The Immortal God Of Dearth

003. This Is How Legends Begin : これが伝説の始まり

Kojiro grimaced as his felt the hard wall make contact with his back. He was bleeding from a thousand injuries. 

"Let me ask you a question." Poseidon said as he slowly advanced, steadily and leisurely. "You know you cannot win against me. Why even try? WHY EVEN TRY?"

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: fear of failure." Kojiro gasped for breath. "If you fear failure, then you are beaten before you can start." He tried to cull the bleeding with his hand.

"And there's just no way that I'm losing to a guy that's never considered the hopes and dreams of others!"

Poseidon felt angry, but he did not know why. "CAN'T YOU SEE IT'S USELESS? NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY, IT USELESS AGAINST THE SHEER DIVINE STRENGTH OF A GOD!"

"Are you telling me to stop trying?" Kojiro breathed. It was true. Even now, all he felt was despair against the God. Everything had gone quiet and still. Kojiro could barely hear the hubbub of stamping and applauding audience in the background anymore. 

He was alone in the quietness of his own mind.

He was a puny human being struggling against the deep depths of the ocean.  He did not want to fight back. He did not want the responsibility of it being all his fault.

But then, his own voice spoke back to him, in the quietness of his brain. If he did not fight back, Poseidon would win. And Kojiro knew what that meant now. That meant the horror of Mankind's extinction. He could not let that happen.

That was the moment Sasaki took on his destiny.

He lifted his head.

"I will NEVER give up fighting even though I am beaten before I can start. Even though all is lost... Even though it is impossible... Never never never..."

Poseidon gritted his teeth. All around them, the Humans burst out cheering. "Never! Never! Never! Ko-ji-ro! Ko-ji-ro! Ko-ji-ro!'

The blue-eyed God trembled in fury. "It's useless! Useless! Useless!" he shouted. "I will show you the might of the Gods."

There was a fair amount of distance between them, about 700 yards between. He started at a jogging speed, increased it to a sprinting pace, intensified it to a Olympian-rate of swiftness, and later amplified it to a Godly level. He went even faster than that, surpassing the speed of sound, the velocity of electricity.

The audience saw a lightning-fast dash arc behind Kojiro. Even Ares, who could track Zeus's movements and the late Poseidon's thrusts, did not see more than a blur. 

The human turned, but to Poseidon he was moving to a sloth's speed.

"Too slow, too slow!" Poseidon yelled as he caught Kojiro with a blow on the face. The swordsman gritted his teeth, feeling the pain arc up the side of his face.  

The Warrior proceeded to barrage Kojiro with an endless depth of punches, targeting his lungs, his kidney, his liver. Kojiro felt the pain reverberate from his insides, but he did not give up. Sasaki began to empty his mind, separating it from any thought, any pain. 

Manju Musou! Sasaki thought.

But he was too slow. Using one hand, Poseidon flung the samurai up in the air. The swordsman hung in midair for a while before starting to descent. 

With a "Hnngh!" of effort, the God, using all his strength, kicked Sasaki up again. Sasaki gasped as he felt his ribcage break as Poseidon's leg made contact with his chest.

Sasaki had expected this. When he began to fall again, he purposely positioned himself where his neck was vulnerable. He predicted that Poseidon would hit there at the next blow. He waited...