Chapter 10:
With all the warriors now reunited, they found themselves in a coliseum, where thousands of lost souls were spectators and sitting in his own personal box was Algol, on his throne. With him was the fallen Greek warrior Sophitia, the dreaded pirate Cervantes, French nobleman Raphael, blind servant Voldo, the giant golem Astaroth, the deranged servant of evil Tira, and a blue Lizardman. Ivy and Xianghua's group found themselves staring down Nightmare, grasping Soul Edge at one end of the coliseum and Siegfried, grasping Soul Calibur at the other end. Just as things were about to get underway, trumpets began to sound.
"Warriors!" Algol began as he stood up from his throne.
"You have been gathered here for not just the sake of battle but for the sake of your souls!" Algol added.
"All of you have chosen to vanquish the swords themselves at their very source of power but your ambitions and pride will be the testament of your downfall!" Algol continued.
"For the time has come for Soul Edge and Soul Calibur to do away with those who have fought for and fought against their causes once and for all!" Algol bellowed.
"Swords, devour those who have opposed you and see to it that their spirits be your slaves!" Algol added.
Ivy's group stared down Nightmare while Xianghua's group stared down Siegfried. It was only a matter of time before the quarrels began.
"Commence the slaughtering!" Algol announced as the lost souls cheered wildly.
Nightmare trudged across the sand, dragging Soul Edge while Siegfried, possessed by Soul Calibur, readied the spirit sword, pointing it at Xianghua specifically.
"I have waited for such a moment like this to happen." Soul Calibur added.
"Now, I shall have my glory and to put an end to your meaningless existence." Soul Calibur added.
"Great, what now?" said Yun-Seong.
"I guess we'll have no choice but to fight." said Xianghua.
Xianghua and her group readied their weapons as they stared down Siegfried, who was now charging at them.
"Here he comes!" said Xianghua.
As Siegfried and Xianghua's group confronted each other in battle, Nightmare, now firmly grasping Soul Edge, charged at her group at full speed.
"Any ideas?" Setsuka asked.
"Yes..." Ivy replied.
"We'll have to surround him." Ivy added.
As Nightmare was about to strike down on Ivy, the rest of her group dispersed all around him, encircling him in a would be ambush.
"Do you believe your tactics will work?" Nightmare asked.
"We'll see for ourselves!" said Zasalamel, charging at the Azure Knight.
Zasalamel's scythe clashed with Soul Edge. Zasalamel carefully dodged each attack Nightmare threw at him and delivered some of his own. Every time Nightmare swung overhead, Zasalamel would roll out the way and with his scythe, hit the back of Nightmare as hard as possible. This lead to Mitsurugi, also joining in the fray, now causing Nightmare to fight both Zasalamel and the samurai mercenary. Xianghua and her group were being tossed aside one by one. Their strategy of charging head on didn't work and it frustrated Xianghua.
"What do we have to do to stop him?" Yun-Seong asked.
"We have to keep fighting, there's no other way!" Xianghua replied.
"Well, without killing him of course." Hilde chimed in.
As Siegfried was making his way towards the group, Kilik and Maxi charged in with their weapons and confronted the knight themselves. Siegfried threw Maxi aside, leaving only him and Kilik to fight. It seemed like Kilik was gaining the upper hand but Siegfried head butted the monk to the ground. As Siegfried raised Soul Calibur to possibly end Kilik, Xianghua charged in and kicked the knight away. She started gracefully avoiding his attacks and countering with her own smoothly. This started to frustrate Soul Calibur as it controlled Siegfried to tackle Xianghua, pinning her to the ground. With Xianghua now pinned beneath Siegfried, it looked like Xianghua was going to be first casualty of this battle but Yun-Seong, Amy, and Talim rushed in, kicking the knight off of her. Seeing Amy fight in the coliseum caught the attention of Raphael. He had noticed how, instead of being frightened and passive, she had became brave and unwavering. This raised as much hope but concern for his daughter. As Amy and Talim double teamed Siegfried, their combined speed started to overwhelm the knight but once Siegfried grabbed a hold of Talim by the neck, he threw her to the ground, landing near where Xianghua and Yun-Seong were.
"Talim!" said Yun-Seong
"Go help Amy!" groaned Talim.
Amy was now staring face to face with Siegfried. She held out her rapier, trying her best to stave him off but instead she was the one backing away. Watching from the emperor's box, Raphael now grew concerned. He looked at Algol and demanded that Siegfried stayed away from her.
"How dare you allow Soul Calibur to frighten my child." said Raphael.
"Your child?" said Algol.
"She is nothing but a sacrificial lamb, ready to be slaughtered." Algol added.
This made Raphael angry as he placed his rapier across Algol's throat.
"You so much allow that knight to harm Amy as so much I will destroy you and rule in your place." Raphael threatened.
Raphael's threat made Algol stand up, facing the french noble. Algol, grabbing the blade of Raphael's rapier, bending it in front of him, grasped him by the throat and held him out to the coliseum floor below.
"You so much defy me and I will terminate your life in exchange!" said Algol.
As Raphael dangled from Algol's clutches, Amy looked up and saw her father in trouble.
"Papa!" Amy cried out
Hearing Amy's cries for her father made Algol smirk with malicious intent as he threw Raphael onto the coliseum floor. Amy rushed to her father's side, hugging him. As Amy try to help her father up, there was Siegfried, hovering over them. As Siegfried was about to strike both Raphael and Amy, Kilik and Maxi charged in and attacked Siegfried.
"Kid, get him out of here!" said Maxi.
Amy nodded and lead Raphael to the other end of the coliseum, where she would protect him. Nightmare was being overwhelmed by both Mitsurugi and Zasalamel but the azure knight managed to fight back, grasping Mitsurugi by the throat, throwing him right into Zasalamel. The next two that charged in to battle the Nightmare was Seong Mi-Na and Cassandra. Nightmare found himself once again double teamed, fighting off the Korean female warrior and the aggressive Greek warrior. Watching from above, Sophitia peered coldly and emotionlessly at her sister as she bravely fought against Nightmare. She saw how much stronger Cassandra had became. Sophitia approached Algol and spoke to him.
"Perhaps, I shall assist the Azure Knight and kill my own sister." said Sophitia.
Algol looked at Sophitia. He then saw Cassandra fighting Nightmare head on.
"You may spill your sister's blood." smiled Algol.
Sophitia leapt from he emperor's box and onto the coliseum floor, she charged in and attack Cassandra from behind. Cassandra looked to see who had attacked her until she came face to face with her own sister.
"Sophitia!" said Cassandra.
"The time has come for you to perish, dear sister." declared Sophitia, pointing her sword at her sister.
"This time I won't hold back!" said Cassandra.
The two sisters clashed their swords and shields together, neither one of them gaining an edge over the other. Cassandra tried to swipe Sophitia's legs from underneath her but the older Alexandra sister kicked her in the face, Cassandra spurted blood from her mouth as Sophitia kicked her in the gut. Sophitia then pulled on her sister's hair and slammed her head against the wall. Sophitia banged furiously on her sister's head and then kicking her as she collapsed to the floor. Seong Mi-Na struggled on her own trying to fight Nightmare but Setsuka and Taki stepped in, using their blinding speed to distract and take the azure knight off of his feet. Yoshimitsu try to go in for the kill but Nightmare raised Soul Edge in the air, causing Yoshimitsu to back away. Nightmare found himself now ambushed again, this time fighting against Setsuka, Taki, and Yoshimitsu. Both Taki and Setsuka were too quick for the agitated evil knight to take down. Matters only worsened for Nightmare as Yoshimitsu began forcefully taking down his adversary. With Nightmare feigning in defeat, Yoshimitsu was about to go for the kill when Ivy cut him off.
"No, allow me!" said Ivy.
Yoshimitsu, Taki, and Setsuka looked confused for a bit but as Ivy was about to deliver the final blow to Nightmare, a gunshot echoed across the coliseum. Ivy looked behind her and saw her father, Cervantes, laughing quietly to himself, aiming his pistol sword at her. Ivy uncoiled her whip sword and as the blades flew at Cervantes' direction, the dreaded pirate took to the air and shot down each blade as they returned back to Ivy. Cervantes landed firmly on the coliseum ground, ready to confront his daughter.
"Time to die, my child!" Cervantes growled.
"Not a chance in your life!" said Ivy.
As Ivy was about to confront her father, Nightmare rose up from the ground and was about to take Ivy's soul until Seong Mi-Na charged in, stabbing the knight in the back with her zanbatou. Nightmare yelled out in pain, causing Setsuka and Taki to further damage Nightmare as he dropped Soul Edge.
"Yoshimitsu, destroy Soul Edge!" said Taki.
As Yoshimitsu raced towards the demonic sword, ready to vanquish it, a stray bullet from Cervantes' pistol sword stopped Yoshimitsu in his tracks.
"You will not destroy that sword!" bellowed Cervantes.
"No but I will destroy you!" said Ivy.
Ivy wrapped the blades of her whip sword around her father's neck, strangling him. Cervantes struggled to free himself but each time he did so, Ivy pulled much harder. As Cervantes was about to pass out, he pointed his pistol sword at Ivy and grazed her in the thigh, releasing her hold. As Cervantes crawled towards Soul Edge, he saw it levitate and fly towards Algol.
"No, no!" bellowed Cervantes.
Cervantes was beside himself. All those years of searching for Soul Edge and being so close as to grasp its power ended being all in vain. Cervantes then saw Ivy, who uncoiled her whip sword again and used it to lacerate the flesh off her father. With Soul Edge no longer in his possession, Nightmare perished without it, combusting into flames until his armor was incinerated to ash.
"Hopefully that is the last we ever see of him again." said Taki.
As the battle continued on, Kilik and Maxi were doing all they can to stop Siegfried when they were pushed back by the knight. As the battle raged on, Xianghua and her group reassembled themselves.
"Okay, we can't give up!" said Xianghua.
"But how do we beat this guy without killing him?" Yun-Seong asked.
Xianghua looked all around for an answer and noticed that Nightmare had been defeated as Ivy and her group were now fighting Cervantes and Sophitia.
"I'll go find out myself." said Xianghua.
"Xianghua, we need you for this fight." pleaded Kilik.
"You'll do just fine, I know it." assured Xianghua.
As Xianghua raced towards Ivy's group, Kilik now found himself leading her group into battle. Xianghua raced towards the other end of the coliseum where Ivy was battling Cervantes and Cassandra being pummeled by Sophitia. She had to know how her group defeated Nightmare.
"I have to know how to defeat Soul Calibur without killing Siegfried." Xianghua said to herself.
As Xianghua reached Ivy's group, she was pulled aside by Seong Mi-Na and Setsuka.
"What are you doing?" Xianghua asked.
"Pulling you away from danger." Setsuka replied.
Xianghua watched as Ivy battled her father, with her gaining the upper hand. Cervantes fired a bullet from his pistol sword at Ivy, who managed to knock it away but it almost hit Xianghua.
"See..." said Setsuka.
"Okay." said Xianghua.
"Tell me, how were able to defeat Nightmare?" Xianghua asked.
"We managed to alleviate Soul Edge from his grasp, rendering him powerless." Setsuka replied.
"So that's what I must do in order to defeat Soul Calibur." said Xianghua
"Correct!" said Setsuka.
As Cervantes was being whipped by Ivy, it looked as if the dreaded pirate met his match. With Cervantes lying on the ground motionlessly, he looked at his daughter with contempt.
"You were nothing more than a mistake." said Cervantes.
"But I look to correct my own." said Ivy.
As Ivy was about to end Cervantes, Voldo leapt out onto the coliseum floor and tackled Ivy. As the pirate escaped and balanced himself on his other sword to stand up, Voldo had Ivy pinned.
"Come on." said Setsuka.
As Xianghua, Seong Mi-Na and Setsuka raced to Ivy's aid, a stray bullet grazed Xianghua in the shoulder, causing her to fall to her knees. She looked up and saw Cervantes, aiming his pistol sword at her.
"I guess you will have to do instead of my worthless daughter." chuckled Cervantes.
As Cervantes was about to pull the trigger, Yun-Seong kicked the pirate from behind, saving Xianghua. As Yun-Seong courageously battled against the pirate, he began to overwhelm but was shot in the shoulder. Yun-Seong yelped as he fell to the ground. As Xianghua crawled to his side, she saw Cervantes once again aiming his pistol sword at her.
"Time to die, girl!" bellowed Cervantes.
Just as Cervantes was about to pull the trigger again, Kilik lunged in the nick of time with his bo staff as it pierced its way through Cervantes' torso. Xianghua flinched, holding Yun-Seong in case the bullet hit them but didn't. She looked up and saw Kilik pulling his bo staff out of Cervantes' torso followed by seeing him get decapitated by Yoshimitsu's katana.
"Are you alright?" Kilik asked.
"I'm a little shaken up but Yun-Seong got hit." said Xianghua.
Yun-Seong winced in pain, holding his left shoulder as the bullet was lodged into the bone.
"I'll be fine." said Yun-Seong.
"Kilik, I know how we must defeat Soul Calibur." said Xianghua as she provided leverage for Yun-Seong
"Well..." said Kilik.
"We have to relieve Siegfried of Soul Calibur." said Xianghua.
"Right." said Kilik.
As the three raced back to help their friends, Ivy managed to wrestle her way out of Voldo's grasp and strangled him to his death, followed by the blades circulated around his neck and decapitating him. As Sophitia was about to kill her sister, Taki intervened, slashing Sophitia across the chest. This allowed Cassandra to go in and stab her sister.
"Sophitia, please forgive me." said Cassandra as she watched her sister feigned dead.
Xianghua, Kilik, and Yun-Seong raced back to their group's side and saw Hilde and Mitsurugi already battling Siegfried.
"We got to take Soul Calibur away from him." said Xianghua.
As Siegfried was about to stab Hilde in the chest, Kilik raced at Siegfried and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying into the wall. Siegfried collapsed as he dropped Soul Calibur. As Kilik was about to destroy the sword itself, it levitated towards Algol, the same way Soul Edge did.
"With both my prized swords back in my possession, I shall take care of all of you myself!" Algol declared.
Algol stood up from his seat, approached the balcony of his emperor's box and levitated towards the warriors.
"Let see who can stop me!" said Algol.
As the warriors now faced Algol, they charged in one after the other but were all knocked away like rag dolls. Most the warriors' energy was spent and were already worn out from battle. As Amy rushed to help her father, she was cut off by Tira.
"Why hello there, Amy." said Tira.
"Looks like you and I are going to have all sorts of fun." Tira added.
As Tira was about to confront Amy, Raphael raced up behind her and bit her on the neck, draining her energy.
"Hmph, you will have all the fun you can have with Amy as her pet." Raphael declared.
Amy hugged Raphael but the reunion would be short as Astaroth and Lizardman knocked them apart. As the golem was about to finish off Raphael and Amy to be eaten by the Lizardman, Hilde charged in with her short sword, stabbing the Lizardman in the throat and charging at Astaroth, throwing her lance, directly at his back, killing him. As Amy ran to her father and Hilde to check on Siegfried, the rest of the warriors were being thrown around and humiliated like worthless opponents.
"We need to kill this guy." said Maxi.
"There has to be a way." said Xianghua.
Just then, Kilik came up with an idea.
"Wait..." Kilik began.
"My Kali-Yuga can penetrate anything if I focus my energy correctly and destroy Algol." said Kilik.
"Kilik, don't risk it." said Xianghua.
"I've done it successfully and I saved you from being killed, Xianghua." said Kilik.
"I can try and vanquish him." Kilik added.
"I'll join you." said Xianghua.
Kilik stopped and looked at Xianghua. He knew that he was going to need her help one way or the other. As the two approached Algol, they saw Mitsurugi and Ivy battling Algol with little luck. Algol pushed aside Mitsurugi and Ivy, leaving only Kilik and Xianghua to fight him.
"Well, just you two left and I shall take your souls." said Algol.
"Not if I can help it." said Kilik.
As Kilik performed his soul charge, channeling the energy he needed to perform this one precise strike, he raced at Algol at full speed. Algol, readying both swords, anticipated his attack. As Kilik got closer to Algol, he lunged Kali Yuga directly in the chest of Algol.
"Now Xianghua!" Kilik yelled.
As Algol howled in pain, the energy of the Kali Yuga, combined with that of Soul Calibur and Soul Edge started to overwhelm the ancient warrior god. As Algol struggled to keep both swords raised Xianghua saw her opportunity as she rushed into the fray, leapt at Algol and with her jian, piercing both Soul Calibur and Soul Edge, destroying both swords in the process, and driving it through Algol's throat. As the swords scattered into shards, a void started to open.
"What's happening?" Asked Cassandra.
"We have to get out of here!" said Seong Mi-Na.
By destroying Soul Calibur and Soul Edge, Xianghua had created a void, sucking up the warriors in it.
"Come on, Kilik." said Xianghua.
"My Kali Yuga is stuck!" said Kilik.
As Kilik struggled to pull the Kali Yuga out of Algol, Xianghua raced over and helped Kilik pull his bo staff out of Algol as the energy dispersed all around Astral Chaos. With all their might, Kilik and Xianghua together pulled the staff out of Algol, as he slumped to the ground as energy all around him shot in the air.
"Come on, the void is closing!" said Xianghua.
As Kilik and Xianghua raced to the void, they held each other as the void sucked them both in. As the void closed,Astra Chaos started to shake at its very foundation, trembling all around buildings were reduced to ruin, souls levitating towards the energy and Algol exploding from the energy from within his body. As the warriors were thrown out of the void, they looked around and saw that they were back home.
"Finally...it's over." said Kilik.
"At long last, Soul Calibur and Soul Edge cease to be no more." said Ivy.
All the warriors sighed in relief. Knowing that their long awaited battle and journey was all worth it.
"We did it!" said Xianghua.
Zasalamel looked around him and saw that his golden eye had disappeared.
"Yes, this curse is finally lifted." said Zasalamel.
Cassandra looked to the sky, a tear trickling down her face, her lower lip quivering as she sighed.
"Be in peace, Sophitia." said Cassandra.
"You're free now." Cassandra added.
As everyone celebrated, Kilik and Xianghua looked at each other.
"Kilik, I want you to know that I will always be at your side no matter what." said Xianghua.
"And I will always be there with you and to have you fight along side me." said Kilik.
"Thank you for believing in me again." Kilik added.
"And Thank you for realizing my true strength and courage." said Xianghua.
The two embraced as everyone celebrated around them. They knew that their suffering had finally ended. The two swords, Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, no longer existing in this world had finally come to an end.
The end.