Chapter 22: Light Soothes Darkness

Samot broke Lamalia's rock and looked at Zed, he said:

"With just one more robe, you think you can defeat me? You're wrong."

Samot threw a huge punch at Zed so he jumped to dodge the fist and ran up his right arm. Zed slashed Samot's giant arm repeatedly with his dual swords Dante and Loyalty. The slashes combined with the darkness made Samot's hand very painful and deal severe damage. Samot swung his left hand at Zed but Zed jumped and charged. Zed dashed forward and slashed a dark cross on Samot's chest. Zed landed on the ground and saw Samot getting bigger again, he said:

"You've had enough, fool like you are reckless?"

The darkness released from Zed's right eye, he replied coldly:

"Because if I weren't like that, there wouldn't be any fun in fighting."

Samot was angry, he punched repeatedly where Zed was standing. His fists shook the ground, but Samot realized he was punching nothing. Samot suffered a slash in the middle of his chest that destroyed the shell he was wearing. Zed was flying behind Samot with a blade of darkness. Samot turned to punch Zed but he swung his Devil Sword to block his right fist. Zed said:

"There's nothing you can do."

Zed swung the Dante sword and cut off Samot's right arm. The giant arm fell to the ground and blood flowed out. Samot was afraid, he wondered:

"My arm. Who is this? Monster?"

Samot looked at Zed, he saw a dark wolf inside him, through those dark and mysterious black eyes. Samot got angry and rammed Zed with his horn. Zed raised his dual swords and said:

"Dark Slash!"

Zed slashed his dual swords down Samot's horns. A huge dark slash was fired and Samot's head was cut in half. Zed continued to charge and slashed at Samot's body repeatedly. Zed used darkness and dissolved Samot's body. Zed landed on the ground and the dark cloak disappeared. Zed withdrew The Knight and put away the Dante sword. At the same time everyone had gathered together, they ran to Zed. Eva said:

"Zed, you..."

Suddenly Lamalia hugged Zed and said:

"I'm so worried about you Zed, you could be dead."

Zed looked very confused, he said:

"Okay, I'm fine."

Lamalia stopped hugging Zed and Eva was a bit embarrassed by Lamalia's intimate gesture to Zed. Elastor said:

"Hey, Alata's men are all defeated. King Zenhector said he needed your help, so let's go."

Zed replied:

"Yeah. And..."

Zed showed the Loyalty sword to Lamalia, he said:

"Here Lamalia, give it back to Edengaz."

Lamalia replied:

"But you have one more battle to do."

Zed said:

"It's okay, I don't want to have to use his sword. This is Edengaz's sword not mine. The enemy earlier was so giant so I need to use it to finish him off."

Lamalia replied:

"OK I understand."

Zed was about to give the sword to Lamalia when suddenly a sandstorm swept around them. Julia said:

"What's going on? Why is the sandstorm here?"

Eva replied:

"Everyone look at Zed's hand."

Everyone looked at Zed's hand holding the Loyalty sword. There were streams of sand flowing into Zed's hands. Zed said:

"What the hell? Let me go."

Lamlaia replied:

"The sword is clinging to you, how can ?"

Zed said:

"Damn it! It hurts."

Elastor quickly grabbed the guard of the Loyalty sword to pull it out, but there was nothing he could do like it sticked into Zed's hand now. Eva said:

"What is the sword doing? Taking over Zed's body?"

Lamalia replied:

"But summoning weapons can't be conscious on their own, or..."

Lamalia looked at the emerald on the guardian and saw an evil spirit inside it. Lamalia was surprised and worried, she said:

"Those are like... the evil spirits."

Zed replied:

"What? What is it?"

Lamalia said:

"An entity created from the souls of thousands of people who have died unjustly or by war. Those souls have become evil spirits to take revenge on those who killed them. Zed is taken over by it."

Zed summoned the sword Dante and said:

"Then cut off my hand too."

Eva quickly stopped Zed's hand before he did any worse, he said:

"Stop it, Zed, are you going to cut off your hand too?"

Zed replied:

"So what should I do with this sword?"

Elastor summoned theVolt greatsword, he said:

"Destroy it."

Zed quickly replied:

"What the hell? This is my best friend's sword, the last thing he has left."

Elastor said:

"Idiot, I'm trying to save you. Everyone get out of the way."

Zed nervously replied:

"No, wait!"

Elastor swung his greatsword at the Loyalty sword but suddenly Zed's sword hand blocked the slash. Everyone was surprised and suddenly Zed swung his sword, creating a sandstorm that repelled everyone. Darkness spilled out from within the emerald and filled Zed's eyes and mouth. Everyone was so scared, Julia shouted:

"What the fuck?!"

Eva replied:

"Language!"

Julia said:

"Sorry but we have to do something."

Zed's entire body was engulfed in darkness. Eva drew a magic circle on her palm and placed it on Zed, she said:

"The Riser!"

The lights came on but suddenly the darkness behind Zed released the darkness creating a shadow shield that blocked Eva's light. Eva said:

"I cannot dispel Zed's darkness."

Elastor, Julia and Lamalia rushed in. Elastor says:

"But we can."

The three of them summoned their weapons and attacked the shadow shield at the same time. But the vibration of their attack was reflected and pushed them away. Eva said:

"It can not be."

The darkness enveloping Zed slowly faded and revealed a Zed wearing the old Death Knight armor with a gray face and black scratches on his face. Zed said:

"You're all dead, the Horseman of Death is back!"

Lamalia replied:

"Evil spirit, release Zed, he's no longer the Horseman of Death."

Zed said:

"War has killed us, especially the Horseman of Death, he has brutally killed us. We must make him pay for his crimes."

Eva replied:

"Zed is no longer the Horseman of Death, he has already repented of his actions. Can't you understand and forgive him."

Zed said:

"Never, now we're going to use his body to destroy everything, even making those alive pay the price for forgetting us."

Elastor replied:

"We don't allow that."

Eva, Elastor, Lamalia said together:

"The Riser! / The Star! / The Rhino!"

The Elemental Spirits were summoned. Elastor, Julia, and Lamalia charged at Zed again. Zed swung his sword and unleashed a dark slash at them. Elastor, Julia and Lamalia couldn't hold back and were pushed back down. The Rhino rammed Zed but he grabbed its horns and prevented it. Zed smashed The Rhino to the ground and it was defeated. Elastor rushed forward and swung his greatsword at Zed, he immediately dodged and kicked him in the stomach. Elastor took the pain and The Star released electricity at Zed. Zed used his dark shield to block The Star's electricity and sent it back to The Star, stunning it. Zed exploded the darkness that pushed everyone away. Julia caught Elastor in time. Elastor said:

"Damn it, Zed's dark powers don't give us a chance to attack."

Eva replied:

"Then I won't stop."

Eva shot arrows of light at Zed, but the shield of darkness around him blocked them all. Zed created two whips of darkness from his hands and whipped everyone. They backed down and Lamalia asked The Rhino to create a stone wall around Zed. Zed frantically whipped his whip through the stone wall, but it was very thick. ​Eva said:

"Lamalia, is there any way to save Zed?"

Lamalia replied:

"I don't know, the book says to pray for the evil spirits in Zed's mind."

Elastor said:

"He won't let us get close."

Zed flew up with the darkness behind him, he flew to the place where the battle between the imperial army and the rebel army was taking place. The people who saw the darkness fly by were afraid and hid in their houses, fearing the return of the Horseman of Death. Zed landed hard on the ground where the battle took place, he got up and scared everyone there with the Horseman of Death's wolf symbol on his armor. Zenhector surprised Zed, he said:

"Horseman of Death's armor, what's wrong with him?"

The enemy troops rushed forward and stabbed the spear through Zed's stomach. But they only hit Zed's darkness and did nothing to him. Zed flashed a sinister smile at his enemies' frightened faces and brutally cut off their heads. Zed unleashed an explosion of darkness and repelled both his own and the enemy's. Zed whipped everyone regardless of friend or foe. Enemy archers shot arrows and Zed, but they couldn't seriously injure him. The power of darkness in Zed increased, he brutally killed his enemies even our own. Zenhector rushed forward and pulled Zed's neck back with the handle of the axe and said:

"Hey, you're going too far, stop now."

Zed banged his head on Zenhector's face. He stepped back with a bleeding nose. Zed looked at Zenhector and said:

"I will kill you!"

Zed summoned the Loyalty sword and charged at Zenhector. Zed swung his sword at Zenhector but he parried the blow. Zenhector said:

"How did you get my son's sword?"

Zed replied:

"More precisely the blood of your sons and the Horseman of Death who killed us."

Zed released the darkness and launched it at Zenhector. Zenhector said:

"The Berserker, merge into weapons!"

The Berserker merged with Champion axe to create Gilgamesh axe. Zenhector swung his axe to repel Zed's darkness and then he slashed the axe at Zed. Zed parried easily with the darkness on his blade and charged at Zenhector. Zenhector smashed the axe handle to the ground and huge rocks rose up. Zenhector swung his axe at the rocks to fire them at Zed. Zed didn't wait, he rushed to cut the rocks that were rushing at him and destroyed them with the beam of darkness from his hand. The more madness in Zed increased, the more darkness he absorbed to increase his power. Zenhector continued to swing powerful and heavy axes at Zed. Zed parried the attack and with slashes that hit him, he recovered quickly with darkness. Zed swung his sword and unleashed a dark slash at Zenhector. Zenhector also swung his axe back and destroyed the dark slash. The swing just now broke Zed's arm, but he snapped it back into place and used the darkness to heal. Zenhector worriedly said:

"He's fighting like an animal that only knows how to kill."

Zed grabbed a soldier with his dark whip and pulled him closer. Zed opened his mouth to reveal sharp wolf teeth, he bit the soldier's head from earlier and absorbed his whole body. Zenhector smashed the axe into the ground and created a stone wall around Zed. Zenhector said loudly:

"Whoever wants to live should withdraw immediately."

The imperial army retreated into the castle while the rebel army retreated on horseback. Zed destroyed the stone wall, he was now more frenzied with sharp claws and spikes on his back, his face more and more like a wolf. Zenhector immediately swung the axe at Zed's stomach but Zed blocked it with his hand. Zed howled and broke part of the axe blade. Zenhector said:

"Damn it, I'm the only one capable of fighting you anyway."

Zed and Zenhector rushed to confront each other. At this moment, Eva, Elastor, Julia and Lamalia were rapidly moving towards the wall. Eva and Julia rode The Riser, Lamalia rode The Rhino, and Elastor raced across the roof. Elastor said:

"Damn, he's getting stronger, how do we save him?"

Eva replied:

"The Riser, do you have a way?"

The Riser said:

"Yes master, but I don't know much about it yet."

Eva replied:

"What is that?"

The Riser said:

"It was to enter Zed's mind with the power of light. Then to appease the evil spirits within him. That was the only way."

Eva replied:

"That's fine, as long as I can save Zed, I'll accept it."

Julia said:

"We've arrived."

The Rhino lunged forward and rammed through the wall gate and the rest of them passed through the hole. They saw Zed and Zenhector still fighting fiercely with each other. Zed approached Zenhector and slashed him, injuring him. Zenhector fell back with his chest bleeding, he was stunned by Zed's brutal attacks. Zed raised his sword and said:

"I won."

Suddenly arrows of light came flying, making Zed dodge. Zed turned around when Elastor and Julia rushed forward to attack him at the same time. Zed blocked the attack with both hands but Lamalia lunged forward and punched Zed in the chest, causing him to fall back. Elastor rushed forward and knocked Zed down. Elastor used his legs to strangle Zed and Zed struggled and punched Elastor in the stomach. The Star was immediately summoned and pressed down on Zed's shoulders with his claws. Lamalia took out a rope, which she threw to Julia and they quickly tied Zed's whole body. Lamalia and Julia pinned Zed down and said:

"Eva, do it now."

Eva and The Riser ran up to Zed, she said:

"I'll save Zed."

Zed replied:

"There's nothing you can do, it's hopeless now."

Eva said:

"I didn't tell you."

Eva rested her forehead on Zed's. The Riser used its tail to draw a circle of light around them, it said:

"Infiltrate the mind!"

Suddenly the circle of light lit up and Zed and Eva's eyes turned white. Julia said:

"Has she entered Zed's mind yet?"

The Riser replied:

"Master has entered, but the rest is up to her."

Everyone worriedly looked at Zed and Eva with the hope that she would succeed. Eva opened her eyes and woke up, she was lying in a dark land with dark clouds, black mountains, dead trees and black rivers. Eva said:

"Am I in Zed's mind? This place is hell."

Eva stood up and looked around, there was no sign of the creature there. Eva said loudly:

"Zed! Where are you?!"

Eva started walking around, she walked for a long, long time, here there was no time, there was nothing but darkness. The more Eva walked, the more she saw the skeletons of thousands of warriors. Eva said:

"These are probably the skeletons of the people Zed killed when he was the Horseman of Death."

Eva continued to see the skeleton of a tiger and many skeletons of wolves. Eva continued to see a wolf, it was The Knight. The Knight looked at Eva and then followed the direction it was pointing at. Eva quickly ran after The Knight, she followed it to a dark giant pillar, at the top of which were chains that were holding someone captive. The Knight said:

"Let's climb there to meet the master."

Eva nodded and she started climbing. Eva had only climbed a little when she fell, she said nothing and continued climbing. The higher Eva climbed, the more painful the fall, but she did not give up and continued climbing. Eva climbed for several days and reached the top of the pylon. She saw that the person chained was Zed, he was like a lost soul and was chained all over by dark chains. Eva said:

"Zed! I'm coming, can you hear me?"

Zed did not respond, Eva approached Zed and said:

"Zed, I'll get you out of here."

Eva began to pull on the dark chains, which she pulled hard, but to no avail. Eva tried to summon the weapon but failed, she said:

"I can't summon the Peace bow, not even The Riser. Then I'll do it myself."

Eva grabbed a chain and pulled it with all her might. Eva pulled and said:

"You've saved me too many times, Zed. And this time it's time for me to save you."

Eva yelled and pulled hard. A chain was pulled out, and Eva happily said:

"I did it, good job."

But when the chain was pulled, it inadvertently awakened the evil spirits, who looked towards the pillar and screamed in horror. Evil spirits ran to the pillar. Eva knew she didn't have enough time, she quickly grabbed another chain and said:

"It's okay, I'll do it."

Eva tugged while the evil spirits crawled up. Eva pulled out another chain, she said:

"Fortunately, hold on Zed, I'll be able to get you out."

Suddenly an evil spirit grabbed Eva's leg and pulled her. Eva then used the other leg to kick him to release her. Evil spirits were coming, Eva hurriedly grabbed another chain and pulled it. The evil spirits climbed up and pulled Eva away just in time for her to pull off another chain. With only one chain left, Eva said:

"Damn it, I'm almost done."

Eva struggled with evil spirits, they scratched and bit her. Outside, Zed was struggling, making Elastor and The Star unable to hold. There were scratches on Eva's body that were bleeding, she was breathing fast and sweating profusely. Julia said:

"What's going on in there?"

Lamalia said loudly:

"Where are the soldiers? Water and towels now!"

Zenhector was being treated by soldiers, he said:

"Give it to them."

Water and towels were brought. Lamalia took the place of Julia to hold Zed and she took water and a towel to wipe Eva's wounds, she said:

"We must not fail, you hear that, Eva."

Back to Eva, after she was being pulled away from Zed, Eva said fearfully:

"No Zed, I won't let you suffer alone anymore. Evil spirits, torture me to satisfy you."

The evil spirits heard that, they immediately flew to Eva to tear and do bad things. Eva cried out in pain, but she endured it bravely if it could appease the evil spirits. Zed heard Eva's screams, he slowly raised his head and looked at Eva who was suffering for him, he said slowly:

"Eva? Stop it, the one you want is me."

The evil spirits replied:

"She endured this pain for you. Consider it your punishment after so many years of killing."

Eva said aloud:

"No, he was forced to do it. They took advantage of Zed, turned him into the Horseman of Death and planted thoughts of killing in Zed's head. Zed from killing for fun, now regrets it. Zed, remember what Edengaz said, what did he say?"

Zed replied:

"What did he say?"

Evil spirits charged at Zed and unleashed darkness upon him. They said:

"You must not remember."

Zed replied:

"Damn it, I'm slowly losing consciousness."

Suddenly a voice spoke up:

"Live for me Zed."

Zed looked up through the darkness and saw a light, it was Edengaz. Edengaz smiled and said:

"You have to live on Zed, fight for everyone. Then we'll meet again."

Edengaz disappeared, Zed burst into tears and said:

"I will no longer fight in vain, the darkness is mine and I will use it for my purposes."

The Knight jumped up and whipped its tail to repel all the evil spirits around Zed. It scraped the last chain and Zed stood up. Zed said aloud:

"Release Eva now!"

Evil spirits rushed at Zed. Zed summoned the Dante sword and the Loyalty sword, he fused the two swords into Freedom Sword Returner(It was a sword with the black blade of the Dante sword, the gold guard with the emerald of the Loyalty sword, the hilt was a bit long with a black flame pommel sword). Zed said:

"Dark Tornado!"

Zed swung his sword and launched a dark tornado. The tornado swept away the evil spirits that attacked Zed and Eva. Eva was freed, Zed flew over and caught her. Zed and Eva looked at each other, Zed said:

"Let's get out of here."

Eva replied:

"Let's go."

All evil spirits rushed towards them. Zed raised his sword and released the blade of darkness, he said loudly:

"I am no longer the Horseman of Death, but I will send you to the afterlife!"

Zed swung his sword and launched a dark giant slash. The evil spirits were hit and vanished, the light gradually brightened in that dark land. Outside Zed and Eva both returned, they passed out. Elastor, Julia and Lamalia shouted with joy. Elastor said:

"They did it, Eva did it."

Julia replied:

"Look, everyone. The armor is slowly falling apart."

The Horseman of Death armor vanished, Zed's face returned to normal, but the small hair covering Zed's left eyes turned orange. There were stars in Zed flying, Lamalia said:

"Those were evil spirits, they understood Zed and forgave him."

Elastor replied:

"It's fine."

Three of them lay down beside Zed and Eva, Julia said:

"We've done our best, it's time to sleep."

They fell asleep, having freed Zed from pain and the punishment of his past.