Saint Seiya: The Hades Chapter

It has been 243 years since the previous Holy War between Athena and Hades, God of the Underworld. On a tower that Roshi has been observing, the seal Athena placed ages ago has lost its effect. The spirits of the 108 Specters, Hades' soldiers, are now free. At the Sanctuary, Nachi, Ichi and Shaina notice that graves from the Saints' graveryard have been disturbed, with the bodies coming out from the inside. At the House of Aries, a shadowy figure approaches Mu, who seems familiar to him. He orders Mu to bring him Athena's head in 12 hours. When he refuses, two more figures appear. Two Gold Saints whose lives were lost in the Battle of the 12 Houses, Cancer Deathmask and Pisces Aphrodite. Since they sold their souls to Hades, he offered them new lives, bodies, and Surplices, armors from the Underworld, resembling their Gold Cloths.

The shadowy figure deduce that Mu teleported Seiya instead of destroying him. Mu blocks Deathmask and Aphrodite's paths once more and defeats them with Starlight Extinction. At Lushan's Waterfalls, Roshi tells Shunrei he is leaving and might never come back, telling her to not let Shiryu leave her side and wishing Seiya and the others would live peacefully as normal teenagers after fighting for so long. As Roshi leaves, three shadowy figures approach Shunrei. Deathmask and Aphrodite have been vanquished, but three more figures approach Mu. Shaina orders Nachi and Ichi to set fire to the remaining graves, while Jabu discovers that three more Gold Saints were revived. At Lushan, the figures ask Shunrei for the whereabouts of Shiryu and Roshi, but Shiryu, still blind, comes to her rescue.

At Hades' castle, Wyvern Rhadamanthys, one of the three judges of the Underworld, begs Pandora, a beautiful girl and Hades' representative, to give him permission to go to the Sanctuary, but she refuses, and says the revived Gold Saints will handle the mission of killing Athena. Mu heads for the House of Taurus to find Aldebaran. Shun awakens after he keeps having dreams of a girl who resembles Pandora. Sensing something is wrong, he heads towards the Sanctuary. Tatsumi, under Saori's orders, tries to keep Shun from leaving, but to no avail. Mu finds Aldebaran, but the Taurus Saint has died, and only his Gold Cloth and a small trace of his Cosmos remain. The one responsible emerges from the shadows, a Specter, Deep Niobe, who was sent by Rhadamanthys. Deathmask and Aphrodite invade Hades' Castle, hoping to see the god, but Rhadamanthys sends them to the Land of Death. Rhadamanthys appears before them and tosses them into Yomutsu Hirasaka. Niobe uses his Deep Fragrance, which killed Aldebaran, against Mu, but the Crystal Wall blocked it. Mu claims that Niobe has already died, due to Aldebaran's Great horn, only it was delayed. As Mu leaves, Niobe's body is crushed. Aldebaran's Cosmos was able to save Mu, and he claims his death was not in vain. Shun heads for a ship that will take him to Greece, but is attacked by Canis Major Sirius, Heracles Alghetti, and Musca Dio, who have revived. Shun, with his damaged Andromeda Cloth, kills all three Silver Saints with his Nebula Chain. Mu heads for the House of Gemini, but is surprised to sense two powerful Cosmos coming from it. Saga tells Camus and Shura to keep going, while he fights the new guardian of the House.

Shiryu, Hyoga and Shun are about to jump into the hole leading to the Underworld, but Dohko stops them, warning them that only Specters will be able to reach that world alive. He also tells them that they must reach Arayashiki, known as the Eighth Sense. Shaka and Athena had reached this sense by being as close to death as possible, to reach the Underworld alive. Dohko and the Bronze Saints, thanks to their previous battles, awaken the Eighth Sense, and land in the Underworld. Seiya has made it as well, reaching the Eighth Sense beforehand and encounters Shun. Now they must find Saori and give her Cloth to her. Seiya and Shun reach the Acheron River, and see dead people who lived their lives in apathy and aren't allowed to cross the river. A boat comes with a Specter, Acheron Charon, who guides dead people across the river. He begins to fight the Saints, but offers them a ride in exchange for money. Shun offers Charon a golden pendant, something he has had since he was a baby. Even though Charon says it isn't enough, he gives them a ride. At the halfway point, Charon knocks Seiya off the boat where he is being dragged to the bottom by dead people who tried to swim across. Shun saves Seiya and he attacks, breaking through Charon's Rolling Oar defense. The Specter falls into the water, asking for help since only he knows the way to the other side. Shun helps him, but Charon attacks Seiya with Eddying Current Crusher. He then attacks Shun, but looks at his pure eyes, being aware of his pure heart and stops the attack, thinking he might end up in Elysium, a paradise for people chosen by the Gods. Thankful to Shun, Charon returns him his pendant and agrees to take him and Seiya to the other side, on the condition they settle the score. Charon explains the contents of the Underworld, consisting of 8 prisons, 3 valleys, 10 pits, and 4 spheres. Seiya and Charon continue their battle. Since Seiya has seen both of Charon's techniques, he is victorious, killing the Specter with his Meteor of Pegasus. Hyoga, Shiryu, Dohko and Kanon have also made it to the Underworld, but are in different parts of it. Seiya and Shun reach the First Prison, the Palace of Justice.

Seiya and Shun reach the First Prison and encounter Markino, a skeleton that leads them to Balrog Rene, who judges the dead and sends them to their appropriate hell. Markino is then killed by Rene, using his Fire Whip, because of him not being quiet. Rene proceeds by showing Seiya his past crimes during his life with Reincarnation. Seiya is shown childhood memories, and the opponents he has defeated. He then tries to explain his actions, but Rene ignores him and sends him to the First Valley of the Sixth Prison, where people who have use violence against others in their lives boil in a lake of boiling blood. Shun rescues him, however Rene notices something strange about Shun. Shun tries to justify the actions of humanity, but is sliced to pieces with the Fire Whip. Rene is then scolded by Hades for cutting his body. In panic, he searches for the body, but Rhadamanthys appears, pointing out it was an illusion. Seiya and Shun are fine, wondering what happened. Rene discovers who made the illusion, Gemini Kanon, who wanted Rene to lead him to Hades. Kanon then destroys Rene with no difficulty and confronts Rhadamanthys about why he defeated Aiolia, Mu and Milo so easily, because of a barrier at Hades' castle that lowered their strength to 1/10. Seiya and Shun arrive, but Kanon attacks them, reminding Shun to be stop being sentimental, in order to save the innocent. He then tells them to go find Athena. Rhadamanthys attacks Kanon, but he counters with the Imperial Satanic Illusion to control him and kill Hades. He is interrupted by Specters who tell Rhadamanthys that Pandora wants to see him. As the Judge leaves, Kanon destroys the lower Specters with Galaxian Explosion.

Seiya and Shun reach the Second Prison and encounter Cerberus, the three-headed Watchdog of Hell. Sphinx Pharaoh, guardian of the Second Prison, feeds dead people who were greedy, to Cerberus. The beast tries to eat Seiya, but is defeated by both him and Shun. Suddenly, Lyra Orphée, a legendary Silver Saint just as powerful as the Gold Saints, appears. Pharaoh says that Orphée came to the Underworld willingly and serves Hades. Pharaoh uses Balance of Curse with his harp, about to tear out Seiya's heart. But Orphée plays his lyre and attacks with Stringer Nocturne, defeating the Bronze Saints. He then goes to a garden, visiting his beloved Eurydice, confined to a rock. Seiya and Shun, who survived the attack, arrive in the same garden and encounter Eurydice. She asks them to please help Orphée. She explains that back on Earth, Orphée and Eurydice lived as a couple, in love with each other. However, she was killed when she was bitten by a poisonous snake. Heartbroken, Orphée went to the Underworld, pleading with Hades to revive Eurydice's soul back to Earth, playing his lyre. Pandora lets him know that his request was granted, but on one condition: both must not look back, not even once, until they reached the surface. Wanting to keep Orphée in the Underworld to play his lyre for Hades, Pandora has Pharaoh trick Orphée with a mirror, reflecting a light resembling the sun's light. Orphée turned around, but Eurydice's lower body was confined to a rock. He decided to stay with her since then. Eurydice asks Seiya and Shun to take him back to Earth. Orphée ignores Seiya's request for help to defeat Hades, but Pharaoh appears, taking the Athena Cloth. After learning that Pharaoh reveals he is the reason Eurydice is bound to remain in the Underworld, Orphée prepares to fight Pharaoh.

Aiacos recovers and attacks Ikki with Galactica Illusion. At Giudecca, Hades and Pandora sense Ikki's powerful Cosmos. He asks Pandora to bring him before his throne. Ikki gets up and uses the Phoenix Illusion, with Aiacos seeing his own death in his head. Aiacos is then finally killed by Ikki's Flying Phoenix. Shortly after his victory and before he is able to challenge the two remaining Judges, Ikki is surrounded by a strange light and disappears. Pandora teleports Ikki to Giudecca. He is surprised to see his brother as Hades. Pandora reminds Ikki of when they first met, when he almost lost his life protecting his baby brother. Pandora, holding what looked like the Universe in a mantle, tried approaching the baby Shun, but a powerful Cosmo kept her at bay. Not willing to risk Shun's body, Pandora gives Shun the pendant seen earlier, and takes her leave. In the present, Ikki finally remembers everything. The pendant, which reads "Yours Ever", was from Hades, who chose Shun to be his vessel. Ikki destroys the pendant and knocks Pandora out of the way. He goes to his brother and tries to snap him out of it. Hades pushes Ikki back and reveals his plan, the Grand Eclipse. His plan is to align all the planets in the Solar System, blocking the Sun from the Earth. This eternal eclipse will cause Earth to undergo a new Ice Age, becoming a world of death. Ikki attacks Hades numerous times with a strengthened Cosmo which destroys most of the throne room, but his attacks are easily returned by the God. Suddenly, Hades begins strangling himself. Shun's spirit appears behind Hades and tells Ikki to destroy Hades once and for all.

Ikki realizes that Shun allowed Hades to enter his body, to have the chance and sacrifice himself, like his constellation of Andromeda, to end the battle. Pandora tries to stop Ikki, but the Nebula Chain surround Ikki to protect him, giving him the opportunity to strike. Shun tells his brother not to worry, and that he is happy giving up his life if it means saving others. All the Saints in the Underworld sense Ikki's Cosmo. Ikki pierces Shun's chest and extracts Hades' soul from his body, destroying it. Suddenly, Hades' real soul emerges from Shun's chest, but it was all a dream in Seiya's head. In reality, Ikki had actually stopped his attack, injuring his fist in the process. Then Hades' hair turns from red to black, meaning he now has complete control over Shun's body. He then defeats Ikki with no effort. Pandora orders Harpy Valentine to bury Ikki at Cocytos and leaves Hades to be alone. Just then, Shaka appears, ready to kill Hades. Valentine buries Ikki in Cocytos, filled with Saints who lost their lives in the previous Holy Wars. Seiya discovers Aiolia, Mu and Milo are also buried here. He then asks Valentine to release him, informing him that he has Athena's Cloth. Valentine releases Seiya and is able to dodge his attacks. Seiya is knocked down and gets up again, but Valentine strikes back with his "Greed the Life" technique. Shaka prepares to strike, but Saori arrives.

Seiya still struggles against Valentine, who attacks him again. The Specter tries to retrieve Athena's Cloth, but Seiya keeps him from taking it. Athena's Cosmo awaken Seiya and he stands to fight again. Meanwhile, Saori begs on her knees and asks Hades to stop the Grand Eclipse, but he refuses, yet Saori is willing to give up her life. Hades gives Shaka Pandora's trident, and orders him to kill Athena. But Shaka throws it at Hades, although Saori stops the trident. Hades points the trident at Shaka, but she stands in his way. Seiya and Valentine charge at each other, Seiya killing the Specter with his Meteors of Pegasus. Saori stops the trident, and bleeds. She burns her Cosmos and as the blood touches Hades and hurts him, his hair color is changing back to red and then to green. Hades' soul escapes Shun's body and charges at her. Saori strikes him with the trident, stained with her blood. However, Hades attacks her and both gods disappear. Shiryu and Hyoga kill multiple Specters on their way to the Eighth Prison and sense Athena's Cosmos disappearing. Pandora, Kanon, Rhadamanthys, Minos, Dohko and Seiya also sense Hades and Athena's Cosmos disappearing.

The Bronze Saints head to the Elysium Fields, but Shiryu stays behind, sensing the presence of Specters. Three of them appear, Alraune Queen, Minotauros Gordon and Basilisk Sylphid. Shiryu fights them all at once, unleashing the force of Excalibur. Seiya, Hyoga and Shun reach the other side of the Wailing Wall, but find an inter-dimensional path of time and space. At the end of the path is a shining light, leading to the Elysium Fields. Minos, having survived the blast, catches up to them, with Hyoga staying behind to fight him. Hyoga makes an ice barrier while Seiya and Shun go forward. Minos breaks the barrier and uses Cosmic Marionation on Hyoga. Seiya is being dragged by the pressure of time and space, but then his Cloth grows wings, due to Athena's blood. He rescues Shun and both head to the Elysium Fields. Hyoga freezes the threads of the Marionation, immobilizing Minos and attacks with Aurora Execution. Minos barely survives and traps Hyoga with a remaining thread, but he is suddenly destroyed due to the dimensional pressure, proving only gods can walk the path. Hyoga and the others were spared because of their Cloths bathed in Athena's blood. Shiryu holds his own against the three Specters, taking their attacks head on and still fighting. He challenges all three to attack him at once and kill them with his master's technique, One Hundred Dragons. With the pressure of the techniques, Shiryu flies all the way to the inter-dimensional path, where Hyoga is waiting for him. Sylphid somehow survived and goes after Shiryu but he is also destroyed by the pressure. With his Cygnus wings, Hyoga takes Shiryu to the Elysium Fields. Meanwhile, Seiya has successfully made it and wakes up in a utopian paradise.

Ikki is about to follow his friends, but Pandora warns him that if he enters the path, he will be destroyed, since his Cloth is not bathed in Athena's blood. The six final Specters follow them. Pandora explains that 13 years ago, she lived a peaceful life in Heinstein Castle, before it became Hades' Castle. She lived with her parents, servants and many pets. One day, she found an old shed, locked for 200 years. Curious, she went inside, and found a box with Athena's seal. She opened it, releasing two deities, Thanatos and Hypnos, gods of Death and Sleep. They tell Pandora that her mother will give birth to Hades' soul and order her to take care of it, giving her the power to control the Specters and promising her eternal life. When Hades' reincarnation arrived, everyone except Pandora died in the castle. That was also the reason she went after Shun long ago. After meeting Ikki and the Saints, she realized what Hades promised was a lie and decides to help him, by giving him a necklace that will let him travel to the Elysium Fields safely. Pandora then mysteriously dies, for betraying Hades, but not before warning Ikki of Thanatos and Hypnos, gods and Hades' most loyal servants. The six Specters appear and they are killed by Ikki. With their deaths, all 108 Specters have died. Ikki places the rosary on Pandora's body, promising to avenge her. With his Phoenix wings, Ikki heads to the Elysium Fields. Nymphs warn Thanatos of a "demon" who entered the fields. The god investigates, meeting Seiya, who tells him Saori died. Hypnos, Thanatos' twin brother, appears, and reveals that Thanatos killed Pandora for helping Ikki. However, Hypnos has not killed Saori. Saori is in an urn, located outside a tower where Hades' body is located. Hypnos put her in a deep sleep, and the urn absorbs the blood of its victim. When the urn turns completely red, Saori will die. Seiya rushes to her rescue and Thanatos tries to stop him, but Seiya dodges the attack and counters while running towards Saori. Thanatos finally hits Seiya, destroying his wings. Meanwhile, Shaina, reunited with Marin, Jabu, Ichi, Ban, Geki, Nachi and Kiki, asks Marin where she was. Kiki then brings the mysterious girl from before. Marin reveals the girl's identity: Seiya's long-lost sister, Seika. Seiya hears his sister's voice, and gets up again, attacking Thanatos with his Comet Punch.

Shaina tries talking to Seika, but she has amnesia. She lived all this time in a small village near the Sanctuary. Six years ago, when Seiya came to the Sanctuary, Seika also traveled to Greece, hoping to find her brother, but fell off a cliff, and almost died. An elderly villager found her and rescued her, but she lost her memories since then. Marin knows how Seika felt, because she was also searching for her younger brother. Thanatos recovers from Seiya's attack, but notices blood stains on himself. Angered that he was wounded by a human, he mercilessly attacks Seiya, but then decides to kill Seika from afar as revenge. Shaina and everyone else notice Seika is in pain. Thanatos shows him an manifested image, showing Seiya his sister Seika, telling him he is killing her. Kiki senses a powerful Cosmos about to attack Seika, and he stands in the way of the blast. Kiki senses another blast, and Marin takes the blow this time. Thanatos speaks to them, saying he will kill Seika. A third blast comes, and Shaina takes the hit. Jabu and everyone else burn their Cosmos, surrounding Seika, protecting her, telling Seiya to keep fighting, for they will keep his sister safe. They form a barrier, but Thanatos' blast breaks the barrier, injuring them. Seiya tries using the Pegasus Rolling Crash, but it is useless against the evil god. Shun comes to Seiya's rescue, but Thanatos attacks him as well, destroying the Rolling Defense. Shiryu and Hyoga arrive, but their attacks are useless. Ikki finally arrives. Although he manages to break Thanatos' helmet, Ikki is also no match for Thanatos and suffers his Terrible Providence. However, Thanatos feels a strong vibration, coming from the 12 Gold Cloths. The five Bronze Saints get up again, but the Terrible Providence destroys all five of the Bronze Cloths. Suddenly, five Gold Cloths travel through the dimensions, arriving at the Elysium Fields. Now, Sagittarius Seiya, Libra Shiryu, Aquarius Hyoga, Virgo Shun and Leo Ikki prepare to fight Thanatos.