Chapter 54: Chapter 54 – Overwhelming Thanatos

Seiya POV - Underworld, Elysion - 1987

I woke up in an endless meadow, full of beautiful flowers, with clear skies and white clouds, it truly looks like a paradise, I look around confused searching for Shun, Shiryu, and Hyoga, and think, 'Where the hell are the others? Damn! Even with Athena's protection, that was one hell of a ride... I'm totally exhausted... But I have to go on!'.

I struggle to get up, and once I'm on my feet, I slowly move without having a clear direction, and after some time, I stumble and once again fall on the ground, but then, I finally feel the presence of someone, and looking up, I see a beautiful young woman with captivating pink eyes, long pink hairs, and porcelain skin tone, who looks at me with a face that looks almost afraid.

I slowly stand up again and ask "H... Hey... Where in the Elysion am I? H... Have you seen Athena?", but she is clearly afraid of me, and as her body trembles, she takes a step back and keeps her distance from me, but I ignore her clear fear of me and continue asking trying to calm her down, and use a gentler tone "Wh... Where is Hades? Please... tell me...", but she screams in terror and runs away.

Before I could chase after her, I hear a male's voice behind me that says "Sorry... I can't have you startling the Nymphs, only the virtuous are allowed into Elysion, you can't blame them for mistaking you, all dirty and stinking of blood for a demon... Thanks to you guys, my lovely Nymphs are so frightened that they've stopped their singing", at the same time, I turn my head and look at who is speaking, and surprised by his appearance I can only say "Y... You're...".

He has the appearance of a grown man with tall stature and a strong almost perfect physical build, long silver hair and eyes but they are completely empty, similar to those of a blind man, and one of his main characteristics is the five-pointed star he wears on his forehead, his clothing consists mainly of a suit of armor that protects most of his body and he also wears a Greek tunic over it, not making me clearly see the armor beneath it, he calmly looks at me with a smile on his face and says "My name is Thanatos!!".

(Image Here - Thanatos)

Hearing that name I connect the dots, 'Thanatos... The God of Death, one of Hades' attendants that Jayr warned us about!', and at the same time, I exclaim "Thanatos? Yes those silver eyes and hair... it coincides with what Jayr-san said...", meanwhile, Thanatos continues his introduction "I am one of the most trusted attendants of Lord Hades, having served as his right hand since the Age of Myth".

I raise my guard and ask "You are his right-arm man? Okay then tell me, what happened to Athena? Where is she?", and with still the same smile on his face he declares "She is dead! In fact, I believe my brother Hypnos is presenting her body to Lord Hades right now", but I refuse to believe in his claims as I can clearly still feel her Cosmo even if it is a lot weaker than before, so I take a step forward and yell "N... No way! Don't lie to me!! Where is Hades?".

But he simply raises his hand and from it, I feel a dreadful Cosmo that rushes at me like a spark of purple electricity, it hits me with unparalleled force and sends me flying, then as I crash on the ground in pain, I hear Thanatos' voice "Fool, I have no need to answer your questions... But then, it is quite the miracle that you managed to break through the Wailing Wall, travel the Hyperdimension, and reached the Elysion...".

Then if feel that he again is gathering his Cosmo as he says "I must say, your loyalty to Athena is admirable... But now it is your time to die and join her", but right at the moment he is about to attack me, I hear another voice similar to Thanatos' one that says "Wait", and Thanatos' Cosmo disperse, and at the same time, I open my eyes and raise my head to look at the newcomer.

He is almost identical to Thanatos, he too has the appearance of a grown man with a tall stature and strong almost perfect physical build, and the way he dresses is identical, the only difference is that he has long golden hair and completely empty golden eyes, Thanatos looks at him and exclaims in surprise "Hypnos!!".

(Image Here - Hypnos)

Indeed, he is Thanatos' twin brother, Hypnos, the God of Sleep, the other attendant of Hades, Hypnos moves closer to his brother and says "Thanatos... We are on a sacred ground, unsullied since the Age of Myths, if you soil this place with the blood of this Saint, how would you apologize to Lord Hades?", hearing his brother's question, Thanatos lets out a sneer and asks back "Heh... Then what do you suggest? Leaving him to defile this place unhindered, Hypnos?", then he exclaims "That would soil Elysion even more!".

Moving even closer, Hypnos says "Thanatos, you take life away too casually... For instance why did you try to kill Pandora? In fact as we are speaking you are still trying to kill her...", hearing that I can't help but think in surprise 'What he is trying to kill Pandora? Why?', at the same time, Thanatos says "Why did I try to kill Pandora? You know the reason, too, Hypnos... Pandora betrayed Lord Hades, she was even willing to allow the Phoenix Saint to head toward Elysion".

Hearing this other info, I smile a little thinking 'Ikki already recovered!', meanwhile, Thanatos continues "Nothing escapes our notice in the underworld", and Hypnos agrees with his brother on that "That's correct", but then he says "But Pandora has always protected Lord Hades since her early childhood... It isn't necessary to take her life... On top of that, with the 108 Specters vanquished, losing also a figure like Pandora would be regrettable".

Once again, Thanatos sneers and says "Heh... What is so regrettable about it? Pandora and the Specters are only slaves after all, with you and me around, everything is under control... Even Athena was captured easily, and you took her life without any trouble, isn't that true, Hypnos?", hearing that Hypnos nods and replies "Indeed, I have captured Athena... However, I have not taken her life".

This sentence surprise Thanatos, so much that he yells "What?", at the same time, I think, 'I knew it! My senses didn't fool me... Now I have just to gather my strength and find the right time to start the counterattack!', meanwhile, after expressing his shock Thanatos yells "You're kidding! Why didn't you kill her immediately? She came to Elysion with the sole intent of killing Lord Hades!".

Hypnos looks at his brother and calmly explains "I have already told you, this ground has been sacred since the Age of Myths, only the God of the Underworld has the right to decide about life and death here", hearing this, Thanatos asks "Then Athena...?", and this is the moment, I chose to act and slowly stand up again and face the golden-haired God and asks "Yes, where is Athena? Answer me! Where is Athena?", at the same time, I get ready to counterattack at the first opening.

To my immense surprise, Hypnos doesn't attack me, but raises his right hand and with his finger points at a structure in the distance and explains "You see that temple in the distance? Since the Age of Myths it has been the resting place for Lord Hades' real body! Now Athena sleeps there as well...", confused I ask "What? She sleeps there, you say?".

And again, Hypnos easily answer my question "Yes, but it's no normal sleep, I, Hypns, put her to eternal sleep... Her body has been put into a huge sacred urn, which is legendary even here in Elysion, nothing can break that urn, not even a lightning bolt of the mighty Lord Zeus... And further, that urn also sucks out the blood of its occupant, slowly turning from white to red in color... When it is completely red, this means all of Athena's blood has been drained away and her life will be extinguished... Whether Athena lives or dies, depends solely on Lord Hades' decision".

Hearing that, I decide to forget about my first plan and hurry to rescue her, so I turn around and start to run toward the temple indicated by Hypnos, while running, I hear Thanatos' voice as he says "Hypnos, you're not going to let Pegasus enter Lord Hades' temple without doing anything? I don't mind if it means soiling this place with the blood of a Saint... I will kill him! Alright?", then I hear Hypnos reply "Do as you wish, but Thanatos, if you are going to do it, do it fast and well, do not shed blood on Hades' temple".

As I'm getting further away from them, I hear Thanatos say "Have you lost your mind, Hypnos? How could I blunder like that with a simple Bronze Saint brat? I'll finish him faster than the blink of an eye!", and feel a huge compressed ball of deadly Cosmo quickly moving toward me at the speed of the light, at the same time, I hear him say "Look, Pegasus is already about to be vanquished".

But I jump high and use the new ability of the Pegasus Cloth, and as a pair of wings appear on my back, I dodge Thanatos' attack and turning around in mid-air to face the God, I gather my Cosmo and unleash it yelling "Take this, Thanatos! Pegasus Ryuseiken!!" throwing thousands of light energy punches at the same time which look like a small meteor shower, that hits the God, but it is unable to hurt him, but it distracted him enough to allow me to fly further away.

As I'm flying toward the temple of Hades, I think, 'Good... It seems that I was able to get away from them for now... My first priority is saving Athena, then we can deal with the rest...', but then I feel that Thanatos is attacking me again, this time with a volley of those deadly Cosmo balls, I dodge the first few, but then I hear Thanatos yell "Fool! Do you think you can escape me forever?", and one of those balls hits me in the back shattering my wings, and making me crash hard on the ground with my head.

And as I lay on the ground still hurt and dizzy unable to gather my Cosmo and strength, I feel at the same time, Hypnos going away and Thanatos moving closer, and after a small laugh he says "Now that your wings have been completely crushed, you cannot escape anymore... Now playtime is over, it's time to finish you off, Pegasus!", feeling Thanatos above me about to release his final deadly attack, I can't help but think, 'I've come this far... But is this the end?', but then I hear a few voices in the distance calling my name, 'Miho... Seika-nee... I can't give up!'.

And so I once again ignite my Cosmo with all my power, finding again the strength to stand up and fight again, at the same time, I hear Thanatos' surprised voice "What? Even after taking my attacks, you still have the power to get up?!", I look at him and declare "I will not die! I can't die yet! Because I still have things to do and people to protect! Burn my Cosmo!".

And with renewed strength, I unleash my strongest attack "Pegasus Suiseiken!!" I gather all the power of the meteors in a single point and unleash a blow of great power creating a powerful Cosmo blast of pure light and hitting Thanatos with the full might of the Comet, but to my immense shock, Thanatos came out unscratched by my move, the only thing I was able to do is destroying the greek tunic that was covering his armor, that is now in full display.

The armor appears to be a Surplice, and like all the Surplices, is of a dark color, and covers almost completely the whole body except some parts of the head, the headpiece only covers the front part of the head and towards the sides it has wings, with the one on the left side of the head being bigger, the arms pieces cover almost all its area, the shoulder pieces are pronounced and are joined to the chest piece, which has some ornaments, which covers everything in its entirety, the waist piece goes down to the feet and is shaped like a long layered skirt, in the back of the armor has huge wings.

(Image Here - Thanatos Surplice)

I stay still in shock looking at Thanatos' unscratched figure and mutter "Wh... The Suiseiken... Even with all that power the Suiseiken didn't work?!", and soon after, I fall on the ground exhausted, and say "I think I'm losing my last bit of strength...", at the same time, I hear Thanatos' voice "As I already said, I'm the God of Death that has been by Lord Hades' side since the Age of Myths, even if you put all your power into it, you couldn't even scratch a God like me, you fool! Now that you know the difference between Gods and mortals, you may die!" and raises his hand to attack.

But all of the sudden, Thanatos stops and exclaims "Wh... What's this? A trace of blood? These bruises... This scratch... Was this scratch caused by his Suiseiken? Unforgivable!", meanwhile, I try to get up again, but soon I feel Thanatos' foot on my head as he pushes it on the ground, preventing me from standing up, then he yells enraged "No matter... No matter how superficial the wound... How dare a maggot like you harm the body of a God!!".

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Thanatos then starts repeatedly stomping on my head with increasing force as he yells "Even ripping your body apart wouldn't be enough to appease me!! I'll pulverize you and scatter the pieces across the Hyperdimension!! I'll see to it that you endure eternal suffering even after death!! Die, Pegasus!!", meanwhile, the strength behind his blows keeps increasing, but it seems that he is using just enough force to bring me pain, but not enough to kill me.

All of the sudden, he stops and says "No... not even that is enough... I need... I need to punish you more... Torture not just your flesh but your spirit, that's right... And you can die afterward... He, he, he, he, he...", after that creepy laugh, he says "Heh, I think, I'll kill your sister first, Seiya",  I slowly raise my head and look at him as he raises his hands on the sky and the image of the Sanctuary appears on it as he yells "Heh, Behold! As you are about to die anyway... I'll let you look upon the Earth one last time".

Then with a cruel smile on his face, he says "I am Thanatos, he who presides over Death, I can bring death to anyone without so much as a touch... I can kill from across any distance... Now, Pegasus, watch and weep as your sister writhes in the throes of death!!", and as he says this, with renewed vigor I get up and attack Thanatos yelling "Stop it, Thanatos!!".

But before I could touch him, I'm hit by an invincible Cosmo that brings me the same numbing pain as an electric shock and makes me again fall on the ground, then Thanatos says "How long will it take you to learn that it's useless? You can't have enough strength left to flinch... Now witness your sister's death with your own eyes!".

Seika POV - Greece,  Sanctuary - 1987

I'm anxiously waiting in the Sanctuary as my brother and my lover are fighting the forces of Hades, to stop him from killing every life on Earth, together with me there are other loved ones of the Saints fighting in the Underworld, like Hyoga's mom, Ikki's girlfriend Esmeralda, Shunrei, June, Shaina-san, and Geist-chan, but the rest of Jayr's family are still in Italy, but that isn't a problem since there is Jayr-san, Jayr's grandfather, a former Gold Saint protecting them.

All around us, there are the other Gold Saints that stayed in the Sanctuary to protect us from eventual attacks, but they are not the only ones here, there are also Kiki and Cassios, and also my other half-brothers, and even some Silver Saints close to Jayr, like Rigel-san, Juan-san, Georg-san and Agol-san, and also watching over everything there is Saga.

Meanwhile, I look at the sky and notice that the Eclipse is still going on, this means that they still haven't defeated Hades, 'No matter how many times Jayr said that they will come out of this fight victorious, I can't help but worry about them... After all their enemies are the Gods!'.

While I was thinking that, all of the sudden, I feel an immense pain all over my body, like it is being ripped apart by something, and quickly realize what is going on as Jayr warned me that it could have happened, but before I could say anything, Mu-san appears in front of me and yells "Crystal Wall!!", creating a transparent, glass-like barrier all around us, then he says "Be careful! The enemy is attacking!!".

And soon I notice that the barrier around us starts crazily shaking, then I hear an imposing voice coming from the sky that says "He, he, he! Cease your futile resistance, maggots!! I will kill that sister of Pegasus, no matter how much you try to interfere...", hearing that Geist yells "Who are you?", and the voice replies "My name is Thanatos!! I'm about to execute Pegasus for brazenly trespassing into Elysion!! For his blasphemous actions against the Gods, merely ripping him apart is insufficient, his older sister shall be killed as well, as a prelude to his own death!".

And again the barrier shakes and this time shatters, but then, Aldebaran-san appears in front of me and takes the attack in my place and I can only watch as he screams in pain, but remains standing tall, as he yells "Argh!! I'm not going to simply watch you harm my fellow Saint's dears!!", at the same time, the other Gold Saints move closer to us and starts to defend against the God's attacks, while I can do nothing but stay here and pray for the others' well being.

Seiya POV - Underworld, Elysion - 1987

I can only powerlessly look as Thanatos continuously attack my sister, and how Mu, Aldebaran, Camus, and the others are fighting and suffering to protect her and the others, but they aren't the only ones protecting her, together with the Gold Saints, there are also some Silver Saints, and more important closely guarding Seika and Mio, there are also Kiki, Shaina, Geist, Geki, Ichi, Jabu, Ban, and Nachi.

All of the sudden, I see Saga move and deflect another attack from Thanatos, then he yells "Seiya! Can you hear me? We'll defend your sister, so don't worry about her! Just fight! Fight!! Give it all you got!! For Athena!! For the world!! For your brothers and sister!!", at the same time, I hear Kiki, Geist, Cassios and my half-brothers also calling my name and encouraging me to keep fighting.

Hearing that, Thanatos sneer and says "Heh... What fools, no matter how many stand against me, they are still worms!! then he raises his right hand and as Cosmo gathers in it he yells "Now, Pegasus, watch their final moments!!", but with new strength surging in my body, I get up and move behind Thanatos, and hold on his body yelling "No way! I can't let them suffer for me!!", at the same time, Thanatos exclaims in surprise "Unh!! Pegasus! You can still move!?".

I make my Cosmo explode and yell "Take this, Thanatos! And die!! Pegasus Rolling Crush!!", I create a tornado of energy around us, launching us upward, and then with all this momentum, I aim at the ground, with the intent of crashing Thanatos in it, but as we get close to the ground, Thanatos sneers and says "Heh... Are you trying to kill yourself, Pegasus?", and all of a sudden, Thanatos disappears, "What? Hey!! Where did Thanatos go!? He disappeared!! Whoa!!", and it is too late for me to stop my technique, and all the energy around me makes me crash head first into the hard ground of the Elysion, and I blank out for a few moments.

Shun POV - Underworld, Elysion - 1987

I regain my senses and find myself somewhere in a beautiful and peaceful meadow full of lively flowers, but I stop admiring this place and start searching for Seiya and the others, after some time of wandering, I hear the sound of fighting, and soon I hear a man's voice that says "What a fool, did you enjoy the taste of your own medicine?", I follow this voice, and see a gravely hurt Seiya on the ground, unknown is dead or alive.

In front of him, there is a man with tall stature and long silver hair donning an imposing armor, the man then says "What's the matter? Can't even speak anymore? Now... Do you want to go first or shall I start with your sister? Ah! At this point, it hardly matters... You know, I can't decide, so I'll just kill you both at once!! Die!!", and seeing that he is about to kill Seiya, I decide to act.

I throw my chain and warp it around his raised right hand, stopping him from finishing off Seiya, then I yell "I won't let you hurt Saiya", in response the imposing man whose presence now slightly reminds me of Hades says "Heh... I'd heard a few others worms Sains had squirmed in here, I suppose you are one of them...You think these chains can stop me? Take this!!".

He pulls my chain hard with an irresistible force, and so I'm forced into the sky, then he releases a spherical blast of concentrated purple Cosmo toward me, seeing this, I yell "Rolling Defense!!", and twirl the chains around myself to create a barrier, but his attack is too strong and completely overwhelm my defenses and at the same time shatter my chains, "Argh!!" and I feel like my whole body is being ripped apart too, then I crash on the ground, and can only mutter "No... No way! Not only my chains failed to hold him... They shattered...".

Hyoga POV - Underworld, Elysion -1987

I woke up in a paradise-like meadow, full of beautiful flowers, "So this is the Elysion... Truly a paradise... It's a shame that it is the work of someone like Hades...", then, I focus on finding Shiryu and the others as we were together so he should be nearby, 'Damn, this place is strange... the Cosmo around us is so strong that it masks the Cosmo of Shiryu, Seiya and the others!', after wandering for some time, I finally find Shiryu who is also cluelessly wandering, but we don't have the time, to talk, when we hear the sounds of a battle in the distance, so we just look at each other and nod before rushing in the direction of the sounds.

We arrive just in time to see Shun being easily defeated by a tall man with long silver hair and imposing armor, the man looks down at Shun and says "How many more? How many of you worms have made your way here?" but Shun doesn't answer his question, and the man then says "Heh, don't answer then, just follow Pegasus to the grave!!", but before he could attack Shun, Shiryu makes his move and attack the man with a punch aimed at his back.

The man notices the attack and jumps and doges Shiryu's attack, but Shiryu's offense doesn't end here, and now that the man is in mid-air he cannot dodge this follow-up attack, a full power Rozan Shoryuha (Supremacy of the Rozan Ascending Dragon), a fist strike so powerful that generate a gigantic shockwave in the shape of a dragon, but the man, teleports behind Shiryu dodging another attack and retaliate with a spherical blast of concentrated purple Cosmo that defeats Shiryu in one blow.

While looking at Shiryu the man asks "Are you the last one?", then he moves to finish him off, and at this moment, my setup is complete, and further lower the temperature reaching absolute zero to freeze him and slow down his movement, then I attack him with a full power Diamond Dust, blowing him away, and rush to check on Shiryu, who is now slowly getting up and ask "Are you alright?".

But the man appears behind us totally unharmed and attacks us with a gigantic Cosmo blast that sends us both crashing on the ground, and while feeling the pain of my whole body being ripped apart I hear him say "Fool! Your frozen air isn't nearly cold enough to take me down, you'd need to go several hundred times colder than absolute zero... he, he, he...".

Then he asks " So are these all the Saints who wormed their way into the Elysion?", but before I could answer, I feel the cold temperature, suddenly go up, and I feel a familiar fiery and aggressive Cosmo nearby, at the same time, I hear the man says "Ah, I see there's still one left... And you are...?", and a familiar voice yells "Phoenix Ikki!! I'm here to exact vengeance on behalf of all the dead souls in hell!!".

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