Chapter 95: Zasalamel's story
Heishiro, Taki, Sophitia, Cassandra and Raphael were still trapped in the cage while Zasalamel watched them. Nightmare was "sleeping" (the armor pieces were scattered all over the floor) and Soul Edge lay on an altar.
- Don't look at the sword. – suggested Raphael. – That won't do you any good.
- What do you know about Soul Edge? - asked Heishiro.
- I know pretty much about it. That's because I have something of it inside.
- The Evil Seed. – deduced Taki.
- Yes. Fortunately, I can deal with it.
- What's the Evil Seed? – inquired Cassandra.
- It's an evil energy which was inside Soul Edge. – answered the ninja. – However, someone released it and now it is spreading all over the world, destroying weak people's souls.
- Soon not only weak people's. – said Zasalamel, who was listening to the conversation from outside the cage.
Zasalamel's participation enraged Heishiro.
- Who are you? – yelled the samurai.
- I'm Zasalamel. – he answered mockingly.
- Where have you come from? What do you have to do with all this? – asked Heishiro.
- If you insist, I'll tell you. I was born in Nigeria. My family was part of a tribe. This tribe was specialised in two noble, but dangerous, arts: fighting and black magic.
- Black magic? – repeated Sophitia.
- I practiced both for many years. As years went by, I became one of the three greatest fighters in the world.
- That's why you overpowered me so easily at that bar. – said Heishiro.
- Who are the other two fighters? – inquired Taki.
- One of them is already dead. His name was Shunsuke Hiyotakashi, but he was better known as Edge Master.
- Yes, that's kind of easier to pronounce. – replied Cassandra.
- Edge Master...I've heard about him. – said Heishiro. – He was that warrior who had Soul Edge in front of him and didn't fall into its temptation, wasn't he?
- That's right. – confirmed Zasalamel.
- Who's the other one? – asked Raphael.
- His name is Olcadan. You'll soon meet him.
- I'm really not very interested in those fighters. What's that black magic thing? – asked Heishiro.
- Black magic is not an ordinary art. A few people in the world can develop it, and among them, a minority manage to get good results.
- I guess you're in that minority. – said Taki.
- Yes. I master three branches of black magic. Two of them are very useful to me. The other one...I wish I'd never got to master it.
- Which are they? – requested Raphael.
- The useful ones are legeremancy and…
- What's that? – questioned Cassandra.
- It's a kind of….mind-reading.
- Mind-reading? – exclaimed the girl. – Can you guess which number I'm thinking of or things like that?
- That's not how it works. – explained Zasalamel. – I can't know what you are thinking, but I can see your memories, your feelings…
- Is that how you learnt our names? – asked Raphael.
- Yes. And that's how I learnt what you care most for, in order to manipulate you at my will.
Zasalamel started pointing at each one of them while he talked to them.
- You, Sophitia, care for your children above all. That's why I threatened your husband.
- Was it you? – replied Sophitia, who seemed to be angry for the first time since they were trapped in the cage.
- Cassandra, what you most love in this world is your sister, so I knew you would follow her.
The two sisters looked at each other, Sophitia with proud and Cassandra embarrassed.
- Heishiro, you feel bad about your beloved's deaths, so I talked about them when I met you. And you, Raphael…just mentioning your daughter Amy made you react.
- Wait, wait, wait. – interrupted the French man. – There's something I don't understand. If you wanted to draw us here, why did you try to convince us to stop our journeys in the beginning?
- That's a good question, Raphael. In fact, in the beginning I thought I didn't need you. I just wanted to gather Soul Edge and Soul Calibur to use them together, but you got in my way, so I tried to get rid of you.
- But…we travelled because of you! – yelled Sophitia.
- Yes, but that was a different case. I was really interested in having a sword more powerful than Soul Edge, because it would have the same effect than Soul Calibur. However, I have realized that it's impossible to create a weapon more powerful than those two swords.
- So, why do you need us now? – questioned Heishiro.
- That's the question, Heishiro. Soul Edge has been relatively in my power for years.
- Relatively? – repeated Taki.
- Cervantes the pirate had the sword when he died, and both his corpse and Soul Edge were swept by the tide to India.
- That's where we are now. – said Sophitia.
- Yes. I had been on Soul Edge's trail for a long time, and I finally found it on a beach, along with Cervantes' putrid body. However, I knew that my soul wasn't strong enough to resist Soul Edge's power, so I looked for someone else who would bear the sword, while I remained untouched. And I found him soon.
- Who? – inquired Heishiro.
- I think you've read about him. His name is Siegfried Schtauffen. His father was a German merchant who spent his life travelling. He had settled in India when I found Siegfried, I realized he was strong enough and I persuaded him to get the sword. Soon, his soul was possessed by Soul Edge. And since then, I've been working for the sword.
- Do you…work for the sword? – asked Raphael.
- Yes. At that time, my mission was to provide it with human lives, because Soul Edge gets stronger every time it kills. However, something happened: Siegfried's will was stronger than I had thought, and he managed to get rid of Soul Edge. Then I cast a spell and the sword became alive through Siegfried's armor, which he had left behind. That's how Nightmare was born.
- Why do you work for Nightmare? What's your benefit? – inquired Taki.
- Isn't that obvious? This way, I can always know where the sword is. And, when the moment arrives…that will be soon…Nightmare will grant me my greatest wish.
- What is it? – asked some of the prisoners at the same time.
- My death. – answered the African man. – The ability I regret of having developed is no other than immortality. Nothing nor nobody I have ever known can kill me. You may think that's something good, but believe me, there's a moment when everybody wants to rest in peace.
- How old are you? – questioned Cassandra.
- Three hundred and sixteen. – answered Zasalamel as if it weren't something unusual.
- I still don't know what we are doing here or how you managed to bring us here. – said Raphael.
- Haven't you guessed? – replied a surprised Zasalamel. – Teleporting. That's the other branch of black magic which is being useful to me.
The prisoners were shocked. They have learnt a lot of information in one go.
- As for you... As I said, Soul Edge's been with me for years. However, Soul Calibur… - his face turned sullen. – I haven't managed to find it in all these years. Once I was about to get it, but a spell protecting it prevented me from doing so. Furthermore, the sword moved.
- I don't mind. Tell us what we are doing here! – demanded Heishiro.
- Hephaestus, a god whom Sophitia and Cassandra know very well, hid and protected Soul Calibur. He didn't want to tell me where, and when he finally did, he set me a trap. – he retold. – Fortunately, I can read even gods' minds, so I found out his criteria to hide Soul Calibur.
- Which one? – asked all of the prisoners at the same time again.
- There is a number of people around the world who have the two necessary qualities to wield Soul Calibur: a great fighting spirit and an esentially good soul. Hephaestus decided that Soul Calibur would move from one of these people to another one, taking the form of the weapon that person had at that very moment. It's not difficult to guess who these people are.
- Us. – understood Sophitia.
- That's right. You and those to come.
- So…what are you going to do with us? – asked Cassandra.
- Three things. First, I need to find out who is wielding Soul Calibur. In the second place…do you remember I said "at that time, my mission was to provide it with human lives"?
The people in the cage nodded.
- Well, my mission now is to provide it with a body. A body strong enough to hold its power, but not to get rid of it. The chosen body will be one of yours too.
- And last? – questioned Taki.
- As I said, my goal is to die. I think the only thing in the world which could kill me is the combination of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur's powers. But, as I said too, Soul Calibur is protected and I can't use it. Anyone who has evil inside can't. So I also need one of you to use it to kill me.
- But I'm possessed by the Evil Seed. – said Raphael. – So I can't wield Soul Calibur either, can I?
- Theoretically you can't, but you were among Hephaestus' candidates, so I can't be sure.
- When do we get started? – finally asked Sophitia.
- When those to come arrive.
At that moment, the cathedral's door started to open.
- And I think that will be soon. – said Zasalamel smiling.