Frozen smile of courage. Farewell, Wolf.

(さらばウルフ)

"Your duties as Chief don't mean to overexert yourself. Documents take a lot of patience, so rest and have some tea sometime. Even if you must get up and stretch."

"Thank you for looking after me, but I have it under control."

"But I'm telling the truth!"

"I know. Besides, I'm making tea right now."

"I know that!"

"You do? Did you add the leaves?"

"Oh crap! I forgot to get them."

"H…how can you even do that?"

These were memories from the back of his head. Thinking back, Wolf Haruto was very patient with a girl named Nikuka (肉桂). Adopted into the Fuji, her named was spelled like Nikkei, the cinnamon tree that grew common place in the east and the tropics. The terms "spicy" and "sweet" would suit the girl well, as did her vermillion hair. Having been saved by Haruto and allowed to stay and train in the Fuji, to be treated beyond a tool or beyond a piece of trash tossed on a wagon, Nikuka gave her ambition to the Wolf Saint. From others, it seemed that her "ambition" would borderline to attempted flirting. Hilarity would ensure as Haruto was incredibly calm and closed in; he had the patience of an old man to tolerate Nikuka's liveliness.

"It's fine."

"You're so stuck up!" In truth, it made for good humor and, since he was away from the other Saints, it slowly helped him break out of his shell as the new Fuji Chief. Still, her assertive attitude made her probe into the lives of Athena's Saints.

After the dream, Haruto opened his eyes. The first thing he felt was a chill tickling his wounded body, naked from his Cloth. He saw Hyouga with his arms stretched out, hands clasped together, unleashing a beam. The entire surroundings were hazy from a freezing cold in the air, and it sparkled like shards of icicles.

"Hyouga, did you not say that the same technique does not work twice?"

Hearing the voice, Haruto winced and looked towards where the beam was reaching – Tokisada, receiving the impact of the attack. The constellations of Aquarius and Cygnus flickered behind their owners. Hyouga was said to achieve Absolute Zero with his abilities, where all heat is ejected and completely absent; Tokisada was not expected to speak.

"In its transition stage, The Boomerang Nebula is said to the coldest place in the universe due to removing itself from a red giant's energy via high velocity propulsion. That's a simple way of putting it."

Aquarius Tokisada stood hunkered down with his palms clasped together as he held something. The entirety of Cygnus Hyouga's attack hit him full-on.

"If someone is going to destroy everything, it's going to be me." Tokisada sounded unconcerned.

As Hyouga kept steady while using his attack, The Aurora Execution was absorbed into Tokisada's hands at a single point. That's what was believed from first glance. Suddenly, within a veil nearly deluded of color and patterns, Haruto sensed heat.

A master of time, wearing the Aquarius Cloth, tapping into memories from centuries of battles, Tokisada must've had plenty of ideas. After Terrible Providence, what could be next?

"Cygnus Hyouga, I believe you have achieved crossing various dimensions, including the road to Elysium and facing various Gods, because of the Cloths that you wore. You and the Cygnus Cloth survived Terrible Providence because you're familiar with it, correct? You are also familiar with the touch of Absolute Zero. But, you can't resist everything."

"What's this?!" Hyouga was genuinely surprised to see Tokisada surviving Aurora Execution. His body would freeze at a gradual pace, but would not coalesce into a prison entirely, and kept breaking into mist. When Hyouga ceased his beam, a cloud of mist shrouded them, and then a giant universe revealed itself, consuming the area. Forming behind Tokisada was a small, trembling core. The sound of energy collecting buzzed in Hyouga's ears, gradually becoming louder in timbre.

Truth be told, Tokisada had ablated Aurora Execution.

"I've done it!" He cried with glee. "I will use this to destroy your foolish Goddess barriers."

"You're insane! Are you that vile?"

"Silence Hyouga! Honor is only accepted by strength, and only the strongest survive in this universe. This is the power of Tokiryuu, those who can touch Space and Time."

"You will destroy yourself!"

"Wrong again! I will survive easily. I will use the abilities of Aries to transfer myself to another area."

Haruto's heart dropped. After Terrible Providence, he realized that it was not a jest – if Tokisada succeeded with his technique, everything around him would be destroyed. Tokisada's face brimmed with confidence, carrying a murderous grin.

"The core of the sun is fifteen million Celsius," Aquarius instructed. "Even hotter are supernovas, and the birth of new universes – the Big Bang."

The Big Bang. It was a type of devastating technique that needed to be unleashed to create a form or destroy division, and it didn't matter what was absorbed or what collided with it in the process. Scientists theorized that shortly after a Big Bang, a sea of ten billion neutrons, protons, electrons, positrons, photons, and neutrinos would be witnessed.

That was the equivalent to what Hyouga and Haruto saw before their eyes, arresting them in place from shock. It was the direct opposite of what Yuna experienced against Amor. However, it wasn't completely unfamiliar with Cygnus Hyouga. Athena Exclamation. Only those couple of words entered his mind to describe this, and to see its open jaws facing him, Hyouga was completely stunned. Facing Gods, however, and experiencing the Exclamation before, he only imagined doing one thing—

Face the impossible and create a miracle. Stretching his arms above his head, he posed for another Aurora Execution. He prayed that his cold could chill even the heat of a new universe; unbalance or implode it somehow. With a furious roar, Tokisada threw out his arm and the island was engulfed in bright light. Hyouga fired his Aurora Execution and winced against the light. The earth below them shook violently.

A short moment passed; Wolf Haruto screamed in pain, causing Hyouga to quickly open his eyes. He looked beyond his clasped hands, and standing behind the aggressive star core were two bodies.

"Fool! Do you think you can stop me?!" An irate Tokisada looked over his shoulder. His two arms were taut, yanked behind his back.

"Tokisada, I'll admit that you're strong. You're even capable of doing this. That's why you must be stopped." Bearing his teeth behind Aquarius was Wolf Haruto, the shockwaves of the attack causing his body to convulse. Tokisada tried to pull his arms forward but to no avail. They were tight, almost unresponsive; it felt like the pressure of a hundred pound weights were against them. Literally, it was bite pressure, and it was just from Haruto's own hands. The Hakurouken Tenshin Musou was being channeling through Haruto's grip. Like a crocodile cutting off the air of its prey's throat, force and pain was paralyzing Tokisada.

"Tokisada, you've become arrogant with your might," said Haruto. "but there is something you lack that's only obtained by my discipline: Courage and resilience." With Tokisada held in place, the mirrored Big Bang was kept stationary, receiving the Aurora Execution. The area was still suffused with light.

Haruto called out to the Legendary Bronze, his voice hoarse. "Hyouga! Keep shooting!"

"Haruto!"

"Don't give up! While I hold him, you must stop him and his attack!"

"But then you'll—"

"I know!" Haruto said. "I know. But if we don't stop this, we're both going to die and he'll go after the others."

Cygnus Hyouga hissed, holding his tongue. His thoughts reflected the pressure that he felt. Haruto, you're going to die. To think of those words, and of the valor of youth, to think it all came to this already, he felt his eyes water. It would not deter his Aurora Execution. Eventually, the power of the Big Bang-like technique would start a slow decumulation. This was happening as Tokisada was losing concentration of his Cosmos.

"Wolf Haruto, you let go of me now!" Aquarius screamed. His confidence changed into fear. With certainty, he felt his control over the supernova imitation slipping away. If Haruto didn't release him, he wouldn't be able to use Aries's telekinesis or even Gemini's dimension hopping to leave. Furthermore, his nova was being pushed back. Facing such reckless power, it felt like death. The Athena Exclamation mimic receded, followed with a burst of power. Hyouga closed his eyes and prayed; the water that was in his lids finally stream down his face.

Wolf Haruto would not heed any of Tokisada's words. He smiled, fading into the light.

"It's…fine."

"Maga-ziiiiine!" For his guest, a young man flipped open a few pages, showing off pictures of ivory naked statues of Greek emperors and gods from before the Hellenistic days. As expected, they were pristine and carved to beautiful form, said to represent the quality of men at their peak.

"Kouga, here. Have some water," said a young woman, carrying a plastic bottle in her hand.

After the battles, only one Bronze Saint reached Naxos Island unscathed.

Pegasus Kouga was found on the beach exasperated. His face was wet with salt water and tears; a guy in civilian clothing seemed to have recognized him and helped him on his feet. Kouga dragged himself as if injured. Eventually, they both reached a book store called Astoria. To prevent upsetting customers, both the young man and the young woman running the store lead Kouga to the back room and closed the door, setting him down on a stool. That was where they were now. Rather than being puzzled as to why Kouga was suddenly found on the beach, being more concerned about their friend, the two asked Kouga what was wrong.

Kouga only answer briefly.

"I lost a friend. This wasn't supposed to happen."

The young man's face became glum and he turned to his partner. "Jorie I'm sorry. Could you lead the desk for me?"

"Sure. Yes. Excuse me. Please feel better, Kouga. I'll be back."

Holding his face, Kouga made an oath within his mind. "I will make it to the temple, no matter what. Demeter, I won't forgive you at all."

The Cyclades Invasion was over. At the end of the three-man clash, all that's left was Cygnus Hyouga standing in between an enormous mass of ice. It could be compared to a cave of shimmering, azure stalactites. When he heard a crack, he did not mourn long. He sensed a new reaction and immediately left; he did not expect it, nor would anyone, but that part of Cyclades and a circumference of the frozen ocean would collapse into nothing. Rejuvenating, Tokisada's attack destroyed the ice and warped into a failed supernova, engulfing everything. Aurora Execution did mitigate its effect; however, if there was any chance of Tokisada or Haruto surviving, it did not exist. They could've been evaporated, killed by Absolute Zero or broken into nothing within a Black Hole.

It took minutes for it to decline completely. Had it been a real stellar mass of energy, either exploding for dying, it would've been hours or even years.

From a distance, from the windows of town homes in Naxos, the citizens of Demeter's island could attest that they saw a strange phenomenon across the ocean; attest to Aquarius Tokisada's dangerous might. Some people compared it to a coronal mass injection or an aurora at night. Someone informed Demeter, and all she did was secretly curse at the deadly power of the Cosmos used by Athena's Saints.

"They are indeed dangerous," she said. She noticed that Tokisada's flower had withered. Two Thesmophoria flowers were dead.

Back in Japan, in the Fuji village, everyone worked hard to rebuild their destroyed farm houses, such as damaged thatched roofings and slide shoji doors. Parts of the rice paddies had craters; the Chief's home was completely demolished and Haruto's father was moved towards the graveyard via a held canvas, covered in a blanket of hay.

Nikuka sat at a hill and looked up at the night stars to swear a promise before returning to work.

"I'll have to console you when you come back, no ifs and butts about it. And, you better bring a souvenir from Greece. Everyone is so busy and serious, I swear! And your house roof needs a new patching." This indigent and snooty front was something for Nikuka to pass her grief. She used jokes; unleashing her emotions, it made her get by and sharpen her resolve.

This was despite what she and the others did not know.

Against a foe who wielded a massive universe, did the Hakurouken win?