Mauled to Death?! The hate for courage! Part 1

(噛み殺された?! 勇気は嫌いだ)

Anyone who observed the Chaos Underworld could simply define it as a land covered by outer space, a near coal-black color, and whoever collaborated with Hades had too much of a strange taste. Because ice and metallic rock were discovered in the Milky Way, some of the surfaces of the Underworld adopted a reflective shine. Rather than having the morose sentiment of awaiting death, the place felt mythical and empty. Perhaps like the Kuiper belt-mysterious and dark, leaving a chill of loneliness. Like nocturnal animals, the Specters lie in wait. They either guarded their territories, where they suspected their prisons were, or just hoped that a form of life wandered around.

One young Gold Saint could navigate himself under an eternal moon. Stepping into craggy land, above his head, leaked out a sharp, golden gleam.

"So you've come," a woman said. A figure stood atop a cliff splashed with stars. "Of course you have. That's how boy youths are: Can't turn down a challenge. Impulsive, willing to be curious, willing to touch. And, willing to fight. Just the way I like it."

"Sure I'll touch you. You're gonna get these hands alright! And its's gonna hurt really bad! You can't escape now, Shiva!" Currently the youngest Gold Saint, Leo Shir Khan promised to unleash the fury he felt from losing Athena, elevate it five or ten times than usual towards an enemy. After all, it was Shiva and another evil spirit that prevented him from reaching Hell from Barren Island's gate.

A Specter of the Terrestrial Slave Star; her sable scaly Surplice, even though it took the motif of a serpent, was simple enough to flaunt her buxom body and seize any eyes that touched it. Merely because the Specter was a mythical beauty beyond theatre. Her long plum hair nearly melded with the darkness. This may have been the first time Shiva has seen little Shir's face unlike a child's happy expression. She was well known for her smug sneer.

"The urge to wrangle with my body. Good! I desire you, cub. Desire to crush you with my bare hands and squeeze your life dry." Her taunt followed with her sigh as she leaned her face into her hand. Her posture relaxed as she sat near the cliff edge.

"Alas…I can't split my prey can I? Maybe there should be a race as to who kills you first."

"Race?"

"Someone else yearns for you. But whose has the privilege to deliver the killing blow? I'd say it is me, but I'll let this impatient fellow have a little fun with you first." Shiva points behind the Leo Saint. Turned his head a quarter, he bounded to one side, and then he lost his bearings. Shir clutched his head, his ears ringing, his sight dotted by black and blue, the star-like surroundings of the Chaos Underworld waving like water. Before he jumped out of the way, Shir was certain that he did not imagine the hooves of a charging animal. When he regained his senses, he saw a bulky body leaning low. It was another person in a Surplice, wearing a masked helmet. The mask was designed like a wild cat, a lion or a cougar, covering the face entirely. Large tusks protrude around the neck and across the shoulders, clawed gauntlets. It seemed like the perfect opponent.

Shir straightened himself and scowled, lifting up his fists in a readied stance. It was finally time to face something beyond the worked demonic spirits spilling out of a volcano. Something with substance, with personality, radiating evil so thickly that it fired up Shir to take it out.

"Just now, my body could blow you away even from a distance. You think you stand a chance against the forces of nature?" The voice of a male. The Specter's mask turned to the Gold Saint. Even without a discernable face, the ambiguity of the enemy made it fearful. From the question, Shir implied that a vortex covered the Specter as he was running. It was a high-decibel sound that had entered Shir's ears even when the Specter rushed by.

"I'll fight whatever evil throws at me," said Shir.

"Evil?" The Specter hissed. "You ill-treat everyone with your recklessness, but you never paid the price. Until now."

"Now now," mocked Shiva. She was now lying on the cliff edge, being a gibing witness, "after all of those tiffs from you about wanting to kill the Leo Saint, aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

The Specter stretched his spine, not even turning his face from Shir Khan for a moment. One clawed gauntlet touched the mask, and then it was yanked off, tossed against a nearby cliff. Next, the Specter held his feline helmet.

"I guess you wouldn't recognize me with this on, wouldn't you?"

Staring back at Shir Khan was a tanned youth with dark hair bound back like a long cat tail—except the stern blue eyes, upon the face of a human that has only seen darkness, it was a face that mirrored Shir's.

"I don't plan to be a lion's meat, my boy," Shiva taunted more. "Behold!" The Leo Saint, who prepared his heart for battle, lowered his fists. He had to tighten his jaw to prevent it from dropping.

"Hey Shir," The Specter also tossed his helmet to the side, and squatted down in a slant. It looked like another charge. In a blink, he covered the distance; a single punch in the abs and Shir was launched high into the air. His arm and fist crested, The Specter cried out to his enemy.

"Stop looking pathetic!" The Leo Gold Saint elevated so high that he disappeared into the gray-white sky. As the Specter looked up, Shiva spoke up.

"You can have some morsels, little one," she said.

"Shut up!"

"But I'm only giving you a few minutes, you third-rate hero. I doubt he's going to die from that."

Eventually, Shir Khan would crash back down hard, his entire body engulfed in a continuous vortex of wind. His body felt hot.