Chapter 44: Chapter 44 – Fighting the Specters Part 2

Deathmask POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1987

Hanuman Tokusa looks at me and starts to laugh "Ha, ha, ha! You, judge me? I can clearly feel all the innocent blood on your hands... Hell, even in this Temple the echo of all the terrible things you have done still resounds loud and clear! It isn't clear who will judge who...", then I feel him ignite his Cosmo, he rises his right hand pointing at the ceiling, and summons a great number of departed souls, all taking the shape of bright light balls, that start revolving around him.

With a smirk, Tokusa says "Let's see what they think about you...", and he points at me with his index finger yelling "Seki Shiki Nyoi Reirin (Spiritual  Departed Soul Summoning)!!", he manipulates the souls and turns them into a rain of large energy bolts, all aiming at me, too fast for me to counterattack, so I'm forced to dodge, but they are too many, and soon I'm hit by countless energy bolts, that sends me crashing into the wall.

Luckily, my Gold Cloth protected me from most of the damage, and as I slowly get up, still a little stunned by the blow I just received, I think 'Urgh... The number of attacks is overwhelming, but the power behind them is not so much, in fact, I can say it is weak...', at the same time, I hear Tokusa's voice "Whoa... I never summoned so many souls... It seems that many of them have something to settle with you... You really are a piece of shit!".

I recover and reply, easily admitting my mistakes I say "Yeah, sounds about right... For some time I got lost in the feeling of power, lost sight of myself and my duty, and made many mistakes that caused the deaths of countless innocent lives, in the end even my own Cloth abandoned me... But I've changed, when I met Helen and the kids and saw their struggles and love for each other, I realized the mistakes I made... And swore to fight to protect every innocent life no matter how small or weak", and as I declared this, I once more feel the Cancer Cloth resonate with me and my Cosmo starts to grow even stronger to levels that I was never able to reach before.

Tokusa raises his right hand, and once more, summons the departed souls as he says "It doesn't matter... You will still die here and your soul will be tormented for all eternity...", he points at me with his index finger, and yells "Seki Shiki Nyoi Reirin (Spiritual  Departed Soul Summoning)!!", manipulating the souls and turning them into a rain of large energy bolts, but this time, I'm ready for it, and with a smirk, I say "You are the disciple of a Cancer Gold Saint, you should know, that we are the most knowledgeable among the Saints in matters related to the soul".

I extend my right arm forward, and opening my hand wide, I burn my Cosmo and yell "Spiritual Destroying Waves (Seki Shiki Meisai Ha)!!", I release a huge white ring of energy, that slowly moves forward to meet with Tosuka's energy bolts, and the next moments, all the energy bolts that pass through the ring, starts to burn in gloomy blue flames, leaving nothing behind and rending Tokusa's attack useless.

Seeing this, Tokusa yells in shock "Impossible! You just burned the departed souls!! Do you have any idea of what you have done!?", and with a sneer, I reply "Of course, I purified them and sent them back in the cycle of reincarnation... at the least the ones of innocents, while the departed souls of the wicked were simply erased... But that isn't important... Now it is your turn to face your own sins...", I make my Cosmo explode, and as the phantom image of the crab appears behind me, I point my index finger at Tokusa and focus my Cosmo in it, I yell "Spiritual Wave Coffin (Seki Shiki Mekyu Ha)!!".

From my finger, a lightspeed white energy spiral ray hit my enemy, and as it warps around his body, a dark vortex appears below him, from which countless departed souls come out and start to restrict and immobilize his body, at the same time I say "You know... I realized that even a guy like me has the heart to care and protect the others... but I don't think there is hope for someone like you who is even able to kill his own family for power...", and I press my fist causing these souls to tighten their hold and cause great damage to Tokusa that yells in pain, so much that his Surplice is destroyed.

And now that he is defenseless and with a broken body, I gather my Cosmo once again on the tip of my index finger and as a white aura gushes forth I say "And since you are Hades' slave, I think death isn't good enough for you it's better that you suffer between life and death for eternity... You are not worth living or dying...Spiritual Infernal Waves ( Seki Shiki Mekai Ha)!!", then send out a spiral energy ray that expands, and coils around his body to separate the soul from it and suck it into the realm between life and death, the Yomotsu Hirasaka, where his soul will wander for eternity, leaving behind the broken husk that is now his soulless body.

Dohko POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1987

While I and Shion are still silently looking at each other, I feel Deathmask's Cosmo spike, and soon after I felt the Cosmo of another Specter disappear, 'Good, everything is going well for now... I just have to find the right opportunity to deal with that annoying spy and I can finally truly speak with Shion... but for now, I have to still play my part...', at the same time, I notice the look of impatience and worry on his face as he says in a low tone "Another is gone... If this goes on all of this will have been for naught...", and turns around to move toward the Gold Zodiac.

Seeing this, I ask "Where do you think you're going? As long as I'm here, you cannot leave this place", Shion looks at me and says "Then, Dohko, I have no choice but to kill you, I'd hoped to postpone it, old friend, but this moment had to come... Here I come, Dohko!", he once again face me, and throws a Cosmo blast, which I deflect with the help of my cane, and says "It's my turn now, Shion".

I ignite my Cosmo and focus it between my hands before shooting it at Shion, who does the same, and the two blasts met in the middle and crash against each other with such force, that the area around us starts shaking, at the start it seems that our power are equals, but then Shion smiles and says "Heh... This match is decided... I thought that if we ever fought, we'd wind up in a Thousand Day War after all our powers were totally equal, we were always deadlocked, but those 243 years have taken their toll on you, Dohko", hearing that I casually ask while raising my left eyebrow "You think so?".

Shion doesn't reply, but he puts even more power into his blast, and slowly pushes me back, at the same time he says "Dohko! You've become a doting old man, fussing over Athena's seal! Your strength has withered away! But thanks to Lord Hades, I'm in the prime of my youth with the invincible body and power I had when I was 18! In your feeble state you cannot win", and with a final push, he makes our blast explode sending me crashing into the ground.

I slowly get up and say "My dear Shion... Does your false life... and youth... really please you so much? We each have just one life... one only that's why it's so precious, so brilliantly glittering...", and Shion yells seemingly offended "Bah! Why should I listen to a senile geriatric with one foot in the grave? Take this final blow!!", seeing him like that, I let out a sigh and think, 'Even if I know his reasons, seeing him in this state pains me, Shion, you and I are the only survivor of the previous Holy War, and know better than anyone else how cruel and brutal it is, but you don't know that this time is different from the other... Now we know!'.

I ignite my Cosmo and say "I'm deeply saddened, Shion, that such a great man as you... could fall so much...Die once again and become the Shion of old!! Rozan Hyaku Ryuha (Hundred Dragons of Lushan)!!", then extending both my arms forward, I make my Cosmo explode, and the resulting blast transforms in the form of one hundred blue dragons that quickly moves toward Shion.

But Shion is ready for it and quickly urges his Cosmo and Telekinetic power and yells "Crystal Wall!!", to create a transparent, glass-like barrier in front of him, but I'm way too familiar with this technique, so I yell "It's useless! Not even the Crystal Wall can blunt the fangs of the 100 dragons!!", my dragons break through the barrier and impact on Shion's body, but it seems that I held back too much, as I wasn't even able to knock him over.

Shion thinks the same as he says "Heh... This confirms your senility, back in the day, that one blow would've been enough to take me down, but you've lost all the power you had when you were young...", then he ignites his Cosmo to purge all the foreign Cosmo inside his body, and at the same time he prepares to release his strongest move.

Shion raises his right arm and makes his Cosmo spin around it, then he lowers his arm, and yells "Die, Dohko! Stardust Revolution!!", and making his Cosmo explodes, he throws an attack in the form of countless small stars that move at the speed of the light, and impacts on my body sending me flying high in the sky.

As I crash on the ground I think, 'Goddammit, Shion! You are holding back too much! Right now, I'm a "frail" old man, receiving your move without a Cloth should have reduced my body into a broken mess at the very least... Now, I have to reveal my true form to make it believable!', at the same time, Shion slowly moves toward me and says "Dohko, this is the end...", but I slowly get up and say "Shion, you can't strike me down...".

Seeing me standing, Shion yells "Give me a break! Your head's barely attached to your body! Take this! Stardust Revolution!!", and he once again releases his technique, but this time, I block it by summoning my Libra Cloth in front of me, and he says "Saved by your own Cloth, eh, Dohko? But on your current body, that Cloth is just a useless pile of scrap! A decrepit old man like you can't don the Cloth! I'd just throw you around! Now it really is time for you to die! Nothing else can come between you and your fate!".

But just as he was about to attack, I really ignite my Cosmo, and says "Shion, why do you think I sat in front of Lushan's Great Waterfall for 243 years? It wasn't just to watch over Hades' Army, you know...", and I finally discard this disguise and turn in my true form, at the same time, I enjoy the shock on Shion face as he yells in surprise "What the... Dohko's skin is splitting and flaking off! It's like a snake shedding its skin! I don't believe it! All his old skin has peeled off, and the body underneath... is the Dohko of 243 years ago!!".

Shion looks at me in shock and says "No... It's no mistake... You're the Gold Saint I knew 243 years ago... Libra Dohko!! You said you weren't just watching Hades' army, did you mean that...", and with a smile, I say in my now vigorous voice "That's right, Shion, Athena granted unto me the Divine Power of Misopethamenos!!", hearing that Shion exclaims "MISOPETHAMENOS!! The anti-aging process of the Gods!".

Enjoying his shock as he truly didn't know about it, I explain "That's right! 243 years ago, the previous Holy War finally ended, we were the only survivors, but before that, we received new orders from Athena in anticipation of the next one, you, Shion, were to become the Pope and defend and rebuild the Sanctuary, while I was charged with watching the tower in which Hades' 108 Stars of Darkness had been sealed, but the same day, Athena bestowed that power upon me, and with it, since then my heart has only beaten 100.000 times a year".

Shion finally realizes what happened and says "That's as many times as the human heart beats in a single day! But that means...", and with a smirk, I say " Correct, over the last 243 years, I've only aged 243 days!" then under my command, the Libra Cloth finally equips on my body once more, and I can't help but think, 'Ah... Donning the Libra Cloth for the first time in 243 years! How I missed this!!'.

I look at my old friend and say "Now we're even, Shion", and he replies "Very well, this will make it easier for me to kill you without remorse... Let's find out if your strength is truly a match for mine again! Take this, Dohko!", and he once again shoots a simple Cosmo blast to test me, and I do the same and once again our Cosmos clash against one other, but this time, we are truly evenly matched and cause a strong explosion between us, and I say "Well, Shion? Do you think you can shove me over now?".

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With a grim face he replies "Ugh... Your strength truly has returned! But now we have a new problem, either we'll be eternally deadlocked in a Thousand Day War, or we'll destroy each other!!", at the same time, he raises his Cosmo to the maximum and yells "I have to defeat you before that happens!".

Seeing this I think, 'Yes, this is the right moment to act!', I also rise my Cosmo to the max, and yells "Fool! Do you seek your own death?", and the next moment we both unleash our strongest moves, "Stardust Revolution!!", "Rozan Hyaku Ryuha (Hundred Dragons of Lushan)!!", and so my hundred dragons clash against Shion's stars, resulting in a blinding explosion so strong that it could have destroyed the whole of Greece if we didn't force most of the power upward creating a gigantic pillar of light.

But at the same time, I made sure to direct my attack in such a way that the resulting explosion kills a certain hidden spy that is quietly watching over everything that is happening at the Sanctuary, and after the chaos of the explosions dies down, I look at Shion who was about to attack once more and says "Shion, you can stop now, the one who was checking on you is gone... We can finally freely talk... We know about your plan...".

Shion stops in place and looks at me in shock and says "B-but that is impossible! How could you...", and before he could finish I only say "Crateris Cloth", Shion's eyes open wide and he asks "Someone finally took his place? And he was even able to see so much?", I nod, and at the same time, a sad smile appears on his face, and he says "Well, now that I'm free from my constraints, I can finally say that I'm happy to see you again in good health my old friend...". 

Aiolia POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1987

I'm standing in front of the entrance of Leo Temple, waiting for the Specters to come, and die between my fangs, 'For sure there are three of them that are equal to Gold Saints, but I also feel that a stronger threat is hidden among them waiting for the right time to strike, how devious...'.

Soon the Specters appear in front of me, they are led by three clearly strong ones, and their mere presence is so strong that even I can feel the danger that they represent, the one on the right is a tall man with a muscular build, long reddish brown hair tied with a ribbon and fair skin, the one on the left is a young man with blue-black hair and dark eyes, with a pale skin tone, and the one in the middle, it feels the most dangerous among them, at first glance, she could be mistaken for a man because of her unfeminine appearance, but she is a beautiful woman, but very strong and muscular, she has long dark purple hair and reddish eyes.

The man on the right stands forward and says "Good evening, I'm the Celestial Rise Star, Dryad Luco, are you perhaps, the guardian of the Leo Temple, the Leo Gold Saint?", and even if a little put off by his polite tone, I reply "Yes, I'm Leo Aiolia, and I won't let any enemy pass, no matter who is it in front of me", then under his signal, five Specters of this group quickly moves to attack me.

I quickly ignite my Cosmo, and raising my hand I yell "Lightning Plasma!!" and deliver one hundred million blows per second, leaving behind only a countless number of luminous threads that hits them, destroy their Surplice, and kill them in an instant, shocking the weaker Specter behind them in stopping in place, as one among them gulps and says "What the... What was that flash of light? It sliced up five of us in an instant!".

Seeing this I remind them "Again, I let no enemy pass! If you attempt it, prepare to die!!", but just as they were starting to cower, even more, I hear a voice that says "Hee, hee... You're pathetic, quivering before a single Saint", and I see a Specter moving forward, he is a man of small stature, with quite particular facial features, he has a twisted and deformed face.

His Surplice is quite peculiar, the headpiece is a helm in the shape of an insect head, it seems a worm, the eyes are on one side and the wearer's face comes out of the creature's maw, the worm's chin also protects the wearer's chin, the shoulder pieces are four overlapping plates with bladed ends, the arms pieces protect from the elbows to the wrists, the chest piece, protects from the neck to the abdomen, it is practically a cylinder with horizontal stripes ending in points that protect part of the hips, the waist and thighs are uncovered, but what caught most of my attention are the eight tentacles, they are divided into small sections and ends in three points with something in the center that seems like an eye, and finally the legs pieces protect below the knees, but the feet end in the same claws with which the tentacles end.

(Image Here - Worm Raimi)

He now stands in front of me and says "I'm the Terrestrial Hidden Star, Worm Raimi, hee, hee, hee... No matter how strong you are, I'll make you weak as a kitten... I'll take care of Aiolia, the rest of you go ahead, got that?", and after saying this, he quickly jumps, and burrow his body into the ground, and at the same time, the Specters start to run toward the Temple totally ignoring my presence.

I can't help but yell "How dare you? I'll strike all of you down!", but just as I was about to move, the Worm Specter's tentacle comes out of the ground and wound around my body stopping my movement and in surprise, I yell "Shit!", and at the same time I think 'Even knowing about his abilities, the hidden presence among these weak Specters unnerved me so much, that I forgot about Raimi!'.

Taking advantage of the fact that I'm bound the other Specters pass through me, and move further inside the Leo Temple, leaving me alone with Raimi, at the same time the force behind the tentacle increase, even more, it is so strong that I feel like my limbs are about to be torn off, I try to ignite my Cosmo to break free, and at the same time, another tentacle come out of the ground and from it, I hear Raimi's voice "Hee, hee, hee... It's useless, not even a lion can break free from the Worm's Bind, I could squeeze you slowly to death... Butt they told me to kill you quickly so... I'll pierce the center of your head!".

After saying this, the tentacle quickly moves toward my head, but at the last moment, I was able to move my head and dodge it, and look in surprise as the tentacle pierce right through the column behind me and say "What power! He stabbed right through the column with one blow! If he hit me, he really would put a hole in me!", then I hear Raimi's voice once again "Hee, hee... Don't struggle, I'm putting you out of your misery...".

I ignore him and focus on my Cosmo as I say "I won't let you kill me... You think a mere worm can take me down? I'll show you Leo's strength! Graah!", and again Raimi says "Hee, hee, hee! It's futile! Useless! No matter how much brute strength you've got, you can't esca...", but he stops talking as I make my Cosmo explode and break free from these annoying tentacles, breaking them at the same, and say "A mere worm can't take a lion down!".

Enraged by my simple taunt Raimi yells "How dare you? This time, I'll rip through your body!", and attacks me with another tentacle, but it is too slow, and I quickly grab it, then I pull with all my strength, and pull out his body hidden into the ground with such force that he crashes against the ceiling, and with another pull, I make him crash into the floor in front of me, and next I stomp on his back saying "Worms belong in the dirt".

But he takes advantage of this to escape into the ground and appears a few meters behind me, at the same time, I notice that the tentacles I had destroyed, already regenerated, and panting hard he says "H... How dare you... Don't think you have won yet... My worms regenerate... This time, I'll kill you for sure! Die, Aiolia! Worm's Bind!!".

And he again tries to bind me with his tentacle, but he made a lethal mistake, he is in the open now, so I raise my right arm, and burning my Cosmo to the maximum, I yell "Lightning Plasma!!" and deliver one hundred million blows per second, leaving behind only a countless number of luminous threads that hit Raimi, making him bound all over the place, obliterating his Surplice, and killing him on the spot, seeing his corpse on the ground I can't help but say "In the end, I was only able to kill 6 of them, now 13 of them remain, and among them, I only felt some real threat from 4 of them... And among these 4, three are in the open, but it is the hidden one that scares me the most, I only felt something similar one other time...".

Shaka POV - Greece, Sanctuary - 1987

I'm sitting on the ground in meditation pose with my eyes closed, waiting for the Specters to come, 'I can clearly feel it... This fight will be a hard one, one presence among them especially stands out, no matter how much he tries to hide it, I can clearly feel it...', at the same time, with my Cosmo I check the Mada with the 108 prayer beads and notice that 15 of them are already black, this means that 15 Specters have already lost their lives and their souls are now unable to resurrect thanks to this Mada created by the former Virgo Saint to stop the continuous resurrection of the Specters during the Holy War.

I feel the presence of the Specters enter the Temple, and once they are in front of me, I say "Welcome, Specters, to the Virgo Temple! My face will be your last sight before you return to the underworld!", and as always the weaker ones are always those that bark the loudest as one of the Specters yells "What are you talking about? Impudent fool you think you can take down all of us alone? You're the one headed for the underworld! Die, Shaka!!", and all the remaining weak Specters attack me at the same time.

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