Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 85 ( Chapter 85 )

Kanon was confined to bed almost immediately afterwards, the stress his body had taken had been absurdly severe, although he couldn't help but enjoy the fruits of his labors. The Sea Dragon retired to bed early as well, and at their hotel, nearly all was quite save for one solitary figure, lying on the rooftops and looking up at the sky.

"You know, your toughest fight yet is tomorrow, you should really get some sleep."

Cecil turned around, but he already knew who had said it. "Shaina."

She smirked before lying down next to Cecil. "You know... you have an effect on people. Volsung is, well, in a few more years, he probably could start trading notes with Deathmask. Charybdis is pretty intense too, and Krylov sometimes is too detached for his own good. I mean, Hyoga's actions are more or less causing a split in Sanctuary thanks to him and his tough love. But in spite of everything that's happened to you, you keep that optimistic viewpoint and never have to force a smile."

"Thanks... feel any better since-?"

"Plenty," the Gold Saint answered before standing up and looking at Cecil. "You do good out there tomorrow, and don't let what Aldebaran says get to you, okay?"

"Sure thing."
_
"This is going to be the first time we actually see the Taurus Saint," Fenrir said before turning to Charybdis and Minos in the seats behind him. "What about you... either of you two hear about him?"

"He's huge," Charybdis tersely responded. "He stands at well over 200 centimeters... he's going to dwarf Cecil."

"We met him during one of the matches," Radamanthys added. Fenrir turned to the Specter sitting beside him before he continued. "Absurdly tall fits right into his status, alright."

"I... also heard something about a tall Gold Saint... I assume its Aldebaran now," Isaac spoke up. "A man who stands above the others, both in height and morality... Yet at the same time, he also believes one can not escape their origin... this could be bad for someone like Cecil."

"He'll be fine," Minos answered with a smile. "He faced the Underworld and Ambrosia without losing himself... one Gold Saint will only reinforce his resolve."

The audience, or at least a few members of it, applauded as the Shadow God Warrior strode into the arena. The other members of the Pentrine were surprised to see Shura, Aphrodite, and Shaina in their ranks, and while Milo wasn't that far away from them.

Then the doors opened and his opponent emerged... a giant of a man, the imposingly tall Aldebaran Rodriguez. The Gold Cloth of the Taurus was already on him, shining against Cecil's white God Robe as he approached. He looked down at the smaller man and grinned. "I'm sure you know what's going to come next, right?" Cecil nodded. "Good..."

They vanished, off to battle in the Taurus Temple while the others had no option but to wait and hope.
_
Cecil blinked, surprised he had been transported in the air, but landed easily as he spotted Aldebaran standing in front of him. The Gold Saint's arms were folded across his chest and he wasn't making aggressive actions, yet Rodriguez made no further maneuvers to attack.

"You're probably wondering what I'm doing, right?" the Brazilian asked, surprised as Cecil shook his head.

"It's a defensive stance... that's obvious," Cecil responded. He charged, pulling back for a punch. I hate having to do this... but I need to actually spring the trap once to figure out how it works. "Ankoku Moko-"

Aldebaran suddenly sprung into action, spreading his hands out as an intense blast of energy sent Cecil flying away, screaming in pain as the force of the blow shattered his Robe's headpiece. "That," the Saint said as Cecil pulled himself up, "was the most basic technique in my arsenal... and I see that it alone has put you on the ropes..." He snapped his fingers, tiles from his temple suddenly rising up into the air and launching themselves at Bodu. "You're not even worthy of me actually raising a hand against you."

A sudden blast of wind later, however, all the tiles crumbled into dust, Cecil staring at Aldebaran again. "Don't underestimate me," Cecil answered, beginning to trace the image of Ursa Major again. My Black Tempest thankfully has corrosive properties... although at its current state, it won't work against a Gold Cloth. With any luck, however, with so many attacks coming at him, Aldebaran will be forced to abandon this strategy of his... He charged, fist pulled back again. "SHIIIIIIIIHHH-NEEEEEEEEEEEHHHH!!!"

The first blow of his Moko Ranbu suddenly passed through Aldebaran's body, the Saint having teleported a few feet away. Using Combat Awareness to locate him again, Cecil charged and feinted another punch. Aldebaran again teleported to escape, but Cecil changed gears and punched him where the Gold Saint was going to be, connecting with a blow to the gut and knocking him back. However, at the impact, Aldebaran stretched his arms again, blasting Cecil away. Flipping around, Cecil charged again, using a Shadow Viking Tiger Claw to blast by Aldebaran as fast as possible. "Got you."

"Oh really?"

Cecil turned and was about to voice his certainty on the manner before he suddenly screamed out in pain, golden energy coursing out of his body and blowing a number of small holes through his Robe as he collapsed on the ground before rising up.

"You were born into a terrible situation," Aldebaran calmly said as he turned around, looking at the fallen God Warrior. "A bastard child, abandoned and condemned to die in the wilderness. Yet you survived, and I applaud you on that. But the fact remains: you are and forever will be a bastard child. No matter how many people you win over, society will never accept you. Likewise, no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to defeat me."

"That's pretty optimistic," Cecil groaned before pointing at Aldebaran. "But I'm going to break that stance of yours and take you down!" He charged again, finally armed with a plan. Aldebaran moved to spread his arms again, but suddenly yelped in pain as Cecil punched into them before kicking into Rodriguez's shins. "You keep your arms there to build up a great deal of power," Cecil announced before punching the Gold Saint in the head, sending him careening back. "But to release that energy, you need to move them!"

Aldebaran teleported behind him to unleash the attack again, but Cecil was one step ahead of him, flipping in the air behind him, clearing the pointed horns on the Saint's head, then pounding his leg into the back of Aldebaran's neck. The big man stumbled forward, but then spun around and slammed his fist into the side of Cecil's body, sending him careening into a wall.

Catching his breath, Aldebaran let out a short laugh of amusement as Cecil emerged from the smoke in his damaged Robe. "Bodu... you got an iron-clad will. But what makes you keep going like this? How do you think you could ever explain yourself to the world... not only as a bastard, but the killer of your own brother?"

"Hope, really," he responded before charging again, glad to see Aldebaran had given up on his previous defensive strategy, instead lunging at Cecil. Their fists slammed into each other, Cecil screamed in pain as his gauntlet cracked and Bodu was sent flying away. Aldebaran teleported above him, kicking him in the chest with both of his legs, and then vanished, materializing below Cecil and punching him in the head.

As Aldebaran transported himself in front of Cecil, however, he was thoroughly punished at the God Warrior barely managed to evade his punch, grabbing the arm and then letting out a cry of "SHIH-NEH!!!" before punching furiously and with blinding speed at the Gold Saint.

"SHIH-NEH SHIH-NEH SHIH-NEH SHIH-NEH SHIH-NEH SHIH-NEH SHIH-NEH SHIH-NEH SHIIHHH-NEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH!!!" One last blow knocked Aldebaran's helmet off, sending both it and its owner slamming into the floor as Cecil gracefully landed on his feet.

Aldebaran grabbed his helmet and placed it back on his head before a sudden bright light erupted from him. Cecil had to cover his eyes lest he run the risk of being blinded by the brightness, and then felt as if his body had been hit by a steamroller thrown by the gods of destruction. He lacked even the mental focus to scream as he was smashed through countless pillars before hitting the ground, looking up after a moment to see Aldebaran standing there around a five foot circle of complete destruction, a crater where nothing remained.

"The Great Horn," Aldebaran stated plainly. "Yet another of my standard fare." He raised his hand up, urging Cecil to attack again. "You were lucky... next one will likely kill you."

He hadn't expected Cecil to suddenly let out a chuckle and then point at him. "On the contrary... your move has already been defeated. It's been defeated since well over a month ago."

"What?"

"ANKOKU MOKO REPPU SHIDEN KEN!" Cecil exclaimed, lunging full-speed at Aldebaran who ran straight at him as well.

"GREAT HORN!"

The two collided and then shot past each other, each grinning before Aldebaran suddenly screamed in pain, being knocked back a few steps. "Im... impossible... I was sure..." He turned around, seeing Cecil grinning at him.

"When I fought the Phecda Gamma God Warrior, he used a similar technique called the 'Thundering Titan'... He spammed that thing so much, by the end of the fight I was able to catch them effortlessly. True, your technique is significantly more potent, but it follows the general idea of the move." He charged again, blasting by the still-surprised Aldebaran with a Shadow Viking Tiger Claw, smiling to himself at the action.

Aldebaran blinked in surprise. "Was that supposed to hur-"

The sounds of something stabbing into the ground cut him off as he saw what Cecil was holding.

His horns... the horns of his Gold Cloth...

The bastard had been able to cut off part of his Gold Cloth! Granted the most structurally unsound part, but still!

Roaring in fury, Aldebaran charged at Cecil, who deftly slipped around his side and elbowed the man in the side of the head before charging at him again, although Rodriguez seemed to have regained his composure fully.

"Allow me..." he said with a grin, "To reveal the most deadly attack a Taurus Saint has ever developed!"

Before Cecil knew it, Aldebaran had grabbed him by the neck and punched into his face, stopping exactly one inch away before slamming it into Cecil's face.
_
At the stadium, a sudden blast of energy from the temples suddenly blasted everyone down, damaging the masonry in the process as Saints, Specters, Mariners, foot soldiers, and a single God Warrior looked in that direction in horror.

"It... no..." Shion blinked, jumping to the top of the arena, seeing the Taurus Temple had been completely reduced to nothing... the entire temple completely destroyed, the dust mostly settled by now, the Gemini Temple and Aries Temples nearly completely ruined as well with only a few pillars at standing... "Aldebaran... he... he killed him..."
_
Watching as the white-like dust descended, Aldebaran snorted. These miniscule remains of the Alcor Zeta God Robe were the only things that remained of Cecil Bodu... he couldn't have escaped that...

"Such a shame too... that boy... I feel guilty for destroying his hope, his spirit..."

"LIKE YOU COULD EVER DO THAT!!!" shouted a voice above him. The Taurus Saint looked up, seeing Cecil Bodu shooting down at him. God bless the Binary Strike! "SHADOW VIKING TIGER CLAW!!!!!"

He struck down, Aldebaran barely jumping away in time, although noticable scratch marks appeared on his armor and his helmet was reduced to mere gold shavings as Cecil stared at him. In nothing but a pair of blue pants and a black T-shirt, he stood defiant against Aldebaran... a Saint that could snuff his life in less than a instant.

It was not a matter of locking the Kamui down... It was a matter of proving to Aldebaran that one's status in the world did not define what they were capable of doing or not doing.

And I'm going to kick this guy's ass!