- In Marvel: I Start by Marrying Scarlett Witch [Complete]
- MWM Chapter 562
Leo had long devised a plan regarding Athena’s blood. As a cultivator—especially one who had once wiped out the Blood Demon Sect and absorbed the Blood Spring into his Tsukuyomi World—he had extensively studied blood-related techniques.
As long as he could obtain a sample of Athena’s blood, he could use the laws within the Tsukuyomi World, combined with blood magic, to replicate it in large quantities.
With enough of Athena’s blood, all the Saints would receive its blessing, and if their Cosmo was strong enough, it would even unlock the hidden potential of their Cloths, causing them to evolve.
Leo’s plan, after producing a sufficient amount of Athena’s blood, was to completely submerge the Sagittarius Gold Cloth in the blood, transforming it directly into a Divine Cloth.
“If this is truly possible, then we will invade the Underworld and end this Holy War once and for all!”
With a wave of her golden staff, Athena made her decision.
Soon, everyone gathered in Athena’s temple. Using Athena’s blood, they restored the 248-year-old statue of Athena to its true form: Athena’s Sacred Cloth.
Leo also took some samples of Athena’s blood and returned to his Tsukuyomi World to begin his process of blood replication.
In a flash, a month of relative calm passed, and there were just three days left before the Nine Stars Alignment.
With a large barrel of goddess’s blood in hand, Leo reappeared in the Pope’s hall.
“All Saints, assemble at the plaza!”
Half an hour later, in the large square beneath the Sanctuary, Leo was coating the Saints’ Cloths with Athena’s blood, all while delivering a rousing pre-battle speech.
“To save all of humanity, to thwart Hades’ ambitions, the great Athena has offered her blood so that you may fight in the Underworld. This is your greatest honor.
From today, you are Saints bathed in Athena’s blood, a privilege no Saint in any previous Holy War has ever had.
So in the coming battle, you must give everything you have.
For humanity, for the Sanctuary, for Athena—victory is ours!”
“Victory! Victory! Victory!”
As the Saints saw their Cloths renew instantly upon contact with Athena’s blood, and as they looked up at the goddess herself, their hearts swelled with fiery determination.
They could hardly wait to charge into the Underworld, tear apart the Specters with their bare hands, and trample Hades underfoot.
As their spirits burned with passion, so too did their Cosmos expand, growing stronger with every heartbeat.
Cosmo is an energy system that thrives on willpower—the stronger one’s spirit, the greater the potential of their Cosmo.
Leo’s battle speech served to ignite the Saints’ Cosmos to the fullest, preparing them to join forces and overcome Hades in the Underworld.
As for the Specters, they weren’t much of a concern—just a few Gold Saints would be more than enough to wipe them out.
Without the Underworld’s restrictions, Gold Saints at full power would easily crush the so-called Three Judges and all other Specters.
The only real threats in the Underworld were the main god Hades and the two secondary gods, Thanatos (Death) and Hypnos (Sleep).
“We’re ready to depart now.”
After finishing his preparations, Leo, carrying the remaining half-barrel of Athena’s blood, approached Athena.
Athena looked at the half-full barrel, feeling a bit strange. She could clearly sense that the blood was indeed hers, but she distinctly remembered giving Leo only a few drops.
“All Saints, heed my command: full army advance!”
Snapping back to reality, Athena raised her golden staff and pointed it toward Hades’ Castle in the direction of Thuringia, Germany.
Inside Hades’ Castle, Pandora—this era’s representative—suddenly stopped playing her harp.
“Foolish Radamanthys! He ruined my plans, he deserves death.”
She had long known that Shion hadn’t truly pledged loyalty to Hades. Sending Shion back to assassinate Athena was merely a diversion while they awaited the Nine Stars Alignment and the Eclipse Plan.
But Radamanthys had defied her orders, taking his Specters and Shion to the Sanctuary without informing her.
Had he successfully assassinated Athena, it would have been tolerable, but not only did he fail, he leaked vital information.
Now, all the Saints from the Sanctuary were marching toward them in a unified force.
“Alert everyone, we are withdrawing to the Underworld for now.”
After giving her orders, Pandora took one last glance at the castle before using the necklace bestowed by Hades to transport herself to the Underworld.
Once a noblewoman of the Heinstadt family, Pandora had unwittingly opened the chest that sealed the souls of Thanatos and Hypnos, becoming this era’s sister of Hades.
At that moment, Hades’ Cosmo enveloped Heinstadt, killing all her family members and transforming the town into Hades’ Castle, the Specters’ base in the human world.
Since only the dead could enter the Underworld, as long as the Specters retreated there, Athena and her Saints would have no way of following.
After Pandora and her Specters retreated to the Underworld, half an hour later, Leo arrived with Athena and all the Saints, hovering above the now-empty castle.
“It seems they’ve already fled. Let’s head in as well.”
Sweeping his divine sense over the castle and finding it deserted, Leo threw a punch that obliterated it. He then led the Saints through the hidden passage below, which led to the Underworld.
Thanks to Athena’s Cosmo and Leo’s protective spells, all the Saints landed safely, avoiding the embarrassing situation from the original story where they were knocked unconscious by a face-first landing.
In the Underworld, Hades’ laws forbade flight or teleportation, meaning they had to travel on foot.
Led by Athena, the Sanctuary’s forces marched toward the first entrance of the Underworld: the Gate of Hell, a massive stone door with the inscription:
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter the Underworld.”
The Underworld, created by Hades, was divided into eight regions, starting from the River Styx and spanning eight circles, three valleys, ten ditches, and four rings. Only by traversing all these areas would they reach Hades’ palace.
At the far end of the palace lay the Wall of Lamentations, and beyond it, the path to the Elysium Fields.
“Saints are warriors of hope; we will never abandon hope!”
Dressed in the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, Leo led the charge through the Gate of Hell, with the entire army of Saints following him into the depths of the Underworld.
As they moved swiftly across the dark, muddy terrain, they soon reached a wide river that blocked their path—it was the River Styx. Its waters flowed in three different ways, slow, steady, and rapid, depending on the deeds of the deceased, earning it the name “The River of Three Crossings.”
(End of Chapter)