Notable OCs up until now that I own: Pegasus Lance; Andromeda Shinta; Heracles Aguilon's Silver Saint Generation; Taurus Daniel's Gold Saint Generation

Notable Original concept (until now): Pegasus Temple; Sanctuary Town; MMC; Sanctuary Forts, Outposts and Villages

Recurrent/Cameo OCs belonging to Jenny DeVic: Cassiopeia Cassandra; Behemoth Torak (Toruk); Mrs. Schafurwatt

Recurrent/Cameo concepts belonging to Jenny DeVic: 88 Knights Festival; Golden Line Heritage; The Great Bodyguard legend; The Sanctuary-sponsored orphanages; Andromeda Island's geography and tests

Please enjoy and review.

{======================|0|======================}

Lance trembled in horror as he watched Alexis cry and wail her heart out while holding on to her mother's hand. The Saint's heart wrenched and almost split in two as he realized the enormous failure he had committed. "N-no!" He yelled out, bashing his fist on the floor. "NO! HOW?! How could I have f-fucked up like this?!" His hands tightened harshly. "H-how?!"

"It's because you're weak." someone said. "It's because you didn't do what was instinctive to you."

Lance did not dare to look up to the source of the sound. "S-shut up!"

A foot stepped nearby him. The person crouched down and spoke to his ear. "It's because you didn't 'hate'!"

"SHUT UP!" Lance swiped his arm around to attack the person, who just seemed to drift away so as to dodge. Lance found himself standing up in darkness. "Get away from me, you bastard! GO AWAY!"

The scarred, masked man laughed. His mask was unmoving but it's grinning teeth made up for it. "You failed because you weren't strong enough. You weren't strong enough because you didn't hate! HAHAHAHA!"

Lance screamed at the top of his lungs and fired a sudden blast of cosmos at the masked man, who just faded away into the darkness once struck. "I'm not like you! I'LL NEVER BE LIKE YOU! MURDERER!"

"MURDERER! HE MURDERED HIM!" a crowd suddenly shouted around him.

Lance gasped and widened his eyes. He was suddenly standing in the middle of a crowd of shadows. The were featureless specters with eyes of bright light and all pointing fingers of accusation at him. "W-what? Where am I? What is this?"

The crowd rushed at him, grabbing the Saint. "Murderer! Murderer, murderer, MURDERER!" they shouted in unison.

Lance felt the strange mob trying to pull him apart from all directions "Get off me!" he screamed. His white aura started burning around his beat up body and the Saint started struggling "NO! I didn't do anything! GET OFF ME!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. His body tensed up and his cosmos suddenly exploded into a bonfire in all directions which consumed the crowd, freeing the Saint and filling the darkness with light, roaring of flames and screams of fear and pain. Lance's red eyes watched in horror as the fire wave he unleashed blasted the shadows into nothingness, leaving behind the bodies of children that then fell to their backs, their corpses blackened by the flames.

Lance trembled in shock, his armor still covered in small threads of fire cosmos, as he found himself in the midst of a death scenario, blackened corpses surrounding him. He fell to his shaking knees and laid down his hands. He stuttered in horror. "N-no! No, this isn't... I didn't want this..." Flames still burned around him amongst the corpses. These fires started moving around, slowly closing in on the Saint. "...I didn't want to kill anyone..."

The man fires formed a circle around him. The one right in front of him blazed upwards, increasing its size as if to confront him. "You're wrong. If you didn't want to kill, you wouldn't have."

Lance didn't bother to look up at the flame. He could feel the red glare he would so easily recognize from past dreams look down on him. He just wanted to wake up from that nightmare. "L-leave me alone!" he pleaded. "What are you?! Why won't you leave me alone?"

"I am your anger. I am your hate."

Lance shook his head. "Y-you're a fucking nightmare!"

The flame was unmoved. "Don't you want to make things right? Don't you want to be stronger? Aren't you angry? Aren't you full of hate in your heart? As long as you are, I will never leave you be!" it reasoned. "Your Cloth is broken and weak, barely still alive. Despite having beaten Kastiel, you still couldn't stop what happened in Death Queen Island later on and you couldn't stop that insane Specter from killing the villagers and the girl's parents, either. In the meantime, Sanctuary will blame you for this failure and for sins you never committed. Isn't that unfair? Isn't that something you deserve to fight against? You are beaten, bloody and exhausted... Don't you want to make use of your true strength? Don't you wish you could just satiate your anger?"

Lance's teeth gritted. He looked down on his armored palms, just wishing he could do something, just wishing he could just somehow overcome the hell the Specters had thrown him and that village into. He wished he could just fix his failure. "Y-yes!" The fire pounced on him, setting his limbs and chest on fire. "Why? Why am I not stronger?" The heat of the flames penetrated his heart. The Saint stood up in the darkness and felt his core shooting fire through his veins, refilling him with energy. "I should be stronger! I should be stronger than all these MURDEROUS BASTARDS!"

His whole body trembled in anger. The sensation of his skin burning from Corona Blast was replaced by a different fire, one that didn't hurt him and came from his heart. "You 'are' stronger than them!" the fire's voice whispered in his mind. "Now go kill them all!"

{======================|0|======================}

A loud gasp escaped his mouth and the Pegasus Bronze Saint's red eyes opened up. They blinked repeatedly, seeing a warm, blurred world lightened by many flaring lights. HE groaned in pain, realizing he had a heavy weight on top of him of wooden planks and broken objects.

He was still in Arcadia, still trapped beneath burning beams that once supported a house. As he felt his memories rushing back once more, a new anger filled his heart. His eyes narrowed intensely and his left hand tightened harshly around a small rock it was laying on amidst the rubble. White cosmos suddenly burned intensely around the fingers, causing them to grind harshly on the object. The Saint roared and the cosmos suddenly brightened up, turning into a burning orange that set the hand on fire with new power. There was a loud, sudden sound of stone crumbling and the rock was crushed into dust.

He tried to move, but couldn't get up. The Saint focused harder and felt the energy from his dream re-shooting itself into his veins, setting his cosmos on fire. A roar and a bright burst of energy followed from his body, destroying the rubble on top of him and allowing him to stand back up. He felt his fingers digging into his palms in anger and a loud shout went out his throat. The Saint stared at the sky as his scream echoed, panting loudly as he got a hold of himself.

"L-Lance, you're a-alive!" Pegasus celebrated. It's mental voice sounded weak, probably due to the damage it suffered.

There was a moment in which the youth was lost in anger, but the Saint nodded. He watched the small flame-like cosmos still burning around his body as his Element finally awoke. "Fire? What's going on?"

"You've awoken your element...This is a miracle!" Pegasus explained. The relief in his voice was apparent. "That Specter's attack must have pushed you to your limits. But, fire is your element? Lance... does this mean..."

Pegasus's expression grew grim, reminded of Death Queen Island. "I thought that, if I'd ever awaken it, it would be darkness, but..." He shook his head. His element being fire didn't mean a thing! It didn't make Lance like him any bit more. "No, I don't want to think about it. It's just a coincidence!" he told himself.

"Lance... I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. If I had been stronger..." the Pegasus Cloth lamented. "If I wasn't such a weak cloth you wouldn't have almost been killed..."

Lance ignored the Cloth's lamenting. "I... I'm not done yet! This isn't over!" The Bronze Saint then stepped away from the fires and destruction so as to go confront the man who caused this all.

However, he heard sobbing on the floor and he caught sight of the red-haired girl crying on the ground in front of her dead mother. "M-mom, NO-O-O!" she wailed. "P-please d-don't die! AA-AAH!"

Lance's lips frowned sadly. He thought he had just been dreaming, but the girl's mother pale, bloody body left little doubt to her death. The older woman seemed truly motionless. The little of her upper body that wasn't covered in rubble didn't seem to be breathing. Lance reached for the girl.

Amidst her uncontrolled sobbing, Alexis suddenly felt armored arms tightening around her and the scene of fire and death she was in just blur away as she was carried at Mach 5 speed to the north exit of the town, from where the Bronze Saint had entered the village. Her reddened, tear-drenched face looked up and saw the tired Bronze Saint looking down on her.

Lance panted, trying to think of what to say. His typical nervousness with girls also started kicking in, but there was no time to lose with that. "I'm... I'm sorry. I was too late...I was too weak!" The Saint rubbed his forehead in guilt. "I promise... I'll try to make this up for you. What's your name?" The girl just stared at him, still in shock and undoubtedly traumatized by losing both her parents and her entire town so suddenly. Lance took a hold of his new cosmos and was able to put out the fire-like energy that still burned around his Cloth. This seemed to make her get off her trance for some reason. "My name is Pegasus Lance. What's yours?" he repeated.

Alexis turned her eyes to the burning village. "I'm... A-Alexis... I..." She covered her face. "M-my parents... N-NO..." She then couldn't help but cry her eyes out.

Lance's eyes softened in sadness. "If only... if only I had trusted Shinta! If I had let him come with me, we could have saved more people with his chains. What have I done?!" he thought to himself. His fists then tightened in anger once more. He suddenly punched a tree nearby to let it out, crashing it against the ground. "Stay here, you'll be safe. I'll avenge you. I promise!" Lance then charged his cosmos and rushed inside the village once more. He would make use of his new power and make every last fucking Specter pay with their lives!

{======================|0|======================}

Chapter 8

First Arc

Episode 5

Bonds Forged by Fire

Part 3 of 3

{======================|0|======================}

Meanwhile, in Arcadia's southern entrance...

{======================|0|======================}

The Bronze Saint and the Amazon halted their dash right at the village's entrance and they were immediately struck with grief. The palisade-protected town had long been broken into and the streets were burning.

Cynthia looked up to the many black smokes moving upwards to the clouds while the northern wind carried the scent of blood and burning flesh to their noses. When Shinta had told her about the raiders, she had hoped he was mistaken, naive and inexperienced as he was, but the sight of fire and sound of screams were an awful confirmation. "No, we're too late..." said Cynthia.

Shinta entered and looked into the village's streets "LANCE! Where are you?!" he screamed. "LANCE?!"

The Amazon Silver Saint followed him inside the town. Obviously, there was no answer to Shinta's plight, but the emergency with which he rushed in made her wonder about what was going on between the two Bronze Saints. It was a concern for another time, though, as they had to look for other survivors. "Shinta, we'll run into him later. I'm sure he's fine. Right now, we have to stop this chaos!"

Shinta looked at her with pleading eyes. "B-but... I..." The Andromeda Saint then remembered his training and shook his head. "No, you're right. There's things to do. I'm... I'm sure he's fine. He's very strong..." He then looked away, unsure of himself.

Cynthia noticed this, but her attention was diverted to the screams just ahead. "Come on, let's go!" Both Saints then rushed at the speed of sound to meet the source of the violence.

They had to stop, though, when confronted with the bone-chilling sight of the raiding Skeleton Soldiers finishing off the last few survivors. They were immediately sighted and all the enemies in the area stopped what they were doing.

"Saints!" one soldier screamed.

"Regroup! Don't let them past." The black-armored men then started gathering in a loose formation in front of the Saints, leaving behind the burning houses and street filled with corpses.

A sorrowful, horrified look filled Shinta's face as he contemplated the chaos before him that was the burning village of Arcadia. He ignored the sight of enclosing enemies. "This... This is horrible! How could this have happened?!"

The Amazon besides him nodded. Neither her or much less Shinta had ever been confronted with such a shameless sight of massacre. "You people have a lot to answer for!" warned Cynthia. "Sanctuary will never forgive you for this massacre. Prepare to die!"

The group of Skeleton Soldiers spread out in front of them and raised their spears and scythes. The Cassiopeia Silver Saint was on her guard, but, sensible as she was to Shinta's horror and to the destruction in front of them, she couldn't help but notice the looks of revolt and rage in the enemy's eyes. The two of them had just gotten there, yet the Skeleton Soldiers looked at them as if Shinta and Cynthia had wronged them somehow.

She put her Cloth Box on the ground. One of its sides was engraved with a woman chained to a chair. She grabbed the handle on it. "Stay alert, Shinta, okay?" she asked while pulling the chained handle, causing the box to open up and reveal a blue-colored armor. There was a bright flash of light and the Cloth then disassembled itself into flying pieces that equipped themselves on the Silver Saint.

The Skeleton Soldiers stepped back and got on their guard as they watched the large set of curvilinear triangle pads enclose on their shoulders, her legs be filled up to the thighs in blue metal boots and greaves, a twin pair of gauntlets and forearm guards chain themselves with a twin set of light pink chains and a crown adorned with a four-pointed star place itself on her head. Finally, a gray metal belt enclosed her waist and what seemed like a chain mail skirt of open front rained down from it to little below her knees, which was then topped by a set of four triangular plates also raining from the belt.

The two Andromeda Islanders prepared themselves for battle. The Soldiers noticed that the younger one in pink armor seemed slightly tenser on his pose and more nervous, an indicator of his inexperience. "Saints here already? I thought Yakos went to kill the one who attacked us."

This seemed to get the younger Saint's attention. They ignored it. "Maybe he had friends with him. Who cares?"

Shinta stepped up. "Wait! Where is Lance? What did you do to him?!"

One laughed. "Oh, I don't know! Maybe we killed him!" he taunted. "Knowing Yakos, he probably fried the bastard to a crisp. Wish I could have been there to see that."

"NO! You're lying!" Shinta protested. "Lance would lever lose to people like you!"

Cynthia's mask kept staring at the soldiers, but behind it her eyes turned to the roofs where she spotted several crossbowmen moving amongst the burning buildings. "I, too, doubt that a silver-ranked assault Bronze Saint would let himself fall so easily on your hands. You all look too disorganized, if you ask me." The raised her hands and tightened them around her chains. "But maybe I'll prove it by just showing you the power of someone who fights at Mach five. Go ahead and attack us, if you dare!"

Cynthia then expected herself to be ignored, or maybe even laughed at or insulted. Skeleton soldiers were just like that, constantly underestimating Saints due to their confidence in Hades' salvation.

However, their enemies only gritted their teeth harder. Something wasn't right with these raiders.

The spearmen amongst the foot troops slowly took the lead of the enemy enclosing, intending to pin them down. "We don't know who 'Lance' is, kid! And Sanctuary's wrath can go fuck itself for all I care!" one said. "We fear no one! We are the Pride Star's enlightened! WE WILL CHANGE THIS FUCKING WORLD! KILL THEM!" The spearmen then rushed forward.

"Circle Defense!" Shinta tossed his defensive chain to the ground, which slithered around the two Saints until it formed a swirling pattern. Several small pinks sparks soared across the links.

"HALT!" one of the enemies said. The advancing ones obeyed, being no fools.

Shinta narrowed his eyes. "You have one chance to surrender. Please lay down your arms and we won't hurt you."

There was laughter amongst the enemy. "Well, look, we have a kind one here!"

"How noble!"

"Did they teach you in your church to be merciful to your enemy, Saint?"

Shinta gritted teeth in frustration. His green eyes kept looking around, trying to spot signs of life among the wreckage. What had happened in that village? What had happened to Lance? "No, they didn't. I just don't want to hurt you!"

Cynthia turned to him. "Shinta, don't say that in combat. They might take advantage-"

"BULLSHIT!" One of them shouted. "You don't want to hurt us? Oh, that is just cute! What, do you think you're better than us?! Do you think we're just a bunch of murderers and you're some knight in shining armor?! Go fuck yourself, kid!"

The two Saints blinked in confusion. The Silver Saint in particular was loss at words at the sudden outburst, so much that Shinta had to be the one to answer. "N-no, I mean, I... You destroyed this village!" he recalled. His green eyes forgot all confusion and narrowed in anger. "You destroyed Ismara and then you killed everyone here and I'll bring you to justice for that!"

One Skeleton Soldier laughed. "Justice?! In Sanctuary?! Your Pope has murdered more people that all of us put together! You people are more blind than even us!"

Shinta couldn't help but be taken aback. "W-what?! What are you talking about?"

"KILL THEM!"

There was the sudden sound of crossbows flinging. Saint Cynthia suddenly detached her chain mail skirt from her belt. "Shinta, now!"

"Rolling DEFENSE!" Shinta's defensive chain suddenly exploded in action, jumping high into the air before raining down around them in twirling fashion, creating a barrier of rapidly moving metal links that blocked the bolts. He then made an opening among them for Saint Cynthia.

The Silver Saint jumped across it into the battle field "Chain Dance!" The Amazon wielded the detached skirt like a battle fan, moving it around her body so as to block the few remaining shots before executing a slashing motion that cut through several Skeleton necks. There were muffled screams, hands grabbing opened throats and blood spraying before all the remaining enemies exploded into action.

The crossbowmen tried to reload their bolts while the spear-men and scythe-men engaged the two Saints in a roaring charge. Shinta reacted instantly. "Nebula Chain!" His offensive, spear-tipped chain lashed out, piercing through the group, slashing it, lashing it and whipping it around for a while in a mayhem of chains, screams, shocks and broken pieces of armor.

Cynthia dashed through the chaos, easily sensing the pattern of Shinta's attack, until she spotted a Skeleton officer amongst the attacked enemies that was identified by the heavier suit of armor. She re-attached her skirt and launched her offensive chain, which was tipped by a four-pointed star, instantly striking the man's neck and killing him. Once more bolts were fired at her, but she side stepped a shot while lashing out her defensive chain in a movement pattern similar to Rolling defense which blocked the rest of the shots.

Shinta saw the attack on Saint Cynthia and help her. "Go, Thunder Wave!" This time, his offensive chain shot towards the roofs, moving up and down in very rigid fashion that made the chain shape a lightning bolt. The crossbowmen initially dodged the attack, but the spear-tipped chain then struck the pillars that supported the buildings they were on, causing them to crash down to the floor, knocking out the falling, screaming men.

Shinta retracted both his chains and turned to Saint Cynthia. She seemed to be doing fine, expertly taking down the last few Skeleton soldiers with lethal blows from her chains. Shinta cringed at this, hoping he would have been able to spare a few, but Saint Cynthia would undoubtedly protest against his pacifism by citing the need to take control of the situation.

He did spot, however, a man in black armor themed after several North American animals approaching the scene. There was a sudden howl, the area darkened, and the man seemingly turned into a pack of ghastly wolves that charged at the Silver Saint's turned back.

Shinta gasped and leaped forward. "Watch out!" he screamed. He pulled up his defensive chain and made it twirl around himself, blocking several slashing and clawing blows that would have been aimed at the Amazon's back.

Cynthia sensed Shinta behind her and realized what just happened. She took down the last grunt and turned to him. The green-haired boy spared her a worried glance. Shinta had just prevented her from being viciously attacked. "Shinta, you saved me."

The young Andromeda Saint, however, was too preoccupied to answer, for he had his senses locked on the approaching Specter.

Wind rushed past the newly-arrived enemy, which Shaman Kairos inhaled deeply, taking in the atmosphere of death and chaos. He could easily sense the violence in the air his men had spread throughout the village and the sorrowful spirits of the departed surrounded him, invisible but not to a heightened sixth sense like his. He looked up to the sky and saw the dark clouds of Black Raven still tightly closed. Soon, his spell would wear off, but they still had plenty of time to make their retreat. He took his hand and beat his drum shield a bit, letting the sound echo around the area. "Do you hear that, Saints?" he asked.

The two Andromeda Islanders stepped back in precaution. "Who are you?! Are you the leader of these raiders?" Cynthia asked.

Kairos ignored them. "That... is the sound of the wailing dead. Today many died. Their spirits are all around them. Tell me, do you feel their suffering?"

Shinta wondered what the man was talking about. He had all the appearance of a witchdoctor he'd see in a Pocahontas book with all the parts of his armor shaped after animal body parts. Still, he could sense danger from him.

Kairos continued. "I would like you to feel it. The suffering, I mean. It would give you... insight." He laid out his hand, as if he was trying to grab something in the air. "I sense... a pure, naive spirit."

Cynthia took a protective stand next to Shinta. What was the Specter trying to do? Was he going to try to manipulate the Andromeda Saint? "Shinta, don't listen to anything he says, okay? Be ready to defend yourself."

Shinta nodded nervously. "R-right." He then addressed the Specter. "Who are you? Why are you doing all of this?"

"My name is Kairos. I'm the one who was given the Shaman Surplice." he explained. Both Shinta and Cynthia then expected him to tell them which Terrestrial or Celestial Star he was, as Specters usually did, but Kairos just went on. "I already told you. I'm trying to provide insight. It's something I used to do in the Underworld to those in the lesser Prisons. I would show them what their fellow sinners suffered in the worse ones and I want you all to share that suffering, too... Share the suffering of the people you failed to protect and of those you slaughter in the name of Athena." His purple cosmos then started burning around his body. The area around the battlefield darkened and the Shaman's eyes glowed with bright blue light. "I will teach you the pain of the Specters! GREY WOLF!" Once again there was a howl and the man split into several ghastly, spectral wolves which attacked the Saints.

This time, however, both Saints were prepared. Shinta tried to warn Kairos. "Stop! If you don't halt your attack-" The wolves just howled more fiercely as an answer and pounced on them. Shinta pulled for his chains. "You leave me no choice! Wild Trap-" Shinta then gasped in horror. "W-wait, what?!"

Before him, accompanying the wolves, were screaming, ghoulish spirits rising from the ground. The young Saint's senses were suddenly invaded by images, sounds and pains of the attacked that occurred in Arcadia. He saw people being dragged from their streets, mercilessly put down by the Specters and Skeleton Soldiers. Fires then filled the darkness Kairos had created earlier, the ghouls grabbed the horrified Saint, wailing in pain, as the wolf's claws came down on him.

"SHINTA! Snap out of it!" someone screamed. Saint Cynthia suddenly threw herself in front of him. "CHAIN DANCE!" Her detached skirt was raised into a layer of defensive metal links burning with blue cosmos that took the attacks head on. However, some of the many wolves went around it and struck the two Saints with lightning fast swipes, damaging their armors and sending them screaming to their knees.

The darkness lifted and the bright glow in the Specter's eyes dissipated. He watched his two foes squirm on the ground. "So tell me, Saints, do you now know what has happened here?"

Cynthia and Shinta looked up at the Specter in anger and horror. "Y-you fiend!" Cynthia cursed. "You're using the spirits of the people you've killed?"

It was then that Shinta noticed, indeed, that a strange, cloudy cosmos seemed to be surrounding the Specter. "You didn't think my attack would be so simple, did you? Only fools attack Saints without a plan B. The captain of the militia of this place also thought he could read my attack and now he's dead in a puddle of his own blood, somewhere in the streets in the north. Besides, I used the emotions of the fallen, not their spirits. It is the Andromeda Saint's fault for being so weak-willed." He rested his hand on his drum shield. "I've heard Saints go through worse than hell to sharpen their body and mind in order to obtain a Cloth, yet... I wonder if it's just a rumor after all..."

Cynthia grabbed the spot of her armor that had been sliced by claws. It had pierced a bit and ripped her flesh. She thanked Athena she took the time to send that reinforcement flare, but doubted help would get in time. Seeing how the Specter had been able to damage her Silver Cloth, she turned her worried eyes to her partner's Bronze one. "Shinta, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah. I'm sorry, I should have not fallen into that. You got hurt because of me." he apologized. If Lance had been on his side, he would have definitely seen through the attack. Reminded of the Pegasus Saint, Shinta's eyes welled up as he wondered once more where he was. "What happened to you, Lance? You said you were going to be fine, that you'd just follow them. Where are you, then?"

The Specter waved around his circle-topped staff in preparation for his second blow. This one would not be so merciful. He gathered the spirits around himself and then drummed his shield with his staff. His eyes rolled up in ecstasy before turning into bright, blue light once more.

The two Saints once again saw darkness, but this time, rather than a howling, a roar was heard and the faint background image of a Siberian brown bear was seen. The Specter's bare muscles seemed to bulge a bit and his nails grew and sharpened. He opened up his mouth to bare enlarged canines, then leaned forward and launched himself at the Saints. "BROWN BEAR!"

Sensing his opponent to have suddenly become more beast than man, Cynthia, whose Cloths was designed for capture, took the initiative. She first raised her detached chain skirt and with a bit of cosmos caused its links to become rigid, creating a large, round shield. "Chain Guard!" She felt many powerful blows being blocked by the metal links before the Specter pounced back to reposition himself. Predicting his intention to go around her protection, she lowered her improvised shield and raised her regular chains. "Go, Nebula CHAIN!"

Kairos's heightened senses detected the lashing out of a star-tipped chain whips and instantly, reacted, leaping high above to let the ground he was in shatter with the piercing blow of the Amazon. He landed on a nearby porch, roared loudly and leaped right back towards an exposed side of the Amazon's defenses.

However, the sound of rustling chain was heard behind him and something tightened around his ankle. "Not so fast!" shouted Shinta before pulling the chain he had launched and causing Kairos to smash himself on the floor "Great Capture!" Shinta then threw his other chain in twirling motion, allowing it to wrap itself around the trashing Specter, who seemed truly possessed.

Cynthia sighed in relief. The Specter was moving fast for someone mimicking a bear. She probably would have been hit if it were not for Shinta's reflexes. "Nice job, Shinta. We got him!" She then repeated his chain technique so as to secure the Specter's bondage. "It's a good thing he tried this technique. He was probably counting on the old myth of a Saint being able to stop techniques from working twice so he wanted to use something different. We were only able to get him this time because our Cloths are perfect to take down wild fighting styles, so we better make sure he doesn't escape." she confided via mental message.

Shinta's green head nodded obediently. He remembered how Master Guardnia had once told him that the Cassiopeia Cloth was designed to capture wild animals used in combat and wondered if they would have it so easy if Kairos had used Grey Wolf again. "Okay, Saint Cynthia. I won't let him go."

The man kept roaring and trashing around on the floor like a captured animal. Several veins bulged in his body and his movements seemed erratic, almost uncontrolled. Eventually, he started calming down. The bright light in his eyes vanished and they rolled back down while his muscles, nails and teeth returned to normal.

Still, he kept trying to free himself. "L-let go of me, Saints!"

Shinta gasped. "No, don't struggle! You'll-" The green-haired boy was too late and the Andromeda Cloth did not hesitate to zap the man with 10,000 volts of pink-colored electricity. The Specter's mouth burst open in a scream of pain and his fingers and limbs tensed with the current. Not wanting to watch the man suffer, Shinta instantly grabbed his chain. "Andromeda, NO!"

The Cloth stopped the zapping, but tightened her chain's hold on the Specter. "That will teach you a lesson." It then turned the tip of its chain to Saint Cassiopeia Cynthia "Did I do good, Mother?"she asked, referring to the Cassiopeia Cloth's mythological relationship with the princess."I wanted to fry him a bit more, but Shinta is just dumb and merciful like that. Can you tell him to let me do my thing?"

Cynthia ignored the pink, sadistic Cloth and stepped on the Specter's neck. "Where are your partners?! And were is Pegasus Lance?"

Kairos gasped for air. "G-Go to hell, Sanctuary cunt!" He let out a scream when the back of the Amazon's boot started popping out a stiletto. He didn't know Amazon Cloths' foot wear could do that. "F-FUCK OFF! I D-DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

Cynthia folded her arms, sickened by how easily the man was losing his spiritual bravado of before, and put on a bit more weight on her foot. "I know you're lying."

Shinta saw the Specter grab her foot and gasp more harshly. He grabbed Cynthia's wrist. "NO, don't hurt him!"

Cynthia sighed. She couldn't say she didn't expect this. "Shinta, I know you usually refrain from this sort of stuff, but we'll find survivors and your partner more easily if we play a bit rough, right?" she nicely asked. She knew perfectly well that it was just in Shinta's nature to object to violence and that there was no going around that.

Shinta opened his mouth to plead for pacifism, but, deep down, he knew she was right so instead he turned to Kairos. He recalled what happened with the Black Saint Ray in his first mission and made sure to stay alert. "Please answer her question. We don't want to hurt you and we won't if you cooperate."

Kairos coughed a lot, but eventually answered. "Go find them if you like... by now everyone in this village is dead! Just you wait, my comrades will find you and you'll join the sorrowful spirits of this place in the afterlife." His eyes then rolled to the side. "He, he. Why wait for that?! It's good to see you in one piece, Yakos."

Shinta and Cynthia went to full alert mode and stepped away to the side, without letting go of the chain Kairos, to lock their senses on the new arrival. Amidst the burning building wrecks, a man of pale hair and squinting green eyes wearing the winged Bennu Surplice was arriving, carrying in his hand the neck a dead farmer. He calmly entered their street, ignoring all the destruction and looking down on his captured comrade.

After dropping the corpse, he spoke. "Must I do everything myself?"

Kairos rolled to his chest to better look up. "I'm sorry, Yakos, they got me."

Yakos looked around. He saw the fallen Skeleton Soldiers with wounds clearly caused by chain attacks. He then turned to the two from Andromeda Island. "More Saints, huh? Something must have alerted them to our attack. We should have moved out from that base we destroyed more quickly."

"So you're the ones who destroyed Ismara?" Cynthia confronted.

"That's right." Bennu confirmed. "It was easy, too. Your soldiers are lazy and dull. They did not live preoccupied lives despite guarding a border outpost. Even after the attack began, they were so disorganized that half my men breached their walls before the picked up their weapons. I made sure, though, the spent their last minutes fighting with their lives for Sanctuary."

"What took you so long, Yakos?" the Shaman Specter asked.

"I had a run-in with a Bronze Saint that was slaughtering our men up in the north. It's nothing to worry about anymore."

Shinta's jaw dropped. "What did you do with Lance?!" he demanded to know. His green eyes squinted.

Yakos turned to him. "I killed him!"

Shinta stared in horror at the Specter for a while, unsure how to react. "N-no! You're lying!"

Yakos chuckled. "Don't worry, he fell with honor. I burned Pegasus to a crisp along with two women he was protecting, so you could say he gave his life for his duty. That makes you Saints happy, right? You don't mind when your friends die if they do it with a smile on their faces and for your Goddess, right?"

Shinta's teeth gritted in anger and his pink cosmos flared up. He felt his fists tightening and his eyes tear up. "Y-you... You MURDERER!" The chained Shaman Specter sweated nervously, wondering if the Bronze Saint would shock him with his chains. The Bennu Specter, however, was unmoved. "I can't forgive you for this. You both...have killed so many people today! I'll defeat you! I'll prove you're lying by beating you!"

Yakos blitzed forward and the two Saints lost sight of him. Cynthia suddenly felt a powerful impact strike her belly, kicking her away and making her crash into a building. Shinta tried to react, but a scream was forced out of his mouth when his single free chain failed to prevent the fast Specter from rushing straight into close range, catch his neck and lift him above ground.

Yakos narrowed his eyes, tightened his grip on Shinta's neck and stomped the chain that Andromeda was using to bind Shaman, shattering a link of it. "Your friend fought harder than this." he taunted as Kairos took the opportunity to free himself from the chains.

Shinta grabbed Yakos wrists and tried to kick him off. The fierce Specter's armor, however, was more than strong enough to resist the blows. He saw Saint Cynthia getting up from the burning wreck. "Lance...w-would never lose to you, never!"

Yakos growled in irritation. While pondering how painfully he would kill the Saint, he felt something irritating his gripping hand. Yakos brought the Saint closer a bit and squinted. It was then that he noticed that there was what seemed to be a metal chain around Shinta's neck. Sensing something strange, Yakos reached inside Shinta's metal collar and pulled it out.

The Bennu Specter widened his eyes. "This pendant... where did you get that?!"

Shinta's pink cosmos exploded all of a sudden to a shocking height and a sudden kick burst in his chest, shattering the superficial layers of his segmented breastplate and striking the Specter hard enough to force him to let go of Andromeda. Yakos screamed and coughed in pain before flapping his wings, allowing him to gain enough distance to dodge Shinta's following chain swipe.

He landed on the floor, touched his pained chest and confronted the young boy. "Y-your cosmos!"

The Specter saw Shinta panting and with an offensive chain, but his pink energy aura burned around him with a scary thickness. The green-haired boy quickly pulled his precious pendant inside his collar. "You shouldn't have done that."

While a fight broke out between Kairos and the Cassiopeia Silver Saint, Yakos wondered if the Saint was talking about him grabbing his necklace or about all the murdering he had done that day. "You're special, aren't you?"

"Why did you do all of this?!" Shinta demanded to know. "Why did you attack Ismara and Arcadia? Why did you hurt and killed and destroyed so much today? What have we ever done to you?"

The Bennu Specter didn't seem the least moved. "We're enemies and I was angry."

"Angry?! Over what?!" Andromeda demanded to know.

"Empty promises." Yakos just said. "What do you think we're doing here, Saint? Tell me, do you think Hades even knows I'm here?"

Shinta blinked. He heard the sound of Saint Cynthia battling Kairos and was eager to join her, but he could not afford to turn his back on the Specter in front of him. "H-he doesn't? But-"

Bennu's wings suddenly raised themselves and his purple cosmos burned. "You know something, Andromeda? Seeing that pendant on you has suddenly make me really want your blood. I'll satiate all my anger with your life. How's that?" he offered.

At first, Shinta widened this eyes with this sudden offer, wondering if the Specter was serious. "You'd leave if I let you kill me? I-" There was a sudden scream behind him. Shinta glanced over his shoulder and saw the Amazon fall to her back, grabbing a sliced arm and hurt stomach. "Saint Cynthia!"

Yakos raised his hand, which was then immersed in fire cosmos. "Lay down your arms and offer your head, Saint. If you do that, me, Kairos and the rest of our men will return to Pandora, no strings attached. I give you my word." he enticed.

He then saw Shinta narrow his eyes in suspicion. "Why should I listen to you?"

The Specter smirked, sensing his offer got to the Saint somehow. "It's better than letting me kill you both and go on with my rampage, isn't it? What's it going to be?"

Shinta's teeth clenched. He felt his pacifism and self-sacrificial instinct instantly considering the Specter's sadistic choice. If he accepted the Specter's demand, he'd selflessly prevent the loss of more lives. But Lance wouldn't do something like that. He would tell him that the two Specters were just lying. He saw Saint Cynthia recover a bit and getting back on her feet, but still looking hurt and at disadvantage. Shinta pondered his choices.

His pink cosmos burned brightly and he pulled his remaining chain upwards. "NEBULA CHAIN!" His dark-armored foe exploded into action, rolling to the side to dodge the chain swipe before flapping his wings to take flight high in the air. "I won't trust you! If I give up my life like that, my Master, Nissan and Saint Cynthia would never forgive me and you'd just keep on killing people. I said I would stop you and I intend to do that. "Go, Nebula CHAIN!"

The Specter's green eyes read the chain's movement and flew around to dodge the whiplash. The Bronze Saint kept on feeding his attack with cosmos, making the chain resume its assault on the winged man who just kept using his speed and flight to dodge the blows. "DIE, FOOL!" He then dodged one final swipe before thrusting his hand at the Saint, shooting an arrow-shaped fire blast at the boy's heart.

Shinta side-stepped and felt the attack shoot through his chestplate's side, burning his skin and exploding on the ground behind him. He screamed, feeling himself lifted into the air before crashing down on the ground. He coughed, but maintained his focus, quickly rolling to the side to give his arm space to swing his chain. "T-take this! Nebula Chain!"

The airborne Specter growled. "Again?! His eyes, however, widened when the chain shot forward at him with unexpected speed, seemingly splitting into many pouncing metal chains that caught him by surprise. The Specter raised his arms to protect himself.

There were several powerful impacts across the surface of his Surplice and many spots of his armor being sharply grazed by electrified metal links. He screamed in pain and was knocked back.

Shinta got up on his knee and twisted his wrist so as to tense the chain. "Now, THUNDER WAVE!"

The Specter flapped his wings to stop himself in the air once more but had no time to counter since he was immediately confronted by the twisted movements of a chain rigidly going up and down in a thunder pattern. Sensing that the attack would get him, Yakos wasted no energy trying to dodge and instead thrust his hand forward once more. "CORONA BLAST!" The image of a screeching bird raising its wings appeared behind him and a massive, round blast of concentrated fire cosmos was shot from his fists.

Shinta watched in shock the sun-like sphere crash straight through his Thunder Wave, shattering the chain to pieces and move towards him. Something then suddenly tightened around his wrist and pulled him out of there, saving him from being hit by the blast which collision with the ground released a fire shock wave that still struck him.

Shinta screamed and felt his helmet being knocked off and his back plate cracking. Saint Cynthia caught him in mid air and broke his fall. "SHINTA, are you okay?"

The Andromeda Saint trembled in pain, though his pink aura still maintained itself. "S-Saint Cynthia, you s-saved me." he thanked her as she helped him get on his feet.

Cynthia turned to the two Specters cornering them. Kairos eyes were once again bright light and the airborne Bennu was already charging a second attack. The fires around them intensified, filling the air with black smoke. The scent of death, blood and burning flesh felt stronger than ever. Cynthia's eyes struggled to stay open behind her mask. "This is bad. I don't think we can break through them." she deduced. "Stay strong, Shinta. We can win this."

Shinta saw the world shaking. The blast missed him but the shock wave hit him bad. "I-I won't give up."

Cynthia nodded. "I know you won't... I know you're brave."

Kairos raised his staff and held it at length. "It's time for you to join your ancestors. Tell them of your failures and bask in their disappointment."

The airborne Yakos burned his cosmos intensely in preparation. "I'll take you down both at once. Good bye, Saints! CORONA-"

"PEGASUS BLADE!"

The Shaman Specter bellowed andscreamed in pain after the sound of black metal being pierced through was heard. All the eyes in the area turned to him and widened when they saw an arm encased in a burning, bright orange cosmos blade layer rammed through his back while a white-armored arm was wrapped around his neck. "KAIROS!" he screamed.

Cynthia widened his eyes. "What?!"

Shinta's smile beamed up. "Lance!"

The blade of fire cosmos suddenly twisted itself to the side and intensified it's shine, burning it's victim's insides and cutting them apart. Blood gushed out the Shaman Specter's mouth before he was kicked off the impalement to the ground, revealing a white armored Pegasus Saint with an enraged look on his blood-red eyes and a burning aura of fire cosmos around his body. The blue-light in Kairos' eyes vanished. "Y-you're s-supposed to be d-dead!" he whispered before his face turned pale.

Lance's Blade canceled itself and his fire aura calmed down a bit. He panted heavily, not used to the rate his element burned through his reserves. He turned his eyes to his two allies. "Shinta, what are you doing here?! I told you to get reinforcements and you came back with one Saint!?" he growled in frustration. "Forget it, it doesn't matter. Now that I took the one causing the jamming...It's only a matter of time for the Gold-ranked Saints to arrive."

There was a moment that Shinta did not register Lance's yelling. "Oh, thank Athena, Lance you're okay...I... The Specter said he killed you."

Lance turned his eyes upwards to the flying enemy. "Don't worry, he'll soon have that backwards!"

Cynthia analyzed the Pegasus Saint. She had been told about his unusual eye color and intimidating appearance. There was no time to worry about his partnership with Shinta just yet, though. "I have ordered for more reinforcements, but these Specters did a good job jamming the area, Pegasus. It will take a while for the effect to cease. We'll have to work together to take this one down or he'll kill us in the meantime."

"I don't need your help!" Lance protested, clenching his raised fist. "I can handle him. He's mine!"

"I'm a Silver Saint and you'll listen to my orders, Pegasus. Do not approach him recklessly." Cynthia then raised her chains and prepared herself to strike the Specter. "So long as he can fly I'm the only one who can still reach him, so follow my lead."

While the Pegasus Saint argued with the Silver one, Yakos turned his green eyes to the sky and saw the clouds of Black Raven slowly drift apart. He felt his teeth grit almost against his will and his finger nails dig into his palm guards. "Fucking Pegasus! I should have smashed your head with a rock! What did you do to my men?!"

Lance quit his arguing with the Silver Saint Amazon. "While you were fighting these two I moved around town taking them down one-by-one. I couldn't find any survivors, though..."

Shinta wasn't insensible to the slight tone of guilt in Pegasus's voice. "...It's okay, Lance. I know you did your best." There was a sudden glance from Pegasus to Shinta. He wondered who the woman he brought was. Intending to focus on the fight, though, he burned his cosmos aura until it's white color ignited itself into flaring orange. Shinta stared at the new energy the Bronze Saint boasted. "Your cosmos!"

"I don't know how, but I managed to unlock my element. I'm now burning my cosmos with actual fire." he pointed at the Bennu Specter and smirked. "I suppose I have you to thank for. You and your men really tested my strength and your Corona Blast at the end was just what I needed to push myself over the line. Thanks to you, I was able to kill the rest of your men and this Specter with much more ease."

Cynthia watched the Bennu Specter seethe with rage at the provocation. She recalled what she had been told about Pegasus' fight with Kastiel and realized how the Bronze Saint beat him. Kastiel had always been unrefined and reckless in combat. It was now obvious to her Pegasus had pushed his buttons and was now trying the same on Yakos.

She prepared her chain for the opportunity Pegasus was trying to create.

Bennu Yakos's energy exploded into an aura of raging purple fire. "That's it! I don't care if you've unlocked your element, I'll personally make sure you writhe just as much in your final moments as you will in Hades' realm." He then punched the air in Pegasus' direction. CORONA-"

"GREAT CAPTURE: SPIRAL DUCT!" Saint Cynthia shouted.

Yakos barely had time to turn to her before his fist was suddenly wrapped in a chain that then pulled him to the side, throwing him off balance. His wings flapped violently to keep him up in the air while the Amazon's blue cosmos intensified. "Bitch! Let go of me."

"Shinta, now!"

Yakos kept on struggling against the chain, but something large, burning and wooden was thrown and crashed against his side, sending him spiraling down in pain and confusion to a much lower altitude. He recovered just before hitting the floor, managing one desperate wing flap before grabbing the chain holding him.

He pulled for it with all his strength, throwing the Amazon off her feet before he snapped one of the links to free himself. "You're mine, bitch-"

"PEGASUS CHARGE FIST!" Lance appeared out of nowhere and struck his damaged chest plate with a powerful concentrated blow that blasted through his protection and hit him directly. His world went dark and blood gushed out his mouth, but he had enough strength to recover and smash his pointy elbow on the Saint's face.

Lance stumbled back, grabbing his nose. Yakos instantly swept at him with a fist. A white-armored hand, however, suddenly caught its wrist, raised it high to allows Lance to move past him, and a fiery aura burned behind him. "PEGASUS BLADE!"

Shinta watched as his partner's new, powerful cosmos filled his arm once more with an orange blade before Pegasus brought it down on the Specter's wing. There was a loud, snapping sound of metal being shattered through by a sword of cosmos and Yakos suddenly felt his left side a lot lighter. The Specter widened his eyes, not believing he just allowed his foe to cut off his wing.

Lance's boot struck his back without mercy and with a lot of cosmos, sending him flying and crashing against a burning building which supporting beams shattered, letting its porch crash down on the screaming Specter, digging him underneath piles of fire and wood he had victimized earlier.

A cloud of smoke and embers screened the area and a moment of silence followed. Pegasus, however, took no chance. He roared while burning his cosmos, charging his next attack. Before him, beams of wood started moving around, denouncing the Specter's survival. A black armored arm burst through the rubble pile and the Specter slowly emerged from the rubble, coughing and damaged all over.

There was the faint sound of a neighing horse and the image of a Pegasus flashed behind Lance. His tightened his right fist. "PEGASUS!" he then thrust it at the Specter. "FLAME ATTACK!" A huge torrent of flames was suddenly shot from his fist, flying in a twirling motion at high speed towards the Specter, starring the Bronze Saint's new attack.

Shinta and Cynthia regrouped and watched the flames run over the screaming Specter before exploding on top of him in a cloud of smoke and fire. The flame-throwing attack ceased shortly after, leaving behind a panting Lance staring at the destruction before him.

The Pegasus Saint dropped to his knees. Shinta screamed his name and rushed to his side. "Lance, are you alright?!"

Lance coughed, feeling the exhaustion catch up to him. He looked at his hand and saw his fire aura vanishing. "I-I'll be fine..."

Cynthia watched Guardnia's student tending for the Pegasus Saint. It did not surprise her for Shinta to want to help someone; it would if he didn't, in fact. Still, she took note of how the boy wasted no time to do so and wondered if things were alright after all. "You shouldn't push yourself too far, especially if you just woke up that element."

"W-who are you, anyway?"

Shinta then realized he was yet to introduce her. "Oh, sorry. She's Saint Cynthia, Lance. I ran into her on my way to get reinforcements. I was really lucky to find her."

Lance's tired red eyes looked up at her. "A-are you going to chastise me for beating up Kastiel, too?!"

The Amazon shook her head. "After what happened today, no." She saw him get up only with Shinta's help. "You should take a rest."

"Shut up! You're more wounded than I am."

Cynthia grabbed her more visible slice wound. While Shinta was dealing with Yakos, Kairos had given her a hell of a fight. All three of them were hurt, she was tired and with a broken chain, Lance was exhausted and Shinta had two snapped chains and a very damaged Andromeda Cloth. They were a mess.

All around them, though, houses started to crash down to fire damage and the sky was still filled with black smoke and strange clouds. There were dead people all over the streets along with the corpses of soldiers from both Athena and Hades. They were lucky to be alive. "Only three survivors... and none of them from this village. This is awful."

Shinta's eyes looked down, tearful. "H-how could this have happened? S-so many people..."

"This is war, Shinta." Lance commented. "It will be much worse once actual Holy War is declared. Still... not all is bad. I managed to save one."

Shinta's teary eyes looked up at him. "You did?"

"She's at the northern entrance of the village, where I dropped her off. I secured the area so she's fine. I couldn't save her parents, though."

There was a sudden explosion at their side. The three Saints screamed and stepped away from the fire Lance had caused with his final attack. The black clouds of smoke spread away and a burning figure marched out of it. A hand reached out and fired a blast of fire cosmos.

Cynthia screamed in pain and fell to the ground, her shoulder pad blasted open and bleeding from its hole. Shinta screamed her name and Lance watched, shocked, as Bennu Yakos walked out of the bonfire he was buried into. His armor was wrecked, with several parts missing, specially in the upper left chest. His bloody left arm hang, having been pierced by a small wood plank piece, and his face was twisted into a bloody frown of gritting, vengeful teeth. "I'll kill you! I'll KILL YOU ALL!"

Pegasus saw the maddened Specter raise his fire cosmos to the limits and prepare another Corona Blast. "D-damn it! Here we go again!" someone then rushed in front of Lance and raised his hands. "S-Shinta!? What are you doing? Get out of there, you fool! He'll kill you!"

Shinta ignored Pegasus and burned his pink cosmos, immersing himself in it. He braced himself.

Cynthia quivered in pain, but spotted Shinta's energy flowing. "N-no, Shinta, it's too dangerous! Guardnia forbid you!"

Once more, the image of the terrifying Egyptian bird emerged behind Yakos, raising its wings and opening up its beak. "Y-you'll be the first! I'll slaughter you! I'll watch Sanctuary burn even if it kills me! CORONA BLAST!" His hand burst into a flash of fire, shooting a massive sphere of flame cosmos.

Shinta crossed his arms in defense. He then let his cosmos explode. The Corona Blast crashed against him and Cynthia screamed his name.

There was yet another bright flash of light, this one emerging from Shinta's body, accompanied by a sudden spike of strength in the wind. A blasting, roaring sound followed and the shock of the two cosmos caused an explosion of light and earthquake, blinding Yakos, Pegasus and Cassiopeia.

The Corona Blast exploded, spreading fire all over that, for some reason, went around and over the three Saints. Pegasus watched in shock as the cosmos Shinta was releasing, together with the wind corrects it seemed to be sucking into the contact point, completely shielded them from the blast.

Yakos, too, saw this. "W-what?! What are you d-doing to my attack?!"

Shinta winced in effort. He tried to keep his own energy in control while at the same time releasing enough of it to fight off Corona Blast. All he saw in front of him was his own pink-colored energy keeping away a mass of fire. "I'm keeping it away from my friends!"

The hand that shot Corona Blast tightened itself. "It won't be that easy!"

Shinta gasped when the flames started concentrating themselves in front of him and digging deeper into his protective aura and wind wall. His feet dragged back against his will. "N-no! I won't let you harm them."

Lance squinted his red eyes at the attack as it pressed Shinta harder and harder. He gathered the energy he had left. He had nothing which could injure the Specter, but he had another idea. He charged straight forward towards Shinta, raised his arm above his head and burned his cosmos. "Pegasus!" He put himself at ramming speed. "BARRIER!"

Shinta suddenly saw Lance rush past him and create the transparent, curved barrier of cosmos on his arm. The Pegasus Saint, to Andromeda's shock, crash straight into the Corona Blast's side, as if trying to push it off Shinta's aura. "Lance, what are you doing?!"

"DIE, SAINTS!" screamed Yakos.

Lance, however, suddenly dropped to his knee while keeping his Barrier pressed against the solar sphere. "Shinta, jump off to my side!" The Andromeda Saint hesitated at first, trying to figure out Lance's plan, but decided to trust his friend. He turned off his cosmos, let go of Corona Blast and leaped to the side.

As a result, the Corona Blast was free to shift its pressure to Lance's barrier. The angle of Lance's arm, however, coupled with the Barrier's curved surface, caused the concentrated round sphere of energy to slide off the attack and shoot away harmlessly towards the ruined buildings, exploding once it impacted on the ground.

Yakos stared in disbelief at the unharmed Saints as the dark clouds of Black Raven started to finally let light in, not believing that the Pegasus Saint had managed to nullify his best attack.

The Cassiopeia Saint was also surprised. "He did it! He saved all three of us."

Shinta panted heavily, refusing to let his guard down but glad that he trusted Pegasus. "L-Lance are you okay?"

The Pegasus Saint dropped his hands to the ground. He used his very last strength to maintain the cosmos shield in that grueling second of contact between his Barrier and Corona Blast. "I-I should be asking you that, idiot!"

He gritted his teeth. He saw the three exhausted Saints and wasted no time burning his cosmos once more. He raised his fist. "JUST DIE, ALREADY! CORONA BLA- GAHH!" Yakos screamed, feeling something pierce his other shoulder.

The three Saints widened their eyes in shock. They saw the Bennu Specter's body pierced by a thin, golden beam that came out of nowhere. It dissipated easily, letting the blood gush out the new wound and the Specter fall to his knees. Lance blinked. "W-what the hell?!" All three of them turned around and widened their eyes.

Before them, standing amidst the burning houses, a figure wrapped in full body golden armor stood with his finger stretched at the Specter. He wore a large helmet with a mask on each cheek and red insignia on his forehead that shadowed most of his face. His shoulders were protected by rectangular pads that curved downwards for better coverage and his smooth, decorated golden chest plate topped a metal waist guard of sectioned golden plates. Golden greaves of protruding rectangular knee guards, thick forearm protections of point elbow guards, fingerless gauntlets and a large white cape completed the set, presenting a shining golden knight of long, blue hair that promised to end the situation once and for all.

Yakos saw the fires in the village dying out mysteriously one after the other, obviously the work of the Gold Saint, even though the man did not seem to move. Soldiers started approaching from the southern entrance of the village led by a very tall man of hawkish eyes, long black hair and short beard.

Bennu Yakos cursed Sanctuary. He cursed Pegasus for killing Kairos, thus slowly ceasing the effect of Black Raven. He then looked up to the emerging sun among the black clouds and cursed the gods themselves. But there was one person he would wish the best of luck. His made his cosmos burn, spread his arms as much as he could the sky and saluted him. "LONG LIVE LORD L-" A second, bullet-like beam struck his heart, turning his world red and dark and sending him spiraling towards the floor.

The warriors of Sanctuary all stood there and watched as the Bennu Specter's life faded away. The Gemini Saint waved his arm and ordered his men to sweep the area for survivors and tend to the Saints. The last remaining fires died out and the sun shone in Arcadia once more.

{======================|0|======================}

Pegasus Lance

Strength: 6
Skill:
6
Mind:
5
Spirit:
4
Violence:
7
Cosmos:
Silver Rank

Andromeda Shinta

Strength: 4
Skill:
6
Mind:
5
Spirit:
6
Violence:
4
Cosmos:
Undetermined

Cassiopeia Cynthia

Strength: 4
Skill:
7
Mind:
5
Spirit:
5
Violence:
6
Cosmos:
Silver Rank

Bennu Yakos

Strength: 6
Skill:
5
Mind:
5
Spirit:
5
Violence:
7
Cosmos:
Terrestrial Rank (Silver)

Shaman Kairos

Strength: 5
Skill:
4
Mind:
7
Spirit:
7
Violence:
7
Cosmos:
Terrestrial Rank (Silver)

Gemini Saga

Strength: 6
Skill:
7
Mind:
8
Spirit:
6
Violence:
5
Cosmos:
1300
Final Fighting Score: 8320

Author Note: Final Fighting Score is the power level of the characters and it gives you an estimate of how well a certain character should do in a fight. However, it only tells you who should have the upper hand and does not take in account factors like Cloth power level, strategies, special weaknesses, pre-battle exhaustion and other things so remember, even if the scores are told to you before the fight starts, victory is never automatically granted to the higher power level so as to preserve the tension in the story.

The reason why Saga is the only one who gets a fully calculated score is because I do not intend to give scores to Silver and Bronze Ranked characters so as to not go against whatever opinion you may have over the exact power gap and because it would be problematic in a general manner. In conclusion, only Gold Ranks get FFS scores.

FFS is calculated by multiplying the average of the first five scores with the cosmos score. Some values may fluctuate with certain characters.

{======================|0|======================}

A couple of hours later...

{======================|0|======================}

Gold Saint Gemini Saga watched as the two Specters were stripped of their armor and carried off by the soldiers of Athena. His blue eyes also gazed upon the destruction all around him and he wondered how it was possible that no one in Sanctuary other than the three Saints they found in Arcadia had noticed the atrocity that was going on in one of Sanctuary's most important border areas.

He had been training in southern Macedonia when, all of a sudden, his mastered 7th sense picked up the cosmos of a Specter in the region they were now in together with one powerful Saint cosmos and two other weaker ones. Knowing the region was populated, Saga was also alarmed by the frightening lack of lesser, civilian cosmos so he instantly rushed to the scene. On his way there, he ran past Ionia's company, who had apparently received a message of an emergency flare having been fired near the Ismara outpost region. The urgency of reinforcing the three Saints against the Specter, however, weighed heavily against getting a quick brief from the Fort Commander.

As a result, he was the first Gold Saint to arrive and, according to protocol, should be the only one since the situation was now in control.

All around him, blacked ruins of houses laid and corpses of innocent people were gathered by the soldiers of Peloponesia. Ionia was receiving a report from the Cassiopeia Silver Saint.

Saga reinforced the illusion on his face that protected his identity and approached the two of them. "Anything new?" he asked.

Cassiopeia and Ionia knelt down before him. Saga noticed that the Amazon was still in pain, as she quivered almost imperceptibly while kneeling. "Searches are complete. Lord Gemini. I'm afraid... there was only one survivor." she said. "Unfortunately, we have not been able to find out anything about this raiding group. The Pegasus Saint killed one of the two leaders as well as most of the Skeleton Soldiers while Saint Andromeda and I finished off the rest of them."

Saga berated himself. He should have captured the Bennu Specter for interrogation, perhaps even store him in Another Dimension. However, the Specter seemed ready to attack and kill the three tired, injured Saints and his desire to protect him spoke louder than duty. "Aiolos is starting to rub off on me." he concluded. The first shot that Saga fired in urgency doomed the Specter, and then it seemed like he was going to try a suicide attack while praising Hades. "He didn't seem like he was about to say 'Hades', though..."

"Fortunately, I was able to organize an intervention squad as well as a secondary one that covered the Ismara region, where we found some escaping Skeleton Soldiers, once we received the SOS." commented Ionia. "Who knows how many lives would have been lost if I hadn't acted quickly. Lord Gemini, I'd like to stress the staggering communications deficiency in the area. It is vital that the fortress of Peloponesia receives more funding so we can improve our infrastructures and bureaucracy. More qualified and, preferably, Silver ranked manpower seems reasonable, specially since it has been made clear by this disaster that Hades does not intend to play by the rules."

Saga nodded. "This was, indeed, a disgusting attack..."

Cassiopeia intervened. "Lord Gemini, I'd like to remind you my personal comments in the reports. These Skeleton Soldiers and the two Specters... Their behavior was truly bizarre."

Saga looked once more at the Silver Saint's report. She wrote of how the raiders sounded more like a revolted mob taking back what was theirs than an organized effort from Hades to harass Sanctuary. "It is indeed very likely that extraordinary circumstances revolved around this event. I will speak to the Pope of all this." He then turned to Ionia. "Secure the border areas and evacuate the border villages. You have my authorization to do whatever it takes to prevent more lives from being lost."

Ionia bowed. "I shall stake my honor in it, Lord Gemini. For Athena!"

"Yes, for Athena..." Saga then watched the Silver Saint and the Fort Commander march off to coordinate the final touches in taking control of the area. He turned his sight to the two Bronze Saints and the only survivor of the attack, the girl named Alexis. The green haired Andromeda Saint seemed to be trying t cheer up the traumatized teenage girl. He was more interested, however, in the Pegasus Saint. He had heard much about him.

Saga found himself spotted by Pegasus and locking eyes with him. For a moment, the Gemini Saint got the feeling those red eyes could see right through the shadow of his helmet and into his face. They were quite unnerving and sharp. "I was once told he went to Death Queen Island in a mission... and that he suffered much in it because the Pope did not send a Gold Saint reinforcement. He's probably not grateful for my intervention." He then received a mental message from Sanctuary warning him of a summoning by the Pope. "It matters not. I have much to do and the Pope probably wants to know what's going on. A mere Pegasus Bronze Saint should not be my concern."

Saga then notified Ionia via mental message that he was leaving him in charge. After charging his golden cosmos, he took a single step in Greece's direction and warped off at the speed of light.

Meanwhile, near the medical tents that were mounted by Ionia's men, Andromeda Shinta tried his best to talk to the glass-eyed red-haired girl sitting in front of him. She had finally stopped crying, but the marks of it were painfully clear in her reddened cheeks and her totally defeated spirit was palpable to him. A mantle had been put around her to keep her warm and comfortable and she seemed unharmed, but the true damage was on the inside. He wished he could make her feel better somehow.

"Hmm, your name is Alexis, right?" he asked. There was no response, either verbal or physical. The girl did not even turn her eyes to him. "My name is Shinta. I... I know you've just gone through something terrible, but..." he struggled to figure out what to say. What did you tell someone who lost her parents as brutally and suddenly as she did? He wished he knew the answer. The sight of her sadness was tearing his heart apart. "...but it's going to be okay. Everything is going to be alright... right?"

Lance saw her lower her head further. "Shinta, just leave her be! She doesn't want to talk, okay?"

"But-" Shinta then 'eep'ed almost imperceptibly when Lance gave him the death look. He nodded reluctantly and sat down. "O-okay."

A moment of tense silence then followed, only broken by the sound of soldiers moving back and forth around them. Lance watched the girl just stare the ground, broken, so it caught his attention when she suddenly spoke. "...You said... your name was Lance?" The bronze Saint nodded. "T-thank..." Her face suddenly sank into her palms. "T-thank you for saving me...I... N-no! No, NO!"

Shinta's eyes teared up in sympathy and Lance just looked away as the girl quietly wailed again her hands, trying to contain the tears.

Cassiopeia Cynthia and Ionia approached the group. They seemed to ignore Alexis' sobbing, though they couldn't really tell in the masked woman's case. Lance suddenly felt the tall man's eyes looked down on him. "Pegasus Lance and Andromeda Shinta, you are both congratulated for your heroic interference. Though... it is a shame that you couldn't save more lives..." he commented, a bit bitterly.

Lance scoffed and hid his narrowed eyes from the superior.

Shinta, in turn, just thanked him. "We appreciate that, Commander Ionia. We tried our very best. I wish, too, we could have done more..."

"Don't say that, Shinta." said Cynthia. "You were a real hero, today. Guardnia would be proud of you."

Shinta shook his head. "But Lance did the most of it!" he stressed. "He was brave enough to go after the group of enemies even though he knew it was dangerous. It's because of him that Alexis is still alive. He's the one who should be called a hero, not me!"

Cynthia spotted Pegasus look away nervously with Shinta's compliment. The Amazon, too, had been impressed by his gesture and had to admit she took the nasty stories about him for granted. Maybe Shinta would be fine with him.

Ionia, however, wasn't as appreciative. "Either way, the situation is almost wrapped up. I expect further reports from all three of you. I also demand that the Pegasus Saint present himself for investigation."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Lance exploded.

Ionia was unmoved. In fact, he squinted at the Pegasus Saint in suspicion."I find it very strange that a Saint as uneducated as you are was able to track down the Specter group so fast, so much that you were able to interfere in their attack so soon. I expect you to face proper authorities and explain step-by-step how you were able to deduce so much of the situation just from the leads in Ismara and then find out where they were going to strike next so fast. Moreover, you will explain your decision to send back the Andromeda Saint-"

"I was able to track them because, unlike you, I may be uneducated, but I have actually hunted people down!" Lance interrupted. He stood up and confronted Ionia, looking the bastard right in the eyes. "I don't have to listen to your garbage just because your Silver Saints don't bother training people properly and if you do call someone on me, you can just expect me to report a giant middle finger up our proper authorities' asses!"

"Lance!" protested the shocked Shinta. "Don't turn this into a fight; it's going to be alright. They just want to ascertain the situation! If you explain it to them like you did to me, it will be fine, right?"

"BULLSHIT! They want to tie me to this attack!" Lance accused.

The experienced fort commander scoffed with the youth's outrage. Much like Lord Gemini, he had better things to do than put up with the pouting of an atheist rebel. "You should listened to your partner, Saint Lance. He seems wiser than you are. After all, you have nothing to fear if you are truly innocent." He then turned to Alexis. "As for you, miss, I presume you are fully aware of your situation, correct?"

It took her a while, but the tearing girl raised her face from her palms and nodded slowly. "Y-yes..."

This was the part that was pissing Lance off the most. "I don't get it! I don't get why Alexis has to be dragged into forced labor!"

Ionia explained. "Her family contracted very serious financial problems. Whatever small savings their lower salaries of miner and farmer may have gathered, it is not enough to pay the debt she has inherited to Sanctuary. Moreover, as a citizen of Sanctuary, she is obliged to pay that debt to the Golden Zodiac for letting her live under the protective rays of our Goddess Athena." His eyes turned to the road that would lead to the mine that financed the village. "Since she has no qualifications and since the iron mine that was the lifeline of Arcadia has lost today so many workers, it only makes sense she picks up the work her parents will now not."

"Great idea, we'll let the radon kill her!" Pegasus protested. He had heard much of the dangers of deep mining since there was a closed stardust mine in Mount Olympus. "I don't know why I went through the trouble of keeping her alive! You're just going to send her to die of lung cancer and mine collapse!"

As the others judged by the narrowing of his eyes, Ionia was enjoying Pegasus' tone. "Sanctuary needs that mine operating. We have lost many miners in Arcadia and many soldiers in Ismara and I will make my first priority to secure the military footing and resource extraction factors provided to Sanctuary by all regions overlooked by Peloponesia!" He argued. "Miss Alexis will be fine and she will rejoice in serving our goddess." He saw Lance unsatisfied by this. "She should be thanking me. I'm providing her a much better alternative to debtor's prison."

Lance tried to think of something to counter argue with. He could just immediately tell that appealing to Ionia's kind side would never work. He was hellbent on making the best of the situation even if that meant forcing the single survivor Lance rescued to a lifetime of dangerous, back-breaking mine work.

To everyone's surprise, though, Alexis intervened. "No, I won't do it." Even without raising her sobbing head, she could already feel the indignant glare of Ionia fall on her. "I watched my father live a miserable life in the rock hole. He'd never let me work in that place and I wouldn't want it anyway!"

"That's not your choice, young lady!" Ionia threatened. "You lived in Sanctuary, were raised by Sanctuary and you kept your life today in the midst of such carnage thanks to a man from Sanctuary. If you don't pay your family's debt, you will face trial and you will be sent to jail!"

"I never said I wouldn't pay. I just said I wouldn't work in that mine." Ionia then gave her a look that asked for an explanation. "You said we lost many miners, but also a lot of soldiers from Ismara. I..." She took a moment of hesitation and gulped. "I will join the army!"

Everyone widened their eyes. Cassiopeia Cynthia, as a female Saint, was the first to interfere. "Do you know what you're saying, Alexis? If you join the army, you'll have to undergo Saint training. That means that failure is not an option! You will die if you give up and you will not be able to take the path of the foot soldier after your third year because you're a girl."

"I know that!" Alexis protested. "I know what I'm doing..."

Ionia growled to himself. They had enough weak women taking Cloths from strong would-be Saints. Being wise enough not to advocate that in front of a Silver Saint Amazon, he attempted to dissuade her. "You are too old! Recruits over ten years old are not allowed!"

For the first time, Alexis look right in Ionia's eyes. "I have unlocked my cosmos already! Even if its small, I can join at my age if I've done that."

"You will fail due to weakness then!" Ionia shouted, referring not to her gender, but said smallness of her cosmos. "How will you repay Athena's kindness with so little potential and education?"

"I was ten when I joined the army and I didn't have any cosmos." Pegasus interfered. He smirked. "Taking that in consideration, I'd say she stands a better chance to join the army than I did. Have her join the recruitment process that kills nine out of ten candidates! Doesn't Athena say you should protect people's right to choose? I'd say that extends to how her citizens want to pay her taxes and tithes." He only detected a slight gritting of teeth on the Fort Commander. "I thought so."

Ionia narrowed his eyes. More and more he disliked Pegasus, specially with the way he referred to their Goddess with such spite. "I expect you to present yourself by the end of the week for investigation. Do me and favor and miss the deadline. It will give me the pleasure to personally head the squad that will hunt you down." Ionia then walked off, leaving an enraged Lance, a bewildered Shinta and a heart broken Alexis in his wake.

"Asshole! What the fuck is wrong with him?!" Lance growled.

Cynthia sat by Alexis and rubbed the broken bird's back to calm her down. "He's a veteran from the Civil War of eleven years ago. He fought under Akassios, the former Gemini Saint. Lots of men under Akassios' leadership turned into very strict and zealous people, just like Ionia. But Ionia actually isn't so bad compared to some other Saints I've met from that time since he actually tries to do what's best for Sanctuary." The Amazon let Alexis rest her head on her shoulder and comber her red hair with her hand. "It's okay, darling. You're going to be fine."

"Are you going to stay here for now, Saint Cynthia?"

The Silver Saint nodded. "Yes, but you should head back and do what Ionia told you. I, too, have many things to do." She stood up and offered her hand to Lance. "It was nice meeting you, Saint Pegasus." Lance was taken aback, unused to be treated well by Amazons or Silver Saints for that matter. He hesitated, but eventually shook her hand. She then turned to Shinta and hugged him tightly. "It was good to see you again, Shinta. You've grown up so much since I last saw you. Remember what Guardnia taught you and keep doing your best."

Shinta nodded. It was so nice to catch up with a person who had almost been like a mother to him in Andromeda Island. He wished it had been in different circumstances. "Thank you, Saint Cynthia." She then let him go off to his life. Shinta noticed that Lance had already trailed off and hurried after him. "W-wait! Lance, wait for me!"

The Pegasus Saint put hands in pockets and sighed. He tried to forget about Ionia and especially Alexis. He felt bad for leaving her in such state, but there was nothing he could do for her. He sensed Shinta reaching him. "Calm down, wuss, I was just getting ready to leave for Sanctuary."

"Without me?" Shinta saw Lance shrug his shoulders. "Lance, are you okay?"

The Pegasus Saint kept walking, wanting to leave Arcadia once and for all. Since when had Shinta start to learn to see through his facade "No, I feel exhausted and sick to my stomach..."

"Have you been able to burn your cosmos into fire like before?" asked Shinta. "That was really cool! How did you do that?"

"Oh, I don't know! How did you block that Corona Blast?!" Lance asked, irritated. "I... Sorry, I'm on edge. I... I should have trusted you..."

The Andromeda Saint blinked. He sensed that Lance was somehow opening up a bit, maybe due to everything that happened that day. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that if I had just trusted in you back in Ismara and brought you with me... maybe we could have saved more lives!" Lance slapped his thigh. "Shit, Alexis' parents and a lot of other people would still be alive now!"

"Lance, what makes you say that?" Shinta demanded to know. "I know that a lot of bad stuff happened, but... I trust you, Lance. I trust your judgment. I'm sure that if you hadn't told me to go back, I probably wouldn't have gotten Saint Cynthia to help us out. She would fire her flare and maybe... maybe something else worse could have happened, right? And, in the end, you saved me from that Corona Blast I was fighting with your Barrier tactic, didn't you?"

Lance scoffed. "Why do you always try to make others feel better? I was complimenting you, damn it! Just take it!" he protested. "Take pride on what you've done. Be selfish for once, it's healthy for you, you know?"

Shinta though hard on this. "I... don't think that's true, Lance. I like helping people, it's just who I am, I guess. I mean, I've been selfish before. Master Guardnia has berated me a couple of times and I've always felt terrible afterward, specially when I injured someone in sparring."

"Agh! Enough with the pacifism, I can't take it! Besides, I have the feeling you'd be fine with that pink cosmos of yours." Lance stopped and confronted him. "What was that all about, anyway? Have you been holding back something on me?"

Shinta's eyes shifted. "N-no, I mean, I..." Lance's stare intensified. "I-It's a power I have! It's nothing special, really."

The torture of a pair of red eyes stabbing through his soul held him in place for a while, but the Andromeda Saint was able to take a sigh of relief when his partner dropped the subject and resumed walking. "Alright, but this isn't over yet. I want you to show that off sometime."

The Andromeda Saint tried to keep up with Pegasus. It had been a horrible, long day. The both of them were tired and they were leaving behind a massacred, destroyed city. Shinta wished he could call Alexis' survival a happy ending, but the future Ionia reserved for her just didn't seem bright.

Instead, Shinta tried to cheer up the person next to him. "Lance, I want you to know that I think you're a good person. No matter what people say, I know you are, specially after what you've done today. You're my friend and my comrade and I'm really proud to be working with you."

Lance widened his eyes, but did not show it to Shinta. Instead, he limited his answer to a whisper that took quite a bit of strength to get off his throat. "Thank you..."

{======================|0|======================}

Present time, Pope's Halls...

{======================|0|======================}

"The massacre of Arcadia was a terrible affair that was left mostly unresolved." said Shion to the Gold Saints. "Despite its severity, it was ultimately labeled as a border friction incident of no official diplomatic impact when it was discovered that the armors worn by the Specters in that battle were partially inactive, indicating the lack of Hades' will in their attack."

Mu raised his hand. "Do you mean that the Specters were acting against their God's wishes, just rampaging across the countryside like rogues?"

Shion nodded. "Correct. Hades' Castle refused to let our emissaries enter and Hades' liaison sent a messenger with a sincere letter of apology for the lack of honor in the Bennu Specter's group. According to her, a large group of at least five Specters and over fifty Skeleton Soldiers had broken off from their army in rebellion, intending to cause chaos on Earth with the armors they took from Hades. Had Hades wanted them to do this, their attack would have been much more brutal and hard to stop. Fortunately," he then waved his hand at the Gemini Saint. "Saga was there to intervene."

Capricorn Kirin addressed the blue-haired boy. "So you met Pegasus Lance then?" Saga nodded. "Did you conclude anything special?"

Saga reflected deeply on that day. It was still something he remembered clearly as the first incident with Hades' forces since he became a Gold Saint. "He did not strike me as someone ill-intended, but definitely as misguided and angry. He was not of note to me back then so I paid him little mind."

"Unfortunately," resumed the Pope. "Pandora's message, which happened to be correct, meant that three other Specters were still at large. As Aquarius Malta recalls, I had him sweep the land for any information on Specter sightings. However, they hid themselves well." Shion joined hands behind waist. "The next chapter of Lance's career, however, resolved that matter. I am talking of course, of the assault on Andromeda Island..."

{======================|0|======================}

Chapter End

{======================|0|======================}

Next Chapter: Andromeda in Chains, part 1 of 2

Release Date: August 31, 2014

Description: Months after the attack on Arcadia, the two Bronze Saints receive word that Shinta's Training Ground, Andromeda Island, has been attacked by an unknown force. They rush off to rescue Shinta's Master, but things don't go as planned.

Author's note: Thus ends the first new storyline of the revamp. Older readers may recall that Lance's awakening of the fire cosmos was something glossed over and premiered in the next storyline when Lance first used the Flame Attack. However, I wanted to take the opportunity provided by the revamp to tell that story in detail, which in turn would give me the chance to dive more deeply into Sanctuary's reality, introduce a couple more characters and set up the future of the story better. I hope you enjoyed it.

For those of you who don't know, Ionia is a character from Saint Seiya Omega which, yes, much like Lost Canvas, Next Dimension and Episode G, will be considered 'canon' in LR. There will be careful adaptations to tie all the plot conflicts between the different stories and the old readers know well that I have a plan for all of this.