The Soul Sword

"No power on earth or above the bottomless pit has such influence to terrorize and make cowards of men as the liquor power. Satan could not have fallen on a more potent instrument with which to thrall the world. Alcohol is king!"

~Eliza Stewart
1816 - 1908, Political Activist, Prohibitionist

Once the battle had come to an end, Albin quickly cast a spell that healed Miles' injured arm. With it working like new, Miles sheathed his sword and pulled the trench coat back onto his body. The two of them hurriedly went on their way, Miles now fully aware of the power of some of the demons. The battle with Ensis, Securis and Cuspis had made him believe this fight would be easy, but after facing Bardus, he finally understood how much potential danger the two could be in. In reality, even with Animositas doing most of the sword-fighting for him, killing a demon took a lot more than just swinging a blade.

"You're magic's very impressive." Miles told Albin after a little while of walking. "Where'd you learn all of these spells?"

"My species, the Lepus, where the ones to first harness magic." Albin explained. "We then gave the knowledge of it to your species, so they could protect themselves from the demons, if ever that occasion arose. The only problem is, humans took the magic they learned and turned it on each other as just a new weapon in warfare. Of course, the demons can be blamed for the hatred humans have and their desire for war in the first place, but it still doesn't mean they can't resist it. Humans could resist all the negative influences demons have on them if they tried, but few know it's really possible... it's quite sad, actually." Miles agreed with Albin and thought about how terrible his race really was. It seemed like everything they did towards each other and the world itself was negative. Miles vowed right there, that after he defeated all the demons, he would devote his life to teaching people how to resist their power.

"What happened to your species, Albin?" Miles asked after a few minutes. "You told me you were the last Lepus... why did the rest die out?"

"Our species doesn't reproduce, like yours does." Albin began.

"That's sucks." Miles replied.

Albin continued, "Instead, all of the Lepus that were originally created, were the only ones that would ever be. It wasn't that bad, though. My species can live for a long time -- thousands of years -- as long as the demons can. That doesn't mean we're immortal, though. We can still die from a sword wound, just as you can... and that's what happened to us. There were quarrels with the demons, uprisings against us -- things like that. You can imagine that the demons didn't like my species very much. Our sole purpose was the keep them in line. Even with the help of our magic, though, the demons still proved themselves to be stronger. Lepus would die every day in Hell and after a while it just became a natural occurrence. No one tried to stop it, because we all just thought of the ones that died to be careless. We thought the real Lepus -- the powerful ones -- could never die. We thought the killings was just natural selection running its course. Then, one day, I suddenly realized that I was all that was left. The great species of magic-users had been killed due to our own feelings of superiority. We were created to be better than the demons and never thought they could kill us all... and that was our fatal flaw."

"That's so sad." Miles remarked.

"It is." Albin agreed. "After I realized I was all that was left, I began living in the shadows. I felt that my species needed to survive, even if only in the soul of one person. I think the demons figured they'd finally killed us all off and so never hunted me down. Then, once in my own personal exile, I began my book. I wanted to have a record of my species so that at the very least, our memory would still live on. First I wrote down everything about my race, why we were created, what we did and why we died out. Then I wrote about magic and created detailed chapters on how to use it. The book probably contains nearly every magic spell ever created... and some of them are known only to me."

Albin stopped walking for a moment and sniffed the air, crinkling his tiny pink nose. After a few seconds, he stopped sniffing and went back to telling his story. "Once my documentation of magic spells was finished, I started writing about the demons. I studied each one individually. I learned what it did and how powerful it was and then wrote it all down. Even after I finished cataloging each one, I continued watching them, trying to learn as much as I could, hopefully creating a guide to stop them if it was ever needed. That's when I started hearing about an uprising against Diabolus. Then the uprising turned into a takeover of Hell and the takeover of Hell turned into a takeover of Solum. And so, when they finally tried to escape and I showed up and stopped them, trapping their physical bodies in Hell."

"I bet they were pretty surprised to see a Lepus still alive, huh?" Miles declared.

"They sure seemed like it. I only wish I was strong enough to have kept their souls in Hell as well... I guess my species really isn't as powerful as we thought we were."

The two of them walked in silence for a few more moments before Miles said, "Hey, Albin? You said your species was created to stop the demons... so, who created you? Who was opposing the demons in the first place?"

"I'll tell you another time, Miles." Albin said, stopping again and sniffing the air. The sun had fallen pretty far in the sky and sun set was approaching.

"Why not now?" Miles asked.

"Because you're about to have more company." Miles quickly pulled Animositas from its sheath and spun around, checking out the area.

"Already? I killed Bardus just a little while ago." He complained.

"I told you Miles, there are demons swarming all over this place. They want to destroy the sword."

"Are you sure one is coming?" Miles asked, still not seeing anything.

"I'm sure. I could smell this guy from a mile away. It's Vinum, without a doubt." Albin reached into his pocket and pulled out his book. "Vinum is the demon of alcohol and he always reeks of the stuff. Even in Hell, he could stink up the place and let me tell you, Hell wasn't that good smelling to begin with."

Miles interjected, "What does being the demon of alcohol even mean?"

"Just like Ensis, the demon who gave man the sword, Vinum is the demon who gave man the drink. Legend says that the demon approached a merchant in his dreams and offered the man a poison that would make grown men fall to the ground, trick kings into revealing their deepest secrets and even entice woman to remove their clothes, and although it did all those horrible things, people would buy it by the gallon. The man didn't believe the demon at first, but Vinum pledged that if he sold this poison, he would quickly become the richest person in the entire world. When the merchant awoke, there was a glass of wine by his bed and his head was full of the recipes to create more drinks like it, and so, he did what Vinum said and brewed more alcohol and did indeed become the richest man in the world." As Albin finished the story, the very demon he spoke of came into view.

"Speak of the devil." Miles joked, as he saw Vinum come over the nearest hill. The demon was about the same height as Miles, with light grey skin and was charging towards them very fast. As he got closer, Miles could pick out more details. Vinum had long, stringy, black hair and two dark-red eyes. The demon was very thin, with long arms and legs that each ended with lengthy sharp claws. Instead of a mouth, Vinum had only three slits on his face where a mouth should be, making him look more devilish and threatening.

As he was just about in attacking range of the two warriors, Albin warned, "Watch out for the claws... those are the most dangerous parts!"

"Gotcha." Miles replied and ran forward, swinging Animositas at the demon. Vinum easily twisted his body to the side, however, and dodged the blade. Immediately afterward, he swung one of his long arms at Miles, who tried to jump away from it, but got cut by the claws regardless. They ripped through his shirt and sliced into his skin, drawing blood across his chest. Miles tried attacking again, but the demon twisted around the attacks and this time swung its foot up to cut Miles across the face, then spun low to the ground and cut into his leg.

Miles was getting frustrated. The demon attacked as if it were triple-jointed, bending and twisting and spinning it's body, then using both arms and legs equally in the attacks, making it nearly impossible to hit, or predict. As the hero charged it one more time, swinging Animositas faithfully, Vinum didn't try to dodge. Instead, he reared back his head, and spat a clear liquid at Miles, from in between the slits on its face. Taken off-guard, Miles stumbled forward and fell to the ground trying to get the liquid off of him.

"You didn't tell me he spat acid!" Miles yelled to Albin.

"It's not acid!" Albin yelled back. "It's an alcoholic mixture that your skin absorbs. Try not to get too much of it on you!"

Miles got back to his feet and faced Vinum again. "Easier said than done, Albin. This guy moves so fast, I can't get a shot in! Can't you slow him down with that grass spell?" Miles ran at Vinum again, hoping for some assistance from Albin this time. Then, just before Miles swung the sword down at the demon, the grass around it shot up and tried tying it down. Vinum was apparently much smarter than Bardus, however, and simply cut the grass away with his blade-like claws, while still managing to dodge Miles' attack, and spitting some more of his alcoholic spit at the teenager.

"God damn!" Miles swore, wiping the liquid away. "We need a new strategy."

"Idiot!" The demon hissed, surprising Miles. It was the first time he'd heard a demon speak since Cruciatus spoke to him at his house.

"I'll show you who's an idiot!" Miles yelled, running at the demon again. Vinum just made a laughing sound, however, and spun to the side, swinging his claws at Miles again. Miles was ready this time, though, and instead of attacking where Vinum was, he attacked where he knew he would be. For the first time, Animositas cut neatly through the demon's hand, severing it from its body. Vinum screamed in pain, spewing more alcohol from it's mouth. Miles jumped backwards, trying to avoid the spray. The demon was now missing it's right hand and black blood oozed from the stump.

"Come on." Miles challenged. "Let's dance." Vinum screamed and rushed the swordsman. Miles swung into the empty air as he did before, but this time Vinum dodged to the left instead of the right and Miles completely missed, leaving himself wide open to the demon's claws as they cut deeply into the side of his neck. Miles stumbled towards Albin, clutching his neck as blood started flowing from it. "Albin, I'm starting to feel a little dizzy..." Miles slurred, trying to pick the sword back up.

"That's probably because of the alcohol rushing through your system... or the amount of blood you're losing... either way, try to hang on!"

"I don't see you risking your life with this guy!"

"I'm more of a sidelines type of guy." Albin sai. "Besides, I already tried to help... my spell wasn't very effective."

"Then try a different one!" Miles yelled as Vinum ran at him again. The young hero swung Animositas diligently, once again praying that the demon would dodge right. Lucky for him, it did and the sword cut deeply into the creature's shoulder as he howled in pain. Miles didn't stop there, however, and attacked again, swinging left. This time, though, Vinum didn't dodge left or right, and Miles was stuck swinging into empty space, while Vinum kicked a clawed foot right at the teenager's chest. Half a second before the claws could rip through him, however, a large crack sounded and a bolt of lighting connected with the demon and sent it spinning through the air and onto the ground.

"I figured since it moved so fast, I should try hitting it with something that was even faster!" Albin shouted.

"Good job!" Miles complemented, trying to hurry to the demon before it could get back up. The dizziness had gotten progressively worse, however, and Miles was seeing double of everything before him. As Vinum got back to his feet, the teenager tried to attack again, but missed horribly and payed for it by feeling a clawed hand cut into his arm and knock him onto the ground. The demon walked over to Miles and lifted its foot above his throat, ready to finish him off, as the world started to blacken all around him. With barely any bit of consciousness left, Miles blindly swung Animositas above him. The demon, believing Miles was too weak to even lift the sword, payed for its assumption by having a second limb removed from it, as the sword severed its foot and fell to the ground.

Screeching in pain, Vinum stumbled backwards a bit and fell, no longer able to stand. Miles, barely able to still grasp at reality, drew every last bit of strength in his body and stood one more time, lifting Animositas high above the demon. As the dizziness finally overtook him and the young hero blacked out, the last thing he saw was the fear in Vinum's eyes as the Soul Sword plunged straight down towards the demon's chest.