. "How did you beat that Behemoth guy so fast?"

"I'm afraid I didn't… he is chasing us up the Temples as we speak. We'll have to deal with him soon."

Lance groaned. "Shit, there's no helping it then… We'll join forces and stamp him out when the time comes, then."

"No reservations about the one-on-one fights rule, uh?" Saga queried, his tone ironic yet nervous.

Lance's red eyes glanced around. "Not in these circumstances… I'd rather cheat a little as a Saint than get surrounded by that guy AND Daemon. I'll pick up a weapon if have to, as well. Hope you don't have a problem with tha-"

"No, I agree." Saga interrupted. It was good to have a practical ally in the Cancer Saint in these things. Saga respected and admired Aiolos' honor, but the safety of innocent people was at stake. "Though perhaps Aiolos or Shura would argue otherwise…"

"I'm sure they'll understand! How fast can you get up here?"

There was a pause in which Saga was likely consulting Aldebaran and Deathmask. "…Aldebaran is in pretty rough shape, so we'll climb carefully, but we might join in time for the attack on Virgo. I'd use Another Dimension again, but…" then there was another pause. "I think I've been lucky enough with it as it is tonight. Better two late Gold Saints than none at all…"

Lance couldn't help but notice that Saga was pretty much accepting they wouldn't get up in time to join Shaka's battle, whichever its result. "I see…"

Shinta's eyes wetted. "Thank you for saving Aldebaran, Saga. I won't forget this."

"Think nothing of it. I'm his friendly neighborhood Gemini Saint tonight."

The wall of green flames sizzled out, carried to the Underworld Well and leaving behind a deeper path for the Saints to progress through, only to lead to another burning, green inferno almost at the end rear of the Leo Temple.

Lance started working on it immediately, casting his Praesepe arts. "Come on, just a bit more!..." and he eyed in the direction his 7th sense told him the Virgo Saint was at. Lance had spent his ten months as a Gold Saint hearing and seeing nothing about his two Houses up neighbor's incredible power, but having faced the Daemon personally, Lance was personally amazed the battle had grinded to a halt for so long. "Don't worry, Shaka, we'll save you!... Just… don't underestimate that guy!"

Yet, as the two Saints and the hoplites patiently made their way through Golem's mess, great cosmic forces could already be felt gathering at the 6th House by even the least sensitive of them. Whether Shaka would prevail or not, time was running out.

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Pope's Halls

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The vortex of forces gathering inside the House of Virgo was blocked off by Papillion Ainsel's barrier from being felt by his 7th sense, but the Lemurian's highly trained mind could feel even the realm of telekinetic energies already bending around the distant edifice like a great gravity well, something no jamming could hide to a Lemurian.

He had never seen Shaka like this. "Is he preparing that move…?" the Pope wondered. If so, it was quite shocking to Shion, because even Asmita had only resorted to it once during the Lost Canvas War that he knew of, to test Tenma's latent Godslayer powers of all things. "But Shaka has never done it!... Yet this sensation is unmistakable, that of the heavenly treasures of Buddha being called upon to lay down the enlightened one's commands! The dreadful technique that even Gold Saints fear…"

Maximus recognized the feeling. "This sensation… I haven't felt it since-"

"That dreadful night Saint Daniel's son died…" Ms. Schafurwatt concluded, referring to the murders of the old Cancer Gold Saint. The memory of it alone made her sad. Shaka's predecessor was one of the sweetest Saints she had met at the Zodiac and he was so viciously killed. Allegedly, before that moment, everyone in Sanctuary felt on if his greatest and most mystical techniques being used. Were they destined to relive that tragedy?

"I'm confident Shaka will emerge victorious, but regardless of what's happening at the 6th House, the enemy moves on to Libra. My old friend's temple will soon be violated… and there's nothing I can do about it!" Shion groaned and his fist tightened. "If only I had foreseen this! The attacks in Romania… those must have been nothing but feints!"

The Papal Guard captain shared the blame. "Your Holiness, I urged you to act upon those, it is my fault as well."

The ruler of Sanctuary straightened himself. Maximus was being quite kind, but being Athena's chosen, Shion was the ultimate authority in Sanctuary and thus the ultimate responsible for its fate. "The messengers we sent down earlier must be reaching Scorpio soon… and the retreating servants have already made it past Aiolos. We must act to contain this attack with the Gold Saints we can still be in contact with."

"Do you have a plan, your Holiness?" Maximus asked.

The masked man nodded. "Yes." He then raised his face to the air. He had to communicate his intentions correctly, since the slightest mistake would get too many Cloths off their Houses and expose Athena's domain to even more sacrilegious assaults. "Aphrodite, Camus, Shura and Aiolos, listen to me well. The enemy will soon move past Libra, but this battle is far from over! Lend me your ears so I may direct you in battle!"

"Of course!" Camus obeyed.

"It's my honor! What do you wish, your Holiness?" Shura begged.

"Oh, is there fighting going on? I hadn't noticed…" Aphrodite snarked, not excited to put the armor on just because some people he didn't care about got in danger like the idiots they were.

Shion expected this resistance from the 12th occupant, but perhaps he could account for the boy's unwillingness to go out. "The enemy believes itself in striking distance of Athena's Colossus, but they are merely putting their foot in the deepest reach of the snake's nest. We will teach them that. When the enemy knocks at your door, you will be tempted by your duty to fight them all, but that is a risk I will not expose you all to. Instead, I wish you to follow my instructions…"

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House of Virgo

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The vortex of strange forces gathering at the Hall of Innocence intensified, darkening the room. The Daemon Specter's eyes widened and his hair waved up in a chill, like a cat feeling a predator approaching, yet nothing stood before him but the Gold Saint child with his furious stare. While ignorant of the most critical of the Gold Saint's techniques, Lucifer could feel something strange and frightening was coming.

But it didn't mean it would be enough. The Specter made the darkness cosmos in his hidden hand swirl faster…

Gathering his power, Shaka's very feet rose from the floor, hovering at a short height, and many light objects around the room like collapsed torches, small pieces of broken marble and arrow bolts from the Skeletons followed suit, raised by an unseen force. Lucifer's 7th sense tried to detect it, but much like many other of Shaka's techniques, it was a power he could not feel, for it tapped into the Arayashiki that Shaka ambitioned to fully unlock.

Arayashiki, the hated sense… the forbidden power that Specters were taught to despise that could render death itself meaningless. Other than the Rozan martial art of employing chi in attacks, like Libra Dohko had done against him in the previous Holy War, it was the most feared and despised of powers by the men of Hades. Lucian being off the Olympian's leach did not change this, and the second he learned long ago that Virgo Saints loved to dabble in Buddhist heathenism, he should have guessed this was the ultimate source of their strength.

Yet, even these Virgo Saints seemed mere playthings of this power and Shaka didn't seem to understand the limits of his own abilities, like the Pride Star demonstrated with his toying with his barrier. Now that the Specter fully grasped the nature of Shaka's abilities and even felt sharpened by the challenge of overcoming them, he was ready to take on this final challenge from the Virgo Saint.

"You have committed great sins… just in the time you've spent here with me, Specter Prince." Shaka began. "You've defiled my sacred Kha, insulted me and my teachers, dared to insinuate you'd defeat me and gloated repeatedly about your invincibility… yet, in some respect, you may have been correct in a few things."

This genuinely surprised the Specter. "What?"

The blonde boy nodded. "That's right… I have much to learn, after all, and one would not shatter my techniques if there were not true flaws to them. I can admit that much, unlike Specters who swamp themselves in the stench of their death cult." The Gold Saint mocked. "Yet, at the same time, for you to have accomplished such things… is the ultimate offense!"

Sliding his feet back nervously, Lucifer stared down the Gold Saint's blue eyes with a glare. "Thinking in circles, are we?"

Shaka shook his head. A being like Lucifer would not understand. "Not at all, it is merely the obvious conclusion! I am the One Closest to God, so for you to have defiled my space in such a way and casted doubt upon me…" and with this, to Lucifer's further amazement, the boy shuddered. "…Unforgiveable!"

The bat-helmeted warrior cringed. "What is wrong with this boy?! Who the hell does he think he is? Was Asmita like this, too?!" his eyes then widened. "…Wait a blasted minute…!"

"For these sins, Specter,… you will pay the ultimate price!" the boy's high-pitched voice declared. "Are you ready?!"

But while Shaka was confident in his stance, the Specter just looked puzzled and bewildered, eyeing all over in a surge of thoughts like he forgot to do something at home before he set out to conduct this most vile of invasions. He seemed to stop paying attention to Shaka and made his mind rewind like a cassette through that night's events.

First Aldebaran, the young and burly Saint of Taurus…

Then Kanon, the blue haired devil hidden in the Third House…

Followed by rumors of an overly young Leo raised to the Fifth Temple by talent alone and a connection to the Sagittarius House…

Now a blonde, white-skinned child from India who had reacted with strange familiarity at the Flaming Sword!...

And then there were talks of other young Gold Saints with certain traits. Traits that were not strange to Lucifer, but also too mundane to see anything in them at a moment's notice. Unless, of course, you battled them with your own fists, and got to learn their cosmos intimately.

His face raised back at Shaka, then the distance beyond him in the likely direction of Shion's Temple! "It cannot be!"

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"He was motivated by…." Then Priam seemed to stop himself, as if what he had in mind to say was completely ridiculous. "… a mission. His mask never leaves his face, yet as he did all those things I felt as if Arles' hand was move by a force greater than his own, not unlike a Gold Saint guided by his Goddess. If I casted all my hesitation aside like a wild arrow, I would wonder if his sudden change of attitude in those days was due to something WE did… or something he was told about us… Then I realized it."

"Realized what?!"

Priam's sorry brown eyes turned back to him. "Shion didn't suddenly decide to act like this… He was told to. Someone walked up to him and filled his head with nonsense about the future. Or maybe he saw it in the stars…. Whichever the case, he was no longer the same person… and our lives were never the same again."

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"The future… the Pope is said to learn of coming disasters and blessings from surveying the stars from atop Star Hill." Lucifer whispered to himself. "In an age long past, people were said to be able to read the future in the wind itself, a gift gone from the world ages ago, yet the Pope is still said to consult the heavens for his decisions…"

Shaka's young face sterned, detecting these words.

"I always thought… this was nonsense! Propaganda to justify his role!" Lucifer confessed, looking at Shaka with all new eyes. "But now I understand… the sudden push to welcoming this new generation of Gold Saints. He foresaw it, didn't he?"

The expression in Shaka darkened. Unfortunately, it was a sin to feign ignorance… "You step into forbidden realms of knowledge, Specter."

The cogs in Lucian's brain span faster at these words. "You petulant CHILD! YOU KNOW OF IT!" he realized. "YOU KNOW THAT WEAKLING, SHION, IS GATHERING THESE LOOK-ALIKES OF HIS DEAD FRIENDS!"

The outrage in the Specter did not upset Shaka, who merely saw it as foolish. Yes, Shaka was mildly aware of the Pope's intentions. He couldn't help but be, as sensitive to the karma of those around him as he was, and the Pope was motivated by a stern determination in his decisions that could only come out of someone who had peered into the result of their actions beforehand. While the Virgo Saint did not imagine that a wrinkly old witch had paid the Pope a visit under a starry night, he did sense a purposefulness to Arles III's moves and recruitments that was very distinct.

And it was not his place to question it. Shaka had but to stop the Specter from tainting Athena's designs. "What of it, Prince? You seem awfully concerned for something that's not your affair… you should worry about our battle!"

Such was the fury in his blood, though, that Lucifer had to struggle not to accidentally dispel what he was charging in his concealed hand. His teeth gritted, feeling as if his strings were pulled along by Hades all over again. It was a bit of an overreaction, but that was how much Lucifer despised this move of Shion.

"Rasgado, Aspros, Defteros, that overtalented punk Regulus, who was the nephew of Sisyphus…!" and then he added the last one while glaring straight through Shaka, whose Buddhist creed should have been a gigantic hint all along about this. "And Virgo Asmita! You are not just his successor two hundred years apart! You ARE him!"

Silence was Shaka's only response.

Lucifer knew about reincarnation in Sanctuary; not only had his long lifespan allowed him to get some evidence of it, but he used it as an example to explain to the False Specters the difference between them and the real warriors of Hades(*). In fact, one of the factors pushing Hades to speed up and escalate his plans to murder Athena was the fact she abused the Wheel of Time so frequently to indirectly revive her old Saints, in open hypocrisy towards Hades and his resurrections that she criticized so often.

(*) Chapter 34

The Specter sunk his face into his free palm. How had he not seen this? Perhaps because he lacked direct experience with the 16th century generation to compare with the 18th which one he battled, he lacked the hindsight to notice the same right away in these children that Shion was putting in charge of his Temples.

So the Pope wasn't just being a weak fool coddled by peacetime! There was an insidious intention towards replacing the Civil War Gold Saints with these kids! Was the Cancer Saint the same?! The Aries Saint was still unaccounted for after Ainsel battled him in Jamir, but at this point the Pride Star wouldn't be shocked if he was another one of Shion and Yuzuriha's friends reborn. His mind rushed through who could it be, but he could only think of that one lilac-haired boy who studied under Hakurei, or perhaps Yuzuriha's brother reborn.

As much as he wanted to reanalyze everything he's witnessed about Sanctuary over the past few years with this in mind, Daemon had to focus on his adversary. "I should have known… all the strange moves, all the swift replacements, just in time to have an adult generation of Gold Saints for Hades' seal to wear out! If this is part of why Arles has been steering Sanctuary so strangely, it seems Priam may have as genuine a reason to despise him as much as I do!"

"Oh, so you are aligned with that faction?" Shaka questioned, smiling in enlightenment. Now things made more sense to his young mind. "No wonder you speak in such insidious ways about us…I assure you, though, that it's only natural that I am Asmita reborn… The Wheel of Time returns to Athena those most honorable to her."

While it didn't surprise him that Shaka would embrace such a deterministic idea, it haunted the Specter that he would at such a young age have the sensitivity to perceive it while others did not. "So how does it feel, knowing you and everyone around you is a repetition? That none of your actions are because of your own spark of brilliance, but due to inheriting a past warrior's soul?"

Shaka scoffed. "I feel completely comfortable with it."

This made the proud Specter warrior squint, revolted.

Detecting this, the child addressed it. "The creeds of Buddha are precisely about reincarnation, Specter… It is only natural that I am able to perceive my past selves and, by extension, assume the same of others close to me." He then smirked. "Does that upset you? To know that your Underworld God's hand does not reach his most hated enemies? Or perhaps that there are far more sacred ways to live again than his necromancing rites?"

Five centuries of Underworld culture would not leave Pride Star easily, so in a way it did. More importantly, it went against his deep-trenched beliefs in his own superiority to accept that his life could be so easily recycled.

"Yet you are ignorant of the manner how your past self fell in battle." Lucifer added. "So much that the same blade nearly struck you down."

Shaka's chin lowered contemplatively. "So that's the sensation I felt… the familiarity came from Asmita's feelings from two centuries ago? I admit I lack knowledge of some historical details…Now it makes sense."

The Devil's grind spread like a snake's hiss. "Ha, ha, does that upset you? Perhaps your religion teaches you that it's only natural you die the same way as he did, as well? You've suffered quite a few shocks in this battle, have you not? Usually doubt besets invincible warriors before they die as the weapons they pride themselves in break apart in my hands, one after another!"

Another contemplative pause followed before Shaka said "Doubt? In me?... Perhaps, but what of it?"

A silver brow was raised.

Shaka then joined his hands in prayer and a thin aura line of cosmos formed in him. "If I am made to feel doubt… then by the wisdom of Buddha I merely cast it away!" he then touched his forehead and there was a ping of cosmos felt in the air.

Lucifer's eyes widened, feeling a weight lifted off his enemies' mind. "What… did he just do?! He threw away the sensations of confusion in himself?!" but while this would normally frustrate or even terrify the warriors that worked hard in battle to psyche out their opponents, such an action delighted the Specter, since it proved Shaka's folly. "You foolish child… if you had more experience you'd know that's not so simple. Emotions are what make warriors powerful with the cosmos!"

Yet, Shaka seemed completely reaffirmed in himself by this simple action, and the vortex of forces felt in the air even tightened around them. "With a clear mind, Specter, I am now ready to lay down on you the ultimate divine punishment! When you leave this house you will be blind, deaf, mute and numb like the countless dead at the shores of the Acheron, and all of Sanctuary will know of the fool who dared defy Sanctuary as he wanders aimlessly through its streets!"

Still concealing his secret dark weapon in his right hand, Lucifer charged his battle aura around his body, casting out clouds of darkness and rumbles of blue lightning in the Hall of Innocence!

"I think I've grown tired of your posturing, Virgo. Those speeches of yours just don't carry the same weight anymore after I've defeated so many of your moves." He declared, focusing all this charged power down his dominant left arm, casting the image of a devil forging a spear in the air. "Now I will definitely lay rest to that barrier of yours and put you down like the worthless foe you are!"

Roaring, Lucifer called forth one of his most powerful moves, raising his left hand to the sky. Similarly to when he charged Dark Revenge Blast, the air grew damp and rumbling, as if a quake occurred, and various small matter like pebbles and dust began floating up and swirl around the Specter's cosmos aura like a nebula! The arm ignited into a white fire of lightning cosmos and crackled, sending sparks in every direction that further destroyed objects in the room with powerful static zaps, and Lucifer's dark outline swelled with a deadly, blood-red tint that expressed his murderous concentration into pure energy!

"Dark clouds of the Underworld, crack down your righteous wrath on the damned! And may my hand become as if the spear of Hell to my foes! NOW!" and as he shouted this, the energy throughout his raised arm suddenly swirled upwards, concentrating around his hand like an exploding torch flare that briefly blinded Shaka. When the light dissipated, a sheering sound was heard throughout the room as the Specter's hand was turned into a crackling fist of concentrated lightning. "The Dark Revenge Fist!"

Sensing the violence off his opponent, Shaka chuckled and welcomed the challenge, concentrating as he tucked the 108 beads protectively. "You still don't understand, do you?..."

Lowering the hand like a bracing spear, Lucifer locked sight on his target, the small Gold Saint before him. "The power of the attack that is the exclamation of my pride is now focused down on a small form, ready to destroy anything I hammer down! With this blow, even a Gold Cloth may be pierce, Shaka of Virgo! Some of your friend's have discovered that over the ages rather tragically! Do you think you can stop it with a silly barrier?!"

The Gold Saint laid out his hand invitingly. "By the time you're done, Specter, no barrier shall be needed. Now do your worst… and enlighten me about the power of the Underworld!"

Lucifer hesitated for a brief nanosecond, not liking the confidence in Shaka's voice, but his battleplan would not change now and the die needed to be cast! Blasting off at the speed of light with a pulse of electromagnetic forces, the devil flew like a bullet towards the Gold Saint, swinging his punch of thunder.

Yet the room went deafeningly quiet and Shaka was suddenly an eternity away!

Lucifer widened his eyes in alarm, feeling his attack reaching no further!

Shaka's aura then thickened and reddened, forming a bulb of rose around his body, before it sliced itself and opened in all directions like a magnificent lotus. Panels of Buddha formed in the background all around them and the sensation of stepping into heaven itself was felt!

The Specter tried to slide his foot forward to screech his attack to a halt, but it was too late and he found himself suspended in an open abyss!

Then Shaka laid out his hand and announced his technique "TENBU HORIN!"

A loud sound of multiple bells ringing a single precise note all at once was heard, its vibration felt shaking down to Lucifer's very core. Suddenly, the powerful Specter Prince felt powerless, all his mighty abilities with the cosmos rendered null. His two attacks still burned in his hands, but his body felt no ability to further act upon them and the distinct sensation that he'd only be firing at nothingness if he tried was felt!

What was going on?! "What did you do, Virgo?!"

A light laugh was heard from all directions, even though Shaka sat in the air before him, folding his legs in meditation. "Nothing, Specter… I've merely shown you the most heavenly treasure of Buddha. This… is the House of Virgo's ultimate technique! That which is the perfect defense and offense! The Celestial Treasure!"

Lucifer's body struggled against a sudden paralysis in it. He didn't feel numb, yet every movement he tried to make seemed to take place in a plane where no distance could be crossed in one million years, like standing in the great palm of Buddha! "Is this your desperate attempt at victory?! To get me stuck in an illusion?! I'm afraid the labyrinth of Gemini tried the same and failed!"

Shaka sighed. "Does your ignorance know no ends, Specter? This is more than a simple dimensional trick… You are standing in the abyss of your very ignorance, for while there are those who climb the stairs to Arayashiki, endless as they are, there are also those like yourself who happily threw themselves off of them, fearing the light of the Awakened One!"

While he kept futilely struggling against this paralysis, Lucifer mocked this attack further. "I told you… it will take more than a pacifist's gaslighting to stop the Devil! I'll happily remind you the lesson you should have learned with Sati!" Yet, hard as he tried to project his will, he felt his very spirit's force was as if suspended in the air by the nape, like a simple kitty held by its parent. "…What?! I can't break out?!"

"It is regrettable that I've allowed myself to be pushed this far… to call upon Tenbu Horin is to be done only in the most outrageous of circumstances." Shaka lamented. The treasures of Buddha, namely his endless wisdom, was not to be shared lightly with any opponent, as they would easily drive victims mad and overly punish them. "You, however, have crossed every line, Prince…And you shall be annihilated for it! One piece at a time!"

Lucifer sweated. He could not afford to lose concentration and morale now! "If after all the pathetic moves you've thrown at me you think you can scare me with threats of destroying me, Virgo, you have another thin-"

Shaka's hand pointed at him! "The FIRST SENSE! SIGHT!"

A blinding, scalding light was fired off of it with unlimited power and Lucifer instinctively burned his defensive cosmos, shielding his eyes like he had done with his mouth earlier. However, the power penetrated them in a way that he had never felt before, severing his optical abilities in a way none of his many opponents have managed through the centuries, even when he did it to himself tactically! It was more than a numbing or severing sensation; rather the Specter felt as if an essential piece of his self was being commanded to shut off by a being intimately close to him, as if the kindness of Buddha sweetly asked him to forever relinquish his sight!

His body quivered in the air and his Dark Revenge Fist cancelled itself, returning its energy unto his body so he could hold his eyes in a gasp. "Ag-gh… what?! I'm…!"

The Gold Saint shook his head. How pitiful that it has come to this. "You are blind, specter…forever! Your sense of sight has forever been shut by the power of Tenbu Hōrin. And that was just the beginning…"

Immediately, Lucifer used the 7th sense to route cosmos into his optical nerves, a traditional way of restoring sight after having it blocked by gold-ranks in combat, but no matter how many times he tried, his red eyes refused to recover, their cursed red now paled.

Shaka noticed this. "It's no use, your eyes aren't damaged. I have eliminated your sense of sight at its very root! How does it feel, Specter, to be drowned in the darkness your God craves?!"

The Prince roared. "You… sniveling punk! How dare you?!" he hissed, proud of his cursed eyes.

"You must be frustrated, as you fought very hard to get this far only to be so unceremoniously defeated, so I'll ignore the rudeness." Shaka kindly offered. "But as you can see, tricking my barrier and resisting my techniques was to no avail… the deck was always stacked against you."

"Do you think this will stop me?! I'll get my sight back and I'll conquer Sanctuary regard-"

"You will get nothing back! You will be destroyed, sense by sense!" Shaka interrupted. As if showing a precious flower, Shaka delicately pointed out his fingers again. "Through the power of Tenbu Hōrin, all the traits that make you a sentient being will be condemned to the abyss and you'll be left as nothing but a living corpse! Now, the Second Sense! Hearing!"

The Prince howled in pain as two agonizing snaps were felt in his lobes and the echoes of Shaka's voice ceased entirely.

Knowing him to be now forever unable to hear his wise words, Shaka transmitted them mentally. "Now you will see and hear no more, Specter!"

The struggling Prince refused to accept this. "H-how?! How are you doing this?! For you to be able to take away my senses so easily… it shouldn't be possible!" he protested. Even Thanatos had taught him to be able to offer a form of resistance to the Death God's version of this tactic.

"Such is the universal reach of Buddha's words, Specter. In your arrogance, you failed to understand you are just another human in Jinkai who is beloved by Athena and intimately understood by Buddha. Of course you can't hide from them…" Shaka explained, proud of his beliefs. "But despite your affronts, I shall offer you pity… and speed this along. Say goodbye to the rest of your senses. Touch, Taste and Smell!"

A spectacle of small beams of light in myriad of colors then fired off like fireworks, striking Lucifer's spine, mouth and nose, in that order, and robbing the powerful warrior of the rest of his physical senses. With drool coming out of his mouth, the silver-haired warrior collapsed forward, suspended in the air of the matrix of illusions he was in.

Shaka lowered his hand and concentrated. "You are now completely powerless… but your thoughts remain, do they not?" he mentally voiced. "That is your 6th sense, Specter… the most important of senses. For in it, the very ego is shaped. Without it, you'd be nothing but a numb body hosting a spirit, no different from the countless souls circling through the Wheel of Time, awaiting reincarnation."

…

Seeing this lack of response, Shaka burned cosmos in his hand, preparing the final blow. "Your shock is understandable. You are powerful, after all, I'd be a fool to deny your extensive Cosmos, but against me, Shaka of Virgo, it mattered not. But worry not-" he assured "- I'll extend to you a gift rarely given to Specters, whose souls are under the power of the Enemy…. A death that will put you at the Wheel of Time, far from Hades' corrupting grip. You'll be reborn someday as a human with a completely cleansed karma… and completely powerless with the Cosmos."

There was a subtle shaking of shoulders in Lucifer's body which could very well be numb spasms.

However, to Shaka's puzzling, a faint chuckle was heard. "… What?"

The Specter's body shook further in low laughing, before his head rose in a loud cackle. "HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! So this is it, the Heavenly Treasure?!"

A freezing shiver crossed Shaka's spine and he stepped back! The Specter was… talking?!

Straightening himself, Lucifer's eyes opened, intact. "There you are!..."

The matrix of illusions around them shattered, returning them to the Hall of Innocence!

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

Escorted down the secret passage way by the Papal Guards who decided not to stay with Lance, Aiolia finally reached the bottom of the long staircase. He knew this place existed since Shinta and Lance snuck into Sanctuary that one time all the way back in January, but he had no idea it went so long down and dark. It was obviously as long as all the stairs between Aries and Leo, so it was no wonder that taking the servant people down here was not the first thought that crossed the soldiers minds when they didn't understand yet how much of Sanctuary's outer grounds were occupied.

At least without the winding corners and the big, deep Temples in between, this set of stairs was faster to get through. It kind of worried Aiolia since it meant a resentful foot soldier who knew about it could easily use it to attack him at his House someday. Aiolia didn't like the look some of them gave him when they learned he lived at the fancy Leo Temple.

As they went down the last sets of stairs to reach the exit to the Amazon forest ground outskirts, Aiolia suddenly stopped when he felt a sudden searing flash in his budding 7th sense. His head turned up worryingly. He hadn't felt this since that one practice fight with Saga that went wrong for his brother.

The soldiers noticed it. "Young lord? We have to go."

The boy panicked. "Wait, I felt something strange!" he squealed. "I think my friend is in danger!"

The Papal Guards shared annoyed looks. "They're all back at your Temple, they haven't had time to even get into the fray."

"Not them, Shaka!" Aiolia cried. He rushed back the stairs. "I have to go help hi-!"

The adults immediately caught him by the shoulders, raising him off the ground like a bad kitty cat. "Hey, absolutely NOT! We have orders from Saint Cancer and Andromeda to get you out of here!"

Aiolia cried and struggled to free himself. "B-but my FRIEND!"

The soldiers were bewildered. Not only had they not felt anything themselves, but the child had been compliant all the way down and now suddenly flipped. In any case they couldn't afford to climb all the way back. "You're talking about the Virgo Saint, right?... He'll be fine. Virgos are invincible."

"Listen, kid, we've been here a long time… that House up from yours is always guarded by the best of their generation." The other soldier added. "Those Specters have no idea what they've gotten themselves into. He probably just used a really big attack and you sensed some of it."

Aiolia wasn't so sure. The sensation he felt was nothing like what they suggested. Instead, it felt like that one game where he actually beat Shaka at checkers and the Virgo Saint was really surprised, upset even, only a thousand times worse! Whatever the case was, Aiolia just felt like Shaka was in deep trouble.

First he abandoned his House, and now his friend. It wasn't like Aiolia didn't know Shaka was going to be the next attacked, but…

The adults scratched their helmeted heads, seeing he wasn't convinced. In fact Aiolia looked like he would run up the stairs the second they let their guard down. "Come on, kid… the other Gold Saints are up there, too. You just have to trust in their ability to do their job. You don't want to make them upset, do you?"

Aiolia reluctantly shook his head. "No…"

The first soldier scoffed rather insensitively. "They call him the One Closest to God, right? I'm sure he'll be true to that name."

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

House of Virgo

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

The One Closest to God panicked and stepped back as Tenbu Hōrin, his mightiest and most important move, shattered all around him, completely powerless to harm the Daemon Specter.

"N-NO, it can't be!" he yelped, seeing the Daemon straighten himself and stretch his muscles like he just went through some exercise. "I took away your senses with Tenbu Hōrin! Recovering them should be IMPOSSIBLE!"

The Pride Star chuckled; now certain his strategy would win. He still had the ball of cosmos in his right hand hidden in plain sight. "You must have done something wrong, then."

"QUIET!" Shaka screamed, firing off a Tenbu Hōrin attack on his taste sense again which struck Lucifer's tongue right through the lips. "BE QUIET! NOW!"

Roused by his adversary's panic, Lucifer only stepped towards him threateningly. "I don't think so."

The Virgo Gold Saint stumbled back, a horrible sensation of powerlessness and fear coming over him as the Hall of innocence got darker and darker. "I… I don't understand?! What did you do to m-me?!" Feeling himself completely out of control, Shaka stopped and held his own temple, trying to cancel these horrible doubts in himself. "I… I must calm myself. I must erase this DOUBT!"

The Specter watched as the Virgo pathetically burned his cosmos to no avail, completely failing to stop the shaking of his feet and arms. "Ah, would you stop already? Don't you get it, you brat?! It doesn't work that way! You can't just pray away your confusion!"

The loss of concentration in Shaka's head got worse the more cosmos he burned. He had the most awful sensation of being off-balance, like he would fall to his side at any moment. He looked at the Specter angrily. "Y-YOU! What did you do to me?!"

The proud Prince rose his chin. "Nothing. You did this to yourself." He scoffed. "One Closest to God… you're a joke compared to Michael."

Tears formed out of Shaka's blue eyes as he felt his back hit a wall, cornered. "W-w-what?"

"Your instinct was right. My deserved Hell was Jinkai, the Realm of Humans. You should have stuck to that, and perhaps you would have won this battle." Lucifer voiced. "In your inexperience, though, you saw me rising to meet the challenge of that Realm… and unwilling to even imagine anyone could resist your pathetic powers… you thought you made a misjudgment, didn't you?"

Shaka's teary eyes shook as his mind relived what he did. "But… but I…" It then hit him. "I punished you with Shurakai afterwards…"

"I bet you've never had to do that, trying to correct your Rikudō Rinne." Lucifer guessed, just based off his age and the look on his face. "But from the moment you punished me incorrectly, as I was facing my righteous hell in fact,…"

The sensation of being off-balance then suddenly worsened in Shaka. It got so bad it felt like was spun around ten times in his spot. "I committed a sin… my karma… went off balance!" he gazed upon the Specter with horror. "H-how… How did you conceive of this trickery?!"

There was a reason why Rune and Minos were so picky about which Prison they sent each dead one to; because in their own fucked up way, they believed in what they were doing and there was little worse for them than sending a sinful dead to the wrong punishment for their crimes. He imagined that, to Shaka, whose powers were literally based on the balancing of the karma, being absolutely in line with it himself was even more important, to the point a critical mistake like this could cascade into a collapse of his more advanced techniques.

Lucifer laughed again, amused by the poisonous bitterness in Shaka's words. "I don't claim to know much about Buddhism, but leave it to a Specter to understand a thing or two about hellish damnation, Virgo!"

However, it was not like he had to explain all this to Virgo. "Under that guise of perfection, you're still just a small boy, aren't you?... You understand nothing about the battlefield. No matter how powerful you are, it was foolish of Arles for him to put you in my way. Perhaps as a grown Saint, you would have offered a different challenge…" His red eyes sterned. "Now… how to end this?"

Lucifer then revealed what he had been hiding in his hand until then, an orb of swirling darkness deeper than the most drowning of nightmares.

Seeing it, Shaka immediately felt the terrifying meaning in it. Even though he had never seen it, his enlightened senses could perceive the sacrilegious nature of whatever the Specter held, like beholding a bloodied, decapitated head while standing inside a sacred church.

Shaka screamed and practically crawled away from the wall. "NO! G-GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Lucifer casually followed him, closing in the distance. "You've lost balance in your karma… so obviously your Tenbu Hōrin was ineffective…To those who have lost their way, there can be only one end, Virgo!" and he pinned the Saint with his blood glare to the ground. "A world of NIGHTMARES!"

Gathering himself and motivated by a sense of survivalism, Shaka held the beads so hard he felt he could crush the jewels and raised the sacred object at the Specter.

"By the sacred power of Athena and Buddha, let the light of Virgo fill me with w-wisdom!" he chanted, causing beams of light to radiate off his armored body. "I s-shall not be harmed! By the love of the almighty Buddha, his hands will let no dagger or snake bite my b-BODY! CHIMIMORYU!"

The spirits of the mountains and rivers were once again casted as rays of punishing light, but their power this time was failing and brittle, blasting the Specter's armored body harmlessly like carnival crackers. "It's no use!"

His hands held the beads close to chest in prayer. "My Goddess will not fail me, for the wisdom of her path his endless! By the sacred barrier of Kha-" he continued to panickily chant, creating the transparent membrane once more around himself. "- the forces of evil shall not touch me! KHA-"

"I TOLD YOU, IT'S NO USE!" Lucifer roared, firing a gigantic blast of purple cosmos from his free left hand that struck the unbalanced karmic barrier and shattered it to pieces, tossing the boy to the ground with its force. "Your barrier is broken! NOW, BEHOLD!" and he thrust his right hand forward, unleashing a shockwave of dark forces on the ground. "WINGLESS SHADES OF DEATH! HEAR MY COMMAND!"

Time slowed down and the Virgo Saint gasped as he was struck by the shockwaves, stunning him.

Black threads of cosmos rose from the ground and hugged Lucifer's body, dressing him in curtains of evil. "A sacrifice of HEART is offered! PAINT MY WORLD WITH THE MARK OF SHADOWS, RISE FROM THE ABYSS AND CORRUPT MY ENEMIES!" With this order, the technique seemingly dressed Lucifer's natural cosmic aura with the magic of Hypnos himself, turning him into an unnatural image of a dark matter demon. "SHATTER THE SOUL, DROWN THE HEART AND SET LOOSE YOUR TERROR IN THEIR FEEBLE MIND!" The orb in his fingers swelled furiously, screeching like a creature of its own mind, and shook like it would explode! Lucifer then aimed it at Shaka! "ETERNAL DARKNESS!"

The unprotected Shaka could do nothing but watch as the evil orb exploded into a gigantic vortex of shadows that spread like a black hole all around him, swallowing the very world the Virgo stood and breathed in. Guarding himself with his arms, the boy squinted, horrified by what he was sensing. "This sensation…A world of nightmares?... How does a mere Specter command a technique from the Gods?!"

No matter what the answer was, Shaka quickly found himself cut off from the outside world, including Lucifer himself, as the shrouds filled the ground, the air and everything in-between. For a while, it was as if a great black fog span around him, but slowly he sensed the darkness hardening all around him into a shell like an atmospheric dome. Unlike Tenbu Hōrin, his body was not paralyzed, and unlike Genma Ken, his frontal lobe was untouched. Yet, Shaka felt like he was just put into a terrifying place. His blue eyes looked around worryingly, only greeted back by the quietness that he would expect from being in a comfortable dream.

He blinked confusedly at first, but then shook his head to snap himself out of it. He had to figure a way out of there, and stop the Specter before he continued his assault to the Libra and Scorpio Temples!

He stepped forward to begin searching around and felt his feet splashing on the ground, wetting his golden boot with maroon water. Was he…in a puddle?

"Shaka."

The boy turned, seeing Astraea standing there, her body shining in the darkness. "Lady Astraea?... Thank goodness." He reached out to her. "Help me, lady Astraea. We must figure a way o-"

"Shaka, why did you do that?" she interrupted him. "Why did you fail to pass your judgment? Your first sentencing was clear and concise… But you tainted yourself with your mistake. How could you have misjudged like that?" she asked, distraught. "Your responsibility towards the souls judged… cannot be understated. If they aren't cleansed, how can the design of the wheel of time be fulfilled?"

The blonde boy froze. "I… I know that, but…" His face grew hot and he looked away. "It was just one mistake, and I learned from it! Isn't that what it means to climb th-"

"The staircase of wisdom is long, Shaka. Very long….You can't afford to keep making mistakes in your life, tumbling down every two steps or you'll never reach the top." Her body then rose to the air as if about to leave. "I thought… you understood that."

"I DO!" Shaka screamed, reaching out, his rushing feet loudly splashing on the wet floor. "Astraea, don't go away! Don't leave me here!"

She looked up above him as her body shined in anticipation to warp away. "I'm sorry, Shaka… but I'm not the one who must judge you now."

And as she flashed away, Shaka felt a cold chill down his spine with her last words. He slowly turned around again and felt his heart beat faster with every frame his eyes caught of him; the pristine image of the Enlightened One, the Awakened, the wise, the almighty prophet. He sat gigantically before him, his hair in its unmistakable snail, dressed in his humble brown Kasaya robe symbolic of his asceticism, his hands held up peacefully in the semblance of sacred mudras and his face, aged by the weight of his great journey from so many ages past, carried in it a tired sadness. His crossed legs bared out enormous feet hardened from endless walking and the faint silhouette of bare ribs was detectable from the light emanating off his skin through his robe.

Shaka felt his legs suddenly weak, humbled to his core by this presence, and fell to his knees, drenching himself in even more muddy water. His face shook at the depressed spirit he sensed off his greatest mentor's face. "Gautama… dear Gautama…!"

The enormous man was silent.

Shaka laid out his hands pleadingly. "Gautama…I… I've done my best! I followed every one of your creeds! Gautama! Why did I not see it?! Why did I make that mistake?!"

But the man did not respond.

The boy sunk his young face into his hands. "I… I just want the truth… I just want to understand…" he wept, his mind filled with memories of the poverty, misery, pain and death he saw in India. "This world is so rotten and evil…but you saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Why couldn't I have done the same?!"

The figure was borderline statuesque, as quiet and serene as it was.

Lowering his hands, Shaka beheld them filled with tears of blood. In their red he saw the cries of the fallen, the ignorant and the suffering like a million faces howling at him. They were like shooting stars of the Cosmos, carrying the thoughts and prayers of countless damned souls whose weight he felt every day of his life on his shoulders, searing at him invisibly like a gateway to the Underworld left ajar in his small palms.

It was indescribably horrible! "I feel them… their hands reaching at my feet when I walk the path you have… reminding me every step of the way that my fate will be the same." He turned back up at the man. "But you, Gautama, you found peace…in death!" and his eyes broke down again, feeling the futility of his teachings and training coming crashing down on his young shoulders like a waterfall of rocks. "Is…Is there no other way?!"

Once again, no motion or response from the prophet. None was needed.

Shaka's eyes widened, feeling his kneeling legs sinking into the wet ground! "Ah… AHH! W-WHAT? WHAT IS H-HAPPENING?!" and Shaka screamed as high as he could, swinging his arms and trying to flee off this viscous mud. "NO! GAUTAMA, P-PLEASE!"

The statue's serene, sad expression stood frozen, awaiting the Gold Saint's fate as the ground grew ever more viscous.

And more viscous it grew indeed as the panicking Gold Saint crawled out of his spot only to collapse again on the liquifying darkness. He screamed even louder when he saw the mud wetting his arms, face and legs grow red like blood, finally understanding where he was!

His armor was suddenly gone!

"N-NO! MOM, DAD, HELP ME!" he pleaded as he struggled, but before long fingers in the Ganges' water grabbed at his sunk ankles, sending him into a paralyzing terror! Howls that froze his very soul were sounded off the river and arms bolted out of the blood, wrapping around the boy's body and sinking their fingers into his flesh. "AGHH! P-Please, HELP!"

Pulled into the river, Shaka desperately reached out his arms for Buddha, calling as the dead and the suffering in the great river ripped at his soft body, tearing out his cheeks, his stomach, and his limbs. With endless darkness enclosing all around him, the last thing the boy felt under the terrible curse of Hypnos was losing feeling in his torn body pieces and being spread out among the sunk undead.

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

At the hall of Innocence, Daemon Lucifer beheld the dome of dense darkness before him, holding out his brimming hand to maintain its force. Its surface crackled with threatening black sparks and a subtle swirling, breathing texture was detectable in it, like the dome was composed of living evil. Lacking Dark Angel's practice with the spell, Lucifer knew not how to look into what its victims were seeing in the world of nightmares created by Eternal Darkness, but whatever it was, it was striking at Shaka's most intimate fears.

Perhaps it was too cruel a punishment for a child, but Shaka was no ordinary kid. Left unchecked, his mental powers would have undoubtedly posed a long-term threat, and breaking the kid's grip on these talents was arguably preferable than slaughtering him….tactically speaking. The reason for this was that Lucifer had a feeling that if he delivered an inadequate punishment for the mistake he forced Shaka to make, his karmic powers would return in full force and delay the battle even further. Shaka tried to give him hell, so returning the favor was the only way Lucifer had, with his limited earthly powers, to win the battle under Shaka's own rules.

Delicate problems require delicate solutions.

Feeling like enough time had passed, he commanded Eternal Darkness to disperse before too much stamina was wasted, and the dome fractured into shears of darkness that dissipated away like breaking mist, leaving behind a kneeled Gold Saint.

Lucifer carefully studied his condition; the boy's eyes were open but glassened, staring off into nothingness and not reacting to the slightest stimulus, while his lands laid out numbly in helplessness. He tapped the boy's shoulder and Shaka fell to his side, lost in his own dark world. Even Cyclops Servo did not suffer so much mental damage back at the Prisons, though Daemon had a feeling it was because the brute was not sensitive enough for it anyway.

More importantly, the battle was over. Lucifer won. The Sixth House was as good as taken.

Lucifer snorted lamentingly. He had no pity for foes, but he did for kids who knew no better. "You foolish brat… The One Closest to God, and yet you couldn't even beat a simple demon like me. I suppose it was futile to expect it, but you could have avoided all of this. However, even I, Daemon Lucifer, had no idea how lost in your own church candle stench you Virgo Saints were."

Shaka did not answer. Still as he was, the Specter half expected him to start drooling out on the shattered floor soon enough, like Lemon.

As Lucifer pondered what to do, however, he narrowed his eyes in alarm as he saw the armor on Shaka's body shining. "Virgo… So you'll protect that boy?" he charged a huge ball of cosmos into his hand and aimed its whirring power at him. "I may not be able to hear your voice, but I know you sure as hell can hear mine! You have two options, Astraea, get yourself off his body or I'll blast him out of you! Which is it?!"

But Kha's barrier softly formed around Shaka, protecting him.

The Daemon clicked his tongue, irritated, sensing the same power he once did off of Haisaku. "Tsk, that again… I have no time to strategize my intentions around you, too! My battle with Shaka took long enough! So accept my victory over your House like the good little Gold Cloth you are!"

The Virgo Gold Cloth completely ignored him, or at least it seemed so. It was hard to tell, given he couldn't hear its voice. Lucian wouldn't even know it was Astraea were it not for being educated in constellations.

He then turned to the door. "MEN!"

Answering his call, the contingent of the guards that he had ordered to stay at the front of the Virgo House while the rest went up reopened the door carefully and followed their master's voice.

The small contingent of Skeletons surrounded the scene. "Prince! Have you triumphed over Virgo?!"

He waved at Shaka. "As you can clearly see!"

There was an excited murmur running through the Skeletons before their scythes triumphantly rose to the air. "VICTORY! THE 6TH HOUSE IS OURS!"

"VIRGO HAS FALLEN!"

"LONG LIVE THE PRINCE!"

"Quiet down, we have work to do!" the Prince commanded, instantly silencing them. He enjoyed their fanaticism for him, but his discipline spoke louder. "Gold Saints will be coming from Leo soon, including Cancer. I'd deal with it myself… but I have an itch to get to Dohko's House and blow it to bits, so you need to prepare for them!"

They looked upon one another, wondering how they could defend a house from a group of Gold Saints.

Seeing their confusion, Lucifer reassured them. "Let me worry about the details…" he then turned to the defeated Virgo.

The Pride Star got on his knees and took the rosary from Shaka's unstruggling hands, eyeing it with disdain. He now held the physical manifestation of the chain holding his old Specter brothers back. Looking through it, however, he took a particular one and snapped it off its cord. As the remaining 107 slipped off their sliced link to the floor in a cacophony of marble plings, the Dark Prince rose up the one in his fingers to the starlight, seeing the letter shine in it.

Coincidentally, its Specter was a Virgo, too. "I've done it, Michael. I've beaten the 6th Gold Saint just like you have!... I've proven to the world there is no one in Sanctuary that can stop me now! Perhaps I got a little bit of your help, but I feel in myself that this trial has only made me stronger! I won't let your fate be my own! And now I know what Arles has been scheming with these kids, so I understand a bit more what Priam has been saying. I promise you that I'll finish what we started once…"

The men saw the Pride Star lost in himself. "Prince?..."

His hand, carrying the last cosmos of the Dark Angel in the form of the Flaming Sword, clenched on the bead furiously, not breaking it but feeling the warmth of the star sealed inside it reacting to the familiar energy. "A world of flourished humans, unbridled by the foggy laws of these Gods and failed prophets, just like you always envisioned for the Specters… I'll do it my way, though, through my BIRTHRIGHT and strength!... It is my destiny." His red eyes then furiously turned to the walled-off direction of the mountain's peak, where Shion laid at cowardly. "And if that traumatized old Lemurian thinks he can stop me with his old friends again, he's grossly MISTAKEN! By the blade you passed down upon me, I swear I'll triumph over this decadent place, crush this generation of recycled failures and make our vision come true!"

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

Chapter End

{======================/Ξ\.◊./Ξ\\======================}

Next Chapter: Chapter 59 - Episode 20 – Collision Course with the Devil

Release Date: June 20th

Description: Having finally cleansed the passage through the Leo Temple, Cancer Lance discovers he is too late to rescue Shaka. Furious, though, he leads the attack on Virgo to rectify the situation. Meanwhile, Ophiuchus Iaso arrives at Sanctuary Town..

Author's Notes:

This storyline is thankfully done. I feel like I've been at it for six months, when it's actually been just three. I must have gone through this particular file at least 5-6 times in search of issues and mistakes, so if you feel tired of getting through its 28000 words, just imagine. I've also been exceptionally busy this past week, with my schedule filled up with classes and some new job assignments I unexpectedly got (not to mention I don't have many people around me I can fess these things up to outside social media, which isn't healthy) so I get hope pretty down-spirited and its tough focus on getting the chapter done.

I already have the next chapter ready, too, so its publishing is secure, but I'm yet to get a Beta-reader for it. While Jenny DeVic has not beta-read this chapter, this actually marks the point in V2 where she began to be my beta-reader, so we can say things have come full circle at last. Circumstances conspired against getting her help (as well as a few unwittingly shitty things I've done), but it's all right now.

I was going to write a few things discussing working on Shaka's character, but I feel like I've done enough and I want to move on with my story.