Chapter 56: At Hell's End
Once Garo Ganjora had landed and showed off its purple flaming swords, the Fierce Deity knew that this was going to be it. Without hesitation, the Fierce Deity attacked, intending to eliminate the threat once and for all before it would become too strong to defeat, raising his Golden Double Helix Sword, intending to cut its head off. However, Garo Ganjora simply raised his purple flaming blades and blocked the incoming strike with ease, much to the Fierce Deity's shock and horror.
"Weak… very weak… DIE!" Garo Ganjora said, before launching a powerful dark magic attack that enveloped the Fierce Deity, causing him to scream as apparently the sphere that appeared was doing a different kind of damage to him, before it exploded, sending him flying… right before his body began to glow… and promptly exploded, after which Link and all of the Seven Sages fell out of the explosion… as if the attack had dispelled the fusion of the group in a single strike… and from the looks of it, the attack also destroyed the Fierce Deity's Mask, since it did not fall out of the explosion, except for some rapidly disintegrating debris.
While this pleased Garo Ganjora, it puzzled him as to why the Golden Double Helix Sword was still present and completely intact, even as he watched the group tumble backwards, each of them with their faces down, although Link regained balance and got back to his feet as he landed, forcing him to stop his skidding, taking a moment to catch his breath, growling. Seeing as the Golden Double Helix Sword was within his reach, Link grabbed it and picked it up, similar to how he wielded the large Great Fairy's Sword he once received from the Great Fairy of Kindness in Ikana Canyon, before straightening his stance to properly face Garo Ganjora and look him straight in the eye. It was this that made Garo Ganjora blink… as Link's face at first appeared normal, were it not for the facial markings that were normally present on the Fierce Deity's Mask! It was as if he somehow retained those markings, but whether this was for decoration or something else was that Garo Ganjora didn't know. But the biggest shocker came for Garo Ganjora when Zelda got up to face him, as he spotted that the princess had the SAME facial markings that Link had… and from the looks of it as each of the Sages got up, each of the Sages also had those markings. But this was something that Garo Ganjora quickly put to the side as he saw that each of them was ready to attack, ready to fight until they couldn't fight anymore. This angered Garo Ganjora to no end, now moving to action.
"You shall not stop me, whatever it takes!" It said.
"We'll see about that!" Link said, his sword ready as it shimmered at his command, just as Zelda came to his side.
With this, the battle proceeded once more, this time in a 8 vs. 1 fashion once more as Link and the Sages engaged Garo Ganjora together, whose eyes were glowing menacingly as it charged at them in kind. Holding his blades in a scissors-like motion to cut through anything in its path, Garo Ganjora rushed at the group, only for the Sages to avoid him, while Link raised his shield to block the strike. However, Garo Ganjora teleported up in the sky and attempted to land on top of Link, which didn't succeed as Link rolled out of the way, recollecting himself before delivering the first strike against the menace, who promptly responded by smacking Link to the side before belching out a stream of blue fire at him. Zelda pulled him out of harm's way, before firing a Silver Light Arrow at Garo Ganjora, striking him in the side. While Link got back to his feet, Saria and Ruto both engaged the enemy, with Ruto firing her Nice Boomerang to stun him so Saria could strike him with a Silver Bomb Arrow, which hit its mark. Angered, Garo Ganjora powered a magic blast and fired it towards Saria, only for Saria to knock it back, this time engaging in the Dead Man's Volley herself for a brief moment, before she smacked the blast hard enough for it to hit Garo Ganjora, causing him to howl in pain as he was zapped by his own attack. This moment allowed the group to attack him fiercely, using Silver Light Arrows, before coming up close and dealing some heavy damage in melee attacks, with Link being at the front wielding his massive blade, ducking at the right time as Darunia came in with a Fierce Goron Fire Punch, before Ruto hopped over the Goron Leader and planted her feet in Garo Ganjora's face, leaping off of him so Saria, Zelda, Impa and Nabooru came in with several sword strikes, after which Rauru finalized the attack with several powerful punches reinforced by the evil smiting Light power, before Garo Ganjora threw everyone off, summoning tendrils to even the odds in his favor, smacking the group around or grabbing them and tossing them around wherever it was needed. In retaliation, Saria summoned vines of her own to keep the tendrils at bay for as long as possible, before she focused her powers to create a set of powerful, stiff leaves which she used to toss at Garo Ganjora, being akin to throwing knives. Garo Ganjora on his turn was teleporting around like the Garo Master, intending to surprise the group wherever it was convenient for him. But Link knew the tactics of the Garo Master and knew to anticipate, remaining on the move so Garo Ganjora couldn't land on him and potentially crush him underneath his feet in the process. Ruto summoned water spouts from below in her attempts to extinguish the flames that were surrounding the axe and the blades to no avail, as Garo Ganjora defended himself against them, although this did leave him open for Nabooru to perform a spinning Jump Attack with her arms outstretched to let her Blades cut into her target as she spun mid-flight, almost like a sawblade. In response, Garo Ganjora elbowed the Gerudo leader in the back, sending her flying against Impa, knocking the two women over in the process.
Darunia came in with a Spiked Goron Roll, having moved to a distance to power it up properly, running over Garo Ganjora successfully, causing the menace to shriek in pain as it was hit by the spikes multiple times before Darunia broke off his assault and delivered a Goron Pound to send Ganjora flying forward. This in turn gave Rauru the chance to pelt him with powerful Light Spheres, but while Ganjora was hit by several of them, he fired a blast of his own that knocked Rauru backwards, causing the elder Light Sage to grunt as he landed. Continuing his assault, Garo Ganjora unleashed his Blue Fire Breath for a second time, which Saria narrowly avoided by using a wall of vines as a shield, which was promptly burnt to cinders as Saria used a backflip to get out of the firing range. Nabooru then charged ahead at him, her swords ready. Garo Ganjora saw her and moved to intercept, only for Nabooru to jump upward, revealing Link and Zelda whom managed to strike the stunned Garo Ganjora in the sides simultaneously, before kicking him in his rear to send him flying forward, right on time to let his chin meet Darunia's fist as the latter performed a vicious uppercut to send the menace up in the air, where Nabooru intercepted him with several slashes in the back, before Impa joined the assault on the front. Shortly after that though, Garo Ganjora caught both women in his tendrils and smashed them down to the ground, before powering a large sphere of purple fire which he tossed at the group. Link was having none of that and charged directly at the sphere, hacking ferociously at it with his might blade with the aid of Ruto as she fired a Water Beam which eventually dispelled the sphere, allowing Link to charge ahead. Garo Ganjora had his blades ready to intercept him, but Link was faster and dealt a vicious strike against Garo Ganjora's Mask, leaving a cut in it and sending Garo Ganjora flying again, although he teleported before he could gain momentum from it, landing at a close distance of Link and Zelda both, before using his Blue Fire Breath to set them ablaze. Both Link and Zelda screamed as they were burned by the attack, but they extinguished the fire rapidly by rolling over the wet, mirrored floor just as Ruto aided them by dousing them gently in water to prevent them from gaining serious burning wounds, leaving only parts of their skin, but primarily the clothes, cinched or burnt because of it. In retaliation, Saria ensnared Garo Ganjora's arms in her vines in an attempt to sap him of his strength, but Garo Ganjora's blades easily cut through the vines like a knife through butter, before smacking the Forest Sage aside as if she was a mere nuisance. This didn't sit well with Link as he took out a Silver Ice Arrow and shot it at Garo Ganjora, freezing him for a second or so before the ice broke around him. Garo Ganjora shot a tendril at Link to catch him, only for him to block it with his Sword, the movement of it beginning to cut into the tendril itself as it tried to get around it to still reach the young hero, only for Darunia to grab it and yanked on it, pulling Garo Ganjora towards him and clocked him in the face with a Fierce Goron Punch, sending him careening backwards for a bit, only for Darunia to run up to him and used a Shoulder Ram to make him fall backwards on the ground. Getting up, the enraged Garo Ganjora then proceeded to use his tendrils to grab the group each and proceeded to zap them with an electric surge, but Ruto countered it after a few seconds by using a flow of water to ignite a feedback that zapped Garo Ganjora in turn, making him drop the group as a whole. Gathering themselves back together, Link and the Sages prepared for another assault, watching as Garo Ganjora put his purple flaming swords away for the moment, now retrieving his green-flaming battle axe, holding it in a style akin to the Iron Knuckles.
Being alert, Link and the Sages did their best to stay clear of the axe while at the same time wanting to end this once and for all. As Garo Ganjora approached, Link began to study his movements, as if he was remembering the patterns of the Iron Knuckles in the first place, narrowing his eyes.
"Keep your distance and pelt him with explosives wherever you can," Link said softly to where only the Sages could hear him while letting his own sword shimmer, "if we can get rid of his weapons, perhaps it will give us the opportunity we need to end it."
"Right, this has gone for long enough." Zelda said with a nod, observing the numerous wounds she, Link and the Sages had, although Saria did her best to cast a healing spell in conjunction with Rauru and Nabooru in times she had a reprieve from the continuous attacks.
Garo Ganjora chuckled at this.
"What are you muttering about? Chanting a little prayer before your death?!" He cackled as he approached them.
"You wish." Link said, getting up, not caring that the ground around them as well as his clothes were practically soiled with blood, while his clothes, as well as those of the Sages, were tattered and torn all over.
Garo Ganjora scowled.
"You know, if you would have just let me take your powers and just put you out of your misery, you wouldn't be dealing with this pain." He said.
"It's not over yet, Ganjora, we're not finished yet!" Zelda growled.
"Then let me finish it for you! I'll make it quick and painless, considering what you had to endure." Garo Ganjora retorted.
"Over our dead bodies!" Darunia said, pumping up his fists as he was ready to join in the assault.
"We will see." Garo Ganjora said, swinging his battle axe to create a wave of green fire that spread towards the group.
The group grunted as the flames hit them, but thanks to Ruto having doused the group with water beforehand and Darunia's own rock-hard body while shielding the Zora Princess, none of the group was set on fire this time around. Link retaliated on his own terms by unleashing several Sword Beams that struck Garo Ganjora, zapping him all over as he howled in pain, stunning him long enough for Zelda and Saria to strike at him using Silver Light Arrows. This in turn allowed Darunia to get in close with a vicious Fire Punch combo, while Saria summoned vines to keep the tendrils at bay for as long as possible, while Nabooru gave her some relief by cutting the most vicious ones off, putting them out of commission. Garo Ganjora then smacked Nabooru and Saria down with one of the remaining tendrils, before shoving Ruto to the side, punching Darunia with them and smacking Rauru and Impa backwards, leaving only Link and Zelda as the two charged at him. Garo Ganjora then teleported upward like the Garo Master, but Link anticipated it and, taking Zelda with him, rolled to the side to avoid the landing spot of Garo Ganjora, before slashing at the monster's legs, causing it to shriek in pain, before turning around, attempting to immolate the two once more using its Blue Fire Breath. This time the attempt failed again, partially due to the two children moving out of the way as well as their soaked outfits delivering a slight bit of fire-proof protection to a degree as the flames didn't get stuck on them, instead being rather extinguished quickly. In frustration, Garo Ganjora swung his axe again, nearly decapitating Link and Zelda both in a single strike, but because the two ducked under the swing in time, they were spared, although their respective hats were caught by the axe and were taken off instead while also being cut in two. Not letting it get to them, both Link and Zelda managed to get in close and struck Garo Ganjora in the abdomen several times, before the menace grabbed them using its tendrils and smashed the two together, before pulling them close, wrapping them up in a single tendril, bringing them close to his face, growling menacingly through his mask, putting extra pressure on them as he pressed them together, as if wanting to squash them. However, Impa reacted and in a swift motion she severed the tendril that held the two children captive, only for the part that remained attached to Garo Ganjora to smack her and the children both to the side, before teleporting away, intending to crush them, only to be intercepted by Darunia using his rock-hard back as a shield, which in turn knocked Garo Ganjora backwards, giving Nabooru the opportunity to slash at the monster while he recovered, narrowly avoiding being cut across the belly by his axe in the process. The momentum of the swing however left Garo Ganjora open for a counterattack which Rauru seized to blast him with a powerful Light Sphere, stunning him long enough for Ruto and Saria to recover on their turn, with Ruto blasting Garo Ganjora with a water geyser from below, before Saria once more utilized her Stabbing Leaves technique, tossing razor-sharp leaves like throwing knives at Garo Ganjora to cut him everywhere she could, managing to sever two more tendrils before Ganjora teleported away, this time behind the Forest Sage. However Darunia clocked him and punched him before he could harm Saria, while Link and Zelda joined in with a Double Jump Attack.
Zelda did note that Link seemingly had no difficulties in wielding the oversized Golden Double Helix Sword by himself, she mused that all the travels made a positive influence on his strength. That and the use of the Goron Bracelet helped a lot with the situation at hand, as well as Link's earlier experience with using the Great Fairy's Sword he obtained in Ikana. Link still did have the sword, but he didn't use it that much in favor of his Gilded Sword and his shield, which in turn granted Link a greater defense capability in order to block incoming strikes, something that was impossible with wielding two-handed swords after all. While Saria did use her own Sword and Shield where necessary, she also utilized the aid of the Forest Spirits in combat due to her being the Forest Sage. This in turn allowed her to summon the vines and leaves whenever she pleased, as well as using their powers to heal her friends and other comrades she had around. This in turn made Saria almost become the embodiment of life, as she now deployed multiple vines to help her closest friends recover more rapidly than Ganjora did, although Ganjora did his best to sever the vines on occasion to disrupt the healing, despite the remaining Sages doing their very best to keep him occupied. Still, this didn't leave Saria out of the fight, showing that she is quite formidable by herself. While Darunia was without a doubt the toughest of the group, Saria was far more agile and capable of landing in sneak attacks due to her small size, just like Ruto, Link and Zelda. Nabooru and Impa on their turn also showed a nice display of their agility, making them also quite a tough target for Ganjora to hit, although he did score in several blows against them nonetheless.
"Persistent little pests!" Garo Ganjora snarled at the group, "I should have killed the last three of you as well or banished you all to the gap between dimensions! You do not belong in my Kingdom!"
"What Kingdom?" Nabooru snapped back, slashing at his legs, "You're the king of NOTHING!"
In response, Ganjora grabbed her by using one of his tendrils.
"I am the destined ruler of our world and don't you forget it!" He growled at her, before tossing her into Rauru, who grunted as the both of them were sent backwards by a meter or so. This only earned Garo Ganjora another fist in the face courtesy of Darunia.
"You're the destined ruler of NOTHING, fool!" The Goron leader said, punching the menace right under his chin, comically flattening his jaws for a split second before Garo Ganjora was sent flying for a bit, before recovering and blasting Darunia with a magic sphere attack.
Although Darunia was blasted away, Impa took his place right away, using a shadow clone to batter him around, slicing at him vigorously before the menace destroyed the shadow clone and knocked Impa against Darunia, injuring her in the process. Link and Saria then both attacked simultaneously while Zelda and Ruto approached from the other side, but before they could strike, Garo Ganjora's tendrils grabbed them and smashed them against each other, nearly cracking Link and Saria's skulls in the process, forcing Saria to once again let vines appear to heal those injuries as quickly as possible. Zelda and Ruto got better off due to Ruto using a water sphere to cushion the impact, but it didn't leave them unscathed either as both had a serious headache due to the impact. Regardless, Zelda retaliated with firing a Silver Fire Arrow, setting Garo Ganjora ablaze for the time being, although he rapidly extinguished the flames, only to see a raging Darunia come at him before he could move to hit Zelda, opting to strike her with a tendril instead before Darunia reached him.
Darunia clobbered Garo Ganjora several times across the face, followed by a Light Sphere by Rauru and several sword sparks courtesy of Nabooru, before the enemy teleported away to the far back, charging up another powerful magic sphere which was intended to finish the fight.
"Now, feel the TRUE taste of Hell!" Garo Ganjora roared, preparing to throw it to the group in a last ditch attempt to finally kill them.
However, Link and Zelda both clocked it, noting its instability and reacted accordingly..
"You first, Ganjora!" Both the hero and the princess shouted, firing their Silver Light Arrows, striking their mark, causing Ganjora to howl in pain as this happened, causing him to lose control of his attack which fell down on top of him, causing it to explode.
While Ganjora survived the explosion, he did lose his grip on his swords and his battle-axe, which were torn off from him due to the detonation of the magic sphere attack. It was at this moment that Link saw his chance and, with a burst of energy that made his facial markings glow for a split second, he promptly charged straight at the menace, running at high speed while having the sword tightly in his hands, the sword itself beginning to shimmer as gold sparks were flying from it. Once he was at full speed, Link then leapt towards Garo Ganjora, who was stunned at seeing him coming, before he swung his oversized sword at the monster, catching him in the side, right where the scar was, with Garo Ganjora grunting a little as the sword met his flesh.
Despite the sword being lodged into his side to a degree, Garo Ganjora just stood there, smirking a little as he saw Link struggling to push on. However, he blinked as he saw Link actually shifting his stance, looking him straight in the eye. At this moment, Link pushed on with all his might, the energy on his sword beginning to get more intense as veins began to visibly pulse within the bare parts of Link's body, being his neck, his calves and his underarms as well as around his forehead and on the facial markings. Before Garo Ganjora could throw Link off of him, Zelda came to the hero's aid and grabbed the sword as well as Link himself, pouring her own energy into him and the sword to assist him, not caring if she would be put in a similar state as Link was. Saria also came over to assist, followed by Ruto, Nabooru and Impa, adding more pressure onto Garo Ganjora. This situation intensified when Rauru and Darunia joined in, creating an odd situation where eight people were appearing to hold each other as well as a single sword against a menace who had apparently no trouble in fighting each of them off. Garo Ganjora was now using his tendrils to grab onto Link and the Seven Sages, seeing them struggling greatly against the pressure put on them as the pulsing veins were now so thick and throbbing so intensely they were about to burst right open. When trying to push them away however, he blinked at seeing Link actually pushing the tendril on his face backwards, while boldly taking a step forward to shift his stance and weight, effectively stabilizing himself with his friends following suit, feeling that the sword was beginning to break through Garo Ganjora's defenses.
"That's… it… keep… going…" Link uttered through clenched teeth.
Nodding, the Sages banded together with Link, supporting each other as they pushed on, while Garo Ganjora did his best to throw them off. This all didn't help him very much as a sphere was beginning to form on the sword, right on the level with Garo Ganjora's belly as it intensified. Feeling Garo Ganjora buckling under the pressure, Link and the Sages pushed on, finally able to push the sword all the way through, leaving a deep cut within Garo Ganjora's gut, while the sphere itself remained in place as the group was caught in the momentum of the sword's swing as Garo Ganjora was lifted off his feet…
With a deafening explosion that shook the direct vicinity of the area around, the sphere suddenly detonated in a mighty wave of magic and energy combined in practically all colors of the rainbow, mixing red, orange, gold, yellow, lime green, green, blue and purple all around the outer area of the beam itself, while the center of the beam was a brilliant mixture of gold and white, engulfing Garo Ganjora in its wake. Garo Ganjora was helpless as the entire beam racked his entire being, tearing through him like a knife through butter. Garo Ganjora's eyes widened at the sudden pain, when suddenly a loud cracking sound was heard through the diminishing sound from the explosion, as the beam slowly dissipated, leaving Link, Zelda, Saria, Ruto, Nabooru, Darunia, Impa and Rauru neatly in place, their bodies calming down from the pressure, but they could see that the damage was done; Garo Ganjora's chest plate, which consisted of Majora's Mask due to the fusion between Ganondorf and Majora was sporting some serious cracks all over, coupled with similar cracks being present all over his entire body, like bursts within a glass or porcelain surfaces as if they were busted. Even his facial mask had a set of cracks all over them, indicating that his power was now being disrupted.
"W… W… WHAT?!" Garo Ganjora shouted as he floated down to the ground after the massive beam had dissipated, taking several steps backwards in shock as he was now obviously damaged, "IMPOSSIBLE!"
He was horrified to see himself so badly damaged, but what startled him more were Link and the Sages were approaching him, determination all across their faces.
"This ends now!" Link said, his fist and his sword ready, while Garo Ganjora could have sworn that the facial markings on Link AND the Sages altogether were starting to pulse…
