Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 91 ( Chapter 91 )

"June, I'm sorry about before but-... oh my god!"

The boy blinked in horror, the blonde-haired girl as young as him hanging from the ceiling, a rope tied around her neck tightly. Tears were streaming down her face as she smiled... he had no idea she had the fortitude that her neck hadn't snapped and she had survived so long while choking. He hadn't thought she would do this...

"You see... Shun? We'll be together anyways... I'll see you there... in the Underworld..." June smiled before her eyelids sank shut and her body went limp.

"Shun... Shun!"
_
"Shun!"

Hades blinked, turning to Persephone and sighing. "Sorry..."

"Shun... are you sure you're okay?" she asked, they boy nodding.

"It... it was her again...."

"You don't think she-"

"I don't know," Shun sighed as they walked through the halls of the first prison, where currently Minos's Reserve Substitute, whoever it was, along with Alessi and Rudo were taking care of determining the fates of those that had recently died. This current situation with Eurydice was not boding well, and he could feel it. What bothered Hades the most was how little they really knew about her motives.... although there seemed to be a recurring theme of great sorrow in all of her underlings.

"Well, we just have to wait... and-"

"Lord Hades! Lord Hades!"

They turned, seeing Lufi Gigant, the massive Cyclops of the Terrestrial Violence Star running at them, clearly out of breath, but glad as he held a piece of paper in his hands, handing it proudly to Hades.

"We... we just reviewed the agreement that you signed with Sanctuary four years ago... I think we finally have that loophole!"

Shun quickly scanned it, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank you..." He took off sprinting. First stop, get his Surplice. Then contact Poseidon. Lastly, head to Greece and track down Eurydice once and for all.
_
Midnight, Greece. A single figure stood in the middle of the stadium, knowing the battle that would begin in less than twelve hours would be his most difficult by far.

Minos knew the fight would appear hopeless. Shion would match him move for move, their strengths had been exactly equal when they first arrived in Sanctuary all those years ago, and throughout all those sparring matches they had before that fateful duel four years ago, they had been evenly matched then as well. If anything, Shion might even be stronger, due to the Seventh Sense and the fact Minos lacked not only that, but also Combat Awareness. Shion would be driven to avenge Dohko, although Minos had no idea who could have killed the Gold Saint... and with such frightening ease.

"Minos." He turned, seeing Hilda standing there. "I'm proud of you. This fight... they couldn't ask for a braver man to confront his demons."

"It's about time I stopped running away, that's all," Minos responded, nodding in appreciation. He looked up into the sky, smiling at the sight of the North Star. "It's getting late... we better get back."
_
There was a knock on Fenrir's apartment door early in the morning. Still sore from his climactic battle against Aiolia, he groaned in pain as he rolled out of bed and slowly stumbled to the door, opening it up to see a man in a business suit standing there.

"What... what's this about?" he started to say when Charybdis's voice spoke up. He turned, seeing that she, Cecil, and Isaac were all dressed, and waiting for him.

"Out of respect," the man started to say to Fenrir, trying to hold back his irritation, "Out of respect for an excellence performance in these last few matches... Pope Aiolos has decided on extending the offer to you of observing the final, determining fight of this tournament from his private observatory in his palace."

"Trap, obvious," Fenrir stated before beginning to slam the door shut, only for the man to block it with his foot and force it back open.

"I am afraid..." the man started to say once again, "I must insist."

Turning to Charybdis, Fenrir saw the older woman nod. Looking back at the man, he shrugged. "Fine."
_
"Are you sure you haven't seen Charybdis or the others?" Pandora asked, but Minos shook his head as she handed him his Surplice. "Not like it was severely damaged or anything, but you've seen some combat, and every weak point that can be removed has to be in this fight." The Griffon figurine never looked better, and the Specter of the Celestial Noble Star smiled in appreciation.

"No. I don't know where they are, unfortunately. However, I'm pretty sure foul play is involved in all of this," Minos responded as Radamanthys walked into his room, shaking his head.

"Looked in their rooms... they haven't been there in a while," the Englishman sighed. "However..." he held out a note, "Someone had the foresight to write this." Handing it to Minos, Radamanthys waited a moment before speaking again. "So... this is it?"

"This is it," Minos answered as he saw the door open again, Hilda standing. "About time things went full-circle if you ask me."
_
"So you finally decide to fight someone face-to-face."

"Funny... I think I already proved that with Deathmask."

Gold Saint and Specter stared at each other, only a few inches away from each other, fists clenched and ready for battle. The Saints that hadn't been horribly demolished in the tournament, along with the numerous guards were anxious for this rematch. Considering the condition of the Aries Temple was in... the fight had been decided to be held in the stadium and there were no objections.

"Minos..." Hilda said hopefully as the two warriors prepared to battle.

Wordlessly, the battle began, silence falling on the audience as the two jumped away from each other before charging. Shion teleported suddenly, appearing at Minos's side and shooting at him with a flying kick, the Specter jumping into the air to avoid the technique. Shion immediately teleported again, appearing in front of the airborne Minos and holding his hands out. "STARDUST-"

A forceful beat of his Surplice's wings sent Shion screaming away, landing in the audience before shooting back at Minos, ready to continue this battle. "Not this time, Kiki!" Minos said as he landed on the ground, side-stepping Shion's backhand and throwing his arms up to soften the force of the blow that followed. He kicked Shion in the back, but the Gold Saint rolled with the blow to lessen its force, moving around Minos and attacking from behind-

Right before teleporting again in front of Minos to confuse him and punch. Minos deflected the strike, slamming his head into Shion's, forcing himself through the pain of hitting into the Gold Saint's helmet. Shion attempted to flip away, but Minos had a string burst from the ground and loop around the Aries's leg, holding him down. At long last, Minos connected with a quality hit as he kicked Shion in the head, knocking him away and the helmet off.

Shion's long golden locks flew free in the air, yet the Gold Saint showed nothing but hatred for Minos as he raised his hand up. "STARDUST REVOLUTION!"

"LABYRINTH STRING!"

The stadium was immediately lit up brilliantly as small red bursts of energy appeared around Shion, smashing into the countless strands of string that Minos launched from and bathing Sanctuary in red. After a few moments, the exchange ended, Minos and Shion standing there, still in fighting stances, looking as fresh as they had at the beginning of the battle.

"You stood up to it, bravo," Shion sarcastically applauded before launching another Stardust Revolution attack at Minos, stopping with only one. Minos fired another string at it, only for Shion to smirk and wave his hand. "Pathetic."

Suddenly the string stopped, looping around and shooting back at Minos. He quickly dodged to the side, grabbing the string and overpowering Shion's telekinesis and throwing it back, although the Stardust Revolution attack was almost on him. Then it suddenly stopped, stationary and struggle in vain to move forward before it vanished, Minos smiling as he pointed at the ground.

"Another string used for defense... clever," Shion growled before charging again before suddenly stopping, discovering he had fallen into a large spider-web, his eyes wide as Minos charged.

"GRIFFON... SCRAMBLER!"

He punched at Shion, but suddenly he froze, trapped again an invisible wall and screamed in pain, flying backwards and skidding on the ground before hitting another invisible wall, Shion clapping as he broke free, walking up to Minos.

"The Crystal Wall... pure telekinetic power with the force to reflect nearly everything. It's over, Minos." He kicked Minos in the head, knocking the Specter in the air, smiling as Sylphid seemed dazed, out of focus. "TIME TO DIE!!!" He jumped up, punching at Minos, but suddenly the body shot back to the ground, Minos flipping as he landed before shooting up at a shocked Shion and nearly hitting him before the Saint teleported away again.

"Cunning and effective string usage can overcome anything," Minos responded as he pointed at Shion. "And you're not serious yet."

"Excellent," Shion smirked, "You're just as sharp as ever."

"Much more, thank you," Minos responded, generating a very small, tightly-packed ball of string in his hand and flinging it into the ground. Shion looked down at it as the ball slowly slid into the ground and suddenly vanished.

"What was that supposed to be?"

Minos shrugged. "Ever heard of a Labyrinth Seed?"

Suddenly, Shion realized what had happened.... and almost immediately afterwards, string shot up from the ground through the tiles in torrents, countless torrents. "SHIT!"

Shion desperately moved in between the strikes, beginning to sweat. He couldn't even find the time to coordinate a counterattack at all... and...

A single incorrect move cost him dearly, strings smashing into him from below, smashing him into the air. The Gold Saint screamed in agony before hitting the ground, Minos unable to believe how easy that had ended up. Shion landed forcefully, but got back up quickly and spat the blood out of his mouth. "Nice try... my cloth still withstood the attack, Sylphid." He charged, Minos preparing to counter the attacking Aries, but then Shion flipped backwards, hands glowing golden.

"It's obvious I need to take this fight to the next level," he said as Minos yelped in shock, raising up into the air through Shion's telekinesis. "STARDUST-"

Minos shouted in exertion, his armor suddenly bursting off and flying at Shion, who deftly dodged it. Minos suddenly was able to overpower the telekinetic hold, and charged at Shion, who suddenly laughed in victory.

"Checkmate, Sylphid," Shion said before raising his hands into the air. "STARLIGHT EXTINCTION!!!"

A bright light immediately bathed them both... the audience covering their eyes to avoid being blinded... and when they looked again, both fighters were gone.
_
Minos blinked, looking around again.

That was-

"The Starlight Extinction has transferred us to my temple, or what's left of it," Shion said as Minos turned, seeing him there, leaning against a pillar smugly. "And without your armor... one glancing blow will be enough to kill you."

Minos however, couldn't care anything about what Shion was saying. What was important... was the attack he had used.

I don't believe it... this changes everything!