Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 33 ( Chapter 33 )

The remaining seven Hakkeshu stared in the rain as Chary threw Toji's dead body off her.

"And the great Sea Dragon claims her first victim. Anybody else?"

They all looked at her, save for Rei, and then back at the sea behind her. All they had to do was get past her and then invade Atlantis and-

"Try it," Chary answered. "I beg you to."

Ritsuko shook her head as she quickly did some thinking. "No need..." she walked forward, flexing her fingers. "I'll kill you in one strike."

"You so sure?" Char asked, dropping into a combat stance.

Ritsuko nodded "Yeah... now come at me!"

"GLADLY!"

Charybdis lunged herself at the Orochi head of Water, slashing down with Gram as Ritsuko raised her arm up to block it.

There was a clang of metal as Chary's attack failed, Ritsuko kicking her in the chest before chasing after her.

"Behold the legendary swords of the Orochi, Progress!"

Progress? Chary thought as she recovered in time to duck Ritsuko's slash. Okay... those things are about as sharp as Gram...

She then noticed the Hakkeshu were assembled around her.

"Progress... short for 'Blade of Progression'," Rei spoke quietly as she walked into Chary's point of view. "It is with Progress, in addition to the T-series Plagas, that we shall begin Instrumentality... Project Tear."

Chary smirked. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Shinji said as Chary turned to look at him from behind. "Too bad you won't be there to see it!"

They sprang at her, and Chary knew that she couldn't possibly block so many strikes at once. So obviously, she had to counter-attack and hit them all beforehand.

She slammed her hands into the ground, gathering up her limited manipulation of One World as the ripples traveled through the ground and suddenly shot the ground up, slamming into the seven. With her opening, Chary struck out with Gram, cutting Ritsuko in half before she rolled away from the surviving six.

"And another one bites the dust."
_
Isaac stopped as he at long last reached the base of the Arctic pillar. He had never expected he would need to destroy that which he was supposed to protect... but Poseidon would understand.

"Kholodnyi Smerch!"

His hand smashed into the structure, demolishing it. He then turned to head towards the North Atlantic Pillar, but he stopped.

"So... we meet again, Mariner."

Asuka was standing in front of him, already in her Corona garb.

"Our fight won't end prematurely this time, I hope," Isaac said as he dropped into a fighting stance.

"Certainly not!" Asuka said as she also prepared to fight.

Isaac charged, Asuka smirking as she spoke up. "You will punch me with your right hand."

Isaac swung immediately with his left, Asuka dodging to the side and smiling. "Well then, I hope you can understand the power of the Yasakani Magatama now."

"What the hell?!?"

Asuka grinned. "You won't be able to touch me at all in this fight, I promise you that. And now..." She raised a hand up, "Glimmering Jewel Strike!" She charged at Isaac, who retaliated with an Aurora Borealis.

Asuka grinned as she jumped over it before Isaac had even completed the gestures for it, and kicked him in the head. He slid into the rubble of his pillar, Asuka looking down at him.

Dammit... the Kraken Mariner thought as he pulled himself up. Now would be a nice time for an inspirational speech from Thetis... Not like he was really expecting one.

Instead, he needed a plan, and he again charged at Asuka Soryu Zepplin, swinging out with a roundhouse kick that she casually blocked before jumping a punch and kicking him again in the face.

"Like I said before, nothing you can do against me will work!"

Is she...

"You're thinking if I'm telepathic or not, right?" she cockily asked. He looked at her surprised. "I can sense all your dirty secrets... like this Mariner you're thinking about... she must have been close, right?"

Isaac shook his head. "Don't talk about Thetis like that!"

"Oh... that was her name, eh?" She cracked her knuckles. "This is a hopeless situation for you, believe me. You can't hit me at all, much less hurt me in the slightest. So call it quits. Go home. Watch the world end and know you tried your best already!"

"HELL NO!" Isaac shouted, clenching his fist, "What kind of goddess decides to kill a friend of hers just because of some crummy past lives? This isn't right, and as a defender of justice, I will never surrender to the likes of you! KHOLISO!"

"Sigh..." Asuka haughtily muttered, rolling away before the attack even went anywhere near her. She lunged again, ready for the finishing blow. "When I'm done with you, I'll be sure to take your other eye!" Purple flames burst up around her hands, and she shoved them out. Almost as if Asuka knew exactly where Isaac would dodge to, she hit him dead on, and suddenly he was paralyzed. "That was my Ya Sakazuki."

Isaac felt himself paralyzed, unable to move in the slightest as she let out a beastlike cry, before smiling.

"AND NOW YOU DIE! YA OTOME!"

Seven illusions of Asuka split out of her, each one slamming into Isaac with one thunderous punch before the real one tackled him, slamming her fists into his body again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again.

And again and again and again.

Kicking his bloody body away, Asuka smiled. "You couldn't even lay a finger on me!"

Lay a finger... Isaac thought, She's right... I... He thought back to Thetis. She had died, and he had lived. His passion for justice had let him win against Minotaur Gordon, Benetnash Eta Mime, and Merak Beta Hagan. But this seemed so different... he had no armor and these weighted clothes...

Of course.

Asuka was amazed as Isaac found the strength to throw his weights off, leaving a sizable crater as he rose back to his feet again.

"You're persistent... I'll give you that. If we weren't on opposite sides, I'd commend you for your desire to do good," she said, partly as an insult. "But in case you haven't noticed... even if you threw off a million tons, you still can't hit me!"

Isaac smirked, tapping his temple. "On the contrary. I'm about to do just that!"

"What?!? Impossible!"

"Well get ready for the impossible then!" Isaac shouted, pulling back for a punch. "Kholodnyi... SMERCH!"

Asuka watched the fist fly right at her, yet she smiled. Idiot... he still doesn't realize my Magatama's power... to ask his very soul 'Yes or No" questions which it must answer truthfully! And right now, I'm betting he thinks he can fake me out by not attacking with it and doing something else. Well then...

Isaac's soul! She commanded, Will you really try to punch me with the Kholodnyi Smerch?

Behind the Mariner, she saw before her a single word form over and over again.

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Well then that settles it, Asuka thought as he approached.

He punched out, he raised her guard...

WHAM!

She suddenly slumped over, a finger from Isaac's other hand having pierced her side. Her focus shattered, Asuka took a Kholodnyi Smerch right in the face, sending her flying back and landing on the ground hard.

"What... im... impossible!" she stammered out, getting to her feet. She couldn't believe it...

He had hit her!

"I realized it when you commented on being surprised when you found out Thetis's name... you knew I was connected to her and all... meaning you could probably guess it with questions like 'Are you thinking about someone?' followed by 'Was it a Mariner?' and finally 'Was it a woman?'. Of course... once I figured that out, I knew I just had to hit you with something you wouldn't expect!"

Asuka grit her teeth as he felt her face. Blood was on it, and it felt bruised. "Damn you, Isaac Krylov... you've disgraced me today! But this battle is far from over!"

"I should hope it isn't!" Isaac retaliated, "Because I'm going to enjoy showing you how fast I can move and how hard I can hit without that clothing on!" He flexed his muscles, Asuka looking in shock.

Were those images of a Sphinx and a Kraken behind him?
_
As Charybdis stared at the six remaining Hakkeshu, each of them circling her, Rei suddenly spoke up.

"Synch ratio at 37.5%."

"This just gets better and better then," Kaede said as he and Hibiki lunged down on Chary, ready to strike with Progress.

Chary sprang away, using a Kairyunagi for cover, as she raised her right hand up to block the two with Gram. Kaede's strike hit hard, Charybdis wincing as Ran's hit as well...

The skin on her arm suddenly broke, blood oozing out as the two kicked her away.

"Evolution is the means in which humanity overcomes all," Misato said as Chary looked up from the water-laden floor to see her. She stabbed down with her Progress, her arm burning on fire in spite of the rain.

Chary barely rolled away in time, panting as she felt her arm. It wasn't broken or sprained, but she couldn't put any more stress on her forearm whatsoever to keep things that way.

And that meant no more clashings of Gram against Progress. But how...

"The Hakkeshu are not designed to overwhelm its enemies with superior numbers," Shinji announced as Charybdis looked up to see him on a roof building. They had certainly gotten faster all of a sudden...

"Far from it," Kensuke added. Chary turned to see him standing in front of her, blasting her with a bolt of electricity. She screamed in pain... slamming into the building as Kensuke began charging up another. "You see... the Hakkeshu are made with the idea of survival of the fittest. With each one of us that dies, the others can tap into an additional 12.5% of their strength..."

"Meaning..."

"Meaning we are all prepared to die!" Kaede said as he, Misato, and Ran all began walking up to Kensuke from behind. "Just as you will be!"

"I'm not dead yet," Charybdis stated, but Kensuke smirked.

"You're an arrogant, yet stupid bitch, you know that?"

"What?"

"Take a look around... we're all soaked in water... and it's one HELL of a conductor. So I'm about to fry you, and there is NO way you'll get me ahead of time!"

Chary shook her head. "Wanna bet?" She raised her right hand into the air, a trademark gesture for Gram.

"You're trying that thing again? You're really going to risk it?"

Chary nodded. "Yeah. Now come at me..."

Ran and Kaede charged, but Chary then changed the gesture for Gram. Initially, her fingers had all been held out straight, but now, only her index and middle fingers were uncurled.

Kensuke prepared to electrocute her, Charybdis moved instantly.

"WORLD FINGER!"

She chopped down, combining both of her powers together as a vertical slash suddenly appeared on Kensuke's face, blood spurting out uncontrollably. She then blasted Ran and Kaede away with a Kairyunagi, looking around. "Alright then... who's next?"
_
Asuka winced as she lowered her hand. Isaac's piercing wound wasn't terrible… but it was extremely sore and sensitive. Asuka quickly asked Isaac's soul a question, but she didn't get anything back. She had to forget about fighting like that now… the pain would rob her of the necessary focus.

Instead, Asuka raised her right hand into the air. “Alright then, Mariner… I call upon the legendary jewel of the gods… the Yasakani Magatama!” And thus, the namesake object of the Corona of the Yasakani Magatama formed in her hand, faintly glowing green.

Isaac fired off another Aurora Borealis at Asuka, but she charged, lowering her hand and the attack stopped on contact with the jewel. Before Isaac could realize it, she blasted him with another Ya Sakazuki and grinned.

“Still can't do anything while you're paralyzed, Mariner,” she said as the seven illusions again appeared and charged…

Only to trip and pile up immediately. Asuka looked down in shock to see that ice had instantly coated the ground, and Isaac suddenly broke free and charged. He hit Asuka hard in the gut, but she retaliated by hitting Isaac too, knocking him to the ground thirty feet away.

A low groan of pain came from Isaac as he tried to pull himself up.

“Even though my Magatama is meant for defensive purposes, don't underestimate its blunt force, Krylov,” Asuka stated flatly, Isaac standing up after a surprisingly short period of time. He looked at her, his fists clenched. “Shall we continue this?” She smiled, walking across the ice without slipping whatsoever. “A Corona has considerable grace… your little trick won't make me slip.” Purple flames erupted again from her hands. “And this fight is already mine!”

“Yeah… this fight is almost over… but on the contrary…” Isaac announced, “I've already won.” He charged at Asuka, sliding under another Ya Sakazuki burst, grabbing onto Asuka's legs and immediately coating them in ice. She screamed in horror, unable to even counter at all as Isaac continued coating her with ice more and more, until only her head was left free.

Then suddenly the pain in her side faded… the ice cooling it as Asuka saw Isaac gathering himself up for a finisher.

Are… are you going to hit me with your left hand? Asuka asked… fearful of the answer.

No No No No No No No No No No No No No No

Are… are you going to hit me with your right hand? Asuka asked again.

No No No No No No No No No No No No No No

Suddenly Asuka gulped. She knew where this was going. Will it be… both hands?

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Will it be a pair of Kholodnyi Smirches?

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

“KHOLODNYI SMERCH!” Isaac shouted, hammering Asuka. She flew into the air before freezing solid. The ice shattered, and she fell. Isaac struck her again, smashing his fist into her Magatama.

It shattered effortlessly. And then went on to hit Asuka again. She flew into the air and was struck again by the attack, hitting the ground in the end and ice-blue.

“You're lucky to still be alive… but there's no point in continuing,” Isaac stated, walking away.
_
Alright! Fenrir thought, Finally! The South Atlantic Pillar!

He pulled back to destroy it, but suddenly it vanished. Instead, he found himself in a white-tiled chamber with mirrors for walls, not surprised at who he saw before him.

“Kirishima…”

“Volsung… ”

Corona and God Warrior stared at each other… both of them connected to a particular girl at an orphanage before charging.

This would be one for the history books.