(There is no meaning in living. They just live to die at some point, right? Left with no choice, they roam among the living only to be dead. The time has come to salvage them.")
Yrasil will try to intervene in the fights and use his three assets. I will try to stop him, it is my duty as his brother and as his opponent. By the time I advance this far you will have to stand your ground, we shall never fail today.
-2 hours later-
" Once open space opens up you are going to rotate and lighten the burden on the frontline fighters. Assuming we can hold them in this area we should be able to progress pretty quickly."
" Well, I wouldn't be so sure of that!"
Suddenly, five swordsmen fell down on the spot. The others quickly formed a defensive formation of shields. Within the next instant, deep scratches appeared on the shields. The enemy they faced suddenly stood in front of them, facing his prey with the blindfold in front of his eyes.
"Your determination is remarkable, however, you couldn't get rid of your stench. What conviction do you fight with? Whatever it is, your heart is impure. It keeps beating faster and faster and sharpens your senses. Still no matter what you do...it's never enough. Creatures like you will never know their limit unless you show it to them. For what reason do you walk to your death? Is it for honor or for your faith?"
"A being like you would never understand such things. You merely exist to serve your ruler, you are a creation of no free will. Did you ever show any interest in anything other than death? Is it fear instead of awe which you feel before your ruler?"
In the next moment, Furcht raced toward Vega. The ultimate vicious fighting machine was aiming directly for her throat. She dodged backwards before it hit her, though, not without slicing him with a dagger. Her adversary grunted in pain and backed away from her.
"So I'm not that wrong with my assumption. There is no conviction in you rather there is pure control. He' s really done his pride on you. All because his name is being bad-mouthed you're risking anything to prevent this.
"Anyone who doubts him doesn't deserve to stay in this world. It has always been that way and it will always be that way!"
The next enemies moved up behind Furcht who charged their soldiers. In the midst of this chaos, the two rivals came together. Her soldiers made sure that none of the enemies reached her. In return, she planned to keep Furcht away from her men. It was a seemingly naïve and risky plan but the foolishness of her opponent made it work. Furcht could no longer keep his focus on the soldiers; Vega was too much of a pain in the ass for him. She managed to isolate herself and him and divert the danger. At first, her men were strictly against leaving their leader alone, however, she demanded their complete trust in this endeavor.
"What are you waiting for? Go ahead and eliminate the scum, the bug in your eyes."
Furcht's eyes lit up with rage as his claws grew larger on his hands.
"Grr, as you wish. Anon your mouth will be silenced forever!"
Vega focused solely on her counterattack. It gave her more room to move plus time to dodge. However her opponent was far more precise and agile than she was. Before long, she had cuts through her armor from his claws as well. The exchange of blows went on for minutes. Vega was injured but Furcht had also sustained some injuries. He was not used to the sight of these wounds and thus an unbridled anger overcame him. Then Vega saw that the hoped for basis had finally started to change. His actions were no longer purely motivated by his master's hatred but were now influenced by his own fear of dying. This caused him to become slower and less accurate. Seeing the right moment, Vega took the biggest risk of all.
This time, she approached him and attacked. She managed to parry most of his attack but suffered a neck wound. Rather than cry out in pain she backed away and snickered, she' d met her target. Furcht's blindfold was now lying cut on the floor. His face was completely exposed with his empty eye sockets lying open. At once he put his hands in front of his face and faced away.
"Nooo, what have you done you bitch?! I'm going to kill you, I' m going to slowly take your body apart and bring your head to my master! I will kill you, kill you, kill you...KILL AAARGH!"
Furcht began to get a big headache and sank to his knees. He then constantly banged his skull on the ground and scraped his skin.
"Get away, stay out of my way! Get out of my body, out of my head with you! Be gone from me you pests! I am the strongest of them all, I am FURCHT! Submit to my will AAAARGH! Stop it you mongrels!"
Furcht's core element surfaced. The blindfold in front of his eyes acted like a shackle, a sign of the hopelessness of souls. In all the battles, no one had ever managed to remove the bandage and inflict such wounds on him.
"Do you feel it, the very basis of your essence? Now who is it that is afraid? Can you feel the souls of which you are made? They served your master not out of loyalty but out of fear. He is a tyrant, an inner hated being!"
"Stop it, you're fucking lying! He is the greatest of all beings AARGH! Stop speaking! My head is gonna explode! Bow to my will already!"
"Do you hear their voices? Their real feelings and thoughts? Can you feel their pain as they felt it? What you are is nothing more than an empty shell whose true manifestation has come forth!"
Her opponent continued to scream, tears leaked from the shells of his eyes while the claws on his hands changed back to normal fingers. His voice began to transform by the second. These were the voices of the hundreds of poor innocent souls.
"AARGH, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I PROMISE I WILL BE GOOD, I WILL SERVE YOU WELL OH ALMIGHTY LORD! NO, NO, DON'T DO IT AAAAH!"
It was the pleading of their memories that came out of them. As of that moment, Furcht was completely erased and forgotten, the manipulation was lifted. It was now that the mere poor souls inside that body were exposed. Each and every one was talking out of that body, pleading with Vega for his or her life. Eyes formed for everybody to witness this miserable situation.
"Please, don't kill me. I am innocent, I have done nothing wrong. I don't want to lose my life again, please!"
Voice after voice escaped the body. The hull was now engulfed by hundreds of personalities and spirits.
"I don't deserve this, I don't deserve to die! I want to see so much more, I beg you!"
"Please keep me alive, I'll do anything you want. I swear I didn't do anything bad!"
After a few more voices Vega had heard enough, it was time to finish it.
"It's true that you, no, that all of you, did nothing wrong. That you are innocent souls with nothing evil in you. That you were forced to dwell in this body and commit murders while under control. Heh, I would probably beg and plead like that too, nevertheless, there is only one salvation to your situation, to your fate. A new beginning is not possible for any of you, so it's better to put an end to it.
Realizing that Vega wanted to kill their body, they desperately charged at her. But before they could even touch her, she stabbed the body. Then she took her dagger and cut off the head for good.
"In the end, he couldn't scent his own fear...haha...ha."
After that, exhausted by her wounds, she fell over backwards. Just before hitting the ground, one of the masked fighters caught her.
"How are you here? Why did you leave your position?"
"Is that really the first thing you should be asking? You need some bandages, I'll take care of it. The others are doing a good job of controlling the other freak, that' s why we wanted to check on your situation. For the time being, our soldiers did a good job of fending off the enemies, the plan was successful. Get some rest, we are all proud of you. I will keep watch until you can stand on your feet again."
Vega grinned once more before passing out from exhaustion. Farther ahead, the action was still in full swing. The masked warriors faced off against Sorge. No one was immune to his powers though, their influence varied from person to person. His opponents were people whose past was terrible. Against Schmerz they would have great problems but Sorge could not gain full control over them. It seemed that they were at peace with themselves. However, this did not mean that their opponent made things easy for them. He constantly tried to rob them of their life energy but the warriors were able to quickly cut the bloody thread.
"You dare to refuse my power? Don't think it will be over soon!
Against his current powers they had no problems, working together they each managed to protect the other.
"Do you possess any other abilities? Cutting those stupid threads all the time doesn't really get us anywhere. And it doesn't seem to do you any good the way you look."
These words caused a flame to light up in his eyes. It seemed as if he had been waiting for this challenge. The threads disappeared from them and formed figures which took on certain appearances. Those were people from their past, families who were now facing and fighting against them. No matter if mother, father, sister, brother or friends, all faced off against them. Even though all of them knew that it was not real, their tension rose.
"You know they're not real so we'll finish them off as quickly...as...possible..."
Instead of wiping them out they suddenly limited themselves to dodging. Their enemies formed swords or daggers of their own blood, now their army was mere weapons. On top of that, the figures were talking to the masked warriors as they had done before.
"Keiran my precious son, at last I can see you again. Oh, how I've missed you, I'm sorry mother couldn't be there for you these past years. Please let me save you from this evil world so we can exist together as a family again. Your sister is very worried about her big brother."
"Eric, can you hear me? Eric, I couldn't tell you back then but I love you. Ever since we first met as children I knew I wanted to marry this boy. Please come to me and we can finally be together again."
"Ray, your parents never forgot you all these years. You were the only beloved son and we left you alone. Now there is a second chance though, come with us and we can have dinner together at the same table again and talk about the past days."
"Jamen, your sister missed you so much. Here, come back to me, we must take care of each other as we used to. Father and mother would have wanted it that way."
Their initial focus and mutual encouragement faded with every word these people said. Although they thought they had come to terms with it, such pain lasted a lifetime on these people. It was the pain of never being able to say goodbye, of being powerless spectators, of being of no use. The causes of their present existence were the ones that held them captive. It was words they yearned for so much in the past. Being able to see and hear their families once again was one of their greatest desires. Still, one of them was escaping that enchantment.
"My son, I am sorry for leaving you alone. I should have abandoned your father much earlier. We should have escaped from this estate, found a new life. Oh, I am so proud of what my son has become, a strong man who can take care of himself and others. You have had a hard road, you had to overcome many challenges. You must be tired like you were after your training in the past with all these things, am I right? Please come back home, back to me. We can start over together, make a better life for ourselves."
With these words, a few tears escaped the young man. However he did not get lost in her words, he realized the truth behind it all.
"It's true mother, I was tired. So many things happened, so many battles I fought. In the past, I wouldn't have even dreamed of this let alone wanted such things. However, you taught me something as a child. It was a piece of advice that I carry in my heart to this day:
Don't settle for stories on how things went for others. Unfold your own myth.
I can't even tell you how many times I've heard this phrase from you... I will write my own story Mother, the way you wanted me to. And I can't do that if I live in the past. Keep a close watch on your son, your flower will bloom brighter beyond what you ever expected."
With the only memory of her, Connor pierced her heart as one last tear ran down his cheek. Sorge couldn't believe what he just saw.
"How can you resist? This isn't possible, you're just a simple lowly being!"
"A being that knows his worth and will protect that of others! Sorry guys, this will definitely cause you pain."
He killed one person after the other, those who his partners got under the spell. Connor could not make exceptions even for their families. So before they would die he would draw their hatred upon himself. With every illusion disappearing, they would come back to their senses until all of them realized the cruel reality, their families were long gone. Cutting the strings that robbed their life energy, Connor finally woke them up.
"Guys, there is no more time to sleep! Take a look at what's right in front of us!"
They shook their head a few times as they got to their senses.
"Tsk, we really fell for it... dammit! We owe you one. So what's up with this freak?!"
"I think we figured him out, all his powers no longer have any effect other than on himself. Watch closely."
Sorge was confused and scared of what just happened.
"H-how is that possible? I thought I had everything perfectly planned out for my master. Why did I fail? W-why did he leave me alone, w-why did they leave me alone...?
"Now he's totally losing it! This is our opportunity! Let's wipe him out once and for all!"
"Wait! Soon he'll do it himself, in a moment you'll understand."
Like once in their camp, bloody tears ran down his cheeks. Sorge sank to his knees and cried continuously while his face was constantly changing and taking different shapes.
"Oh my love, I miss you so much! I am so lonely without you."
"I-I failed, now I can never see her again. Never again her face...never again her shining eyes...never again her priceless smile..."
"Waah brother, why aren't you here anymore? I need you so much, we all need you waaah!"
All the masked warriors watched in confusion. Connor was the only one who immediately understood what exactly was going on.
"Maris said that they are made up of the souls of elves who have been corrupted. I think that's the way they' ve just been revealed. Look at the faces and their expressions, I'm sure you were no different. It is no longer Sorge that kneels down there, it is the souls of elves that all lost something before without being able to say goodbye. They aren't much different from us, they were just trapped in this body without any possibility to let out their pain. And now... with it all being too late & none of them having a body or mind of their own... there is only one option left in their heads for them... and I know such thoughts."
More and more souls appeared, continuously letting out their pain by their voices until finally Sorge's face showed up again. Instead of standing up, his hand became a blood dagger. He closed his eyes and mumbled two words.
"Forgive me..."
After those words, he cut his throat and dropped dead to the ground. None of the souls had been able to endure the pain carried with them for so long. None of them ever had a chance to restart or find a purpose. Eventually, there was no other choice but to surrender and release themselves.
"Tsk, that bastard is so fucked up! Locking that many people in there is way beyond insanity. Now let's go back, hopefully Feran has supported Vega...
Let's hurry, they're surely are still under severe pressure."
"I don't think so given their position. I actually would support Lynia and Elayn, they've pushed the farthest."
" First of all, we''ll take care of our leader''s safety. Once the danger there is gone we will lend support on her orders."
Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind them. Seeing Feran's face, they were relieved.
"She is safe though she carries some wounds. We are to give assistance to the dark elves until our people arrive. Until then, the goal is to take out as many enemies as possible."
" I told you this is the best move."
"Ha, now don't get cocky before we kick you out of our group."
"Noted..."
With that struggle, the group had become a little more comfortable. At this point, Connor was a full part of the Masks.
While their first challenge was over, Leo's challenge was just about to begin. The opponent was one that no one would have expected...
"Are you sure they have those two under control? I am not so sure."
"They certainly have no choice but to deal with them. We''re going to go ahead with our plan. The two of us have a better chance of sneaking by and avoiding this Schmerz. The top priority is to eliminate the ruler and your presence will be of importance to him. Remember what you have to do, there is no turning back young warrior."
"Still not Leo huh? Hope they can handle the other challenges."
Leo and Ryu acted as a team to quickly take out the individual enemies in the alleyways. The palace was less than 100 meters away as Leo suddenly encountered a blade in front of him. In the last moment it was parried by Ryu. Looking closer, Leo realized the blade was similar to that of Ryu.
"Still the same old protector instinct huh? I knew I would find you again, old friend. So, have you found your purpose in this or are you still seeking it?"
When Leo looked into Ryu's face he looked more surprised and panicked than ever.He was more than acquainted with this person. His hair was long and gray like Ryus and he had scars all over his body. In terms of appearance, it was clearly an elf.
"I truly wished that I would never see you again Hiyun. Why the hell are you here right now, on his side?"
"Huh? On his side? No, that was just a means to find you here. I couldn't care less about this guy. You're the only one I've been after all this time. I' ve been traveling around for months trying to find a dark elf named Ryu. Now finally I can make you pay. Finally, you will be punished for the sin of killing our master!"
Leo realized that Ryu's master had another student who possessed a sword like his. It was the person Ryu pointed out before. A swordsman on his level who posed immense danger. Luckily for Leo, Hiyun was not interested in war but only in Ryu.
"Go on without me Leo, he wants me by himself! I pray for your success, for now we will part ways!"
Leo went on without his partner. He had no choice if he didn't want to be involved in this fight.
"For now? I would say forever. You won't get out of here alive regardless of what you do. Even if it means my death, I will take you with me. This way, Master can finally be avenged!"
"Your are blinded, you got deceived! But as you wish, I guess this is how it will end!"
Hiyun and Ryu had both been undergoing rigorous training that went beyond the limits of most fighters. The two former friends and students had now become enemies. It was a fight made of deception. Two giants fought against each other, far from any ties or memories, they wielded their swords for a lie to which they could not get an answer until now.