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Zasalamel was originally
born into a Sumerian tribe formed hundreds or thousands of years ago in
charge of protecting the holy sword, Soul Calibur, embedded with the knowledge
that wielding such power was forbidden. This strict edict existed to prevent
the holy sword from being used for personal gain. Zasalamel, young and
talented in both mind and body, was angered by this edict's failure to
create a loophole that would allow the tribe to use the weapon in case
a crisis were to occur.
To destroy this foolish
tradition, he prepared to take the sword into his own hands, but the tribe
discovered his plans, and then proceeded to crush his arm and exile him
from the tribe as punishment. Zasalamel was stricken with bitterness and
despair, leading him to the pursuit of ancient knowledge, particularly
the art of reincarnation. Finding this secret art which many had sought
and failed to obtain within knowledge thought to have been lost long ago,
he spent many years studying and training until the power became his own.
However, he could not have anticipated the cost of such knowledge; for
every time he died, he experienced a nihilistic feeling as if sinking into
hell, and a pain as if his body were being ground into dust. He had distorted
the laws of causality set down by the gods and he had torn off the shackles
of time.
In exchange for obtaining
eternal life, Zasalamel had lost peaceful death. He reincarnated repeatedly
over many generations, gradually losing the initial joy as his existence
waned and the pain of death increased. Any enthusiasm he felt for living
was gone many lifetimes ago, but he could never escape the eternal circle
of reincarnation. During one of his lives, he had taken possession of Soul
Edge in hopes of using it to commit suicide and be freed from reincarnation
once and for all; but he ended up a servant of the sword and bonded with
the sword until the last of that life faded.
In this current incarnation,
he turned his hope to the Soul Calibur and returned to his birthplace to
take the spirit sword back. But when he reached his homeland, the tribe
was gone and the site was emptied without a trace of anything that had
happened. Zasalamel tracked the whereabouts of the Soul Edge by following
closely the massacres caused by the Evil Seed and Nightmare, learning that
the Soul Calibur had finally reappeared as it was destined to whenever
the Soul Edge became too powerful. He hoped that he may be able to obtain
both of them at once; but unfortunately, the Soul Edge had lost half of
its body and become sealed, and the Soul Calibur had been infected by evil,
gradually losing its strength. In order to revive the Soul Edge, he lent
his power to its will.
Zasalamel resurrected
the dead armor of the azure knight, Nightmare; and in order to aid Nightmare
and increase the Soul Edge's power, he needed to create conflict within
the mind of Siegfried Schtauffen,
the possessor of both swords, by searching out survivors of Nightmare's
carnage and directing them toward Siegfried. He figured that the strong
hatred and hostility these surviving few bore would be enough to shatter
Siegfried's will; and if the Soul Edge grew in power, the Soul Calibur
would regain its strength as well, as told in the legends of Zasalamel's
former tribesmen. After spreading his influence, Zasalamel lurks in the
background, waiting for Siegfried's mind to be shattered; and when it is,
Zasalamel will be ready to take advantage of the situation and steal both
swords, hopefully to use this ultimate power in accomplishing his final
death.
 
 
  
 
 
 
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