Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 23 ( Chapter 23 )

Gauging the distance between himself and Hilda, and then putting into account the time required to string his Surplice over to him, Minos weighed his options as he and Hilda stared each other down in the slowly collapsing building.

One, he had to beat Polaris and strip the rest of the Odin Robe off her fast. There would be no way for him to get Volsung, Bodu, Tiamet, and Krylov out of here in time, so beating her and sealing off the robe's power was the only choice.

Second, to do so, he had to make a decision: speed or defense? By removing his Surplice, his speed increased sevenfold, but he was completely defenseless if she actually managed a hit. The question was, if he put it back on, would he still be fast enough to beat Hilda? It was a complicated question, but Minos didn't know if he had the time.

Eventually deciding, Minos charged again, string flowing from his fingers and latching onto his breastplate and leggings, which promptly attached themselves on him before he sent his next kick out. Hilda jumped back and stabbed at him with Gungnir, but the Griffon Surplice's wings were not just for decoration, and Minos soared into the air. Cords of destruction rained down on Hilda, who defended herself accordingly before Minos slammed down on her and kicking her in the gut. Polaris staggered back, amazed that the force of the hit was not completely absorbed by the Odin Robe.

She was fairly certain if it hadn't been for her armor, she would be dead right now. But it still didn't help much as she coughed up blood, Gungnir clattering to the floor as she stumbled back further. Hilda soon found herself back into a corner, Minos looking at her from only four feet away.

"Now what were you saying about me not knowing something about you?" Minos asked honestly.

Hilda held her stomach as she looked up at the Specter. "Ever hear of the Norse god named 'Tyr'?"

SHIT! Minos thought as he spun around, knowing exactly what Hilda had in mind. Gungnir, on its own, shot at him. He flipped above the spear and immediately rolled to the side before he found himself staring at Polaris. She exploited the opportunity to punish the more-sluggish Minos now.

Stupid armor. Stupid, stupid armor, Minos thought as she punched at him.

"HOKUTO NO KEN!"

Hilda blew by Minos instantly, the Specter, who had previously been dominating the match, all but paralyzed as Hilda turned back to him and again grinned sadistically.

"Seven pressure points of your body... all struck within one hundred trillionth of a second. If it hadn't been for the Odin Robe, then it would've taken over five seconds for me to hit all seven. But it's curtains for you now, Minos..." She picked up Gungnir again, spinning it once playfully as he was trapped there. "Your death will be particularly gruesome... even as I speak, blood pressure at those seven specific points is reaching critical. Within five minutes, your head will explode. Anything to say about that?" Hilda asked as she walked back over to her fallen circlet and picked it up. "Anything?!?" She walked over to him and looked the immobile and completely helpless Minos straight in the eye. "Then again... Gungnir does deserve to be fed..." She pulled back for the stabbing blow, not noticing the figures charging at her from the side.

Gungnir slashed down, but a hand chopped against the length of it, just below the blade. Hilda looked in horror to see Charybdis, bloody but standing, using the power of the legendary sword Gram which she had taken from Sigurd against it.

And then Fenrir, Cecil, and Isaac all struck. The combined power of the Buster Wolf, Ankoku Moko Reppu Shiden Ken, and Kholodnyi Smerch hitting her and sending Hilda slamming into a wall. Then there was an audible crack as Gungnir's blade flew into the air in an arc, landing on the ground as the shaft fell harmlessly as well.

"Did we-" Cecil started to say.

"HOKUTO NO KEN!!!" Hilda shot back past them, hitting all four of them and leaving them paralyzed before catching her breath. She looked down, glad to see not a scratch on the Odin Robe. It lived up to its reputation. "And now all five of you are condemned to death." She slowly walked around to stare at Fenrir and Cecil's immobile bodies. "The traitors..." She then looked at Isaac and Charybdis, "The suicidal, and..." she then turned to Minos. "The first to go... your five minutes will be up in three... two... one..."

"GRIFFON MIND SHOT!" Suddenly Minos's fist slammed into Hilda's head again, the thread smashing into the circlet and knocking it off as she stood there, dumbfounded at Minos standing there, relaxed and back in the game.

"Imposs..." Hilda tried to say, but words finally failed her as she stared at Minos, strings shooting out and bringing back in the remainder of his Surplice.

"Far from it," Minos said as he looked at her and grinned. "Again, your ideas about me fail for two reasons. First, the Surplices of the three Judges are premiere armor... rivaling even that of Lord Hades in their defensive powers. True, they can be damaged, but it takes more than just one battle to cause anything noticeable. That meant the worst of the Hokuyo no Ken was negated; I could move a few muscles. And second, with a few muscles still under my control, I could use my string to pierce a few arteries and veins temporarily and relieve the pressure. I was just playing along to get an opening. You'd be dead now too, if it weren't for that stupid circlet."

"You can't..." Hilda said as she fell to her knees. Did Minos have a solution for every problem and explanations that made her feel small and insignificant?!? It was impossible! With inferior armor, strength, and speed, he was humiliating her in battle!

"Griffon..." Minos suddenly was on her again, grabbing her by the leg and throwing her up in the air. "Flap!"

He quickly turned to his charges and launched a few more strings to reverse the damage done, the four of them collapsing on the ground again.

"You okay?" Minos asked as Charybdis, the one on top, looked up and nodded. "Good. Now get out of here. In case you haven't noticed, this place is falling to pieces." It was true, much of Valhalla's roof was now rubble on the floor, and the snowstorm finally ending as Hilda slammed into the ground and pulled herself back on her feet. "And don't worry about Hilda... I think it's about time I wrap this up."

"You haven't won yet, not in the slightest," Hilda growled as she pointed at Minos.

She wasn't expecting for him to curl his arms close to his body and then quickly stretch them out, the entirety of his Surplice shooting off. "On the contrary..." he looked over at Fenrir and the others, who were still piled up a distance away from them. "Charybdis defanged you by breaking Gungnir with Gram. I can afford to go all-out now without fear of getting hit."

"I'm more than just a pretty face than can swing a spear, Specter!" Hilda shouted, readying another Hokuto no Ken.

"Yeah. Let's see where this gets you."

"YOU FOOL!" She rocketed at him, stopping as soon as she ran into a cage of Labyrinth Strings that had formed around her. She punched in vain against her prison, the strings bent with the strikes and not a single one broke or showed any sign of stress.

"If you had let one of your God Warriors, who actually has fighting experience, wear the Robe, I wouldn't have had such an easy time beating you," Minos said as he readied one last Griffon Mind Shot to finally kill her. But then the thought came to his mind seriously...

Why hadn't Hilda let one of her loyal men fight Volsung, Bodu, Tiamet, and Krylov with the Odin Robe?

Nevertheless, the cage vanished as Minos punched her in the head, walking away from her as Hilda turned and looked at him.

"What the hell was that all about? You balk at the last possible second or something?"

Minos turned to her and shook her head. "No. I'm getting to the truth." He snapped his fingers as Hilda was suddenly pulled up into the air by another multitude of strings. "Cosmic Marionette."

She suddenly screamed in pain as the strings that had initially wrapped around her body slid under the armor, piercing her skin and entering her muscles, ever single one of them. Her body suddenly began moving without her command, the pieces of the Odin Robe falling off of her. She couldn't control any part of her body, but she could still see Minos, standing there with his eyes closed in deep thought.

And then a small voice inside of her suddenly spoke up. Hilda was surprised by its weakness... even more by knowing it was her.

Help me.

"It all makes sense now..." Minos thought as the strings around Hilda vanished, save for one. It looped around her ringed finger, slipping under the piece of jewelry and then snapping it off. "I was right." As she fell, Minos himself caught Polaris, setting her on the ground, not at all surprised at the shocked look on her face.

"What's going-" Fenrir started to ask, but Minos raised his hand and the God Warriors and Mariners silenced themselves as they got back on their feet.

"It's time the true villain of this story is revealed and punished for raising her hands against the god Poseidon and attempting world domination. Not only that..." Minos said as suddenly he created a net and then a length of string that seemed to go on forever in a pile at his feet. "BUT IT'S TIME THAT FREYA POLARIS GET HER TICKET TO COCYTUS!"

His face turned to one of pure hatred as he flung the net with blinding speed in the direction of the Sleipnir house. "CASTING NET! TRACK DOWN THE ONE PERSON THAT HAS CAUSED SO MUCH TRAGEDY!"

Almost instantly he pulled back on the string, slamming the younger Polaris sister on the ground in front of him. Without waiting for an explanation he kicked her in the head, knocking the girl away from him.

"You piece of slime," Minos said, shocking everybody with the ruthlessness he sported. Freya looked up at him, and then to her sister. Before she spoke, Minos cut her off. "Downright brilliant... hiding under the radar until I started double-checking my math."

"Please-" Hilda tried to speak up but Minos looked at her.

"DAMMIT, WOMAN! THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR YOU TO STEP IN FOR YOUR YOUNGER SISTER!" To show he was not joking, he fired a bolt of string that missed Freya's head by only a centimeter. He turned back to Freya, who was back up before she tripped and fell on the ground.

"Me the piece of slime?" she repeated, looking at Minos with defiant eyes. "You idiot... those of Asgard must scrape out a living year after a year while even the often-loathed Ambrosia holds sway over a much more magnificent land. What justice is in this, great Judge of the Underworld? So what if I controlled my sister with that ring... it was for the good of Asgard!" Her hand reached down, Minos looked to see the broken-off blade of Gungnir in his hand.

She flung it at him. He returned the favor with a Griffon Mind Shot, fired from his finger, straight through her skull.

The cord was silvery on its way in, blood red on the way out. Minos then moved to grab Gungnir's edge, but somebody caught it first.

There, it lay in his bloody hand... in the hand of...

"Hagan..." Isaac said as they all looked at the Merak Beta God Warrior.