LORD OF DARKNESS
Soul Calibur © Namco
Chapter Twenty-Six: Transcending Darkness
- Unknown Location -
The scene shifts towards another unknown location. We couldn't exactly tell where we were, but we could see a large desert from below and beyond. The sun looked bright and the sky looked liked dawn, so it looked like the sun was already rising up from the sky.
As this happened, a bright light appeared, revealing it to be Kera the Hedgehog. As the purple hedgehog landed on her feet, she could immediately see the desert that below from where Kera was at. She walked towards the edge to see it up close.
"This desert looks kinda familiar." Kera said to herself. "Something like the Dusty Desert."
She then noticed that if she was seeing the desert from a high place, then where was she standing at? She looked at what she was standing at. After a moment of looking at the design, that's when a sinking feeling took over Kera, realizing on where she was at.
"This can't be...but it is. It's looks like the tower where all of us fought the Black Dragon seven months ago." Kera realized. "But how's that possible?
Kera decided to look around and see if she could confirm her suspicions about the tower she was standing on. But before she could do that, she had already found something across from her. And it made her eyes widened in surprise. "What is that?"
We zoom over here to see what Kera was looking at. We could see a new figure, with it's back turned away from Kera. But it slowly turned itself around so we could get a better look at this new figure. We could see it was wearing dark-blue armor, but it's most noticeable thing was that it's entire mid-section was missing, pure dark energy taking the place of flesh and bone. It looked more like a mutated-torso. It had glowing red eyes, the skin gnarled and black, and glowing veins running throughout the body. It had a long claw on it's right hand, and we could see it carrying a long red glowing sword that had a strange dark aura to it.
The dark figure looked over at Kera, whom was standing still as she watched the tall-in-humanoid carefully. The dark figure spoke with a demonic voice. "What is this creature I'm looking at in front of me?"
Kera narrowed her eyes at him. "My name is Kera, if that's what you were really asking me. What about you? What exactly are you suppose to be?"
"I am the Guardian of Darkness...I am known as the Azure Knight. I am Nightmare!" The inhuman creature answered fiercely.
"Nightmare..." Kera repeated slowly.
Nightmare locked his glowing red eyes at Kera, as if he were trying to study her. "Your soul...I can see your soul. It possesses a dark aura. One in which would be a worthy opponent against the Lord of Darkness."
"You mean Hellsing? What do you know about him?" Kera asked.
"Hellsing is a creature that was born out of darkness by a band of druids over 1500 years ago." Nightmare explained. "He claims souls in order for his power to grow ever stronger. Once he has awakened his true form, he will consume the world into the Netherworld. He won't stop until he has gained every living soul of the planet in his favor."
Kera was surprised to hear this. "What is this true form of his?"
"That is something that you, and the other six Dragon Lords, will have to discover yourselves once you face him in battle." Nightmare replied. "And at your current state, your power is nothing compared to him."
"Then what do I do?" Kera asked.
"It's simple: Unleash your inner darkness." Nightmare answered. "I sense that you have already tasted a part of the darkness that resides in your soul."
"Darkness...?" Kera said surprisingly. "But I don't-"
"You don't have to deny it." Nightmare interrupted her. "You want revenge against others that would harm your friends and loved ones."
Hearing this, Nightmare was right. As much as Kera hated to admit it, this has happened to her before. Like the time Black Doom killed her parents and when Hellsing momentarily killed Larcen, but was revived by the power of Silver's necklace and Viola's Sacrifice healing magic. It seemed like no matter how emotional she felt, she could never actually keep her emotions under control. She felt useless on the inside, but she knew that her friends would disagree.
"Come fight me." Nightmare said, as he got into stance with his legendary sword known as Soul Edge. "Draw your sword and I shall teach you how to unleash the darkness within your soul!"
Kera looked up at Nightmare's glowing red eyes for a moment. Her face looked determined as she pulled out her Dragon Sword and got into a fighting stance. "All right. Let's get started, then."
Kera and Nightmare started to circle each other for a few seconds until Nightmare made the first move by swinging Soul Edge vertically towards the purple hedgehog's face. Kera quickly blocked it with her Dragon Sword, as a loud metallic clang echoed throughout the air. Kera fought back by clashing her sword with Nightmare's own. The clashes they made were loud, and the two sword wielders were obviously not going to hold anything back. After moments of sword clashing, Nightmare used his claw to punch Kera in the stomach, which sent the purple hedgehog flying backwards a couple of feet. Nightmare swinged his sword down at Kera's downed body to finish it. But fortunately, Kera quickly rolled out of the way as the Soul Edge made contact with the ground.
Kera got back up on her feet and charged after Nightmare with her sword preparing to strike again. However, Nightmare defended himself just as Kera swinged her sword to strike at him. Nightmare and Kera, again, clashed swords with each other. Nightmare had a small advantage as Kera moved backwards, but Kera wasn't going to give up as she moved forwards, while Nightmare took a couple of steps back. The two made another huge clash, as the two swords tried to push each other in a test of strength.
"Can you feel it?" Nightmare asked. "The darkness within your soul wants itself to be unleashed."
"I haven't gotten angry yet." Kera told him. "I don't usually show emotion that easily."
"I see...so your are learning to control your emotions from getting out of control." Nightmare said with interest.
"The last time it happened, I wasn't able to control myself until Hellsing was gone. I'm worried that if my anger is drawn out, then I'm afraid that I might not be able to control myself from going mad again." Kera said, worried about herself.
Nightmare could somehow understand what she was saying, as he and Kera continued to test each other with the strength of their swords. "And that is why I am here to help you. Learn how to unleash the darkness within you. Do not be afraid to release your hatred and anger. Come at me with everything you got! Do not stop until you have reached your limit!"
Having enough with Nightmare's words, Kera managed to push Nightmare away with all her might. However, Nightmare only slided backwards a couple feet, but it did manage to surprise him a little. Kera jumped at him as she swinged her sword at Nightmare's torso. The Azure Knight cried out in pain as he took the damage. Kera went for it again, but Nightmare managed to stop her by kicking her in the chest area, making her fall on her back. Before Kera could get up, Nightmare quickly grabbed the purple hedgehog around the throat and lifted her in the air. Kera choked as Nightmare grasped her with his claw. After a moment of choking her, he threw her across the tower as she flew a few feet in the air before crashing head-first into the ground.
Kera was slowly getting back to her feet while catching her breath. She looked over to see Nightmare charging at her with Soul Edge preparing to strike. Thinking quickly, Kera gripped her Dragon Sword and prepared to defend herself. As Nightmare got closer, he quickly swinged Soul Edge downwards towards Kera again. But Kera was able to roll out of the way as Soul Edge slammed towards the ground. Nightmare turned to see Kera swinging her sword at him, making another cut to Nightmare's torso area. Nightmare took the affect as Kera continued to strike at the Azure's Knight's lower body parts. Nightmare was taking in the affects as he slowly fell to his knees. Kera decided to finish it off with one more blow to end it. But just as she swinged her sword, Nightmare defended himself with his weapon before shoving Kera backwards a few feet.
Nightmare got back to his feet and charged at Kera. He then swinged his sword down at the purple hedgehog, only for Kera to defend herself with her own sword. Kera and Nightmare held it like this for a few moments before pushing each other backwards a few feet. But they immediately jumped back into action as the clashed swords with each other. Each clash they made showed no signs of giving up as both Kera and Nightmare were proving themselves to see who was stronger. After clashing for a few moments, Nightmare quickly did a 360 spin when he jumped in the air and attacked Kera's face with Soul Edge, causing the female hedgehog to scream in pain while falling towards the ground.
Kera slowly got back to her feet while wiping some of the blood off the side of her face as she got back into stance. We could see the necklace starting to glowing as the determined Kera focused all her attention on Nightmare. The Azure Knight was taking notice of this.
"Yes..." Nightmare said with a menacing laugh. "Yes! The darkness inside you is coming out! Now, unleash your hidden powers and show me true darkness!"
Kera said nothing as she charged at Nightmare with her Dragon Sword at the ready. Nightmare anticipated this as he and Kera clashed swords with each other once again. And like before, they clashed with each other without end. Some moments came when they either dodged, blocked, or countered each blade strike that came at them. But either way, they were both determined to win against each other. Kera tried to sweep Nightmare off his feet, but the Azure Knight jumped to avoid her feet coming from below him. Nightmare, again, swinged his sword vertically towards Kera. Kera used her Dragon Sword to retaliate by making another hard clash with Nightmare's sword. The two, once again, tried to push each other in a test of strength. But the result came out with the two sword wielders pushing each other backwards a few feet.
Nightmare gripped Soul Edge as he charged after Kera and swinged his sword horizontally to strike Kera at her face again. Kera blocked the blow with her sword as she prepared to to strike Nightmare at his mutated torso. Nightmare saw this coming as he jumped to the side to avoid the attack. Kera turned to strike at Nightmare again, but the Azure Knight quickly grabbed Kera by the throat again and quickly slammed her to the ground. Kera cried out in pain when she felt her head connect with the hard ground. Nightmare lifted her up from the ground for a moment as Kera tried to catch her breath. But Nightmare again slammed her to the ground, causing Kera to cry out in pain again. He then lifted her up again and tossed her to the side, causing her to slide across the ground until she stopped.
Over with Kera, the purple hedgehog groaned in pain. Her hair was a mess, she had bruises on the back of her head, and the damage she took was pretty hard. But despite all this, Kera somehow managed to get back to her feet. But very slowly did she do that. Nightmare saw this, somewhat amused, but he did notice that her necklace started to glow very brightly.
"I can see it now..." Nightmare said. "When your necklace is glowing at it's brightest, your hidden powers are ready to call out to you. Now, combine that with your Dragon Sword, and you will be able to use the power of darkness to your advantage."
Kera concentrated her mind on her necklace as she closed her eyes. After a couple of moments passed, the necklace's dark energy came out and was being transferred over to the Dragon Sword. As this was going on, Kera's eyes snapped open and her eyes were glowing bright red, like Nightmare. And the dark energy around her sword surrounded itself with a dark aura. Kera got into a stance as her teeth started to grit.
"All right, Nightmare. Are we going to finish our fight?" Kera asked with a hint of a demonic voice.
Nightmare laughed evilly as he unleashed his own inner darkness, as the dark armor around him started to glow brightly. "Come at me, Dragon Lord of Darkness. Show me your true power!"
Kera wasted no time as she and Nightmare began to clash their legendary blades with each other. Each clash they made was louder than the last, as if you could hear the fighting from below. Nightmare prepared to slice at Kera's face, but the purple hedgehog was quickly enough to block the strike. She retaliated by swinging at Nightmare's mutated torso area again, but Nightmare quickly blocked it with his sword. The clashing still continued, as the two opponents glared at each other with hatred. Nightmare managed to get the upper hand by slamming Soul Edge to the ground, causing a small explosion that made Kera go flying high in the air before falling towards the ground.
But before Kera could made contact with the ground, she used her sword and aimed it towards the ground so that she would land safely without getting hurt. This attempt was successful, as Kera got back into the fight with Nightmare. Both the Dragon Sword and Soul Edge clashed with each other again repeatedly, as Kera and Nightmare continued to fight in a stalemate. Kera jumped in the air and prepared to strike at Nightmare's head. Nightmare was taken off guard by this maneuver, as the blade striked at Nightmare's neck area. Nightmare yelled in pain, seeing as how the dark aura on the Dragon Sword was taking extra damage towards Nightmare. But Kera wasn't done there, as she continued to strike at the Azure Knight. Each strike she was dealing towards Nightmare was more fierce and faster than usual. She made one hard strike at Nightmare's lower area, causing him to fall to his knees.
Kera's breathing was demonic and it was breathing pretty hard at this point. She pointed her sword at Nightmare's mutated torso area, as dark energy began to engulf itself around the blade of the Dragon Sword.
"Dark Flame Oblivion!" Kera's demonic voice shouted as she released a large blast of pure dark energy at Nightmare, causing the Azure Knight to fly high in the air for a moment. Kera watched as Nightmare began to fall towards the ground, where the Azure Knight made a loud crash towards the ground.
Kera's demonic voice began to disappear as the dark energy was being re-transferred back into Kera's necklace. The purple hedgehog fell to one knee as she took some breaths to calm herself down. "That was...really tough. But at least, I was able to control it this time."
She looked over to see that the glowing around Nightmare disappeared, as the Azure Knight very slowly made it back to it's feet. Kera was shocked to see this happen. Nightmare somehow survived the blast, despite how hard Kera fought him. She got into a fighting stance to make sure that Nightmare would strike at her again.
Nightmare took a few breaths before looking towards Kera. "Well done...you have passed your trial."
Kera was confused. "I...passed?"
"You were able to unleash the darkness within your soul. Seeing you able to control the darkness while fighting proves that you are what the previous Dragon Lord of Darkness was." Nightmare told her.
"Who...who was this Dragon Lord?" Kera asked.
"He was known as Lance Knight." Nightmare replied. "A human mercenary who took over his father's job after his death occurred over 1500 years ago."
"His father died?" Kera asked.
"I have no sympathy for humans, but if you must know, I shall tell you." Nightmare said. "One night, Lance's father was dueling an unknown soldier. The two fought, and the soldier had the advantage. The soldier was actually looking for something that Lance's father was holding. A necklace."
"A necklace?" Kera raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean the one I'm wearing?"
"Yes." Nightmare replied. "The Necklace of Darkness is what the soldier was looking for."
"How strong was this soldier that Lance's father fought?" Kera questioned.
"The soldier was not ordinary. You could say that this figure wasn't human at all. It is someone that you have encountered most recently." Nightmare told her.
"You mean, the Lord of Darkness?" Kera wondered.
"No." Nightmare replied. "The figure that fought Lance's father and killed him is the same one that killed your own parents...Black Doom."
Kera's eyes widened in shock. "Black Doom?!"
"Shocking?" Nightmare chuckled evilly. "Black Doom was searching for the necklace for his own reasons. Whether it was to awaken the Lord of Darkness or not, I do not know. Black Doom killed Lance's father, but unfortunately, he did not have the necklace on him."
"He didn't? Then who had it?" Kera asked.
"It was Lance. His father thought that it would not be a good idea to keep the necklace for himself, so instead, he gave it to his son before he went out." Nightmare explained. "The next day, Lance found his dead father's corpse and was shocked. He had lost his father, which technically meant that he would have to take over the mercenary company for his father's sake."
"But what is the deal with Lance and the Necklace of Darkness?" Kera asked.
"There was a princess whom was overturned by an enemy nation and had to flee before they could find and kill her. She went out to seek for help, when in turn, she found a mercenary company led by the new leader, Lance. She told him about her story and Lance agreed that he and his mercenary company would help her take back her lost kingdom." Nightmare answered. "He went out in search of other people that would help him out on his journey to help the princess's plea along the way."
"But what about Black Doom?" Kera asked.
"Surprisingly, Lance had encountered him during his travels. Black Doom was searching for the necklace that Lance's father was supposedly holding, but he did not have it. Instead, Lance was holding the necklace himself. When Black Doom told Lance about how he killed his father, Lance's anger and sadness took over him as the dark necklace, that was wearing around his neck at the time, and immediately jumped after Black Doom. Black Doom was caught off guard by this as Lance kept attacking him with his sword repeatedly and was about to kill him, but Black Doom managed to create a hologram of himself, causing him to disappear in the blink of an eye."
Kera's eyes darted to the ground, as she was gathering in all the information she was being told. "Did Lance ever encounter Black Doom again?"
"No, he did not. But sometime after that, the Dragon Elders appeared before him and said that they were examining him, saying that he was the potential Dragon Lord of Darkness. They also told him that he would join six other Dragon Lords to fight off the Lord of Darkness and banish him for good." Nightmare finished.
Kera felt sad for Lance, seeing as how Black Doom killed his father in order to get what he wanted. And then the same thing happened to her when her parents were killed when Black Doom was looking for the Chaos Emerald at the time. Those two events together all lead back to Black Doom. Was it just out of coincidence? Or was it out of something else?
"Kera..." Nightmare said, as he pulled out something from behind. "I have to give you this."
Kera looked at the object Nightmare was holding in his claw. It was revealed to be a black dragon stone head. "What is it?"
"This is a Dragon Stone. When a potential Dragon Lord completes their trial, they receive this to fight the Lord of Darkness in their battle." Nightmare answered.
Kera took the Dragon Stone from Nightmare as she looked at it up close. This dragon's head looked a lot like the Black Dragon from seven months ago. "How is this suppose to help me?"
"You will have to wait until all seven of you are together and you are standing tall against the Lord of Darkness." Nightmare told her. "Now, it is time for you to go back to where you came from."
Before Kera could reply, dark magic energy surrounded the purple hedgehog for a moment before it disappeared, along with Kera as well.
When she was gone, Nightmare turned towards the sun as Soul Edge was gripped tightly in his hand. "Having a little darkness in your soul is never a bad thing. Once you learn how to embrace it, you will never want to let it go." The Azure Knight said, as he laughed evilly while the dawning sun rised over the horizon.
In order to fight the darkness, you must become one with the darkness as Kera passes her trial against the Azure Knight, Nightmare. Will she be able to control the darkness within herself in the future? Will these new abilities of the necklaces come into play when they face Hellsing? And with all our heroes passing their trials, are they ready to face the Lord of Darkness? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!
Please, read and review.