AQW: Dark Night of the Soul (Chapter 2)
Jase and Sera were captured by the two Mirandageists and were delivered to the Citadel's Bone Room. Deeper into darkness, they went to Tercessuinotlim, finding Nulgath's lair.
"Let me go!! Let me out of here!!" Sera tried to resist, however, the Evolved Shadow entered the dark lair first.
A voice from the dark was heard. The Evolved Shadow was called.
"Vahin! Did you finally get the Lightguard officers?" said the mysterious voice.
"Only two were present, Asth. What can we do with the remaining three?" replied the Evolved Shadow, who was Vahin who spread fear in Battleon previously.
Asth, who called him, got closer until Sera, Vahin, and Jase saw his terrifying dark visage.
"Vahin!! Let us out of here, you ruthless fiend!!" Sera interrupted.
"Shut up, or I will torture you and violate your flesh!!" Vahin shushed her.
"Who are those two captives, Vahin? Let me know their identities." Asth asked.
"You, eyepatch girl, who are you?" Vahin turned to Sera.
"Why must I let you know my name, Vahin? I won't tell you unless you set us and Jase free!!" Sera demanded.
"Jase?"
"The girl's partner is Jase, Vahin." Asth told him.
"I'm the one who was injured by you, you merciless killer!" Jase added.
"You knew my name ONLY because somebody called me that, BUT you don't know me... yet!" Vahin told to Sera.
"I don't care!! Let us out of here!!" Sera demanded.
"Never."
"Enough chit-chatting, Vahin!! We'll start the human sacrifice. We will use them as an offering to the ShadowScythe." Asth demanded.
"I'll be back, eyepatch girl."
"Let's get out of here!!" Sera commanded Jase to remove the chains that bound them. The Mirandageists faded at the moment the ShadowScythe council prepared themselves for the sacrifice.
"Are you crazy, Sera? No one's helping us right now!!" Jase told her.
"Find a way, Jase!!"
Asth and Vahin grabbed their sharpest swords as Jase and Sera struggled to set themselves free.
"We will now bring Jase and his female partner as our offering to the first champion of darkness, Dethrix. Bring them to the ShadowScythe council." Asth commanded Vahin.
"As you wish."
Sera and Jase tried to unbind themselves but failed, as Vahin delivered them to the ShadowScythe council one by one.
"It can't be..." Sera expressed distraught, as the Doom Overlords, Grim Mages, Chaos Clerics, Undead Paladins, and Evil Elementals all gathered around her and Jase.
Asth delivered a speech towards the ShadowScythe council.
"Why we gathered around here because we want you to witness the death of our mortal enemies. But first, let me introduce first the perspectives of the ShadowScythe council.
Why are we formed? First of all, we are living in a dystopian world, wherein the world has the OPPOSITE of our ideals. Of course people desire for love, hope, and faith. We desire for peace across Lore. However, the people around us make us doubt. We might have a bad luck to the people we love, the people we have faith in, and the things we keep hoping. Hatred is always innate on us!! Nothing is sacred!! What is the purpose of our lives, if there are people who keep spreading negativity across Lore?
Second, whoever commits a sin MUST pay the price. Of course, people demanded justice here! They will not forgive the sinners UNLESS the sinners themselves will be punished. BLOOD FOR BLOOD!!!"
"LONG UNLIVE THE SHADOWSCYTHE!! LONG UNLIVE THE SHADOWSCYTHE!! LONG UNLIVE THE SHADOWSCYTHE!!! LONG UNLIVE THE SHADOWSCYTHE!!!" chanted the whole ShadowScythe council.
"The people will remember the sins others committed, but they keep forgetting the benevolence they showed!!"
"LONG UNLIVE THE SHADOWSCYTHE!!"
"For the wages of sin... IS DEATH!!"
"LONG UNLIVE THE SHADOWSCYTHE!!"
"Let us... BEGIN!!"
Vahin showed to the ShadowScythe council the captives Sera and Jase. He had a speech as well.
"For the ShadowScythe council, we believe that these captives try to dismantle everything our council has built. These captives spill unholy light across Lore, and they try to be on par with us with their own set of mentalities. If they are really as powerful as us, we will give them a shot first. Let us see if they can easily respond, even if they are bounded in chains and never allowed to leave!! Look, they're just two, we're many!! Even I alone can slay them both, but I want you guys to participate in this sacrifice."
The Chaos Clerics separated Jase from Sera, while the Doom Overlords and Undead Paladins guarded the cave from possible intrusion of the Lightguard council.
The Grim Mages burned the chains using their fire magic, forcing both Sera and Jase to suffer.
Suddenly, a focused ray of light from above destroyed the ceiling of Tercessuinotlim, killing the Grim Mages in the process.
"Who interrupted our ritual?" Vahin was surprised.
Another Lightguard officer, Gio, landed on the scene and created a shockwave, threatening the whole council.
"Battle on." said he, as Vahin and Asth initiated the clash against him.
Gio created spiritual caricatures of himself, while being under pressure with the ShadowScythe council.
The chains were broken, as Jase and Sera also joined Gio in the clash.
"SERA!!!" Jase screamed as Sera was about to be executed until Gio showed up.
"Fools... you came alone but you didn't even manage to forgive your friends through saving them. Is that how your council told you?" Vahin told Gio about his sudden presence.
"Sorry, but I just wanna do my job... for them!" Gio replied.
"Sera, we still can't get out of here!! We're surrounded!!" Jase warned.
"Jase, who cares if we're surrounded? We'll give them a shot anyway. Think positive."
"That's the spirit, Gio. Well, we'll let that Vahin guy give what he deserves. I'll FACE HIM!!!"
"Round 2, Jase. FIGHT ME!!" Vahin accepted the challenge.
Jase again clashed with Vahin, as Gio trapped Asth in the same process. Sera, however, still struggled as the monsters involved in the sacrifice still gathered around her.
"Do you think you can still overpower me, Jase?" Vahin taunted.
"JASE!!!" Sera screamed in rage, making an effort to eliminate the group of monsters who dared to use her as a ShadowScythe offering.
"I've had enough of you, idealistic captives!!"
"Jase, get out of here!! I'll kick Vahin's ass!!"
"Affirmative." Jase delivered a divine blow towards Vahin, who fell towards the floor.
Sera walked slowly at the moment the Evolved Shadow struggled in place. Meanwhile, Asth managed to bleed Gio and add insult to his injury.
"Need backup, Jase!!" Gio warned about Asth.
Gio created another shockwave at Asth, which forced Jase to assist him in his brutal clash.
"How dare you!!" Asth was enraged, and he single-handedly managed to slash the two in a fatal injury.
"Gio!!" Jase was shocked, as he was the first one about to be slain.
Asth was about to kill Gio until Jase used his scythe to defend his dark attacks.
Meanwhile...
"Let me tell you this, Vahin. You don't know anything about forgiveness!! Also, there are people who still had mercy towards the sinners!! You just stick to the dark side of humanity, Evolved Shadow. Has the ShadowScythe held a grudge to the innocent people? EXPLAIN TO ME!!!" Sera was enraged, pursuing to attack the Evolved Shadow in the process.
"Their patience is limited, Sera. How can they forgive the sinners, while in fact they also committed such grave sins?" Vahin countered.
"No matter how many times they have faults on us and others... no matter the problems and conflicts they have caused... no matter the degree of sins they committed... in the right time, THEY DESERVE TO BE FORGIVEN!!"
Vahin fell for the second time, with Sera forcing him to get up.
"There is a thing sacred on Lore, Vahin. It's LIFE!!"
Asth struggled to counter-attack Jase, but witnessed Sera punishing Vahin blood for blood.
"VAHIN!!!" Asth was enraged for the second time. "Jase... you're the reason BEHIND THIS!!!"
Another brutal battle was fought between Asth and Jase. Gio forced himself to get up in place and threw his sword towards Asth.
"Hatred is innate on you, Vahin? Only hatred? Now what is your purpose on Lore? Spreading hatred towards its citizens? You have no love for others, and you have no love for yourself!!" Sera still addressed her revenge against the ShadowScythe council.
Vahin, in response, attempted to stab her, but was countered. Still, their brutal battle continued.
"Are you trying to convince me, Sera, that there is always hope in Lore? Think again." Vahin responded.
"Vahin, you are so desperate, so chaotic, and so misanthropic. Soon, no one will remember your greatest contribution to your council, and they will remember the horrors and grudges you have against them. Like your ally said, the people will remember the sins others committed, but they keep forgetting the benevolence they showed. I'll take that as my main basis against you!!"
"I'll take everything you said, Sera, but I still stand firm on what the ShadowScythe council believed!!"
"Come right here, Asth!!" Jase taunted him.
Asth pursued in killing Jase but was thwarted by Gio's explosive divine magic, blood for blood.
"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!!!" Asth warned both of them, leaving fatally injured.
Jase and Gio also collapsed. It was now up to both Vahin and Sera.