A/N: So this chapter will have some action scenes. I think readers are probably always waiting for these in an action/adventure and romance fictions. Btw, thanks for the reviews of snuggle boo.
Meanwhile, at the throne room of Osthreinsburg castle, Cervantes is enjoying himself on his feast of souls that was taken from men whom his servants have killed.
"Ahh... I can feel my strength becoming more powerful than ever before. But I need more, more souls so that I can be immortal. Tira! Come Here! I need you now!"
A flock of ravens then appeared before Cervantes. Suddenly, as the ravens disappeared, a young girl who was wearing really revealing clothes for her age and who was holding a ring blade at her side, appeared and knelt down at the Dreaded Pirate.
"Hello Master! How may I serve you this time?"
"Are there anyone nearby your post for you to kill?"
"I apologize Master for I am not the one who has information on that. You better ask Astaroth for that."
"Alright then, now back to work!" as Cervantes slammed on of his swords to the ground.
"As your wish." as Tira bowed down and then disappeared as a flock of raven appeared again, flying away from the throne room.
"Astaroth!" a giant grotesque monster then appeared this time. His body was almost covered by rocks and those that were not covered looked more like lava than flesh.
"You ring sir?"
"Are there any souls nearby your post that I can feast on?"
"Why yes sir. In fact there are five of them: Two women, a samurai, a Japanese pirate and a knight to be exact."
"Wait! What did you said? A knight? Does he have a scar on his eye?"
"I don't have the picture perfect detail on the situtation. Those are the only information that my men have sent me Master."
"Very well then, proceed to that area where those warriors are and kill them all, especially that knight."
"Yes Master."
"Oh Astaroth, come back here for a moment." The golem then came back. Cervantes then stood up his throne held his sword in hand and slashed through an empty space in the room. A vortex then appeared out of nowhere.
"Go through this so that you can arrive to that area faster."
"It looks like you cannot wait any longer can you?"
"If I were you I would stop talking before I decided to feast upon your soul instead."
"Very well then," Astaroth entered the portal and then vanished.
"That knight! Could it be?" as Cervantes worried about what Astaroth told him.
"HAHAHAHAHA! What am I worrying about? Even if that knight was him, what could he possibly do against me? After all I am becoming stronger and more powerful for every soul that I and Soul Edge consume."
The entire castle was then filled then by the horrific, mad laughter of the pirate.
"This ends now Cervantes!" as Siegfried pierced through Cervantes' body with his zweihander, Faust." The pirate then let out a fading cry and then finally collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Siegfried then grabbed Soul Edge. "Finally, you're evil ends now."
(HAHAHA! You can never get rid of me. As long as you're in possession of this sword, we can never be apart.) Siegfried then tried to drop the sword. But it won't come off. Instead it started to fuse with his body again.
"Arrrrgggghhhh! No! Not again!" Siegfried then cried out because of pain. After some time, Siegfried was gone and Nightmare has been reborn. The entire castle was burning to the ground as The Azure knight walks away from it.
(I will never let you take another life for that sword with my body!)
"HAHAHA! You're too late! Just see for yourself." Nightmare then let Siegfried take control of his body again, transforming back to its original form. What Siegfried saw then was the most horrific scene he had ever stumbled upon to. Lying on the ground was his companions lifeless and swimming on their own blood with large and deep cuts in their bodies. He then encountered the body of Cassandra.
"Cas.. san... dra?" as Siegfried was petrified in shock to see the bloody and lifeless body of the woman he loves with the same wounds as of their other companions. Using all the strength of his body, he then immediately rushed over, knelt down and cradled her head to his arms as tears started to fall from his eyes.
"W...what... have I done? I can never do this to anyone. What more to the only person that I cared for more than my own life... Th... this... cannot be..."
(What did I just told you? As long as you exist, then so will I and with your presence around, death is inevitable, especially to those who are close to you. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)
"No... No... No!"
Sigfried then woke up in the middle of the night , crying out a great roar, panting hard and sweating uncontrollably. He then closed his eyes and thought about what he just saw in his dreams.
"Siegfried! Siegfried! Are you alright?" as Siegfried opens his eyes, though the surroundings were still dark, his sense of sight was greeted by an image of an angel. As he focuses harder he then saw something far more beautiful. It was Cassandra. She was by his side the whole time when he was experiencing his nightmares .He then immediately hugged her in delight. Cassandra then hugged him back as well as she was relieved that Siegfried had already came through whatever it is that is troubling him in his sleep.
"Can you tell me what it is that making you growl like that a while ago?"
Siegfried knows that he could not tell Cassandra the real thing that caused his nightmares. So he tried make a story out of it.
"It was a nightmare. One of the most terrible ones i've ever had." Cassandra then crept closer and leaned her head down at his chest.
"Tell me about it. I might help you through it."
"Very well, it's about Cervantes and Soul Edge. As I was engaging him into battle, he struck me with a blow so powerful that my sword was cut in half. As I came crashing down the ground, I saw a horrific image of all of you lying lifeless and swimming in pools of your blood. He then struck me for the fatal blow and that is when I have waken up. It reminded me that I have to face him alone so that none of you will ever get harmed because of the duty that I have failed to accomplish back then." (Especially you Cassandra. I don't ever want anything bad to happen to you.) Cassandra then raised her head.
"Wait, what? No way! I'm not letting you face him alone! You're going to get killed."
"But I can't let you be in danger of getting hurt because of me and..." Cassandra then interrupted Siegfried as she placed her hand on his cheek. "If we combined all of our strength together, I'm sure we can beat him without anyone of us getting killed." Siegfried then closed his eyes, not letting the Athenian see the tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
Before the sun rises, the other three warriors have waken up from their slumber. Cassandra had already prepared breakfast while Siegfried was training with his zweihander in an open space within their camp.
"Cassandra what are you up so early?" Cassandra then whispered to Sophitia what had just happened to Siegfried earlier.
"Well that's pretty scary. It's a good thing that you heard him moaning. Who knows what will happen if you did not come to his aid and woke him up?"
"I know. I'm just worried about him. He thinks that this journey is his responsibility and his alone. Sis, I don't want anything bad to happen to him. I'm not letting him face Cervantes alone. I... I don't want him to get killed!" as Cassandra is just about to cry, Sophitia then placed her hand to her shoulder.
"Don't worry Cassandra. That's why we're all here so that we can finish this thing as soon as possible with all of us celebrating in one piece." Cassandra then hugged her sister, burying her face to her shoulder. Sophitia in return embraced her back to comfort her little sister.
As Siegfried was training, Maxi then approached him.
"Hey Siegfried, can I talk to you for a while?"
"Sure Maxi, what is it about?"
"Well we didn't have the time to spar back then to know each other more so I figured why not now?"
Siegfried knew about the warriors that came from Maxi's homeland strengthen their bonds with each other by sparring with one another as he learned from Mitsurugi.
"It's alright by me but have you spoken to Sophitia about this? I don't want to get knocked out again like last time."
"Oh crap you're right. Wait here okay?" Maxi then rushed to Sophitia and asks for her permission. Seeing that it can improve their skills, she agreed. Maxi then ran back to Siegfried and told him the good news.
"Finally, something to get my blood rising. Though this may be just sparring, I expect you to not hold back now, ya?
"Don't worry about me holding back. After all I always enjoy a good fight."
The two warriors then entered their stances and engaged in combat. Maxi first showed off his lightning fast moves with the nunchucks. Though Siegfried blocked some of them, because of their quickness, some attacks penetrated his guard and hit their mark at his head and upper extremities. To make matters worse, Siegfried wasn't wearing his armor back then so he felt every one of those attacks. But then, Siegfried quickly recovers and rushed at Maxi with a shoulder tackle that stunned him. The knight then swung his sword to Maxi, hitting his head with the broad side of his sword. As Maxi tries to recover, Siegfried was already charging towards him. Anticipating the attack, Maxi then flipped backwards, hitting the knight right in the chin. He then tried to follow with a barrage of attacks from his nunchucks but Siegfried evaded them and kicked Maxi's weapon flying out of his hands. He then pointed Faust at the pirate's neck and then giving him a smile, signalling that he had already won.
"Awesome man, I never fought anyone like you. You're like are one of the best warriors I've ever fought."
"I am really flattered by your complement Maxi. I must say that you are also a great fighter as well. I never fought anyone with such speed before in my life. How did you do gained it?"
Maxi then explained to Siegfried about his past in the army on how their training is and how they do sparring while wearing body weights.
"Hey you two, aren't you gonna eat breakfast? You better hurry if you still want some coz Mitsurugi is cleaning everything up like a tornado."
"Oh just let them be Cassandra. If they don't want it, then I'll just take it. It's sad to see good food to go to waste after all." Mitsurugi then felt a sharp pain on his head. It was Sophitia hitting him with a stick.
"It's not right to leave nothing for people who haven't have eaten yet Mitsurugi."
Mitsurugi then hid behind Cassandra as he looked like a scared little puppy.
"Oh Sis, you never had a time with Mitsurugi without hurting him."
"Yeah, what she said."
Sophitia then just giggled. The two other warriors then joined them again and ate their meals. After eating, they continued with their journey through the forest of Wolfkrone. Just before sunset, they reached a part of the forest where mist and fog have started to get thicker and thicker as they go deeper. Suddenly, they heard a voice from nowhere and then started to see a silhouette of a really big person.
"HAHAHAHA! What do we have here? some lost souls who have trespassed in my territory. Unfortunately for you, this is the last place that you will ever see. My master will enjoy himself while feasting on all of your souls."
"Show yourself coward! We're not afraid of mere threats." as Siegfried taunts the voice.
"Consider your death wish granted." Astaroth then appeared in front of the group along with a band of reptilian looking men (about 10 in number). All of them were shocked to see that they are faced up against a grotesque giant and a group of lizard men. But the one who was really shocked was Siegfried. Astaroth was one of his best servants that gave him souls back then when he was still Nightmare. He didn't recognize his name when Aeon Calcos warned them about him. Suddenly his memories of the golem suddenly returned. He then froze there in fear because the monster might remember him as his old master.
"Well then, now you see us, now you don't." Astaroth then signalled his men to attack. "Crush them."
The group of lizardmen then rushed at Siegfried and his companions.
"We will never be killed by someone like you, servants of the cursed sword. Okay gang, get ready, get set..." Before Maxi can signal the group to attack, Siegfried already charged at the lizard men.
"Siegfried, come back here!" yelled Maxi.
"Siegfried, no!" as Cassandra shouted at the knight who was charging at the lizard men. He then immediately cut down one in half and then decapitating one nearby. As Siegfried continued to kill the monsters, Astaroth can't help but wonder on what Cervantes had told him before.
"Hmm... this guy is good. This brutality and rage, I knew I've seen this before back then but with my old master... Wait, could it be? That knight, he has a scar on his eye. The same knight that I saw back then when Nightmare disappeared during his battle with my new master. That's why he's worried about him. And it looks like that these maggots haven't got any idea of this. Well then, let's start to ignite some flames in their hearts. Angry souls are better to satisfy the hunger of my master than souls with fear after all." as Astartoh put a grin on his face.
Siegfried then continued to parried and counterattacked everything that was thrown at him until all of them were dead. His comrades couldn't help but just stare at amazement at what the knight did. Siegfried then pointed his sword at the golem. "Tell your master I'll be coming for him next."
"HAHAHAHAHA! Impressive! Such brutality and rage, it's been a while since I saw something so beautiful. It's really a sight to see, especially when it is always done by you... Master." Astaroth then bowed down at Siegfried which shocked everyone in confusion.
"W...What are you talking about? I'm not your master. Your master is the Dreaded Pirate, Cervantes de Leon."
"Correction, he is my new master. You are my old master. The Infamous Azure Knight, Nightmare." Everyone was shocked to hear what the golem just said. Siegfried then rushed at the monster. When he was just about to be stabbed, Astaroth vanished within the mist and fog that surrounded the forest and let out a loud, maniacal laugh. Siegfried then stabbed the ground.
"Come back here you monster!" as he then knelt down and started to pant hard. Mitsurugi then came to Siegfried's side to check up on him. The three warriors at the back though were still stunned on what they just heard. But the one who was really surprised was Cassandra. The only man she ever loved, turned out to be the diabolical monster who slaughtered a lot of innocent lives that she was sent to destroy.
"Siegfried... Is it... true?"
"Cassandra I..."
"Just answer the damn question. Are you... Nightmare?"
"Cassandra you see..." Siegfried then interrupted Mitsurugi, shaking his head, letting him know that it is all over.
With regret and disgust, Siegfried was prepared but afraid to admit it to the person whom he feared the most to find out. Using all of his strength in his body, he looked Cassandra in the eyes, "Yes... I am... Nightmare."
The confession of Siegfried caused Cassandra to fell down on her knees in disbelief with tears started to flow from her eyes.
A/N: What will this revelation do to Cassandra and the others? Are they going to kill Siegfried? How will the knight respond to their reactions and what will Mitsurugi do to help Siegfried? Stay tuned for the next chapter entitled "The Wounded Angel".