Saint Seiya: The Legend of Seiya

111 - The Balmung Sword

Siegfried's presence had been so powerful that his absence at that moment was like a vacuum in Asgard. Freya wept, sitting on the floor, the departure of that good friend, whom she knew deeply the love he had for his brother and the pain he felt when he saw him arrested and thrown in the dungeons of Valhalla. And how his duty to that land made him stifle all the admiration and love he felt for the one who had created him. All in order not to deviate an inch from Odin's path. And on that tragic day, if there was any doubt in Siegfried's chest about his brother's betrayal, all of it was dispelled in a terrible way, victimizing two of the same blood in a last and valiant effort of the Warrior God.

"Hilda!" she called, her voice low and plaintive, barely audible. "Stop all this, please."

But the Princess of Asgard already seemed to have no more strength, because although her belief and fiber were enviable and her heart burning like the sun capable of clearing the images that blinded Siegfried, Freya had her foundations in those men and women of Asgard, so that so many fallen friends and so many others suffering had finally brought down the Princess, who felt that until that moment she was fighting a war alone.

"The Balmung Sword, Seiya!" shouted Ikki behind him, feeling sorry for Freya's suffering. "Gather the Sapphires and awaken the Balmung Sword to free Hilda from her spell."

The boy then looked into the palm of his hand and found the Seven Odin Sapphires, which had once protected the God Warriors of Asgard. He closed them in his fist and looked ahead of him, meeting the astonished face of Hilda, who would certainly stand in his way.

And even if the Pegasus Saint had only his overcoat and those seven precious stones in his hand, he would not shirk his duty, and so he walked resolutely to the ledge of that small platform immediately below the Colossus of Odin.

Hilda made no attempt to stop him from going up those steps, but when he saw him get closer, Seiya realized that he was finally noticed by the valkyrie. But still she didn't put herself on guard or make any move that gave the impression that she would do something to stop him; on the contrary, she seemed really shaken from that battle and still shocked by the departure of her most faithful Adviser and friend.

Seiya climbed the short flight of stairs to a platform directly in front of that huge abyss that opened at his feet and, on the other side of the cliff, to the colossal torso of Odin that rose to watch over that North Land. The Pegasus Saint looked up and saw the blade of that huge sword next to him. His words were halting but respectful.

"Odin. I need you to give us the Balmung Sword so we can save Hilda and seal the Relic of the Seas by locking Poseidon in the Oceans!"

The mountain seemed to be silent again.

"Answer my prayers." asked Seiya once more, with his hand extended towards the heavens showing that Colossus the Seven Sapphires.

But nobody answered him.

"Odin!" shouted Seiya, trying something with his voice. "Odin!"

A brief, subtle laugh escaped Hilda's voice behind him, but Seiya didn't turn to her.

"Why don't you answer me?" Seiya asked himself, frowning.

Hilda's laughter became even more present, so that she herself walked the steps to be with Seiya on that platform under the enormous Colossus of Odin.

"Pegasus, don't waste your voice on pointless hopes." she said to the boy with mockery in her voice.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The treasures of Asgard are for the children of this land. You will never be worthy of the Balmung Sword."

And in a quick movement, she shot a terrible gust of her Ring of Nibelungs at close range at Seiya, who found himself thrown into the abyss along with the Seven Odin Sapphires that he had in his hand. As he saw himself falling to his death in that immense abyss, the last thing Seiya could hear was the manic laugh of that Voice of Odin watching him disappear in the darkness and the desperate voice of his friends shouting his name in the air.