Chapter 30: Chapter 30 – Sanctuary Battle Part 4

After another set of stairs so long that I feel that we would take the same number of episodes as Dragon Ball Z when Goku ran through the snake way, which for those that do not have PTSD over it, is 13 episodes long, we are finally standing in front of the Libra Temple, a curious and original pentagonal temple with a rectangular entrance, the entrance is through an arch in whose upper part are sculpted in relief the name and sign of Libra, its dome is reminiscent of some Asian buildings, in particular of Chinese origin.

We, quickly walk inside, and move through the main corridor, reaching the main hall, which is a large courtyard surrounded by columns, and in the middle, a big block of clear ice, with Hyoga frozen inside, seeing him in this state, the 3 Bronzes yells at the same time "Hyoga!!!", then moving closer to the ice block, Seiya yells "Hyoga is dead!?", at the same time, Shun that is studying the ice block says "I sense from this ice, a cold Cosmo, even stronger than the one Hyoga usually releases", and Shiryu adds "Only Hyoga's master could have done this! Aquarius Camus!!".

Hearing that, Seiya asks "Why would he come all the way here just to kill his own student!? And isn't he on our side!!? That is going on here!?", not able to endure their melodramatic act any longer, I say "Come on, guys! Use your senses, for once! Can't you feel from his Cosmo that he is still alive... Yes weakened, but alive!", and indeed, after listening to me, they calm down and finally sense Hyoga's weak Cosmo.

Seiya realizes that his half-brother is still alive, burns his Cosmo and yells "There's still a little life left in him, if we get him quickly out of there, he can still make it! I'll get him out of this ice! Pegasus Ryuseiken!!", and throws hundreds of light energy punches, which look like small meteors, but his attack is unable to make even a scratch, and shaking my head I say "Seiya, this is Aquarius Camus' Freezing Coffin, a technique that generates a block of ice so cold that it almost reaches the absolute zero, and is also enhanced by Cosmo, that it means that it will literally never melt, and even a Gold Saint will have problems breaking it...".

Then Shun asks "Can we do anything?", and with still Saori in my arms I reply "Well, there are three ways to break this ice, first with an overwhelming strength, the likes none of you are able to use, the second is to use an even lower level of cold, in this case, the absolute zero, and the last...", and at this point, all of the sudden the Libra Pandora Box appears in the middle of Seiya, Shiryu and Shun, as I continue "...You use the formidable weapons of the Libra Cloth, the only catch is that only the Libra Saint can give the permission to use them and only if he deems it necessary... As Athena usually forbids the use of weapons...".

(Image Here - Libra Box)

But then Saori interrupts me and whispers something that only I can hear, and from the movement of her Cosmo, I know that is the Athena in her speaking "It's not that I forbid them, it is that I hate them, I hate the corruption they cause to men and the useless death they spread, but there are occasions in which they are necessary, that is why the only weapons allowed are those that are part of your Cloths like the Nebula Chains or the Dragon Shield, so that I can be sure that when necessary they will only be used for the right reasons...".

Hearing her explanation, I realize 'So that is why... I have to admit I was always confused by this, Grandpa always told me that Athena hated weapons, but at the same time they trained us in the use of all kinds of weapons, then we have some Cloth with weapons installed on them, it all seemed so contradictory... So in the end Athena hates weapons and doesn't want the Saints to use or rely on them, but she understands that there are situations where they are needed, so some Cloths have them, and as all the Cloths follow Athena's will, she is sure that those weapons will never be used for evil'.

Meanwhile, the Libra Pandora Box opens, and the Libra Cloth in its Constellation Form appears, it represents a scale, the plates are formed by the shields, suspended on a bar created by passing the triple bar through the openings for the arms of the breastplate, swords, spears, and twin bars are located on the plates, while the other three-pronged bar is hooked to the back flanked by one of the tridents, which rises upward in the center, the base of the scale is formed by the back protections on the sides and the central block on the inside, with the helmet covering the waist buckle, the shin guards supporting the breastplate are elongated diagonally outward and the armlets rest on the base of the shin guards.

(Image Here - Libra Cloth)

And as Seiya and the others are looking at the Cloth, I wake up from my musing and continue "...Anyway, luckily for you all, Master Dohko is the current Libra Saint, and I think that both he and Athena will allow you to use these weapons to save the life of your fellow Saint", and with that, I wink in Saori's direction, who nods, and at the same time, Shiryu's fetish kicks once again, so he undresses and says "Thank you, Master Dohko"

Then from the Cloth, 2 pieces fly toward Shiryu who grabs them and as they transform into nunchakus he explains their function and gives a brief demonstration of his ability to wield them to Seiya and Shun and at the same time tries to find the best weapon to use on the ice, after the nunchakus, came the spears, shields, triple rods, tonfas, and swords, and one after another he gave a demonstration of his mastery of the weapons, and after he was done, I put down Saori, move near Shiryu, then faster than he could react, I grab the triple rod, and start bonking him hard on the head as I yell "NO HORNY! It's fine that you what to give a demonstration of your skill and test the weapons' capabilities to have the best chance to save your half-brother... BUT WHY FOR THE LOVE OF ATHENA DID YOU TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTH AGAIN TO DO IT!!!? Keep your exhibitionism at bay! Now put on your Cloth again, or I'll keep bonking you!!".

After my scolding, Shiryu once again put on his Cloth and then choose the sword as a weapon to use in order to free Hyoga from the Freezing Coffin, as with the other weapons there is the risk of cracking Hyoga together with the ice, so he gathers his Cosmo and focuses all his attention on the task, and as his Cosmo once again reaches the 7th sense level for a brief moment, yelling "Revive Cygnus!", with a vertical slash he cut in half the block of ice, freeing Hyoga from it.

As soon as the block of ice broke, it evaporated in an instant leaving behind only Hyoga's body, who now quietly lays on the floor, surrounded by his worried half-brothers, then Seiya with Hyoga in his arms says "He's almost dead from hypothermia! His heart's barely beating!", and Shiryu worried "We can't let him die after all this! We've got to do something...", to which Seiya "But we can't get him proper treatment in this place! What should we do?".

Rolling my eyes, I move closer to them, and unable to contain myself, I imitate one of the most hated characters in books to ever be created "Hem Hem!", at the same time, with a shudder I think 'Oh god! After this, I have to ask Saori to cleanse my soul...', having caught their attention I continue "Seiya, did you land too many times on your head? How did you forget that I'm here!?", and I watch a realization and relief slowly appears on their faces.

I put my hand on Hyoga's head, and send my Cosmo into his body, slowly raising his temperature and healing the damage he received from Camus, which are not much from being with 'Yup, Camus's control over ice is superb as always, he dealt the right amount of damage to make him imprint in his memory the technique and not deal any lasting damage at the same time...'.

After 20 minutes, Hyoga recovers and opens his eyes, then he asks "Wh-what happened? My Master was testing me when he...", and I finish "You failed that test and now you have to take the make-up exam that will take place in the Aquarius Temple... Your master even went as far as to give you repetitions, so that you can be ready for the final exam... so for now recover and study the assignment he gave you!", hearing that Hyoga stood in silence and nodded, then Shiryu helps him up, and we slowly move toward the next destination, the Scorpio Temple.

A few dammed stairs later, we are standing in front of the Scorpio Temple, one of the most simple as it is a temple with a single wing held externally by 2 triads of columns, it is a mixture between a Greek temple and a Muslim temple, on the facade, there are 2 domes on the lateral limits, and the sign of Scorpio in the center with the inscription "Scorpius".

Standing in front of the temple is my friend, Milo, wearing his Scorpio Gold Cloth, and with his arm crossed, but as soon as he saw us, or more specifically Saori in my arms, he gets on his knee and says "Scorpio Milo, welcomes the Goddess Athena, back to her Sanctuary, I'm at your service!", and Saori with her usual calm voice says "Rise, Milo, thank you for everything you have done until now for the Sanctuary".

Then Milo led us inside the temple, and its interior consists only of a large central hall, and while walking through the halls, Seiya asks "So you aren't going to test us or something like that?", Milo doesn't even look at him and replies "You're not weak, you made it all the way to the Scorpio Temple, that's almost a miracle in itself... And most importantly, you guys are with Athena, this is her Sanctuary, and if she is leading you, to me it means that you can pass, I'm not interested in testing and training you, especially since you still have to fight Shura, Camus, and Aphrodite, two of which will seriously try to kill you".

Then Milo turn to me and ask "Jayr, are you sure that you want to deal with Saga yourself...?", and with a confident smile I reply "If I can't delay Saga long enough to free him from that evil influence, then how can I hope to fight against Hades' Specters? Don't worry, at least I'm sure that I won't be killed by him... at least not quickly...",  he nods, but then he nags "By the way, why did it take you so long to come here?".

With a grin, I ask back "Where you so nervous and excited to finally meet Athena that you waited in front of your Temple the whole time as soon as the Fire Clock lit up?", and Milo looks away saying "N-no way! There is no way that I stood in front of my temple for 7 hours waiting for her to come...", and with a wider grin I only say "Tsundere..." then lean my head to the side to dodge the lightspeed scarlet beam of red Cosmo that was aimed at my face, while Milo continues to walk as nothing happened, looks at me with a smile and says "Sorry... A dangerous bee was getting near the Goddess Athena, and as a Saint, I had to do something about it... What were you saying just now?".

As our banter continues, I notice Seiya and the others looking at this scene with their mouths wide open, and turning to them I say "What? You thought that we are all duty and no fun? Even Gold Saints have to let loose from time to time... on this note never give Aldebaran a beer, last time a quiet drink between friends, became a huge party that in the end took over all of Plaka Village and became a festival with songs, dances, snack stalls and all other kinds of fun activities, once that guy let loose there is no stopping him...", and at that Milo nods and adds "Yeah, in the end, the festival lasted 3 days... And it would have continued if Jayr didn't put Aldebaran to sleep to stop him".

I shrug my shoulders and say "I had to... Too many got too intoxicated with alcohol, it was starting to get dangerous", while we were talking, we passed through the Scorpio Temple, and on the other side we stand in front what I'm going to think of as my nemesis from now on, another long ass set of stairs, so we say goodbye to Milo and move on toward the 9th temple of the Gold Zodiac, the Sagittarius Temple.

While I was running up the stairs leading to the Sagittarius Temple, all of the sudden, I felt a strange sensation, almost one of longing, but soon disappeared, but then I notice some kind of shooting star quickly moving toward the temple in the distance, and I'm not the only one as Seiya asks "Shiryu! What's that? A shooting star?", and Shiryu just says "It went into the Sagittarius Temple!!", and I calm them down by saying "Calm down, that is the Sagittarius Cloth that we brought here, it felt our and Athena presence moving closer to its temple and returned there to welcome us".

Soon after that event, we stand in front of the temple, which is similar to that of the Scorpio although it incorporates the inscription Sagittarius and a sculpture representing a Centaur with an arrow and a bow, walking inside we find that it is divided into several rooms and corridors, with apparently with no exit, and while walking through these dark corridors, I warn the others "Be careful of your steps, this temple is full of annoying traps...", and indeed moving forward we find all kinds of traps, from the classic pitfalls to volleys of rock arrows.

At the end of these annoying dark corridors, we reach a wall, next to which is the Sagittarius Cloths, that as soon as it feels our presence points its bow at one point on the wall, even if it seems like it is pointing at a now baffled Seiya for some strange reason, to which I say "Seiya, take a step on the right and you'll see that it isn't aiming at you", Seiya follows my instruction and indeed, the bow remains aimed at the wall, then the next second, it let out the golden arrow which pierces the wall, breaking in such a way, to reveal the message hidden behind the wall.

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I move close to it and say "This is Aiolos' final testament... τα παιδια ηρθαν εδω αφηνω την Αθηνα σε σενα, Αίολο (írthan ta paidiá edó Sou afíno tin Athiná, Aíolo), it means 'To the youth that came here I entrust Athena to you, Aiolos', it seems that he can now entrust Athena's life to you..." then I whisper to Saori "...He is still watching over and protecting you", at the same time, I notice a Cosmo coming from the Cloth into Seiya and the other's body, restoring their strengths, while they are still moved, by Aiolos' trust and loyalty, then the exit to the temple reveals itself, and once outside, I notice that the sky is now becoming dark, and looking at the clock, I see that 8 hours indeed passed since we started this.

Then with renewed vigor, we move toward our next destination, the Capricorn Temple, guarded by the Spanish, Japanese named, warrior of a greek Goddess, using a British myth as a basis for his strongest techniques, brainwashed to follow the orders of an evil spirit possessed guy with a dual personality, Capricorn Shura.

And soon we reach the Capricorn Temple, it has classic greek architecture, on the roof, there is a sculpture, similar to that of the Sagittarius Temple, obviously this one representing a goat, under the entrance there is the inscription Capricorn and below it the zodiacal symbol of Capricorn, after crossing the entrance of the temple, we find a dark corridor at the end of which is a showcase in which there is a statue of the goddess Athena giving the sacred sword Excalibur to the first Saint of Capricorn, and the ceiling of this showcase is adorned with reliefs of angels and the original saint of Capricorn riding a horse and carrying Excalibur in one of his hands, representing the main technique that all the Capricorn Saints learn.

Looking at that I can't help but think 'But what in the holy Elysion has Athena to do with Excalibur!? Wait! I remember that I read somewhere that King Arthur's myth took inspiration from the Greek ones... In fact, there is a similar greek myth of the sword of the Athens King, Aegeus that he hid under a rock for fear of the usurpers, he then persuaded his wife Aethra to tell their son Theseus about it only when Theseus was strong enough to lift up the enormous rock, it is similar to Uther and Arthur myth... So in a really broad sense, Athena does have authority over Excalibur... Wow... The more you know...'.

At the same time, we keep moving, and Saiya yells "I don't sense any Cosmo! Maybe we can pass right through!", but I quickly remind them "Fat chance! As soon as we leave the Capricorn Temple we'll find a huge backyard, it is usually used by the Capricorn Saint to engage in combat against those who have dared to cross his temple because if they fought inside it, the statue of Athena could be damaged, stained or sullied... It's kind of the tradition of this temple so do not lower your guards!".

And indeed as we were running through the backyard, a sharp Cosmo slash came creating a huge chasm, but thanks to my warning beforehand, they were ready for it, so everyone was able to react in time, but our group still split into two, one made of Seiya, Hyoga, and Shun on the side of the stairs leading to the Aquarius Temple, the other made up of me, Saori and Shiryu, still on the backyard of the Capricorn Temple.

Then I hear a laugh, and an arrogant voice says "He He He... Your friends were able to jump in time, but apparently you guys lacked the courage to do it yourself, or did the chasm I created, made you weak-kneed?", Shiryu turn around and says "If I had leaped, too we might've all been hurled into the depths of the earth by your second attack", hearing that, the same voice says "Ha! You mean you stayed behind so those three could safely escape, you impudent fool!? But what about your friends here, why did they stay behind too?".

And after giving the signal to Seiya and the others to move on, I turn around and finally look at Shura, a tall, slender, and athletic young man, he has short, spiky hair with bushy sideburns, his eyebrows are thin and his eyes are sharp and narrow with small opaque irises, the color of his hair and eyes is teal green, and of course, he is donning his Capricorn Gold Cloth.

I admit that the Capricorn Cloth is one of the most complex and aesthetic, it provides full protection and its design is purely medieval and beautifully ornamented, the headpiece is a mask where in its front part it largely protects the face, covering the cheekbones and cheeks, only leaving free the eyes nose and mouth, in the forehead protrude the elongated and sectioned horns of the goat, the chest piece, like the rest of the Gold Cloths, provides complete protection from the neck to the waist, it is adorned with ornate spirals very similar to Greek and Spartan armor but in relief, the shoulders pieces are concave in shape and of significant volume, simulating the armor of an armadillo, it is made up of several embed plates and has spiral ornaments similar to the chest, a curved horn protrudes from its edges.

The waist piece is comprised of a thick belt in which it has two pieces assembled on its lower part, it has the same pattern in ornamentation, the arms pieces have a complex and elegant design, they are made up of several plates one on top of the other to provide ample protection to both extremities, and the legs pieces maintain a similar design line to the armguards and cuff.

(Image Here - Capricorn Shura)

After a quick glance and a bit of sensing with my Cosmo to confirm his situation, I say pointing at Shiryu "Well, I decided to stay here to stop him from doing something stupid and to free you from Saga's control", hearing that Shura smirks "I'm sorry to burst your bubble but Saga doesn't control me, I'm doing everything by my own will, after all, I'm a Saint of Athena, and Saga's orders are Athena's will..."

Hearing that a smirk appears on my face and I say "Yeah the almost void and opaque eyes are a clear indication of that..." while thinking 'And with that, I confirmed what kind of control Saga is truly using to keep Shura on a leash... He inputted in his brain the idea that all the orders Saga is issuing him come in fact from Athena herself, and Saga is in fact only a messenger... So in a certain sense Shura is doing everything by his own will... His will to serve Athena as one of her loyal Saint'.

While I was thinking that, Shura's Cosmo spikes as he says "You're going to regret those decisions, boys!! I'm Shura, the Capricorn Saint!! It was I who mortally wounded the traitor Aiolos as he attempted to flee 13 years ago!!", and at the same time, Shiryu's Cosmo grows in intensity as he says "Now, I'm really glad I didn't jump! I'll beat you with every ounce of strength left in my Cosmo and avenge Aiolos!!".

Shura let out a mocking laugh and says "You said you are going to beat me up, pup? Little fools with big mouths disgust me!", then faster than Shiryu could reach, he swings his right arm and releases another a very sharp blast, composed of extreme Cosmo concentration, that cuts deep into Shiryu's right leg and splits the ground beneath him 'Ooh, Shura is toying with him, that is why there is only a deep cut on his leg instead of simply being cut off like the ground beneath him...After all, his technique Excalibur, can easily cut through a Silver Cloth, and with the right power even a Gold Cloth isn't safe from it, the weak human flesh is a joke compared to them!'.

And indeed, as Shura says "Surprised? Have another one!" he swings his right arm once again, and releases two other very sharp blasts of compressed Cosmo, producing two deep cuts on Shiryu's arms, making him fall on his knee, then raising high his right arm and gathering his Cosmo on it to give Shiryu the finishing blow, Shura says "I am the strongest of the 12 Gold Saints! This technique allows me to cut through anything, its name is Excalibur, taught to the first Capricorn Gold Saint by Athena herself using the mythical sword as a basis, and nothing can stand before it!! Die Shiryu!" and swings his arm down, but this time Shiryu is able to react to it, he takes a side step to dodge the sharp blast, and moves closer to a surprising Shura yelling "I won't go down without a fight! Now It's my turn Shura!!"

Shiryu makes his Cosmo explode and with an uppercut, he releases a Rozan Shoryuha (Supremacy of the Rozan Ascending Dragon) generating a shockwave in the shape of a dragon that hits Shura, but as he is blown up by Shiryu's move, he takes advantage of the strength of his opponent's technique, to use his legs to grab Shiryu from his armpits pulling also him up and yelling "How naive! You've used a fool's move against me! You see? You've been sent flying by the force of your own attack! Salto de Piedra (Jumping Stone)!!" and he powerfully throws Shiryu, making his crash against the mountain wall with such force that it cracks.

Shiryu rebounds from the wall and crashes to the ground in front of Shura who says "I'll lop off your head and put you to rest!", and this time, he uses his left arm to release another Excalibur, luckily Shiryu recovers just in time to use his Dragon Shield to block the technique, but in the end under the shocked eyes of Shiryu, the shield ends up cut in half and a shallow cut is also present on his arm, then Shura says "Thank the Dragon Shield, boy, if not for it, your arm would be gone! But now you have nothing to protect you!".

Shura then releases a quick series of Excaliburs and says "Here, I'll strip the rest of the Cloth from you while I'm at it!" and cuts his Cloth to pieces, leaving only the headpiece and the waist piece on his body intact, 'And once again, Shiryu founds himself half naked in a fight... God, he gives more fanservice than a female MC in an ecchi manga...At least his Cosmo is growing stronger with each passing moment and is about to reach and fully awaken the 7th sense'.

Sure of his victory, Shura releases another Excalibur yelling "Have you accepted your doom, Shiryu? This time it's not your Cloth, but you that I will slice in two!!", but before Shura could fully release his technique, Shiryu, in the moment of life or death, finally awaken his 7th sense and pull off a Shinken Shirahadori, blocking Shura's blade like arm, bare handed by clapping his hands and stopping Shura, but his headpiece still ends up sliced in half.

Shiryu, holding a firm grip on Shura's hand, says "Shinken Shirahadori, the ultimate secret move of Budo, passed down in my homeland of Japan, it's a move that will defeat you!!" then as his Cosmo keeps expanding, the phantom image of a dragon appears behind Shiryu as he kicks Shura in the head making his headpiece fall off, and Shura crash on the ground stunned by what he is seeing.

And I take advantage of that moment to quickly move behind Shura, and putting my hand on Shura's unprotected head, I send my Cosmo into his brain and purge Saga's Cosmo from it, freeing him from his control, but Shura turns around and yells "What did you do coward!!" and releases another Excalibur at me, but I easily dodge by taking a side step, and punching him in the face I reply "I freed you from Saga's control, you weren't following Athena's orders, but the orders of an evil spirit of Hades who possessed Saga!!".

Shura gets up once again and screams "That is impossible! Saga is one of the most loyal Saints of Athena, and also one of the strongest!! How can he succumb to an evil spirit! You are lying!!", but just as Shura was about to attack once more a powerful and warm Divine Cosmo appears, then I hear Saori's commanding voice from behind me that says "Stop, Capricorn Shura!", and Shura unconsciously stops his movement, and finally from the first time he notices Saori's presence.

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