The road through Persia was going to be a very long one, and Talim couldn't help but lose a bit of her composure over the boredom she was experiencing. The monotonous expanses of farmland nestled in between the low olive green hills of the Persian countryside offered little in the way of excitement. Xianghua did not seem to mind in the slightest, as she was happy that Kilik had finally returned to her life.

"I thought I had lost him forever…" Xianghua remained somewhat stolid and silent as the trio walked down the path. It had been at least a year since she saw him, ever since their battle against Inferno. She remembered how she felt after the battle: alone. After Inferno was vanquished the Chaos Realm had been dissolved, and she woke up outside of Ostrheinsburg castle without either Kilik or Maxi.

"Now that he's back there is no way I am going to go through what I did during that time…" she thought to herself.

"So Kilik where have you been? Xianghua tells me that she hasn't seen you for a really long time." questioned Talim, placing her hands on her hip and giving Kilik a curious glance.

"You shouldn't bother him, maybe he doesn't want to talk about it" said Xianghua clinging to her friends arm.

Kilik looked down at Xianghua and was a little surprised by her response. It had been a long time since they had traveled together, and Kilik had spent the lost year in almost perfect isolation.

"She's always been worried about me. Well she probably doesn't want to lose me like after the battle against Inferno. I don't blame her, those were hard times," thought Kilik as he looked out at the expanse of land.

"Don't worry about it! I'm sure you're both curious as to what happened. Believe me I still don't understand all that has transpired…" replied Kilik smiling warmly, trying to liven up the situation. Xianghua looked into Kilik's eyes, sometimes the only way for her to really know how he was feeling behind the smiling mask he oftentimes wore.

"Well why don't you start from the beginning then, I'm sure its pretty interesting. Who knows maybe Xianghua and I will see something you don't," sweetly replied Talim, eager to have something interesting to listen to.

"Well alright… I guess the best place to start would be back when we fought Inferno…"

----------

Maxi, Kilik, and Xianghua had finally arrived to their destination, Ostrheinsburg castle. The fortress and the area surrounding it had the foul taint of soul edge oozing out of every orifice. The lake surrounding the castle had once been clear and blue, but now was stifled in bog and muck, a horrific smell coming out of it. The band of heroes gave each other a knowing glance, and started to race across the drawbridge into the castle. Kilik could feel his bo staff, the Kali Yuga, react to the presence of Soul Edge.

"There's no mistaking it, we've got it this time. Let's hurry, I should be able to utilize the power of the staff to destroy Soul Edge" stated Kilik as he tried to steel himself for whatever lied ahead.

"At least I hope so…" Kilik actually didn't know whether or not his training and the sacred treasure from his temple could neutralize the raw malevolent power of the Soul Edge, but he had to at least try.

They finally entered the fortress into the main area and took a quick look around. The castle was old and decrepit, covered in moss and overgrown vines, crumbled bits of stone lying in dust on the floor. Sensing danger, Maxi quickly reached for his nunchuks.

"We're not alone…" he breathed, warily watching the shadowlike creatures that were emerging from the nooks and crannies of the castle. Each creature looked like a mass of blackness in the shape of a person, their eyes bright and yellow. Xianghua and Kilik were quick to follow suit, readying their weapons. Xianghua's sword began to flicker, and then emanated a light blue glow.

"My sword's never done this before…" she remarked in surprise, examining the blade closely.

"Yes….playthings…." yelled out a guttural voice from the inner recesses of the castle keep.

"It's him…" Maxi knew the voice all too well. It was the sound of the unholy monster that had slain his crew and so many other innocent people across the world. Maxi gritted his teeth as he saw Astaroth emerge from the castle keep, his giant axe in tow. Behind him was a rather odd looking creature, a lizard the height of a man wielding a strange colored shield and sword. It snarled fiercly and the frills behind its neck perked up. Astaroth simply grinned with a mouth full of rotten yellow teeth and motioned for his minions to attack. The shadow creatures seemed to draw their weapons out of their own bodies and converged on Kilik and his friends.

"Listen, you two take care of these … whatever you call them. I've got the big guy over there," said Maxi looking towards his companions.

"But Maxi you can't …." replied Xianghua, grabbing his arm for dear life.

"We've got to race to get Soul Edge, and we need to get into that keep. You two get going and I'll fight Astaroth. Now don't argue we don't have any time."

"But!"

"I said no arguments!" snapped Maxi. Walking boldly towards the Astaroth, Maxi readied his nunchuks and got into his fighting stance. Before Xianghua could say anything in protest the shadow creatures had converged on her and Kilik and battle ensued.

"Alright you monster, you're going to pay for every one of my men you murdered!" stated Maxi as he pointed his nunchuks threateningly at Astaroth. He looked down at his lizard companion, who immediately returned to the depths of the castle keep.

"You'll be nothing more than a stain on the ground…" breathed the behemoth as he rushed headlong at Maxi.

"Maxi!" cried Xianghua as she watched her friend get tackled by the abomination and knocked into a pile of straw several meters away.

"We have to concentrate on the task at hand!" cried out Kilik as he knocked over two shadow creatures. Xianghua simply nodded and continued the fight. She swung her sword with a large arc, striking five of the creatures. They broke apart into nothingness but were immediately replaced by even more creatures.

"There's no end to this, we kill one and ten more take its place…" said Xianghua exasperated, the fatigue of trying to fight wearing her down.

Kilik knew that he couldn't fight forever as well, and decided to try to use his training to change the flow of the battle to his side. Holding the Kali-Yuga horizontal to his body and closing his eyes, Kilik began to recite a sutra.

"Namo rases Namo hatet Namo suset Namo rases Namo hatet…." Kilik's body began to glow a faint green, his spirit power manifesting itself physically in an aura around his body. The energy field around him began to pulsate and spin, spreading out several meters in a circle around him. The positive energy of the Kali Yuga negated the energy of the shadow creatures, breaking them apart into nothingness and sending them back into the void. Xianghua shielded her eyes as the Kali Yuga's power flooded the courtyard in a brilliant flash of light. Kilik ended the spell and took a few moments to catch his breath.

"That takes care of them, wow Kilik," said Xianghua purveying the scene for anymore creatures.

"No time to rest, we need to get into the castle keep. The Kali Yuga is directing me there. Hurry Xianghua," said Kilik as he broke into a sprint towards the keep. Xianghua immediately followed suit. As Maxi was keeping Astaroth busy, the two were able to easily enter the keep. The keep proved to be a dizzyingly long staircase upwards.

"I can feel it, the miasma from the sword is concentrated right above us…We have to get to the top of the tower!" Kilik tried his best to control his emotions, but being so close to the Soul Edge filled his mind with terror. Xianghua could feel the swords presence too, and felt a chill come over her. The two simply nodded and began to race up the stairs. The scenery was monotonous, and the stairs seemed to climb higher and higher into infinity. Finally the two came to a large wooden door, a bright red light pouring out from the crevices. Kilik laid his hand on the door to open it, but then fell to the floor clutching his chest.

"Kilik! What's wrong!" screamed Xianghua as she bent down to attend to him.

A strange pulsation wracked Kilik's body, causing him to become physically ill. "I'm coming for you Kilik…I'll have you soon enough," whispered a strange voice that echoed through the young mans mind. Kilik summoned all his willpower to regain control over his body, and after a few moments he regained composure.

"It's the evil inside me, it is somehow being fueled by Soul Edge's presence. It's trying to take over my mind…" Sweat was pouring down from Kilik's face, racing down towards the floor in huge droplets.

"Kilik! Are you sure you want to do this?" screamed Xianghua.

"I'm…it's alright…we can't hesitate any longer. I'll deal with it. It'll get better once we destroy the Soul Edge…" Kilik didn't want to worry her with the truth, especially at a time like this.

"Once we destroy Soul Edge it won't matter, I'll be able to vanquish the darkness inside me." At the very least he could hang onto the hope of that, however small it was.

Xianghua definitely wasn't convinced despite Kilik's posturing.

"Now is not the time to act tough…but you do have a point. Once we destroy Soul Edge it won't matter," she thought. "Let's go"

Xianghua helped her friend up and then opened the door. The room was filled with a red haze not unlike the color of lava, and at the center stood a large orb raised on a dais. The azure knight, Nightmare, stood next to the orb flanked by Lizardman. Nightmare's dark purple armor seemed to draw in the light surrounding it, casting it into an endless void. A single red eye jutted out from the darkness of his helmet. Xianghua took one look at the huge sword Nightmare wielded, and could feel the malicious presence of Soul Edge. The eye on the blade seemed to stare straight at her, like a predator eyeing its prey.

"The summoning of souls is almost complete. Sadly I don't need your souls to complete the ritual, but you will join us in good time," boomed Nightmare, his voice echoing loudly through the entire castle.

The Azure knight clutched the orb with one hand, and a brilliant red light exploded out from it. Kilik and Xianghua had to shield their eyes from the powerful rays of light that burst forth from the orb.

"Yes, these souls are perfect sacrifices! Look how beautiful they are! Everything is perfect! I'VE WON!" exclaimed Nightmare as he laughed gutturally.

Xianghua looked over at the orb and saw flames dance within. A face of fire and magma seemed to stare back at her, its yellow eyes peering into her soul. Kilik could feel a hellish beating pounding in the back of his mind, and it took every once of willpower he had to keep the evil within him in check.

"The gate is opened." Nightmare released the orb and turned around. At that moment, the back wall set on fire, and a portal of pure flame blinked into existence. Flames and sparks flew out of the portal, and little bits of lava fell to the floor and sizzled.

"Why don't you play with them for a bit. Try to keep them alive though, so we can have fun devouring their flesh when I get back," chuckled Nightmare as he nodded to Lizardman and entered the portal.

"Wait!" yelled Kilik as he rushed forward, drawing his staff. Nightmare disappeared into the portal, his form being engulfed in hellish flames. Lizard man worked his way in front of the portal, licking the blood from the blade of his sword.

"We'll have to get through him to get to Nightmare…" remarked Xianghua

"Fine by me. Ready Xianghua?"

"Let's go!"

The two young warriors rushed headlong towards Lizarman, determined to reach Nightmare and destroy Soul Edge.