Legacy of Kain: The Lost Prophecy
Chapter IX - Divine Reaver

    Just as we had finished our conversation with Janos Audron, the Elder God started speaking.
"Surrender, Vampires. There is no hope for you. You both have destiny, and I know it. You will die. I have Free Will. I cannot understand what are you fighting for", - he sounded angry.
"You have the Free Will, but it does not give you the possibility to do whatever you want. It just lets you make a choise", - I said.
"I does not matter. I will eventually win. I know the future, Kain. How many times should I tell you. You will die if you oppose me, and you will live if stop. I offered you to be my ally. You will possess powers that you have never seen before. Join me, or die. A simple choise!", - he said.
"A simple "choise"? Sounds like I have a "choise"?!...", - I said laughing.
"Yes, Kain... Did not you understand it yet?... You have the Free Will! When you were purified by Raziel, you were reborn! Raziel gave you all he was possessing. The only difference is that you have not become a soul devouring entity, and that is because you were reborn without dying. So you do have the Free Will, the ability to make a choise", - he said.
"You lie!", - I yelled.
"Oh... do I? Haven't you wondered a few times, why The Seer did not tell you everything. Why does she saying everything as riddles? She shows you small puzzles of a picture, but not the whole of it. She is hiding something, don't you think?", - Baal said, and I started to confuse.
"You are not so convincing, Baal", - I said.
"I am telling you the truth, Kain. You have a choise, whether to kill me and die, or join me and live like a God. The seconds option suits to you ambitions Kain. You always wanted an absolute rule, didn't you?", - he asked.
"I am not what I used to be. And I will not be your puppet. I am not going to play your game", - I said.
"Then you should ask The Seer herself, if you do not believe me, that you truly possess the Free Will, from the moment you were purified", - said Baal.
            Suddenly two Demons appeared, holding The Seer tied. She was powerless, but still could talk.
"Tell him, Seer. I have exposed your little secret. There is no need to hide it from him", - said the Elder God.
"Yes, Kain. He is not lying. You have the Free Will. This is the right time to know it. I could not tell you before, to avoid your interruption, that could create a fatal paradox", - The Seer said.
"You lied to me!...", - I yelled at her, - "As I thought, there is nobody to trust. I will choose my way. My third option. The edge of the coin... now, as before".
"Too late!", - said Baal the False God, - "It is day of judgement. Right now. Today!".
"What do you mean?", - I said neglectly.
"The end of the world. I have gained enough powers. I have got enough souls to errupt, and show the entire world, what I am really capable of. The mask have fallen away Kain. Behold my ascension, my true form!", - he shouted.
            And then, a sound of thunder was heard, and an has earthquake began. The Vampire Citadel began collapsing. The Column were falling down. The platform was swaying, and the cieling slowly collapsing piece by piece from above. Janos and me left the building as quickly as possible. The Demons that were holding  The Seer, together with her left too. From outside I could see, how the massive structure was reduced to ashes. And after the Vampire Citadel, the shattering began strengthtening. I felt a sense of vertigo. The ground was going off from my feet.
"Make the choise! Let me live, and you will survive. You will be my ally", - I heard a loud far voice of Baal.
"I know, I was not cane with you. You have a choise - to kill Baal and die, or to spare him and live along with him", - The Seer said, - "The choise is yours. You haven't got much time. Hurry up!".
            So ironic. Everything came back to me. The choise I had to make after I had killed the Nine depraved Guardians. I had to choose again. The rules of the game were the same... again, but on a different board. The more choreograph thing was, that Raziel had the same choise. He chose sacrifice, I did not. And this time, when I could finally get everything I always wanted, I did not know what to do. Absolute rule over the planet, after its purification. All the current life will be destroyed, and a new life will be born. And the choise of making it happen, or preventing it, was in my hands. What did I have to do? It was too late to look for a third option.

    In the meantime, all the world was shattering. It was not causing any casualties, only a nameless sense of vertigo and dread. The area, where the Vampires Citadel was standing before, began sucking into the ground. Very slowly, the radius of that sucking hole was widenning. Everything around was rapidly flying into that hole. A black hole... Due to this, the sky has become red.
            Down there, were human hunters, who were fighting with the Demons. They were all slowly sucked to the center of the black hole. There was no way back. Me, Janos, The Seer and the Demons that were holding The Seer, were struggling against the stream, that was pulling as back. The Demons were larger than all of us, so they were the first to be sucked into the hole. The rest of us moved quickly to the Pillars. From there, Janos grabbed us, and we reached a small cave in the nearest mount, almost near the top. I saw that hole rapidly growing, and the world sucking into that black hole...
"Behold! My true form! I will rule, forever! It is day of judgement. Your pathetic world will be reinstablished, by my will!", - Baal was enjoying it. If nobody was to stop him, he could really end with Nosgoth perhaps in one or two days.
"Now, Kain! What do you want to do? Make the choise!", - The Seer said.
"I will not play by your rules!", - I said.
            It was then, I saw the whole of the False God. He was huge, like a mythological creature. He looked like a giant diabolycal see monster, like a squid, with a nose like that of an elephant. His hunderds of eyes were looking all around, but in the middle, just above his nose, I noticed an eye, that was different of the others. It was bigger, and its colour was green. I understood what I had to do. I drew out the reaver, and started blasting him with Glyph energy. The Glyph blasts, along with Balanse elements, and the other enchantements of the other Pillars, was hitting really strong. As I tilted at that central eye, a diabolyc scream has been heard. A wave of thunder covered the landscape. Then, it hit the mount where I was standing. The Seer was thrown away. Me and Janos remained. I continued blasting that incredible... thing. I could hurt him with those blast, but not to kill.
            "Did not I tell you before, Kain. You hit like a fly. Your bits hurt me, but do not kill... Surrender! There is no hope! Drop your weapon, and submit to my rule. You will be rewarded! I am the God, as you would be if you join me", - Baal was saying.
"I don't know what you are, and how have you become the very thing you represent now, but whatever you are, you are no God!", - I said.
"You are just like Raziel. Defiance will not save you, Kain", - he said, and a thunder wave hit me and Janos. We were thrown to the walls of the cave. How could I kill something like that?! I had the needed weapon. I had the vision, but he was too stronge... too great... to giant.
            And suddenly the last events started running like a film in my head.
"Bring together what has been made as a weapon and a shield"... "You need just one hit!"... "The Reaver is the Weapon, and the Nexus Stone is the Shield"... "Bring them together"... "And then... with your sword... enchanted by the Glyph Energy... bring together... what has been made as a weapon... and... a sheild"...
            And then, an enlightenment ran into my head, like a storm. It had become clear to me, what I had to do...
            I wore off the Nexus Stone, and put it on the ground. Then I grabbed the reaver, aiming its edge on the Stone.
"What are you doing?!", - asked Janos.
"The Weapon... and... the Shield. With the sword, enchanted by the Glyph energy, I bring together what has been made as a Weapon and the Shield. The Reaver is the Weapon...", - I stopped.
"...and the Stone is the Shield!", - realized Janos.
"Yes. They must be brought together. The Glyph energy was needed to connect the two counterparts of an artifact. Now I have everything I need...", - I said, and stabbed the Nexus Stone with the edge of the Balanse Glyph Soul Reaver...
            As the Nexus Stone has been broken, a great sense of displacement swept over me. I felt dislocation and disorientation. The sense of Vertigo made me sick, and I could not stand on my feet. So did Janos. We both were looking ahead, seeing the world going around us. And when it finished, the reaver got a new power. The power of Divine Reaver. It was the source of light, of pure sunlight energy. A weapon that could clear the entire world from all corruptions.
            As to a vampire, the light of the Divine Reaver was deadly to me. So was to Janos. It was burning our skins.
"Now, Janos. I have one hit! My last hit, that will decide the fate of Nosgoth. After the hit, the reaver will loose all of its elements, and become a simple Soul Reaver.  Grab me, and fly above that creature!", - I said.
"Are you insane?! The Black Hole will suck us into it", - he surprised.
"The Black Hole is  just an illusion. It is him, Baal. Just fly above it", - I said.
            As I took up the Divive Reaver, I felt myself burning. Janos grabbed me, and we both began feeling the pain of purification. The Divine energy was flowing across me and Janos, because he was holding me. But together with the pain, I was cleared of all dark curses that were laid upon the Vampires. I felt the Blood Thirst gone away. The same were the Sterility and the Immortality. With the Immortality faded away from me, my wounds could not be regenerated anymore. However, it did not work on Janos, because the reaver always affected only those who were holding it.
            Janos, holding me, flew up high, to the direction of the Black Hole he saw. Huge waves of thunder were shot to our direction. He was sneaking as long as he could. His wings were burning too. As we approached Baal, one of the waves hit us, but we were only thrown to the air. Janos still was holding me. And I, was almost burnt, screaming of pain. The Divine Reaver was shining like a sun itself.
"No! Get back! You do not know what you are doing, Kain!", - Baal was screaming, - "You cannot destroy me! I am the whole of the land! I am the heart of the Wheel of Fate! I am the engine of life and death! The cycle of birth, death and reborn!"...
"I am tired of your pathetic speaches, abomination. Face your death!...", - I said.
"Janos, drop me now!", - I shouted. Janos left me, and flew up. His skin was burnt in some places, but he still could fly, so he flew away, as far as he could.
            Meanwhile, I was falling down, through the chaos of the flying items that were heading right into that Black Hole. The light of the Divine was burning my face, and I could hardly see something. However, I still saw his central green eye. As I was close enough to it, I stabbed the Divine Reaver into his eye, and began sliding down along his entire body, slashing Baal into two equal parts.
            "Noooo!!! It is impossible!!! You were supposed to spare me! Aaaaaagh...", - these were his last words. His body was entirely burnt, and turned to ashes. An incredible and ultimate explosion was seen. It has shattered the whole planet. The light of the explosion could be seen from all over the world. After the light, a massive wave of thunder shattered the area, and everything was raised up from the ground. Only the Pillars stood still...

    It was all over. The world calmed down, and the dawn has begun. I was laying almost dead on the ground, while The Seer was standing close to me. I could not move, my strength left me. I also knew that blood will not help me anymore. I will not be regenerated. I was not immortal anymore. So, I knew that it was my end. I did exactly as Raziel did before. I gave my life to redeem the world, something I never meant to do. But why had it happened? Hadn't I succeeded to find a third option - to restore the Balanse and stay alive?
            It was then... I realized. I remembered The Seer's words, - "Your visions were just fragment of the future. You did not see the whole of it. Looking from the right angle of view, you can see more details of the same picture". I found the third option of two: the edge of the coin, but to complete my task, I had to die. And The Seer was the one who took care of that I would not create another paradox. She was smart, indeed, and succeeded to trick both me and Baal, the Elder God. But what else could she do, if it was me with the Free Will... not her.
            "You... framed all of this!", - I told her, - "Was it your destiny for me all along?".
"By this, we restored not only the world itself, but also justice. That was what Raziel also wanted to do, Kain", - she said.
"I admire... your cunning... woman... We have... won! You... you... tricked me...", - I said...
"I did what I had to...", - said The Seer.
"But I... found the third option... edge of the coin... I have altered the fate...", - I grasped.
"Yes, Kain. You did... but you were the only one who could see the Elder God, due to your vision, Raziel's sacrifice had accorded you. And the only weapon which could actually kill him -  was the Divine Reaver. So it means that the one who kills the False God, should die. It does not matter, Kain, how far you were altering the fate. Eventually, you had to sacrifice yourself and kill him, or live and spare him. You have made your choise, Kain...", - said The Seer.

    I looked on the reaver that I was still holding at my right hand. I could not hold it anymore, the strengths left me entirely. The Reaver had no elements anymore. It had finished its circle, and returned back to its normal state: just a simple Soul Reaver, a blade with blue energy.
            And I felt myself weakening, unable to breath and sustain my life anymore. My body was destroyed, and I realized, that my end has come right then, in a few seconds. I closed my eyes, and felt my last seconds ticking. Even though I was dying, I knew, that my deeds would never be forgotten. I had changed the world forever. The Wheel of Fate would start working differently without the Elder God. The souls would not loose their knowledge after death and rebirth. The newly born person would keep the memories of his previous incarnation. Without loosing memories, each soul would get much more wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge, and knowledge is power...
            Then, I saw the white flashlight... And... I... died...