And now for the conclusion to Soul Reaver 2.

Re-materializing in the Timestreaming Chamber, Raziel surveys his surroundings and sees that the Chamber appears much less dilapidated than it had been before. Blasting down the door, he steps out into the Swamp and realizes that somehow, against all odds, the Timestreaming Chamber has delivered him to precisely the era he sought. It is the middle of winter, snow falling heavily all around, and in the distance Raziel can clearly see the banners of the Sarafan Order waving in the wind. Making his way back towards Janos' Mountain Aerie, he encounters one of the Sarafan killing fields, and is aghast with revulsion. Moebius' citizen army was sloppy, their kills displayed in scattered and hasty formation, the corpses of their enemies brutalized as though it took for too long to kill a single one, and the number of dead were paltry in comparison. The Sarafan's progress is horrifying. Acres of impaled Vampires stretch through the fields, arranged in rows, all corpses killed quickly and efficiently, only mutilated for the purposes of offense, unlike Moebius' army, whose kills were hacked apart because of lack of skill on the hunters' parts. Before witnessing this scene, Raziel had felt a sense of longing for his Sarafan "nobility" that Kain so intentionally defiled. He had felt a sense of admiration for his past, and hatred for the monster he had become. Now witnessing the monstrosity of his creed's past deeds, he feels none of that admiration he had once held. He has seen the human face of the Vapires of this world, so unlike the decadent killing machines of Kain's Empire. He has also seen the monstrous face of his human counterparts, and as such, he can no longer honestly admire his human heritage.

Not long after, Raziel encounters the Sarafan in the flesh in a small camp. They spot him immediately, and very quickly he recognizes the skill of these warriors. So much more advanced both tactically and physically than the Vampire Hunters and Demon Hunters he had previously faced. He could now see why they had been so feared in this era. Regardless, though, they fall to his assaults and he continues on his way.

Raziel once again passes through the town of Uschtenheim, now covered in snow and still populated unlike it had been in the previous era he had visited. Battling against Sarafan Knights the entire way, he eventually reaches Janos Audron's Aerie and sees that the destroyed balcony he had previously seen was still intact in this era. However, the balcony is far too high for Raziel to ever hope to reach. His wings are little more than flaps of skin, and only useful for gliding, not ascending. In the previous era, there was a large lake sitting at the base of Janos' mountain retreat, and it exists in this era as well, only the surface is frozen solid. Walking out onto the ice, Raziel investigates the lake further and finds a large hole than he can use to drop into the frigid water. he does so, and after swimming under the surface for a while, he finds a strange mark on one of the lake's walls. He decides to shift into the Spectral Realm, and upon doing so, watches as the mark opens, widening into a large passageway. Making his way through the passage, Raziel finds himself on the bottom floor of a large indoor tower-structure. Using the skills available to him and his clever intuition, Raziel ascends to the top of the chamber and enters through a large stone door. He sees immediately that he is in Janos' personal chambers, and that the Ancient Vampire is standing at the balcony, looking down upon the forzen lake.

When Janos turns, Raziel finds that the elder Vampire is not what he had expected. He had always heard stories of the legendary monster, Janos Audron, feared by Nosgoth, hunter of innocents, winged demon. The creature that greets him is not only polite and cordial, but recognizes Raziel and in shocked worry asks what has happened to his body. He is appalled to see the form that the soul devourer currently inhabits and wishes to know what monster is responsible for it.

Raziel is stunned. Not only are his expectations completely contradicted, but somehow the Ancient knows him, while Raziel has never met the elder. Janos explains that he has waited millennia for Raziel. At the time of the original binding, when the first nine Guardians were called to serve the Pillars, Janos was selected as the tenth Guardian, the keeper of the Soul Reaver, the weapon of the Vampires' salvation. He claims that the only thing that has kept him alive all this time is his duty to the Reaver and to Raziel himself. He xplains to Raziel that the world is in great peril. The humans are on a crusade to end the Vampire "plague", but what they do not realize is that it was the Vampires that built the Pillars the humans so feverishly depend upon. With each Vampire they kill, they unknowingly slit their own throats. He makes mention of the fact that the humans know he's up here, and it terrifies them. They flaunt their kills at the base of his mountain, to injure the Ancient Vampire, or perhaps to lure him out. However, Janos is quick to defend the humans as well. He says that they know not what they do. They are unenlightened and susceptible to manipulation. As such, he does not fault them for their actions.

Raziel then realizes the truth of Kain and Vorador's words. They have ambiguously made mention of Raziel being some sort of Vampiric messiah, destined to save Nosgoth from the cruel hands of fate. Janos confirms this allegations to an extent, saying that the Reaver is the weapon of Nosgoth's salvation and it was crafted for Raziel alone. On that note, Janos produces an ornate wooden box and opens the lid. Laying within it is the Soul Reaver. However, instead of the displacement that Raziel had felt before when in the Reaver's presence, he instead feels a sense of overwhelming terror. A compulsion to flee from the blade's presence while simultaneously feeling compelled to pick it up. He demands that Janos keep the blade away from him, and before the Ancient can question why, the two of them hear a large explosion erupt below them. Raziel realizes with dawning horror that in blazing a trail to Janos' quarters, he has unwittingly opened the path through which the Sarafan Knights can pursue the Vampire.

Janos, making the exact same realization, tells Raziel that he must not be caught by the Sarafan. He tells Raziel that the salvation of Nosgoth depends upon him, and with that, he teleports the soul devourer away to an adjacent chamber while he stays behind to fend off the attackers. Observing his surroundings, Raziel finds that the Fire Forge is actually located within Janos' stronghold, which is where the Ancient has sent him. He finds the exit, a large stone door emblazoned with the image of the Fire Reaver, locked tight. He can hear Janos violently staving off his attackers in the next room, and as such, Raziel hurriedly activates the Fire Forge, imbues the Wraith Blade with the essence of Fire and uses it to open the locked Forge door.

Rushing back into Janos' room, Raziel finds himself at a balcony located high above the room he had just conversed with Janos in. He was quick in his action, but too late to save Janos. Watching, helpless to assist, he sees the Sarafan Inquisitors holding Audron down on a table. Their leader, suited in gold armor, equipped with a vicious blade attached to his right gauntlet, drives the weapon into the Ancient's chest, wrenching his heart free from it's moorings. Janos tenses in sheer agony and then falls limp to the side. Raziel looks down upon the scene and locks eyes with the lead Inquisitor and suddenly realizes who the attacker is behind the helmet and faceplate. It is his former self.

The two stare at each other across the room, burning through one another with righteous fury. Suddenly, the Aerie is wracked with a giant rumble. Janos is using his last bit of strength to bring the fortress down on top of them! The Sarafan's underlings grab their commander and flee the Aerie with the Heart of Darkness in hand. Raziel drops to the floor below and approaches Janos, who is still barely alive. He tells Raziel that in addition to taking his heart, the Sarafan Inquisitors have made off with the Soul Reaver as well and are most likely taking it back to their Stronghold for safe keeping. He tells Raziel that above all he must retrieve the Reaver, for it was fashioned for Raziel alone, and without it, Nosgoth is doomed. With that, the Ancient breathes his last.

Stepping away from Janos' defiled corpse, Raziel pulses with sheer unbridled hatred. In that instant, he rejects everything he ever was and vows to complete the role that Janos so dilligently prepared for him. He leaps from Janos' balcony to the frozen lake below, realizing that the Inquisitors have managed to somehow outmaneuver him. He sets out for the Sarafan Stronghold one last time to avenge the death of Janos Audron and reclaim what is rightfully his.

On his way back through the canyon, Raziel watches as the sky above him suddenly tears asunder and a group of demons pour through the rift. He realizes that the demons from Nosgoth's future era were not just a byprodcut of the world's decay. These things were being sent after him by the dark forces rallying to stop him. Tearing through them, he continues into the Termangent Forest Swamp and is attacked by these same demons again. Exiting the swamp, Raziel passes through the Elder God's Chamber one final time. The Elder God states that Raziel has failed him completely, and the soul devourer cuts him off. Refusing to listen to more of the squid's tired rambling, he renounces the Elder God's influence over him, declaring himself free of his former benefactor's control. Without hearing another word, he exits the chamber, now an agent of only his own will.

Arriving at the Pillars, Raziel is attacked one final time by his demonic pursuers. His enemies have pulled out all of the stops this time, sending three of their most devastating and terrifying soldiers after him. Raziel dispatches them and continues, hacking through an army of human opponents the remainder of the way. His enemies are desperate to halt him and are sending every last resource they have available. This, however, is insufficient to stop him, as he grinds through their ranks like an unstoppable juggernaut.

Finally, he reaches the gates of the Sarafan Stronghold. He bursts through the defenses, taking apart soldier after soldier. Raziel enters a small room adjoining itself to a larger passage. In the middle of the room sits a small table and upon it is the Soul Reaver. Again, feeling none of the temporal displacement he had experienced previously, he instead feels strangely compelled to pick the weapon up. Suddenly he hears the door behind him open, he wheels around, and blocking his exit is the Timestreamer Moebius accompanied by the Paladin Malek (in human form, before his soul is fused into his armor). Moebius speaks, and as he does, long gone is his pleading and weak demeanor. His voice is that of a vile jackal, and he holds all of the cards. Raziel accuses him, stating that Moebius knew he would accidentally lead the Sarafan to Janos. Moebius laughs, confirming the allegation and Raziel asks, furious, if the Timstreamer finds toying with his fate amusing. Raziel moves as though preparing to attack and Moebius halts him, activating his scepter and disabling the Wraith Blade. He then commands Malek to not allow Raziel to leave the room as he poses a great threat to the Circle. Moebius continues to mock the soul devourer, laughing at Raziel's impotent attempts to re-write history on a being who knows all history.

Suddenly, the three hear a violent commotion coming from the end of the hall. It is the Circle, and they are screaming for Malek's assistance. In response to this, they hear the vocie of Vorador, taunting them as he slaughters the Guardians. This is the moment where all of the Circle except Moebius and Mortanius are murdered. Malek instinctively makes his way for the door and Moebius commands him to stay, saying that Raziel is the true threat and not that petty Vampire in the next room. Filled with violent rage, Raziel instinctively reaches for the table and snatches the Reaver from it's surface, brandishing it threateningly against his opponents. Malek is unsettled with this, while Moebius seems genuinely pleased to see this happen. By disabling Raziel's Wraith Blade, he has left the soul devourer no choice but to take up the Soul Reaver with which to defend himself. Backing slowly out of the room, Moebius commands Malek to bolt the door, forcing Raziel to exit from the opposite side. Being relieved of his duties, Malek rushes off to aid the Circle, but we already know how that portion of the story is going to pan out...

Leaving the room, Raziel enters the chapel and is attacked by the Sarafan incarnations of his brothers, Melchiah and Zephon. He muses that these poor fools have no idea that they are destined to become the very thing they hate the most. He kills them quickly, striking them down and watching, fascinated as the blade drinks up their blood and instantly heals all of Raziel's wounds in the process. He makes his way further into the chapel and is then attacked by Rahab and Dumah, whom he slaughters with relative ease. He laughs to himself, finally seeing the true comedy of Kain's blasphemous act, realizing that it is himself who put the bastards in their tombs in the first place, allowing Kain to resurrect them centuries later. As he heads for the chapel exit, his brother Turel, the only of his kin that escaped his vengeance in the future, halts him. The two fight one-on-one, and even with the Reaver, Raziel has difficulty putting his brother down for good. Eventually, though, Turel falls and the blade saps his blood to replenish it's master. Now having eliminated all five of his brothers in their Sarafan forms, he exits the chapel and enters the large circular Memorial Chamber that will be adorned with murals and statues honoring these Sarafan wretches hundreds of years from now.

Waiting for Raziel is himself, still wearing his golden armor, but with his helmet removed and his face revealed. The Lead Inquisitor is completely oblivious to the true identity of the demon standing before him, and Raziel takes great amusement in it. Threatening the demon, the Inquisitor taunts him, asking Raziel if he'd heard Janos Audron's cowardly screams as they tore the black heart from his twitching body. Raziel insists that he does not want to kill the man, but if he must, he will, and then he will take the heart back. The Sarafan refuses, unsheaths his sword and the battle begins.

Raziel quickly comes to realize precisely why he was of such high distinction in the Sarafan Order. Fighting against his former self proves to be the absolute most difficult trial he has ever faced, the human Raziel skillfully evading his attacks and inflicting heavy damage despite the Reaver's restorative effects. The two battle ferociously, exchanging deadly blows. Finally, after a torturous duel, the demon strikes the human vitally, stunning him, leaving him vulnerable to attack. Raziel plunges the Soul Reaver through his Sarafan counterpart's chest, impaling him, and growls hatefully:

"I renounce you."

He slides the sword from his opponent's body. The Sarafan falls to the floor, dead, lying in a growing pool of his own blood. Raziel's heart races, his fury and hatred plowing through his system like a freight train, channelling sheer power into the Soul Reaver. Suddenly, the Wraith Blade re-activates itself, the disabling effect from Moebius' scepter having fully worn off. The ethereal weapon again uncoils down Raziel's arm and joins it's physical twin. The soul devourer is suddenly filled with absolute horror as he feels all of his fury and anger, which he had channelled directly into the Reaver, suddenly spike and lose control. Now joined with the Wraith Blade, the Reaver has a mind of it's own, and Raziel has fed the weapon too much. It has gone insane with sheer bloodlust.

Unable to control the weapon any longer, it viciously searches the room for another available target to feed from, and finding no one else, it turns itself upon Raziel, impaling him on the blade as it both devours his soul and leeches his blood. he realizes that this has been his fate all along, orchestrated by Moebius. He realizes with dawning horror that the ravenous soul imprisoned within the physical blade that would eventually join him as his symbiotic weapon was in fact his own soul. The Reaver shattered upon his back because the weapon was not capable of destroying a dual version of itself. it created a paradox, and the physical blade broke as a result of it. He realizes that this has always been the cycle of his fate, to be born human, killed by a future incarnation of himself, to have the Soul Reaver shattered upon his back and the Wraith Blade attached to his arm and then to be eventually devoured by the physical sword to become the symbiotic weapon for another incarnation of himself. This was his fate, to play out this purgatorial cycle for all eternity.

With absolute despair, he prepares for the final step in his fate, when suddenly he sees Kain appear from behind one of the room's pillars. He assaults Kain, asking him is he finds this funny, asking if he revels in the demon's miserable fate. Kain responds in a focused tone, telling Raziel not to fight. Suddenly, the demon feels that same sense of vertigo that he had felt before, that displacement he had felt when he had altered history by sparing Kain's life. He realizes that this is the moment Kain has been waiting for all along. This is the edge of the coin. Seizing his opportunity, Kain grabs hold of the Reaver, wrenching it free from Raziel's chest and saving his life. The Wraith Blade separates from the physical blade and all is still for but a moment.

Then it happens. The two of them feel that same sense of violent re-shuffling that they had felt earlier when Raziel had spared Kain's life. Only this time it becomes far, far worse. The room around them trembles violently, shaking dust and debris all around them. Kain's eyes widen in horror as he realizes that this time they may have strained history too far. Raziel watches Kain's face as old memories die and new memories bloom in the elder Vampire's mind. he listens as Kain says, terrified:

"My God, the Hylden. We've walked right into their trap."

Motivated now by sheer terror, Kain grabs hold of Raziel and tells him that the Heart of Darkness must not be retrieved. Janos Audron must stay dead. But Raziel does not hear him. Having been drained of his life force and having been wounded almost fatally by the Reaver, his corporeal body disseminates and he automatically shifts into the Spectral Realm. He regains his composure, and looks around him. He looks down at his arm and sees that the Wraith Blde is still there, still attached to his arm. Kain may have spared him, but all he has done is prolong Raziel's fate. He will be absorbed into the Soul Reaver, as is evidenced by the continued existence of the Wraith Blade. It's only a matter of time.

History abhors a paradox...

Tune in on Saturday for the next installment, Blood Omen 2.