Chapter 23: Chapter 23 – Battle for the Gold Cloth Part 3

Shiryu POV - Japan, Wind Caves - 1986

Looking a Shun's figure that is slowly descending, I think about his last words 'The Shadow Dragon...?', but before I could further think about his words, I'm roused by my opponent's voice that says "What a waste... Why did you divide your forces for a dead man? You sappy fools are squandering your advantage... and your time", and looking at him and noticing his confidence, so I raise my guard and say "We wouldn't leave him down there even if he was dead, that's our friendship".

But then Black Dragon slowly moves back and says "Friendship... Never heard of it... But thanks to Shun's stupidity, I get to add your name to the list of my victims" and at the same time, he melts into the darkness, hiding his presence from me, 'He disappeared, he melted into the darkness... I'd better do the same, it wouldn't be smart to let an invisible enemy see me', and thinking that I do the same, but as soon as I did so, I felt a strong impact on my chest, making me tumble on the ground.

Still lying on the ground I mutter "How did he find me?", but the next second I feel the movement of wind coming from my back, and on instinct, I quickly get up and jump away, and soon after the ground where I was standing broke as a result of a strong impact, but then another strong impact came to my stomach and once again I find myself facing the ground.

"I don't get it, how can he attack with such accuracy? can he see in total darkness?" I question myself loud enough, that Black Dragon replies "Exactly! Your movements are as obvious to me as if we stood in daylight", and I once again get up and this time I move to my right, but Black Dragon is still able to follow me, and repetitively hits me with punches and kicks, 'Luckily, I'm able to use my Cloth to block all these blows, but still the situation is bad, I'm like a blind man fighting a sighted one... If I can't see my opponent, I can't strike him...'.

But then I notice something, and I raise my guard to withstand the blows and think 'I've got to think this through... His voice and the blows seem to be coming from slightly different places, but... Maybe there are... That's it, the Shadow Dragon shun warned me about..." and right as I realize this another series of strong impacts hits me and send me out of the darkness and into the ground.

And soon notice Black Dragon in front of me that says "Heh, I was told that the mighty Shiryu had the power to make the great waterfall of Lushan flow backward, but you're no challenge at all, I'll end your misery quickly though!", I get up once again and say "Don't pat yourself on the back just yet... This Dragon won't fall without striking at least once...", hearing that Black Dragon mocks me once again "Heh, you think you can strike the Black Dragon...".

But I stop him, and burning my Cosmo I say "I don't intend to strike you yet, I'd rather hit your ally..." and before they could react, I turn around and throw a powerful uppercut behind me into the darkness hitting a young man Identical to Black Dragon breaking his Cloth and making his spit a mouthful of blood, the only difference between them is that this one his clearly blind, and at the same time Black Dragon yells "Brother!".

And as his brother crash into the ground unconscious, I say "So he was telling you where to strike, your blind brother, eh? Your eyes in the darkness... That's why Shun's chains kept shifting, there was a Shadow Dragon hiding in the darkness..." then I shift my focus on my Cloth and I can't help but say "Mu reforged my Cloth stronger than ever... All those savage attacks didn't even scratch it, and since even a nick could kill me right now, I'm especially grateful!"

Black Dragon hears me and says "Really? Then I'll just pulverize your precious Cloth" and I taunt him "Think you can? You couldn't dent it before, even with your brother's help..." but Black Dragon ignores it and as he burns his Cosmo, he says "That's behind us, now we're on equal footing! Now we will see who is the real Rising Dragon!" and in response to him I burn my cosmo too, and the next moment the image of a black and a green Dragon staring at each other appears behind us.

I see Black Dragon raise one finger as he says "One finger... I'll demonstrate my total superiority to you by defeating you with this one finger", and surprised by his bravado I ask "That's funny, did the shock of seeing your brother fall drive you crazy?" but with still a smile on his face he says "Actually, I'm not the sentimental type, I don't care who I see fall", hearing that I can't help but say "So, you Black Saints will ruthlessly use even your own flesh and blood".

And taking his fighting stance Black Dragon replies "Of course, no one on this earth is worth believing in, that's a weakness, It'll only get you turned into worm food... Come on, Shiryu, time for you to feed the worms!!", hearing him, I don't wait anymore and throw a punch aiming at his chest, but I'm shocked to find out that my punch was unable to deal him any kind of damage, in fact, I wasn't even able to move him.

Black Dragon looks at my fist that is still touching his chest and says "That's your best shot... You must be holding back", I try to hit him again and again, but he is easily able to dodge them all, and can't help but scream "I... I can't keep up with his movement!!" then Black Dragon moves closer and says "And now I'll do what I promised" and before I could react, he hits me in the chest with only his finger, I feel the strong impact on my chest and I'm sent flying.

As I crash into the hard ground I think 'Damn... I'm too weakened by the previous bloodloss, my body simply can't keep up at this moment, and I can't unleash the full power of my Cosmo...' but my thought is interrupted as I hear my opponent's voice "Impressive, That Cloth of yours wasn't damaged at all, Mu's skill is extraordinary..." but then he stops as if he realized something, then he grabs my arm and says "So that's why you're so pathetic, eh? You gave your blood to get that Cloth repaired... So, if you lose any more you'll die... Why would you come to a battlefield in this condition?".

To his question, I reply "L-Like I told you, for my friends...", hearing my answer, Black Dragon punches me in the face sending me crashing into the wall, then as I fell to the ground, I felt him moving closer and about to hit me again as he yells "And like I told you, there is no one worth believing in! Cling to your friendship and die, Shiryu!!" but he suddenly stops and moves away from me.

And I hear his voice again that says "Your stupid friends are climbing up, I'll just break this chain and send Shun and Seiya to the bottom forever. I'll still have plenty of time left to finish you, Shiryu...", hearing that I raise my head and look at him grabbing Shun's chain thinking 'Only the Rozan Shoryuha (Supremacy of the Rozan Ascending Dragon) can stop him now... But if I'll unleash the full power of my Cosmo and in my current condition, the Rozan Shoryuha is fatal... as my Master once told me in a weakened state, this move will cause my capillaries to rupture and blood to burst out of my whole body!'.

But I resolve myself and say "But... I have no choice..." and standing once again I yell "Black Dragon, Wait!".

Jayr POV - Japan, Kido Mansion - 1986

Sensing what Shiryu is doing I got up from my chair and can't help but shout in rage "WHY IN THE NAME OF ATHENA YOU TAKE OFF YOUR FUCKING CLOTH ONCE AGAIN!!?" while Saori who is sitting next to me, finish drinking her tea, let out a sigh and says "Well, every Saints has its quirk... As long as they fight for peace, love, and justice, I can accept their flaws...".

Black Dragon POV - Japan, Wind Caves - 1986

I'm shocked and baffled by the fact that my opponent, Dragon Shiryu, removed his Cloth "What? You're removing your Cloth? Have you lost your mind..." but he ignore my question and says "This fight isn't over yet..." and as he burns his Cosmo, blood starts to spurt out from everywhere on his body, and I can help but the question "That's insane! What could be worth this...?", and Shiryu answer "Black Dragon, maybe there is nothing worth believing in for you, but I'm fighting for a world where friendship means something... Orphans like us didn't have mothers or fathers to give us love, so we had to turn to each other, I choose to die for something I believe in!!".

Feeling his resolve I decide to meet him head and test his belief on "Very well, I'll put all my strength behind this next blow, die for friendship, Shiryu!!" but as I move to attack, Shiryu is faster and yelling "Rozan Shoryuha!!" and with an uppercut so powerful that generate a shockwave in the shape of a dragon, he hits me sending me flying, breaking my Cloth, and the next moment I black out before crashing into the ground.

I'm woken by Shiryu's weak voice as he says "There isn't much life left in me... The last of my blood is spilling out..." and with the last of my strength I burn my Cosmo to the max and get up saying "Not yet!!", then moving quickly toward him, I press my finger into his Geshu point and noticing his shocked face I explain "I've pressed the Geshu point, the hemorrhaging will stop now".

Still confused, Shiryu asks "Why... Why are you saving my life...?" and as my strength runs out and I'm about to fall to the ground, with my last strength I say "Maybe I've finally seen something worth believing in... This friendship you keep talking about... But it seems... I'm a bit too... Late..." then as I impact the cold hard ground, all I see is darkness.

Shiryu POV - Japan, Wind Caves - 1986

I'm looking at the fallen Black Dragon with mixed emotions, but then, the sound of Shun's chain quickly ruses me, and walking toward the cliff, I look into the abyss and yell "Shun! Are you all right!? Is Seiya okay!?", and soon, Shun climb up with Seiya on his shoulders and says "Sh...Shiryu, wish I could say he is all right but Just look at him..." and as he gently lays his body on the ground, he continues "His whole body has turned black, what should we do, Shiryu...?".

And indeed, his whole body turned black, but as I was checking his body I remember something that Jayr told me, 'He talked about the Star Life Point, the vital points in a Saints' body that are influenced by the guardian constellation the moment a Saint don his Cloth the first time, by opening those point's not only you can rouse a dying Saint's Cosmo, but you also make them push out harmful Cosmo or substance in the body through the blood, Seiya's constellation is the Pegasus that is made up of 13 stars, now I just have to open those 13 points in his body'.

And so I quickly act and with my finger, I pierce Seiya's body, while at the same time explaining the same to Shun, and the effect is almost instantaneous, from the 13 holes I made, black blood is quickly coming out, and Seiya's skin is returning his original color, "There, all 13 points are open and the bad blood is escaping, let's just hope he doesn't bleed to death... Seiya's fate now hangs on his Cosmo".

Then I equip my Cloth, and together with Shun we pick up the Gold Cloth pieces and move forward, leaving Seiya behind, and after walking for a few minutes, I notice Shun's silence and say "What's wrong, Shun? Worried about Seiya? Have hope, if anyone can survive this, Seiya can... Put it out of your mind, we may encounter Ikki at any moment..." as I was speaking, I hear Shun's chains moves and ask "What is it, Shun?, and he starts looking around and says "My chains just went into defensive mode... My brother is near!" and soon I notice his figure and yell "Ikki!!".

Ikki POV - Japan, Wind Caves - 1986

You are reading story Battle Across The Omniverse at novel35.com

Looking at the figure of Shun and Shiryu, I prepare to fight with them without holding back, as Shiryu speaks to Shun "Stand back Shun, enemy or not, it might be hard for you to fight your own brother" but Shun stops him and after apologizing to Shiryu, my foolish brother, knock him out and gets on his knees saying "Nii-san, my life is yours, I didn't come here to fight you, I came to offer you my life!! If killing me will satisfy you... and allow you to be the strong decent man you once were, I'll gladly give up my life! Since I owe you my life many times over anyway, it's only right".

Hearing that enraged me, 'What the hell am I making all this so you guys can grow stronger... And you give up without even fighting!! Just how much of a fool can you be!!?' and at the same time I say "Shut up you gutless sheep! I'll do you the favor of severing that pasty neck of yours if you want! Die!" but I'm interrupted by Hyoga who appeared behind me saying "To think you would butcher your own defenseless brother...".

I play my part and act shocked by yelling "Hyoga!! Impossible! You're dead! Your heart was impaled..." then Seiya's voice came "Here's one more you guys failed to kill!" and at the same time Shiryu stands up saying "Haa, the whole gang is here, eh?" and turning to Shun he adds "Shun, don't be such a martyr".

And now I find myself surrounded by my brothers, as they as me to surrender, sure of their advantage, but I quickly decide to act and attack Shun with Hoo Genmaken (Phoenix Phantom Fist) hoping to reinforce his psyche, but before I could launch my attack, Hyoga appears in front of me and notices the fact that I stopped and says "Of course, you realize that your Hoo Genmaken won't work, Ikki, as you said, once a Saint has seen a move it will never work on him again... Right?".

And full of confidence I ask "You think you can deflect the Hoo Genmaken?", and sure of himself he replies "That's right, I'll send it right back at you", so I decide to test him and attack with Hoo Genmaken, but Hyoga quickly uses the cold air generated by his Cosmo to make an ice mirror to reflect back the strand of Cosmo I created and making me hit myself, making me revive my worst fears of my time in the Death Queen Island, what would have happened if Jayr didn't come, I saw my master still under the control of Saga, how he tortured me, and how by killing Esmeralda he turned me in the darkest version of myself full of only hate and malice.

But after a few seconds, I focus on my love for Shun, Esmeralda, my Master, and the things I want to protect to break free, and see the scene of Hyoga trying to finish me only to be stopped by Shun's chain, but soon they notice that I broke free and Hyoga asks shocked "H...How did you recover?!" and using the emotions I felt in the illusion to remain in the character I reply "Everything I loved is gone, there's nothing left in me for the Hoo Genmaken to break..." then I burn my Cosmo and yell "C'mon! I'll fight all of you at once! You wouldn't have a chance against me one-on-one!!".

Seeing them not move I decide to go all out "Ha! Did I scare the fight out of you!? This is gonna be too easy! One  Ho Yoku Ten Sho (Flaming Wings of the Phoenix) and you pasty-faced milksops are history!", and so without giving them a chance to react I attack "Ho Yoku Ten Sho!!", I create a vortex of fire in which I and all my brothers are immersed and then project a Phoenix of fire from my hands that flies high in the sky through the Vortex until impacting with the victims making them receive the damage from the Phoenix and the vortex, and sending them all crashing into the ground, unable to stand.

I look around a little disappointed by the fact that they were defeated so easily, but then I notice that the fake Gold Cloth assembled itself and protected Seiya from my move, and on further investigation, I feel Jayr's Cosmo surrounding the pieces of the Cloth, and a little shaken I think 'Just how big is the difference between us!? With only his Cosmo he can make a piece of trash withstand my strongest attack... And from so far away... If all the Silver Saints are as strong as him, I don't want to even imagine the strength of the Gold Saints!'.

But I quickly recover and back in my character I say "The Gold Cloth is assembled! That's impossible... How... You!! How..." and Seiya waking in front of the Cloth says "I don't know... Suddenly the Gold Cloth was in front of me... As if protecting me...", hearing that I reply "Protecting you? Ridiculous... You think it chose you to be a Gold Saint?" and enraged Seiya yells as his Cosmo grows in strength "Well, it sure didn't choose you, coward!! You're not the only one who's had it rough, Ikki!" and he hits me in the chest with a powerful punch, sending me crashing into the ground and shattering my Cloth.

Then Seiya starts lecturing me, about how I wasn't the only one who went through hell to become a Saint, and on how brave and noble I used to be, as I've always protected my little brother Shun no matter the cost, and how I can recover from what it has happened in the Death Queen Island, how he could still sense honor and love in me, 'Is he talking bullshit or is he really sensing what I have hidden under this mask of hate...?'.

Then Seiya ends with "...There's no reason for us to fight..." but I get up from the ground and taking my fighting stance I say "You've lectured long enough, Seiya... While I live, I'll never surrender to anyone!", and burn my Cosmo to attack once again, but with my arm still frozen by Hyoga, Seiya is faster and hits me with a powerful uppercut.

I blackout for a few moments, and only regain my senses when I crash into the hard ground, I get up and notice that my Cloth is completely shattered 'Now I sense it clearly... Shun, Shiryu, and Hyoga are giving their Cosmo to Seiya, that is why his Cosmo is growing stronger each passing second... It's just that Seiya himself didn't notice this yet!'.

Seiya looks at me and yells "Your Phoenix Cloth is Ash! And when I'm done, the evil Ikki will be ash, too!! Pegasus Ryusei Ken (Pegasus Meteor Punch)!!" and I soon see hundreds of light energy punches which look like small meteors coming at me too fast for me to reach and I'm once again hit by Seiya's move, feeling hundreds of impacts all over my body, and I'm pretty sure that he broke many bones in my body with this move, but it's not enough to stop me.

As Seiya moves closer to check on me, I burn my Cosmo to the max and ask my Cloth to use its special ability, and under the shocked eyes of Seiya, I once again raise, wearing my Cloth that is now as good as new, and at the same time the revived Cloth is also healing all the damage I received and seeing his shock and confusion I explain "Surprised, Seiya? I thought you knew the Phoenix was indestructible, unlike your flimsy Cloths, the Phoenix Cloth repair and regenerate itself... I guess I win after all!".

But Seiya doesn't give up and throws another Pegasus Ryusei Ken at me, but this time I'm easily able to block all of the blows with only one hand, and at the same time I taunt him "Your little meteor fart is no threat to a newly reborn phoenix, fool! Your attacks are futile! Admit Defeat!", and I move closer to the stunned Seiya and ask once more "Any last words?" hearing his silence I yell "Then die, Seiya!" and punch with all my strength, but my punch is blocked by Shiryu's Dragon Shield that equipped itself on Seiya's arm.

Seeing this I think 'It's incredible, this level of bond even unconscious Shiryu's Cosmo is supporting Seiya, and his Cloth is doing the same...', then I try to attack him with the Hoo Genmaken but I'm once again blocked, this time is Shun's gauntlet and chain who equipped on Seiya and blocked my move, and this time Seiya finally realized that it isn't the Gold Cloth that is supporting him but his friends with their Cosmo, and now their collective Cosmo can clearly be felt, joining together to become a greater whole.

Seiya now sure of his victory yells "I'm not alone, Ikki! I have many allies!! Without Love or Friendship you can't hope to defeat me!!", and even if inside I'm happy about the level they have finally reached, outside I appear enraged and yell "Absurd!! I'll destroy you and your collective Cosmos with you!" making my Cosmo explode and using the Ho Yoku Ten Sho, but Seiya is able to block it and counterattack with a Pegasus Ryusei Ken but different from the normal one, this one is combined with Hyoga's Icy Aura.

Seiya's attacks breakthrough my defense and I find his fist embedded in my chest breaking my Cloth once more, even while feeling an incredible pain in my chest and almost on the verge of death, a smile marks my face, and at the same time Seiya notice my arm "Ikki, you fought me with an injured arm?" and with a warm smile I say "Heh... It doesn't matter... Even if Hyoga hadn't frozen my arm, you would have won, Seiya..." but he says in a low and sad tone "It wasn't my strength alone, friendship helped me..." but I shake my head and say "Not friendship, it was love that gave you victory... Good job, my dear brother Seiya!!".

Mu POV - Japan, Wind Caves - 1986

With my senses, I can clearly feel that the fight is over, Shiryu and the others have won, and more importantly they were able to combine and attune their Cosmos, but the situation that Jayr predicted really happened, and indeed, my disciple Kiki soon exclaims "Lord Mu, enemies approach!! Several Cosmos coming fast... Fearsome, aggressive Cosmos! What should we do!?" and I calm him by saying "Don't worry Kiki, I've sensed them for some time, and we are ready for them...".

'It seems that I have to get ready to teleport all of them out of there... This will take a lot out of me, but luckily Jayr is here too, so I don't have to worry about conserving my strengths', is what I thought as I felt the four Cosmos quickly move toward this location.

Seiya POV - Japan, Wind Caves - 1986

I'm really shocked by the Ikki in front of me now, 'Not only all the hate I sensed before is gone, but he also has a relieved and proud smile on his face and called me brother, what does he mean by that?' and so I can only ask "You called me 'Brother'?" and he calmly says "Yes, and not only you... Shiryu, and Hyoga lying over there, too, we are all blood siblings, Seiya".

I think my brain stopped working or something, and the only thing I could do is yell "That's nonsense, Ikki! Why would you say that!?" but he replies with calmness "It's the truth, those original 100 children were not chosen at random, we orphans who were assembled by the Graad Foundation to become Saints, had different mothers, but only one man was our father".

Hearing all that, the only thought in my head is 'We are all brothers? Hyoga... Shiryu... Shun... Ikki... Jabu and the others... No way...This is a bombshell... I don't know what to think... Could it be true? How did it happen? If it's true who was he? Who was our father? I've got to know who he is!' and so I steel myself and ask Ikki "Who is our father?! Do you really know, Ikki!?" and Ikki calmly replies looking at me into the eyes "I do... But when you hear his name, you'll want to drain his blood from your body, our father is the man... We all hate more than anyone in the world".

And at that a dreadful realization came to me, 'Our father can only be that old bastard!', but the next moment, the whole cave started shaking like the whole Fuji volcanic chain is now about to erupt, and the cave starts to collapse, I'm worried that we all will be buried alive, but then I hear Ikki's calm voice that says "Haa... In the end everything is happening just as he predicted... Seiya, soon you will feel someone's Cosmo warp around you do not resist, he will pull us all out of this", and before I could ask Ikki what's is going on, I feel a powerful Cosmo warp around my body, and I choose to trust Ikki and didn't oppose any resistance, and the next moment the scenary in front of me changed, gone is the collapsing cave and now, I find myself on a calm and peaceful beach, a beach that I recognize as I recentily came here with Miho-chan, Nee-san, and the kids, this is the Miho Beach.

You can find story with these keywords: Battle Across The Omniverse, Read Battle Across The Omniverse, Battle Across The Omniverse novel, Battle Across The Omniverse book, Battle Across The Omniverse story, Battle Across The Omniverse full, Battle Across The Omniverse Latest Chapter