Chapter 26 Awake to Justice: Destiny[1]
The rage of Sparda exploded from without as he blasted through the portal. He came to a steady landing as his eyes locked on to the pristine white fortress of Mundus, the King of Hell. Red flames and black energy swirled around his body like a violent hurricane, ravishing the environment around him. Sparda made no attempt to control his power anymore and it was unleashed from him in fierce bursts that traveled across the landscape, scathing and desiccating any object in the path of its fury. As he made his way across the expanse, the sound was that of a blast furnace roaring lowly, and more loudly at times. The air around him was blurry not only from the heat, but from the sheer concentration of power placing stress on space. Rocks and parts of the landscape actually dislodged themselves and floated as Sparda approached, only to be energized completely and absorbed into his aura.
Before Mundus' fortress stood yet another legion of his army. Once more, millions upon millions stood in Sparda's way to prevent him from reaching his destiny, and they all emitted the same purple aura that Sparda had seen before. The power of this army was more than threefold what it had been before. At any other time, this battle would have truly tested his resolve, but Sparda was not holding anything back now.
As Sparda walked slowly towards Mundus, the demonic legion amassed in the center of the battlefield in hopes of preventing his progress. After a moment of well-placed hesitation, the first wave billowed toward Sparda like a ferocious sandstorm. But this time, there would be no fighting. No swords would be drawn, no hellfire would be thrown. Sparda hardly paid them any attention.
As they approached, his gait remained steady and his energy flared so that it was at least twenty feet in radius. When they were close enough to see Sparda's face, many of the wiser demons broke ranks and ran in terror, never to be seen again. As the more foolish charged onwards, their raging and chaotic battle cry was muffled and then silenced. When they had drawn no closer than fifty feet from Sparda, their bodies had been disintegrated completely and turned to ash. It seemed as if Sparda's aura was a snarling beast unto itself which lashed out of its own volition, engulfing the oncoming demons in its feral maw, making them part of it. Sparda watched with a detached air of stoical bemusement as their remains whirled silently in the air, and were then swept away by another burst of his power.
The resulting waves suffered the same fate. The sheer brute magnitude of Sparda's raw power overcame them. The sight itself was astonishing; a single point of crimson light moving slowly and steadily through a swarm of retreating darkness. Even those demons that later wished to flee were unable to, as Sparda's power twisted the very fabric of space around him, preventing even the possibility of retreat. Sparda's very presence on the battlefield had sealed their deaths as inevitable from the beginning; there had never been any escape, there had never been any chance of mercy, and there had never been any hope of standing in his way.
As the ashes of the legions of demons whirled through the air, they were carried on the wind and deposited at the threshold of Mundus' hall. And while the remains floated down around Sparda and on the battlefield, he continued his approach to the hall without so much as a glance backwards; For there nothing remained, but the hollow knell of silence amidst the wake of destruction and death...
Sparda came to the gigantic door that now barred his path to Mundus's hall. On occasions when a demon had been summoned, the door would open of its own accord, but Mundus was intentionally keeping the door shut in an attempt to further humiliate Sparda. But his attempt would fail this day.
The only thing Mundus succeeded in doing was further infuriating Sparda. His energy continued to bellow in rage and created a tremendous flaming tempest that set the outside of the fortress ablaze. Before him, the giant door began to sizzle and glow red hot, as it melted into nothing more than a bubbling pile of metal on the ground. Sparda continued through the fortress, meeting little resistance, and the rest of the doors were bypassed in the same way. And as the final door dissolved to the ground and boiled away to nothing, Sparda looked up to see Mundus sitting on his throne, more arrogant than he had ever seen him before.
"So the pawn has come to confront the King once and for all. Strange…no matter how many times a puppet is shown the futility of its actions, it still chooses to believe that it can make a difference…
But you, Sparda, you are different. Or at least you choose to believe you are. At one point, even I must admit, I almost believed it myself! However, you will come to realize, as I have, that your uniqueness is an illusion, an anomaly. Even as you stand before me, you still move at the nudge of a string…and perhaps it has come time to sever those strings once and for all."
"No…" Sparda said in a low tone.
"No? So you still remain in denial. You still—"
"No…more…talking."
Mundus was not even able to take another breath. Sparda hurled himself at Mundus and planted a vicious haymaker[2] square on his jaw, burning the throne to smoldering cinders and sending an incredible shockwave throughout out all of Hell. The force of that single hit caused the fortress to buckle at its foundation and begin to crumble. Mundus' gigantic body went flying through the air, crashing through the back of hall.
Mundus recovered quickly but was befallen by another hard punch to his third eye before he knew what as happening. The Dark Emperor hovered before Sparda with pieces of his face and body floating around him. Chunks of stone and rock continued to fall as he spoke, "Hahaha! So it is true then, your powers are truly those of a god. But you must remember, it is I who am the King of kings, the God amongst gods! Now, tremble before the terrible glory of your Lord!"[3]
Mundus closed his massive wings onto himself and became encased in a ball of light. The chunks of Mundus' body began to reform, recreating his body to perfection. The ground beneath him and Sparda shook wildly, sending an earthquake throughout Hell. The fortress, previously unstable from Sparda's attack, now completely fell to the ground, leaving them hovering in the open air. The tremors of Mundus' power could even be felt in the human world as the people struggled to maintain their balance in the Tower. The entire landscape around the two sank into a chasm of black brimstone and lava. Then, as Mundus' energy peaked, orange flames burst from his body sending wind and debris in all directions. Suddenly, Mundus' wings exploded outward, heralding the radiance of brilliant white light.
And Mundus hovered before Sparda, more perfect than ever before. His body glistened exquisitely, capturing the gleam of the lava below, and his newly formed three pairs of wings shone brilliantly behind him. The hole that had marred the center of his chest for centuries was gone. All three of his eyes pulsated an electric red color and the orange flames around his body covered him like a protective shield. This was Mundus at his full power.
"You see, servant, you are not the only one with potential."
Then Mundus was on Sparda like never before, resorting to his raw strength in a first attack.[4] Each traded blows, Mundus punching Sparda in the abdomen, Sparda slicing Mundus across the chest. Back and forth they went, neither one giving ground. Their battle could not be sustained to one position as it raged across the lands of Hell. They both were moving faster than any demon had ever seen, so fast in fact, the very land was pulled from its foundation and sucked into oblivion as they passed. Whatever demons were left in their quarters either hid away in the depths of Hell or were immolated at the very sight of battle.
Although their movements were almost impossible to follow, the mightiest displays of power stood out as events seen across the Hellscape. One of these assaults began as Mundus had put some space between himself and Sparda and was hovering majestically above the lake of fire. There was no haughty banter from Mundus this time; Sparda's raw ferocity had silenced him for now as he struggled to keep up with his movements. Sparda began to speed along the landscape towards Mundus, with his feet a few inches above the ground below. Mundus raised his arm as if summoning a servant, and a sliver of compressed energy shot at Sparda, carving the black rock like butter.
Although Sparda dodged it easily, teleporting out of the way, when he reappeared another wave came at him; Mundus was frantically summoning wave after wave in what he must have known was a futile attempt to stop Sparda. As the final two energy blades raced along the ground towards Sparda, he did not even make an attempt to dodge, but turned to the side and stopped in his tracks. With one hand and his head slightly bowed, Sparda simply brandished his sword in the direction of the waves, and the red energy extending from his blade silently divided them into harmless gusts of wind. With his right side to Mundus, he spun his sword and locked its hilt on his left side in a flourish that ended with the blaze of his aura roaring higher. The space around Sparda warped slightly as he taunted with the demonic equivalent of flexing his muscles.
Sparda looked up towards Mundus and let out an almost imperceptible growl, just in time to see him release thousands upon thousands of granite orbs with runes on them.[5] Some of them spun and shot needle-like energy beams indiscriminately, some produced sustained lasers that followed Sparda around the battlefield, while others seemed to immediately annul any matter that they touched. At first, Sparda was able to pick them off easily with his sword so they could not even come close, but with a motion of Mundus' hand, they engulfed Sparda and the area in an instant, and for a few moments it seemed as if they had overwhelmed him completely. Mundus knew it would not be so simple; among the swarm, crimson light began to emanate and the orbs exploded outward, flying off into Hell's remote areas or disintegrating completely in Sparda's violent aura.
The orbs that remained homed in on Sparda with unrelenting zeal, shooting lasers and projectiles towards him. From far off, it looked as if the very earth was being turned to dust in explosions and fire. However, Sparda was moving at impossible speeds now, with Mundus hardly able to track him, as he jumped from orb to orb, slicing those in his path with one hand. With his other hand, he shot blazing sanguine runes, imbued the power of his true name,[6] that destroyed multiple orbs on contact and continued on towards Mundus. Upon coming close to him, however, a large bluish orb would always appear and absorb any attack Sparda attempted on the Dark Emperor himself.
As Sparda continued to dodge and teleport on the path of orbs towards Mundus, he noticed that Mundus' hands were being held in a strange fashion and that a point of white light seemed to be growing at his third eye;[7] it seemed as if blue and white flakes of adamantine energy were being pulled from the very atmosphere of Hell as they collected in front of him. In an instant, it was a giant glowing sphere of swirling energy and Mundus released it at Sparda. As it gained speed, it vaporized any orbs that were even close to it, and Sparda realized that if it caught him, even he might not fully recover in time for the next attack. He quickly dodged the oncoming attack, but to his surprise, it came back for him; it was locked on and would follow him for as long as the energy existed or until he was destroyed.
Sparda evaded frantically, desperately trying to come up with a plan to shake the sphere. Suddenly an idea came to him, and he raced towards Mundus, planning to lead the sphere towards him to buy some time. But as he approached, all of the orbs simultaneously reappeared before Mundus in an impenetrable shield. As Sparda double back, a few orbs were vaporized and instantly replaced. Realizing that Mundus' strategy had worked, Sparda saw that he was now trapped without any possibility of defending oncoming attacks, for danger of being caught by the orb, and without any offensive power, as any attack he could launch in such a brief window would be easily deflected by Mundus' shield. Sparda attempted to destroy the orb itself with blasts of hellfire or phantom swords, but he had already known that it would be to no avail; the orb merely assimilated whatever energy was thrown at it and grew stronger. Out of options and with nothing to lose, Sparda did the only thing that he could: he stopped in his tracks, and turned to face the sphere of energy directly.
As it approached, his aura grew to astronomical levels and seemed to draw back in anticipation. Just when the sphere was close enough that Sparda scales and armor began to erode and blow in the wind, he drew his palms together as if to somehow hold the oncoming attack. His aura suddenly leapt forward and engulfed the sphere, and, as Sparda further gave in to his primal darkness, his energy changed from smoky red to almost totally black; the darkness overcame the light completely and the orb's energy was incorporated into Sparda's very being, threatening to tear him and the area apart.
The surrounding landscape crackled with black and white electricity and the lava itself began to evaporate into gaseous plasma; Sparda knew that if he did not discharge the combined energy of Mundus and himself soon, he would be totally annihilated. He took up his sword again and turned to charge towards Mundus, but he was entirely surrounded by a dome of orbs that charged up and fired their lasers all at once. From a small gap within the formation, Sparda saw Mundus' god-like form floating serenely in the distance, totally confident that his victory was certain. Sparda bowed his head, his aura growled, and once again the space around him rippled, slowing the lasers down to a crawl, and then to a total standstill. Sparda shot Mundus a ferocious glance with eyes literally ablaze, one that would have killed any human or demon that saw it; with that, the lasers were totally deflected back to their orbs, destroying the dome.
Sparda began to walk slowly towards Mundus, but his pace picked up quickly as a swirling trail of black and red flames was left behind him. As he approached, thousands more orbs appeared in front of Mundus, ostensibly as a shield. But Sparda did not even slow down, in fact, his speed increased to the point where the only thing that could be discerned was a concentrated point of light racing above the ground; it seemed to burn the retinas of all that looked at it directly, and in its wake the earth crumbled into the magma below. Just as it reached the barrier, a shockwave boomed and the entire platform of earth was blown backwards. Sparda reappeared within his blazing aura of black and red spinning in an unholy vortex like an otherworldly auger through the barrier.
What was happening was almost indescribable, and even the denizens of Hell that witnessed it firsthand find it difficult to explain. Waves of energy billowed out from behind Sparda like solar flares, ionizing whatever they touched, including the air. Just as Sparda penetrated the orb shield, shattering it, he redirected Mundus' energy through his sword and blasted it out in a negative vortex that engulfed Mundus. The sight was great and terrible; it was as if the tip of Sparda's sword was the singularity of a quasar, behind him black and red fury erupted, before him blue and ultraviolet jets of flame mingled with crackle of monotone electricity.
Suffice it to say, the entire area was erased from the face of Hell afterwards. From that day forward, nothing would ever survive there and the amorphous matter that remained was forever imbued with arcane energy. Mundus himself was blown to pieces, the smallest parts being indistinguishable from grains of sand. Unfortunately for Sparda and humanity, Mundus, being inseparably connected to the power of Hell, could not be defeated so easily.[8]
This was only one of the notable bouts, and events like this continued on throughout the battle and across Hell. Violent explosions and eruptions lit up the entirety of the Underworld as they fought in this way. Entire areas were destroyed in the aftermath of their attacks in a similar fashion. If the battle had continued on much longer than it did, there would have scarcely been any Hell left for Mundus to rule.
The battle raged on, going back and forth, one gaining a slight upper hand just to see the other come back for more. Pieces of Mundus' body flew off constantly due to Sparda's raging red flames but they came right back together in an instant. Sparda's body was healing faster than it had ever done, regenerating instantly with each blow. Neither Devil was giving ground, both were unbreakable.
The stalemate continued for what felt like hours though only minutes passed. As the dust settled and both demons fell back to catch their breath, Sparda felt the Underworld trembling once more. But this time neither he nor Mundus was causing it. Yet, it was a very familiar feeling to Sparda. Where have I felt this before...
"Hmm, it would seem that you are not entirely incompetent, young Sparda. The seal has been reactivated…somehow. But, it does not matter; your corpse will be cold long before the portal is completely closed," Mundus remarked smugly.
Then it hit him. He had felt this same kind of trembling long ago before the portal had opened, like all of Hell was ripping apart; the barrier between the worlds was congealing in agony and strife. Then he remembered…Anna…but she said we needed one more key. How could this possibly be happening? Then a spark went off in Sparda's mind and the image of Anna's dead body on his blade appeared to him. His thoughts then wandered to the crevice in the center of the Hall. Her blood! Or soul? SHE was the final key!
For that split second, Sparda's mind was not on the battle at hand and he suffered for it. Mundus stunned him with a solid punch to his chestplate and unleashed a hailstorm of molten rock upon his head, piledriving him deep into the black earth of Hell. He then contorted his left hand into a strange shape, and a barrage of energy needles blasted out of his right hand into the pit, sending splinters of rock and stone flying.[9]
Sparda came to his feet in an abandoned cave below ground. Not one moment went by before Mundus lifted the ground from above Sparda like a lid, tossing it aside. "Shall we continue?"
Sparda brushed the dirt off his armor and glared up at Mundus, "Let us." As contact was made, another shockwave belted through Hell. Many of the clan territories of Hell had already been turned to ruin in the wake of the battle and many more were incinerated as it waged on.
Mundus fired flaming meteors at Sparda, who deflected them with his sword and fired his own blazing fireballs in return. He even caught some of Mundus' meteors, charged them with his power to make them more volatile, and hurled them back. Sparda slashed Mundus across his chiseled torso and hit him with a solid uppercut on the chin, sending Mundus backward. As he fell, Mundus whirled around and sent raging fiery tornadoes at Sparda using the power of his multiple wings. Sparda countered the immense attack by spinning his body around vertically with a series of rapid somersault kicks, creating waves of red flames that dissipated the cyclones and hit Mundus in succession; he fell towards Mundus like the Blood Moon[10] and landed a darkness-imbued dropkick that sent him flying into magma below.
And so the battle continued, raging on with the naphthalic vitriol of the Phlegethon flowing beneath them. Mundus would damage Sparda with an attack only for him to regenerate mid-hit and come back with his own attack that only allowed Mundus to showcase his own regenerative capabilities. They were like two immovable mountains, impenetrable, unrelenting, and everlasting. Suddenly, both devils drew back and powered up an immense attack, seeming to compete for energy to absorb from Hell. Sparda's aura became concentrated into a singularity held in the palm of his hand, and he unleashed a circular rune blast. Mundus had summoned a circle of runes around him as well, but a large white laser emanated from its surface and flashed towards Sparda. Both waves combined had enough power to destroy a significant portion of Hell and they hit their targets with full force, blasting each out of sight.
It seemed that something had finally changed, that someone had finally gained the upper hand. But that hope was short-lived. Mundus' body, now shattered to pieces once more, came together to reform his perfectly sculpted anatomy. And on the opposite side, Sparda's maimed and scarred body regenerated itself, bringing him back to full health. And almost simultaneously the same thought went through each devil's mind: I cannot destroy him. I must find another way. However, unlike Sparda, Mundus had a solution to the dilemma, and Sparda would soon find out what that final solution was.
Sparda floated in mid-air, poised, his mind half focused on Mundus, half focused on keeping him occupied in Hell until the portal closed. Mundus realized that Sparda was stalling and knew he would have to end the battle soon if he ever hoped to begin his ultimate rule of both worlds. The stage was set and both players waited for the next act.
Sparda took deep breaths, pondering his next move. He had already given in to his power but he had not yet given in to the darkness completely. He still held some hope; there was still an iota of redemption left in him, and he did not want to lose it. On the other side, Mundus stared through Sparda intently, scrutinizing his every move for some weakness to exploit. He knew that this was it, the last stand. Whatever happened after this would echo throughout eternity.
And so the end began. With both demons at their maximum level of power, they charged. Like nothing ever seen before, they shot toward each other on a collision course of mutually assured destruction. Trails of red and black flames lagged behind Sparda and orange and blue flames behind Mundus. The moment was finally here; the fate of both these Devils was about to be sealed.
Sparda flew toward Mundus with both arms held back, his sword in his right hand. Mundus flew with one hand cocked back in a fist. Then suddenly, something astonishing happened. Before they collided, Sparda began to undergo another transformation. It seemed that he had been holding this attack back for the entire battle as a last resort. As his wings grew larger, his legs merged together and extended, forming a long flaming tail. Then his face began to change and extend outward and as his horns slid back, elongating his head. He had transformed into an incredible flaming Great Red Dragon[11] and was about to send himself directly into Mundus.
Mundus did not have time to slow down; it was too late, he had lost the duel. In a vibrant crimson flash, Sparda sent himself through the very heart of Mundus, leaving a molten hole in his chest. It was Mundus' only weak point and Sparda had exploited it perfectly. The Dark Emperor fell to the ground, completely stunned as his fresh, yet ancient wound, refused to heal even in his glorified form. He struggled to get to his feet, digging his fingers into the crumbling ground. "Ugh!"
Mundus glanced up to see Sparda, back in his normal state, looking down at him from above. Mundus panted and retched, attempting to hide his pain and anguish. All of Hell continued to groan as the portal to the human world continued to seal itself off. The sounds of the battle still echoed off the unbounded walls of Hell like a solemn incantation rousing ancient Beings and invoking events long since past.[12] And then there was silence, utter and complete silence.
Sparda alighted before Mundus as he scrambled to his feet. And as Sparda expected, Mundus continued his arrogance, "So it seems you have...defeated me, how…strange. But you have not won, Sparda; there is more to battle than simply defeating your opponent, you must ensure that they will never again be able to rise up against you. Allow me to share with you one thing I have learned over the ages: There are fates much worse than death!"
Suddenly, Mundus raised both of his hands and began moving them in an almost ceremonial way.[13] And without warning, something began to form above Sparda, a triangular gate, a portal of some kind with odd symbols on each vertex. This was Mundus' trump card. A surging wind began to burst from the gate with incredible intensity and began to suck everything into it. But Sparda did not make a move, and he was unmoved by Mundus' ploy. He seemed oblivious to what was occurring, apathetic to Mundus' desperate last show of power.
"Hahaha! Let us see how your power serves you when you are locked in a dimensional vault for all eternity! Even the most powerful Devil Lords are have no hope of escape!"
Then, Mundus spread his wings, creating a blinding light once more. And Sparda could feel his body being pushed into the gate, but again, he was unperturbed because he knew that, no matter what happened, the human world would be safe. And as the light dimmed and the wind stopped, an incredible incident occurred.
Mundus looked to Sparda with a smile, "Ah, naïve Sparda, you will never learn. In that empty dimension you will fester and decay and you will rue the day that the you rose to challenge the Darkness Mundus!" And with that, Mundus clenched his fist and the portal began to close. But Sparda remained calm, as if he was privy to knowledge that Mundus was not. This puzzled him, but defiant to the end, Mundus would not reveal his weakness.
"Farewell, young Sparda!"
And then it dawned on Mundus. He looked to Sparda, wondering why he was not struggling to get free and suddenly his mind flashed back to what just occurred. In the midst of his blinding light, Mundus had attempted to shove Sparda into the portal. However, just before he could, Sparda teleported away, causing him to fly into range of the portal. In an unfathomable sequence of events, they had traded places.[14] In his arrogance, Mundus had not noticed his misstep, which only made his taunts more foolish in retrospect.
The realization changed the entire expression of Mundus' demeanor. It shifted pathetically from one of certain victory to one of utter dread.[15] He looked up to Sparda to see him grinning the most arrogant, cocky, and prideful grin he had ever seen. As the portal began to close, Mundus' wings snapped and he barreled toward Sparda, attempting to get out before it was too late.
But Sparda would have none of it. "It will be you who are locked away for an eternity. You are fortunate that I have not given into the darkness within completely, else you would not even have the luxury of everlasting rest; be grateful that the prison of your own making hase also shieled you from my wrath forevermore. I once helped you send one ruler of Hell to eternal exile. Fitting that you will share the same fate." And with those words, Sparda charged up an energy blast with both hands and sent it directly at Mundus, hitting him square in his fresh wound, sending him further back into the portal. "The King is dead. Long live the King…"
"NO! SPARDAAAAAA!" The sound of the portal closing was like that of a massive vault slamming shut, a self-wrought black iron prison for the former ruler of Hell. Mundus' cries could be heard even after the vault had closed and faded away. This time, Sparda had truly done the impossible. He had finally defeated the Dark Emperor Mundus. And without their ruler, the Darkness slowly began to lose its power.
.
Hell was gradually becoming very unstable as Sparda flew over its ruins, shifting precariously between solid rubble and a blurred phantasms. He did not know what to do with himself. He had finally accomplished what he was destined for, yet he still felt an extreme sense of self-loathing and emptiness. He despised himself so much so that part of him wished he and Mundus had sent one another into oblivion. He had just defeated the ruler of Hell and all he could think about was why he did not deserve to be alive.
Lost in thought, he came upon a violet area of Hell with black pillars that he had never seen before, a place strangely untouched by the battle.[16] He landed atop one of the pillars and continued to contemplate his own fate. I let it overcome me. I could not, would not suppress my power; my righteousness alone was not enough to defeat Mundus. Perhaps he spoke the truth, perhaps I am simply an anomaly, a mistake…I gave in to the darkness. I….I….killed her….. Pain and anguish flowed through Sparda's body. I am not worthy of living…This whole time I have fought the darkness without….and yet….the ultimate darkness resides within myself…
And in the reflection of the blade, Sparda saw himself, the face of a devil. With Mundus defeated and the portal to the human world closing Sparda was ready to end it right now, to take his own life, if his blade would allow it. He now feared his own power and was rotted with the evil festering inside him like a cancer. He sat there for what seemed like hours, with time passing slower and faster at different intervals, not even noticing that the rumblings of Hell had disappeared. Among the darkness and brooding, he had almost made up his mind to end his life, but then a ray of hope appeared and illuminated his mind. No…this cannot be the way…no demon would even consider such a thing[17]….I will not give up…I will fight it. No matter how much it pains me, I will go on….I will continue the unending fight against evil….and though victory may be impossible for me, a demon forever bound to the darkness…I will show them that the light will not be overcome by the primordial darkness. His thoughts were set on the human world. He had done it. He had written his own fate. He would not die this night. Destiny would not have it.
Sparda looked to his sword, the organic blade bearing his own name. He had grown up with this blade, his only constant possession, borne from his very body; it had been with him through every battle, tasted the blood of countless beings, human and demon alike. It was an extension of himself--some might say it was the other way around--and a permanent testament to his demonic stature. Then suddenly the blade began glowing as the red flames surrounding it trailed off in the wind. In a flash of light the blade had transformed into something else, another blade, appearing like something a human would wield. The hilt had remained the same but the blade itself no longer was covered with organic material; it was now symmetric and more triangular like a broad sword, and gleamed with the dull luster of brushed metal. Puzzled at first, Sparda remembered that he had imbued the power of the blade into Anna's amulet. The battle with Mundus had expended Sparda's latent energy, and with the change in his soul, the sword had responded in kind, unable to maintain its imposing form any longer with no darkness to feed it. So this shall be my only remaining legacy...a feeble blade amidst the forgotten ruins of a chaotic realm...an epitaph for the nameless traitor whose death was ensured on the day that he awoke to justice...
And with that thought Sparda planted his blade into the black rock of the stone pillar. I will no longer need this, and so its dark power will remain locked away here for all eternity. I make this solemn oath before my blade: Should I ever give in to its fell influence again, falling to the Darkness to accomplish what the Light cannot, on that day my life will ended by my own hand, lest the two worlds perish. So shall it be. And so he lifted himself up into the air and turned toward the closing portal of the human world. As he flew, the same thought ran though his mind over and over, just as it had before. Anna….
.
[1] This "chapter" (the folios are not divided into chapters, but these divisions were made by the earliest redactors) is peculiar in that there are several different versions of the original manuscript, each with a lengthy list of errata and what appear to be corrections and word substitutions by the original author, "Didymus." As such, this chapter has the most various translations and controversial interpretations and is subject to frequent debate in academic circles presently. The prevaling theory, one which this editor has put forward, is that due to the ineffable nature of the content of this chapter, the sheer alienness to anything experienced by humans at the time of its writing, or indeed, any time, that the author "Didymus" struggled to put these events into words.
At times, it seems as if "Didymus" is grasping for words, or even creating idiosyncratic phrasings to convey some heretofore novel occurrences. These phrasings have been updated with what we believe to be their equivalents in modern language in this chapter. It may have been that the words did not exist at the time, or more likely, that he felt that words would never be able to capture the numen of this "metaphysical Armageddon" within the myth. Whatever the actual case, such discrepancies have fueled the debate on both side of the "visionary" hypothesis, with some arguing that such inconsistencies prove the lucid contrivance of the text, and others arguing that it only speaks to the transcendence of Didymus' visions. ~Ed.
[2, 4] The uncharacteristic use of hand-to-hand combat may be used here to emphasize the feral or animalistic state which Sparda's rage and Mundus' enmity has triggered within each, analogous to the berserkrs of ancient times. ~Ed.
[3] The conflation of Mundus with the Judeo-Christian God is made very apparent here. ~Ed.
[5, 7, 9, 13] My colleagues have indicated that these passages show a clear influence from the North Indian Tantra schools. This is in addition to the Qin Daoist metaphysical concepts of qi and samadhi co-opted for descriptions of "Sparda's" awakened state. The Tantrik influence here is exemplified in Mundus' use of mudras, body and hand gestures with occult significance, for the channeling of kundalini energy to various cakras, and the bijas, seed syllables of mystical power, emblazoned upon his orbs. It is a strange and eclectic combination of motifs for this character that make him so central to determining the provenance and cultural milieu of the text. ~Ed. with thanks to the Work of the Chariot trust (workofthechariot,com/TextFiles/Back-Tantra,html {change commas to periods})
[6] Some may find it surprising that "Sparda" is not the true name of the demon who has been referred to as such throughout the text, but this is more of a issue of religious hermeneutics than a literary one. What is being intimated here is a notion shared by the many ancient cultures, that the true name of any being is what constitutes its essence and potency, with the given name being little more than an arbitrary label. This true name must remain secret lest it grant power over a god or demon, as seen in the myths of the Kemetians. By most accounts, the true name is not what we would conventionally recognize as language, and thus it is unable to be divulged in writing, used as a label or, due to the limitations of reality, uttered at all. Compare with the Qabalistic use of the Tetragrammaton, the Tantrik notion of bijas and the "garland of letters," which are the seeds of reality and the godhead itself, as well as the aniconic use of bonji runes within the mandalas of Esoteric Shingon and Zurvanite sects to describe the structure of all existence. ~Ed. with thanks to the Work of the Chariot trust.
[8] Included in the original manuscript here are disjointed scribblings, semi-poetic in nature, which mean to convey something along the lines that: "The Emperor [and the] Underworld are One. [...] cannot exist save by [the grace? chrism?] of the Darkness; the Darkness cannot be freed [without Their] King. He will bear Their stigmata upon [His brow], and They shall preserve/sustain Him until His appointed time (kairos) when [...] As long as Hell endures, its King will not fall, until the Darkness [...]" The following section is missing. This is, of course, a reconstruction of what are very vague ramblings of what some have called a madman, but it does seem to imply that "Mundus" cannot be actually destroyed since his existence is connected to the essence of the Underworld itself. This appears to be a proto-psychological mytheme common to the text. ~Ed.
[10] This seems to be a reference to an ancient lunar Goddess whose name and origin is unknown. My colleagues have noted that, given the Tantrik influence and the sanguine characterization of the Moon, this may be a veiled reference to Kali, the wrathful manifestation of the Mother goddess of the Hindus, with the blood symbolizing her perpetual destruction of the world. This editor is apt to agree with this assessment.
Included in the margin of the original manuscript are the syllables BAR-BE-LO or perhaps BA-BA-LON, the meanings of which neither is fully understood. The former term is found in Ophitic tractates such as the "Trimorphic Protennoia," to refer to the supreme feminine power of the universe, and the latter is found in the writing of Crowley, but it is unclear whether the usage here is the same. It is necessary to note further that the same Tau-serpent symbol is found in the margin, indicating the significance of these terms to the Zurvanites with which Didymus is believed to have been acquainted. Dr. Ibn-Amir has noted that the Zurvanites describe the origin of flawed and ignorant humanity as the abortus of a wise Mother Goddess. In this light, it seems "blood" of the Moon may be a description of menses, fegured as blood from "a wound that will not heal," i.e. the perpetual blood of Creation. ~Ed. with thanks to Dr. Musa Ibn-Amir
[11] From the Vatican copy: "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." Rev. 12:3 ~Ed.
[12] Although this editor was initially of the opinion that this represented the vestiges of the mythology of a primitive religion, my esteemed colleague Dr. Ibn-Amir has assured me that this cryptic line is consonant with the esoteric knowledge of the Zurvanite sect, specifically concerning the Dead or Dreaming God, known as Abraxas, and His Logos, Zurvan Akarana. Although their origin is unknown, both of these deities are accorded the supreme Archetypal significance within the sect, which can be surmised from the golden statues of Zurvan as Lord of Time left at occult sites throughout the world. As this esoteric knowledge is revealed only to the highest initiates of the sect, and because the sect is not this editor's area of expertise, those interested should anticipate the commentary by Dr. Ibn-Amir, which is forthcoming. ~Ed. with thanks to Dr. Musa Ibn-Amir
[14] This is presumably meant to convey that Sparda had used the displacement technique that Mundus had used in the previous "chapter," again emphasizing his ability to quickly adapt and assimilate any combat technique that he sees. ~Ed.
[15] The Vatican copy includes a scriptural reference here, apparently as a condemnation of the character Mundus for attempting to emulate their God: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18. ~Ed.
[16] It is generally agreed upon in the scholarly discussion, that this area is meant to represent a projection of manifestation of one of the facets of "Sparda's" mind onto the "real" world of Hell. This concept of external transference speaks to the primitive proto-psychological leanings of Zurvanite beliefs and the significance they placed on key characters and locations within texts such as these. ~Ed. with thanks to Dr. Musa Ibn-Amir
[17] He is referring to the warrior ethos, or perhaps strong instinctual imperative, that demons traditionally live by, which it is implied would prevent them from even contemplating suicide. It appears that "Didymus" means to convey that Sparda's newfound freedom gained from the awakening event includes the capability to do harm as well as good. This may be an injunction against the democratic movements starting up at the time, which many philosophers found repugnant. ~Ed.