NOVEL WEB Chapter 27 – Sanctuary Battle Part 1
Jayr POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1986
Looking at the guide-turned-assassin with his head buried in the ground, I can't help but think, 'Yup, my masochistic training that broke my every bone, and destroyed and rebuilt every muscle in my body, plus the healing art learned from the Asklepios Imerológio (Diary of Asclepius), transformed my body into a force of nature, sure, I'm not at the level of Saitama, but I can punch with enough force to destroy a Bronze Cloth without using Cosmo, and that is saying a lot since the Bronze Cloths can withstand until 4 tons of force...'.
After making sure that the assassin is knocked out, I pull out his head from the ground, then I check and look at the guide/assaulter, he is a young man with a slim but quite athletic build that shows some well-formed muscles in his body, he has a dark complexion, his face has quite common and unremarkable features, his eyes are black, and his long hairs are also black and tousled.
Under his cloak, he is wearing his Cloth, a light blue armor, made up of the headpiece that is shaped like a spike, the right shoulder piece is circular and the left one is made of overlapping plates, the left arm piece is shaped like an arrow, while the right piece is simple in design but covers the whole arm, the chest piece protect only the upper part of the chest, the waist piece is a belt, and the legs pieces are simple and covers the whole legs until the thighs.
(Image Here - Sagitta Ptolemy)
I recognize him and find what I was looking for, get up and say "He is Sagitta Ptolemy, a Silver Saint, you guys should be a lot more careful, he is known to use a technique that consists in projecting a rain of arrows, but these arrows are only an illusion created to confuse the senses or sight of his opponents, with this distraction he manages to connect his attack against the opponent while he is confused... And he wanted to use this on Saori...".
I show them a golden arrow that I found on his body and explain "This arrow is one of the treasures of the Sanctuary, it says that it is able to kill even the gods, after receiving this Golden Arrow, it is impossible for anyone to remove it or heal the wound in the body, and can only wait for his death after twelve hours have passed, once the time has elapsed the arrow will stick in the heart of the victim causing his death... The only way to save someone from this is to use the Aegis Shield".
Hearing that the five Bronze realize their mistakes, while Tatsumi paled realizing in what danger his mistress was a few moments ago, at the same time Saori says "Thank you, Jayr, but we don't have any more time to lose", and as she says that, I notice that the Fire Clock is lit up, and the twelve blue flames are shining brightly on it, announcing everyone of the start of a great battle, 'Luckily Shaina and the others should already have made their move, so the chaos should be contained... I hope...'.
Then under Saori's lead, we all start our climb through the long-ass stairs to reach the Aries Temple, leaving behind Tatsumi as he won't be able to follow us, 'Goddammit, how much I hate these stairs, at a normal running pace it takes 45 minutes from one temple to another... I understand the idea as a defensive means, running up the stairs to reach the temple, in the temple, you find a powerful Gold Saint, and even if you are able to defeat the Gold Saint, you have to tire yourself, even more, to climb another set of stairs for the next temple where you will meet another Gold Saint, rinse and repeat this for 11 times, and I understand why no one since the Age of Myth was able to pass through the Gold Zodiac!'.
After a few minutes, I notice that Saori is having some trouble keeping up, so I quickly move next to her, and pick her up in a princess carry and say "This way you won't tire yourself rushing up these awful stairs..." and with a calm face, she puts her arms around my neck and simply says "Thanks", and at the same time, I and the Bronzes pick up our pace and soon we finally reach the Aries Temple.
The Aries Temple stands out from the rest of the temples for combining Greek and Hindu architecture, it is composed of three wings, in the central one rises a dome inspired by temples in India, in which the area of Tibet that has traces of the cultures of both India and China, 'Probably because, the Aries Saint is almost always a Muvian, and their original architecture reminds of a mix of Greek, Hindu and Chinese... That is also why the surviving ones all reside in places between India and China'.
Once inside the temple, I see Mu's figure waiting for us, he is wearing his Aries Gold Cloth, like all the Gold Cloths, the Aries Cloth cover most of its wearer's body, leaving only a few place unprotected with decorative reliefs all over the Cloth, the shoulder pieces are rounded an coonected with the chest and waist pieces, forming a whole unified protection, but the main charateristic of his Cloth are its horns thus making Mu look majestic and at the same time simple, the arms and legs pieces are rather simple in design but covers almost everything leaving only the fingers, the upper part of the bicipids, and the upper part of the thighs unprotected, and of course we can't forget the useless cape that most of the Gold Saints use for cool factor, and I notice that in his arm he has his head piece, a helmet that covers the entire head, from the back, top, forehead and cheekbones, on the sides it has some kind of wings, a three pointed front crest with a bluish syrconia inlaid in the center and a top bar, a thin line of ornamentation that was widely used in Greco-Roman helmets, back ends in a curved and stitched shape.
(Image Here - Aries Mu)
As soon as he notices us, Mu kneels and greets Saori "Goddess Athena, Aries Mu at your service!", and after receiving permission from Saori, he stands up and turning to the Bronzes he says "Put down your Cloths... All but the Phoenix one" and even if confused, they follow Mu order and once the Cloths are out of their Pandora Box, he starts inspecting them and says "Just as I thought, they have managed some self-repair, but most of these Cloths are very badly damaged, you may not see it, but there are myriad of tiny cracks in these Cloths".
Then he once again turns to the Bronze Saints and explains "Listen carefully, Cloths heal themselves to a certain degree... Just as our bodies can heal superficial wounds if left alone, however... In their present condition, your Cloth will crumble to dust if an enemy touches them!" and right at that moment Kiki appears on top of Seiya's head and laughing loudly says "Ha Ha Ha... That's right! So you'd better get on your knees and beg Lord Mu to repair your Cloths for you!!".
Mu calmly looks at Kiki and says "Kiki, my tools...", then turning his head and looking at me, he adds "Jayr, come and lend me a hand... The faster we fix this the faster you can move on, by the way, why didn't you fix their Cloths?", summoning my tools from my Soulbound Territory, I reply "Simple... I forgot about it! Do you have any idea on how many things I have to think about and plan!? Plus do not forget the time to train, to practice my hobbies and spend with my sisters and friends... I simply don't have the time to also babysit them...".
And the next 30 minutes, I and Mu repair the four Bronze Cloths the hardest to fix was the Pegasus Cloth, the one that was repaired not too long ago, 'How the hell was he able to damage it so much in so little time...', and once they equipped their restored Cloths, they can't help to exclaim noticing the difference, starting with Hyoga, who as he checks the repaired Cloth says "Whoa... My Cloths is overflowing with life force!", and Shun adds "I can almost hear it breathing!",
At the same time, Mu reminds them about the strength of the Gold Saints, and that to defeat them they have to awaken their 7th sense, after that, we restart our climb, and after I equip my Cloth, I once again pick up Saori in a princess carry and start running up the now familiar stairs 'I did these so many times when I sparred with Aldebaran that I know everything about these steps, especially their number... By the way, it is 53613, and fun fact, the number is the same for every stair, and if you do this number the 13 times needed to reach the Pope's Chamber, the final number is 696969!'.
Anyway, 30 min of stairs later, we stand in front of the Taurus Temple, a classic structure of Greek constructions, being a great temple supported by columns and internal places, the characteristic to emphasize is that it has a relief of a bull's skull in the frieze, as soon as they saw the temple, Seiya and the others rushed inside, and I slowly follow behind them.
But as soon as I and Saori enter the temple, we are meet with the scene of Seiya and the others being blow back, and the next moment, the imposing figure of Aldebaran donning his Cloth can be seen, slowly stepping forward, blocking the Bronze Saints advance, "You may not enter the Taurus Temple of the golden bull as you please! I, Taurus Aldebaran won't allow it!! I'll test your mettle as Saints of Athena!!!".
At first glance, the external structure of his Cloth is reminiscent of an armored cow, imposing and thick spikes protrude from the shoulder and elbow pieces, the integral helmet sports the two classic curved horns of the bull, and on the center a perpendicular row of spikes along the tangent of the entire helmet, the shoulders pieces are loaded with huge protections resembling thick shields, the chest piece is simple but the metal of the stomach clearly marks the abdominal muscles, apart from the numerous protrusions, it is in itself a simple garment, no decorative stone is inlaid, only several simple drawings are glimpsed on the chest and shoulder pieces, while the waist piece is truly original it is a strip of several polygonal and assembled pieces that protects the waist.
(Image Here - Taurus Aldebaran)
After seeing him, the group of Bronzes starts their attack, the first to move is Seiya who uses his Pegasus Ryusei Ken, throwing hundreds of light energy punches at the same time which looks like small meteors, and seeing the speed of his attack I think 'Oh... He really improved, that attack is at Mach 2 speed, at the level of a Silver Saint... But it is way too slow to be a threat for Aldebaran... Well not that he needs to dodge'.
And indeed, Aldebaran stands still, and lets Seiya attack hit him, but it is unable to deal any kind of damage, at the same time, Shiryu, Shun, hyoga, and Ikki try to pass through him, but faster then any of them could reach, he punches them all sending them crushing on the ground, and of course I stealthly make them pass out as this is Seiya's fight and the one where he hopefully awaken his 7th sense, then he says "I told you, I wouldn't let you pass, to get through you'll have to defeat me".
Aldebaran then takes his fighting pose, and cross his arms ready to deliver a powerful blow at a moment notice, and seeing Seiya confusion he taunts him "I don't need to assume a fighting stance against Bronzes, I can defeat you as I stand!" and to further instill this idea, he throws a punch hitting the wall behind Seiya, creating a big hole on the wall, at the same time willingy leaving behind a hint for Seiya about his technique.
I look as Aldebaran tries to demoralize Seiya, but he ignore him and jump to deliver his Pegasus Ryusei Ken from a higer position, but Aldebaran blows away Seiya and his attack with a low-powered Great Horns, making Seiya crash through 4 wall, and once on the ground, Seiya says in pain "Th-the Great Horns... It's like every joint in my body has been dislocated".
At the same time I explain to Saori "The Great Horns, Aldebaran's technique, consisting of a fist strike at the speed of light, which allows him to strike at a distance thanks to the energy blast released by his Cosmo, for someone who is not able to move at the speed of light, the movement of the fist is imperceptible, such an attack is capable of shattering the victim's bones and body into a thousand pieces, resulting in immediate death without any suffering, on the other hand, those with a protection capable of resisting the impact of the blow, end up paralyzed, unconscious and temporanely lose their sense of touch".
Aldebaran calmly walks near Seiya and says "Mu and Jayr did you no kidness by repairing your Cloth for you, your damaged Cloth would have disintegrated and your vitals organ with it..." then he starts stomping his feet on Seiya chest, breaking the ground below him and slowly burying him, and listening to his words I can't help but scoff in a low voice "Yeah! Like the most physically powerful Gold Saint can't break a mere Bronze Cloth with his finger if he really wanted to..." and Saori calmly looks as Aldebaran stomps Seiya in the ground and says "His control over his force is perfect, he is hurting Seiya enough to push him past his limit, but without permentaly damage, anything... and it is working as we expected, Seiya's Cosmo is growing stronger as we speak!".
Indeed, after being buried into the ground, Seiya's Cosmo grows stronger enough to reach the threshold of the 7th Sense, and jumping out of the hole, he attack Aldebaran with his signature move, forcing Aldebaran to use his hands to block it, then Aldebaran uses another Great Horns to send Seiya flying, but with Saori's Cosmo support, he once again stand up, and his Cosmo grows even stronger, so much that he finally awakens his 7th sense.
And this can be cleary seen in their next clash, as Seiya this time is able to follow Aldebaran's light speed movements, and is able to barely block his Great Horns, but the power behind it is still too much for him, and is blown away once again, but that was enough to push Seiya beyond his limit, and is Cosmo answer by reaching the max level possible, and as he stands once more, the phantom image of the pegasus appears behind him, and during their next clash, Seiya is finally able to refelct back the Great Horns, resulting in a blast that sends both of them flying, But Seiya who was ready for it, use it to his advantage to take Aldebaran by surprise, and with a karate chop he breaks the left horn on Aldebaran's helm.
Seiya looks at his opponent triumphally and yells "Well, Aldebaran? Are you man enough to acknowledge defeat!? Or do I have to break off the other horn?" and in response to that Aldebaran starts to laugh loudly and says "No, Seiya you win! Ha ha ha... You can go, pass through the Taurus Temple", at the same time, I wake up the sleeping beuties, who then rush to Seiya and congratulate him for his win, while I move closer to the broken horn to find an answer to a question I had since I became friends with Aldebaran.
Picking up the horn I start to examining it 'Hoo...!! So this is what happened!! It's Saori's Cosmo who helped in breaking the horn of the Taurus Cloth, after all to break a Gold Cloth you need a power comparable to the Big Bang, and no matter how much plot armor Seiya has, his newly awakened 7th sense can't reach such power, hell not even the Gold Saints normally can, if not by using the forbidden technique Athena Exclamation, or they pull off a miracle! In this case the Taurus Cloth just followed Athena wishes and broke itself under Seiya's blow so that he can pass through, and I think that the same happened in the original timeline'.
My musing is interrupted by Aldebaran's voice who says "Seiya, if you think it will be this easy up ahead, you're wrong, don't underestimate the Gold Saints!", and Seiya replies "I know, you gave me a good taste of what a Gold Saint can do" the together with the rest of the Bronzes, he rust ahead leaving I and Saori behind.
And at that moment, Aldebaran turns to Saori and knees giving his greeting "Taurus Aldebaran greets the Goddess Athena! It's an honor to welcome you in my temple, excuse me for not greeting you earlier", Saori acknowledge him and tells him to stand, then I move next to him and simply put the broken horn on his helm and with a little of Cosmo from Saori, the horn fixes itself under the surprised eyes of Aldebaran that asks "How is this possible, I'm sure Seiya broke it!?", but I shake my head and explain what really happened, making him laugh once again.
Then I pick up Saori once again, and follow after the Bronzes, while Saori says "So far, everything is going according to the plan... But the next temples will be the ones of our enemies, and in the end a true fight between Saints will happen...", still climbing up I reassure her "Do not worry, I'll do everything possible to make sure that no one loses his life today! You have my word as your Saint, and your friend!", and hearing that, a small smile appear on her calm face for a few seconds, before turning back to her patented stony face,'Man... I'd like to make her smile more, but with all the burdens she shoulders, it will be a hard task to accomplish... Well, I'll try my best!'.
After some time, we finally reach the Gemini Temple, a small temple that is formed by three wings, two side wings that join with the first one inside, which is modified to create the Labyrinth of Gemini, what most characterizes this temple is that on the outside of the two lateral wings are sculpted images of two angels, representing the duality of the guardian, one of them holds a lyre and the other a serpent.
As soon as we stand in front of the temple, we see Seiya and the others running out of the temple confused, and I quickly understand what is going on by the presence of a secondary temple idendical to the original, so as they were about to rush inside once again, I yell at them to stop and start explaining "It is useless to blindly rush inside, right now Saga activated the barrier inside the temple, the Labyrinth of Gemini, when this barrier is activated, the interior of the Gemini Temple becomes an endless labyrinth that disorients all enemies, who wander around inside the Temple without finding the true exit, the opponent is further confused by the appearance of a second illusory Temple".
Hearing that, Ikki asks "Then how are we supposed to pass through this temple, if everytime we rush inside we are sent back to the entrance!?", still with Saori in my arms, I reply "It is pretty simple... One of you close your eyes, and let his Cosmo guide him, leading the way for everyone else... After all it is only an optical illusion... But you should still be careful because Saga can still attack you from the Pope's Chamber using his technique, Another Dimension, trust me you don't want to be hit by that one unless you know how to teleport yourself from a dimension to another, and to use such powerful teleport you need to have awakened your 7th sense to be able to feel a familiar Cosmo to follow... Now let's move on!".
And so we all rush inside the Gemini Temple, in the end Shiryu was chosen to be the one to lead us all, and all seems going well, at least until Seiya yells "Shiryu, stop! Enemy ahead! It's the Gemini Gold Saint!" and indeed in front of us there is a completily black figure wearing the Gemini Cloth, seeing this I warn the others "Do not recklessy attack it! This is Saga's Empty Gemini Cloth, an ability with which the Gemini Saint controls his Empty Cloth remotely as if it were a puppet, while projecting his voice as well as the illusion of a body within it, this makes his opponent believe that the Gold Cloth is being dressed by an individual who stands in his way."
As I'm explaining that, I study the Gemini Cloth, the head piece is integral, under the plates are the famous faces of the two twins, symbolizing the dual nature of the sign, they are human faces carved in relief, idealized but expressive and large, more or less like a real face, the one on the left is the "good" face and is recognizable by its serene expression, the one on the right is the "bad" face, with slanted eyes and mouth twisted into a grimace.
The chest piece covers the entire chest, abdomen, hips, back, pelvis and hips, even making a belt, it is a metal plate that wraps around the chest equally in all directions, rotating over the shoulders and under the arms to form a back protector, the rest of the piece is a flat, smooth plate, covering the entire chest and hips down to the groin, where it becomes a belt, on the abdomen is a hexagonal plate that attaches to the belt buckle.
The shoulder piece are semi-oval, with a flat top edge, the arms pieces, compared to the rest of the Cloth, are funnel-shaped, they are mostly cylindrical and protect hand, wrist and forearm, passing from the fingers to the elbow, the leg protectors cover that limb completely, elongated in correspondence with the calf, the shin guards on the upper front edge overlap the knee pads.
(Image Here - Empty Gemini Cloth)
I move near Shun and in a low tone I whisper to him "Despite how simple it seems to be, it is a complicated technique, that requires all Saga's concentration to maintain, and can be quickly undone at the slightest disturbance of the one who executes it, so use your chains to secure all of us from his technique, while I disturbe his concentration, once you have the opportunity use your chain to attack him", at the same time, Saga says "It seems that you know my identity, but that doesn't matter, you will all die here! Behold the power of the Gemini Gold Saint!! Another Dimension!"
Under Saga's command, a crack in space opens behind us towards an alternative dimension that, with great power, tries to absorbs us, this dimension has the appearance of a spatial void filled with planets, nebulae and distant stars, but luckily Shun followed my command and secured us with his chains, but we are still being slowly pulled toward the endless void, and in the end the chain around Hyoga breaks, and he is sucked into the unknown dimesion, seeing this makes me a little worried about him.
But I calm myself reminding myself 'No, focus Jayr, you told Camus about this possibility he should be able to save him!', so I focus on my senses, and seach for Saga's Cosmo, I quickly find him knowing his general position, and so I flare my own Cosmo, momentaly disturping Saga's one and stopping his technique at the same time, then Shun burning his Cosmo says "Saga-san, do you know why Andromeda has two chains? The circle chain on my left is for defense... And the triangle chain on my right is for offense... The differece between the chains is usually slight, but when I burn my Cosmo their special characteristic become clear! The circle chain protect me with a wall of steel, the triangle chain finds and attacks the enemy wherever he may be...".
Then as Shun explodes his Cosmo, he throws his triangle chain and yells "Go, my triangle chain! The one you seek is not the puppet before of you... but the one pulling the strings from afar! No matter how many light years away he is, fin him and strike him down! Thunder Wave!!", and under Shun command, the tip of the chain zig-zags like a wave-shaped lightning bolt that releases lightning and generates a powerful piercing attack, simulates the movement and visual form of lightning, the tip then open a crack in the space where it disappers, for a few seconds, before returning, with some kind of medallion entagled on the chain, the one I remember seeing on Saga's neck when he disguise as the Pope.
And indeed as soon as the chain returned, the Empty Gemini Cloth stops moving and return to its Constellation Form, it represents a strange figure with two heads and four arms, it is obviously the twins, but the shape of the object is such that it looks like two people fused at the shoulders and legs.
(Image Here - Gemini Cloth)
Even the illusion around us disappears, allowing us to move forward, after I reassure them of Hyoga safety, telling them that I warned his master about this possibility, and so we once again start climbing the hellish long ass stairs, toward the Cancer Temple, guarded by that sicilian bastard of Salvatore, who is mostly known as Deathmask, for his creepy hobby of decoring his temple with the faces of his victims.
