Kwai kwai nidobak! As many of you readers have realized, we are getting very close to the end of this story. I'm not sure if this story will get a sequel because apparently, there won't be a Demon's Souls 2, but I might one day change my mind on a sequel. There are other story ideas that I have been thinking about, so I will work on those first. Ah, but I'm babbling again, please enjoy the chapter. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!
Chapter 21: Nothing is Simple
Just outside of the Orc stronghold known as Dol Guldur, the Blue Phantom and Gandalf the Gray were in a small forest clearing within Mirkwood. Sauron's army had been searching for them ever since they escaped the stronghold.
Gandalf was still weak from his duel with Sauron and he was resting on the ground while he leaned against the stump of a tall tree. The Blue Phantom had been protecting him while he rested. Occasionally, an Orc would discover them, but a quick strike from the blue warrior's scythe would quickly silence them.
The Blue Phantom had just finished killing an Orc when he and the resting wizard heard a loud roar. The Phantom looked up from the Orc's body just to see Azog charging straight towards him. The pale Orc snarled as he smashed his mace right into the ghostly warrior's stomach, causing blue ectoplasm to splatter out of the crushing wound.
Gandalf watched as the Blue Phantom was sent flying and slid as he hit the ground. The Orc just sneered as his bloodshot eyes darted between the two companions.
"Mirdautas Viras. (It is a good day to kill.)" Azog chuckled darkly as he casually swung his mace before he firmly gripped it.
The Blue Phantom's eyes narrowed as he slowly stood up and adopted a combat stance. The pale Orc roared as he began to charge forward, but the ghostly warrior easily jumped and rolled to the side. When he stood up again, he swirled around and sliced his scythe into Azog's hide, causing the Orc to growl in pain.
Azog quickly raised his mace and struck the Phantom, but not hard enough to knock the ghostly warrior down. Blue ectoplasm splattered out of his body, but the Blue Phantom ignored it and jumped back to avoid another swing from the pale Orc.
The Orc snarled and quickly lunged forward. His lips curved into a cruel smile when his metal hand clamped around the Phantom's throat. With a chuckle, the Orc lifted his opponent in the air with only his mechanical limb. The Blue Phantom dropped his scythe during this and tried to struggle free.
As he struggled, the Blue Phantom quickly reached into his satchel with his left hand and took out his silver catalyst. As he did this, the wand-like catalyst and the warrior's hand began to glow an unnatural white light.
"Mod…? (What?)" Azog murmured with a confused expression when he saw his opponent's glowing hand.
Without answering, the Blue Phantom thrusted his glowing hand forward and punched the pale Orc's chest. Azog grunted from the strike and his eyes widened as he felt painful chills seeping into his body.
Gandalf slowly stood up as he watched the two combatants stare at each other. The old wizard had no idea what was going on between them, but he could tell that Azog was in great pain from whatever his blue companion was casting.
The Blue Phantom was performing a dark spell that originates from witchcraft, Soulsucker. This spell allowed the caster to steel the victim's very soul. The pale Orc commenced to scream in agony as he dropped his mace and he released the blue warrior. Even when the Phantom landed on the ground, he still kept his hand firmly on the Orc's chest.
Azog trembled heavily as his eyes rolled back in his head and once the ghostly warrior's hand finally pulled away, he fell to the ground and lay motionless. Azog, the Defiler was dead.
Gandalf was amazed by what he just witnessed. He's never seen a spell like that before. The old wizard watched as his blue companion bent down and picked up the scythe he dropped before looking up at the wizard.
"You are quite an extraordinary being." Gandalf the Gray complimented with a gentle smile.
The Blue Phantom nodded in thanks as he turned to fully face the wizard. He then bowed respectively before he faded away, most likely back to his own world. The wizard then heard footsteps rushing towards him and he turned around to see Radagast.
"Gandalf! Are you alright!" the brown robed wizard asked worriedly once he had stopped in front of his friend.
"Yes… I am quite alright, but we have much work to do. The Lonely Mountain and Esgaroth are in danger from an Orc attack. If we hurry, we can have their armies put their differences aside so they can fend off our enemy's threat." the wizard donned in gray stated urgently.
Without saying another word, Gandalf began to walk down the way his friend came from. Radagast briefly glanced at Azog's dead body before he turned around to follow his fellow wizard. Gandalf was determined to stop a possible war before it could have a chance to begin.
A blue-green mist began to rise out of the floor within the Nexus, but no one really paid it much mind. The mist formed into two humanoid beings, but one was significantly taller than the other. Eventually, the mist solidified into the forms of the knight and the Hobbit.
The armored human sighed quietly when the mist faded away and he placed his Eye Stone into his leather pouch. He was surprised however when he saw Bilbo take a few steps forward to look around the Nexus.
"What is that noise?" the Hobbit asked curiously before the human had a chance to question why he was there in the first place.
The knight stopped and listened at that moment. A loud moaning noise could be heard coming from somewhere below them. The pit in the center of the room has changed since the last time he was in the Nexus. Usually, a partially invisible magical field with gold markings acted as a floor over the pit, but that field was visibly absent.
"I am being beckoned." the armored man stated very quietly, just loud enough for the Hobbit to hear.
He then turned his head to fully look at Bilbo, who was looking right back at him.
"Why are you even here? You were supposed to stay at that mountain." the knight demanded sternly.
"I wanted to come and help you." the Hobbit answered honestly with a frown. "After what you said back at the Lonely Mountain… I just… I feel like you shouldn't have to go through this alone." he added, trying to choose his words carefully.
"I'm most likely going to have my soul consumed. You do realize this, correct?" the armored man stated bluntly, not wanting the Hobbit to die because of him.
"I know, but I want to help." Bilbo persisted.
"Is there nothing I can say to dissuade you?" the knight asked with a quiet sigh and curly haired Hobbit shook his head. "Very well, you can come with me. But I want you to run if anything starts to go downhill. Do you understand me?" the knight stated very sternly/
"Yes, I understand. I um… I found something in the gold chamber that might protect me." the Hobbit replied as he reached into his coat pocket.
The Demon Slayer watched as Bilbo took out what looked like a small shirt that was made out of white chainmail. Neither of them knew that this was the famous Mithril Coat. The armored seemed to be entirely made of silver-like metal rings that were closely attached to one another.
"Alright, some light armor like that should help. Go behind one of the pillars and put it on." the knight told his small friend.
Bilbo nodded before he walked over to one of the stone pillars to put on his new armor. Even with him out of eyesight, the armored man felt like someone was watching him. He kept a firm grip on hi Bastard Sword as he slowly turned around to see a woman leaning against the wall.
The knight has never seen this woman before. This strange woman was wearing a set of black clothes with golden lining. Her hands were covered in black gloves and her coat went down slightly past her knees. Her hair was bleached white and went down a little past her shoulders. Most of her face was also covered in a gold mask, but her eyes and lower face were still visible, revealing her pale skin.
The knight eyed this woman with suspicion as she stared at him with her arms crossed over her chest. For some reason, he didn't trust her at all. It was like she had a bad vibe to her.
"I can see that you have killed in the past… No one can blame you for that. Demon Souls are too precious to relinquish." the white haired woman stated suddenly, catching the armored man by surprise. "Perhaps a knight like you would have an interest in my offer?" she continued smoothly.
"Who are you? Answer me this, then I'll consider whatever offer you have." the Demon slayer stated sharply.
"Hm… it seems that you are not a mindless brute. You remind me of Yurt, the Silent Chief." the grim woman replied with a light chuckle. "I am Mephistopholes." she introduced herself with a dark tint to her voice.
For the first time in a long time, the knight felt a chill run up his spine. It was at that point that he remembered the Silent Chief's dying words back at Laketown when the Orcs attacked.
"Mephistopholes was right about you."
"What do you want from me?" the knight questioned coldly as he took a small step away from the woman, who eyed him closely.
"I want you to murder every human within the Nexus." the masked woman answered rather bluntly. "The Soul Arts must be kept a secret. Everyone here… must… die." she added, putting emphasis on her last two words.
The knight just stared at her with no emotion in his brown eyes. In a way, this explained why that murderer started his killing spree. Yurt, the Silent Chief wasn't just mindlessly killing people; he was attempting to destroy all knowledge regarding the Soul Arts so that the Demons would never be able to threaten humanity again. In a way, he saw it as a noble goal, but he didn't like his or his mistress' actions.
"You're insane." the armored man finally spoke as he held his weapon in both hands and adopted a combat stance.
"You dare challenge me? A fool such as you is a rare thing…" Mephistopholes replied with a heavy frown.
With lightning fast reflexes, the masked woman unsheathed her weapons. She held an epee rapier in her right hand while she held a parrying dagger in her left. She then lunged forward, attempting to stab the knight with her rapier. The armored man quickly jumped back however and just barely dodged the attack. He then swung his Bastard Sword at her, but she rolled to the side to avoid the attack.
When the woman wearing the gold mask stood up again, the Demon hunter swung his sword at her again, but she was prepared this time. With a strong flick of her wrist, Mephistopholes was able to deflect the knight's Bastard Sword with her parrying dagger, leaving him open to attack. She leaned back to stab him with her rapier, but a pain her back and stomach stopped her.
Bilbo had used his ring to turn himself invisible after he put on his Mithril shirt. During their brief fight, he managed to sneak around the masked woman and unsheathe his sword, sting. When she was about to stab at his friend, he lunged forward and stabbed her in the back before she could do anything.
This gave the knight enough time to recover from his daze and he swung his Bastard Sword again, affectively cutting off the grim woman's head. The Hobbit quickly pulled Sting out of Mephistopholes' burning body and watched as it slumped lifelessly onto the floor. He panted heavily as her severed head landed on the floor by his feet and he quickly backed away from it.
"Thank you, Bilbo. That could have been very bad if not for you." the knight said quietly as he sheathed his Bastard Sword so it was in the scabbard on his back.
At that point, the armored human noticed that the Hobbit was wearing the Mithril shirt under his blue coat. He just hoped that mail would offer him some protection against the Old One.
"You're welcome. Who was that woman, anyway?" Bilbo asked curiously while he panted lightly.
"She was an assassin who wanted me to murder for her. She thought I would become her new accomplice. She thought wrong." the knight stated before he turned around and started to walk away from the corpse.
The Hobbit quickly glanced at the headless corpse before he sheathed Sting and followed after the knight. They were both very on edge because of the constant moans and groans that seemed to come from below the Nexus. They both walked around a stone column to their left and they spotted Sage Freke sitting in his usual spot.
Without a word, the knight pulled out the Black Eye Stone he took from Yurt, the Silent Chief. With Bilbo close behind him, he approached the magician and held his hand out.
"Ah! You've done it. You've retrieved my Eye Stone." Sage Freke stated with a smile under his hood and he gently took the stone out of the knight's grasp. "Thank you for this service. There is no telling what that murderer would've done with such an item." he said with honest gratitude.
The Demon slayer silently nodded instead of replying. He didn't want a reward or to buy any magic; he just wanted to confront the Old One as soon as possible. A particularly loud moan sounded off from below the Nexus and the hooded magician looked at the knight and Hobbit with a raised eyebrow.
"Why, you have defeated all the Demons. Have you not? This ghastly howl. The Monumental has spoken of it before…" the powerful sage spoke softly and with complete seriousness.
"What is the Monumental?" the Hobbit couldn't help but ask and he looked at the two humans with confusion.
"The Monumental is an ageless being who lives in the upper chamber of the Nexus. He… or it… is the reason why I'm hunting the Demon sin the first place. I would take you to see the Monumental, but seeing it and speaking to it is more like talking to a statue than a person." the knight explained as he looked down at Bilbo.
"Indeed… I have tried speaking with the Monumental myself, but he or it… just gave me a blank stare." Sage Freke added before he slowly turned to look at the knight. "There is a question I have long had in my mind." he spoke solemnly.
"And what question would that be?" the armored human replied emotionlessly.
"It is whether we are right to banish the Old One. And I now have the answer, and it is a resounding NO." the powerful magician spoke seriously, catching both the knight and Bilbo by surprise. "Listen closely. The Old One must not be cut off from us. If the candle maiden tries to entrap it, kill her. Then absorb the souls collected by the Demons. You will gain the power of a King, and I will gain the knowledge from beyond. And that, my dear friends, is the righteous path. You must not allow trifling matters to dissuade you. The Demon Souls shall be ours! If truth be told, that woman has been tainted by Demons herself. She would thank you in her death for relieving her… agony." he instructed them, meaning every word he said.
"You are not seriously considering this, are you?" Bilbo asked with disgust in his voice as he turned to look at the knight.
His armored friend didn't reply however. He just blankly stared into space as he considered his two options. He could either kill the Maiden in Black to achieve immense power… or allow the Maiden in Black to put the Old One to slumber, which would erase all knowledge of the Soul Arts.
"I need to think on it." the armored man finally stated before he turned on his heels and walked towards the pit in the center of the Nexus; which was also where the Maiden in Black was standing.
Bilbo's mouth hung open as he watched his friend walk away. He then turned to look at Sage Freke, who was eyeing him with a blank expression. The Hobbit bit his lower lip before he turned around and jogged over to the knight to catch up to him.
It didn't take the two of them long to reach the Maiden in Black, who was standing next to the ledge of the pit. She gripped her candle staff with both hands as she rested against her staff. Upon hearing their footsteps, the woman turned her head in their general direction. Bilbo shivered uneasily as he looked at the hardened wax that covered her eyes. That trait of hers still unnerved him, and the constant moaning didn't help his unease.
"Hark. I hear voice of yore. The Old One is calling to thee." the blind maiden spoke softly as the ghastly moans continued from below. "Let us proceed below to its lair." she suggested with a small smile.
At that moment, she reached her right hand out and gently rested her arm on their shoulders. She then stepped forward and fell down the pit with the two males. As they fell, Bilbo screamed in utter terror. Within moments, their visions went black.