Chapter 52: Chapter 52 – The Excorcism of Andromeda Shun

Hades POV - Underworld, Judecca - 1987

I look at Phoenix's lifeless body on the floor and think, 'Everything went according to my plan, with this I was able to take care of the unstable factor that was Andromeda Shun's soul... Now this body is truly mine, and nobody can stop me! I have just to wait for the Greatest Eclipse to start and everything will be under my rule, and I'll become stronger than every other God and take my rightful place as their ruler, not even my brother Zeus, that prideful Shiva, that half-blind Odin, and the others will be my equal!'.

I turn around to move back to my throne and order "Pandora, dispose of that man's body with care", and start walking but all of a sudden, I felt something near, 'What? What is this Cosmo? Don't tell me this Cosmo is...'.

Pandora POV - Underworld, Judecca - 1987

I hear Lord Hades' order and sit near Ikki's body, and with my hand, I touch the wound on his back that I caused with my trident, and in that instant, I realize that he is still alive, but that isn't the only thing that happened, feeling his fiery lifeforce, something in me awakens, and right at that moment, I realize many things that were hidden from me in plain sight and I once again see the colors of the world around me, 'Ikki...', and on impulse, I use my powers to hide his life's signals to everyone.

Then I quickly steel myself returning to my role as commander of the Specters, and standing up, in my usual cold voice I ask "Well? Is there no one nearby?", and soon Harpy Valentines enters the hall and kneels behind me waiting for my orders "Yes, milady, I, Valentine am here!".

Without looking at him I order "Dispose of Phoenix's body in Cocytus, but be respectful, though he is an enemy, he is also the brother of our Lord's host", Valentine says "Understood..." and picks up Ikki like a sack of potatoes, then simply says "On my way!" and leaves the hall to follow my order.

I then notice that Lord Hades is standing still looking at something in the distance with a strange expression on his face and ask "Lord Hades? What is the matter, my Lord?", he quickly calms down and replies "Nothing... A distasteful premonition, nothing more, it is most likely a groundless fear...", hearing that I continue playing my role and say "I am so sorry, you must be exhausted, would you like to retire to your Shrine?".

But he sits on his throne and says "No... I believe I shall rest here a while longer, do not let anyone disturb me, go", hearing his order I kneel and says "Yes, milord, please excuse me" and leave this hall while thinking, 'Now, I must be careful on how I move... Hades isn't the only threat, there are also Thanatos and Hypnos that are watching everything from the Elysion, I have to make my move at the right time as it will probably be my last one...'.

Seiya POV - Underworld, Eight Prison - 1987

I and the other were able to move past the Fifth Prison, and the Labyrinth of the Minotaur while easily dealing with the various Specters on the way, as most of them are rankless Skeletons or weaker Terrestrial Stars, 'It seems that someone else is taking care of the Celestial Star Specters, and the more we move forward the less obstruction we find', and after some time we finally reached the Sixth Prison.

The Sixth Prison, is where Balron Lune wanted to send me, it's a hellish place divided into three valleys, the First Valley, is the place where those who have spent their lives showing violence towards others are thrown, it is a pond of infernal blood that will endlessly boil you, the Second Valley is a hellish forest, where those who suicide ends up transformed in trees, and being eaten by hellish birds who feed on leaves causing such trees to bleed and scream in suffering, while those that destroyed their body ends up hunted and ripped apart by hellish dogs, and the Third Valley, where those who are intoxicated by unhealthy pleasures are thrown into a fiery infernal desert, where it rains fire all the time, and the souls are forced to suffer and wander for eternity.

Moving past the Sixth Prison, we find ourselves in the Seventh Prison, a huge desert with ten pits, the malebolges, in this prison lies a bed of ferruginous colored stone, and at the center of the prison opens a deep chasm, an immense well, and the space between the entrance and the well is nearly round and is divided into ten malebolge, or pits, where the obstruction is almost none, we only fought with a few weak Terrestrial Specters, before moving past this prison and finding ourselves in the last prison of the Underworld, the Eight Prison.

The Eight Prison is also known as the Cocytus, it is the part of the Underworld with a vast plain of snow and icy winds that punish the damned who were traitors, and those who conspired against the gods in life.

It is the area where the Temples of the Three Judges of the Underworld are located, as well as the palace of Hades the Judecca, our destination.

We keep moving through this frozen hell of Cocytus, reaching the First Sphere, Caina, the place of punishment for people who betrayed their families, here we find the temple that belongs to the Spectre Wyvern Rhadamanthys, one of the Three Judges of the Underworld.

It is a temple, possibly the home of the Spectre, a quadrangular building with four columns rounded at each end, and small steps around the entire structure, both columns as the center of the building have domes adorned with statues of wyverns, the legendary creature on which Rhadamanthys's Surplice is based on, here we don't find anyone guarding the place, and are easily able to move past this place, while still seeing the tormented souls trapped in the ice all around us.

Moving on we find Antenora, the Second Sphere of ​​ice in the Underworld, it is the place of punishment for people who betrayed their country, here we find the temple belonging to the Spectre Garuda Aiacos, another Judge of the Underworld, this temple has a polygonal base on which rises a circular building, whose circumference has columns interspersed by two walls, holding a broad and flat roof which emerges over columns arranged in circles, leaving a roof again but this time holding the figure of Garuda, the animal of which the Surplice of this Judge is based on, and again we are able to move past it unobstructed, so much that Hyoga says "This is starting to worry me since we entered this prison we didn't even see the shadow of a Specter... what is going on here?".

I try to calm him down and say "Maybe, Shaka already took care of them... he is the only one that we didn't meet yet... And Jayr-san did say many times that he can't imagine a scenario where he loses unless Shaka fights with Hades himself...", hearing my reasoning Shiryu nods and says "That is true, but let's still not lower our guard... We are still in the enemy territory and everything can happen... Right now we should only focus on reaching the Judecca and saving Shun!", we all nod at that and keep running toward the next Sphere of this icy hell.

And so we quickly reach Ptolomaea, the Third Sphere of ​​Cocytus, where the souls of those who betrayed guests are punished, in the middle of which we find the Temple belonging to the Spectre Griffon Minos, the last Judge of the Underworld, The temple sits atop a high stone base of which is accessed via stairs. Its sides have two statues of cranes with their wings open, the building is surrounded by columns supporting the roof, which in its central part has gabled sides and is particularly smooth, this place too is totally devoid of any kind of life or threat, so we are quickly able to move onward.

After a few minutes, we are finally standing in the Last Sphere of Cocytus, the Judecca, which lies at the heart of the Underworld, in the distance I can already see the palace at the center that serves as the residence of Hades, God of the Underworld, and Pandora, commander of the army of Spectres, the palace is a building of a god in the purest Greek style, it is a central circular structure and the sides consist of two homer structures that form a single building, and pointing at it I say "We are really close now, this is the Judecca, and that is the palace of Hades!".

And so we keep moving toward it while being careful to not step on the many frozen souls on the ground, but while we were running, a familiar body falls in front of us, and recognizing it, I yell "Ikki! Hey, hang it there!! How did you get here?", but his body is unmoving, and as I notice this, I hear a familiar male voice that says "Heh... It's like this particular piece of hell was designed especially for you Saints...".

I look at who is speaking and recognize him as one of the Specters I met at Hades Castle, meanwhile, he continues explaining "This is the Eight Prison, Cocytus, where the heinous sinner who conspires against the Gods are sent, most of the resident are Saints who dared to challenge Lord Hades and the other Gods... Look!! All around you are the pitful remains of Athena's Saint!! Thousands, millions, who perished in the Holy Wars since ancient times!!".

Hearing that, I look at all the souls buried around us that seem to extend infinitely even beyond my sight and mutter "Are these all Saints who died for love, peace, and justice?", then the Specter says "Don't worry, it's just a matter of time before you all die and join your brethren, in fact, I'm going to help you pass on...", we all raise our guard and Shiryu says "Wait a minute... I remember you! You were at the Hades Castle when it fell!".

Totally unbothered by our numeric advantage he smiles and says "Heh... That's right, I'm Harpy Valentine, I'll give you credit for making it this far... But this is the end of your journey!", as soon as he finishes speaking, I make my move, and start the fight with a flying kick, I feel my foot hit the target's torso, but it feels shallow, and soon I notice that Valentine jumped back to lessen the impact, and as we both land on the frozen ground he says "You fool! Do you really think that I wouldn't be prepared for such an attack?".

But I smile and say "No... In fact, I was counting on that...", at the same time, Hyoga and Shiryu made their move too, Hyoga gathers the cold air around his fist, instantly condensing the surrounding moisture into pure ice which then shatters and manifests itself in the form of countless sharp and cutting snow crystals that are hurled through a powerful cold wind through his fist as he yells "Diamond Dust!!", but again Valentine defends against this technique using the right wing of his Surplice to deflect the Diamond Dust.

But his left side is open and Shiryu takes advantage of it to attack, "Rozan Shoryuha!!" and with an uppercut so powerful that generates a shockwave in the shape of a dragon, Shiryu hits Valentine, blowing him high in the sky as he spits blood from his mouth, but the attack wasn't a lethal one, as still in mid-air, Valentine turn his body and now facing us he yells enraged "You bastards! I'll show you my full strength!".

Valentine adopts a stance in which he clasps his hands together and raises his arms above his head, then when he begins his attack, the wings of his Surplice unfold as he burns his Cosmo to the maximum and yells "Greed the Life!!", thus projecting a powerful blast of energy that spreads out from his body at the speed of light hitting us all at the same time.

The impact of this blast of energy is so powerful that it was able to damage our Cloth even after they were enhanced by Athena's blood, at the same time, I feel my body growing weaker as if my lifeforce was stolen by it, and the cold of this icy hell starts taking effect on me, as I feel my body growing slower and my sense dulling, 'Uhh... I feel like I'm getting frostbitten all over my body, and I'm growing weaker with each passing second... at this rate... he'll kill us...'.

Hades POV - Underworld, Judecca - 1987

While I was resting on my throne, I felt an unknown presence, so I open my eyes and says "Who goes there? I gan an order to not be disturbed, remove yourself at once", and soon a voice replies "Heh... I'm afraid I won't follow your order... Not after what I went through to get here...", at the same time, I hear the sound of footsteps, and the next moment a figure appears in front of me, a figure that I do not recognize, so I ask "Who are you?".

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He is a young man with long blond hair, which reaches his knees, and clear blue eyes, one of his most distinctive features is the red Bindi he wears in the center of his forehead,  he is donning a lustrous gold armor that covers almost his whole body, I recognize as the Virgo Cloth, the man looks at me and says "I'm Virgo Shaka!! I've come to take your life, Hades!!".

I look at the Saint and ask "Shaka... One of the Saints that invaded the Underworld, I heard that no one was able to find you, where have you been?", and the Saint calmly replies "I had no idea of where to find you... So I was heading directly for Elysium...", hearing that I realize where he was and say "I see, Elysium is across the shores of the river Lethe, far upstream of River Acheron, but even from there it can't be easily reached, even the likes of Athena would it find difficult to reach Elysion from there".

Shaka nod and says "Yes, while I was trying to find a way, I sensed your Cosmo and headed here instead", I smile and ask "So where is Athena? She is the only one still hidden...", but he doesn't answer me and says "Why do you care? You are about to die", at the same time, his Cosmo explodes in strength and he yells "I have come to take your life!! Die!!".

But just as he is about to attack another female voice yells "Halt, Shaka!! Do not meddle with Hades", and an immense and familiar huge Divine Cosmo appears in the middle of the hall.

The figure of a beautiful young woman with long light violet hair, and greenish blue eyes, wearing a simple white dress walks into the hall, seeing her I say "Just as I thought, this Cosmo I have been sensing... Is yours, Athena!!".

Seiya POV - Underworld, Judecca - 1987

I feel myself getting weaker and weaker with each passing second, at the same time, and as my consciousness grows hazy I hear Harpy Valentine's voice that says "With this, our victory is almost guaranteed, Lady Pandora will be pleased", but soon I feel Athena's Cosmo coming from just a little ahead of us that surrounds my body and shield me from this icy hell cold, while at the same time, reigniting my almost spent Cosmo and lifeforce and feeling my Cosmo and body again, I think, 'Ah... This Cosmo... Athena... Athena is close by... I have to help her!',  and move to get up and fight once more.

Valentine notices this and exclaims "What? They survived the Greed of Life? What the... their bodies were ice cold, but now it's as if it's on fire!", and indeed, I feel that Hyoga and Shiryu are going through the same thing, and so with the mutual understanding between us, that was created going through many death and life battles together, we all make our Cosmos explode at the same time.

Momentarily stunning Valentine, who yells "I can't believe this! They were near death, but their Cosmo is so intense! How!?", and I take advantage of this moment to throw a powerful Cosmo-enhanced kick at him, but he gets out of his stunned state and dodges yelling "Fool!! Such kick has no eff....!!" but he stops as he wasn't able to fully dodge my kick, and to his surprise, the right shoulder and arm pieces breaks under the force of my kick.

At the same time, Hyoga hits him with a Diamond Dust on his back, freezing both the wings and slowly the rest of his Surplice, making him yell "What!? Impossible!!", and taking advantage of his state, Shiryu finishes him off using his most powerful technique, he yells "Rozan Hyaku Ryuha (Hundred Dragons of Lushan)!!", then extending both his arms forward, he makes his Cosmo explode, and the resulting blast, transforms in the form of one hundred blue dragons that quickly moves toward Valentine relentlessly attacking him destroying his Surplice and killing him on the spot.

Hyoga looks at Valentine's copse for a few moments then he says "Let's move! We can still help Athena and Shun!", but I stop them and ask "What about Ikki?", Shiryu moves next to him and checks his body he says "He is still alive! But he is unconscious, right now we can't wait for him to wake up...", then we look at each other and nod, silently agreeing on the decision we just made, then we leave running toward Hades' palace.

Saori POV - Underworld, Judecca - 1987

After a long journey into the desolate lands of the Underworld, I'm finally standing inside the chambers of the Lord of the Underworld, Hades, closer than ever to ending this senseless fight that last since the Age of Myths, standing in front of me is the Virgo Saint Shaka, and Andromeda Shun's body, who is at the moment possessed by the soul of Hades.

Hades looks at me and says "Athena, you are finally here to offer your life to me", before I could answer, Shaka yells in concern "Athena, no! It's still too dangerous for you!! Let me fight Hades first!!", hearing that I smile and say "But that's Shun", and shaking his head, Shaka says "No, Shun is no more, Hades has completely conquered his body and soul... The real Shun is as good as dead. I know that he'd want us to destroy this monster", and raises his fist to prepare to attack him.

But I move next to him and gently hold his fist with my hand and say "I don't think it would be easy to kill Hades while he's inside Shun, we would merely damage Shun's body, not Hades' soul", then I move up the stairs leading to the throne saying "I will handle him, do not interfere, understood?", and as I'm moving up the ruined staircase, I hear Shaka yells "Athena! Look out! Don't go any closer!!", but I ignore him and keep moving while thinking, 'Now, I have to keep his attention on me, and at the same time lead him in such a way that he'll give me the opportunity to purge him from Shun's body...'.

Standing in front of him, I look right into Shun's soulless eyes and say "Hades, I came to ask a favor...", and quickly notice his curiosity as he asks "A favor?", so I get on my knees and say "Please halt the Greatest Eclipse, do not turn the Earth into a world of darkness", I can clearly feel that I have Hades' full attention as he is studying my every movement and expression, even my own Cosmo is under his scrutiny.

And after a few moments of silence, he says "I never imagined I'd see you, my eternal enemy, groveling before me on your hand and knees... But you're too late, the Greatest Eclipse is underway, in minutes, the moon will block the sun and plunge the earth into perpetual darkness, not even you can stop it now, Athena!!", I nod and say "I know, that's why I'm begging you to intervene...  Please... I offer my own life in exchange".

Once again Hades studies me to find a trace of deception, then he asks "Is this true? You're offering your life to me?". and with Shaka's worried yell in the background, I declare "If my life can save the Earth... Then gladly", and with a victorious smile he says "Very well, your life is mine", then with his powers he lift the impaled trident from the ground and give it to a stunned Shaka, and says "Shaka, kill Athena with that trident".

Seeing him hesitate, Hades continues "What's the matter? Athena has offered me her life to save the Earth, you should kill her with joy", then I hear Shaka says "V-very well, I shall... Kill you, that is!!" and throws the trident aiming at Hades, and feeling Hades focusing on him now, I think, 'Yes... Everything is going well just a little more!', while at the same time, I yell "No, Shaka!!", and using my powers as Athena I grab the trident stopping Shaka's attack on Hades, and say "I thought I told you not interfere" the make the trident fall on the ground.

Hades then picks up the trident and says "I heard you were a courteous Saint Shaka, I'm scandalized that you'd attack a God... I think I'll get rid of you first", but I use this moment to stand up a move in front of Hades again and say "Hades, your business is with me", he tries to pressure me and says "Move aside, Athena or else I'll just skewer you both on this spear", and as our Cosmos clash I declare "I will not move".

And the moment I was waiting for it finally came, as Hades enraged by the continuous defiances, lowers his guard and yells "Very well! Both your lives are forfeit anyway! I'll kill you myself!!", and he attacks me with the trident in person, but as the trident is about to pierce my chest, I stop it with my hand, but even so this causes a wound on it that make it bleed profusely and soon the blood falls from the blade of the trident touching Hades' hand.

Hades doesn't notice this, instead, he looks at me and asks confused "What's the matter? I thought you were giving me your life or did you change your mind?", I look at him and as the golden aura of my Divine Cosmo surrounds my body, I yell "I will not let you kill anyone!! Not Shaka!! Nor Shun!! Nor all of humanity!! I have a duty to protect every living thing on earth!! That is what I was born to do!!".

And through my blood, my Cosmo invades Hades' body and reawakens Shun's soul and Cosmo within it, who resonate with my Cosmo and start to fight back and push Hades' soul out, and indeed Hades starts screaming in pain "Aargh!! What is this raging heat? Athena's blood burns!!", and feeling that Shun's soul is now full awaken I yell as I strengthen my Cosmo even more "Keep at it, Shun!! This is your chance to cast Hades out!!".

And once again Hades screams in pain "Aaargh!!", and I command with the full force of my Cosmo "Go, Hades!! Leave Shun's body!!", and as he is fully immersed in both my and Shun's Cosmos, Hades yells "Unnh!! S-so painful!! I can't stay in this body any longer!!", and with dark sparks, Hades' dark soul comes out of Shun's body which now falls on the ground.

Hovering above Shun's body Hades' soul says "Arrgh... Inconceivable! I cannot believe Shun's body rejected me! Shun was predestined to become my vessel, so why?", I look at his soul with the trident in my hand and explain "Because you were wrong, you choose poorly, Shun was born to be the Andromeda Saint, not to host your soul, and now that his soul has been reawakened by my blood, you can never possess him again! Surrender, Hades! You chose the wrong era to return to, you have no body to be reborn into!! You cannot be fully reincarnated in this age!!".

As I say this, I prepare for what is to come, as I'm sure of the fact that he won't give up, and indeed, I can clearly feel his growing malice as I say in the hope that he truly accepts his defeat and can end this without further bloodshed "Now do you see that further battle is pointless? Halt the greatest Eclipse and go back to your slumber, Hades", and indeed, his Cosmo moves as he yells "Arrgh... So close to bringing eternal darkness to the Earth... I will not retreat while the Earth is still in my grasp!".

And with a powerful blast of Cosmo he yells "I shall drag you down with me!! I'll see your flesh destroyed too, Athena!!", I try to fight it, and since he is here only with his soul, I'm able to overwhelm him, and soon he starts to retreat, and chase after him, knowing well that he will lead me into a trap, and as I hear Shaka yelling my name, the last thought in my mind is 'Jayr... With this everything is in place... I'll wait for you...'.

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