ACT XVIII : TERMINUS
At last, he came to the throne room of the black temple Caer Pelyn, stepping inside the massive doorway. Torches flickered on hte walls, but the light was dim, and he oculd only barely make out the outline of Lucifurius on the raised throne at the back wall of the room.
"So you've come," he stated, looking up.
Nightmare stopped and looked at him, not saying anything.
He stood. "The time has come to make your choice, child... Will you fight alongside me, and usher this world into a new era of darkness... Or will you stand against me, an enemy?"
Nightmare still stared forward, unwavering. "You no longer control me. I am not your executioner. I have found a new purpose, and I no longer have need of your guidance."
Lucifurius stared back at him, rage beginning to come to life in his eyes. "You... disappoint me! You could have had it all, the world at your disposal and all the power in the world, and you instead choose to side with the witch? Why? I created you, I gifted you with life and you repay me like this? This will not stand!"
A blade made up entirely of flames appeared in each of his hands, and he rushed forward. Nightmare blocked the strike, but the swords left a scorch mark across his blade. This was a battle he would need to fight carefully. He remembered what Megumi had told him shortly before their arrival here. Aim for the heart. The weakest point. One blow to the heart would be his downfall...
I knew the truth.
I saw the beginning. I saw the end. The end of all there was.
And I realized the truth of what I had done, the horrors I had brought upon this world...
The die is cast. The endgame nears.
"Come, and face your death! I'm waiting, you miserable fool. Fight with every ounce of strength in your being! Do not disappoint me further!"
Lucifurius again swept at his, and a roaring burst of flame rushed towards him, one that he barely managed to deflect. The heat quickly dissipated, leaving the room feeling even colder than it had before. Nightmare lashed out, caught Lucifurius's leg. Rage had blinded him. Perhaps this victory would be easier to acheive than he thought...
Stygian gramarye, etched with blasphemy,
Whorls and verticals, black with baleful spells,
Vespertine conjurings, doomsayer's prophecy,
Pellucid lotus-dreams, spawn of the elder fiends,
Cryptic halls, squamous mass, malevolent diabolist,
Black desire, knighted woe, shunned and forbidden tome,
Brooding dark, deepest night, ritual, abhorrent sight,
Whispering, malignity, hearken to the summoning!
All will be ground to dust between the grand gears of this pitiless cosmic engine...
And I, my mistakes, my sins, are the cause of it all.
Lucifurius roared in pain as black blood started to run from the wound. "Hah... You fight well, child, just as expected. I never would have hoped for anything more than for you to go down struggling! It is a true shame you will not fight alongside me... Together, we could build this world anew! Oh, why have you forsaken me? It pains me so, but your indisposition is a sickness unto death, and if death is how it must end, so mote it be!"
Nightmare slashed at him again, catching his arm and cutting it through to the bone. He would win this. He would defeat Lucifurius and he would spend the rest of eternity with Megumi, for being with her was his only purpose, his only reason for existing...
But though I have failed, I know that the others of the Order will do what is necessary, I know they will seek me out and kill me, and this blade will be denied a host, and will wreak this hvoc no longer...
And someday, that which I have awakened will finally be destroyed...
Though I will be forever sentenced to watch, to look on, and to never intervene... As punishment for what I have done.
Nightmare knocked the blade into Lucifurius's side horns, causing him to falter, and tore the tip across his chest. If he could keep inflicting injuries like this, Lucifurius would gradually weaken... He could finish this.
"You were my only companion in the solitude of my conquest, and now, even you turn against me... After all we destroyed, all we accomplished together, you have turned your back on me, you have chosen to give in to the same pathetic emotions as these humans, when you could have had them all at your feet!"
Flames lashed out again, and again he avoided them.
"But do not worry, I will ensure the witch is properly repaid for what she has done to you! You will not go unavenged, my creation!"
Nightmare ducked, and all at once, he saw his chance. With all his might, he stabbed his blade through Lucifurius's heart.
Black blood sprayed from the wound. Shocked, Lucifurius staggered back, pulling the blade from his chest and letting it drop with a metallic clamor as it hit the floor.
"Heh... heheh... So, you have bested me..." He dropped to his knees. "I've taught you well, child... But you seem to have forgotten one thing... The wicked... are not wont to fall alone... And I am no exception."
And Lucifurius faded from existence, and as he did, a burst of something ripped its way straight through the center of Nightmare's chest.