Marvel's Magic Master

"Somebody come!"

"Remove the barrier that was set up in the Papal Palace beforehand," George shouted outside.

Several Bronze Saints who were guarding outside rushed in immediately. When they saw the Pope, Deathmask, and Aphrodite lying on the ground, their expressions changed drastically.

"What's going on?"

"His Holiness the Pope and two Gold Saints were attacked and killed. On their deathbed, they entrusted the papacy to me."

"I now command you, in my capacity as Pope, to immediately activate the Golden Summoning Order and urgently summon all Gold Saints who are currently away to return to the Sanctuary."

George unleashed his powerful inner strength, his face radiating majesty.

"His Holiness the Pope has been attacked and killed!"

The Bronze Saints' minds went blank for a moment, and after they came to their senses, they scrambled out of the way.

George is now the only Gold Saint in the Sanctuary. Even if he hadn't actually been appointed Pope in a time of crisis, they would still have to obey George's orders.

A special bell rang out in the sanctuary, its sound reaching every corner of the world.

At this moment, in the square outside the Tokei mansion in Tokyo, Shaka, with his eyes closed, said emotionlessly:
"Teacher Tong Hu, Mu, the truths you've mentioned are impossible to verify. I still believe the Pope is righteous."

Now give up resistance immediately and come back to the Sanctuary with us to face Athena's judgment. I will plead for you.

Otherwise, I will have no choice but to lead everyone to execute you here today!

He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly turned to look at the Holy Domain, his brows furrowing immediately:

"Golden Summoning Order: Something has happened in the Sanctuary."

The tolling of the Golden Summoning Bell meant that they must immediately abandon their current mission and return to the Sanctuary to see the Pope.

"Euler relays the message: Plan successful."

At this moment, Saori Kido raised her hand and gave an OK sign to Dohko and Mu in front of her.

"I didn't expect him to actually defeat Saga."

Dohko touched his beard with some surprise and turned to look at Shaka:
"Shaka, since you don't believe me, let's go to the Sanctuary together."

"If that's the case, then of course it would be best."

Shaka and the five Gold Saints behind him all looked puzzled.

They were unwilling to comply just now, but now that the Golden Summoning Order has appeared and they want to abandon the mission and retreat, they're suddenly willing again.

However, this is certainly a good thing, as it allows us to solve the problem without fighting.

Unless absolutely necessary, none of them wanted to fight against Tong Hu, who had once guided them.

"Mu!"

Dohko turned to look at Mu of Aries, who nodded and used his spatial abilities to open a gate leading directly to the Sanctuary.

Aries is the Saint Seiya who is most skilled in spatial abilities.

The group passed through the gate and appeared together in the main square of the Holy Land.

Above that is Athena's barrier, which even the Gold Saints cannot fly or teleport; they can only walk up step by step.

"What happened, Marin?"

Upon seeing Marin of Aquila in the plaza, Aiolia of Leo quickly went up to her and asked.

Marin was startled when she saw everyone appear:
"A message just came from the Papal Palace that the Specters assassinated Aphrodite, Deathmask, and the Pope, but were ultimately defeated by Ora."

Before his death, the Pope entrusted the papacy to Euler.

"It must have been the new Pope Euler who just sent someone to ring the bell to convene the Golden Council."

"what!"

Upon hearing Marin's words, Shaka and the other six were instantly dumbfounded.

The Specters ambushed and killed the Pope while they were away? And they even killed two Gold Saints? How is that possible?

Has the holy war started ahead of schedule?

Or perhaps the Specters have already broken free from the seal on the Five Elders Peak.

How could they possibly know that the Holy Land's defenses were most vulnerable at this time?

Suddenly, all six of them turned to look at Tong Hu and the others, having the same thought in their minds.

According to the Pope's previous statement, Saori Kido is Pandora, who tempted Dohko and Mu, so Dohko released the 108 Specters who were guarding them.

Then, by using themselves as bait, they lured the Sanctuary to send six of them to Tokyo, leaving the Sanctuary at its weakest point in history.

Finally, they dispatched powerful Specters to secretly infiltrate the Sanctuary and assassinate the Pope and two Gold Saints.

If that's the case, then everything makes sense.

“Go up there, and you’ll know what’s going on.”

Dohko naturally guessed what Shaka and the others were thinking. Knowing that explaining was useless, he simply led the way upwards.

Shaka and his six companions exchanged glances and cautiously followed.

The group passed through a series of golden constellation palaces and arrived at the Papal Palace at the top.

George, who had already sensed this, was already waiting there.

"What exactly happened, Euler? What happened?"

"Next, it's time to witness the miracle!"

George didn't reply. Instead, he removed Saga's mask and the papal robe, revealing the gleaming Gemini Gold Cloth underneath.

Gemini Saga!

Seeing that the Pope's true identity was indeed Saga, I recalled the truth that Dohko and the others had told me in Tokyo.

The hearts of the six Gold Saints began to waver, including Shaka and Shura.

"Even if the Pope is Saga, it doesn't prove that what you're saying is true."

Because he could sense Saga's sense of justice, Shaka still didn't quite believe what Dohko and the others had said before.

If Sagittarius betrayed Sanctuary and assassinated the former Pope back then, it would be understandable for Saga to impersonate the Pope to maintain stability in Sanctuary.

"Then let Saga tell you himself!"

George took out a small bottle and aimed it at Saga's body:

"Demon Sealing Wave!"

A vortex sucked the evil spirit attached to Saga directly into the bottle.

"I think you already know the truth from Seiya and the others in Tokyo, but that's not the complete truth."

During the battle with Saga, I discovered that another evil soul was hidden within him.

I suspect that Saga, thirteen years ago, was influenced by this evil spirit, which caused his personality to change drastically, leading him to ambush and kill the Pope and frame Aiolos.

After temporarily sealing the evil spirit, he reached out and lifted the stun spell from Saga's body.

“Now that I have separated and sealed away the evil spirits, Saga will return to normal. Let him tell you the truth.”

Upon hearing George's words, everyone turned their attention to Saga.

At this moment, Saga slowly opened his eyes, looked at everyone around him, and all the memories from the past few years flooded his mind at once.

A moment later, he stood up with a look of utter despair.

"I...I killed His Holiness the Pope, attempted to assassinate Athena, and caused the death of Aiolos. How could I have committed so many evil deeds over the years?"

Seeing Saga like this and hearing his mutterings, Shaka and the others immediately understood that what George said was true.

It turns out that Saori Kido really is Athena, not Pandora.

They almost attacked Athena.

"Athena, I have committed heinous crimes, and only death can atone for them!" Saga walked up to Saori Kido, knelt down with a thud, and stretched out his right hand, intending to plunge it directly into his own heart to end his life.

Upon seeing this, Kido Saori quickly stepped forward to help Saga up, a gentle expression on her face.

"Euler said it's not your fault. It's because an evil spirit controlled your body that you did so many wrong things."

The evil spirit has now been sealed away by Euler. Your task is to protect the Sanctuary and prepare for the upcoming Holy War.

The Holy War is about to begin, and one of the strongest Gold Saints is actually going to commit suicide. Isn't that like cutting off one's own arm?

George, standing to the side, had already seen through Saori Kido's heart.

As the victor of the Holy Wars throughout history, he has repeatedly defeated Hades, Poseidon, and Ares, always managing to overcome the odds with the weak.

Athena was certainly not a naive or innocent girl, but a goddess with true wisdom and leadership skills.

"I will fight for the Sanctuary with my life to atone for the unforgivable sins I have committed!"

Hearing Saori Kido's words of comfort and feeling Athena's gentle cosmos, Saga solemnly swore an oath.

"Euler, can you figure out where the evil spirit came from?"

After dealing with Saga, Saori Kido turned to look at George.

George nodded, released the sealed evil spirit, and began to interrogate its origins.

Influenced by George's mental magic, the evil spirit offered no resistance and revealed its origins in detail.

"My master is the goddess of fate, Kerr, a servant of Hades, the sister of Death and Sleep."

The moment the twins were born, I was placed inside their bodies by my owner and began to gradually erode their hearts.

Thirteen years ago, I finally completed the corruption, controlling him to ambush and kill the former Pope Shion, and even attack Athena's human form.

Upon hearing the evil spirit's account, everyone gritted their teeth in anger.

Especially Shura, the most loyal Gold Saint, almost killed Athena when she was still an infant.

They also used the infant Athena to threaten Aiolos and kill him.

His sins are no less than Saga's.

"It seems that Kell's goal is to sow discord within the Sanctuary, causing the Saints to fight each other, thus clearing the way for Hades' army to descend."

Once the evil spirit had revealed all the information it knew, George waved his hand and annihilated it.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

If Sagittarius Aiolos hadn't risked his life to save Athena from her infancy, the situation would have been far more divisive than just a matter of sowing discord within the Sanctuary.

The entire Sanctuary will fall into the hands of Saga, who is controlled by evil spirits, and Hades will be able to rule the world effortlessly.

Similarly, if George hadn't appeared and defeated and exposed Saga's conspiracy, the consequences would have been equally unimaginable.

Even if they eventually eliminate Saga, the Sanctuary's strength will likely be reduced by more than half.

Thinking of this, everyone's eyes were fixed on George, who was a great contributor to the Holy Land.

"Why do you say the Pope was killed in a sneak attack by Specters?"

Shaka looked puzzled.

Since George defeated Saga, he could have simply brought Saga to them and explained everything clearly, instead of going through all this trouble.

George, of course, wouldn't say he was after the papacy, but instead explained:
"The holy war is about to begin, and if everyone knows the truth..."

They knew that it was the Gemini Gold Saint who killed the former Pope and impersonated him to do those evil deeds.

They knew that Pisces and Cancer had betrayed Athena and aided and abetted the evildoer.

Knowing that the other Gold Saints were also deceived and had not discovered the truth, they almost killed Athena as well.

Then they will inevitably lose faith in the Holy Land.

Therefore, I think we need a white lie to keep everyone believing in the Sanctuary and to help them face the upcoming Holy War with even greater enthusiasm.

"what do you mean?"

The crowd suddenly understood George's purpose.

George nodded:

"The next step is simply to issue a notification."

To put it another way, Sagittarius Aiolos did not betray the Sanctuary back then.

It was because the Pope discovered Hades's plot and was worried about Athena's safety that he secretly sent Aiolos to protect and nurture Athena.

The ostensible claim of Aiolos's betrayal was merely a ploy to mislead Hades.

Unfortunately, Hades eventually discovered Aiolos and sent his Specters to beat him to death.

The Silver Saints were sent out ostensibly to retrieve the Sagittarius Cloth, but in reality, it was to protect Athena.

He was eventually killed by the Specters.

Finally, the six Gold Saints went to Tokyo and dealt with all the Specters who wanted to attack Athena.

Unable to kill Athena, the Specters launched a sneak attack and assassinated the Pope.

Pisces and Cancer died protecting the Pope.

In this way, both the Pope and the Gold Saints are seen as good, at least in the eyes of the rest of the Sanctuary.

The only bad ones are the Specters, and that's what stirs up everyone's emotions towards them.

"That's the only way."

Shaka was the first to nod after hearing this.

For him, winning the holy war was the most important thing, and he was willing to accept even some lies in order to achieve this goal.

Aiolia nodded in agreement, so that his brother could clear his name as a traitor.

The other Saints thought about it and finally agreed to this approach.

This way, the reputation of the Gold Saints and the entire Sanctuary was preserved, and no one was harmed; the blame was shifted entirely to the Specters.

It's not really about shifting blame; everything originated from Ker's conspiracy and Hades' army.

"Then let's do it."

In the end, Saori Kido agreed with George's idea.

At present, Saori Kido has only awakened a little bit of Athena's power, and she is still immature in many aspects. She needs to take the opinions of the Gold Saints as the main consideration.

"The reason we said the Pope would pass the throne to me at the last minute was to stabilize public opinion. As for who will succeed me as Pope, Athena will have to make the choice again."

George, with a humble expression, voluntarily relinquished the papacy.

He wasn't really willing to relinquish the papacy; he was just being polite, otherwise it would seem too deliberate.

But he has made such a great contribution, offered advice, and solved so many problems. If Athena really doesn't give him face...

Then he should consider whether to find a different partner; Poseidon is actually not bad either.

Kido Saori glanced at Dohko, who shook his head slightly and smiled:
“I still need to guard the seal of the Specters, so it is inconvenient for me to stay in the Sanctuary for a long time. I recommend that Euler continue to serve as Pope.”

Everyone already knew that the former pope had passed the position to George, so it doesn't make sense that Athena would change the choice as soon as she returned to the Sanctuary.

Besides, George has proven his strength and wisdom; we can't let him down.

None of the other Gold Saints objected.

After all, in these thirteen years, they not only failed to achieve any merit, but also repeatedly targeted Athena, so they were not qualified to be the Pope at all.

"Then I hereby declare that Euler shall continue to serve as Pope."

After thinking about it for a moment, Kido Saori felt that what Dohko said made sense, and immediately gave him the appointment.

(End of this chapter)