Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 58 ( Chapter 58 )

Minos winced as he rolled out of the bed, groaning as he felt something in his gut feel like it caught on fire. Gritting his teeth, the Specter found the strength to stand, even if just for a few seconds. He stumbled forward, grabbing at a dresser and using it to keep himself up.

No doubt about it, Hilda had managed to hit him somewhere critical. He hadn't expected it, hadn't had his Surplice. It was a miracle he was still alive. But what did that mean? What was the point of it all?

Was it some kind of divine message saying he hadn't made peace with the world yet? Or himself?

What was there really to do?

What else? Go back to Greece. Can't be a Pentrine if the five members don't stand together no matter what, right?

That voice.

"You're dead. Ozom killed you," Minos stated, looking around. He didn't expect to see Laimi. After all... after Ozom...

You're hallucinating. Everyone deserves one hallucinatory inspirational speech in their lifetime, and this is yours. Now shut up, Minos. You've seen graphic deaths before... hell, you're a JUDGE! You determine the fate of the people that die on a daily basis when you're not on leave! What's so painful about seeing two figures that you were close to end up falling short of their expectations!

"It's not just that..." Minos sighed. "I face them... and I might blow it. Lose my temper... say some things that might cause Pope Aiolos to kick us out of the Galaxian Wa-"

Bullshit. Now I want you to do some thinking... and answer me this when the time comes. What is it that you see in front of your fist?

Minos blinked... "What? In front of my-"

The door opened, Hilda standing there. "Oh, you're up." She obviously did not seem any more relaxed from their last meeting. "Your Surplice is being stored next to the Odin Robe."

"Fine then. I'll be sure to wear it next time you stab me." He walked by Hilda, the woman maintaining her cold facade.

"Call it a sadistic pleasure, but I could stand looking at you after you killed my sister because you seemed a bastion of hope. Guess I was wrong."

"We're all human," Minos said as he walked away.
_
"HELLFIRE DISPERSAL!"

Mizuki should have panicked seeing a gigantic barrage of fireballs coming at her... but the ploy just seemed so... simplistic to dodge now with Combat Awareness.

A number of black fists appeared around the miko, smashing through Isabeau's ploy, Mizuki wondering why Isabeau was bothering with an attack that was useless against her.

A single shot managed to slip by her defenses and grace her right cheek, Mizuki wincing in pain.

"Got you," Isabeau said to the surprised Mizuki, pointing at her with a grin on her face.

She... I actually felt that! Mizuki thought in shock... It didn't feel any different than-

"I ACTUALLY DID IT!" Isabeau suddenly roared, tendrils shooting down at Mizuki, Rajoshin jumping away in surprise as another torrent of flames came at her. They didn't feel any different, or at least Combat Awareness told her such. They should all just be ordinary flames that her robes would absorb the heat and damage from... "HELLFIRE TAKEOFF!"

Another well of fire shot up from the ground, Mizuki rolling forward towards Isabeau and then spinning to the left to avoid being impaled by another tentacle. Isabeau backhanded the girl, but Mizuki flipped back in the process, her legs smashing into Isabeau's gut and letting Mizuki shoot away just before being burned to a crisp.

She could... she could feel the heat...

Suddenly Isabeau began laughing... she was in complete hysterics, eventually wiping a few tears out of her eyes and raising her hand as a gigantic sword made out of flames appeared in it.

"I did it! I BESTED YOU!" She slashed down, Mizuki barely side-stepping it in time. Unfortunately, the baggy nature of her robes didn't mean she escaped unscathed.

There was the sound of a ripping, Mizuki seeing the rightmost part of her right sleeve cloven from her outfit.

Just what the hell is going on here?!? I don't understand it at all!

Isabeau ran a finger along the blade of her newly formed sword before casually pointing at Mizuki. "Boom."

The explosion rocked Mizuki, the girl surprised at it all now. She hadn't even sensed that! How was this happening?

"I figured it out..." Isabeau said as Mizuki tried to get back up. "You could only use Combat Awareness for a very short period of time... you can't sense any of your surroundings now... can you?"

Mizuki's mouth went dry.

"And so you couldn't sense what was really going on with my flames... the robe of one of Ambrosia's previous priestesses may protect you from conventional flames, but not those that burn of the heart and soul... a burning sorrow that will overwhelm all in their way." Mizuki was down on all fours, downright surprised by this turn of events.

Victory... it had seemed so close not even a minute ago!

"Game over, Rajoshin."

She looked up, seeing Isabeau standing there with that burning sword pointing straight at her. Was she doomed to die here?

No. She had promised! She had promised her grandfather to save not just a goddess, but a girl. A girl she'd do everything for. And she had promised that girl she'd come back! Come back and live their lives! She couldn't give up just because things looked dire. Minos and the others had gone up against a GODDESS... all chance of even hurting her non-existent. And what happened in the end? They won.

"Get bent, bitch," she responded. Isabeau's looked contorted to one of surprise as suddenly a multitude of hands shot up from the ground, grabbing her and dragging Straffi down into the ground.

She appeared high above, shooting down. Mizuki knew what she'd do, using her wings.

Such a weakness too.

Standing up, Mizuki grit her teeth and forced her body to work. She had to make this work. She quickly formed an ebony-black bow, the miko cursing the fact she couldn't make an edged arrow out of whatever this weird substance she used was called. Nevertheless, an arrow with a blunt end was readied and aimed at the still-distant Isabeau.

"Sailor Mars... eat your heart out."

Isabeau was in range now... but she only had one shot. "Let's do this..."

"HELLFIRE-"

"MAKAI ANKOKU SOGEKI!"

The arrow was loosed, shooting straight at the surprised Isabeau.

The sound of something being snapped like a piece of celery echoed the chamber as Isabeau screamed in pain and plummeted to the ground. The impact was painful... and then Isabeau Iginia Straffi... a woman that thought herself perfect and invincible looked back.

Her wings. An arrow with a rounded tip had snapped, bent, and completely ruined her glorious fairy wings. The goddamn bitch had broken her fairy wings! Isabeau snarled as she turned around, seeing Mizuki's arrogant smirk and then charged. "SPARKS!"

Torrents of flames, many of them taking the image of birds shot at Mizuki. Isabeau never felt stronger than ever now, the pain from both her lost loved ones and her own body, and the humiliation at the hands of Mizuki seemed to sent her power higher and higher. It was exhilarating, but then a whole host of black fists burst from the ground, grabbing the birds and promptly crushing all of them.

"You... I don't care what it takes," Mizuki said as she began walking towards Isabeau. "I don't give a damn what it takes! MARK MY WORD... I'M GOING TO SHOOT THE VERMILION BIRD DOWN!" She sprinted straight at Isabeau, punching out with a Makai Gauntlet.

Isabeau responded with a burning punch, the strikes colliding as the two of them exchanged murderous glares. Isabeau kicked out, Mizuki barely spinning around in time and then deciding for an unorthodox attack.

Hand gripping out, she grabbed hold of Isabeau's disgustingly red tresses, looping them around her neck and kicking the girl in the back. Isabeau choked loudly, but countered almost instantly, with flames kicking up on her hair and shooting across them to Mizuki's hand. The Corona let go quickly, kicking Isabeau in the head with a Makai Legging and jumping away as fast as she could, dodging a sequence of Hellfire Takeoffs. She immediately formed a cable between the two walls of the room they were fighting in and ran back as far as possible. Isabeau turned to see Mizuki off in the distance... charging at her for some reason...

"MAKAI BALLISTA!"

THE BITCH! Isabeau thought in complete shock, jumping into the air but falling rather short as she turned and looked at her ruined wings...

And then back at Mizuki... firing a another Makai Ankoku Sogeki point blank into her head. The speed of Mizuki added to the arrow's, Isabeau rocketing away and screaming at the top of her lungs from the blunt force trauma of the attack. She spun in the air, but returned the favor in full, firing a small burning bird at Mizuki that hit her chest.

Both women hit the ground at about the same time, rising to their feet yet again.

"You..." Isabeau snarled, surprised by the sight as well as everything else Mizuki had done in their last fight. "You're just some girl that came out of nowhere and doesn't know when to die! And here you are... raising your hand against your clear superior!" The burning sword reformed as Isabeau Iginia Straffi, Vermilion Bird of the South, Suzaku, charged full speed. "JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!?"

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHO YOU ARE!" Mizuki roared back. She punched straight into the sword, the dark powers ironically of a devout and holy miko overpowering the strike and smashing into Isabeau's face, likely breaking many more bones. "I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"

 

A/N: “Makai Ankoku Sogeki” translates roughly into “Demon-world Shadow Sniper”… heh… *whistles innocently*