Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 77 ( Chapter 77 )

As Isaac and Sepal stared each other down, the Mariner slowly spoke up. "Lemme guess... you want us to fight in your temple, right?"

"Why, of course," Aphrodite bowed. "However..." he chuckled softly as they vanished and reappeared in the twelfth temple of the Gold Saints. "My reason is not just for pride or arrogance..." He reached down a picked up a magnificent red rose and breathed in the aroma. "Magnificent... its mere smell serves as a stimulant to accelerate immune response. However, if one were to breath into it for more than a mere moment..." Aphrodite threw it at Isaac, who caught the rose effortlessly. He then froze it solid and crushed it in his hands. "Well, you know how when you get excited, you get carried away?"

"The immune system turns on the body," Isaac answered. "Even without Combat Awareness, it was pretty obvious."

Aphrodite clapped before politely bowing. "You have been lucky in your life... absurdly so..."

"What?"

Aphrodite charged, nearly bowling Isaac over with a single punch as the Pisces Saint walked away. "You're a monster!" He pointed to the exit of his temple, growling in frustration. "You think I haven't heard about you, Krylov?!? The Aquarius Saint is my neighbor! He's told me everything! Including what you did to Natassia!!!"

"You mean Hyoga's mother?" Isaac coldly responded. "I don't care. He needs to get on with his life."

"THAT'S NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE!" Aphrodite moved his hand horizontally through the air, a long, green vine erupting from his arm and lashing at the Mariner. He rolled over it, but Aphrodite continued his assault, whipping it at his enemy with complete fury. "We Saints are to protect the world from the forces of evil... and I cannot stand for one that brings about unnecessary pain!"

"Unnecessary?!?" Isaac repeated. "What are you talking about? Did you ever know what Hyoga was like as a child? He's a wreck now!"

"He seems completely happy!" Aphrodite responded, finally binding Isaac with the attack, although the vine was immediately frozen and shattered. "Why should I bother interfering?"

"You... despise pain, don't you?" Isaac asked, raising his eyebrow. Aphrodite nodded.

"Pain is a terrible thing..." A red rose like before magically appeared in his hand. "My 'Dichotomy Rose' targets the nervous system first, destroying all nerve connections in a flawless manner that does not cause any pain whatsoever... my enemies can at least die peacefully." He smelled the rose again, it was so beautiful...

"You disgust me," Isaac ruthlessly stated before binding Aphrodite with a Kholiso. "Do... do you really think that killing can be justified just by giving the person in question a painless death?"

"Why not?" Aphrodite answered before breaking free. "It's almost like watching them fall asleep."

This guy... Isaac thought as he looked down at the ground, fully enraged. I thought that sadistic Cancer Saint was bad... but this guy... he's twenty times worse!!! "What kind of man are you?!? JUST HOW MUCH CAN YOU JUSTIFY WITH THAT DAMNED EXCUSE?!?" He charged, striking with a Kholodnyi Smerch, but Aphrodite, blessed with the power of the Seventh Sense, effortlessly bent out of the way, shoving his rose right in Isaac's face, commanding him to breath.

Again, the plant froze and Isaac swung at Aphrodite, hitting the right side of his face. A bit of blood flew free, and as Isaac stood there, hunched over and trying to catch his breath, Aphrodite slowly reached up, running his hand alongside his cheek. He felt a shallow but unnerving pain, and when he looked at his fingers, he saw blood. Aphrodite blinked in shock... his healing powers were not fantastic among the Gold Saints... he'd probably end up with a scar...

"Game over, pretty-boy," Isaac said as he pointed at the Saint. "Just don't start shouting out 'MY FACE! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!!!' at the top of your lungs, okay?"

Aphrodite turned to him, raised his hand up, and licked the blood up before spitting it out. "Why? I consider this... no, this is a medal... a badge that shows I, Sepal Aphrodite, value the camaraderie of my fellow Gold Saints over my own beauty. I can think of nothing better to display my character..." He waved his hand, undoing the damage quickly, and leaving a minute scar in its place. "That being said... considering your determination in battle, I see no reason why not to fight serious..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Isaac asked, not noticing the flowers behind him in the temple rising up into the air before shooting at him. The attacks smashed into his back, Krylov screaming as he was thrown into the air, Aphrodite's whip again forming itself and wrapping around his neck. The Saint punched Isaac in the back, Isaac screaming again before wondering why he felt Aphrodite's hands on his bare back.

"Absolute Rose," Aphrodite said as he continued strangling Isaac. "Whereas the Alraune Specter's Pirhanna Roses must physically hit the target's body, the mere pollen of the Absolute Rose carries the full effect of mine. Such a shame... if it were Cecil Bodu I was fighting... he would probably be baffled and near helpless... then again..." Aphrodite sighed, "He has Combat Awareness... while you don't." He threw Isaac away, spreading his hands sideways before bringing them both forward. "Razor Plant Shot!"

As Isaac hit the pillar, he slumped forward, an action that saved his life as a tremendous wave shot right above him, cutting clean through the pillar. He looked back in shock... this fight was not going well. His back was unprotected... and he had yet figured out a way to seriously counter any of Aphrodite's techniques...

Wait a second... Isaac thought with a grin, Maybe not...

A torrent of roses again shot at him, but the Mariner was prepared, forming a Freezing Coffin and freezing them all solid. He looked at Aphrodite, expecting to see a frustrated Gold Saint... instead seeing one that merely seemed amused.

"Fool," Aphrodite said as he launched another Razor Plant attack, Isaac expecting the attack to fail miserably against his block of ice. After all, to break it with conventional attacks, it would take the strength of at least four Gold Saints.

When the attack blasted straight through it, Isaac barely had time to dodge to the side, a massive gash opening up on his right arm. He looked at Aphrodite, who laughed at this most sickest of jokes.

"Im..."

"Quite possible, for two reasons..." Aphrodite said between the chuckles. "First of all, my Razor Plant attack launches the pollen of the Absolute Rose at my target. Ice, no matter how cold or strong, no obstacle. And two..." Aphrodite casually walked up to the block and punched it.

The entire structure shattered instantly, Isaac collapsing to his knees in shock.

"Your impression that it would take at least four Gold Saints to break the coffin no doubt stems from your knowledge of previous Gold Saints. This generation..." Aphrodite said as he walked up to Isaac and ruthlessly punched him in the face. "IS THE STRONGEST IN ALL OF HISTORY! Any one of the Gold Saints of this generation could successfully engage in battle against any Gold Saint of the past, save for..." Aphrodite clenched his fists, fighting back tears, "Dohko..."

Isaac groaned, trying to get back up... his Scale was nearly wrecked, but he was still alive by some miracle... and save for the wound on his right arm, he was okay. "AURORA BOREALIS!!!" Isaac punched out, launching the icy stream at Aphrodite, who showed no fear as the attack neared him... He... he's crazy! If he doesn't teleport, then he's going to-

"This is pointless..." Aphrodite sighed. "I cannot be harmed by any of your attacks no matter how hard you try. You might have shattered Algol's Silver Cloth, but to use ice against a Gold Saint is futile. Our cloths freeze at absolute zero... and you're nowhere near reaching it." He heard Isaac charge... this was getting long and very much boring.

"KHOLODNYI..." Isaac screamed as he pulled back his fist, "SMERCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The blow connected hard, Aphrodite being knocked into the air, but he suddenly teleported back to the ground, smashing his fists into Isaac's stomach, knocking him away. "What part of me knowing Hyoga don't you understand?!? I KNOW EVERY TRICK YOU HAVE!" Isaac stood in shock, his mouth half-open as Aphrodite played with another red rose in his hands. "You try so hard... but I've sparred with Hyoga... fought seriously with him...

"To compare your skill and power with his would be impossible... he's on an entirely different level. It is quite obvious the way you have lived your life is vastly inferior to his," Aphrodite stated. The Mariner was staggering away, he couldn't believe it.

Everything... everything had failed. He was out of moves... The Gold Saint was-

KEEP HOPE ALIVE! Isaac mentally screamed to himself. No matter what!

Forming another Freezing Coffin, the Kraken Mariner vowed no puny fish or fishes would beat him... This was a situation in which everyone was counting on him...

"Hopeless and redundant," Aphrodite sighed, cutting the block in half with another Razor Plant Shot, but suddenly looked around in confusion. "Where... where did he-"

"SEPAL!!!!" Isaac screamed as he rammed into the top of the coffin and slid it forward, quickly smashing right into the Pisces Saint. "I don't care how many times you've fought Hyoga and how well you've memorized his techniques... because that's not me. That's not how I think and that's not how I fight. The fact alone I was able to hit you with the Freezing Coffin proves that!"

Aphrodite snarled as he rose from the rubble... the force of that ploy had very much surprised him... a few more like that, and the fight would be even.

"Crimson Thorn," Aphrodite said as he again formed the whip and numerous plants were telekinetically raised in the air. "To strip such confidence and happiness away will not doubt cause you unbelievable pain, Kraken. Unfortunately, I have no other options. What will follow, for you, will be painful, and there will be blood."

 

A/N: Some fans consider Aphrodite to be more narcissistic than even Misty, but I disagree… especially since he never makes any lines implying he values his looks over anything else.