Chapter Five: Miraculous Justice

“Thank you, my lord!” Upon seeing Aldebaran allow them to pass, Moses immediately led Yin Seventeen into the Taurus Palace.

Beyond the Taurus Palace lay the Gemini Palace, but no one guarded it. Only at the far end of the temple, a golden, dazzling Sacred Cloth stood silently.

“That…” Yin Seventeen wanted to ask a few more questions, but seeing Moses’ stern expression, he had to swallow his words. Helpless, he could only speculate about the current situation in his heart based on what he’d observed.

“It’s the era of Seiya and his generation, so the guardian of the Gemini Palace should be Saga, known as the ‘Incarnation of God.’ But now, with no one here, it must mean that at this time Saga has already dealt with the former Pope and is impersonating the Pope’s younger brother, Alexis, to act as the Pope.”

“That’s why the Gemini Palace is unguarded.”

Understanding this, Yin Seventeen couldn’t help but feel a headache. In every generation, the Gemini Gold Saint was always a problematic child of the Sanctuary—an extremely unstable presence. Each one had both a good and an evil side. When goodness outweighed evil, they were virtuous; when evil prevailed, they were malevolent. Yet for most people, their nature remains stable, rarely shifting, as the saying goes, ‘A leopard can’t change its spots.’

But the Gemini Saints were different; their dual sides were especially extreme. These extremes made their mental state dangerously unstable. Over the smallest matters, they might be triggered, shifting from one extreme to the other. When good, they seemed like merciful deities; when evil, like ruthless demons.

Normally, someone so unstable and extreme should never be accepted into the Sanctuary, much less trained as a Saint. Yet, the Gemini Gold Cloth was perfectly compatible with such individuals. In truth, only those with extreme duality and unstable spirits could resonate with the opposing forces within the Gemini Gold Cloth. Ordinary people simply couldn’t wear it.

So no matter how much the Sanctuary resented each generation’s Gemini Saint, they had to accept them, however begrudgingly. After all, they were one of the twelve Zodiac guardians of Athena’s throne, a vital force in the Sanctuary’s battle against evil. If the Gemini Cloth were just a common Bronze Cloth, it would surely have been sealed away forever.

As far as Yin Seventeen knew, Saga of Gemini had assassinated the previous Pope in a moment of evil, and subsequently seized the papal throne. The thought of soon facing such an unstable character made his heart sink with dread.

“All I can do is pray that he’s in a stable state and doesn’t suddenly act out,” Yin Seventeen silently wished. If he encountered Saga’s evil side, the man would likely kill him on the spot, erring on the side of caution, and any disguise would be meaningless.

Without a word, the two made their way through the Twelve Temples and arrived before the Goddess’s Throne, in the Pope’s Hall.

At the innermost part of the hall sat a figure, face hidden beneath a golden helm, shrouded in white robes.

“Greetings, Your Holiness!” Moses immediately knelt on one knee in salute.

Yin Seventeen quickly followed suit, imitating him as best he could to avoid provoking ‘Alexis’s’ sensitive nerves.

“Who is this child?” The Pope propped his head on one hand, asking carelessly.

“We found this child near the crash site of the evil from beyond the heavens in the East, but his identity is unclear. To avoid tarnishing the Goddess’s name of justice, I brought him here for your inspection,” Moses replied, head lowered.

Alexis said nothing, only fixing the two with a cold stare, his other hand tapping the throne rhythmically.

Yin Seventeen’s heart pounded in his chest. The Pope’s icy gaze felt like that of a man looking at a corpse.

“This is bad—Saga’s in his evil state!” he exclaimed inwardly.

Even knowing this, he dared not move or breathe too heavily, fearful of angering the man and being killed on the spot. All he could do was pray silently.

“Heavenly powers, protect me!”

“Heavenly powers, protect me!”

…

Tap, tap, tap!

As if coming to a decision, Alexis abruptly stopped tapping the throne and pointed a finger at the youth on the ground.

“Heavenly powers, protect me…” Yin Seventeen continued to pray with all his heart, hoping for Saga’s good side to emerge.

But his prayer went unanswered. A golden ray shot from Alexis’s fingertip.

Clearly, Evil Saga had no patience for an investigation and intended to kill him outright.

“It seems my journey ends here,” he thought wryly, hoping at least his death would not be too painful.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, the silence of the hall was broken by a sharp sound splitting the air.

The miracle of Good Saga awakening did not occur, but another miracle did. A beam of golden light streaked in from outside the hall, just in time to intercept the fatal ray aimed at Yin Seventeen’s brow.

“Sword aura?”

Recognizing the golden beam, Alexis immediately sat upright and fixed his gaze coldly on the entrance to the Pope’s Hall. “Shura, why are you here making trouble instead of guarding the Capricorn Palace?”

In all the Sanctuary, only Shura, the Gold Saint of Capricorn, possessed such a formidable sword aura.

Tap, tap, tap!

With crisp footsteps, a man clad in the golden armor of a Saint entered the hall.

“It’s a rare occasion for an outsider to ascend Sacred Mountain, so I came to see the excitement,” the newcomer replied, his voice devoid of emotion.

Meanwhile, having narrowly escaped death, Yin Seventeen looked back with gratitude at the Capricorn Saint who had saved him at the last moment. Unfortunately, Shura’s back was to the entrance, the bright light and gleaming armor making it impossible to see his face clearly.

“If you’re just here for the spectacle, why interfere?” Alexis barked from the throne.

Shura was one of the few who knew his true identity, and one of his allies within the Twelve Temples. If not for the sake of their alliance, he would have dropped all pretense long ago.

Stopping in his tracks, Shura glanced at Yin Seventeen on the ground and replied calmly, “The boy’s identity remains unconfirmed. If he is indeed connected to the evil from beyond, I have no objection. But if he’s merely an innocent, your actions just now would be wanton slaughter, a stain on the Goddess’s name of justice.”

“I, Shura of Capricorn, will not allow anyone to tarnish Lady Athena’s glory!”

With that, he stamped his foot lightly. An immense, powerful aura erupted from within him like an invisible sword piercing the heavens.

Boom!

In an instant, sunlight poured in as a gaping hole was torn open in the dome of the Pope’s Hall.