Post by Nightmare Zero on Feb 5, 2009 11:08:22 GMT -5
Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold.
-Author Unknown
Long ago, The sword was forged by a man.
The sword at first did not bear any significant power, but after countless years of being tainted by hatred and bloodshed, it turned into a demonic weapon that fed on human souls and controlled the one who wielded it.
The sword, Soul Edge, became legendary as it appeared, splattered through the pages of history.
Once, a great hero happened upon the legendary blade.
The hero was able to wield the powerful blade with his strong will. With the help of Soul Edge, the hero brought peace and prosperity to the land, and was hailed as a king to the people.
There are, however always those who oppose great men.
Jealous of his father's power, the king's own son unwittingly took the cursed sword for himself. The prince was overwhelmed instantly by its evil powers, and lost his self-will to Soul Edge.
The king fought against the deranged prince, Shattering Soul Edge with a mighty blow. Unfortunately, the attack took his son's life as well. In the aftermath of the ordeal, the cursed sword was nowhere to be found.
The evil sword vanished from history, and was immortalized.
The king was devastated by the loss of his son. Most would have submitted to their grief, but the king did no such thing. The king knew that one day Soul Edge would return to wreak havoc on the world. This ill omen steeled the king's resolve. For the sake of the world, as well as his redemption, he vowed that he would create a holy sword that could fight against the evil blade's powers. With the aid of the greatest sages of the era, the king began work on his grand plan.
The King used purified fragments of Soul Edge itself to create the holy sword. After many failed attempts, he eventually succeeded in creating the holy blade. However, in order to create the blade, the king had to sacrifice his life, right before he died; he told the sages who helped him create the blade, to name it Soul Calibur.
And thus the Holy Blade was brought into existence.
Soul Calibur had to be protected until the day Soul Edge returned. A sect of guardians was created to carry out the late king's will. These guardians lived in seclusion, passing down the sword secretly from generation to generation. Each time strong warriors and those who had evil intentions came to possess the evil sword, Soul Calibur appeared to fight it and keep it at bay. Stories of the never-ending struggle between the swords were passed down from one generation to another, giving birth to countless legends and fairy tales.
Over time, eventually the holy sword was lost to history while the cursed sword became even more famous, unknowing of the blade's true disposition. In reality, Soul Calibur was not really lost. In order to protect the blade, the guardians transformed the holy blade, only showing its true form to those who were fighting the cursed blade. Until those times came, it was stored in a place called the Li-Seng Shu Temple, a place renowned for its martial arts.
Over time, in order to further hide the blade, Soul Calibur's name was changed to Krita-Yuga. And with the name change, the knowledge of the blade's true purpose was lost. There were also two other treasures of the Li-Seng Shu. The Kali-Yuga, a staff which absorbed various forms of energy, and the Dvapara-Yuga, a mirror which purified evil energy, were also stored with Krita-Yuga. These three items were known to the temple, as the Holy Trinity.
Unknown also to the temple, the staff and the mirror were also strongly linked to the holy sword. In order to protect the sword, the guardians had to keep it away from anything evil, as the sword would revert to its unholy original form through absorption of evil energy, or hatred, so extra caution was required.
So, the guardians made Kali-Yuga in order to strengthen the blade by absorbing evil energy that had come had come near the blade, while Dvapara-Yuga was made to purify the blade if Soul Calibur became contaminated with evil energy. Thus the items were brought to the temple. If Soul Edge returned, the holy blade would already be in capable hands.
Only one man remained who knew the truth about the true purpose of the three items. This man, known as Edgemaster, refused to speak, and the truth stayed behind his wall of silence.
It wasn't until the sixteenth century that Soul Edge appeared once again. Rumor had it that it all started when two blades appeared together in a private auction. It is still a mystery why Soul Edge was two blades instead of one. It was known however, the evil of the swords could be reawakened of they fell into the wrong hands.
Those hands belonged to the dreaded pirate Cervantes de Leon, who continued to wreak havoc on the Atlantic seas. Cervantes was originally hired by a weapons merchant to find the cursed blade. That day, Cervantes attacked an antique dealer's ship and seized Soul Edge.
He grasped the hilt of the blades and was instantly possessed, going on a murderous rampage. Cervantes not only slaughtered his crew, but also the entire inhabitants of a Spanish harbor town that served as his stronghold.
Soul Edge's twisted desires were temporarily satisfied by the feast of the souls by the bloody massacre, and the blades rested in Cervantes' hideout. Over the course of the next twenty years, tales of the evil sword spread throughout the world. It was considered by some as the "Sword of Salvation." A sword that could be used to save and protect their homelands from invading countries. Others called it the "Phantom Blade." An unbeatable blade that also was the key to immortality. And then there were those who sought Soul Edge as the "Ultimate Weapon", and use it or personal gain, all of which did not know the true nature of the blades...
The chosen few who found Soul Edge cursed their misfortune. Cervantes, who had become an evil servant of the blade, stood before them and devoured their souls. It was not until many years later that that someone appeared to defy the demonic blade.
That person was named Sophitia. Holy warrior, who along with 23 others received an oracle from the Greek god of the forge, Hephaestus, to destroy Soul Edge. After a fierce battle with Cervantes, she was able to shatter one of the cursed blades. She was, however, showered by fragments of the sword and was gravely wounded. Just when Cervantes was about to strike the death blow, Taki, the "Shadow Huntress of Demons", appeared to stop him.
Overwhelmed with wrath from the loss of one of his twin blades, Cervantes engaged her in battle. Although he fought Taki with a murderous rage, Cervantes lost to the Demon Hunter in the end. Taki obtained a fragment of Soul Edge, and with her mission complete, departed with the badly injured Sophitia, whose life hung by a thread.
The remains of the evil blade however, had not lost all of its power. All should have ended there, however a young knight arrived at the Spanish harbor town and found what appeared to be the corpse of a pirate captain next to a bizarrely shaped sword.
Soul Edge was waiting for this moment. Manipulating the dead body of Cervantes, Soul Edge challenged the young knight, Siegfried to a duel. However, the sword was no match for Siegfried's madness, and Cervantes was defeated again. The cursed sword fell into an unstable state as it lost its host. Siegfried, mesmerized by the powers of the blazing hellfire, reached for the blade.
Unnoticed by all, so began a new nightmare...
As Siegfried grasped the hilt of Soul Edge, He could not contain the evil of the sword. Evil energy began to flow out of his body, and the energy pierced the heavens as a column of while light and spread throughout the world.
This phenomenon, soon to be called "Evil Seed", was the cause of much mayhem throughout the world. The effects of the Evil Seed were felt all over the world, and they all had similarities. Those that received the surge of energy lost their sanity, became vicious, and had an uncontrollable destructive urge. Many were overwhelmed by this and became deranged fighters.
The previously mentioned Li-Seng Shu temple was also directly his and decimated by the Evil Seed. There was one in the temple however, who managed to keep his sanity during the occurrence. His name was Kilik, an apprentice monk, and possessor of Kali-Yuga. The purifying powers of Dvapara-Yuga, which he received from his sworn sister, protected him for the evil energy.
This young man, let by fate, would later play a large role in the struggle between the swords...
The Azure Knight who terrorized all of Europe, Nightmare...
It was said that he took lives indiscriminately - Fierce warriors, women, children, all fell victim to the swing of his deformed arm. And this was not far from the truth.
The creature armed in blue, Half man, Half monster, was the sight of Siegfried consumed by Soul Edge. This knight, now known as Nightmare, went on insane killing sprees to feed the evil blade human souls in order to regain the swords original powers.
Gradually, a strange group formed around the Azure Knight. Nevertheless, there were a few within the group with different motives.
Asteroth, the creation of a heretic cult, the fighter Lizardman, and the bearer of a unique blade Ivy, were those few. Although they all cooperated with Nightmare for various reasons, they were not necessarily partners- just a loose collection of beings with overlapping interests.
There was a change in fortune as they all gathered in Ostrhesinburg Castle, stronghold of the Azure Knight.
Three souls arrived in this land to defeat Soul Edge, the source of evil. Coincidentally, Ivy discovered the secret behind her birth. She also learned that Nightmare deceived her. Now her vengeance was aimed at the Azure Knight. Taki also appeared with her own objectives. Asteroth also lurked with his own intentions. All these ambitions intertwined, and the situation rapidly evolved.
And at that moment, the cursed blade was almost resurrected.
Of the three that arrived in Ostrhesinburg Castle, only Kilik, possessor of Kali-Yuga and Dvapara, and Xianghua, possessor of Krita-Yuga, reached Nightmare. Krita-Yuga revealed its true form as Soul Calibur as if response to Soul Edge's power, and a fierce battle raged.
After an intense battle, Soul Calibur was victorious as it shattered Soul Edge. But as a result, the spirit sword was lost to the abyss created by the cursed blade. All seemed to have been put to rest, but the wheels of fortune still turned.
Siegfried was now released from the command of Soul Edge.
The evil blade was too weak to retain control over him, and he regained himself. He now realized what he had done and he now felt the guilt of all the lives he had taken. The pain was so intense that it threatened to destroy him. But in the back of his mind, he knew that Soul Edge was trying to recover its powers.
Siegfried felt that evil of the blade had to be ended once and for all, his will and determination kept him moving through this traumatic experience. But the influence of the evil blade was strong...
Soul Edge took over Siegfried's body while he slept and attempted to murder and feed on human souls. At the same time, innocent bystanders picked up the fragments of the shattered and weak Soul Edge, sucking them into the vortex of evil. As time passed, the fragments of the demonic blade were passed from person to person, and were eventually scattered throughout the world.
Siegfried eventually fell under the influence of Soul Edge once again, and slowly transformed into a being worthy of being called Nightmare...
He was once again Nightmare, repeating the same atrocities in order to feed Soul Edge to revive its true powers.
As Nightmare plundered powerful souls, and recovered the shattered fragments of the blade, the cracks in Soul Edge healed one by one. Nightmare chose Ostrhesinburg, the cursed castle as the restoration of the sword's true powers.
The time was nearing...
Then there appeared a lone man hiding in the desolate castle. This man, Raphael, had come to this land in search of Soul Edge. Inevitably, the two faced off in the ruins of the castle chapel. The place became lit with sparks and blood.
At the end of the viscous battle, Nightmare stood victorious. Raphael sustained a fatal wound and collapsed. As the Azure Knight stepped forward to finish off his opponent, Raphael attempted a desperate strike. The strike he unleashed with his rapier, hit the center of Soul Edge.
Nightmare let out an inhuman cry.
When it was all over, Siegfried looked over in a daze in what he had done. It had been a reflexive action. A sword appeared along with the light. As of guided by something, he took the sword in his hands and drove into the evil eye that was the core of Soul Edge.
That sword was the holy sword, Soul Calibur, which had been trapped by the power of the evil sword. However, the blow was not enough to destroy the evil sword. The evil energy of the evil sword had quieted, but the spirit sword had gone silent as well, as if it had lost all its power. The swords had seemed to seal each other, making them both useless. Siegfried, seeing that this wasn't enough, smashed the detestable blue armor he wore as Nightmare, and took both swords with him.
However, the evil of Soul Edge was not so easily stopped.
In the instant that the spirit sword pierced the cursed sword, no one noticed the evil flame of the sword flowing out. Over the years of countless battle and slaughter, the evil sword apparently obtained a soul of its own. This invisible entity- the will of Soul Edge- chose to cling on to the armor that Siegfried left behind. The armor that spread terror throughout Europe. The armor of Nightmare. Though without the sword, it could not even move the bodiless host. All it could do was wait for an opportunity...
Some time later, a man with an enormous scythe appeared in the chapel, and saw that the armor had a soul all its own. The man went over to the remains of the armor and seemed to have a wordless conversation with the sword. Within a few moments, the man agreed to help. Using some kind of sacred art, he combined the evil energy still within the armor, and combined it with the spirits trapped within the chapel, and weaved them within the armor. When it was all over the Azure knight was reborn, and in his hand a bizarrely-shaped sword that resembled the cursed sword, appeared in its deformed hand.
Seeing that the ritual worked, the man with the scythe melted into the shadows, his face emotionless.
Seeing that this was the first time that the spirit of Soul Edge was its own being, it started its interaction with the world with the only action it knew and wanted to do. It started a rampage across Europe, killing every human it could find, and devouring their souls in order to sustain its new body, and to increase its own power. Eventually, its twisted compass that directed it would eventually lead to its former host and the freeing of Soul Edge itself.
That meeting came at a Cathedral far from any civilization, the two fought for control of the swords. But something was happening that neither of the fighters knew. Deep in the recesses of both swords, something began to awaken...
At that moment, a new fighter appeared to challenge both Siegfried and Nightmare. The man with the Scythe, called Zasalamel, entered and stole the swords from Siegfried. Then, using another sacred art, he connected his body to the world of the abyss and created a jet-black orb which absorbed the swords with his own body, hoping that this would end the cycle of reincarnation that he was forced to endure. His body started to mutate and change, he gained overflowing power, enhanced senses, and a voice that rang throughout the area. he had become a monster.
Thinking he had finally achieved his goal, he renamed himself Abyss, for the orb that made him, and sought to test his new power and body. He called fire to rain down from the sky, he turned the river running from the Cathedral black and muddy, which began to stink of death. Then he made shockwaves that blew apart the Cathedral walls, showing the sun's light, which then turned a green tint and it hit the Cathedral. Then he turned to Siegfried and Nightmare, who were watching in horror, and challenged them.
In the face of the power they had just seen, An unlikely alliance formed between Siegfried and Nightmare in order to defeat this threat. The both charged at Abyss. It was a great battle. In the end, Abyss stood victorious and was about to strike the death blows against the two, when the both reached into the orb in the center of Abyss, and pulled out the swords, which had became separated once again. Abyss cried out in pain, as his body began to change again, reverting back into Zasalamel. And orb absorbed him and vanished, bringing the area back to normal.
Seeing that their foe was defeated, Nightmare and Siegfried began to fight each other again. This time with Nightmare holding Soul Edge once again, and Siegfried holding Soul Calibur. And as the swords clashed against each other, the Cathedral was completely destroyed, only a crater remained where it once stood.
As for Siegfried, Nightmare, and the swords, they fell into the world of the Abyss, due to some of the orbs power were still on the swords.
As with Nightmare, the armor that was him could not stand the force of the clash of the swords, and was shredded. It lay in the Abyss for what seemed like an eternity. But even then, Soul Edge desired power. Using it's own power, It opened the Abyss and the realm spat out both the sword and the remains of Nightmare into the throne room of Ostrhesinburg Castle, and closed up. The sword then stretched it's evil strength into the armor, repairing it. Due to the power that was awakened, the fragment of Soul Edge that were scattered around the world started to return to the blade. Soul Edge called them in, and combined them into itself. For the first time in ages, the sword was mostly whole...
Nightmare then took a hold of the blade, and sank in into the floor. the evil of the blade the spread into the castle, and into the very land of Ostrhesinburg itself. It had became a cursed city. And there Nightmare and Soul Edge sat, waiting for the warriors who would gather to the city in order to claim the blade, just to be defeated and their souls given to the blade, and well as Soul Calibur. They would destroy them all.
And as for Siegfried, Someone was calling him, but he could not clearly hear it. He strained to see, but could see nothing. Then the voice came again,and this time he could hear every word.
"So you would throw away our friendship?"
"Yes. No one will ever again be a part of my life. Every man or woman who has known me has ultimately fallen to death's touch. So go. Leave me. Forget you ever knew me."
The voice that had replied was his own. He began to lose his consciousness, his focus wavered,and then another voice came to him from behind.
"I have seen what you have done. Now you devote your life to atoning for your sins and redeeming your soul. Are you not as much a victim of that sword as the others?"
"No, no! No matter what beguiling words you whisper, my sins cannot be forgiven. I-I slew my father with my own bloodied hands. No cursed sword forced me to do that!"
As Siegfried spoke his answer,the man who questioned him faded from his vision,to be replaced once more by the memories of that night. The wind blew the clouds from the face of the moon,and suddenly the head that he held triumphantly aloft was brilliantly revealed. He saw the face,and there was no denying the truth. It was his father. His heart was in agony as if it had been pierced by a white-hot blade.
Siegfried jerked upright, as if yanked by a puppeteer's string. The full moon bathed his face in light. It had been a dream. He was alone.
He pressed his hand against the armor that covered his heart. A terrible scar marked him there.The maelstrom of power unleashed by Soul Calibur and Soul Edge clashed at the Lost Cathedral had torn his body apart. His long quest to destroy the cursed sword had been so nearly completed; redemption had been within his grasp, yet, in that moment, he had died,the scream of frustration at his failure silenced on his lips. Perhaps the spirit sword responded to that outpouring of emotion, for the sword whose destiny it was to destroy the cursed sword resonated with Siegfried's soul. It chose Siegfried for its master, and doing so saved his life.
Siegfried thought again of the dream he had just seen. He thought of the people who had once stood by him and the people he had left despite knowing that Siegfried was none other than Nightmare.
Bathed in the moonlight, Siegfried looked up into the night sky. He knew now what he must do. He would brush aside the outstretched hands that tried to help him. Once, not so long ago, he had stood at the center of the terror that Nightmare wrought. The enemy he now faced was the cursed devourer of souls, Soul Edge. Awaiting him was the maelstrom of destruction unleashed at the cathedral.
Soul Calibur shone with a cold light in his hand. Siegfried made up his mind to become like the sword. No one would touch his heart, no man or woman would sway him from his path, until the cursed sword was destroyed for all time. Images of his brothers-in-arms, comrades, even friends that might have been-and, of course, his father-flashed one by one through his mind. He was alone, and he had no choice but to be alone, for he would never again hurt those he loved.
Siegfried turned his gaze away from the heavens. Before him a black shadow lay heavy over the cursed city of Ostrheinburg. In response to this, Soul Calibur transformed to suit Siegfried. It created a new armor for him from its own body, and at the end, its power was greater then ever.
Siegfried took the Spirit Sword into his hands, and marched of to the cursed city, where Soul Edge surely waited. His journey was coming to an end.
But, unknown to all, even the swords, something happened. Something that only the sages that created Soul Calibur, and their descendants knew and feared. While in the Embrace of Souls, the swords were closer then they ever were. That in turn, had awakened something inside of Soul Calibur. When the Embrace was broken, it escaped the Spirit Sword and absorbed a little of the power of both swords, as well as the Abyss. It then created a body for itself and landed on the outskirts of Ostrhesinburg. This being was incomplete, however. In order to complete itself, it needed the power it once had. Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. So, it constructed a tall tower, and waited at the top, waiting for both swords. which would be drawn to this being, and well as many others, like a moth to the flame. This being, reborn from the swords, would make itself whole again and any cost. Nothing would get in his way, not even the swords themselves...
And at that moment, when the blades and this being would meet, the wheels of fate would turn again, in the never-ending battle between the two swords...
Now it is our turn to write the history of the battle between the Cursed Sword, Soul Edge, and the Spirit Sword, Soul Calibur. Good or Evil, which will you choose?
-Author Unknown
Long ago, The sword was forged by a man.
The sword at first did not bear any significant power, but after countless years of being tainted by hatred and bloodshed, it turned into a demonic weapon that fed on human souls and controlled the one who wielded it.
The sword, Soul Edge, became legendary as it appeared, splattered through the pages of history.
Once, a great hero happened upon the legendary blade.
The hero was able to wield the powerful blade with his strong will. With the help of Soul Edge, the hero brought peace and prosperity to the land, and was hailed as a king to the people.
There are, however always those who oppose great men.
Jealous of his father's power, the king's own son unwittingly took the cursed sword for himself. The prince was overwhelmed instantly by its evil powers, and lost his self-will to Soul Edge.
The king fought against the deranged prince, Shattering Soul Edge with a mighty blow. Unfortunately, the attack took his son's life as well. In the aftermath of the ordeal, the cursed sword was nowhere to be found.
The evil sword vanished from history, and was immortalized.
The king was devastated by the loss of his son. Most would have submitted to their grief, but the king did no such thing. The king knew that one day Soul Edge would return to wreak havoc on the world. This ill omen steeled the king's resolve. For the sake of the world, as well as his redemption, he vowed that he would create a holy sword that could fight against the evil blade's powers. With the aid of the greatest sages of the era, the king began work on his grand plan.
The King used purified fragments of Soul Edge itself to create the holy sword. After many failed attempts, he eventually succeeded in creating the holy blade. However, in order to create the blade, the king had to sacrifice his life, right before he died; he told the sages who helped him create the blade, to name it Soul Calibur.
And thus the Holy Blade was brought into existence.
Soul Calibur had to be protected until the day Soul Edge returned. A sect of guardians was created to carry out the late king's will. These guardians lived in seclusion, passing down the sword secretly from generation to generation. Each time strong warriors and those who had evil intentions came to possess the evil sword, Soul Calibur appeared to fight it and keep it at bay. Stories of the never-ending struggle between the swords were passed down from one generation to another, giving birth to countless legends and fairy tales.
Over time, eventually the holy sword was lost to history while the cursed sword became even more famous, unknowing of the blade's true disposition. In reality, Soul Calibur was not really lost. In order to protect the blade, the guardians transformed the holy blade, only showing its true form to those who were fighting the cursed blade. Until those times came, it was stored in a place called the Li-Seng Shu Temple, a place renowned for its martial arts.
Over time, in order to further hide the blade, Soul Calibur's name was changed to Krita-Yuga. And with the name change, the knowledge of the blade's true purpose was lost. There were also two other treasures of the Li-Seng Shu. The Kali-Yuga, a staff which absorbed various forms of energy, and the Dvapara-Yuga, a mirror which purified evil energy, were also stored with Krita-Yuga. These three items were known to the temple, as the Holy Trinity.
Unknown also to the temple, the staff and the mirror were also strongly linked to the holy sword. In order to protect the sword, the guardians had to keep it away from anything evil, as the sword would revert to its unholy original form through absorption of evil energy, or hatred, so extra caution was required.
So, the guardians made Kali-Yuga in order to strengthen the blade by absorbing evil energy that had come had come near the blade, while Dvapara-Yuga was made to purify the blade if Soul Calibur became contaminated with evil energy. Thus the items were brought to the temple. If Soul Edge returned, the holy blade would already be in capable hands.
Only one man remained who knew the truth about the true purpose of the three items. This man, known as Edgemaster, refused to speak, and the truth stayed behind his wall of silence.
It wasn't until the sixteenth century that Soul Edge appeared once again. Rumor had it that it all started when two blades appeared together in a private auction. It is still a mystery why Soul Edge was two blades instead of one. It was known however, the evil of the swords could be reawakened of they fell into the wrong hands.
Those hands belonged to the dreaded pirate Cervantes de Leon, who continued to wreak havoc on the Atlantic seas. Cervantes was originally hired by a weapons merchant to find the cursed blade. That day, Cervantes attacked an antique dealer's ship and seized Soul Edge.
He grasped the hilt of the blades and was instantly possessed, going on a murderous rampage. Cervantes not only slaughtered his crew, but also the entire inhabitants of a Spanish harbor town that served as his stronghold.
Soul Edge's twisted desires were temporarily satisfied by the feast of the souls by the bloody massacre, and the blades rested in Cervantes' hideout. Over the course of the next twenty years, tales of the evil sword spread throughout the world. It was considered by some as the "Sword of Salvation." A sword that could be used to save and protect their homelands from invading countries. Others called it the "Phantom Blade." An unbeatable blade that also was the key to immortality. And then there were those who sought Soul Edge as the "Ultimate Weapon", and use it or personal gain, all of which did not know the true nature of the blades...
The chosen few who found Soul Edge cursed their misfortune. Cervantes, who had become an evil servant of the blade, stood before them and devoured their souls. It was not until many years later that that someone appeared to defy the demonic blade.
That person was named Sophitia. Holy warrior, who along with 23 others received an oracle from the Greek god of the forge, Hephaestus, to destroy Soul Edge. After a fierce battle with Cervantes, she was able to shatter one of the cursed blades. She was, however, showered by fragments of the sword and was gravely wounded. Just when Cervantes was about to strike the death blow, Taki, the "Shadow Huntress of Demons", appeared to stop him.
Overwhelmed with wrath from the loss of one of his twin blades, Cervantes engaged her in battle. Although he fought Taki with a murderous rage, Cervantes lost to the Demon Hunter in the end. Taki obtained a fragment of Soul Edge, and with her mission complete, departed with the badly injured Sophitia, whose life hung by a thread.
The remains of the evil blade however, had not lost all of its power. All should have ended there, however a young knight arrived at the Spanish harbor town and found what appeared to be the corpse of a pirate captain next to a bizarrely shaped sword.
Soul Edge was waiting for this moment. Manipulating the dead body of Cervantes, Soul Edge challenged the young knight, Siegfried to a duel. However, the sword was no match for Siegfried's madness, and Cervantes was defeated again. The cursed sword fell into an unstable state as it lost its host. Siegfried, mesmerized by the powers of the blazing hellfire, reached for the blade.
Unnoticed by all, so began a new nightmare...
As Siegfried grasped the hilt of Soul Edge, He could not contain the evil of the sword. Evil energy began to flow out of his body, and the energy pierced the heavens as a column of while light and spread throughout the world.
This phenomenon, soon to be called "Evil Seed", was the cause of much mayhem throughout the world. The effects of the Evil Seed were felt all over the world, and they all had similarities. Those that received the surge of energy lost their sanity, became vicious, and had an uncontrollable destructive urge. Many were overwhelmed by this and became deranged fighters.
The previously mentioned Li-Seng Shu temple was also directly his and decimated by the Evil Seed. There was one in the temple however, who managed to keep his sanity during the occurrence. His name was Kilik, an apprentice monk, and possessor of Kali-Yuga. The purifying powers of Dvapara-Yuga, which he received from his sworn sister, protected him for the evil energy.
This young man, let by fate, would later play a large role in the struggle between the swords...
The Azure Knight who terrorized all of Europe, Nightmare...
It was said that he took lives indiscriminately - Fierce warriors, women, children, all fell victim to the swing of his deformed arm. And this was not far from the truth.
The creature armed in blue, Half man, Half monster, was the sight of Siegfried consumed by Soul Edge. This knight, now known as Nightmare, went on insane killing sprees to feed the evil blade human souls in order to regain the swords original powers.
Gradually, a strange group formed around the Azure Knight. Nevertheless, there were a few within the group with different motives.
Asteroth, the creation of a heretic cult, the fighter Lizardman, and the bearer of a unique blade Ivy, were those few. Although they all cooperated with Nightmare for various reasons, they were not necessarily partners- just a loose collection of beings with overlapping interests.
There was a change in fortune as they all gathered in Ostrhesinburg Castle, stronghold of the Azure Knight.
Three souls arrived in this land to defeat Soul Edge, the source of evil. Coincidentally, Ivy discovered the secret behind her birth. She also learned that Nightmare deceived her. Now her vengeance was aimed at the Azure Knight. Taki also appeared with her own objectives. Asteroth also lurked with his own intentions. All these ambitions intertwined, and the situation rapidly evolved.
And at that moment, the cursed blade was almost resurrected.
Of the three that arrived in Ostrhesinburg Castle, only Kilik, possessor of Kali-Yuga and Dvapara, and Xianghua, possessor of Krita-Yuga, reached Nightmare. Krita-Yuga revealed its true form as Soul Calibur as if response to Soul Edge's power, and a fierce battle raged.
After an intense battle, Soul Calibur was victorious as it shattered Soul Edge. But as a result, the spirit sword was lost to the abyss created by the cursed blade. All seemed to have been put to rest, but the wheels of fortune still turned.
Siegfried was now released from the command of Soul Edge.
The evil blade was too weak to retain control over him, and he regained himself. He now realized what he had done and he now felt the guilt of all the lives he had taken. The pain was so intense that it threatened to destroy him. But in the back of his mind, he knew that Soul Edge was trying to recover its powers.
Siegfried felt that evil of the blade had to be ended once and for all, his will and determination kept him moving through this traumatic experience. But the influence of the evil blade was strong...
Soul Edge took over Siegfried's body while he slept and attempted to murder and feed on human souls. At the same time, innocent bystanders picked up the fragments of the shattered and weak Soul Edge, sucking them into the vortex of evil. As time passed, the fragments of the demonic blade were passed from person to person, and were eventually scattered throughout the world.
Siegfried eventually fell under the influence of Soul Edge once again, and slowly transformed into a being worthy of being called Nightmare...
He was once again Nightmare, repeating the same atrocities in order to feed Soul Edge to revive its true powers.
As Nightmare plundered powerful souls, and recovered the shattered fragments of the blade, the cracks in Soul Edge healed one by one. Nightmare chose Ostrhesinburg, the cursed castle as the restoration of the sword's true powers.
The time was nearing...
Then there appeared a lone man hiding in the desolate castle. This man, Raphael, had come to this land in search of Soul Edge. Inevitably, the two faced off in the ruins of the castle chapel. The place became lit with sparks and blood.
At the end of the viscous battle, Nightmare stood victorious. Raphael sustained a fatal wound and collapsed. As the Azure Knight stepped forward to finish off his opponent, Raphael attempted a desperate strike. The strike he unleashed with his rapier, hit the center of Soul Edge.
Nightmare let out an inhuman cry.
When it was all over, Siegfried looked over in a daze in what he had done. It had been a reflexive action. A sword appeared along with the light. As of guided by something, he took the sword in his hands and drove into the evil eye that was the core of Soul Edge.
That sword was the holy sword, Soul Calibur, which had been trapped by the power of the evil sword. However, the blow was not enough to destroy the evil sword. The evil energy of the evil sword had quieted, but the spirit sword had gone silent as well, as if it had lost all its power. The swords had seemed to seal each other, making them both useless. Siegfried, seeing that this wasn't enough, smashed the detestable blue armor he wore as Nightmare, and took both swords with him.
However, the evil of Soul Edge was not so easily stopped.
In the instant that the spirit sword pierced the cursed sword, no one noticed the evil flame of the sword flowing out. Over the years of countless battle and slaughter, the evil sword apparently obtained a soul of its own. This invisible entity- the will of Soul Edge- chose to cling on to the armor that Siegfried left behind. The armor that spread terror throughout Europe. The armor of Nightmare. Though without the sword, it could not even move the bodiless host. All it could do was wait for an opportunity...
Some time later, a man with an enormous scythe appeared in the chapel, and saw that the armor had a soul all its own. The man went over to the remains of the armor and seemed to have a wordless conversation with the sword. Within a few moments, the man agreed to help. Using some kind of sacred art, he combined the evil energy still within the armor, and combined it with the spirits trapped within the chapel, and weaved them within the armor. When it was all over the Azure knight was reborn, and in his hand a bizarrely-shaped sword that resembled the cursed sword, appeared in its deformed hand.
Seeing that the ritual worked, the man with the scythe melted into the shadows, his face emotionless.
Seeing that this was the first time that the spirit of Soul Edge was its own being, it started its interaction with the world with the only action it knew and wanted to do. It started a rampage across Europe, killing every human it could find, and devouring their souls in order to sustain its new body, and to increase its own power. Eventually, its twisted compass that directed it would eventually lead to its former host and the freeing of Soul Edge itself.
That meeting came at a Cathedral far from any civilization, the two fought for control of the swords. But something was happening that neither of the fighters knew. Deep in the recesses of both swords, something began to awaken...
At that moment, a new fighter appeared to challenge both Siegfried and Nightmare. The man with the Scythe, called Zasalamel, entered and stole the swords from Siegfried. Then, using another sacred art, he connected his body to the world of the abyss and created a jet-black orb which absorbed the swords with his own body, hoping that this would end the cycle of reincarnation that he was forced to endure. His body started to mutate and change, he gained overflowing power, enhanced senses, and a voice that rang throughout the area. he had become a monster.
Thinking he had finally achieved his goal, he renamed himself Abyss, for the orb that made him, and sought to test his new power and body. He called fire to rain down from the sky, he turned the river running from the Cathedral black and muddy, which began to stink of death. Then he made shockwaves that blew apart the Cathedral walls, showing the sun's light, which then turned a green tint and it hit the Cathedral. Then he turned to Siegfried and Nightmare, who were watching in horror, and challenged them.
In the face of the power they had just seen, An unlikely alliance formed between Siegfried and Nightmare in order to defeat this threat. The both charged at Abyss. It was a great battle. In the end, Abyss stood victorious and was about to strike the death blows against the two, when the both reached into the orb in the center of Abyss, and pulled out the swords, which had became separated once again. Abyss cried out in pain, as his body began to change again, reverting back into Zasalamel. And orb absorbed him and vanished, bringing the area back to normal.
Seeing that their foe was defeated, Nightmare and Siegfried began to fight each other again. This time with Nightmare holding Soul Edge once again, and Siegfried holding Soul Calibur. And as the swords clashed against each other, the Cathedral was completely destroyed, only a crater remained where it once stood.
As for Siegfried, Nightmare, and the swords, they fell into the world of the Abyss, due to some of the orbs power were still on the swords.
As with Nightmare, the armor that was him could not stand the force of the clash of the swords, and was shredded. It lay in the Abyss for what seemed like an eternity. But even then, Soul Edge desired power. Using it's own power, It opened the Abyss and the realm spat out both the sword and the remains of Nightmare into the throne room of Ostrhesinburg Castle, and closed up. The sword then stretched it's evil strength into the armor, repairing it. Due to the power that was awakened, the fragment of Soul Edge that were scattered around the world started to return to the blade. Soul Edge called them in, and combined them into itself. For the first time in ages, the sword was mostly whole...
Nightmare then took a hold of the blade, and sank in into the floor. the evil of the blade the spread into the castle, and into the very land of Ostrhesinburg itself. It had became a cursed city. And there Nightmare and Soul Edge sat, waiting for the warriors who would gather to the city in order to claim the blade, just to be defeated and their souls given to the blade, and well as Soul Calibur. They would destroy them all.
And as for Siegfried, Someone was calling him, but he could not clearly hear it. He strained to see, but could see nothing. Then the voice came again,and this time he could hear every word.
"So you would throw away our friendship?"
"Yes. No one will ever again be a part of my life. Every man or woman who has known me has ultimately fallen to death's touch. So go. Leave me. Forget you ever knew me."
The voice that had replied was his own. He began to lose his consciousness, his focus wavered,and then another voice came to him from behind.
"I have seen what you have done. Now you devote your life to atoning for your sins and redeeming your soul. Are you not as much a victim of that sword as the others?"
"No, no! No matter what beguiling words you whisper, my sins cannot be forgiven. I-I slew my father with my own bloodied hands. No cursed sword forced me to do that!"
As Siegfried spoke his answer,the man who questioned him faded from his vision,to be replaced once more by the memories of that night. The wind blew the clouds from the face of the moon,and suddenly the head that he held triumphantly aloft was brilliantly revealed. He saw the face,and there was no denying the truth. It was his father. His heart was in agony as if it had been pierced by a white-hot blade.
Siegfried jerked upright, as if yanked by a puppeteer's string. The full moon bathed his face in light. It had been a dream. He was alone.
He pressed his hand against the armor that covered his heart. A terrible scar marked him there.The maelstrom of power unleashed by Soul Calibur and Soul Edge clashed at the Lost Cathedral had torn his body apart. His long quest to destroy the cursed sword had been so nearly completed; redemption had been within his grasp, yet, in that moment, he had died,the scream of frustration at his failure silenced on his lips. Perhaps the spirit sword responded to that outpouring of emotion, for the sword whose destiny it was to destroy the cursed sword resonated with Siegfried's soul. It chose Siegfried for its master, and doing so saved his life.
Siegfried thought again of the dream he had just seen. He thought of the people who had once stood by him and the people he had left despite knowing that Siegfried was none other than Nightmare.
Bathed in the moonlight, Siegfried looked up into the night sky. He knew now what he must do. He would brush aside the outstretched hands that tried to help him. Once, not so long ago, he had stood at the center of the terror that Nightmare wrought. The enemy he now faced was the cursed devourer of souls, Soul Edge. Awaiting him was the maelstrom of destruction unleashed at the cathedral.
Soul Calibur shone with a cold light in his hand. Siegfried made up his mind to become like the sword. No one would touch his heart, no man or woman would sway him from his path, until the cursed sword was destroyed for all time. Images of his brothers-in-arms, comrades, even friends that might have been-and, of course, his father-flashed one by one through his mind. He was alone, and he had no choice but to be alone, for he would never again hurt those he loved.
Siegfried turned his gaze away from the heavens. Before him a black shadow lay heavy over the cursed city of Ostrheinburg. In response to this, Soul Calibur transformed to suit Siegfried. It created a new armor for him from its own body, and at the end, its power was greater then ever.
Siegfried took the Spirit Sword into his hands, and marched of to the cursed city, where Soul Edge surely waited. His journey was coming to an end.
But, unknown to all, even the swords, something happened. Something that only the sages that created Soul Calibur, and their descendants knew and feared. While in the Embrace of Souls, the swords were closer then they ever were. That in turn, had awakened something inside of Soul Calibur. When the Embrace was broken, it escaped the Spirit Sword and absorbed a little of the power of both swords, as well as the Abyss. It then created a body for itself and landed on the outskirts of Ostrhesinburg. This being was incomplete, however. In order to complete itself, it needed the power it once had. Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. So, it constructed a tall tower, and waited at the top, waiting for both swords. which would be drawn to this being, and well as many others, like a moth to the flame. This being, reborn from the swords, would make itself whole again and any cost. Nothing would get in his way, not even the swords themselves...
And at that moment, when the blades and this being would meet, the wheels of fate would turn again, in the never-ending battle between the two swords...
Now it is our turn to write the history of the battle between the Cursed Sword, Soul Edge, and the Spirit Sword, Soul Calibur. Good or Evil, which will you choose?