Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 18 ( Chapter 18 )

"Everybody's here then..." Charybdis said as she saw Cecil return into the Jormungandr house. "All four of us..." She folded her hands into fists. Nine days in the Underworld had shaped them this much... enough to exact righteous vengeance against the God Warriors. Not only that, Fenrir was the only one lacking armor too.

"We've only got two more houses left," Isaac said as he started walking towards the Sleipnir house, "Hagan's mine... and I'm sure Chary wants a piece of Sigurd, right?"

"No problem," Fenrir agreed. "I just want to tear Polaris's throat out... both of those girls are going to be dead when I'm done with them."

Cecil smirked before looking back at Thor's corpse. But they had a job to do: stop Hilda.
_
Hagan walked through the halls of his ancestral home, smiling softly as he placed a sleeping Freya on a bed upstairs. The struggles had been great so far... but he and Sigurd each possessed more power than any other God Warrior... even Syd's double-star status was nothing compared to Hagan's might.

He descended down the stairs, throwing the doors open and watching as four figures came into view... running and brimming with the desire for bloodshed.

"Tiamet and her three whelps," Hagan snorted. He snapped his fingers, deciding to let Mother Nature be his first line of defense.
_
The snowfall seemed to instantaneously become more brutal, more bleak, as Fenrir and the others approached the Sleipnir house. Their speed fell, the cold finally beginning to win the war against those four fighters struggling to brave it and God Warriors.

"Hagan..." Isaac growled. He knew the Merak Beta God Warrior possessed skill in both ice and fire techniques, but Isaac hadn't expected anything of the nature.

Then there was a brief flash of red from the house, and then a stream of fire slammed into them all.

"Game over... for all of you," Hagan laughed as the snowfall stopped, the smoke clearing and a lump forming in his throat.

There Isaac stood in the front of the group, a sheet of ice as clear as glass between them. God Warrior and Mariner stared daggers at each other before Hagan broke the silence.

"Your Scale's different."

"A final farewell by the woman I loved name Thetis IOU, if you must know," Isaac answered back. The sheet faded away, the two became primed to charge, but Isaac turned back to the others. "Chary, Fenrir, Cecil... this one is mine. Some killers need appropriate executioners."

Hagan actually stepped aside, sneering at the others. "Go right ahead... Sigurd will finish you all off. Some Krakens need to be crushed, though, under a war horse's hooves."

"You heard the creep," Isaac said. "Get going. We're on a tight schedule."
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"Okay, down this hallway!" Cecil said as his voice echoed up into the second floor, Freya grinning at the thought.

Of course, the bastard would never look upstairs... that may end up being his, and the others', downfall.

She closed her eyes again, thoughts drifting off to her sister.

"Just a few more hours, Hilda..."
_
"Great Ardent Pressure!"

"Aurora Borealis!"

Ice and fire collided into each other as Hagan and Isaac engaged in their duel, neither side showing any weakness before Hagan charged. He smashed down on Isaac's head with both hands, knocking the Mariner into range for Hagan's waiting knee, which shot up. Isaac spun to the side, however, and sprang up with a Kholodnyi Smerch uppercut, sending Hagan flying.

"You're stronger this time around..." Hagan grunted as he regained his focus and footing, wiping the blood from his mouth. "A lot stronger..."

"Preparing for the Trial of 108 Fates does that," Isaac answered.

Hagan smirked though, as if this was still one big joke. "You're only an expertise in the cold... you know nothing of the heat..." Hagan generated a large sphere of fire in his hand, lava dripping onto the cold, snow-covered Asgard ground. Isaac raised his arms up to protect himself, but when Hagan threw it, the attack fell short and landed in between them.

"Universal combustion," Hagan uttered, the ground around Hagan and Isaac suddenly burned up, revealing a pool of lava underneath. Hagan landed on top of it, standing atop the burning rock, smiling at hearing Isaac's screams as his legs were soaked in it. "It's pretty hopeless for you, admit it..." Another scream, "Your powers might be able to keep you from getting killed now... but it's still over for you as soon as your focus slips... like if I were to..." he gathered up another Great Ardent Pressure, "Burn the living shit out of you. What do you say to that?!?"

Isaac's one good eye went wide... he was giving his all just to keep his immediate surroundings cold enough for his legs to be in one piece, he couldn't handle this at all.

Never throw in the towel... Thesis's voice echoed in his mind, You're Kraken... enemy of wrong! You escaped death... you can overcome this!

"Great-"

You're Kraken!

"Ardent-"

"PRESSURE!"

Hagan was utterly shocked as a burning blast similar to his own slammed into him, knocking him to the ground as he noticed...

"No..."

"You're absolutely right," Isaac chuckled as he stood on solid rock, "All I could really do was freeze the rock around me and then use the leftover heat to give you a nice surprise," Isaac explained as Hagan struggled back to his feet. "When right is on your side, you'll always find a way!"

"You really think so?" Hagan asked as he stared at Isaac. They still had made no serious headway... but this fight was just getting started.

Isaac shook his head. "Yes. I'm the Kraken of the Arctic... and believe me! I will deliver judgement to you!"

The two continued their stare-down as the temperature around them dropped thirty degrees. "I will not die here," Hagan growled. "Lady Polaris needs me."

"And the word needs Polaris's plan halted," Isaac answered back. He charged, their fists slamming into each other as icy streams sprayed all around them. Hagan and Isaac stayed at it before the former's arm began shaking and Isaac used the opportunity to ram into him. He smashed Hagan to the ground and then kicked off, blasting him with an Aurora Borealis that chilled Hagan to the bone. "Give up already, you can't stop me from setting things right!"

"Right?" Hagan growled as he clutched his arm, blue from the cold, and got to his feet. "What is 'right' about Asgard? A winter wasteland with few natural resources and even fewer reasons to live here. While Poseidon, Athena, and Hades each rule over their own spheres of influence, Asgard is left as the little boot that cannot even be ruled by Odin because of his chaotic nature!"

"Yet two of your former associates made a pretty good living as wild men," Isaac shot back. "You take Asgard for granted."

"Even if I didn't," Hagan answered, "I am a loyal servant to the Polaris house as a God Warrior. My first duty is to obey them above any personal feelings!" He pulled back for another ice-based technique, Isaac charging right at him. "When will you understand that?!?"

"WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS WRONG!" Isaac shouted back.

"LIKE HELL! UNIVERSAL FREEZING!"

The concentrated burst of ice shot straight at Isaac, but he ducked down and slid towards Hagan, grabbing his legs and coating them in ice before springing up with a Kholodnyi Smerch that Hagan landed badly from, his God Robe cracking and parts falling off.

Yet Hagan rose up again, out of breath and barely on his feet. "I am loyal to the Polaris family, why don't you understand that! I will fight till my last breath for them!"

"It'll come to that," Isaac answered. He struck out with another Aurora Borealis, Hagan countering with a one-two punch of the Great Ardent Pressure and Universal Freezing at the same time. Isaac's singular strike was quickly overpowered, and he was smashed into a tree, but got up quickly, looking at Hagan, who was still losing this fight.

Fire and ice... two substances that were opposites. When combined, they created water, the most abundant substance on the entire planet... but by negating each other. Hagan's two self-destructive elements were becoming his greatest weakness. As Isaac observed Hagan standing there, body almost ready to fall, he realized the fight was already over.

Isaac shook his head and started walking towards Hagan, the God Warrior seeming more and more nervous with each step.

"Stop it..." Hagan panted, "Just stop." He pulled back for a punch, but a Kholiso ring trapped him. Isaac pushed him over and began walking towards the next house, pausing as he heard Hagan struggle to break free.

"Don't bother. You'll kill yourself in the process."

"Then I die a man!" Hagan yelled back. Isaac stopped and walked back, looking down at the struggling God Warrior. "Shaming me with defeat like this... leaving me for dead..."

"Fine then," Isaac said as he snapped his fingers, the ring vanishing. "Get up." Hagan looked at him in a confused manner, but Isaac pulled him up to his feet and shoved him away. "Mime was a monster... he deserved the death I gave him. Garm and Syd were consumed with sadistic hatred, and Thor was nothing more than a brute. I'm giving you a chance to walk away with your life here."

"I'd rather die." Hagan answered back, channeling his power up for one last, ice-cold attack. He slipped, fell on one knee, but never lost his focus.

Isaac closed his eyes once as he stood in front of him. "I understand... I'll do what I can."

Hagan glared at him and pulled back for the attack. "You'll be dead when I'm through with you! Universal..."

Isaac took one calm breath and thought back to his dear friend Hyoga that he had done so much for. He wondered if he had become a Saint of Athena since he had last seen him seven years ago. He hoped so.

"FREEZING!" Hagan thrust his hands out, Isaac just looking at him and then walking away as the attack stopped instantly and reflected back on Hagan, freezing him in solid in a gigantic block of ice.

"The Freezing Coffin," Isaac explained to nobody in particular as he walked away... "Of all the techniques Hyoga and I learned, that was the one to be used in case of a last resort... it would take the strength of at least four Gold Saints to free anything trapped inside, or the usage of one golden weapon of the Libra Saint. The odds of it are less than 0.0001%, Hagan, but I hope you're still alive in there." He turned back once more, seeing the look of shock and horror all but branded on Hagan's face. He bowed once, gaining a little more respect for the God Warrior before turning and running off.

One house left.