Chapter 6:
After their quarrel with the dread pirate, Cervantes, and the fallen Greek warrior, Sophitia, Ivy and her group resumed their travels through Astral Chaos with their new member, Setsuka, in tow. They had been walking past a flock of dead warriors, watching their souls alleviate from their bodies. This started to pique Ivy's interest as she started to follow where these souls were now heading.
"Ivy, are we going to follow these souls?" Seong Mi-Na asked.
"Exactly." Ivy replied.
"These souls have to lead us somewhere." Ivy added.
"If anything, they might be clues as to the whereabouts of Soul Edge." Yoshimitsu chimed in.
"You think?" Seong Mi-Na asked.
"Most certain of it." Yoshimitsu replied.
As Ivy's group continued to follow the souls, not too far behind was Raphael and Voldo. Raphael had been carefully placing his plan into motion, with Voldo acting as a mere servant. Raphael had regained his strength during the ensuing battles, draining his victims of their energy. Sometimes, Voldo brings the nearly lifeless victims to him. He had been following these souls for sometime, in regards to his scheme.
"So there's that wench." snarled Raphael.
"I will have her killed the moment I find the swords themselves and to bring an end to my enemies' existence." Raphael continued to himself.
"Once then, these worthless souls will serve under me and I will be supreme for all annals of time." Raphael added
As Ivy's group continued to follow these somber souls, they saw them entering a huge structure, almost like a place of worship.
"Are those souls heading into that building?" Setsuka asked.
"We better follow them and find out." Ivy replied.
As the group headed into the building, Raphael and Voldo were not too behind, distancing themselves from the group in order not to be seen. Inside the building, the interior looked like a cross between an ancient temple and the architectural style of a gothic church with small torches circling around the walls. There was also an altar as the focal point of the building with dimly lit torches and a statue of an ancient warrior god in the middle. Their was also an epithet underneath the statue.
"What is this place?" Cassandra asked.
"Don't know but I'm pretty sure we're going to find out." Taki replied.
As the souls gathered inside the building, the doors were closed. Everyone was silent. There was a feeling of tension and uneasiness all around that the warriors grab their weapons in case something happened. Just then, a hooded figure, wearing a long brown robe and priestly garments approached the altar. He looked out to the sea of souls and lead them into a haunting chant.
"Algol, Algol, Dominus Ordinis! Algol, Algol, Dominus Chaos!" The souls chanted.
As the souls chanted, the warriors look puzzled as to what was going on. The chanting echoed throughout the building as the warriors started to get worried as to what might happen.
"Algol? Who's Algol?" Seong Mi-Na asked.
"I'm not sure but I think it pertains to that statue." Ivy replied.
"He seems like a warrior I could've fought." Mitsurugi chimed in.
"This isn't the time to boast about who you can defeat." said Taki.
"He may be a warrior you could've fought alright but you would've died in battle." said Ivy.
"Besides, I need to find out what that epithet says." Ivy added.
The chanting started to get louder each time until it boomed all throughout the building.
"Algol, Algol, Dominus Ordinis! Algol, Algol, Dominus Chaos!" The souls chanted.
The hooded figure raised his arms, a sign of ceasing from chanting. The hooded figure looked out to the souls and saw the warriors standing by to his left and Raphael and Voldo to his right.
"There are warriors amongst us, whose souls have not been offered to Algol." The priest began.
"Warriors, who have fought their all their lives and not have forged their souls to the one who balances Order and Chaos on his shoulders." The priest continued.
The souls remained stationery as the hooded figure stepped down from the altar. He eerily and slowly walked towards them, Ivy's group grasping their weapons, Voldo protecting Raphael. As the hooded figure approached the entranceway, he stopped. He looked to his left and saw Ivy's group. He looked to his right and saw Raphael and Voldo. Then the hooded figure turned his back facing the altar. Emerging from the altar came other hooded figures, wearing gray robes, carrying assorted weapons.
"Release their souls to Algol!" The priest demanded.
As the gray robed fighters rushed towards the fighters, Mitsurugi, Taki and Setsuka leapt into battle, killing the robed figures, their bodies falling apart. Voldo tackled and stabbed his way through the hooded figures, protecting Raphael.
"Come on, we need to get to that priest!" said Ivy.
As Ivy, Seong Mi-Na, Cassandra, and Yoshimitsu headed for the altar, Raphael followed suit, going after them. Mitsurugi, Taki, and Setsuka quickly disposed the hooded figures as they headed for the altar. As the hooded priest reached the altar, the souls started to chant once more.
"Algol, Algol, Dominus Ordinis! Algol, Algol, Dominus Chaos!" The souls chanted.
Ivy uncoiled her whip sword, flailing it to distract the priest. The hooded priest turned his attention to Ivy, unsheathing a dagger from his robes. The priest charged at Ivy but was cut off by Seong Mi-Na and Yoshimitsu. As the priest feigned in peril, the souls themselves started to move towards the altar, while chanting. Ivy investigated what the statue and saw the epithet itself with a large hole peeping out at the top of it.
"This epithet is written in Latin." said Ivy.
"What does it say?" asked Cassandra.
Ivy scanned the epithet, and started to pronounce what the epithet said.
"Diu vive Algol, libripens ordinis et chaos!" said Ivy.
"Okay, now what does it mean?" Cassandra asked.
"It means your demise is at hand." said Raphael.
"Not if I can handle you." said Cassandra.
Raphael and Cassandra clashed as their swords connected with one another. Raphael did everything in his will to poke and frustrate Cassandra but she managed to evade and block his attack with a knee to groin, followed by a kick to the face. Mitsurugi, Taki, and Setsuka reached the altar as well as Voldo.
"Ivy, what does that epithet read?" Taki asked.
"It translates to Algol, balancer of Order and Chaos!" Ivy replied.
Voldo began fighting Cassandra while Yoshimitsu began to relieve the dagger from the priest's hand. Yoshimitsu syphoned the priest of his energy, dropping him to the floor. As Yoshimitsu carried the dagger to Ivy, he ran over to where Cassandra was and assisted her in battle against Voldo.
"Lady Cassandra, I shall assist thee." said Yoshimitsu.
Ivy looked at the dagger and saw the large hole.
"I guess this dagger goes here." said Ivy, placing the dagger in the hole.
"Now what?" Setsuka asked.
Ivy pushed the dagger in the grooves of the hole, turning it left, then right, then counterclockwise. The statue itself started to move aside, revealing a secret entrance.
"Come on, it might leads us to somewhere." said Ivy.
Ivy, Mitsurugi, Setsuka, and Seong Mi-Na then headed into the secret passageway, hopefully leading them to Soul Edge. Taki went and grabbed both Yoshimitsu and Cassandra, heading into the passageway, also. As the souls began to reach the altar, Voldo desparately dragged Raphael into the passageway before it closed in on them. As the souls finally reached the altar, the doors of the sanctuary opened. It was the ancient god of Astral Chaos. He looked down and saw his priests and followers, laying dead on the floor. He looked at the number of souls, standing at the altar.
"Who is responsible for such destruction upon my temple?" The ancient god asked.
Then, the souls replied.
"Warriors of another world. Warriors chosen to dethrone the balancer of Order and Chaos, Lord Algol." The souls all replied.
"Warriors chosen to vanquish Order as they will vanquish Chaos, Lord Algol." The souls added.
The ancient god, Algol, then looked all around him. He knew that the warriors he had been spying on were the warriors who looked to destroy the two swords, Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.
"Then, so be it." Algol began.
"The very foundations of this world will not be destroyed!" Algol declared.
"I shall see to it that these warriors are to be defeated and their souls offered onto me!" Algol bellowed as the foundation of the sanctuary shook.