In the first age, in the first battle, when the shadows first lengthened, one stood. Burned by the embers of Armageddon, his soul blistered by the fires of Hell and tainted beyond ascension, he chose the path of perpetual torment. In his ravenous hatred he found no peace; and with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him. He wore the crown of the Night Sentinels, and those that tasted the bite of his sword named him... the Doom Slayer. -- Anon Guest
There were other names. The Soul of Vengeance, The Terror, The Unstoppable Force. They go on a bit. Those lucky enough to survive his Wrath spread tales of what he did to the enemy. Word got around. Those he did not kill were those who did not catch his ire. Those who caught his ire... did not live to tell the tale.
First, he came for evils that were wont to destroy the world. Those who merely wanted to rule it. Those who wished to rule with an iron fist, however, gained the Slayer's attention. There was always another evil. There was, after all, a lot of world and only one Slayer. For that, many villains were grateful.
If you are literally the worst? They say the Slayer will come for you. Those caught in the edges can't decide if they are good or bad, but they stop the greater evil and that has to be good? Yet they don't seem to care about the wreckage they make along the way. That has to be evil. Nobody had ever been close enough to the Slayer for long enough to ask them about it. Not until the third age, when war was waged more with paper and fiduciary backstabbing than the type with knives.
Nevertheless, the Slayer came for evil at its most vile. Still with sword and bloodied armour. Still with vengeance burning in his eyes. Still leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Still leaving dead bodies. Still avoiding the agents of the law who tried to stop him.
After a few dozen incidents, the agents of the law stopped trying to stop him. It always ended in carnage. After all, another way that evil works is to make it illegal for good to succeed. In many cases, the agents of law are fighting instead for evil. Like all bullies, they melt away in the face of significant opposition.
Those who survive have told the tale. Every time the Slayer comes after evil, he knows their name. He announces his purpose. He always says something like, "I am here for them, not for you." And those with sense stand aside.
He is unstoppable. He has existed for eons. He comes only for those who do the most harm for their own gain. Even those who veil themselves in a veneer of virtue.
This particular overlord styled themself as a philanthropist. Donating seemingly huge amounts of money to help the deserving poor. Those who dove into the details uncovered disturbing things... things like: they ran the charity through a series of shell companies and sock puppets. The money that went out to those who passed through the red tape was significantly less than the money that went in. Most of the finances that went in were funneled through those shell companies back to the overlord. The red tape process was deliberately labyrinthine and byzantine. Made to discourage even the desperate from applying.
Worst of all, the charity itself would not be necessary at all if the overlord just paid their employees a flourishing wage. But all of that would come out after the fact, when those of more noble intent attempted to take over the charity.
Officer Dan had been the only one to respond to the call, despite older and more experienced force members telling her to keep away. This is the Slayer, they had said, Keep away or you won't make it.
She only had her stun gun. No body armour. Just her uniform and the spirit of the law behind her.
The thing that descended the stairs was not human. Not as she knew humanity. This was a creature from the uncanny valley. As human as humans were at the very dawn of war. The spirit of vengeance melded whole with raw justice. An eye for an eye wrapped in blind rage. He was cleaning his blade with a piece of the overlord's tie.
Dan's hand shook as she aimed for a place where the stun darts would hit skin. Her voice trembled as she commanded, "Stop. In the name of the law."
He slowed in his already slow plod down the stairs, fresh blood dripping from his armaments. He considered her like a scientist might consider a fascinating new bacterium. For the first time in millennia, he spoke.
"You believe you are fighting for what is right," he said. His words were weirdly accented. Without a place or, more accurately, without a place that was known to modern minds. "I can not harm you."
This did nothing to add courage to her heart. Her knees shook. She held on by a thread to her instinct to just cut and run. "You... are under arrest on... suspicion of mmm-murder," she quavered. "Put the sword down and kneel on the ground." She clamped her teeth tight around a stuttering 'please' and was grateful that it didn't escape.
At least he stopped his advance. The sword, clean now, lowered but did not leave his hand. "You are a blade of law. I am a blade of justice. My work never ends. Like you, I swore a vow. Unlike you, I can not be foresworn. I can not be stopped. There is more injustice to set right." Then he vanished like mist.
Dan fired her stun gun. Instants too late. Everyone watching the footage later agreed that, were it not for this surprise skill, she would have hit him. It was up to debate as to whether a standard issue stun gun would have done anything against a creature who even bullets wouldn't slow.
Dan won an award for bravery, feeling like a coward. Everyone around her said that it took the utmost courage to stand her ground against the Slayer.
When she met him again, trying to defend another overlord's death, she had better arms, and the knowledge that no bullets would stop him. Once again, he studied her with fascination. Once again, that gaze caused her to fight fainting dead away.
She knew she was in the way. She knew he killed anyone who stood in his way. She stood in the way anyway.
"You believe you are fighting for what is right," he said again. "I can not harm you. I must fulfill my vow."
"Or what?" she asked. "What happens when you stop?"
"Evil," he answered. "I have come for Van Smythe-Vissingr. I must strike them down and stop his evil."
"He hasn't done anything evil. He's made great strides for humanitarian causes."
"He is a hypocrite," said the Slayer. Then he listed the sins. Like the last overlord Dan attempted to avenge, this was another one who put up a veneer of virtue to hide the rot within. He had an exact tally of the deaths caused by various actions, the Slayer had chapter and verse of the weaselly wording in the benevolent-sounding laws he had championed. He had a litany of the tangles of red tape that prevented the largess that the billionaire was allegedly funding.
Dan would be fired for this, she knew it. Yet, also, Mr Smythe-Vissingr had also indirectly killed her auntie. She put her gun away and stepped aside. She said, "Where do I sign up?"
He did not answer. Not until his grizzly work was done. After the fact, after the blade of justice was clean, he stopped once more. He offered the hilt of his blade, which was melded with his hand.
"You will not need food, nor drink, nor rest until your work is done," he warned. "This is both a blessing and a curse. You will be called to the building where the evil is once their sins are sufficient. You will know all their sins. You will be compelled to end the source of evil. You will not age. You will not die. You will not be able to harm those who believe they are fighting for what is right. Do you accept that burden?"
"I've had enough of being fooled by rich farts who only show their shine," she said. "People like him have left me alone and miserable."
"Will you give your life to justice? Will you take the double-edged blade until evil is no more? Will you swear it on the powers of all that is divine?"
She put her hand on the pommel. "I so swear." Metal melded with her hand, and when she moved away, there was another sword. She felt the call to justice almost immediately. She could feel the evil inherent in the world. She knew what they had done wrong. She felt her outrage building, and the need to cut it out of the world.
"We may not meet again," he said. "Yet I am glad that there is another to take up the work."
There is always another evil, but Dan felt compelled to say, "May the work be halved."
"We can hope," said the Slayer.
"Do you have a name?" she asked.
"I used to," he said. "It has been a long time since I needed it. You, too, will lose your name in time."
Fair enough. Justice was calling. It could not be ignored.
There would be even more ages to pass before there would be another blade like them, but evil still persisted.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / jc_cards]
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