Duel of Rujm el-Hiri
(ゴラン高原の決闘; رجم الهري)
During the Pallas war, Phoenix Ikki was said to be "completely destroyed" by the Jūbakuraizanba (重 爆 雷 斬 刃), the holy sword of First Rank Pallasite Aegaeon. It was said that this blade was created by gods near primordial times; is it not surprising that by name, it's implied to chop thunder and explode anything its blade comes in contact with?
Rather than fully reviving as usual by the volcano, Ikki was considered a lost husk. His memories were shattered, and he was in a void of confusion, thus the "destruction". Therefore, he had to go through a long physical and mental convalescence, but not on his own. Athena made the choice to use the new Leo, whose abilities could regenerate the character of Ikki. To do so, Ikki had to experience fear and the proximity of death to recall his anger and flames. He and Shir Khan, despite the boy being chipper, were a bit closer than believed. Was it fate for them to meet?
In another part of the world, by the Arabian Sea, there was another golden collaboration.
"You need not to come with me."
"On the contrary, you will find my contributions valuable to you." While he thought that could go alone, the Capricorn Gold Saint eventually agreed that he and his accomplice made a fair pair.
Crow Johann had a rough face; unlike his closer companions such as Hound Miguel, Whale Menkar, and Perseus Mirfak, who all died from Demeter's shenanigans, he kept his arrogance simmered down through a low voice. Parallel or excelling Wolf, among the Silver Saints, Crow could be the best among sentry missions. While he was a controller of wind, his birds could both serve for wide scale recon and killer attacks. During the youth times of Seiya and his brothers, the Crow Saint Jamien was near capable of killing the Bronzes and capturing Saori Kido. After the loss of various Silver Saints, Johann might have sought atonement or revenge.
When people think of mythical monoliths or megaliths, a collection of stones discovered—and struck with mystery and awe—through archeology, they may think of the European Stonehenge, the Nabta Playa of Egypt or the Moai of Rapa Nui (the Isle of Easter). They all contained spiritual value, especially when it comes to a reverence for the dead.
Slapped in-between Isreal and Syria was a land called Golan Heights, known for its megalithic tombs and agricultural settlements, some not recognized by the government. The ethnoreligious groups of the area had people who retired from politics or fled from genocide. Living reclusively in the mountains, they made a short connection with Athena from national wars pushed by malevolent gods. Particularly one of the Gold Saints had a close connection to the region.
Rujm el-Hiri or "The Stone Heap of the Wild Cat"—Golan's megalith was said to be directly linked to the Underworld, and there were rumors of dead souls rising from there.
The 5000 or so year old Rujm El-Hiri was coalesced 2-3m basalt walls forming into a wide spiral, with a tall mound of dirt in its center. Safar and Johann rounded the site, awing its construction; they had to honor where and how it stood, and were meticulous with their steps. On a clean sunny day, or even a cloudy day, the Golan monolith didn't seem out of the ordinary. If spirits were spilling out, what display would it show?
Safar stopped in his pace after he passed two of the three walls before reaching the center mound. His senses led him elsewhere; more paces lead him to a descent into a deep, dark cave. He stopped and crouched to peer down; no light could reach inside.
"Rujm el-Hiri was once called the Circle of Ghosts," he said. "It's rumored that the dead walked to the Underworld through this way, and that Giants walked across this region."
"A holy site, no less," said Johann.
"In the past, I don't think it was revered so highly. These days, some come here as a sign of the Summer Solstice."
"Is there a rumor that says that the rocks come from the sky?"
"I wouldn't doubt it. Perhaps that's why its connection to the Cosmos is strong as well." The red-haired Gold Saint cupped his chin in thought as he spoke, and he took a couple of steps back. His hand moved from his chin and angled at his cheek.
"My arm is shaking."
"Your arm?"
"I sense a presence."
The air hissed loudly, and the monoliths were swallowed by a torrent of ghost gray light. Such a sudden spurt of energy caused Safar and Johann to retreat from the walls. Each piece of basalt and the core mound began breaking and levitating high into the air, spiraling into a heavy wind. Dark lightning danced like a net in between the torrent; would the Gold and Silver Saints ended up caught have they had not moved? Both of their minds were in concord—something was coming, and it was something they were not going to like, Frozen stiff, their eyes burning, the hearts in their chests swelled from some force. Their cardiac veins were being squeezed by giant talons, preventing them to breathe. When the dance of lightning and stone ended, and Rujm el-Hiri calmed, falling from the sky like a dust storm, the center mound was replaced by a large shadow.
Was the leakage of the dead true? Safar took in a breath and hissed it out. "It's only one soul", he murmured. Johann gave the Gold Saint a short side glance, acknowledging. With how Safar explained the situation to him, it was expected that an army of ghouls were going to fall upon them. While there was just one, it was like a foul stench-unavoidable and nearly unbearable, painful, stinging all the senses. Safar and Johann could not break eye contact.
Sprouting from the shadow were metallic wings, larger than a man. The glow of a raptor's vicious eyes pin and target the two. Suddenly, Safar felt his torso veer inward. Pressing weight into the ground, he kept his stand, but his arms spaced out and tightened.
Shit, I can't move, Johann's thoughts were wracked with only despair. His thoughts could not move to his limbs; his muscles were fully stiff beyond his power. Rujm el-Hiri roared again and the stones took into the air, thrown towards the Saints like bullets.
The dorsal of Safur's right hand cut into Johann's line of sight, and the swell of ricocheting basalt vanished before they reached to take out Crow's head. Johann had not drawn a single breath, but the Gold Saint's voice brought him back to his senses.
"A truly evil force resides here," Safar said, composed. After saying that, someone lined up with him. Staring down the Gold Saint were burning gold eyes peering through strands of a flowing white mane. The shadow casted by its metallic wings swallowed both Saints.
"Saints of Athena?" The voice came out as a low grumble— through a jaw lined with sharp teeth. Upon a closer look between the long strands of flowing white hair, that jaw, and those gold eyes, were upon the face of a human. However, the human's face was distorted with large veins, distending with a fury beyond mortal reach. While a man, he looked larger with the wings splayed out from his back. Polished ebony covered his body. A demon? An Ibris, a fallen being from Heaven? Was it Anzu, Safar had thought.
"I must—I must rend your bones asunder. Kill you! Kill all of you!"
"You should not have gotten close." Saying those words, Safar's mission was affirmed; after all, the Capricorns remained stalwart to Athena. The right hand, the one before Johann's eyes, slapped onto the vein-filled face of the man. A large panel of viridescent energy suddenly sprouted between the three, separating the Saints from the evil demon-man. Safar's eyes casted the same light; the opposite deformed in pain, his face burning and the glow entering his pupils. Two steps back, and the same right hand crossed over his body.
"Zomorrod!" A bizarre calling as Capricorn swung his arm across the ebony armor, waist to shoulder. Johann winced at the flashy emerald display; he heard accounts that a holy sword lie in Capricorn's arm, and this generation was no exception. He had never heard of the term "zomorrod"; either way, he expected for their unknown foe to break or slide away in two.
The evil man in ebony still stood, a fissure in his body. Did the Capricorn not cut through? The man's back stumbling and trembling, and the pain in his face, showed a significant effect from Safar's blow. A green veil, the same color as Capricorn's eyes, covered him.
"You are no ordinary evil spirit, are you? Maybe one more cut should do it." Capricorn Safar's voice was dry, but full of certainty. "You probably would've lost your head or maybe your limb by now, but you seem resilient."
Johann was not sure what kind of swords Capricorns had in their arms, but he noticed an odd trait – Safar slashed diagonally.
The winged man's voice began to thrum in growling murmurs. "Damn you. Damn you, damn you, damn you." The repeating fuss elevating into a roar, breaking the air. "Damn you!"
A spread of the wings, and a shockwave washed over Rujm el-Hiri. The basalt and dust surrounding the monolith site blew outward, striking the Saints as debris hanging in the air. They were blinded by the forceful winds; as it ebbed, their arms were outstretched. Their feet were pinned tight to the ground, and they were pieces on a board until moved. Safar grunted as his sword arm swiftly slung backwards. A joint cracked loudly; it felt like it was about to be torn off. Capricorn's green eyes flashed again, and the winged man roared in pain. The fissure across his torso burned.
Johann's mind resume working; when his body could move, he took the initiative.
"We can't let him escape anywhere, neither to the Netherworld or in the mortal world. Your soul will vanish here." Johann raised his arms, and a flurry of crows glide above and over the monster-man. A passing gale, almost as strong as the previous shockwaves compelled his enemy to a standstill; night dark feathers began adding to the demon's dark body. They were breaking off the crows, scattering and sticking against the target, while also accumulating all over the monolith. The area of balsalt was covered, but the feathers exploded outward from the man in the dark armor.
"Die! Die! Die!" Through sheer force, he broke out of his feathery shell and charged full on to Capricorn. Knocking into Safar, there was a blast of light to signal the impact. Capricorn was stunned, sliding against the ground by his toes, carried by his opponent. The evil, brute force was adamant and vibrated through his head and down his feet, nearly paralyzing him.
"Athena Saint! Die!"
Safar realized that this was a brainless monster. Breaking apart the two, Johann appeared in front of his enemy and his palms caught a loud punch. The force he felt seethed his ears; with sheer will, he thwarted a blackout.
"Wind Jammer!" He mumbled a couple words and a funnel of Cosmos swallowed the monster. It was enough to buck back the brute. Johann raised a hand and closed it, and suddenly, the demonr's feet plowed into the earth.
No one will escape my Black Wing Shaft, Johann concentrated as he kept his hands outward. The crows hang above, glittering the sky and the furious enemy was again touched by dark night feathers. The monster gurgled, his body becoming completely smothered, and sank into the earth.
In an explosion, from a spiral of pressure, the feathers broke away and fell everywhere. It was only Rujm el-Hiri that was smothered—even further.
"You will know the fury of death and darkness right before you die," the monster-man declared, his face still wrapped in angry veins. There seemed to be a recuperation as he outstretched his arms and had the strength to bellow out more.
"More power! Feed me, Abyss! More!" A calm passed as the words entered the air as utter nonsense. Both Saints only watched without motion; in Safar's mind, he wondered one thing – did they succeed?
"It looks like your brutal power was sipping out from the monolith," said Johann. A grim, unforgiving scowl folded the demon's jaw. The Silver Saint, however, expressed no fear and directed a finger, and a steely glare, at his opponent.
"Burning my life made this possible, to stand on par with this fiend," Johann said. My Silver Saint companions did not sacrifice themselves for nothing." The Crow Saint used the Wind Shaft not once, but twice; it proved ineffective, unable to dispel the demon-man, but that was the only inadequacy. And gradually, a shell would break.
Another wave of emerald would lap the shadow with wings.
"Zomorrod!" The Capricorn Saint shouted again. Having appeared between his companion and the enemy, Safar unleashed another wave of his arm and the demon screamed within a green geyser. The white mane swished in the air; the sound of glass breaking, and the wings snapped and flew off. Shedding along with them were the plates of the demon-man's entire armor. It was more than a fissure this time, but an entire, finishing blow. Rujm el-Hiri entered a silence; in just trousers, the demon only stood hunched over. Did he die standing?
Capricorn Safar indicated that he felt little to nothing from the monolith's presence. The heavy weight that touched their chests, that overwhelming brutality, had vanished like a breeze, and the area was safe. Johann's eyes widened; he did not express it through his mouth, but the Crow Saint was deeply impressed. After all the stories he heard of the Gold Saints' strength, being a witness to it was another matter. So inspiring as a Saint of a class lower.
"Was it your blade?" Asked the Silver Saint.
"Zomorrodnegar." said Safar plainly. "The Emerald Scimitar." It seemed to not make sense., but dignity touched Johann's senses. Excalibur, Caliburn, and Zomorrodnegar; these swords hold both a legendary essence and intrigue within their names. The thought of many living beings having knowledge of them. Many evil felt to them; however, Zomorro's origins lie in the Middle East, but any intuition could tell it was like many other swords. An evil slayer? Johann felt relieved.
"I see. You sealed this area." In the area quiet of wickedness, it was not Safar that spoke.
"But now, I am here, and you are not safe." There was one flick of the hand, and Safar's arm suddenly jumped up. The joints in his elbow threatened to snap once more.
"I must thank you Gold Saint. Did you restore my sanity?"