Saint Seiya: Heretic Athena?

This night was destined to be one that many would not forget. The Ryukyu Islands, Mitake Ryūgū Shrine. The wind rustled the leaves, remindin

This night was destined to be one that many would not forget.

The Ryukyu Islands, Mitake Ryūgū Shrine. The wind rustled the leaves, reminding one of many years ago.

Many years ago, this region still belonged to that powerful feudal dynasty in the West. Looking out from here, one could see the Fukushūen Garden, Shuri Castle, and a complex of vermilion buildings similar to the Forbidden City. At this moment, the foot of the mountain was brightly lit, because the upcoming Shuri Castle Festival was the largest festival in Ryukyu, just like the grand occasion of the Western Continent's envoys visiting several hundred years ago.

This was also a place with a strong belief in dragon-serpents. The Pegasus that descended along with the moonlight came before him, and the man in the white robe affectionately embraced it.

"As expected, you are the Pegasus who brings me victory. Well done. The destiny to once again cut off the head of my nemesis truly calls me forward. You are looking forward to it too, aren't you?" Perseus smiled and sent the Pegasus back into the night sky. "Just endure a little longer. I can already feel that the time to cut off his head is fast approaching."

At this moment, in the distant Shuri Castle, the residents who were still preparing for the festival looked with some curiosity towards the most sacred Nakanoshima.

Vaguely, they seemed to hear the melodious neighing of a horse, but upon listening carefully, it sounded more like the cry of a deer.

When Seiya woke up in the morning, he found that the magical world had exploded.

The hidden world also had its own internet. From regions, factions, to systems of tradition, all had their own small circles. And the recent hot topic of discussion had been the great war between the Witch Queen Guinevere, the Sage's Council, and the Royal Factory, as well as the Saint and the Dragon of the Far East.

But just last night, another major event occurred. The old Demon King Voban, who was almost an unspeakable, Voldemort-level figure in the European magical world, had failed in his ritual to summon a Heretic God, which he had been preparing for years. Even the dragon-serpent Tiamat he had summoned was intercepted by an unknown hero-god. For Marquis Voban, this was a great shame and humiliation.

"Seems like that's what happened." At breakfast time, Seiya was scrolling through his phone. Seeing the anonymous users whose comments were more or less tinged with schadenfreude, he also raised an eyebrow and took a light sip of his soy milk.

He wasn't very familiar with the plot of the Godslayers, but he vaguely knew that this was the time when the old Demon King wanted to summon a Heretic God. Mariya Yuri, who originally possessed the talent of divine revelation, had also been his target. But because of the Stella incident a while ago, she was still lying in bed, and had thus, by a stroke of misfortune, dodged a bullet.

But in the end, this old Demon King still performed the summoning, though it still went against his wishes.

"The one who intercepted it was Perseus, right? His strength should have recovered to its peak by now." Seiya looked up at Liliana, who was sitting primly and properly at the table, her demeanor meticulous.

This Sword Fairy, who was as famous as Erica, had a completely different serious attitude from Erica's, even to the point of being somewhat rigid in Seiya's view. In this breakfast room, the executives of the Bronze Black Cross knights had all arrived. In addition, there were also Erica and Ena Seishuin.

On their tables were the breakfast dishes of their respective countries. Of course, if interested, someone like Erica could also order soy milk and youtiao or douzhi from China. It was now the Dragon Boat Festival, and seeing the food wrapped in bamboo leaves on Seiya's plate, they all tacitly ordered a sweet or savory zongzi as well.

Compared to the native Italian magical societies and Marquis Voban, who was still in the exploratory stage, they already knew the true name of this Heretic God, so it was naturally easier to decipher the secrets of the Authorities he held.

"Although all Gods of Steel have a close connection with dragon-serpents, myths of this type have a rather uniform template," Liliana was the first to stand up and present the key information collected by the Bronze Black Cross.

"Perseus. He is the hero who defeated the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa in Greek mythology, and also fought with the monsters on the seashore that demanded the Ethiopian princess Andromeda as a living sacrifice, ultimately achieving victory and rescuing the beautiful princess. As a model hero for slaying snakes, and even dragons, he is a widely known divinity. The 'Perseus-Andromeda' type refers to this category of myth."

Liliana looked at the smiling and nodding Seiya and continued, "According to the intelligence we have collected, this Perseus should possess the ability to command witches, as well as the ability to gain power from them after slaying or conquering dragon-serpents and earth mother goddesses."

"I see. So that's why He so tirelessly pursues dragon-serpents and earth mother goddesses, even going so far as to actively snatch Marquis Voban's prey, instead of going to kill his fated nemesis, the Demon King," Seiya realized.

"And that guy Perseus can completely seal my God Robe... that is, a power related to Verethragna. This is also a problem."

"The name Perseus also has the meaning of 'one from Persia.' In fact, he is a divinity of Eastern origin." On this question, Erica took the initiative to answer.

"Persia? Isn't that the same as Verethragna's homeland!?" Ena Seishuin was somewhat surprised.

"Mm, how should I put this? The 'Persia' mentioned here simply refers to the East. Ancient Persia is modern-day Iran. However, Perseus's ancestor was in Iraq, which is Babylon."

That's right. Perseus was a hero born in Mesopotamia. That was why he had appeared at the site of the god-slaying battle last night, because he had sensed the appearance of a dragon-serpent with which he had a deep connection.

"In Babylonian mythology, he defeated a monster named Tiamat to save his wife, Andromeda. Legend has it that it was a sea beast like a giant whale or a sea serpent."

Ena Seishuin understood the meaning in Erica's words. Today, the known constellation Cetus refers to this sea beast, Tiamat. It is listed alongside constellations such as Perseus, Andromeda, and Cassiopeia, and is known as one of the representative constellations of autumn.

At this moment, everyone was lost in thought, including Seiya. It was just that he was thinking about the Cloths of the constellations Perseus and Cetus and their corresponding Saints. They seemed to be Silver Saints. He was pondering their combat techniques and specific effects. And Erica was thinking about how to present herself before Seiya without being too obvious, while Liliana was wholeheartedly thinking about how to decipher the secrets of this Heretic God to the greatest extent possible.

"However, this name has a more important meaning," Erica said with a smile. "This Tiamat also has the meaning of 'the name of a Babylonian goddess.' As a great earth mother goddess who gave birth to the gods, she was also the ruler of the divine realm. And she was also a goddess who would transform into the form of a dragon and cause floods. The storm god who defeated her to become the king of the gods, his name was Marduk."

"Could it be... that this myth was brought to Greece and became the myth of Perseus?" The Saint, Seiya, also seemed to have perceived the truth behind it.

The story of Marduk defeating Tiamat was passed down over a long period of time and became the myth of Perseus. Because of this, this hero was called Perseus, the one from the East.

Greek mythology was shamelessly formed by taking various myths from surrounding regions. Examples of describing the gods of other peoples as evil gods or monsters were not few. The myth of Athena and Medusa was a very good example. If so, Perseus must have been treated very well.

At this moment, with the efforts of the various witches and Hime-Miko, they had gradually pieced together most of the Authorities of this Heretic God.

The Authority to command witches, the Authority to gain power from dragon-serpents or earth mother goddesses after slaying them, the Authority to seal dragon-serpents and earth mother goddesses to a certain extent, the Authority to summon Pegasus, and the Authority of Steel which had a strong defense and could be formed into a blade. Finally, there were also three Authorities that were still unknown but had been demonstrated in battle: one was divine speed in the form of sunlight, one was a bow and arrow Authority that borrowed the divine protection of the solar halo, and a final Authority that could temporarily seal abilities related to Verethragna.

Of course, many of the above abilities were just different manifestations of a single Authority. Soon, Erica thought of another very crucial question.

"Since this Heretic God has already slain the sea dragon Tiamat and recovered his full power, why hasn't He appeared before our King? Seiya is the one whose head He wants to cut off the most, right?"

"Because He has self-awareness," Ena Seishuin said suddenly. "Because He knows that even so, his chances of defeating our King are not high. So He still needs an even greater trump card, one that can decide the battle in a single blow."

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