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Soul Edge
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Soul Calibur V
Defeated in battle by Soul Calibur, Soul Edge shattered, its fragments passing through a dimensional rift that scattered them all over the world.
But the cursed sword's minions tracked down the shards, and reassembled as much of the sword as they could. Eventually, it regained consciousness; using a spare body it had hidden beneath Ostrheinsburg, Soul Edge was reborn.
Soul Edge's new host assumed the name "Dumas," and worked its way into the inner circle of Emperor Rudolf II of the Holy Roman Empire. Undefeated in battle and brimming with knowledge from all corners of the world, Dumas quickly won the Emperor's favor, and was granted dominion over the Kingdom of Hungary.
Hungary was on the front lines of war with the Ottoman Empire, and in a perfect position to advance Soul Edge's goals. Exploiting nationalistic tendencies and religious differences to fan the flames of hatred and suspicion, Dumas initiated a widespread hunt and massacre of the malfested.
Of course, the purge was merely a cover for Dumas' true intent: collecting the remaining fragments of Soul Edge and harvesting countless human souls. And so, under banners of unity and purity, Soul Edge's new "nightmare" began to sweep through Europe...
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Soul Calibur 2
What a chimera, then, is man! What a novelty! What a monster,
what a chaos, what a contradiction, what a prodigy!
-Blaise Pascal, Pensees
At one time, Nightmare committed countless cold-blooded murders while under the control of Soul Edge. All who knew of him feared his crimson gaze and his strange, one-eyed, giant blade.
Originally, he was the leader of a group of brigands known as the Black Wind, whose stronghold was located in the Black Forest near the Roman Empire. It was news of his father's death that drove him from his marauding lifestyle, resolving to find his father's killer.
Hearing word of a sword known as Soul Edge, he became convinced that he could slay his father's murderer if he found this ultimate weapon. He searched through the battlegrounds in every region he traveled. Eventually, he came across a sword in a Spanish harbor that emitted a strange aura beside the corpse of its owner, who appeared to be a pirate. The dead body returned to life, covered in flames, as if to protect the sword. Upon defeating the apparition, he reached for the hilt of the mysterious blade.
It was then that he heard the voice of Soul Edge, the sword that feeds on souls.
It told him that if he used the souls absorbed by the sword, he would be able to resurrect his father. Accepting his new goal, the man's body began to surge with the evil energy of the sword. The energy became a beautiful pillar of light that pierced the evening sky and dissipated into the atmosphere.
From that moment on, the man became Nightmare, the evil knight who would strike fear into every corner of Europe.
Having determined that the power Soul Edge had at that moment was insufficient to revive his father, Nightmare attacked village after village to nourish the blade. Not satisfied, he sought out those with strong souls to feed the evil sword.
The killings ended three years later, when Nightmare came across three sacrifices for his blade. One of them wielded a spirit sword called Soul Calibur, which possessed an aura that was the polar opposite of the evil power emitted by Soul Edge. The battle between the swordsmen took place in a vortex of hellfire and evil energy summoned by Soul Edge. After a raging battle, the evil sword shattered, and both Nightmare and Soul Edge fell into the collapsing void.
With Soul Edge severely weakened, Nightmare regained some of his humanity. Along with lucidity came the horrifying memories of the sins he committed, as well as the fear and anger of those who were slaughtered by him. Moreover, he realized that he had been the one who murdered his father.
Expelled from the void into an unfamiliar place, Nightmare disappeared into the night-the evil sword still in his grip. But Soul Edge was weaker now, and splinters of itself were left in Nightmare's footsteps.
He knew Soul Edge must never fall into the hands of another man. He set off to go as far away as possible from human settlements.
Yet each morning, he awakened to the sight of people slain by him during the night. While he slept, Soul Edge took over his mind and flesh, and he was burdened by this new guilt. Nevertheless, he did not choose to take his own life and end things easily. He knew that if he died, the sword would only find a new host to continue its evil ways. The only solution was to find a place where the evil could be imprisoned forever.
Initially, the balance of power between him and the sword were equal. But as time wore on, his control over his body became irregular, and the sword held sway over him for slightly longer periods of time.
The number of those who fell victim to the blade continued to grow. The sword healed itself gradually by feeding off the victims' souls. After four years, the sword had nearly recovered to full strength.
The fragments of itself lost during its escape...The evil energy dispersed as the Evil Seed…Soul Edge's shattered companion blade…the other Soul Edge...
With dominant control over its host body, Soul Edge, once again in the form of "Nightmare," began to pursue the fragments of itself that it had lost. It was on a quest to restore itself completely!
But at the same time, he continued to fight the evil sword's plans with the little sanity left within him.
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Soul Calibur 3
To the Light a season was set; but everlasting and boundless is the dominion of the Night.
-"Hymnen an die Nacht," Novalis
In the instant that the evil sword was pierced by the holy sword, no one noticed the evil flame dwelling within Soul Edge flowing out. Throughout its long history of slaughter, the sword had obtained its own immortal soul. This invisible entity--the will of the cursed sword--chose to cling onto the remains of some armor strewn on the ground. That armor belonged to the azure knight, Nightmare, who had unleashed his reign of terror across Europe.
The evil soul flowed into the fragmented armor, but trying to manipulate a bodiless host was no easy task. It could not even move, much less hunt souls. With the loss of its own physical body, it lacked the strength to accomplish anything--all it could do was resign itself to its current fate. Calming the burning flame of its will, the will of the evil sword waited for an opportunity.
Some time later, a man bearing a large scythe visited the location in which Nightmare's strewn armor remained. The man could read what had happened by studying the armor and the evil energy hanging in the air.
A thick, unbroken fog blanketed the sky, blocking off the sun's blessing light. In this heavy, humid air portending rain, the spirit of the evil sword and the man with the scythe carried on an unspoken conversation. Perhaps each sought to outwit the other, or perhaps they shared a strange connection that could only be understood by those with an ancient bond...After a few moments, the man agreed to aid the sword.
The man with the scythe performed an ancient ritual, using words of power to distort the laws of nature. The unsteady energy of the cursed sword and the spirits that circled this land were woven together and bound into the remains of the terrible armor. The resentful howling of ghosts roared out over the sound of thunder. An unsteadily wavering silhouette took shape, and the soul of the evil weapon had regained the shell of its former host. This revived being was clad in blue armor that shone with an evil light. Not a trace of damage remained. Out of its hand oozed a tremendous, unusually-shaped sword that resembled the cursed sword. From the memories etched into the armor, an entity that was supposedly gone from this world had found a new incarnation.
Sometime during this event, the tears of heaven had begun to fall. They struck his body futilely, as if trying to wash away the evil karma with which he was stained.
"Go and wreak havoc until you drive all life into the abyss of despair..." Murmuring these words, the man with the scythe left, his face expressionless.
Soul Edge had started a new existence as an individual being. This may have been the first opportunity the cursed sword had had to interact with the world as its own self. The azure knight soon made its presence known as a disciple of fear, death, and devastation as he devoured countless souls.
Starved for souls, he attacked and consumed all whom he encountered. Motivated by a pure impulse to destroy, and an unending hunger, Nightmare went on a mad rampage. The hearts of those he assailed were clutched by inescapable terror until the very last moment of their lives. Not even death would bring peace to their souls, for they were trapped in a fiery hell, their pain and anguish offered as sacrifice.
"More...more!!" In order to preserve his body and increase his evil energy, the azure knight sought stronger souls. Ultimately, the azure knight decided to try to free Soul Edge itself.
Rumors of a merciless butcher and the terror of the azure nightmare spread throughout Europe once again.
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Soul Calibur IV
The secret art had freed Soul Edge from the Embrace of Souls in the Lost Cathedral. Nightmare took the cursed sword in hand while the blade's former puppet took up the spirit sword and stood in challenge. The swords clashed. The resulting storm sent a wave of destruction rushing outward from the epicenter of the battle. The temporary vessel that was Nightmare could not withstand the malestrom; he and Soul Edge fell into a dimensional warp. But the cursed sword followed the lingering hatred and tormented gosts that gave Nightmare shape and managed to return to Ostrheinsburg.
The azure armour lay slumped on the throne. Soul Edge stretched its evil roots into the scarred, broken metal. The waves of destruction created when the swords clashed spread across the entire world, awakening the scattered shards of the cursed sword. Metal fragments both large and small gathered like particles of light and fell in a dazzling rain upon Ostrheinsburg. Years earlier, these pieces of Soul Edge had been scattered as the Evil Seed, but now it was calling them home. The cursed sword drank them all in.
Soul Edge sank roots deep into the land that was so intimately tied to its fate. Ostrheinsburg became a cursed city, a vessel that would consume souls to further strengthen the evil sword. The blade sat on the throne at the center of the cataclysm, and waited for the time when once again, it would clash with the spirit sword, Soul Calibur.
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