Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 80 ( Chapter 80 )

Shura would have laughed at the Sea Dragon's claim if it weren't for the look on her face. The fact she was keeping up with him so well, in spite of lacking One World or the Seventh Sense scared him a little. Combat Awareness didn't help either... and the fact Charybdis obtained it through battling his goddess infuriated him to no end. "Tiamet..." Shura growled, clenching his fists. "Your claim holds weight, but considerable risk as well."

"Don't think I don't know what I'm talking about," Charybdis responded. She slowly breathed in and out, trying to channel the power she had presumed a Scale was required for. Being Aware of her immediate surroundings would probably help. "I'm willing to go through with his to the very end."

Reflecting on her words, Shura nodded and immediately blasted his armor off. With what he was planning, it would just get in the way too. "Very well then, we will fight without any kind of protection other than our own speed!" He charged, lightspeed movement only discerned through Combat Awareness as Chary blocked Tizone and Colada as fast as she could, the two of them glaring at each other before Shura suddenly vanished. Charybdis spun around, blocking his next attacks deftly, but then Shura sprang back, kicking up into both of Chary's armpits and then flipping her into the air.

"Jumping..." Shura growled before slashing at Charybdis, the force of Tizone emulating the World Finger. "FLASH!"

"WORLD FINGER!" Charybdis responded, the two attacks hitting and negating each other as Chary rebounded off the ceiling and shot at Shura. He teleported away, but Tiamet rolled on the ground and back to her feet, evading Shura's lightning-fast slash as best she could. A slight scrape appeared on Charybdis's arm, but she responded with a Kairyunagi and forced him to retreat again.

Keeping his distance from Charybdis, Shura walked around her, a small grin on her face. "I scratched Gram." He pointed to the cut on his foe's arm, glad with his achievement. "My next attack... will shatter it!" The two sword-empowered fighters stared at each other, on their feet as the Capricorn Saint began to slowly breath, abandoning a combat stance.

A... a trap? Charybdis thought. I shouldn't get close... Raising her arms up, she tried again to call upon One World... trying to fold the Space around her, all while keeping her eyes on Shura's unmoving form. It wasn't as if she was unable to become in tune with it, after all, Combat Awareness solved that problem instantly. The challenge was like that of driving a car without a steering wheel... you could have all the knowledge possible, just lacking the tools. Still focusing on Shura's immobile figure, Charybdis continued trying... attempting to "rewire the car", gain access to the mechanisms that the steering wheel would trigger... I... I think I got-

"In six seconds, you will die." Shura's eyes slowly opened, the Saint taking a single step forward. He raised his arm up, slowly moving it down. "Two... one..."

Blood splattered everywhere, Charybdis flying into the air, feeling every bone in her arms break. The Mariner was dumbfounded as she collapsed on the ground, Shura looking down at her with disgust.

"I changed since the first time I fought a dragon-themed opponent..." Shura spat. "The mistakes that cost me victory then served as the fuel to enable me to defeat you, Mariner..." He walked over to Charybdis, her eyes were glazed over, her mouth open as she tried to speak. "Gou Shiryu..." Shura sighed as he walked away, surprised she was still alive, "Was a very powerful Bronze Saint... When Typhon struck, I was going to join the others in spite of a recent injury. He tried to talk me out of it, which I refused." Shura spun around, pointing at Charybdis. "He challenged me to a battle, right then and there... and in my arrogance, I stated that the legendary blade Excalibur would rip his cloth to pieces!

"Obviously, that didn't happen," Shura continued. "The Dragon Cloth, although only Bronze in rank, possesses a shield with defensive powers that rival the Gold Cloths in defensive powers... Excalibur failed against it... and when I lost, I also lost the blade. IMAGINE! A LOWLY DRAGON STEALING A SWORD FROM A FAR MORE WORTHY USER!" He charged Charybdis, kicking her in the side. She slammed into a wall, trying to breathe desperately. "Your very survival at this moment infuriates me to no end."

Coughing up blood, Charybdis's next expression was lost on Shura, although he would have been wise to at least fathom a guess as to what his enemy had and was about to do.

"Shu...ra..." Charybdis spat, propping herself against a wall and looking at him through one eye, the other clenched shut. She panted hopelessly, her arms hanging lifelessly at her sides. "You... you just lost this fight."

"WHAT?!? ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU'RE PRACTICALLY DEAD!" He lunged, stabbing with Colada, although Charybdis continued to just stare at him. She didn't raise a finger, as if it was even possible for her, and Shura's left hand struck the side of her neck, blood splattering everywhere. Shura grinned at her, right before screaming out in pain and staggering back, clutching his left arm in pain, a massive cut on the forearm. "You... you bitch!!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!?"

Gritting through the pain, Charybdis pushed against the wall to force herself up, looking at her wrecked arms. No... not wrecked. Every bone in them was ruined, but that didn't matter now. "Your last attack," she slowly said, "You cleverly used an amalgamation of Gold Saint abilities... slashing down, but focusing all your strength on a single atom. That much force could destroy anything... and you also teleported during the actual strike, channeling the same destructive force to trillions and trillions of atoms... in this case," she looked down, "My arms."

Shura gulped... how had she figured that out?!? Even Combat Awareness would only inform you of the details of an attack while it was being performed!

"As I said before, Shura," Charybdis said, "You lost." She then raised her arms up into a fighting stance before charging. "FOR NOW ONE WORLD IS AGAIN WITH ME!" She slashed down, Shura ducking to the side-

Yet suddenly her arm appeared out of nowhere, striking his. There was the clear sound of Gram striking Tizone, Shura staggering away in shock. "How... how did you..."

Looking at him, Charybdis shrugged. "How else? In a life-or-death situation... one can very easily achieve difficult goals with much less challenge. Unfortunately... my powers aren't perfected just yet..." She pointed away from them. "Shaina still has my helmet. My control of One World now enables me to use its full force, sans Motion-Stop, provided at least one piece of my Scale is undamaged. Sucks for you, eh?"

Shura growled... that damned One World... enabling a pathetic Mariner to stand toe-to-toe with him... "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN!" Shura howled, charging again, slashing as fast as he could. "I DON'T CARE IF YOU CAN JUST BODY-BEND YOUR INJURIES AWAY! I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU GAINED THESE POWERS! SANCTUARY'S HONOR WILL BE MAINTAINED!" He forced Charybdis on the defensive immediately before kicking her in the stomach and again performing the Jumping Flash...

Except this time it was he who was knocked into the air.

"Forget about all of One World's wonderful abilities?" Charybdis asked as Shura descended. "WORLD AND ORBIT FINGER!" The two edged ripples shot out of him, the Gold Saint blocking the strike yet still feeling much of the force as he landed, skidding away and out of breath. Charybdis charged, taking to the offensive again, smiling. This... wasn't too bad. Of course, she was going to be in a lot of pain once she deactivated One World, and she couldn't keep this up forever. "So... tell me?"

"What?" Shura asked as he quickly deflected a would-be lethal attack.

"Tizone and Colada... where did you get them?"

Shura snorted. "I returned to Spain not long after my defeat... for meditation and reflection. I found strength and focus in the legends of the great El Cid... and through Pope Aiolos's blessings... I was able to become empowered with those legendary blades after a short period..."

Charybdis stabbed out fast, her index finger alone launching the strikes as Shura staggered back, trying to avoid the attacks as best he could, although his shirt became perforated quickly. Shura deflected it away at the last second, again attempting a Jumping Flash. Again, Charybdis knocked him into the air again, the Mariner looking up at his airborne form in surprise. "What makes you think that would work again?!?"

She fired off a Kairyunagi that Shura oddly enough took, being slammed into a pillar and then teleporting back in front of Charybdis. "You... have fought quite well." Shura smiled, seemingly relaxed and honestly impressed. "You have proven your determination... and in hindsight, you are indeed worthy of being Gram's one true wielder."

"So are you giving up?"

Shura laughed. "No... far from it. I would just like to thank you, however, for what you have let me do... find the situation to enable my power to go to the next level." He bowed to her. "I... I will fight you as if you were a rival swordsman, in a battle in which whoever hits their limit first loses. I believe you deserve such a fight. That being said..." he looked back up at Charybdis, looking her in the eye, "You now have no chance of victory."

He charged again, attempting another Jumping Flash. Chary was tempted to let the attack again blow up in his face, but then-

She bent back as fast as possible, Shura's feet scraping against her shoulders and giving her small cuts there. Chary looked at him in shock as Shura laughed. "As I said... no chance of victory!"

"You... you performed Body-Bend..."

The Saint shook his head. "No... but I can now manifest Tizone and Colada in my arms and legs at the same time... Gold Saint teleportation. Similar to One World... but usable at any time!" He charged, slashing with all four limbs as Charybdis hopelessly fell back, taking far too many hits far too fast. It was over... she couldn't find to focus amidst all this fighting to again use One World... and she had only managed to Body-Bend her arms...

"And now..." Shura sighed, "I will use it again." He moved to decapitate her, stopping inches away from it. "You don't deserve to die today... at least not here..." He turned and walked away, blood splattering everywhere as Charybdis collapsed again, every bone in her body completely atomized. She wondered how she could possible survive. "A shame too... your powers... they surpass those of Fenrir, Isaac, or Cecil. There is considerable irony in the fact that you were the only one of the group to be unable to defeat a Gold Saint."

Charybdis's body lay there, tears welling up in her eyes. She... she had lost? Making so much progress... in just one fight... and she had lost? Everyone had been counting on each other... hell, she was the first one of the group to develop Combat Awareness! And here she was... about to die in a fight where she should have been able to see every move coming and effortlessly counter it!

"Yet the greatest tragedy..." Shura sighed, "Is that your power at this exact moment, if your body was not ruined... would be exactly equal to Kanon's."

Kanon.

Charybdis's eyes opened up... she couldn't forget him... A relationship that had existed since childhood, going through friendship, immature crushes, a torturous betrayal that hurt both of them to this day, and finally a reunion.

She was Kanon's exact same height, age, shared the same weight, was born at the exact same time he was, looked absurdly similar to him...

"Shura..." she whispered, yet the Gold Saint froze as he heard her speak. "I am not dead. Do not act like I cannot win this."

The Gold Saint shook his head. "I was hoping this wasn't going to happen... but I guess I have no choice now. One more strike." Again, Shura raised his arm. "This time, I will merely decapitate you... as painless as possible."

"You won't succeed," Charybdis answered, more strength in her voice now. "In fact, if you don't put your Gold Cloth on right now... this might end up killing you."

Shura laughed. "You... kill me? What can you possibly do so close to death?!?" He lowered his hand, although Charybdis knew this fight was already over.

She sensed the attack coming at her, but it didn't matter. It was only a threat if Tizone was undamaged... and it was about to be utterly destroyed.

"Galaxian Implosion."

Suddenly, Shura felt as if he was... like in a vacuum... and then less than a second later, the incredible force of the Earth came crashing down on him from every angle, crushing him instantly. There was no blood lost... no outward sign that Shura was in any pain, save for his body being contorted out of control.

For a moment, the two fighters there stayed where they were... and then Shura collapsed... the pure, incredible power of One World having been used in yet another way more destructive than the last..

The sudden sounds of footsteps caused Charybdis to smile. Good... at this rate... both Shura and I will survive...
_
Isaac and Shaina stopped, seeing the two fallen warriors... both of them barely able to hold back their shock. "My god... thank god they're both alive..."

"Good thing too..." Shaina said as she walked over to Charybdis. "She's in bad shape... I should be able to patch her up and then Shura, at least enough that-"

"No."

Isaac and Shaina turned to Shura, who lay there, smiling no matter how painful it was for him. "I lost, fair and square. We dueled... two rivals testing how far we could reach, how far out limits were. Tiamet... will be the only one deserving to be healed today." He closed his eyes... deciding to return the favor to that fearsome woman. Distance was no problem now... so close to the void, one had no worries of over-exertion.

Groaning in pain, Charybdis slowly opened her eyes, smiling at the sight of Shaina holding her helmet. "Thanks for... keeping hold of that..." she smiled weakly, giving a thumbs-up before seeing Isaac there. "What... happened?"

Isaac pointed down at Shura's unconscious body.

"Shit..." she sighed, "I'd heal him if I had the strength..."

"He doesn't want to," Shaina responded.

"Well that's too bad!" Charybdis shouted.

"I'm not going against the request of a fellow Gold Saint," Shaina responded. Charybdis scowled at her before pointing at Isaac with a triumphant grin.

"KRAKEN, I order you to encase him in a Freezing Coffin!"

"But, Chary-"

"I HAVE A FULL NAME, BOY!" she shouted, almost humorously. "Now follow my orders, dammit!"

Sighing in defeat, Isaac did so, the Gold Saint being trapped in the giant block of ice. "I made it a little weaker. He's in suspended animation, but his body still will slowly recover. Once he's ready, he'll break out..."

"Good job," Charybdis smiled. "Now we've got one last set of fights before getting the Kamui out of Sanctuary's dirty hands-"

"Hi there," Shaina said, irritated. Charybdis waved to her before continuing.

"We gotta make sure we win these last five fights!"