Saint Seiya: The Legend of Seiya

109 - Hope and Immortality

Siegfried had never felt so much pain.

The most powerful of the God Warriors inherited the post of celebrated figures in Asgard like Folker, defeated by his own son, and his brother Sigmund, whom he had already surpassed even before he fell from grace, locked away in the depths of Valhalla. Siegfried had his fame, for in Asgard no one dared to challenge his authority, and the beasts of the Forbidden Forest, when they went mad with sin, as the villagers said, were killed by him to prevent greater disasters in the city.

In battle, he was never defeated by any of the aspirants who sought a post among the palace guard, nor was he challenged by those who trained hard to become God Warriors in the future war that would victimize all Gods, the northern apocalypse known as Ragnarok. The final battle of them all.

No one had ever made him feel that pain. More than that, what frightened him in that moment when he was kneeling was the fact that, for the first time, he feared for his life. He was afraid. He was afraid of being afraid.

But then he swallowed the rest of the blood in his mouth and got up, realizing that Dragon was lying stretched out behind the dying body of those three Athena Saints. The God Warrior's God Robe protected him in a much more decisive way than that fragile Bronze Cloth that Shiryu wore; but, at his chest level, he realized that his God Robe was shattered with a small hole where Shiryu's fist had hit him.

"Magnificent, Shiryu." he said, even though she couldn't hear him. "But even though your strength is impressive, my God Robe was able to protect my weak spot from your mighty fist."

Siegfried faced the three Saints of Athena ready for battle.

"That's enough." Seiya said, placing himself in front of the group. "Now Shiryu has shown us that you're not immortal at all. It is possible to hit you. And put you on your knees, Siegfried."

"Do you think can do this? When not even Dragon was able to defeat me at once?"

"Shiryu was stupid. She sacrificed her Shield and almost her life to show us your weak spot."

"Don't say that, Ikki!" Seiya protested with her.

"But now I know, Siegfried." Ikki threatened.

"And what can you do about it, Phoenix?"

The Phoenix once again ignited with fire and, before Seiya could argue anything, it once again jumped towards Siegfried to restart their battle. Right away, the God Warrior noticed how Ikki's strategy was now much clearer than before; because if before she sought to use the sky to her advantage, now Ikki seemed to fight rooted to the ground, just like Shiryu, and always seeking to reach Siegfried's birch heart.

But even so, Phoenix Ikki felt the pain of her previous battle, so the fight was somewhat unequal, and Siegfried had a clear advantage, taking down the Saint now and then too. But she got up and kept trying, until the God Warrior hurled her body over his shoulders to shatter and destroy a pillar of that huge courtyard. From the cloud of dust that rose, Siegfried had to jump to dodge some rays of fire that Ikki shot in his direction, and it was at that moment that the furious Phoenix jumped towards Siegfried in the sky to try to hit the God Warrior's chest.

But the Dragon of the North opened his arms and legs, generating a pulse of energy that repelled Ikki's charge, throwing her back to the ground, where the God Warrior landed, untouched. But she got up again to keep fighting, keep trying to hit Siegfried's weak point.

"Come on, God Warrior, our fight is not over yet!" shouted Ikki, staggering.

"But that's not possible, why don't you give up and stay on the floor next to Shiryu, Phoenix? Why do you get up? Why do you insist on fighting when there's no chance for you?"