Propel, Atomic Arm! The Explosion of Aiolos's Successor.
(進める、 原子腕! アイオロスの後継者の爆発)
Hecaton or Hekatónkheires was said to be a Giant with a hundred arms, offspring of gods, a weapon during the Titans War. Muscular limbs sprang out from their shoulders and torso; wielders of flame, swords and shields. They even had many heads. Their fury and monstrous savagery were appeased by Zeus, and since they owe him well, they married and were offered mansions. The "hundred arms" might've been a myth or they were removed from either various battles or as a form of incapacitation. Despite being a guardian on Dodona, Hecaton's strength have been tempered to the mortal world. In fact, it became a sleeping statue until a great chaos beckoned it. Besides, Sextans couldn't protect it and Dodona was overall docile land without valuable resources or socioeconomical positions.
Thus, how would a human Saint face against a terrible identity that fought Titans and Hell beasts such as harpies and gorgons? Especially when it was a Hell beast that cursed the Giant? Sextans Agatha contained faith in her bosom as she waited on her knees. She didn't think that a Specter had some power of manipulation, or was Hades returning?
"Impundulu Gunnar. Also called the Izulu. A spirit—passed down generations since antiquity—to reflect our insatiable war hawk tendencies. He appears before and during every war because he wanted to face a powerful specimen." Agatha chattered to herself while waiting in her Safe Zone. It was a strange dimension surrounded in a dusk-like sphere; below her knees as she squatted was a wide, cloudy platform.
"For some reason, I often see visions of Sagittarius and Izulu fighting." She smiled wryly. Sextans was tormented by this dark spirit for being weak, and the Specter lamented, its soul unable to rest until it could battle and improve. This battle tendency evolved into a lack of fear for even authorities, a metaphor for gods and warriors outside of Hades and the Underworld. Gunnar strived to be the most productive Specter beyond the Judges. To him, he did not worship to the idyllic setting. Down history, Specters would adopt this primitive thinking such as Namahage, Shutendouji, Garuda, and Behemoth.
Despite his egomania, Gunnar was still a vein, a cog, within Hades's army. The God of the Underworld was still a foggy cloud without a husk, and his resurrection determined the strength of the Specters. Therefore, it was foolish for the Izulu to stubbornly force his revival—and he was far from ready— to prove his imperial thinking. Especially as it clashed against Seiya's burning motivation to protect and save Athena, blended with guilt from having her taken before his eyes.
A fulminating fist that painted the sky gold!
After the trick behind Hecaton's arms was discerned, the Giant's upper body was torn open by a burst of sunlight, scattering into multiple drops of burning meteorites into the Mediterranean Sea. Sagittarius Seiya caused a counter, absorbed feathers of Cosmos shedding from the Giant, and sent it back in one punch. He was then clustered by a dark cloud flashing lightning and roaring with thunder. A storm of violet discharges danced around Seiya, lashing, and stabbing at his Cloth. Seiya bounced through the cloud.
A photonic storm effused the air; Sextans felt it, the Cosmos of Sagittarius that became dense and struck her spine with bliss. It's the same as to experience watching a new life taking form. Agatha's mouth crooked, and she suddenly wondered how Athena felt when man under her rule contained so much power.
"I think your challenge may be with another," she thought out loud. "Is it with Hades? While standing by Athena's side?" Sometime later, she sensed Sagittarius's Cosmos, which seemed calmed from battle, and his Doppler Shift was moved to her newly changed Safe Zone. The Gold Saint went down on his knee.
"Did you do it?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Now, you must remain here. I apologize."
"Why?!"
"Argo will sleep until her time comes. Your Cosmos and others will be beneficial to her awakening. Like I said, chaos upon the world will be needed, which is a test for courage and diligence.
Seiya bit his lower lip; deeply upset from his shame, and it took his growth to suppress an outburst. Had it been during his first days of becoming the Pegasus Saint, he'd probably run off in defiance, but this mission was given to him by Athena. His Goddess trusted Sextans after all.
"I thank you for defeating Hecton for me, Seiya." Agatha said, her mouth frowning. "Hecton should be able to heal if the Gods allow it. While I am relived and appreciated, I am uncertain as to how Argo will extend a helping hand. You may have shown your courage, but maybe the influence of the other Saints is needed."
"You mean the Bronzes?"
"It's possible."
"You said compassion, joy and courage. This could…require the hands of many. "
"Indeed. Also, Seiya-I do have a safety device here that you can use. Now is not the time yet. There is an ability Argo and I share."
"I know you can't predict the future or the present accurately, but is there anything you can tell me about the activity of Naxos Island, where Koga and the others were sent?"
"Do you know who was specifically sent there?"
"I know Pegasus and Orion exactly. It is quite possible that the closest friends tagged along with them. That being Dragon, Wolf, Aquila and Lionet."
"Among the 88 stars guarding Athena, some have passed on." Agatha had entered a meditation, inverting her hands. "The ones you have mentioned seem to dim or blink." She paused, hearing Seiya's groan. "But Wolf," she continued, "Wolf's star is lost."
"What?!" The shout was Seiya's obvious reaction to the anxiety plaguing his body. Thoughts of the worst began to emerge.
"Do not dismay Sagittarius. Even intractable problems can have a solution."
His sweaty face prone on the slate gray brick flooring, Dragon Ryuho had a flashback. It was back at Rozan Waterfall with his students. One student stuck out to him because of a dark, forlorn presence and a quiet voice; despite that, the student extended his heart with his young master and willing to go with the training.
Why was there a memory? Suddenly, an eerie cacophony pulled him out of his dream; wind, churning worms or guts he wondered. He slowly looked around, taking in nothing but an air of shadow. Did he just black out? He wasn't sure. He could not fully perceive the happenings, but dread was real. His eyes were seized towards a wall at the left.
Large vines from the ground curled up the wall and hung there, grasping a pair of elevated, grotesque statues. Their limbs completely pinned, the statues' mouths were open like ghastly gargoyles, frozen with wide-eyed fearful expressions. Ryuho's mouth opened; there was no sound that could relay his horror.
"Do you see them, Saint of Athena?" A woman's voice reached Ryuho. "Your friends?"
My friends?! Ryuho could not feign shock as he turned to the voice. He managed to rise up to his knees; he could not tell if he sweated or if his heart was palpitating with an indescribable pressure welling up. Gazing back at him, piercing through the darkroom, were two crimson pupils belonging to a woman dressed in a black armor. A few steps closer, and her pale skin was easier to discern.
"You seem to look like you want to ask 'what do I mean'?" She said. "They are petrified because their lifeforce is being drained by Limbo. Trapped by my tendrils of death until they truly become lifeless as stone, dead and chilling to the touch. Demeter's temple contains a gate to the Underworld, but this garden, my Garden of Androktasiai is connected to a crevice that borrows the land of the dead's power."
"No!" Ryuho's voice abruptly came out. The shock jostled his memory; right—he was fighting the one woman called Megaera, the third Terrae serving Demeter. He could not remember what happened, but after seeing those strange images of torture and doom when he attacked Megaera—along with Yuna and Souma— Ryuho's body started behaving weird. Now, Yuna and Souma's bodies were against the wall as frigid statues. Stone cold? A euphemism , it seemed, for ascertain death. After passing Pan and Ginga, would the Bronze Saints meet their end at the third temple? Who was even after Meg? Ryuho's mind conjured such thoughts of despair, but in the mix of that, he knew that he was still standing.
"One more pest left." Megaera strode closer without any worry, until her eyes fell upon the young Ryuho like prey. An unflinching impression that showed a disregard for another's suffering. "Or is there more of you?"
Ryuho looked up and said nothing. Koga and Eden were still in the Second Garden and hasn't arrived, leaving Ryuho to wonder if they were still fighting.
"Well, no matter. Soon, you will join whatever flounders in the Underworld's place, Saint of Athena. Surely, your Goddess will be saddened, but that is the price she pays for fighting mother." Meg's voice perked as she mentioned Demeter, and Ryuho got onto his feet, taking in a few breaths. He could see, and somehow his voice returned, but he still sensed missing constituents of what kept his body working together fully. Either his brain was rewired or his muscles were deconditioning.
"I am a Bronze Saint of Athena, Dragon Ryuho," he said as he looked up to Meg. "Demeter must be stopped, so I must burn my Cosmos to reach—"
Dragon saw an array of blurry lines for one second. Ryuho suddenly buckled from the dorsal of Meg's clawed gauntlet. He held onto the ground with only one foot as Meg unenthusiastically spoke.
"You intend to pass me?"
What's this strength?! Ryuho thought he was rammed by a goat, and it froze his senses. A pressure ran through Dragon's entire body by only Meg's back hand, and as he caught his breath, he staggered a distance from the Terrae.
"I learned that among Athena's Saints, there were Bronze, Silvers and Golds," said Meg. "I've only met Bronzes and the Silvers, and they fell before me. If you're a Bronze, then you don't stand a chance."
"What do you mean?" Ryuho regained his footing as he listened.
"During the Winter Solstice, before she considered reviving those idiotic Gold Saints, mother provided the order for us Terrae to seek out Saints and destroy them. It was to send a message to Athena."
What?! He could only withdraw back to his thoughts.
"To tell her that she was wrong for causing her grief. Athena causes grief with her consistent interfering with saving humans from the judgement of gods. While mother—Demeter is usually not a belligerent goddess, there are two individuals among her Terrae that she trusted with this task of slaying anything." Megaera explained with a calm, matter-of-factly tone; Ryuho sensed none other than a terrifying aura as the Terrae mostly blended in her temple covered in shadows. The Stole carried little highlights, but the reflections showed the armor's jagged design. Her pale skin wasn't fully obscured. Her eyes burned, but were fierce and cold, belonging to a Goddess's daughter that obliged in destruction. Ryuho could not get over such an antithesis.
"And one of them just has to be me!" The ground began to tremble, and so did the rage that was slowly emerging back into her voice. The Swithern Terrae of Scorching Fury (焦げ激怒のテラ), Megaera! You will be next, Dragon Ryuho!"
"Rozan! Shoryuha!" The Dragon technique was yet to be used on Swithern. Ryuho swiftly closed the gap between him and her, his punch reaching her gauntlet. The blue dragon that emerged from his knuckles crushed down on Megaera's entire arm to shoulder. Ryuho's thoughts simmered; he had forgotten that his fist was shattered earlier.
"Judgement of Gods?! Why would Gods have little care for humans if they oversee the mortal world? Especially Demeter, the Mother Goddess? That is why we fight!"
Ryuho pulled back his weight and threw up his left arm, another shake hitting his form. He kept his feet pressed into the ground; his Dragon Shield took Megaera's straight inside hook. Ryuho was quickly aware of her strength and was not going to receive it for a third time. However, he flinched as if he guarded from a raging storm.
"I will admit, you are very persistent, Dragon. However, the strongest of any era faces death. It's too necessary to die." Meg was unfazed by Ryuho's attack and countered. She sounded unworried as she continued her prattle.
"Four Great Gneeral of Zao, Li Mu died along with his country; French leader Napoleon Bonaparte deteriorated in captivity under the British. You can't hide from it, Dragon. Remember what I said about the crevice leading to the dead? This entire Garden is influenced by it."
Ryuho contained his surprise while focusing on his defense, something swiping against his shield and causing him to stagger. His ears were open, all the while, he wondered why of Megaera's high martial power.
Ugh! A flashing light, anda sweeping motion breezed across his lower torso below his shield., The Dragon Cloth—being of Bronze rank-provided as less protection than a scale suit. Just a breast plate, pair of vambrace, greaves, and faulds, but despite the faulds, the midriff was open. Something tried to sliver through him, biting into his skin. It was a blade?! Pushed back more from the same brute force, Ryuho looked from behind the shield with one open eye. Meg's arm was lifted, and at her ulna side of her vambrace was a thin scythe.
"In other words, life really has no room here," said Megaera, carrying a wicked smile from pink lips, "and when you're about to die, you'll be sucked to Hell. However, there is another function. The two first Gardens, Plutus and Catasterismi, serve as a fundamental defense against the enemy. But, if any unfortunate soul had the luck to reach here, my Garden, not only do they have to experience my power, but they also have to face the rule of the dead."
"Are you saying that whoever walks in here will slowly die?"
"The Rule of the Dead means that the living's will is inhibited under the imposed power of Hades. However, while there is only Limbo, the effect remains. The strength of you and your friends are grasped by chthonic entities. Your Cosmos have no reach. A fine mechanism for enemies who dare bring conflict to Naxos."
Was that it?! Megaera is overpowering me because of this crevice?
Meg gave out audible chuckle at Ryuho's shocked expression. "Don't get me wrong. Despite that…"
Another punch, another lift of the left arm in defense, and Ryuho's Dragon shield flew off. He backed further and slumped against the wall.
"My strength and my Stole are not to be trifled with. Nothing to contest with." This crevice could not be seen; it was perhaps a 30m long slit that ran underneath the Garden base. Connected to Hell directly gave it its atmosphere. Ryuho could feel the strength of the blows regardless. The crevice could be at blame completely, but that did not explain the pursuit and deaths of various Bronze and Silver Saints.
Ryuho got back from the wall., and sprung his body further, retrieving his Dragon Shield. Flying over him was a bright fireball, smacking into the wall that was behind him.
"You talk about death Megaera, but the same should apply to you." Ryuho stretched up and waved his arms around. His movement having lacked finesse earlier seemed to have faded away. Highlighting the shadowed Garden was blue Cosmos, slowly blanketing inside as a foamy cloud, touching the air with a tepid air. The bizarre change in scene caused Meg to subdue her next attack and look at her surroundings. The confusion on her face was evident. In the space, everything covered, Dragon and Swithern could see each other far easier.
"This is my technique-Ranbu SenUnRin (乱舞 仙雲鱗)."
Megaera lunged; Ryuho kept his footing firm, his gentle glare bearing down at Swithern. She had reached him easily enough. Her behemoth punch stalled against the Dragon Shield. Meg's crimson eyes widened.
"To embrace death under the guardianship of Demeter," Ryuho spoke softly, "who are you even, Megeara?"