Chapter 9

This was the place where he began spinning his plans together. This was where Zasalamel performed the most heinous act of his life. He revived Nightmare here.

"Yess…I can feel it! This power!" The lingering energies of the two soul blades gave the chapel a stale, stuffy atmosphere. It would have been suffocating to any normal human, but to Zasalamel it was a blessing.

He cut the palms of his hand with his scythe. His blood flowed out of the wounds and splattered on the chapel floor. "Now my blood is a part of this too…" He began to chant incantations in his native tongue and raised his arms up in the air as if he was worshipping an ancient god. Blood continued to pour from his palms.

As he felt his spell taking effect, Zasalamel felt a sudden jubilation, a great joy, and he began to chant more fervently, louder, and faster. He had never felt like this in many, many millennia. For the first time ever, he truly felt a smile of happiness cross his lips, and he even laughed. As he rejoiced, he could've sworn he spotted Death hiding in the shadows cast by the chapel benches.

"Yes! I see you! Death is near! Death is here!"

A jet black orb began to appear above his head. It seemed to be absorbing all the energies in the chapel, including what Zasalamel believed was Death.

As the orb began to grow steady with its form, Zasalamel lowered it in front of him, keeping it steady as it floated in between his bleeding palms.

"Yess.." The ethereal orb began to siphon into his open palms. Zasalamel felt a surge of energy, unlike anything he had felt before. His muscles tensed with power, his senses were sharp, far different form the increasingly dull senses he had been living with all these millennia.

"Ha ha ha! This is spectacular! Finally!"

But while he reveled in his success, his mind began to alter. He suddenly felt dizzy, and his eyes grew blurry, and he began to experience his reality in a different light. Everything suddenly felt fake, unreal. He felt his mind disappearing, disappearing into darkness.

As his mind was being altered, so was his body. It was beginning to tear itself apart. Flesh tore and organs rotted away, bone grew and changed form, and the ethereal orb began to take form in his abdomen, where his viscera were once.

During this transformation, Zasalamel's last fleeting moments of sheer helplessness, confusion, and a brief moment of depressing loneliness imprinted itself on the new being's mind.

"My…mind," the being's distorted voice resonated like thunder, "It is…lonely…" He looked at the lone scythe lying unattended on the floor. He picked it up in his skeletal hands and almost immediately, the energy from his body flowed into the scythe, transforming it just as it had transformed Zasalamel's body.

He caressed the blade of the scythe and admired its power, "With Irkalla's help, I will send minds to accompany my own…I live in a lonely world…But others will keep me company soon enough…"

Zasalamel had performed one reckless act inside the walls of Ostrheinsburg Chapel, but this last act of his was foolish. Surely no human can contain the power of the two soul blades in his body. Soul Edge's and Soul Calibur's energies were not meant to be mixed as one. Only corruption would ensue. And now Zasalamel paid the price for his foolishness. His body had become something inhuman. His mind had become an abyss, and it had now fallen into itself. Zasalamel would be alone in his own mind forever.

Could it have been that Zasalamel had foreseen his own fate during his resurrection? Zasalamel can now no longer answer. Only Abyss can.

XOOOOOX

He sees no evil. He hears no evil. He speaks no evil. But his actions, they are pure evil. Or are they the actions of a lapdog? Whatever they are, he is only a human who has been misguided; he has been misguided to the point that he is a cold blooded killer, believing that what he does is not wrong. Killing for him is second nature…

Abyss ran these thoughts through his mind as he stood atop the infamous "Money Pit", looking down into its depths.

…and a skilled killer can help me find company…

He watched a lone figure crawl around on the top tier of the pit. It sniffed at the floor like an animal. Abyss knew that this was the being that many called "The Odd One".

Voldo guarded this pit. He guarded it with his life. His master told him to do so. But his master was long dead.

"Voldo…"

Voldo couldn't believe it. His master was speaking to him again. He could hear his voice inside his head. But he had stopped speaking to him for many months now, so why would he speak now?

"Voldo, it has been long, hasn't it my faithful servant?"

Voldo wheezed and cried out in delight.

"Voldo, now is the time for you to prove your worth to me. I need Soul Edge, Voldo. Once you deliver it to me, I will be able to return to the living, Voldo."

Voldo nodded is head energetically.

"But you will need assistance, my dear servant. Look! Behold me! I have returned in spirit Voldo!"

Voldo quickly whipped his head around to where the voice had directed him. Though he could not see, Voldo sensed a dominant presence standing before him.

"I will return in body once you retrieve Soul Edge, Voldo. Until then, this is my body. Serve me, your master Vercci."

Voldo nearly squealed in delight. He quickly crawled to his master's feet and grabbed his leg. He began to affectionately rub his face against his master's leg.

Abyss looked down upon the groveling oddity. He grinned in satisfaction as Voldo crawled backwards and assumed a praying position. He bowed low for his master.

Abyss had accomplished what he had come here to do. Yes, my pet, grovel before me.

Voldo heard Vercci's voice one last time, "Now sniff out my sword, loyal Voldo."

Voldo obeyed and agilely leapt out of the pit and into the open world.

"How simple. Just a few good words from his master…" Abyss disappeared into the sky, his eyes set on his next ally of deceit.

XOOOOOX

"Ugh…just one more…knot! Gotcha! Alright, Greed! I'm finished!" A young woman brushed her raven colored hair out of her face. Her long bangs always seemed to get in her face.

"Then where's that big oaf?" The old man spun his kunai on his fingertip relaxingly, blowing smoke rings every time he drew a puff from his pipe. The sunlight reflected off his monocle and temporarily glared the vision of the younger woman.

"Grr…Who knows? For all we know he's headed off to fight again. Why didn't you carry the sack, Greed?"

"Look at me, Miser, I'm old," Greed grinned, showing that he was missing the tooth between his left front tooth and his left upper canine, "You don't expect me to carry such a large bag, do you?"

"Shut up, old man." Miser looked away, tired of seeing the old man's grin.

Suddenly in the distance, the crack of splintering wood and a toppling of a tree gave the two thieves a hint of where their companion was, and what he was doing.

"Ha ha! There he is!" Greed put his kunai back in its holder on his waist.

Out from the forest in which the tree had been toppled, a large figure emerged. He wore a large stone helmet that included a mask, and he wielded a large axe along with a large sack slung across his shoulder. His body was covered in stripes, and it seemed to resemble wood grain.

Greed greeted the large figure, "About time! Did you have your fill?"

The giant grunted.

"Well good, now why not give us that sack, huh?" Miser pulled the sack out of the giant's hand. She went back to what she had been tying before and opened the sack, "Now time for you to get in!"

Muffled cries tried to protest, but the sack quickly went over his head. "Stop moving, will you!" Miser elbowed the sack and a muffled yelp came out.

"You! Berserker! Come carry this, now!" Miser held out the tied opening of the sack to the giant Berserker. He grabbed it with his enormous hands and easily slung it across his shoulder.

The trio crossed the dry, arid desert without any complaints.

"You know, if we don't get that man some fresh air, he may expire before we can get him to Abyss."

Miser cut an opening in the sack with her katana, "There, that's all the fresh air he'll need."

"Ha ha! Your quite the bitch aren't you, Miser?" Greed took a puff of his pipe again. "I wonder, how did Abyss ever persuade you to join? I mean, you don't seem like the type of woman who settles for just any deal. What did he offer you?"

Miser suddenly became quiet. Her eyes were fixated on the dry sand underneath her feet.

"You see? This was what you were like when you first joined us. You used to be very reserved. What could possibly persuade you to help anyone else with anything?"

Miser snapped out of her trance-like state. Her voice was soft, and sorrowful, "Hm, what offer did Abyss give me? Simple, Greed, he offered me my life. He let me keep it."

Greed raised an eyebrow, "He threatened your life? Not like him…"

"How about you? Why'd you join?"

"Me? Abyss offered me thrills. He promised to me that he would provide me with many opportunities to hunt. I love that thrill, the thrill of the hunt."

"Hunting humans? Interesting, Greed." Miser looked back at the big Berserker, who walked quietly behind them, "What about this big lug?"

Greed scoffed, "Him? Let's just call it 'mental persuasion'. He has no free will at all."

"Mind control…"

"That could've been you, Miser. Consider yourself lucky."

"About Abyss, what are his motives? He hasn't informed me of anything yet."

"Who knows? I don't even know. He hasn't told anyone, not even the long-time members or the new recruits, like you. All I know is that we are all in for it for our own personal rewards, our own gain."