Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Caliber, Tekken or any of it's characters. They all belong to NAMCO. I don't own anybody from the Zelda Series they belong to Nintendo. I do not own Spawn or Necrid either, Todd McFarlane does. And if you want the copyright info on the Original Characters it is in my profile.
Authors Note: Okay this next chapter is one of the things I've been building to. For those of you that know the identity of the character being introduced for the first time in this chapter, take what you think you know and ignore it. I found it easy to take a mysterious character with no true name and no real past and easily mold him into the Soul Calibur universe. This is all building up to put several answers to questions surrounding the Soul Calibur.
Also for those who care the setting here is the level in SCII where all the 'Destined Battles' are fought in Arcade Mode. That crumbling church.
Soul Calibur II: Of Souls And Swords
Chapter Forty-Two: Titans and Demons
After setting out of the unidentified port city they had taken lodging, the two groups of the White Wind and the Four Blades began their movement across the European country side which wasn't nearly as lively as it had once been. As Siegfried had said before they began their movement towards the Valentine estate, they really didn't have anywhere else to go. No other clues. No other hints. The only option they had was to trust the world of the man that claimed to be Link's brother and essential shadow. If they were truly not related they were connected by a life force, if they were then they would have to deal with that possibility. Weather or not they found Link would determine it.
The words of Arus'Nei had dropped grave concern upon both Sophitia and Cassandra that were unrelated to Link. Arus'Nei explained that a dark side and a light side were connected by the same life force and that if he and Link were truly of that nature to kill one would be to kill the other. They in turn thought of the relationship between Nightmare and Siegfried. While he clearly had no concern about his fate after all he blamed himself for they were beginning to wonder if the split the Soul Edge performed on Siegfried was anything like the priests of Link's country predicted about Arus'Nei and Link.
To kill Nightmare was the kill Siegfried. To kill Arus'Nei was to kill Link. That was how the life force worked between the light side and the dark side of a person. While Arus'Nei had explained that they were not connected in such a way, it was as clear that the Siegfried they knew and the one that Soul Edge crafted out of his inner evil, greed and malice were both at risk to such a system. Sophitia had been distant ever since she had first considered that as had Cassandra who was still trying to translate all of Arus'Nei's rants. All he had said about Link's existence practically stealing his life from him.
How they could ever be brothers was a mystery to her, and Link himself had claimed he didn't know for sure why his shadow hunted him. She assumed that if Link was truly alive, she would have to ask him what was on her mind. But first they needed to track down this warrior that fought Heihachi in that town, the one who apparently now carried the Soul Calibur's hilt. She knew that it was probably a bad idea to trust the words of Arus'Nei, but they were sure that it wasn't a member of the Black Wind. If that was the case the town would have been in much more shock.
At this point there was no telling who this warrior was until they could look into his eyes and question him on such things, but they were heeding Heihachi's warning and were treading very carefully. Now after nearly a weeks travel south with hardly any time for rest they found themselves in Ostrheinsburg where their missing ally's shadow had told them to go. The area brought back some pretty powerful memories out of the minds of Kilik, Xianghua, Maxi, Sophitia and Siegfried as they knew the old castle from a kingdom of long past was only a few miles into the mountains.
Xianghua made her announcement just moments after they had stepped into the small city that was known for its crafts in furniture and wood work which all came from trees growing in the forests nearby. "The warrior we are seeking is very close by, the fragments are calling out to me. Both those of the Soul Calibur..." everybody looked up as they noticed the plural and gripped their patience as she spoke "...and the Soul Edge." everybody felt flustered as they knew that if shards of the Soul Edge were around it was likely somebody from the Black Wind would be coming to retrieve them.
Sophitia figured they would be able to sense the shards as easily as they had been doing with the fact that she was holding a box that sealed off the shards they already possessed. Guarding the box almost constantly was the duty of Taki, Siegfried and herself each of them possessing different times. This fact was serious weighing on Drake's patience as he didn't have one shred of luck towards retrieving it this entire time. Unknown to him his unexplained irritation and impatience was being noticed by the likes of the concerned Talim and the jealous Yunsung.
Arriving in the early morning the two group of the White Wind and the Four Blades awaited Xianghua's conclusion as to where they needed to head. In the end she announced that the energy resonating from the Soul Edge fragments were on a higher elevation and the Soul Calibur shard was faint signal that was somewhere nearby. Siegfried explained that it was the Ostrheinsburg Cathedral which could be seen from the castle where the Soul Edge was shattered. It was the place where the kings of the old kingdom were sworn in, now it was a place that was falling apart. They agreed to begin their climb to it and confront whoever held these shards. The dusty and small rocks crunched against one another as the seekers moved up the side of the mountain heading towards the Cathedral which possessed its own beaten trail. The groups had both split up into three groups. The trio went with the members of the Four Blades along one side of the mountain while Siegfried and the sisters moved up another. Taki, Mitsurugi and the two from the Wind Village found themselves going up the rocks on the side of the Cathedral hoping to get to the second floor and maybe get a better steak out point. Scaling was easy with the Taki and Drake's training, Mitsurugi's various adventures and Talim's excellent control over herself.
Siegfried, Sophitia and Cassandra all eventually found themselves at the large front doors of the cathedral which had been closed for years. Siegfried breathed as he hoisted Requiem on his shoulder obviously ready to use it if the need arose, the sisters had their shields and their swords could be drawn very swiftly. Cassandra's heart beat faster as they neared the doors. At this point even she could feel the energy off the shards and it was now clear that there were two entities in the building, each possessing different shards. They lightly questioned who could have the Soul Edge shards, Cassandra and Siegfried neared the door and Sophitia gripped the their sealed box to her chest.
Kilik and the others found entrance through a large hole that was in the side of the Cathedril and all moved forward into the main chapel where several stone pews had been set. Maxi and Kyle both twisted as one of the two large doors was forced open and they found themselves looking towards Cassandra and Siegfried. Kilik breathed as he ended up bumping shoulders with Mina and looked at the Four Blades "We don't need it to be too crowded. Mina, Yunsung and Maxi. Somebody needed to help Sophitia guard that box. You wait outside with her." they all agreed and moved out of the chapel.
Siegfried reached up his untainted hand and grabbed Kilik by the shoulder forcing him to look up at the non-existence ceiling which had been torn away over the years. While only half of the second and third floors remained he could sense a lot of power coming from the third floor, clearly the Soul Edge and another that tumbled on his memory. "We've sensed that energy before haven't we." Siegfried questioned. Kilik nodded then looked towards Raphael and Xianghua "The two of you remain on the ground floor. If I'm right this thing might be able to take that kind of a fall." disappointed the two of them agreed. With this said Kilik, Cassandra and Siegfried moved up the stairs and Kyle brought up the rear.
Taki breathed as she brought another foot up scaling the rocks that lead up to the side of the mountain, from there they would be able to get around the side and maybe onto the roof. From there they could, perhaps just manage to make a quick kill on whoever possessed the shards. Mitsurugi was right behind her, he had substituted some leather for his heavy armor knowing it would only serve to weight him down at this point. Shishi-Oh was slung over his back as he climbed having grown accustomed to it in his days as a mercenary. While the others went along the two trails they came up to the side and would make their way to the roof, still he was getting a bad feeling about Drake's anger.
"Damn it." Drake half growled as a piece of rock came from under his foot and Talim looked down at him as she followed the other two. Drake shook his head before be brought his leg up high and got another foot hold pulling himself up, his eyes narrowed into daggers at the scenario. It seemed his seemingly infinite patience was breaking, but Talim couldn't figure out what was putting weight on it. He hadn't known Link well and it was obvious that Cassandra, Kyle, Taki and herself were on edge with the possibility he might be alive somewhere. It was something else and she could determine it. Instead of asking if he wanted help she moved on.
Reaching the edge of the summit they found that the chapel had been built up against the rocks which looked climbable. They ended up scratching this idea as it didn't take long for Taki and Talim to detect the dark aura that was coming from the highest level of the building. Drake narrowed his eyes as he picked it up and spoke "This world just might be smaller that I thought. It's that fire hurling bastard that send me across Venice's south harbor." he breathed out referring back to the demon that tried to make away with their shards, the ones he was looking to steal. Taki breathed remembering how Siegfried had taken him down earlier, but now she could feel a greater power and it didn't rub her right. Seeing the stairs through a hole in the wall, she witnessed the cursed member of the trio pass by holding up his rod. He was followed closely by the two of the blond warriors and the rear was brought up by the serious Korean.
She noticed all of them step back as they neared the top of the stairs which she could see through the hole, obviously they had spotted their target. Kilik breathed as he looked out from the doorway and looked at Siegfried "I though he ran back to where he came from." he snarled as silently as he could. Siegfried breathed as he held his sword which wasn't easy to maneuver around such close quarters. Kilik jerked back into the stair way as a crackle of crimson energy went off from whatever he was looking at, he had been honing his power since his defeat.
Cassandra moved closer up next to Kilik finding her sight fixed on the ominous monster that Siegfried had called a Hellspawn. He was knelt down on the floor gazing at his hand which gripped something that was pretty obvious to her considering the amount of negative aura he was expelling from his being. He was positioned on what was supposed to be the third floor though the ages made it more like a look out point. The missing parts of the roof and walls made it possible to see the Castle that her sister and Siegfried had spoken of. It was a truly beautiful site, though it was obvious the monster cared little for it.
Defeat had been a frustrating experiance for him. There was a first time for everything but this kind of thing didn't happen to him, it wasn't supposed to. Never in his formal life had he ever been out classed. Never been out performed. Never been out done in any real way or form, and he of course didn't count death through betrayal as a defeat. Since he had lost to the hands of the leader of the Defenders he had headed for Germany and found this place, it was secluded and obviously wasn't cared about much as nobody had bothered him. Giving him more than enough time to collect knowledge on what his new body had given him. The body of Spawn, not Al Simmons.
Knelt down with one knee touching the cold ruin's floor he gazed at the objects in his hand, three of the Soul Edge shards. Not what he had been sent to find, but he would be sparred more of Malbolgia's bullshit if he managed to get them. The underworld Lord primarily wanted the sword itself. An ancient root of power that would allow him to hold a great dominion over the realm that was Hell. Still he wondered if such pathetic little things were truly worth his time or his trouble at this point, he was much for formidable that he was a month ago. No living mortal could ever hope to stand in his way. Little did he know that there was one who intended to.
The power blinded creature was lost in his own thought and completely unable to sense his gaze which looked down upon him from the decimated roof of the Cathedral. Even the fragments of that accursed sword were enough to mystify the most powerful of warriors, and this unholy creature was certainly no exception. The fact that he was a man turned demon from the underworld made no difference to him, just the fact that he was collecting the shards of the Soul Edge was enough to make his blood boil. It was even more proof that humanity had learned nothing over the centuries.
Power gathered around him as he concentrated his energy prepared to go back on the offensive after so long, despite the warm up against that possessed mask around ten years ago. His eyes moved to close as he held up a hand, his palm pointed dangerously towards the knelling creature. He forced away all thoughts that might have brought up the words of 'underhanded' and 'dishonorable'. Such things no long mattered to him. He had vowed countless years ago that would not allow everything to happen all over again. This pitiful fool would not assist the unfolding plot.
Xianghua and Raphael waited back on the ground floor. Their hands at their weapons and their minds were fixed to nothing back combat, they were ready to make their move if the situation arose. Xianghua was struggling to keep from collapsing as the energy of the Soul Edge shards were like a thick haze to her mind. The aura of the being that had collected them was also a horrible strain on her senses as the collective darkness made it difficult for her to focus. Raphael grabbed her shoulder looking at her able to see how her soul was being effected and was about to suggest she join Sophitia when suddenly it happened.
Every last synapse of Xianghua's being that was being tortured by the negative aura of the Soul Edge was suddenly whipped clean by another force, probably at least twice as powerful. There was suddenly a flash of light from above and everything felt exactly like her lost sword's aura, it wasn't similar it was exact! Raphael jerked looking up as a massive explosion went off from above and pieces of rubble rained down on them. Xianghua moved pulling him back into the stair well as several pieces of the third floor rained down. Xianghua's eyes went wide as she caught sight of three glowing pieces of rubble right before the one who had been holding them struck the ground. The one from the harbor in Venice.
Taki Moyika jerked her head up as she heard the explosion from the inside of the building the felt the pure almost holy aura wash over her. Jerking away from the Cathedral wall she dropped down about fifteen feet before landing and ran back from the cliff looking up at the roof. Mitsurugi followed suit rushing to her side to look up at the source of the noise, an ominous shadow of a man stood on the roof outlined by the late morning sun. He turned his head towards them before he did the most insane thing, he back flipped off the side of the roof falling towards the back of the Cathedral. Without a second thought Taki took off after the being as did the other three who ended up left in her dust.
Cassandra screamed as she through her back against the stairwell wall. It had all been so sudden that she didn't have any more time to react as suddenly an orb of light struck the ground right where the creature was knelling and sent him flying over the side of the destroyed platform. Pieces of rubble rained into the stairwell though they were mostly on the small side such as rocks and pebbles. Kilik jerked out as he saw a shadow drop past the window that was positioned in the back of the room the creature had been in.
Cassandra breathed as she held her back to the wall of the stairwell as she watched the monster fade from view obviously plummeting to the first floor. Siegfried breathed as he reviewed the original plan and looked at Kilik "Are those flash bombs Taki carries really that potent?" he asked in all seriousness. Kilik shook his head "Not even on their best day. That certainly didn't come from one of us." Kilik growled. Siegfried turned and began moving down the stairs and the other two ended up following. As they reached the bottom they were greeted with the site of the monster slowly getting to his feet angry he had been caught off guard.
The monster growled as he slowly got to his feet growling angrily as he did so, the black flesh of what appeared to be some sort of living costume healing back over to conceal the horrible burns on the flesh that existed under it. The crimson cape that could be somehow melded into a weapon fluttered lightly as he stood to his feet reaching out a hand to grab it and pull it back over his shoulder. The three shards of the Soul Edge were on the floor around him almost for the pickings but none of the group present wanted to step into the line of fire. The monster spoke but it wasn't to any of them "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you just dug your own grave." he said as the doors in the back of the cathedral were kicked open.
Siegfried looked to the group signaling for all of them to move back towards the front of the cathedral where they could get a good look at both of them. Sophitia and Mina were both taking cover behind the pillars that one held up parts of the roof, the Athenian still grasping the seal box to her chest. Mina moved to her groups apparent leader "Kyle what is going on?" she asked as silently as she could. He shook his head showing that he had absolutely no clue and they all looked on as the figure slowly stepped into the light. Cassandra's eyes went wide as he stepped into the light and she seemed to move back against Siegfried in apparent shock. Sophitia and Siegfried also looked up and were equally surprised.
The creature before the hellspawn was clearly another of Link's kind, this was displayed by the wide eyes and the long, sharp ears. From what the on looking seekers could see his skin tone was slightly less tanned an he stood at least a foot taller than their missing friend. His facial features seemed identical to Link's, but there were certain aspects that easily went about separating the two of them. The new comer's hair was a shimmering platinum silver much like the one that struck Link down and his pupils could hardly be seen, being they were of the same color. Marks also bladed under his eyes which were an ominous form of war paint that obviously had meanings the seekers didn't know of.
His cloths were in a few ways similar to their elven friend as well, the main differences however was the fact that this new warrior wore solid metal armor as opposed to Link's mythril mail. A dark gray ceremonial body armor covered his chest and abdomen being outlined by a moon and triangle shape on the breast plate. He wore a silverish tunic much like Link under it which went into short sleeves before a black mail came into view covering his arms and legs. He wore boots similar to Link's but his leather arm guards were clearly different. They were black with a pair of red strips running over them and they were lined with several small squares of metal. This warrior before them was overall much more intimidating that the one they were searching for. He was clearly the one that Arus'Nei had advised them to find.
The Hellspawn growled as he held out his hand and his cape was torn from his shoulder, folding itself before morphing into the familiar black and emerald axe "Who the hell are you?!" he demanded to know. His voice echoed through the chamber obviously finding their way to the new warrior's sharp ears which resulted in a light huff. The warrior crossed his arms over his chest locking his cold eyes with the shining emerald slits of his opponent "You possess three shards of Inferno's sword and like many others you clearly have no clue what you have. Hand them over me and I will not harm you." he said. His voice was deeper than Link's and a great deal more threatening, Sophitia was gripping the box to her chest in obvious caution. Cassandra didn't know about that monster but her sister had been intimidated by the threat.
Taki and Mitsurugi found themselves breathing heavily as they had came in the same way as the new mysterious warrior, something about this new comers power just dug into both of them. Talim found herself almost unable to move as every word spoken by this new comer just pierced her very soul. Drake meanwhile growled as he could see three shards right in front of him, shimmering on the floor and up for grabs. If he could get off to a good running start he could probably avoid that monster's fireballs. He caught the glare from Taki "Don't you dare move." she demanded. He grinded his teeth and looked on.
The monster shook his head before laughing towards the sky, clearly confident of his now understood power. He recovered and looked up seeing the warrior hadn't flinched in the least bit "Your serious? Let me laugh harder then!" his laughter continued. Both humored and arrogant as if his challenger was making some sort of a funny, while others might have seen it as confidence the new comer only saw it as a stain. The energy from the Soul Edge had effected this demonic warrior more on his mind than it had his body, it was making him a fool that believed himself invincible.
In an instant the laughter stopped and the warrior became serious again throwing back an arm and energy began to gather catching fire in his palm. "You seriously think I'm going to back down to a couple of cheap threats! Get out of my face!" he shouted before he hurled the ball of hell fire towards the proud standing warrior. Everybody held their breath as the warrior dropped his arms from his chest and moved to the side as the blast got close to him. His hand then came forward and struck the blast back towards its owner. It came about half way before striking the ground exploding in a blast of flame and smoke.
Everybody shielded themselves as more and more of the rubble was kicked up by the flame and a wall of smoke seperated the two warriors. Spawn growled as he found he had lost sight of his opponent, just as this thought crossed his mind a shape came through the fog jumping up and he found himself kicked clear across the chapel smashing into a few stone pews. Everybody was in shock as the new warrior marched up to the creature grabbing him by the neck before he could recover and hurled him hard into the ground, head first. The monster roared as he recovered and grabbed for his attacker.
"You son of a bitch!" he shouted as he brought up his axe prepared to get serious about all of this and rushed him making a swing at the head. The newcomer fell back maintaining his balance as the blades of the axe flew over head and then came up sending his arm up to cloths line the monster hard into the ground. He then brought back at hand and pointed it down towards the monster, it was blazing with some sort of a pure energy and it was obvious what kind of effect it would have on such a creature "Don't make me waste my time on you." he growled. The hell spawn narrowed his eyes before he moved hard to the side kicking the creature's legs out from under him.
He dropped down and the axe was brought up. Seeing that this was not going to go peaceful the newcomer through out an arm catching himself and flipped back just as the axe came down and the hell spawn held up his axe. He was angry, that much was clear as he brought his axe back prepared to take this as far as it could go "I'm going to tear you apart!" he threatened swiping his axe through the air. He then held it out toward the shards of the Soul Edge, it whipped back into a cape and flowed over them as if by its own will before returning to its master.
The Hell spawn gazed at the shards before the warrior spoke up "Every time a mortal or demon uses one of those shards he loses a piece of his soul. Sells it over to the spirit of the corresponding blade. Even now those shard poison your mind, don't be a pawn to them." Spawn growled as the silver haired warrior spoke. His cape morphed back into an axe and without a seconds hesitation he stabbed the three shards into his weapon which began to morph again gaining a fleshy layer over it. The creature's eyes glowed red and he spoke "They are mine to command pretty boy. Your going to have to pry them from my corpse."
By now all of the seekers were reeling by the amount of power they were witnessing. They might have been able to defeat the demon before, but his power had come under better control and the shards didn't help much. Then there was this other creature, one of Link's kind that would be called some sort of a titan in Athens who showed no real limit to whatever power he possessed. He moved reaching into his tunic slowly removing something that none of them expected to see, the hand guard of Soul Calibur. The piece that Link had vanished along with, how he had it none of them knew.
The creature held it up and it levitated over one finger before he flicked one side of it causing it to spin, then suddenly a light enveloped it and it stretched out into the shape of a sword. The light faded and they found themselves looking at a long sword that shimmered and glowed very similar to the Soul Calibur. From the base it went out into two blades which twisted before coming into a point, the aura from this weapon almost matched the Hell spawn's axe in power. Somehow this member of Link's race was able to manipulate the power of the Soul Calibur's hilt to form a sword of the same power. Without a word he went into stance, this was clearly a struggle of power between a demon and a titan.
Next Chapter: Ominous Power
(Voice of Al Simmons) Its about damn time I managed to find some worthy talent to go up against, but I never expected that it would end up being this damn hard. Who the hell is this guy? What is his power? Why does this shit have to happen to me? Malbolgia sent me promising rewards of a second chance at life. He sent me here to collect the shards and the sword. I want to see my wife again. I want to go back to my old life...And this bastard isn't going to stop me. No matter what form he may take.
NOTE: If you read our demonic friend's words right the next chapter will be an obvious joy to many of you. But it will more than likely leave several of you with many questions as the character fighting Spawn is not who we think he is. The next chapter will prove this and spread a great number of questions to be answered later. Eventually coming to create the history of the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Mwahahahaha....REVIEW NOW!!!
Authors Note: Okay this next chapter is one of the things I've been building to. For those of you that know the identity of the character being introduced for the first time in this chapter, take what you think you know and ignore it. I found it easy to take a mysterious character with no true name and no real past and easily mold him into the Soul Calibur universe. This is all building up to put several answers to questions surrounding the Soul Calibur.
Also for those who care the setting here is the level in SCII where all the 'Destined Battles' are fought in Arcade Mode. That crumbling church.
Soul Calibur II: Of Souls And Swords
Chapter Forty-Two: Titans and Demons
After setting out of the unidentified port city they had taken lodging, the two groups of the White Wind and the Four Blades began their movement across the European country side which wasn't nearly as lively as it had once been. As Siegfried had said before they began their movement towards the Valentine estate, they really didn't have anywhere else to go. No other clues. No other hints. The only option they had was to trust the world of the man that claimed to be Link's brother and essential shadow. If they were truly not related they were connected by a life force, if they were then they would have to deal with that possibility. Weather or not they found Link would determine it.
The words of Arus'Nei had dropped grave concern upon both Sophitia and Cassandra that were unrelated to Link. Arus'Nei explained that a dark side and a light side were connected by the same life force and that if he and Link were truly of that nature to kill one would be to kill the other. They in turn thought of the relationship between Nightmare and Siegfried. While he clearly had no concern about his fate after all he blamed himself for they were beginning to wonder if the split the Soul Edge performed on Siegfried was anything like the priests of Link's country predicted about Arus'Nei and Link.
To kill Nightmare was the kill Siegfried. To kill Arus'Nei was to kill Link. That was how the life force worked between the light side and the dark side of a person. While Arus'Nei had explained that they were not connected in such a way, it was as clear that the Siegfried they knew and the one that Soul Edge crafted out of his inner evil, greed and malice were both at risk to such a system. Sophitia had been distant ever since she had first considered that as had Cassandra who was still trying to translate all of Arus'Nei's rants. All he had said about Link's existence practically stealing his life from him.
How they could ever be brothers was a mystery to her, and Link himself had claimed he didn't know for sure why his shadow hunted him. She assumed that if Link was truly alive, she would have to ask him what was on her mind. But first they needed to track down this warrior that fought Heihachi in that town, the one who apparently now carried the Soul Calibur's hilt. She knew that it was probably a bad idea to trust the words of Arus'Nei, but they were sure that it wasn't a member of the Black Wind. If that was the case the town would have been in much more shock.
At this point there was no telling who this warrior was until they could look into his eyes and question him on such things, but they were heeding Heihachi's warning and were treading very carefully. Now after nearly a weeks travel south with hardly any time for rest they found themselves in Ostrheinsburg where their missing ally's shadow had told them to go. The area brought back some pretty powerful memories out of the minds of Kilik, Xianghua, Maxi, Sophitia and Siegfried as they knew the old castle from a kingdom of long past was only a few miles into the mountains.
Xianghua made her announcement just moments after they had stepped into the small city that was known for its crafts in furniture and wood work which all came from trees growing in the forests nearby. "The warrior we are seeking is very close by, the fragments are calling out to me. Both those of the Soul Calibur..." everybody looked up as they noticed the plural and gripped their patience as she spoke "...and the Soul Edge." everybody felt flustered as they knew that if shards of the Soul Edge were around it was likely somebody from the Black Wind would be coming to retrieve them.
Sophitia figured they would be able to sense the shards as easily as they had been doing with the fact that she was holding a box that sealed off the shards they already possessed. Guarding the box almost constantly was the duty of Taki, Siegfried and herself each of them possessing different times. This fact was serious weighing on Drake's patience as he didn't have one shred of luck towards retrieving it this entire time. Unknown to him his unexplained irritation and impatience was being noticed by the likes of the concerned Talim and the jealous Yunsung.
Arriving in the early morning the two group of the White Wind and the Four Blades awaited Xianghua's conclusion as to where they needed to head. In the end she announced that the energy resonating from the Soul Edge fragments were on a higher elevation and the Soul Calibur shard was faint signal that was somewhere nearby. Siegfried explained that it was the Ostrheinsburg Cathedral which could be seen from the castle where the Soul Edge was shattered. It was the place where the kings of the old kingdom were sworn in, now it was a place that was falling apart. They agreed to begin their climb to it and confront whoever held these shards. The dusty and small rocks crunched against one another as the seekers moved up the side of the mountain heading towards the Cathedral which possessed its own beaten trail. The groups had both split up into three groups. The trio went with the members of the Four Blades along one side of the mountain while Siegfried and the sisters moved up another. Taki, Mitsurugi and the two from the Wind Village found themselves going up the rocks on the side of the Cathedral hoping to get to the second floor and maybe get a better steak out point. Scaling was easy with the Taki and Drake's training, Mitsurugi's various adventures and Talim's excellent control over herself.
Siegfried, Sophitia and Cassandra all eventually found themselves at the large front doors of the cathedral which had been closed for years. Siegfried breathed as he hoisted Requiem on his shoulder obviously ready to use it if the need arose, the sisters had their shields and their swords could be drawn very swiftly. Cassandra's heart beat faster as they neared the doors. At this point even she could feel the energy off the shards and it was now clear that there were two entities in the building, each possessing different shards. They lightly questioned who could have the Soul Edge shards, Cassandra and Siegfried neared the door and Sophitia gripped the their sealed box to her chest.
Kilik and the others found entrance through a large hole that was in the side of the Cathedril and all moved forward into the main chapel where several stone pews had been set. Maxi and Kyle both twisted as one of the two large doors was forced open and they found themselves looking towards Cassandra and Siegfried. Kilik breathed as he ended up bumping shoulders with Mina and looked at the Four Blades "We don't need it to be too crowded. Mina, Yunsung and Maxi. Somebody needed to help Sophitia guard that box. You wait outside with her." they all agreed and moved out of the chapel.
Siegfried reached up his untainted hand and grabbed Kilik by the shoulder forcing him to look up at the non-existence ceiling which had been torn away over the years. While only half of the second and third floors remained he could sense a lot of power coming from the third floor, clearly the Soul Edge and another that tumbled on his memory. "We've sensed that energy before haven't we." Siegfried questioned. Kilik nodded then looked towards Raphael and Xianghua "The two of you remain on the ground floor. If I'm right this thing might be able to take that kind of a fall." disappointed the two of them agreed. With this said Kilik, Cassandra and Siegfried moved up the stairs and Kyle brought up the rear.
Taki breathed as she brought another foot up scaling the rocks that lead up to the side of the mountain, from there they would be able to get around the side and maybe onto the roof. From there they could, perhaps just manage to make a quick kill on whoever possessed the shards. Mitsurugi was right behind her, he had substituted some leather for his heavy armor knowing it would only serve to weight him down at this point. Shishi-Oh was slung over his back as he climbed having grown accustomed to it in his days as a mercenary. While the others went along the two trails they came up to the side and would make their way to the roof, still he was getting a bad feeling about Drake's anger.
"Damn it." Drake half growled as a piece of rock came from under his foot and Talim looked down at him as she followed the other two. Drake shook his head before be brought his leg up high and got another foot hold pulling himself up, his eyes narrowed into daggers at the scenario. It seemed his seemingly infinite patience was breaking, but Talim couldn't figure out what was putting weight on it. He hadn't known Link well and it was obvious that Cassandra, Kyle, Taki and herself were on edge with the possibility he might be alive somewhere. It was something else and she could determine it. Instead of asking if he wanted help she moved on.
Reaching the edge of the summit they found that the chapel had been built up against the rocks which looked climbable. They ended up scratching this idea as it didn't take long for Taki and Talim to detect the dark aura that was coming from the highest level of the building. Drake narrowed his eyes as he picked it up and spoke "This world just might be smaller that I thought. It's that fire hurling bastard that send me across Venice's south harbor." he breathed out referring back to the demon that tried to make away with their shards, the ones he was looking to steal. Taki breathed remembering how Siegfried had taken him down earlier, but now she could feel a greater power and it didn't rub her right. Seeing the stairs through a hole in the wall, she witnessed the cursed member of the trio pass by holding up his rod. He was followed closely by the two of the blond warriors and the rear was brought up by the serious Korean.
She noticed all of them step back as they neared the top of the stairs which she could see through the hole, obviously they had spotted their target. Kilik breathed as he looked out from the doorway and looked at Siegfried "I though he ran back to where he came from." he snarled as silently as he could. Siegfried breathed as he held his sword which wasn't easy to maneuver around such close quarters. Kilik jerked back into the stair way as a crackle of crimson energy went off from whatever he was looking at, he had been honing his power since his defeat.
Cassandra moved closer up next to Kilik finding her sight fixed on the ominous monster that Siegfried had called a Hellspawn. He was knelt down on the floor gazing at his hand which gripped something that was pretty obvious to her considering the amount of negative aura he was expelling from his being. He was positioned on what was supposed to be the third floor though the ages made it more like a look out point. The missing parts of the roof and walls made it possible to see the Castle that her sister and Siegfried had spoken of. It was a truly beautiful site, though it was obvious the monster cared little for it.
Defeat had been a frustrating experiance for him. There was a first time for everything but this kind of thing didn't happen to him, it wasn't supposed to. Never in his formal life had he ever been out classed. Never been out performed. Never been out done in any real way or form, and he of course didn't count death through betrayal as a defeat. Since he had lost to the hands of the leader of the Defenders he had headed for Germany and found this place, it was secluded and obviously wasn't cared about much as nobody had bothered him. Giving him more than enough time to collect knowledge on what his new body had given him. The body of Spawn, not Al Simmons.
Knelt down with one knee touching the cold ruin's floor he gazed at the objects in his hand, three of the Soul Edge shards. Not what he had been sent to find, but he would be sparred more of Malbolgia's bullshit if he managed to get them. The underworld Lord primarily wanted the sword itself. An ancient root of power that would allow him to hold a great dominion over the realm that was Hell. Still he wondered if such pathetic little things were truly worth his time or his trouble at this point, he was much for formidable that he was a month ago. No living mortal could ever hope to stand in his way. Little did he know that there was one who intended to.
The power blinded creature was lost in his own thought and completely unable to sense his gaze which looked down upon him from the decimated roof of the Cathedral. Even the fragments of that accursed sword were enough to mystify the most powerful of warriors, and this unholy creature was certainly no exception. The fact that he was a man turned demon from the underworld made no difference to him, just the fact that he was collecting the shards of the Soul Edge was enough to make his blood boil. It was even more proof that humanity had learned nothing over the centuries.
Power gathered around him as he concentrated his energy prepared to go back on the offensive after so long, despite the warm up against that possessed mask around ten years ago. His eyes moved to close as he held up a hand, his palm pointed dangerously towards the knelling creature. He forced away all thoughts that might have brought up the words of 'underhanded' and 'dishonorable'. Such things no long mattered to him. He had vowed countless years ago that would not allow everything to happen all over again. This pitiful fool would not assist the unfolding plot.
Xianghua and Raphael waited back on the ground floor. Their hands at their weapons and their minds were fixed to nothing back combat, they were ready to make their move if the situation arose. Xianghua was struggling to keep from collapsing as the energy of the Soul Edge shards were like a thick haze to her mind. The aura of the being that had collected them was also a horrible strain on her senses as the collective darkness made it difficult for her to focus. Raphael grabbed her shoulder looking at her able to see how her soul was being effected and was about to suggest she join Sophitia when suddenly it happened.
Every last synapse of Xianghua's being that was being tortured by the negative aura of the Soul Edge was suddenly whipped clean by another force, probably at least twice as powerful. There was suddenly a flash of light from above and everything felt exactly like her lost sword's aura, it wasn't similar it was exact! Raphael jerked looking up as a massive explosion went off from above and pieces of rubble rained down on them. Xianghua moved pulling him back into the stair well as several pieces of the third floor rained down. Xianghua's eyes went wide as she caught sight of three glowing pieces of rubble right before the one who had been holding them struck the ground. The one from the harbor in Venice.
Taki Moyika jerked her head up as she heard the explosion from the inside of the building the felt the pure almost holy aura wash over her. Jerking away from the Cathedral wall she dropped down about fifteen feet before landing and ran back from the cliff looking up at the roof. Mitsurugi followed suit rushing to her side to look up at the source of the noise, an ominous shadow of a man stood on the roof outlined by the late morning sun. He turned his head towards them before he did the most insane thing, he back flipped off the side of the roof falling towards the back of the Cathedral. Without a second thought Taki took off after the being as did the other three who ended up left in her dust.
Cassandra screamed as she through her back against the stairwell wall. It had all been so sudden that she didn't have any more time to react as suddenly an orb of light struck the ground right where the creature was knelling and sent him flying over the side of the destroyed platform. Pieces of rubble rained into the stairwell though they were mostly on the small side such as rocks and pebbles. Kilik jerked out as he saw a shadow drop past the window that was positioned in the back of the room the creature had been in.
Cassandra breathed as she held her back to the wall of the stairwell as she watched the monster fade from view obviously plummeting to the first floor. Siegfried breathed as he reviewed the original plan and looked at Kilik "Are those flash bombs Taki carries really that potent?" he asked in all seriousness. Kilik shook his head "Not even on their best day. That certainly didn't come from one of us." Kilik growled. Siegfried turned and began moving down the stairs and the other two ended up following. As they reached the bottom they were greeted with the site of the monster slowly getting to his feet angry he had been caught off guard.
The monster growled as he slowly got to his feet growling angrily as he did so, the black flesh of what appeared to be some sort of living costume healing back over to conceal the horrible burns on the flesh that existed under it. The crimson cape that could be somehow melded into a weapon fluttered lightly as he stood to his feet reaching out a hand to grab it and pull it back over his shoulder. The three shards of the Soul Edge were on the floor around him almost for the pickings but none of the group present wanted to step into the line of fire. The monster spoke but it wasn't to any of them "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you just dug your own grave." he said as the doors in the back of the cathedral were kicked open.
Siegfried looked to the group signaling for all of them to move back towards the front of the cathedral where they could get a good look at both of them. Sophitia and Mina were both taking cover behind the pillars that one held up parts of the roof, the Athenian still grasping the seal box to her chest. Mina moved to her groups apparent leader "Kyle what is going on?" she asked as silently as she could. He shook his head showing that he had absolutely no clue and they all looked on as the figure slowly stepped into the light. Cassandra's eyes went wide as he stepped into the light and she seemed to move back against Siegfried in apparent shock. Sophitia and Siegfried also looked up and were equally surprised.
The creature before the hellspawn was clearly another of Link's kind, this was displayed by the wide eyes and the long, sharp ears. From what the on looking seekers could see his skin tone was slightly less tanned an he stood at least a foot taller than their missing friend. His facial features seemed identical to Link's, but there were certain aspects that easily went about separating the two of them. The new comer's hair was a shimmering platinum silver much like the one that struck Link down and his pupils could hardly be seen, being they were of the same color. Marks also bladed under his eyes which were an ominous form of war paint that obviously had meanings the seekers didn't know of.
His cloths were in a few ways similar to their elven friend as well, the main differences however was the fact that this new warrior wore solid metal armor as opposed to Link's mythril mail. A dark gray ceremonial body armor covered his chest and abdomen being outlined by a moon and triangle shape on the breast plate. He wore a silverish tunic much like Link under it which went into short sleeves before a black mail came into view covering his arms and legs. He wore boots similar to Link's but his leather arm guards were clearly different. They were black with a pair of red strips running over them and they were lined with several small squares of metal. This warrior before them was overall much more intimidating that the one they were searching for. He was clearly the one that Arus'Nei had advised them to find.
The Hellspawn growled as he held out his hand and his cape was torn from his shoulder, folding itself before morphing into the familiar black and emerald axe "Who the hell are you?!" he demanded to know. His voice echoed through the chamber obviously finding their way to the new warrior's sharp ears which resulted in a light huff. The warrior crossed his arms over his chest locking his cold eyes with the shining emerald slits of his opponent "You possess three shards of Inferno's sword and like many others you clearly have no clue what you have. Hand them over me and I will not harm you." he said. His voice was deeper than Link's and a great deal more threatening, Sophitia was gripping the box to her chest in obvious caution. Cassandra didn't know about that monster but her sister had been intimidated by the threat.
Taki and Mitsurugi found themselves breathing heavily as they had came in the same way as the new mysterious warrior, something about this new comers power just dug into both of them. Talim found herself almost unable to move as every word spoken by this new comer just pierced her very soul. Drake meanwhile growled as he could see three shards right in front of him, shimmering on the floor and up for grabs. If he could get off to a good running start he could probably avoid that monster's fireballs. He caught the glare from Taki "Don't you dare move." she demanded. He grinded his teeth and looked on.
The monster shook his head before laughing towards the sky, clearly confident of his now understood power. He recovered and looked up seeing the warrior hadn't flinched in the least bit "Your serious? Let me laugh harder then!" his laughter continued. Both humored and arrogant as if his challenger was making some sort of a funny, while others might have seen it as confidence the new comer only saw it as a stain. The energy from the Soul Edge had effected this demonic warrior more on his mind than it had his body, it was making him a fool that believed himself invincible.
In an instant the laughter stopped and the warrior became serious again throwing back an arm and energy began to gather catching fire in his palm. "You seriously think I'm going to back down to a couple of cheap threats! Get out of my face!" he shouted before he hurled the ball of hell fire towards the proud standing warrior. Everybody held their breath as the warrior dropped his arms from his chest and moved to the side as the blast got close to him. His hand then came forward and struck the blast back towards its owner. It came about half way before striking the ground exploding in a blast of flame and smoke.
Everybody shielded themselves as more and more of the rubble was kicked up by the flame and a wall of smoke seperated the two warriors. Spawn growled as he found he had lost sight of his opponent, just as this thought crossed his mind a shape came through the fog jumping up and he found himself kicked clear across the chapel smashing into a few stone pews. Everybody was in shock as the new warrior marched up to the creature grabbing him by the neck before he could recover and hurled him hard into the ground, head first. The monster roared as he recovered and grabbed for his attacker.
"You son of a bitch!" he shouted as he brought up his axe prepared to get serious about all of this and rushed him making a swing at the head. The newcomer fell back maintaining his balance as the blades of the axe flew over head and then came up sending his arm up to cloths line the monster hard into the ground. He then brought back at hand and pointed it down towards the monster, it was blazing with some sort of a pure energy and it was obvious what kind of effect it would have on such a creature "Don't make me waste my time on you." he growled. The hell spawn narrowed his eyes before he moved hard to the side kicking the creature's legs out from under him.
He dropped down and the axe was brought up. Seeing that this was not going to go peaceful the newcomer through out an arm catching himself and flipped back just as the axe came down and the hell spawn held up his axe. He was angry, that much was clear as he brought his axe back prepared to take this as far as it could go "I'm going to tear you apart!" he threatened swiping his axe through the air. He then held it out toward the shards of the Soul Edge, it whipped back into a cape and flowed over them as if by its own will before returning to its master.
The Hell spawn gazed at the shards before the warrior spoke up "Every time a mortal or demon uses one of those shards he loses a piece of his soul. Sells it over to the spirit of the corresponding blade. Even now those shard poison your mind, don't be a pawn to them." Spawn growled as the silver haired warrior spoke. His cape morphed back into an axe and without a seconds hesitation he stabbed the three shards into his weapon which began to morph again gaining a fleshy layer over it. The creature's eyes glowed red and he spoke "They are mine to command pretty boy. Your going to have to pry them from my corpse."
By now all of the seekers were reeling by the amount of power they were witnessing. They might have been able to defeat the demon before, but his power had come under better control and the shards didn't help much. Then there was this other creature, one of Link's kind that would be called some sort of a titan in Athens who showed no real limit to whatever power he possessed. He moved reaching into his tunic slowly removing something that none of them expected to see, the hand guard of Soul Calibur. The piece that Link had vanished along with, how he had it none of them knew.
The creature held it up and it levitated over one finger before he flicked one side of it causing it to spin, then suddenly a light enveloped it and it stretched out into the shape of a sword. The light faded and they found themselves looking at a long sword that shimmered and glowed very similar to the Soul Calibur. From the base it went out into two blades which twisted before coming into a point, the aura from this weapon almost matched the Hell spawn's axe in power. Somehow this member of Link's race was able to manipulate the power of the Soul Calibur's hilt to form a sword of the same power. Without a word he went into stance, this was clearly a struggle of power between a demon and a titan.
Next Chapter: Ominous Power
(Voice of Al Simmons) Its about damn time I managed to find some worthy talent to go up against, but I never expected that it would end up being this damn hard. Who the hell is this guy? What is his power? Why does this shit have to happen to me? Malbolgia sent me promising rewards of a second chance at life. He sent me here to collect the shards and the sword. I want to see my wife again. I want to go back to my old life...And this bastard isn't going to stop me. No matter what form he may take.
NOTE: If you read our demonic friend's words right the next chapter will be an obvious joy to many of you. But it will more than likely leave several of you with many questions as the character fighting Spawn is not who we think he is. The next chapter will prove this and spread a great number of questions to be answered later. Eventually coming to create the history of the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Mwahahahaha....REVIEW NOW!!!