02x09 - Legend

[bunniefuu]

Hey, Grandpa.

Tell me a story.

Hmm?

Well, all right.

Go get one of your storybooks
and I'll read you something.

No, that's not what I mean.

Not out of some old book.

I mean a true story.

Hmm...

you want a true story, huh?

Yes.

A story your father told you,

that his father told him,
and maybe even his father before that.

A real story
from my great-great-great-grandfather.

Very well, then.

Yay!

This is a story that people will pass down
for all of eternity

because it's part of our history.

It's a tale about the deeds of men
and the destruction they bring forth.

b*stard!! -HEAVY METAL, DARK FANTASY-

HELL'S REQUIEM

This took place a long time ago.

LEGEND

In a time when there were
no orcs, trolls, or goblins on Earth.

Human civilization
was much more prosperous than it is today.

The people built cities with huge towers

and using an ancient magic power

that has since been lost,

they turned night into day.

Carriages made of steel
spent through the city's smooth streets.

And they made birds of steel too

that could fly through the sky
taking the people anywhere on earth.

Eventually, their civilization
became so advance,

they could even visit the stars
in the sky far, far, away.

However, the same way
that an overripe apple

rots on the tree and falls to the ground,

at the heights of its glory,
humankind began to regress.

The hearts of men grew cold.

Deceits, jealousy, and doubts
spread like a plague.

Human beings grew selfish and greedy,

they began to care about nothing else
besides their own well-being.

And then, the darkness was born.

It divided the world in two,

and it tricked the two sides
into waging w*r against each other.

The darkness took advantage
of that same powerful magic

that it brought
such great prosperity to the humans

and used it instead
to create horrific demons on the earth.

It created a band of grotesque demon gods

with the God of Destruction,
Anthrasax as their leader.

The sorcerers and the alchemists

all cried out with cheers of joy.

They cheered because they believed
that these were the gods

that would finally eliminate w*r
from the face of the earth.

The power of the God of Destruction

was beyond belief.

Anthrasax sets entire mountain ranges
flying into the sky,

and transformed oceans
into seas of boiling blood.

Bolts of lightning
burned entire cities to ash

with fire so hot
that water could not extinguish them.

The demon gods'
tremendous destructive power

left many cities destroyed.

But at least the w*r was over,
or so they thought.

However,

just as the people
were celebrating victory,

the entire human race
was plunged into an abyss of terror,

once again facing extinction.

Suddenly, Anthrasax began to ignore

the orders of the humans
who had created it

and to act of its own free will.

Possibly because
they had included live humans

among the animals they had used

to magically synthesize
the God of Destruction.

Now that Anthrasax had free will,
it took command of the demon gods.

It used its power to speak to the hearts
of every human on Earth.

I am the will of destruction.

I am the new king,

and I have descended upon you!

I shall now pass judgment on all of you,

foolish humans.

That threat amounted
to a declaration of w*r

against the entire human race.

The people were overcome with fear
and cried out in their desperation.

Armies from nations
all around the world united

using all their weapons
in an effort to k*ll off the demon gods.

A fearsome battle began.

But the power of the demon gods
was simply overwhelming.

When it was over,

the ground had swallowed
the blood of countless human beings.

Hundreds of millions of corpses
lay across the earth.

In the face of Anthrasax's wrath,

the human race was
on the brink of extinction.

Because the demon gods
had been created for that very purpose.

With the demon gods
having completely destroyed the world,

all that the few humans
who survived could do

was to wait for death.

In the depths of despair,
the sinful and the foolish were the same.

All that was left was to pray,
but it was already too late for that.

At that moment of hopelessness...

a deafening sound echoed through the air.

The humans watched spellbound
as a giant golden pillar of light

reaching all the way to heaven

split apart the earth
and towered over the lands in the east.

From out of the blinding light,

a giant shadow appeared

and strode forth to stand boldly
before the face of evil.

It's said that the shadow resembled
an immense dragon

with its wings spread wide,

while at the same time,
it took the form of a giant human

wielding a huge sword.

Who are you?

In reply, the giant
Dragon Warrior let out a fierce battle cry

and flew upward high into the sky.

With that, the two giant lifeforms
began to battle.

It was as if the two of them
knew instinctively

that it was their destiny
to fight each other.

The battle between the demon gods
and the Dragon Warrior was fierce.

So fierce, in fact, that it shifted
the very Earth on its axis,

a cataclysmic tilt

that caused several entire continents
to sink into the sea.

After many days,
the battle reached its cl*max.

The Dragon Warrior's final raging attack

struck down the God of Destruction,

hurling Anthrasax into darkness.

When the smoke finally cleared,

the humans who had survived watched
as the Dragon Warrior

placed four seals on the demon god

to seal Anthrasax away deep underground.

And then,
the Dragon Warrior spoke, saying,

"These seals will be broken
after 400 years."

"However, a descendant
who carries my blood

will transform into the Dragon Warrior

and once again defeat it."

The humans passed down
the Dragon Warrior's words

in their written prophecies.

Those prophecies are still
kept carefully stored underground

beneath the four castles
on this continent.

That's a great story.

But then what happened
to the Dragon Warrior

after he defeated the God of Destruction?

"Great god of w*r," the people said.

"You have lifted the darkness."

People all around the world
cheered with joy and praised his name.

But the Dragon Warrior,

cared not for their celebrations
and just disappeared.

And that's the end of the story.

All right, time for you to go to bed.

Mm.

Okay. Good night, Grandpa.

You left some things out.

What happened to the world after that?

This is what I heard
from your great-grandfather.

As a result of the battle
between the God of Destruction

and the Dragon Warrior,

huge floods wiped out

many of the advances civilizations
had made.

The human race very nearly became extinct.

However, humans created
a new type of magic

that was different
from that of the ancient world.

Their civilization
of magic spread rapidly.

And it's believed that the elves
who lived on the frontier

were even more advanced

in their knowledge of magic
than the humans.

Humankind was able
to use their new type of magic

they created to survive and flourish.

Well, if we're so advanced,

how come humans
still keep on fighting wars?

Conflicts over territory and religion,

and battles between tribes
will always happen in any age.

Those things will always be
with us as long as we're human.

That's why I avoid conflict

and why I've chosen to live
in a remote region like this.

To live here in peace is all I want now.

That story you told the boy, is it true?

Hmm. I'm not sure.

Who knows what happened 400 years ago?

However, there's one thing I do know.

The Dragon Warrior really does exist.

That's right. I've heard that part
of the story myself.

Prince Lars of Meta-llicana
summoned the legendary Dragon Warrior,

and together, they battled
an evil wizard named Dark Schneider,

isn't that how it goes?

Mm-hmm.

Back when I was younger and still working
as an official in Meta-llicana,

one of the knights returned
from the mission,

and said that he had seen
the Dragon Warrior with his own eyes.

He said it looked just like
the legends described.

A towering giant wrapped
in impenetrable armor

with enormous wings

and carrying a huge sword and shield.

I have no way of knowing
if these legends are accurate or not.

But I do know, without a doubt,
it was the Dragon Warrior

who was in that fight.

But they say the Dragon Warrior
didn't actually defeat

the dark wizard in the end.

Not true. The evil wizard did lose.

But there was something else no one knew.

What no one realized
at the time was that the evil wizard had,

at the last moment,
cast a spell of reincarnation on himself.

One of the Five Knights,
Geo, the Great Priest of Meta-llicana,

found the evil wizard
who had reincarnated himself

in a form of a baby boy.

Knowing the danger,

Geo cast a spell on the child
to seal away his magic.

They should have guaranteed

that the evil wizard
would never be reincarnated again.

But something happened one day

that made it necessary
for them to break the seal.

The evil wizard's followers united,

and together, they formed
the Dark Rebel Army.

They used orcs and goblins
as their foot soldiers,

and they invaded
the four kingdoms of this continent.

In order to fight back
against the Dark Rebel Army,

Meta-llicana had no choice
but to break the seal on the evil wizard.

Why would the wizard want to fight
against the same people

who used to be his loyal followers?

Some say the wizard
had become good-hearted

because the humans had sealed
his dark magic away.

They had treated him with kindness
and raised him as a normal human boy.

Just the same.

In the end,
Meta-llicana fell anyway, didn't it?

And today, the Dark Rebel Army
continues to destroy kingdoms and lives.

Yes, things are grim.

However, the flames of w*r
won't reach us in a remote place like this

on the border
between Meta-llicana and Judas.

A visitor? At this hour?

Long time no see, Gizun.

What brings you here so late at night?

We've just received word.

It's the rebels led by the samurai
of the Kingdom of A-Ian-Maide.

They're planning to launch
an attack on Tiptoa,

the capital of the former Kingdom of Judas

in order to defeat Kall-Su,
the head of the Dark Rebel Army.

You've confirmed that?

Yeah, it's definite.

And lots of fighters
are joining the rebels

with more coming every day, including me.

I thought you might want to join up.

You were once a knight
of A-Ian-Maide yourself after all.

Mm.

But I retired and put down my sword
ten years ago.

I'd be useless.

That's not true.

This is a battle we're gonna win for sure.

Because we've got a trump card.

Two of the Five Knights are coming in

- to fight alongside us.
- Mm?

We've got Nills Schon Mifune,

the samurai master of A-Ian-Maide,

and Geo Noto Soto,

the Great Priest
of the former Kingdom of Meta-llicana.

What?

Are you saying Lord Geo is alive?

Alive and well is what I heard.

Lord Geo, that's a surprise.

Come and join us.

We'll take A-Ian-Maide together.

Father, take care of my family.

You're doing this?

I am indebted to A-Ian-Maide.

I have to.

Be well, my son.

At this point in my life,

what matters is not which side wins,

I just hope that this w*r
will be the last w*r.

There you are!

Hey, Dark Schneider, you b*stard,
I've been looking for you.

How dare you walk away?

You stomped on my face
and act like it's nothing.

Hey, listen up,
you're gonna pay for what you did.

Oh, and another thing,

how come you never told us that this place
is actually floating in the sky, huh?

Oh, I'm so pissed off at you right now!

You bloody fool,
don't you understand what's going on?

The whole world's
in serious danger right now. Huh?

Oh, shut up, you loudmouth little monkey!

Why do I care what happens
to the world, huh?

Let go of me!

b*stard!

- Vai, lay off him.
- Agya!

You! Keep your paws off her body!

Those aren't
your breasts to grab, they're Yoko's!

Uh, that's your issue?

Thought it was the fate of the world.

Where do you get off?

Grabbing her like some animal!

You stay away from Yoko!

Oh, yeah?

You're the animal!

Even I speak to Yoko
with more respect than that.

How dare you talk
about my woman's body that way?

I think I might just k*ll you,
right here where you stand.

Yeah?

Well, now you're talking trash!

'Cause I know she's not yours in any way!

Just for your information,

me and Yoko almost made it
to first base the other day

in the dressing room.

Huh! You what?

Didn't know that, huh?

Looks like she's my girl!

This must have happened
when I was away on break.

What a horrible disaster!

Wait a minute, did you say almost?
That's nothing.

Yoko and I almost made it
to home base in the bath the other day!

My thing almost did the thing.

No way...

And we've made it
to first base lots of times,

you pathetic loser!

How do you like that, huh?

My relationship with Yoko

is way more intense
than your relationship!

- Dark Schneider! Vai!
- Mm?

You're in danger! Run!

Huh? Speak up, I can't hear you.

There's some crazy machine going...

Here you go!

Lucien, no!

Look! There's more
of them coming down.

What are they?

It's the Sorcerer Shogun,
those are their airships.

But now they're all crashing.

Something shot them out of the sky!

But what could do that?

There's your answer.

A dragon!

It's the guardian
of King Crimson Glory.

Defense system.

The dragon destroys airborne threats.

Now that the dragon has done
its job and brought down the airships,

it's flying away!

Whoa! And look!

The clouds that were hiding
King Crimson Glory

are all clearing away!

Huh? What...

Whoa! What is that up in the sky?

Lucien!

Lucien?

Where are you?

The airship crashed right on top of him.

He must have...

have been...

Can't you even walk
without falling on your a*s?

Dork, you are one clumsy Schneider.

I'm starting to doubt
you're even related to us.

What are you guys...

Hey, how did you get in here?

There's a Lucien mixed in with us.

MERGE

Now, time for us all to merge together!

Yeah!

Build up!

Look who's back, guys.

The impossibly handsome hero,

Dark Schneider!

Huh? Um...

His body is made out of little people.

Dark Schneider, you double b*stard jerk!

First, you stomped on my head
and then you throw me around?

Where the hell do you get off? Ugh!

I think you're all forgetting
why we're here.

Take a look and you'll see
most of the Shogun airships

landed a lot closer than we are
to where Princess Sheila is being held.

Huh? Mm.

He's right.

Although,
I wouldn't exactly say they landed

or that they survived.

That's what happens when airships
crash violently into the ground.

Those tough guy Shogun got taken out
by a lizard and now they're dead.

That'll teach you.

I wonder, was he among them?

Even if any of the Shogun
survived the crash,

they won't be in any shape to fight us.

Let's get moving and find that temple.

Are you idiots all blind or something?

Am I the only one that sees this?

Hey, you there!

I see you hiding over there, dammit!

I'll light you up!

You missed me.

- What the...
- Wait...

Where's that voice coming from?

Quite impressive, Dark Schneider?

Oh, great wizard.

You alone were able to see my shadow.

Huh? Who is that?

Don't tell me...

Could it be...

Perhaps you've heard of me.

I'm the Sorcerer Shogun, Bol Gil Bol,
the shadow wielder.

But no matter,

now that we've met,

you shall never make it to that temple.

A shadow wielder, so what?

You will see soon enough.

As a shadow wielder,

I can control any shadow
and bend it to my purpose.

- Fine. Whip it out...
- Back off, Vai!

He's a Sorcerer Shogun.

You don't know what he's capable of.

Oh, if it isn't Kai Harn here
in the flesh.

Isn't Sean Ari with you as well?

Lord Ran was quite worried about you...

You sure do talk a lot for a shadow.

Don't do this, Kai Harn.

You don't have the power
to take me on here.

Not even these samurai do.

Is that right?

Lars, can you hear me
talking to you right now?

Huh? His voice?

Is he communicating by telepathy?

Yes, I hear you, Dark Schneider.
What's wrong?

Actually, Lars,

the fact is something is wrong.

Something bad.

I can't see.

I can't see anything.

My beautiful blue eyes can't see
anything at all!

It must be the shock
of having an airship crash into me.

Wha... What?

What?

So there's the abandoned elven city
of King Crimson Glory.

My search is finally over.

I have found the last seal.