Chapter 143 : The whole audience was shocked, and the underworld was shaken!
The moment Hades's Castle vanished, the battlefield fell into a brief, dead silence, with only the mournful whisper of the wind blowing over the shattered rocks remaining.
The next second, like a lit powder keg, the cheers from the Sanctuary side erupted with a roar, shaking the surroundingGravel falling.
"We... we won?"
Seiya was the first to react, staggering to his feet. Cracks in his bronze cloth were still oozing blood, but his eyes blazed with incredulous light.
He looked up at Li Yu, who stood in mid-air, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
"We really did it, erased Hades's stronghold from Human Realm?"
Shun supported the heavily wounded Shiryu, both their Cloths severely damaged. Looking at the bottomless chasm on the ground, Shun's pupils constricted.
"Is this... the power of the strongest Gold Saint of this era? Forcing Hades himself to retreat to the Underworld!"
Hyoga clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles white from the effort. The image of Li Yu throwing the God-Slaying Spear flashed repeatedly in his mind. He murmured to himself,
"Even Hades's Castle was... directly uprooted from Human Realm... Master, where exactly is the limit of your power?"
The Gold Saints were even more stirred.
Aiolia gasped for breath, the shoulder guard of his Leo Cloth completely shattered, yet his excitement was still evident.
"Truly... astonishing power! Forcing Hades himself to withdraw his army—this achievement is enough to be recorded in the annals of the Holy War!"
Camus stood silently to the side, his gaze fixed on the Aquarius Cloth on Li Yu. That Cloth, which once resonated with him, had now completely severed its connection. A bone-deep chill and sense of powerlessness spread throughout his body, creeping up his spine.
As an Aquarius Saint, the height Li Yu had reached was a peak he could never hope to achieve in this lifetime.
Saga and Shaka helped each other up. Their Cloths were covered in cracks, and blood still stained their lips, yet they both curled their mouths into a smile.
"Hmph, Li Yu... it wasn't in vain that I fought to the death."
A complex light flickered in Black Saga's pupils, admiration mixed with a hint of undetectable apprehension.
The vermilion mark on Shaka's forehead had long since dimmed, and his aura was extremely weak, yet his face held a look of relieved Zen. Even as a reincarnation of a god, using Tenbu Hōrin to trap the Twin Gods had almost completely exhausted his Cosmo.
"To force Hades to take Hades's Castle and withdraw from Human Realm... such immense power is almost divine."
At the Summit of Holy Mountain, Saori Kido's fingers, which had been tightly gripping the Staff of Nike, finally slowly relaxed.
As the Goddess of War and Wisdom, she had witnessed the entire process of Li Yu tearing space, gravely injuring Thanatos, and forcing Hades to retreat, as if she were personally present through the connection of her divine domain.
At this moment, the previous worry in her clear eyes had been replaced by unparalleled shock, and her voice held a barely perceptible tremor.
"He... he really forced Hades to retreat..."
The power Li Yu displayed had long exceeded her understanding of Gold Saints and even humans, surpassing even theThe first generation of Gold Saints.
But she clearly remembered that the reason theThe first generation of Gold Saints were so powerful was because their Cloths were embedded with Olympus divine stones.
Saints could use divine power to evolve their Cloths into God Cloths at any time.
However, after ancient divine wars with Sea Emperor Poseidon and Ares, the divine stones had long been depleted.
Li Yu's current power showed her even more possibilities.
Not just defeating Hades, but perhaps even changing the balance of the Olympian gods.
Dohko leaned on his staff, his hunched body straightening for the first time, and a startling gleam erupted in his cloudy old eyes.
The muscles on his aged face twitched slightly, finally transforming into a long and complex sigh.
"I am old... This Li Yu, the word 'strong' cannot even begin to describe him."
His staff struck the ground heavily.
"His power, strategy, and courage have probably reached the divine realm, or even... higher."
Dohko turned to Athena, his eyes filled with unprecedented solemnity.
"Lady Athena, with Li Yu, we might truly be able to create an unprecedented miracle in this Holy War."
Athena smoothed her hair, which was fluttering in the wind. At this moment, her heart was even more disheveled than her long hair... The Underworld trembled violently.
Hades's Castle appeared out of thin air above the Underworld, crashing down heavily. The sturdy black rock castle walls instantly became covered in cracks, and rubble poured down like a waterfall.
The Specters who survived near the castle and were transported back to the Underworld, whether they were the Three Giants or the Terrestrial Stars, were like startled birds, their eyes filled with the daze of having survived a catastrophe and a bone-deep fear.
"How is this possible... Even Lord Hades had to temporarily avoid his edge..."
A Specter slumped to the ground, fragments of his Surplice scattered beside him.
"Where are the Celestial Specterss? Why didn't all of them return? They attacked the Sanctuary, were they completely killed...?"
Another Specter looked around, unable to find the familiar figures of the Celestial Specterss, and panic spread among the Specters.
For a long time, the belief that Hades was immortal, and thus Specters were immortal, was their reliance for brave combat. But now, this myth had been shattered.
Moreover, in this battle, if Hades hadn't intervened, Thanatos himself would have almost been ended by Li Yu.
"Did you see it? That hole in Lord Thanatos's chest... I've never seen Lord Thanatos suffer such serious injuries..."
"Lord Hypnos's face is also terrifyingly grim, constantly expending divine power to save Lord Thanatos..."
"Can we still win this Holy War? That Aquarius Saint is simply a monster! Even Lord Hades has to temporarily avoid his edge, what can we do...?"
Unease and terror spread among the Specters like a virus.
Inside the Hades's Temple in Elysium, an extreme, oppressive rage was like tangible ice, freezing every inch of space.
The obsidian-paved floor was stained with a shocking layer of pale gold.
That was the divine blood, containing primordial divinity, seeping from the wound of Thanatos.
Thanatos lay on the cold Underworld stone slab, his silver-white robe torn, the gaping wound through his chest horrifyingly grotesque.
Although his divine body was slowly healing under the nourishment of the Underworld's death qi, the golden-purple energy and Absolute Zero cold qi remaining at the edge of the wound were constantly eroding his divine body and divinity, preventing full recovery.
With every breath, he endured a soul-rending agony, his face contorted with pain and ingrained malice, muttering unconsciously,
"Des... desecrator..."
Hypnos, God of Sleep stood to the side, his golden eyes devoid of their usual languid sleepiness, replaced only by solemnity, exhaustion, and furious shock.
He fully unleashed his divine power, attempting to soothe Thanatos's collapsing divine soul, but with little effect.
The power of the sun and destructive lightning in Li Yu's spear had a natural restraint on dark-aligned deities.
"Saint! No, I should say desecrator!"
Hypnos looked up, his face contorted in a ferocious expression, all elegance gone, replaced only by exasperation.
"Lord Hades, he stole power that does not belong to mortals! Sunlight... lightning... those are the authorities of the Sky Father and the God of Light!"
Thanatos seemed stimulated by the word 'authority,' and suddenly opened his eyes, exerting all his strength.
"Lord Hades... Li Yu... he is a desecrator! He stole the authority of the gods! It must... it must be made known to the gods!"
After shouting, he convulsed from the intense pain and fell back into a semi-conscious state.