Chapter 98: Final battle
When they arrived at the Lost Cathedral, they were amazed at its appearance.
Ivy, who had seen a lot of buildings depicted in the books she read, had never seen something like that.
Cervantes was the only one who had already been there.
- It looks just as I remembered it. – he said.
- How do you come to know this place? – asked Rock.
- While trying to recover Soul Edge, my instinct led me here. However, the cathedral was abandoned and empty.
- It wasn't. – replied Zasalamel. – I was living in here. I probably wasn't at home.
He smiled.
- Did you live at an empty cathedral? – asked Cervantes.
- I don't need anything, and if I did, I could get it immediately.
Zasalamel entered the cathedral and the rest of them followed him, wondering about his enigmatic words.
Once inside the cathedral, they saw a distressing scene.
Two men and three women were trapped in a cage. Soul Edge was lying on an altar. The floor was covered with the pieces of an armor and, among them, Olcadan's dead body.
When Mi-na saw the corpse couldn't do anything else but run towards it. Yunsung followed her walking.
The girl cried beside her friend's body and Yunsung put a hand on one of her shoulders. That scene reminded Kilik and Xianghua of Edge Master's death.
Zasalamel let Mi-na and Yunsung stay close to the owl-man's corpse.
Meanwhile, Heishiro and Maxi's eyes met. When they saw each other, both of them made a gesture of surprise, remembering when they met in China.
- Enough sentimentality! – yelled a sinister voice which seemed to come out from Soul Edge. – Zasalamel, let's get started.
The African man approached Yunsung and Mi-na.
- He was my friend too… - he said. - …once. You don't know how well I understand you.
Those words made Mi-na react. She suddenly stood up and started punching Zasalamel's chest, but he barely felt it.
- You don't understand anything! – she yelled, still crying. – A monster like you can't love anybody!
Zasalamel didn't try to defend himself. He just answered quietly:
- I'm not a monster, Mi-na. I'm a person like all of you. Well, maybe right now I'm not exactly like you, but I once was. I know what it means to love a mother, a family. I know what it means to have friends. I know what it means to fall in love too, and I also had disappointments in love. I got married once, I had children, and I had grandchildren.
Mi-na and the rest of the people who hadn't hear his story were perplexed.
- My long long life has allowed me to experience all those things more than once. That's great, but there's a bad side too. As I said, I loved my parents, my brothers and sisters, my wife, my children and my grandchildren…and I saw all of them die. Because of my absurd obsession to achieve immortality, now I can't reunite with them. And that's why you're here, Mi-na. You're going to help me to go back to my beloved.
Zasalamel's speech had been really convincing and touching, and the rest of the people now looked at him in a different way. They had understood that he also had his reasons.
- If it was up to me, I'd be the only person to die in here. However, I'm afraid that the circumstances will be different. Anyway, the more you cooperate with me, the more possibilities you'll have to survive.
- What do we have to do? – asked Yunsung with tearful eyes, although he was angrier than sad.
- First, I need to know who of you is wielding Soul Calibur. I think the best way to do that is to approach Soul Edge to each of your weapons and see its reactions. So leave your…
- Do you really think we're so stupid? – yelled Heishiro. – Do you think we are going to give our weapons to you so that you can kill us so easily?
- I could kill you easily even if you kept your weapons. However, that's not what I intend to do.
- All right. - said Heishiro. – In that case, we'll approach our weapons to Soul Edge ourselves.
- It could be dangerous. – warned Zasalamel.
- We'll run the risk. – exclaimed Raphael.
- Thanks for checking with us, mate. – replied Cassandra ironically.
- I think he's right. – said Kilik. – We must do it. If we don't have our weapons close at hand we will be defenseless, and he will manipulate us at his will.
- Yes, Kilik is right. – agreed Maxi. – Do we all think the same?
The rest of them gradually joined the proposal.
- Fine, but before starting…I want to talk to you, Cervantes. In private.
- Me? – replied the pirate, surprised.
- Yes. You're taking part in this too.
...
Zasalamel and Cervantes moved away to talk and came back some minutes later.
Cervantes' grin aroused the suspicions of the rest of the group.
- We can start. – said Zasalamel. – Who wants to be first?
- Me! – exclaimed Heishiro. – I need to get out of this cage right now!
- Don't worry.
Zasalamel snapped his fingers and the cage was pulled up by a rope.
- Come on, hurry up!
Heishiro unsheathed his katana and approached Soul Edge.
- What am I supposed to do? – he asked.
- Don't look right at the sword's eye. If your soul is as strong as I think, you'll feel a pain beyond your imagination.
- What if it isn't?
- Then you won't feel anything…again.
- I understand. – replied Heishiro mockingly, because he didn't fear death.
- You must slide your sword's blade on Soul Edge's. If your weapon is Soul Calibur, something will happen, I don't know exactly what. If I were you, I'd move away quickly, just in case. If it isn't, nothing will happen.
Heishiro nodded and obeyed. When his sword touched Soul Edge, he shuddered, but nothing else happened.
- Next?
After Heishiro; Taki, Kilik, Ivy and Rock did the same and got the same result.
It was Sophitia and Cassandra's turn.
The elder sister went ahead, despite of Cassandra's complaints.
Sophitia closed her eyes and started the procedure. She thought about her husband and her children, who were waiting for her in the remote Greece.
She came down to earth and opened her eyes. Nothing had happened, so she gave way to Cassandra.
The younger sister repeated what Sophitia had done, and then it happened.
The two swords (Soul Edge and Cassandra's) started to shake.
Zasalamel stared at what was happening expectantly.
He was about to tell Cassandra to move away when Heishiro yelled:
- Destroy it, Cassandra! You have Soul Calibur! You can destroy Soul Edge!
Cassandra didn't know what to do. She instinctively looked at her sister, looking for an answer, but she seemed as confused as her.
- Don't do it, Cassandra. If you do, you'll doom all of you. – said Zasalamel.
- He will kill us anyway! – shouted Heishiro. – If you don't destroy it, many other people will die too!
- Think of your nephew and niece. – insisted Zasalamel. – If you destroy it, they'll die too.
The girl was about to cry. Two men who could kill her in a second were yelling at her to do two opposite things. At the same time, she felt that humanity's fate was in her hands.
Finally, without very well knowing how she did it, she made a decision.
She closed her eyes and she got ready to sink Soul Calibur into Soul Edge.
However, as soon as she raised her arm, she heard a gunshot and felt fire going through her chest.
Her sister's cry confirmed her what had happened. Without any energies left, she dropped Soul Calibur and fell to the ground. She was losing consciousness, but she could still breath.
Sophitia immediately knelt beside her sister, crying, while the rest of the group looked at them in shock.
Most of them reacted looking for the shooter, and they found him soon: Cervantes was pointing with his gun at the altar, and the arm's muzzle was still smoking.
Some of them wanted to jump on him to kill him, but they knew they couldn't.
- Good job. – said Zasalamel to Cervantes, sadly and quietly. – And thank you.
- I didn't do it because you asked me to do it. I did it because if Soul Edge is destroyed, I die.
- I know. Well, now I need a volunteer to do the next task.
- Volunteer? – yelled Kilik. – We're not moving a finger until Cassandra is all right!
- We can't do anything for her. – claimed Zasalamel. – She's dying. The only thing we can do is to turn her into a zombie, but I don't think you like this idea.
Sophitia, still hugging her sister, looked at Cervantes and Zasalamel with her eyes filled with rage.
- Let's help him. – she said firmly. – If he wants to die…the better if it is as soon as possible.
...
- What do we have to do now? – asked Yunsung, angrily.
- Now we have to give a body to Soul Edge. – explained Zasalamel. – Only that way it will be strong enough to kill me. Fortunately for you, and if I'm not wrong, Siegfried Schtauffen is about to arrive. His body was already possessed by Soul Edge once, and I intend that to happen again. However, he was resistant enough to get rid of it, so maybe he can also prevent it from possessing him now. In that case, one of you will have to give his body.
- What will happen to us if we are possessed by the sword? – inquired Maxi.
- Your conscience will disappear. You'll never feel mercy again. Little by little, your other feelings will disappear too. That's why Siegfried killed his father. Killing him, he would inherit a fortune. He didn't feel anything for him any more, so he just did it. Of course, when he got rid of the sword, he noticed what he had done and he regretted it, but it was too late.
- And…will we have other feelings, such as sadness, rage or joy? – asked Heishiro.
- Just rage. A lot of rage. Why do you think Siegfried commited so many slaughters? Why do you think Astaroth, Soul Edge's greatest creation, enjoyed killing people? Soul Edge is rage.
- If Siegfried doesn't come, I will give my body. – said Heishiro.
- What? – exclaimed Taki. – You must be kidding.
- I have nothing left, Taki. My father died, my brother too, and my mother has no much life left. The only thing I have left is sadness. I could get rid of it with Soul Edge.
- Would you become a bloody killer just not to feel sadness? – asked Taki.
- If I don't, someone else will have to. I prefer to do it myself and prevent anyone else from suffering. I'm sure you all have somebody who will miss you if your conscience gets lost…I haven't.
- I'll miss you, Heishiro. – claimed Taki, who was noticeably sad despite of not crying (she never did).
Those words susprised the samurai, but he soon regained composure.
- The decision is made. I'm sorry. – then he addressed Zasalamel. – How long are we going to wait?
At that very moment, the cathedral's door started to open.
- I'm afraid nothing. – replied Zasalamel smiling.
All of them looked at the door, but they were surprised when they saw who had arrived. It wasn't Siegfried…It was Hwang.
...
- Hwang? What are you doing here? – yelled Mi-na as soon as she saw him.
Yunsung looked at him with hatred and held back, because he wanted to punch him.
- My men tracked you. I came to take you back to the dojo.
- Your men? Your men are dead. – replied Yunsung.
- The men you met were not the only ones to accompany me. However, we travelled in groups in order not to call people's attention.
- We asked you to go back home, Hwang. – said Mi-na.
- I was going to do so, when I received a letter from the master. He told me that he had found out that Soul Edge was evil and dangerous. His orders were clear: "Bring them back as soon as possible".
- So now I can go back too… – said Yunsung ironically.
- Yes. The master is a great man and he has understood that you travelled a lot just to keep Mi-na safe. But now, we have to go back.
- I'm sorry to interrupt, Hwang, but that can't be possible. – replied Zasalamel.
- What? Who are you?
- Right now, the man in charge. Go away the same way you've come here through or I'll have no other choice than killing you.
- Killing me? And how are you going to do that?
Zasalamel laughed.
- It's easy. I could use any of the weapons in here, but I don't want to get my hands dirty, so I think I'll simply break your neck.
- Well, and how are you going to pass over my men?
- Your men? A few badly-trained fighters are not a problem for me.
- Believe me, they're very well-trained. Oh, and they aren't a few…
He made a signal with his arm and what happened immediately after surprised everybody.
Some men started to enter the cathedral. Yunsung tried to count them, but he lost count after having counted seventeen. They were about 30.
- So you have brought your little army.
- The master takes it seriously when it comes to his daughter. – explained Hwang.
- Then this is a war. – claimed Zasalamel smiling. – Cervantes, are your men fighting on our side?
- Of course. – answered the pirate.
- But that's unfair! – exclaimed Ivy. – Those pirates can't die.
Those words seemed to scare Hwang and most of his men.
- I haven't started this. – said Zasalamel. – On with the battle!
...
After Zasalamel's war cry, the Lost Cathedral became the scenery of a bloody battle.
Cervantes' crew attacked Hwang's men, who were better fighters than the pirates, but they could die.
Fortunately, sometimes the pirates got an arm or a leg cut off, so they couldn't fight any more.
Zasalamel and Cervantes didn't take part in the battle. All the mortals there did, except for Cassandra, who was dying, and Sophitia, who didn't want to move away from her sister.
- Don't kill Soul Calibur's possible wielders! – ordered Zasalamel to his zombie army. – We need them alive.
That order balanced things. One side couldn't die, but the other one was larger in number, they were better fighters and Zasalamel had ordered not to kill some of them. Furthermore, they had Rock and Alan who couldn't die either.
While the battle took place under the watchful eye of Cervantes and Zasalamel, Sophitia fought againt her sister's imminent death.
- Sophitia... – whispered Cassandra with her eyes closed. – What's going on?
- Reinforcements have arrived. – answered Sophitia trying to pretend happiness, although she couldn't hold back her tears.– The two sides are fighting.
- You must…help them…
- No! – sobbed the elder sister. – I'm not leaving you alone.
- My sword... – Cassandra coughed. – My sword can destroy Soul Edge. You must destroy it… Take advantage when nobody is looking at you.
- Not until you are all right... – Sophitia's tears fell on her sister's face.
- I'm not going to be all right and you know it. – said Cassandra. – You must go back home…and take care of the kids…and your husband.
Cassandra tried to laugh, but she only managed to cough again.
- I'll take care of you too, as I have always done. – claimed Sophitia.
At that moment, Cassandra opened her eyes and looked at her sister's.
- If you want to take care of me…destroy that sword. Do it before more innocent people die.
- But…
- Do it for me, Sophitia. – pleaded Cassandra, who was about to cry too.
Sophitia burst into tears and her crying could be heard amidst the clash of swords.
- I've always envied you, you know? – admitted Cassandra. – You were always the smarter sister…the better fighter…the sensible one…and now I'm going to miss you saving the world.
- I've always envied your….your freedom…your sense of humor… - cried Sophitia.
Sophitia's tears were already more powerful than her voice.
- I can't save the world on my own, sis.
- I'm sure you can... – replied Cassandra. – You can deal with everything and you know it.
Sophitia didn't think the same way, but she didn't want to reply. Behind her back, a battle was taking place. In front of her, one of her most beloved people was dying.
- I love you very much, Sophitia. – said Cassandra with a barely audible voice.
- I love you too, Cassy.
The younger sister smiled slightly and, at that very second, her life fade away.
...
If Sophitia had turned around to look at the battle, she had discovered a bloody scene: zombies crawling on the floor with just one leg left, Hwang's men corpses… Almost every mortal person was wounded, although most of them could still fight.
Heishiro and Taki were laying waste among the enemies. They had cut off more than three extremities each one, and they barely had a scratch.
Raphael fought almost as well as they did, although he had a wound on his head which didn't look very well.
Ivy, Rock and Alan were fighting together, and so were Kilik, Maxi and Xianghua.
Meanwhile, Hwang was helping Yunsung and Mi-na.
Suddenly, Nightmare's evil voice spoke.
- ZASALAMEL! We have lost enough time. I want a body right now.
Zasalamel looked at Soul Edge.
- I'm afraid this isn't the right time, sir. I don't think anyone would give his body at this moment.
- Use Sophitia's. Now her soul is weak. She won't put up any resistance.
- Do you think that is the right b...?
- DO IT, ZASALAMEL!
Zasalamel sighed.
- Okay.
He approached the woman, who despite having heard her name was still hugging her sister's dead body.
- Stand up, please. – said Zasalamel.
Sophitia ignored him, so Zasalamel grabbed her clothes and pulled her up.
However, she did something he hadn't expected: she kicked his face, knocking him down.
- Don't underestimate a mother's soul. – yelled Sophitia with her eyes filled with rage.
Zasalamel stood up laughing, although the ability with which a woman had knocked him had upset him.
- So you're putting up resistance…
- I have a family to fight for. I'll never surrender having that.
- Well, then I guess I'll go and kill them all.
Those words destroyed Sophitia's resistance, and her face showed it to Zasalamel.
- So, if you don't want me to do that, you'll give your body to…
Zasalamel's words were interrupted by a thunderous metallic sound
The cathedral's door had been opened with a blow.
And now, it was Siegfried Schtauffen.