Formidable Enemy! The Four Heavenly Knights of Darkness Manifest

is the ninth episode of the Saint Seiya anime. It was released on December 13, 1986 on TV Asahi.

Summary
Shun struggles to cope with what has become of his brother. He visits the tree they trained under as children. He is interrupted by Black Swan, one of the top four Black Saints.

Plot
A press conference is held at the Graude Foundation. Tatsumi and Saori announce the limbs of the Gold Cloth have been recovered, but five more pieces remain in the Black Saint’s custody. The Galaxian war is on hold until the cloth is complete. Seiya calls in the K9 Hayate to sniff the Gold Cloth for Ikki’s scent. Hayate is hard for Seiya to control, chasing after the dog in search for Ikki.

Under the tree Shun and Ikki used to train as kids, he notices a mark of the Cygnus. The air becomes frigid and a laugh echoes from above. The cold renders Nebula Chain useless. Cygnus of the Black Saints uses Diamond Dust on Shun, and before he finishes Shun off, Hyoga freezes his arm.

It is a battle between the Cygnus’. Whose frost is better. Seiya arrives with Hayate, but is told to stay back by Hyoga. The other top three black saints interrupt the battle between Hyoga and Black Swan. They are all, including the Dragon Cloth are essentially clones of the Bronze Saints. The Black Saints withdraw with Black Swan on Ikki’s orders.

Saori enters the planetarium her Grandfather built when she was a child, looking for solace in what to do next About Ikki. A visage of her Grandfather appears before her, they discuss the true purpose of the tournament. It is a lure for a true evil that the Saints must defeat. He advises her to be compassionate with the Saints, same as Athena and her 12 Saints. His visage disappears before she could ask anything else.

Ikki distributes the parts of the Gold Cloth amongst the top four Black Saints. He keeps the helmet for himself, trusting the top four to protect the parts given. They set out to end the Bronze Saints.

Techniques

 * Black Blizzard