Ares was equally shocked.
He felt as if his divine sword had struck the hardest substance in the universe. No, it was like striking an ultimate black hole that could devour all power.
All his power disappeared like mud sinking into the sea. The recoil numbed his hands. The divine sword was completely immobile, firmly 'clamped' by that hand.
"How is this possible?" Ares's voice began to tremble. "Even Athena and Hades couldn't take my attack with their bare bodies! What kind of monster are you?"
Setsuna slowly raised his eyelids, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "You are too weak. Far weaker than Hades!"
In his perception and evaluation system, if the power of the third level of the Eighth Sense was roughly divided into scales from galactic to universal...
Then the Ares before him could, at best, be considered a 'galactic' level, and a rather unstable one at that.
Whereas Hades, before being devoured, as the complete ruler of death, had power equivalent to at least a dozen stable 'galaxies'.
As for Setsuna himself?
When he first returned to the Saint Seiya World, he was already absolutely certain he could suppress a major god of Ares's caliber.
Not to mention now, after successively devouring the origins of Kairos and Hades, with his Eighth Sense beginning to evolve towards the perfection of the third stage...
In his eyes, Ares was not much stronger than the Twin Gods.
"The game is over." Setsuna said calmly.
Then, his right hand, holding the blade of the divine sword, squeezed lightly.
Crack!
A clear sound of cracking rang out.
That divine sword, highly condensed from Ares's war divine power, instantly became covered in spiderweb-like cracks, then exploded with a bang, shattering into countless dark red light points.
"Pfft!"
With the divine sword destroyed, Ares, whose mind and spirit were connected to it, was hit as if by a heavy blow, vomiting a large spray of golden divine blood, his aura instantly weakening by more than half.
But this was not over.
The hand with which Setsuna had crushed the divine sword smoothly reached forward.
Ares didn't even see the trajectory of the hand. He only felt an indescribably intense pain in his chest.
Setsuna's hand had easily penetrated his divine cloth, entered his chest, and grasped his fiercely beating divine heart core, which radiated the brilliance of war.
"No... don't..." For the first time, an expression called 'fear' appeared on Ares's face.
For the first time, he so clearly understood that gods could also die!
"Behind me are the Olympian gods! My father is the great King of Gods, Zeus! If you dare kill me, the gods will never let you off!" Ares shouted, blustering but inwardly weak.
Hearing Ares's threat, Setsuna shook his head with some disappointment. "Even gods only rely on their background to threaten at times like this? How boring."
As he spoke, Setsuna laughed. "The Underworld under Hades's rule was too weak. It only dared to bring death to ordinary beings, ignoring the high and mighty gods."
"From now on, the Underworld under my rule will bring even the gods into the realm of death. Let those gods who claim to be eternal also truly experience the fear of death!"
The instant his words fell, the hand Setsuna had thrust into Ares's chest suddenly clenched.
"No!" Ares let out a desperate wail.
Boom!
His divine body shattered with a bang, turning into divine light rain drifting all over the sky.
Then, that drifting divine light rain was completely absorbed by Setsuna.
Hypnos and Thanatos stared blankly at this scene. Within a single day, a second major god had fallen.
The shock in their hearts could not be expressed in words.
Especially Setsuna's statement about bringing even the gods under the rule of death… it excited the two immensely.
As gods of the Underworld, they naturally wanted the Underworld to grow stronger and stronger.
Their reverence and loyalty towards Setsuna reached their peak at this moment.
As for Hades? Who was that?
Sorry, they didn't remember anymore.
...
Although Hades Castle had been destroyed, for Seiya and the other four, who had awakened the Eighth Sense, they no longer needed to enter the Underworld through the passage of Hades Castle.
Upon entering, the imagined apocalyptic scene of collapse and wailing souls did not appear.
Although the earth was still scarred and the sky still had cracks, the destructive trend of collapse had already disappeared.
"The Underworld has actually stabilized!" Hyoga looked around in surprise. "Was it the Twin Gods? Or..."
"Not likely." Ikki frowned. "They probably don't have that kind of power."
Just then, the space not far ahead suddenly twisted, and two figures radiating powerful auras walked out from within.
They were Hypnos, the God of Sleep, and Thanatos, the God of Death.
"The Twin Gods!" Seiya and the other five's pupils contracted sharply. They instantly assumed combat stances, but their hearts sank.
Although the Twin Gods were their defeated opponents, the situation now was completely different.
Their God Cloths were almost completely shattered and had not yet been repaired.
In this state, facing two secondary gods in relatively good condition, there was simply no chance of victory.
"I'll hold them off!" Ikki stepped forward without hesitation, igniting his blazing immortal bird flames. "You go! Find His Majesty the Pope!"
"Brother! No! How can we leave you behind?" Shun's tears streamed down his face as he desperately grabbed Ikki's arm.
"Go!" Ikki shouted harshly, shaking off Shun's hand, his gaze sweeping over Seiya and the others. "If we wait any longer, none of us will get away!"
"Don't forget, we are Athena's Saints!"
"Now, only by finding His Majesty the Pope and figuring out a way to rescue Athena can the earth have a future! Go… now… go!"
He roared, already prepared to sacrifice himself to buy his companions a sliver of hope.
A tragic and heroic atmosphere permeated the five.
However, watching them tense up, making a big deal out of a possible life-or-death separation, the newly arrived Twin Gods did not immediately attack. Instead, a subtle expression appeared on their faces.
Hypnos elegantly raised his hand and gently pressed his forehead. "A few of you, there is no need to be so nervous. We were just about to take you to see... the person you wish to see."
Seiya suddenly realized, his expression changing dramatically. "What? Has Setsuna-senpai been captured by you?"
However, hearing Seiya's words, Thanatos's expression changed even faster than theirs.
"Do not slander!" Thanatos said urgently. "How would we dare to offend His Majesty? That would be the crime of great disrespect!"
"His Majesty?" Shiryu was somewhat confused. "Isn't Hades dead?"
A flash of inspiration crossed Ikki's mind. A bold, almost absurd guess surfaced in his heart. "The 'His Majesty' you speak of... could it be Setsuna-senpai?"
Hypnos smiled slightly and nodded affirmatively. "Correct. His Majesty is the current ruler of the Underworld, the new sovereign we serve."