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.

The clash of the forbidden techniques are felt throughout the entire Sanctuary and are evenly matched, increasing its destructive force. Suddenly, Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga and Shun burn their Cosmos to push back the techniques towards Saga and his group. Then they surround the exclamtions in order to stop them. The four Bronze Saints awaken their Seventh Sense, their Cloths turn golden, and they unleash their techniques, forcing the exclamations into the sky where it explodes. However, Seiya and his friends are caught in the disaster as the House of Virgo crumbles from the impact. At her Temple, Saori has Kanon retrieve something from the Pope's chambers, left by Saga 13 years ago. Mu, Aiolia and Milo emerge from the rubble, wondering where the Bronze Saints are. Saga, Camus and Shura also emerge from the wreckage. Saori has the Gold Saints bring Saga and his group to her Temple. Seiya and his friends awaken, having survived the commotion. They head for Athena's Temple as well. Once Saga and the others arrive, Kanon hands him a chest, with a golden dagger inside. Thirteen years ago, Saga, disguised as the Pope, tried to kill Athena with the same dagger as a baby. Saori tells Saga to kill her with the dagger, to free them from their suffering. Seiya and his friends arrive, but are too late as Saori kills herself. Back at Hades' Castle, Wyvern Rhadamanthys is informed about Athena's death, and is punished by Pandora for sending Specters to their deaths. Seiya and his friends mourn Saori's death, but Shion arrives, saying the real battle will soon begin. The four Saints attack at the same time, but Shion tosses them aside and is about to explain the whole truth, and the reason behind Athena and Shaka's deaths.

Shion reveals that the Gold and Silver Saints revived by Hades never betrayed Athena and would never hurt her. He also shows the Bronze Saints the reason why they went through all this trouble. He uses Saori's blood and it flies towards Athena's statue. It begins to glow and then shrinks down to a tiny version of itself. Shion explains that the statue is really the Athena Cloth, which needs her blood to awaken. Shion was the only one who knew the secret. If Saori plans to win against Hades, she needed her Cloth. In the Underworld, Hades came to Shion and the other Saints, revived them and offered them a deal: if they killed Athena in 12 hours, they would be granted eternal life. They pretended to accept the deal, to enter the Sanctuary and get her blood for her Cloth, so Athena would defeat Hades. Shion gives the Bronze Saints the following order: go to Hades' castle and destroy him. At Hades' Castle, Saga and his group take Saori's body covered in a sheet to Pandora, but the sheet is revealed to be empty, and they are there to find Hades and kill him. Shion's 12 hours are almost up and will return to the Underworld soon. He gives the Saints Athena's blood to revive their heavily damaged Cloths. Now, with their Final Bronze Cloths, Shion entrusts the Seiya and his friends with Athena's Cloth to make sure Saori receives it. Aiolia, Mu and Milo arrive at Hades' Castle and face Rhadamanthys, but for some reason, they can't defeat him, and the Specter picks them apart, with no effort at all. Shura is about to cut Pandora, Camus freezes a Specter, Frog Zeros, and Saga asks Pandora to take them to Hades. But they are weakened, because their 12 hours are almost up. Pandora demands to know where Athena is, and Saga tells her that she is in the Underworld. Pandora realizes that Saori plans to fight Hades. Rhadamanthys is about to toss Aiolia into the Underworld, but Shun's chain rescues him. The four Bronze Saints have finally arrived.

Aiolia, Mu and Milo sacrifice themselves, stalling Rhadamanthys, allowing the Bronze Saints to find the room where Saga and his group is. The Gold Saints are tossed into the Underworld, presumably losing their lives. Saga and the others' 12 hours are up and the Bronze Saints mourns their deaths after receiving some timely advice before disappearing. Hyoga kills Zeros, because he was stomping Camus, with the Aurora Execution. Just as they spot Pandora, who is going to the Underworld, and try to go after her, Rhadamanthys appears and gains the upper hand on the Bronze Saints. Seiya gets up again, struggling to attack Rhadamanthys. As the Specter is about to toss Seiya down to the Underworld, Shiryu, Hyoga and Shun attack at the same time, but he knocks them down again with his Greatest Caution technique. The Bronze Saints struggle to get up, remembering the words of the Gold Saints and fight back. Rhadamanthys attacks again and Seiya faces him once more. With his Comet Punch, Seiya is able to damage his Surplice. Seiya's Cloth turns gold and he and Rhadamanthys fall down into the Underworld. As the sunrise gets closer, Dohko and Shion contemplate the fact that the Bronze Saints are fighting again. Shaka's message was actually a way to reach the Underworld, alive, which is where he and Saori are right now. Shion, confident that the Bronze Saints will awaken the Eighth Sense, based on the miracles they have achieved in the past, says goodbye to his old friend Dohko and disappears. He and Kanon head towards Hades' Castle. Shiryu, Hyoga and Shun burn their Cosmos, hoping to reach the Underworld alive. Seiya heads to the Underworld, hoping to reach Saori.