Hot-blooded brothers have arrived! Part 2

(参上!熱き血潮の兄弟たちよ!)

Subaru eyed and called out to each Bronze Saint, who were all prone on the ground. While he was busy with Hermes, he had felt Demeter engage in an attack, but did not witness the stampede. With a groan, a deep violet Cosmos suddenly raged; the wire in his back snapped and vaporized, and he rose back to his feet, turning around to meet with Pan. She met the challenge with a furious gaze and an instant attack. Nearly blind, any sort of body that was not Arion or Demeter was a potential enemy.

"Die Saint of Athena!" Lifting her arms, a multitude of wires burst out of Pan's wrist guards and reached towards Subaru. Their edges tipped like blades, Bobbin Edge can make her tiny thin wires like tungsten bullets. A quick moment after, the wires paused in mid-air.

"Tokiryuu: Stop the Clock!"

Immediately, the moment Equuleus put his eyes on Loom, Demeter roared in panic. "Don't you dare Saturn!"

It took maybe a second or two, but Pan woke up, and with her arms out still, she was next to Demeter. She suddenly fell over, her mother's ankles seen through half-lidded eyes. Inside, she felt livid, but her body couldn't respond. I'm suddenly weak…why?!

Demeter's furious eyes stared at the back of Subaru. "What did you do?!"

"I retrograded her atoms," explained Subaru, "to the level back to when she fought the Saints." In other words, it was back when she was defeated, and on the slow road to recovery. It was when she lost consciousness. The boy spun to place bold eyes on Demeter.

"Good enough?"

"Don't taunt me! You are obviously deriding my family with your power."

"As I Saint, I am fighting with my hot-blooded brothers and sister."

"Then, you will perish as well." Demeter tapped the ground with the butt of her staff. A new change in the surroundings; Hermes, Subaru and the Mother Goddess standing in darkness lit with dim stars.

"Whatever you choose Saturn, you too will be punished. Because Athena's Saints is my current enemy."

Rippling currents stretch out from Demeter and washed over Subaru, keeping him still. In the next moment, giant boulders materialize in between them, launching toward Subaru. The rocks touch him and are frozen in a blazing red Cosmos, slowly cracking as they crumble and burst apart. The same fate awaited every rock that followed, deflating into pebbles, and then regolith dust.

"I am a man who became God! My rivals are the God slayers, my hot-blooded brothers and sister. I cannot fear you, Mother Goddess!"

"You do not interfere as a 'God'. You will fear me, Saint!"

Despite those words, Subaru would not fall.

Her fury being countered, Demeter grew exasperated at Saturn's faith in a particular set of humans. It was the same as Athena when asked about her opinion. Her manhunt, sending Megaera and Arion to remove Silver saints acorss the world, led to her frustration on how life and death chose their whims. Furthermore, she wondered what scale of power Subaru was suppressing or selecting here today, fighting Demeter and her allies. For him to interfere, it would undoubtedly result in either Demeter's loss or a stalemate. Was it a Fool's Errand for her guardians to attack Saturn? Usually, a third God never directly meddled in another Holy War unless it was incredibly dire, or both Saturn and Athena joined hands. To impersonate a Saint and serve as some honest broker between God and man—while wielding power perhaps equivalent to the Twelve Gold Saints or beyond—Demeter used her anger to shield herself from uncertainty. A situation that seems to not turn in her favor.

The rain of gigantic rocks, whole and shattering, finally stopped and Subaru regained movement. A strange thought occurred to Demeter.

"Saturn, or should I say Subaru, if you are to stand before me today as a Saint, does that mean you have condensed yourself into a genuine human?" The Mother Goddess's question made Subaru lift an eyebrow.

"I noticed that Hermes, a Gold Saint," Demeter continued, "has bridged the gap between you. Even if a little. I suppose I can complement his strength a little. I heard many legends about the Gold Saints even fighting against Gods; perhaps you can measure yourself as the same. Still, you have yet to end this."

"End?"

"I still stand before you. You cannot stop Hades's revival and this is not a Holy War between Gods, directly."

"Are you saying that I should attack you directly?" Grinning, Subaru pulled his arm back, and the rainbow spheres from before circled around his fist.

"Pleiades Tempest!" The cry of the attack caused Demeter's face to break open with surprise. A light flickered across her Staff and two seconds passed. Hermes was nearly crouched down to his knees, and Demeter's body buckled as she held her shoulder. A bullet went through her, leaving a black hole. It was similar to Arion's wound from fighting Kouga, a gooey black bubble condensed inside. A mark leaving no trace of "living". Whether human or God, anything with a body could not live within the Cosmic Ocean. She managed to guard herself to an extent; to even imply that he was weak...she was wounded for the second time.

"Holy Wars are between God and His or Her's army. Demeter, you do not cause wars. Therefore, you grasped someone's hands to assist on your behalf. So, there's no cheating here. Even if I reduced myself to a human, I will use the same hot blood to grow stronger with my brothers and sister. If Saints, the humans who participate in defending Earth, stand strong, I want to witness it. I want to know how I, and Gods before me, were defeated. Thus, I won't interfere too much. Why? So humans can face the threats of the future that are brought far from all corners. You have that same potential within you too, Hermes."

Cancer's face showed a bit of agony even though he managed to give an awkward grin. Each time Demeter guarded, it was irradiated by Hermes's Cosmos. He had felt the impact of the Tempest as it was mitigated, leaving his nerves shaken. Even though-for those who knew the Saints of Cancer-it was strange to see such ambition within guarding the wrong Goddess.

"Seeing the humans stand against adversity—it's a beautiful sight to behold. Right, Kouga?"

Demeter took her eye off Subaru and at another angle, the Pegasus Saint lunged towards her head. It left the Mother Goddess frozen in shock; the words that wanted to come out of her mouth were in her head.

"Why?! Why won't you die?!" Die like their Silver Saint brethren? Their Gold Saint brethren?! What was she doing wrong? Why couldn't Pan, Ginga, Megaera and Arion succeed?

"Uwaaaah!" Bringing his fist forward, Kouga's gauntlet suddenly shattered apart. A shockwave threw him back. When he regained his footing, he saw a golden ring lined with spikes, and a hand jutting out in the middle. Kouga blinked, and Demeter was in an embrace. A dreary voice reached Kouga.

"You all won't die because of your love and passion, right? But what does that mean for those who have died? Does that mean that the enemy was far too strong or was their 'love' and 'passion' too weak?"

Her eyes shining, Demeter's lips managed a few syllables, spelling out a name. She was in the arms of a man covered in armor. Her anger, and the pain from her wound, cooled a bit – from a breeze of relief that touched her body. Even Kouga remained stiff from surprise.

"I will admit," the man said, "that the ambition of Athena's Saints glow heavenly." After the words, he looked over his shoulder. Kouga was pierced by a golden glare.

"Allow us to continue…Pegasus."

The Mother Goddess breathed, "Arion?"

The violet-haired Terrae from the previous temple looked back at his Goddess and cupped her chin. "You're wounded again, and it's my fault. Never again. Demeter, I appreciate how humankind faced destiny. It is a force to be reckoned with and you know this. However, I can still stand today because of y—" Then, there was a slump. Arion's mind went white and the man, in cracked armor with a pair of broken wings, dropped heavily to the ground with a clatter-clatter. Demeter looked down, her lips quivering. Her countenance could not be defined more than close to despair.

"Arion?" The Mother Goddess kneels pitifully; her staff loosened from her hand. Her palms fell onto Arion as she called his name again.

"Arion!" She shook him. "Arion?!" Bending down, her head was on the Terrae.

Then, she pulled up with all her anguish, and a scream gave out another name.

"MEADOW!"

Suddenly, the entire temple chamber slipped into darkness. Complete chilling darkness where light could not reach. But, forms of some kind entered view. A myriad of chains erected from the ground, and so does the ashen-gray man with the three-headed dog Surplice.