lin brought Dismask back to the Sanctuary. Shion imdiately rushed over with the Gold Saints who had remained behind—not just because of the sudden appearance of Ares' cosmos earlier, but also because Dismask's cosmos was now extrely weak.
"My lord!"
"Mū, take Dismask to the hospital. Begin repairs on his damaged Cloth imdiately," lin ordered, handing Dismask over to him.
"Yes, my lord," Mū responded, ready to act—until Dismask interrupted him.
"Boss… I did okay this ti, right?" Dismask asked with a grin.
"Yeah, you did great…"
"Hehe, I…"
"…But there's still a lot of room for improvent."
"Ugh…"
…
…
With a stiff, awkward smile still frozen on his face, Dismask was taken away by Mū.
"My lord, was that Ares' cosmos earlier? Has Ares been resurrected?" Shion asked seriously.
"Not exactly resurrected. Only a lingering remnant of his soul attached to his God Cloth has awakened."
"That's impossible, Lord lin! Lady Athena definitely destroyed Ares back then. I can guarantee it!" Morkarba ca forward, supporting his frail body.
"No. You were all deceived. Ares must have left more than one fragnt of his soul hidden across different parts of his God Cloth, scattered and slumbering all over the world," lin replied.
"But… then what about Lady Athena's sacrifice…" Morkarba's voice trembled. The holy war had co at a terrible cost, but at least they had completely wiped out Ares and his Berserker legions. Now, to hear it had all been a lie? How could he accept that?
"Don't take it too hard, Morkarba. Gods are powerful—and they treasure their lives. Ares is a chief god. Even if he's mad, he's still cunning. After facing death so many tis, he'd surely have countless ways to survive. Look at Zeus and the others—they escaped to the outer realms. And your efforts weren't in vain. Ares may have awakened, but the Berserkers showed no signs of returning. That proves your past efforts annihilated them completely.
Without the Berserkers' Four Armies and with only a fraction of a percent of his divine soul surviving, even a god of war isn't much of a threat," lin said reassuringly.
"Yes, my lord. Your recognition is our greatest honor." Morkarba wept, moved that lin affird their sacrifices and that their fallen comrades had not died in vain.
"All right, Morkarba. Go rest now."
lin knew Morkarba's condition all too well—his ti was short. Not even lin could help him now, except by letting him rest and survive one day at a ti.
"No, Lord lin. Ares' awakening marks the prelude to another holy war. Even if my body is broken, I want to offer you what strength I have left," Morkarba pleaded.
"Morkarba…"
"My lord, I beg you!"
Seeing Morkarba's steel-strong resolve, lin couldn't bring himself to say no.
"…Very well, Morkarba. I now appoint you as the Grand Instructor of the Saints. Use your remaining life to train the next generation of Saints and candidates."
"Yes, Lord lin!" Morkarba accepted the order, summoning all his strength as he walked firmly toward the training grounds.
Though it was lin's first ti giving such a cruel and heartless order, none of the others like Shion objected. They all understood—it was Morkarba's final wish. Rather than deny him and leave regrets, lin granted it with a heavy heart.
For this old warrior who had given his entire life to the Sanctuary, they felt nothing but boundless respect.
"My lord, signs of holy war have appeared. Shall we recall Aiolos and the others?" Shion asked.
"No need. Without the Berserkers, a crippled Ares poses no threat. Calling this a holy war is too generous—it's more like a warm-up match. Still, have Aiolos pass the ssage to Hilda so she can prepare. While Ares isn't hard for to handle, he's not soone others can deal with lightly," lin ordered.
"Yes, my lord."
Shion departed, while Aiolia, Milo, Shura, and Aphrodite stayed behind.
"Tch. Can't believe Dismask got the first strike. That was such a pri target," Milo grumbled.
"Don't underestimate it, Milo. Dismask was severely injured, and even his Cloth was damaged. That proves Ares was powerful. We're still not strong enough," Aiolia warned.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Why so serious though? Dismask sure looked miserable this ti. Don't even know if he won or lost," Milo scratched his head. He'd known Aiolia a long ti, but still found it hard to deal with the guy's straight-laced nature.
"He lost, of course," lin said with a chuckle.
"Tch, how embarrassing." Milo muttered.
Bonk!
"Ow—!"
Annoyed by Milo's muttering, lin gave him a solid flick to the forehead.
"No matter what, Ares is still a chief god. Even in a weakened state, he's not soone you can take lightly. Given the result, Dismask did quite well," lin lectured.
"Yeah yeah, I got it…" Milo replied, rubbing his forehead.
"Then go train, seriously! Of everyone, only Kanon's worse than you when it cos to discipline. Still want to hunt gods? With your current skill, you'd be the one hunted. Got it?"
"Yes, my lord," Milo muttered, though he was secretly unconvinced. He'd been developing a secret technique—he believed not even a god could withstand it.
"What? Not convinced? Listen, Milo—right now, even if you risked your life with Andaris, you couldn't beat Ares' remnant. And that technique is forbidden. Without my permission, you're not to use Andaris, ever."
"…Why not?"
"Because Ares' remnant isn't worth using Andaris. Not just Ares—none of them are. I will handle the truly powerful gods myself. I won't have your life spent for victory. Understood?"
"…Yes, I understand," Milo said quietly.
"Good. Now go. Train hard. This may not be the start of a holy war, but that doesn't an one isn't coming. Get as strong as you can—I don't want to lose any of you. Even if we win, if you're not there to share that victory with , I'd be heartbroken."
"…Yes, my lord!" Milo, Aiolia, Shura, and Aphrodite all knelt on one knee in unison, deeply moved. Though dying in battle for the Sanctuary and for the love and hope of the earth was their honor, lin's care still touched them to their core.
———
On the other side of the ocean, Charles and the others had followed Steve to the headquarters of the Spear Bureau to report what had happened.
"You're sure it was Ares? The god of war?" Colonel Phillips asked grimly.
"That's what Uncle lin called him, so I think it's safe to say yes. But what exactly happened, we're not sure. I can say this though—Sebastian Shaw and Ares are definitely not the sa person," Erik replied.
The drastic change in Shaw's power and even his tone of voice later on made it obvious—he had beco soone else entirely.
"I see… Steve, please make a trip to the Sanctuary."
"Sure. I'll head back with Erik in a bit."
"Gods, huh? Terrifying. Just the aftermath of that battle leveled everything within a hundred kiloters," Howard said, flipping through photos.
The cracked earth, the completely razed mansion, the trees ripped from their roots—like sothing out of the apocalypse. In Howard's mind, only that weapon could've caused such devastation.
"Well, he did manage to injure him. That should be enough for Dismask to brag about for a while," Erik chuckled.
"Haha, you're right about that," Steve laughed.
"But he got seriously hurt too. Even his Cloth was damaged. That's the first ti I've seen a Cloth broken like that," Erik added, shaking his head.
To Erik, the Cloths were indestructible. He'd landed direct hits during sparring and never left a scratch. But this ti, just a couple of blows nearly destroyed Cancer's Gold Cloth. That showed how powerful Ares really was.
"By the way, those two prisoners—if possible, we'd like to take custody of them," Peggy said. "You know the fallout from your fight was too massive to cover up. We need sothing to present to the higher-ups."
Normally, they had enough pull to bury most incidents. But the destruction this ti was simply too huge. Officially, they still had military titles and units—they needed to produce a result.
"No. I'm taking them back to the Sanctuary," Erik refused flatly.
"But—"
"Can you guarantee their safety? I an… that they won't end up on an operating table?" Erik asked.
That question cut right to the soul. Peggy and the others had no answer.
Although Tide and Red Devil Azazel hadn't caused the destruction, their powers were considerable. If handed over to the authorities, their fate was all but sealed: shipped off to a secret research facility, either for revenge or soone's ambition.
"So, I'll take them to the Sanctuary. First, to ensure they don't escape. Second, to protect them. After all—they're one of us," Erik said.
"…Alright. We'll do it your way," Colonel Phillips decided.
"Thank you."
"But I heard you're trying to form a mutant organization. I'm very interested—care to explain in detail?" Phillips asked.
First, since most of the mutants here were affiliated with the Sanctuary, they were technically subordinates. Helping them was natural. Second, based on intel so far, Charles and Erik seed like good people. And you never knew when their help might be needed.
Charles and Erik exchanged a look, then nodded.
"Of course."
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