Chapter 18: The Duel

Disclaimer: I do not own Castlevania or the characters of Castlevania. This is the place to play the Highlander theme song.

The walk up the stairwell to the tower was one undaunted by the presence of a physical threat, but by the number of trophies that put up, it was meant to have a mental threat to it. This was obviously Iscariot's way of boasting to his enemies before he began his fight, but Simon was quite certain that the devil forge would be boasting regardless. Maybe he was giving Iscariot an unfair judgment, but Dracula was not one to boast his power in such a way, he always did things to show his power. In the time of Simon Belmont he covered Transylvania in darkness when it would have easily put the world on alert to his presence. His large castle was a boast to the world by showing his power and the beauty of it. The manor of dress was also one that seemed to be consistent as Dracula would never be seen in anything that was unfit for a nobleman. These were not boasts, but just things of the proper etiquette of nobles that he was following. Iscariot, however, was one who knew he was boasting and was not very subtle in it as the stairwell filled with trophies could attest to.

"Strange that there are no monsters here," said Sonia as she looked up at the stairwell that seemed to spiral onward in a never ending ascent.

"He wants his enemies to have a chance to catch their breath before they fight him," noted Simon as he walked up the stairs and reflected upon the places and robs that Dracula provided to him when he finished with one guard of the castle. "He doesn't want us to be completely tired out by that or else it would be an unfair fight and that is something that Iscariot will never do. Even Dracula would never stoop so low as to do that, no matter how evil he may be, and Iscariot imitates his master a lot."

"Yes, but is he as dangerous as his master is the question," said Sonia as she kept at the same pace as Simon.

Leto waited on his throne for the fight between Simon and Iscariot to begin so he could put his plan into play before Alucard showed up to stop him. Leto had used a lot of power and even if he was at full power he was sure that Alucard could take him apart if he wanted to, but in the end it was intelligence that counted. Alucard seemed to have the clever scheming mind of his father, but still held onto his mother's flawed morals, not the best match, but Alucard had used one to accomplish another by saving the children from his traps without a scratch. It infuriated the devil forge to no end, but this was to be expected of the son of Dracula and he had to accept it because nothing good would come of him losing his temper. That type of thing was more of Iscariot's doings, but Leto was a calmer individual who made each move like a chess player. He had to be calm and cool so that he wouldn't find himself being caught on a move. This was difficult, but he could do it and he had to do it or else everything would fade.

An explosion sounded in the tunnels just two floors down on his tower and he knew that Alucard had gotten past those guards, much to the chagrin of Leto, who had hoped that it would have gained him some time. He wondered if it would take Simon that long to get through his tower, but then he realized that Simon hadn't had the proper test in the field of intelligence so it wouldn't be a good assessment. Why am I letting my mind wander about these irrelevant facts? I have worked to do and if I let things get out of hand I may be having Alucard breaking down the doors right now. That's just what I need right now, my whole plan to fall apart because Iscariot had to make a long and repetitive tower that slowed down his opponent only through pesterence, but it had not tact to it, just the something a simple fool would have. I on the other hand have made more intricate manner of things with just the little bits of power that I could spare for such a move. Now then I must hope that Iscariot could at least die quickly.

At the top of the stairwell was a small passing arch that led to another hall that was rather plain and the room was filled with columns however that had some beauty in their architecture, but it was still simple. Unlike the other parts of the tower, the columns weren't made out of marble, but they were made of some type of stone that reminded Simon of the rocks that he had once found in a volcano that was made from the cooling of the lava. It was a sharp rock that made for a great blade, but Simon had already used his blade to severe the head of Medusa, whose acidic blood melted the rock, permanently ruining the blade. Now here were columns that reminded him of that old pain of loss for a vampire hunter was always close in touch with his tools.

"What is with this room, it seems so plain for the castle of Dracula," said Sonia as she wandered around the room and found that there was a series of platforms that led up to the top of the tower. "Why would he have this plain room here for? Is this some form of a safe haven where his opponent catches his breath?"

"No this seems to have some sort of other meaning to Iscariot," said Simon as he traced his hands over the black columns and felt the familiar touch of the volcanic stone. "It would appear to have wide areas for people to fight in, but it has columns so I doubt this is the last fall back point for any force that they might control."

"It's the perfect place for a duel, don't you think?"

"I suppose if you were going to refer to it in that sense," replied Simon before he realized what she was referring to. "This is a room made specifically for the purpose of fighting."

"Brilliant as always, Belmont," said Iscariot as he dropped down from the platforms at the top of the platform area dressed in simple black trousers with a simple black tunic that were adorned with a pair of black boots that were polished. Simple, but elegant at the same time. "You have discovered the true purpose of this room and now surely you must realize that now is the time where I gain your reputation. I've studied the movements and I'm quite sure that my hands are faster than your own. Plus I have been trained all my life to fight a Belmont."

"Iscariot, you seem like a decent person and I'd hate to kill you," said Simon as he took out his whip and spun his whip to the side so that the leather would crack against the ground while he pulled out his sword to hold with his left hand. "But if I have to go through you to stop Leto then I would do so then so be it."

"Yes, this is the most fun of my life, please don't disappoint," said Iscariot as he pulled out his rapier and short, one sided sword, twirling both of them in his hands before resuming a fighting position. "Now I shall take that Belmont legacy and place in front of my master's feet for him to crush under his boot finally. The power of darkness shall triumph over you because the power of darkness will always be there, even when the light eventually fades, there is always darkness."

"Enough of your sermonizing," said Simon as he pulled the ground out from under the devil forge with his whip. "Do you intend to bore me into submission or kill me with your speeches?"

"Fine then, have at thee," shouted Iscariot as he thrust his sword at the Belmont.

Simon simply parried it with his sword before attacking, reeling his whip back until it came to the farthest part and then he brought cracking right back down on Iscariot. Seeing the leather whip coming towards him, Iscariot brought his short sword up to block it and then attacked with a series of slashes with both swords, sometimes one after the other, sometimes both at the same time. It was a simple matter of dodging and parrying each attack and then attacking at any opportune moment. The fact that it didn't seem like Simon was having any trouble facing him told him that he still wasn't as strong as Simon was. Of course that's how it seemed to Simon Belmont, but the man with the two swords was only readable in what appeared through his eyes, the only way to look into his soul.

As Iscariot did each thrust, Simon took a step back until he had backed himself in a corner between two columns, a terrible place to be in a fight, but Simon had been in the same situation before. As soon as Iscariot went in for the kill, Simon used his whip to climb up one column just above Iscariot's head and kicked him into the wall. Iscariot did, however, manage to give Simon a cut across his torso, but before he was able to finish up with his fight Simon batted his aside with his sword and used his whip to disarm the devil forge.

"It's over Iscariot, you can't fight without a weapon," said Simon as he walked closer to the sulking devil forge, but before he could get too close, Iscariot summoned a large bone dragon to shoot out of the ground and nearly took Simon's head off if he had been a second slower. "Yes, I forgot about that part."

Simon didn't have time to waste as the creature was already making a return journey to kill Simon, but Sonia was able to distract it by throwing a rock at it. Simon wondered if it could be counted as cheating but he quickly decided that Sonia in this fight was the equivalent of the bone dragon. Using his whip, Simon was able to swing his way on top of the dragon and by sticking his sword into a specific spot in its neck and twisting ever so slightly, he was able to control it to move in a certain direction. He directed it to where the devil forge was running to, his sword that was lying next to one of the columns. Simon decided that it would be more to his liking to simply lead the bone dragon into the column and jumped off the dragon just before it hit the obsidian column. The devil forge was just about to reach the sword when the rocks fell on it and Simon knocked him onto his back with the tip of his sword pressed against his throat.

"Indeed I have won this fight, Iscariot," said Simon as he held the blade close to his neck. "But right now I have no intention of killing you, the only one I want is your friend Leto. I have to stop him from resurrecting that monster named Mobius."

"I'm afraid you're too late for that, Belmont," said a voice from above and Simon looked to see a man dressed in a white tunic with white trousers and brown boots.

"Leto, I presume."

"Right you are, Simon Belmont, but you should also introduce yourself to another," said Leto as he stepped out of the way to reveal a man with long auburn hair standing behind the devil forge while baring his large canines. "It is my greatest pleasure to introduce to you the new steward of this castle, Mobius!"