| Slayers |
| Episode 6: FOCUS! Rezo's the Real Enemy! |
| In the forest, an eerie feeling was about. Lina and Zelgadis stood facing Rezo, silently. "Rezo....?" Lina asked, hesitantly. "And just what are you doing, Zelgadis? Trying to help her to escape?" Rezo asked, slowly and clearly. "Seems you weren't being quiet honest with me, were you?" He looked upwards, away from them, as if in thought. Then, he turned to face them again. "It's obvious you've turned against me." Lina's eyes widened in surprise. "Against you? As in, you were working together?!" At this remark, Zelgadis's eyes blazed with anger. "Silence! I don't have to obey you anymore!" he yelled at Rezo. "Oh... is that so?" Rezo asked, calmly, but hints of command were in his voice. The moon showed its face overhead, and the mood changed from that of hesitant and strange to that of battle and power. Rezo and Zelgadis faced each other. While Zelgadis took on a battle position, Rezo stood calmly. Lina simply leaned back, bored. "I'm here too, you know..." she muttered. Rezo started speaking in his mysterious calm tone of voice again. "So, you dare to turn against me, after I mercifully granted you the power you sought?" "What was 'merciful' about this?" Zelgadis asked back. He expressed strongly how it wasn't worth the power to be stuck in a body such as his. Arguing back, Rezo replied, as confident as ever, that it was the most efficient way to grant the power. He declared that the means mattered not; the consequences must be lived with. Concluding his opinion, Rezo got ready for action. With another eerie ring of his staff, it seemed a signal for battle. Zelgadis got ready for battle as well. A red aura glowed around Rezo, and a blue one around Zelgadis. Lina just stood back, as she'd been doing before. Suddenly, Zelgadis grabbed Lina... right across the chest. "Hey, watch what you're grabbing there!" Lina shrieked, protesting. Rezo merely gazed on, amused. "You're using her as a shield?"he asked. Lina's eyes widened. "A shield?!" she repeated. Rezo informed Zelgadis that such a tactic wouldn't work against him, but Zelgadis stared back with angry eyes. "While I have her as a shield, I can't escape you... but I'm not using her as a shield!" With that said, Zelgadis took the moment to pick up Lina, and throw her, screaming, right at Rezo with amazing strength. This, Rezo wasn't expecting. Although he couldn't see, even a blind man can tell when something this strange is going on. He easily dodged Lina, and looked toward where she had "flown" to. Zelgadis smiled. With Rezo's back turned, he ran with blinding speed past Rezo toward Lina (you couldn't even see him; it was just a blur of wind). Rezo's red robe blew from this sudden wind. "What the...?" he muttered, bewildered at what just happened, and turned back towards Lina's direction. All of this has happened in a few seconds, and Lina was still "flying" through the air. Her frightened shrieks abruptly stopped when she crashed hard into a tree. Her body naturally clung to it. "Koala..." she muttered. "Don't be an idiot!" Zelgadis yelled, running up past her. Picking her up from the tree, he beat a hasty retreat. Flying off into the air, he fired dozens of blasts at Rezo, causing an inferno on the ground. Rezo let out a yell, and the many blasts struck all around him. Suddenly, through, the inferno, Rezo could be seen. His power seemed to dispel all of the fire, and it swept around and past him. Zelgadis landed back on the ground, with Lina tucked under his arm. "Don't be so rough!" Lina yelled. "You can complain later!" he replied, and continued to run away. The area which was struck by Zelgadis's blasts continued to explode, until finally it was left barren and clear. Rezo stepped on a dry stick, cracking it. There wasn't a scratch on him. "Hmph," he muttered. Meanwhile, Zelgadis continued to sprint through the forest, carrying Lina. Just when Lina asked how far they were going, he leaped into the air at the rock ledge. They fell back toward the ground with increasing speed, but it seemed like Zelgadis had things under control. Lina, however, was not nearly as calm... Back at the place where Lina had been held prisoner, Dilgear could be heard. "What? That little witch got away?!" he exclaimed. The animal-like men around him cowered back; they were obviously under his command. Dilgear looked at the rope that had bound Lina. "That little.. she fooled us all." Dilgear then smelled something, and demanded to know who was fixing a snack at this hour. Right on cue, some more minions brought in a very charred-looking fish. "It's Noonsa!" they yelled. Dilgear gasped at the charred remains. "Who could have done this?! To do this to Noonsa..." he muttered, looking sad. "To reduce him to this crisp, delicious-looking morsel!" At this last comment, all of the minions laughed nervously, and someone could be heard licking his lips. The mood was certainly a comical one. "Noonsa, I swear I shall avenge you!" Dilgear vowed, clenching his fists. Out of the sky, a brilliant light shone down. "Then go and find Zelgadis!" Rezo's voice commanded. "Lord Rezo?" Dilgear asked, surprised. Rezo requested that Dilgear "take care" of Zelgadis; Zelgadis was a traitor. One of Dilgear's eyes shone, and, while he had had his back turned, chomping and slurping sounds could be heard. He turned his head around, and all of his servants had suspiciously full mouths, and were trying to look as innocent as possible. When Dilgear turned his head again, the noises started again. He turned back around, and all of his minions turned around. One servant, however, was still eating... When Dilgear looked down, he let out a horrified angry yell. Noonsa had been eaten! It seems he was just too tasty-looking... Dilgear turned red with anger, and his voice echoed throughout the entire building. "YOU!!! YOU ATE HIM ALL!!!" The scene faded out, and now, by a lake, it was daytime again. "Looks like we gave him the slip," Zelgadis commented. "Oh, now my nose looks like somebody smashed it in," Lina remarked, looking at her nose in the reflection of the pond. "It always looked that way," Zelgadis declared, leaning against a tree. "Now hold on!" Lina protested. A river poured into the lake, creating a relaxing atmosphere. Lina and Zelgadis were both tired from the night before (although Lina admitted that she'd mostly been carried by Zelgadis), so they decided to rest against a large rock. Zelgadis put his hood over his face. "Just don't try to get away while I'm asleep," he warned. At this, Lina grimaced, and looked guilty, her eyebrow twitching. "I wasn't even considering it!" she assured him, gesturing happily. Then, she turned the other away and sighed. "I'm so tired, and I've only got a little bit of my powers back," she commented. Zelgadis took this as meaning that Lina was starting to recover her powers, and he was correct. Lina asked if Zelgadis could start clearing up some of the story for her now, and Zelgadis agreed. "You're mixed up in this pretty far," Zelgadis commented, and so he decided that Lina deserved to know the facts. Lina requested that they first begin with "that guy". "He claims that he's Rezo, the Red Priest," Lina continued, "but who is he, really?" A flashback began of when she had first met the Red Priest. Zelgadis replied that he truly is Rezo. However, he might not be as he once was. "What's he up to?" Lina asked. "As you know, searching for something with all his might," Zelgadis explained. "Then..." Lina began. In the flashback, Rezo was saying how Zelgadis was after her, and how he was trying to resurrect Shabranigdo to destroy the world. "You aren't trying to resurrect the Dark Lord Shabranigdo. It's really Rezo, isn't it?!" Lina asked Zelgadis, in alarm. Zelgadis looked back, confused. "Dark Lord...?" he asked. Lina continued her reflections. She deduced that Zelgadis hadn't been able to get the statue from her, so he had decided to leave Rezo, and go out on his own. Zelgadis was still confused. "Shabranigdo?" he asked, again. "What do you mean?" Lina looked back, surprised. "He isn't?" Picking up a rock, Zelgadis explained that the thing Rezo had been looking for looked something like the rock he was holding. "It's quite famous," he continued. "The Philosopher's Stone." With that, he chucked the stone into the water. Lina gasped, and made a sound of amazement. Lina couldn't believe it. "You mean...?" "Yes, the Stone is hidden inside the Orihalcon Statue," Zelgadis replied. At this, Lina was surprised again. "No way!" she exclaimed. Switching to a separate scene, Gourry is seen again. He looks clueless, as always, and yawned. "Well, that didn't work," he muttered. Apparently, he had spent the entire night in the forest, hoping to meet up with Lina. Picking up the Orihalcon statue, Gourry gazed at it, wondering why it was so important. A picture of a dark stone is seen against a blue background, energy pulsing from it. "The Philosopher's Stone," Lina's voice is heard narrating. "Any sorcerer worth their salt has heard of it. There are all sorts of theories that it's a fragment of the Staff of Gods which supports the world." The Stone began to spark everywhere with red energy. Lina continued to explain that no matter what the theory was, there was one fact: It'll amplify magical power beyond imagination. With it, sorcerers could destroy entire kingdoms with its power. Blue energy was seen shooting everywhere, and a huge nuclear explosion is seen. The vision then ended. Lina is seen again. She asked what Rezo would do if he had the Stone. Lina certainly hoped that Rezo wasn't trying to conquer the world (like an old fairy tale). Zelgadis began to answer to question. "As the rumors say, Rezo was born blind," he began. Lina looked back in interest. "For that reason alone, he began to study white magic." A flashback-like vision is seen of Rezo, and here, his red aura doesn't seem so evil as just a part of him. "After he had mastered it, he traveled through the land, performing great miracles as he went." Rezo walks up to a child and his mother, although the child's face can't be seen. He gathered a ball of yellow energy in his hand, and held it up to the child's face. A sound of healing is heard, and the mother's eyes widened with joy. The child turned to embrace his mother, and she wept with happiness. "He would cure people's blindness..." Zelgadis continued. Rezo's staff rung once, lonely and sad, and its sound echoed away into the air. "But while he could heal their eyes... for some reason, he couldn't heal his own." The flashback ended, and Zelgadis continues to tell the story. He explains that after white magic, Rezo mastered both shamanism and black magic. Still, his eyes refused to open. "So, to finally cure his blindness..." Zelgadis began. "He went after the legendary, lost Philosopher's Stone," Lina replied, finishing. Zelgadis nodded. Lina was convinced that now, she had gotten the story. The stuff about reviving the Dark Lord was a lie; it was merely to get her off track, so he could get the statue. Zelgadis began walking off, and stood next to the lake. Lina looked after him. There was still one thing she didn't understand. "So why are you so determined to keep the statue from him?" she asked. "I don't want to interfere with him," Zelgadis replied. "I want to kill him! And for that I need the Stone!" Lina looked back, surprised. When she asked if Rezo was as bad as Zelgadis made him seem, Zel replied that it was true. He wasn't strong enough right now, so he needed the Stone. "Why did I ever..?" Zelgadis began, and another flashback began. It seemed similar to his previous dream, in that, he was seen training in the woods, swinging his sword. "Hah! Hah!" Zelgadis yelled as he swung, until his sword struck a log. Then, he paused to gasp for breath. The eerie lighting in the forest was suddenly broken of its tranquility by an even more unearthly, familiar, ringing. Zelgadis looked about to see what was happening, and, looking up, he saw Rezo. He gasped, and Rezo began to talk. "You wish to be strong, Zelgadis?" Rezo asked, softly. Zelgadis merely gaped at him, his eyes wavering. "Help me to search for the Philosopher's Stone... and I will grant you power beyond imagination. You don't want the power?" His eyes closed as always, Rezo put his staff close to Zelgadis, and it crackled with red energy. A blast was fired, and as it started to consume Zelgadis's being, he let out a strangled yell. The vision ended, and Zelgadis's face is seen again. His eyes waver with the memory. "I was a fool not to realize the meaning of those words." Lina looked like an outsider again, and she muttered, "Uh-oh, he's getting depressed again." Trying another approach, Lina asked Zelgadis how he knew Rezo... and was startled to know that Rezo was Zelgadis's great-grandfather. Zelgadis explained that he didn't know exactly how old Rezo was. "Yes, the blood of Rezo flows through my veins," Zelgadis stated simply. "I guess I shouldn't have asked," Lina half-sighed. "Now what about we get some sleep?" At this, Zelgadis smiled, and they were just starting to settle down, when suddenly a bunch of birds flew into the air. Lina and Zelgadis gasped; they knew something was about to happen. Gourry sat by a lake, fishing, and wishing that Lina was there. He complained that Lina would be able to get him breakfast if she was. Lina and Zelgadis were now crouching behind a large rock. "We're surrounded. Twenty to thirty trolls. Rezo isn't with them," Zelgadis reported; it seemed he could sense the opponent. However, he was confident that they could take their enemies down. The voice of Dilgear called for them to come out, and since they wouldn't get anywhere by hiding, Lina exposed herself and Zelgadis by standing up. Dilgear walked up, and said he was "flattered" that his name was remembered. Zelgadis asked why Dilgear wasn't loyal to him, and Dilgear explained that he only answered to Rezo. "You, a mere man-beast, think you can defeat me?" Zelgadis asked, calmly. "We'll see what a 'mere man-beast' can do!" Dilgear declared confidently. Just like that, the battle began. The trolls that had surrounded Dilgear charged at them, and Lina was swept into the battle instantly, though she was helpless without her spells. "I'll teach you to fool around with a girl that's helpless!" she yelled, and let out a gasp of surprise as she turned to find a troll about to hit her with a giant club. Lina's gasp merged with Gourry's sound of disgust as the scene shifted back to Gourry, Next to a fire, Gourry was trying to cook the fish he had caught. "Ugh! Another raw one!" he complained; he obviously wasn't very patient. A slash is seen, and Zelgadis is seen; he'd taken down the troll, and saved Lina's life. "This'll take forever," Zelgadis decided, surveying all the trolls. He started to chant an incantation... "Dug Haut?!" Lina exclaimed. Zelgadis cast the Dug Haut, and it seemed that it was an immensely powerful spell. The ground shook, and energy pulsed everywhere. Placing his hand to the ground, flame-like energy shot everywhere from where Zelgadis had touched. The earth responded by having giant spikes made of hard earth shoot out of the ground, though not out of the ground, and impaling many trolls as a result. The trolls simply broke into dust as they died. Dilgear was carried up by one of the spikes, but he wasn't injured. He hopped down off it, and commented that Zelgadis was "not bad". However, he was confident that Zelgadis couldn't defeat Dilgear with his "shamanist tricks". They agreed to have a simple sword-fight, with no other tricks. Zelgadis shoved Lina out of the way so she wouldn't get hurt. "A sorceress without sorcery," was useless, Zelgadis stated. The fight began; the two drew their swords, and after an opening maneuver, they clanged together, with them both pressing down to try to get the upper hand. "You're quite good!" Zelgadis commented. "I'm happy to hear that!" Dilgear replied. They continued to fight. "Zel!" Lina yelled, but she was interrupted by a troll that survived Zelgadis's spell. Running from the troll, Lina obviously was looking forward to the return of her magic. Swords slashed again. Dodging a slash from Zelgadis, Dilgear unexpectedly jumped sky-high, over one of the spikes from the Dug-Haut (very tall), and chopped some of it off with his sword. The earth/rocks rained down, and Zelgadis looked in determination. Lina continued to run from the troll, and then she threw her cape over his face to blind him. She was able to manage a Sleep spell to make the troll unconscious, since it was an easy spell. Lina turned in surprise when she heard a loud noise of something collapsing. "Zelgadis!" she exclaimed. Rocks were seen falling everywhere, but Zelgadis was able to dodge the debris that was falling. Dust was everywhere, and Dilgear suddenly launched at Zelgadis from the dust. He let out a yell of battle, and ran toward Zelgadis. Against a dark background, a red slash is seen. Lina continued to run toward the scene of the battle; it seemed that someone had been greatly injured. After getting there, she gasped. Zelgadis had his sword in Dilgear's shoulder, and informed Dilgear that he had been underestimated. Dilgear was grimaced as these words were said, and then Zelgadis removed his sword. "You thought you could get me in the middle of all this smoke!" "I'd say you're the one who needs to prepare himself," Dilgear replied. Zelgadis's eyes widened in surprise as Dilgear's shoulder would suddenly healed. "You forgot that I'm a werewolf-troll mix, I see," Dilgear said, grinning. Zelgadis admitted he had forgotten, though he now raised his sword to finish Dilgear off. "Uh-oh, he's leaving himself wide open!" Lina yelled. "You fool!" shouted Dilgear, and he slashes Zelgadis across, looking back after his job was done. Zelgadis is still seen holding his sword over his head, and as Dilgear holds his sword, the piece near the end used to slash Zelgadis suddenly chips off. "What?!" Dilgear exclaimed. Zelgadis looked back; his stony skin had protected him entirely, since he was part golem. "It's times like this that I'm glad Rezo gave me this monstrous body," Zelgadis gloated, smiling. "If you want to kill me with a sword, it'd better be the Sword of Light!" Dilgear gaped back at Zelgadis; he knew that he'd been defeated. Shaking, he sheathed his sword, and ran away, swearing to tell Lord Rezo the news. Lina, meanwhile, praises Zelgadis's actions, and is quite enthusiastic about it. Getting more serious, Lina commented, "Well, it looks like Rezo knows where we are." She asked if there was anywhere else they could go to hide, and Zelgadis replied that he knew not of another location. A more cheerful mood starts up, and Lina suggests, "You'd better come with me, then!" "Where are you going?" Zelgadis asked, and Lina replied that she was headed with Atlas City, where she would probably meet up with Gourry. "That should change the situation a little for us." Zelgadis smiled, and his look was genuinely happy. "I suppose I've got no choice," he replied. "All right. Then we're off to Atlas City!" Lina declared, and they headed off. |
| Overall Episode: 6 |
| Episode 2 of Video 2 |
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