Good news everyone. This fight won't drag on forever like with Griever.
Him?
Bahamut couldn't believe it. Out of all the foes that they had fought...out of all the people in the world...this one lowly human was the culprit? This simple knight? Out of all the monsters...espers...foes that they had conquered...this was the one? It couldn't be possible... A single human had done all this? One of them had possessed so much evil? It didn't seem right... In fact, as Bahamut looked on, he knew it wasn't right.
Something was wrong here. This should have been a human knight. Now, it was infused with terrible evil. A wickedness beyond comprehension. And yet...Bahamut still sensed a difference. There was something not right here...something strange about his composition. He continued to focus hard on him. The evil within him was blinding now, but he wasn't aware of Bahamut's presence and he didn't resist it. Because of that, he was able to sense more of his nature, and realized something at last.
He was right. The fundamental nature of this one was different.
This wasn't a human...
It felt like...a Lufenian.
"You...? It was you the whole time?" Tuck marveled.
"But...we killed-" Harbaro began.
"Killed me?" Garland asked. He gave a snort after that. "Feh. I told you four you could never defeat me. No mere people of this world can. All you did was serve to grant me ultimate power. Power far beyond anything else that this world has ever had. I'm actually indebted to you."
The four stood silently in reply. They stared blankly at the single knight for a few moments, registering this. At last, Darwin frowned and called out to him again. "So it was you. Now I get it. You were right in front of that black stone when we killed you."
"Oh, but you didn't kill me, young human." Garland softly responded. "You may have thought you did. And sure enough, I was near death. But I was rescued." His voice lowered and grew more smooth and dangerous. It unnerved the Light Warriors as he continued. "This Temple called out to me from the distant past. I heard its voice...and I responded. It drew me back unto this very moment. It preserved me by having me reborn..." He lowered his head and narrowed his gaze at this. "...with the power of Chaos."
The others stiffened at this, and felt a cold chill. A strange power was in the voice of that thing...coming out and coming forth to them all. But they stood their ground, and responded. "What is this...Chaos?"
"Nothing more than the true nature of the universe." Garland darkly responded. "I attempted to preserve order before. I was attempting to avoid fate. But now, I see the true nature of all things. The one inevitable destiny of everything. It was as plain to me as the nature of all physical matter. All things tend to destruction. All order to disorder. All balance to chaos. Chaos is the one force that grows ever stronger. It is the supreme disruptor and the net of all living and nonliving things. It is the one center to the cosmos and indeed all creation. All things are created to be destroyed. All life is born so it may die. All stars light up so that they may burn out. And it is because of this that I have changed. I now am the bringer of this new power. And to that end, I have summoned the Four Fiends."
"The Four Fiends are dead." Tuck snapped back harshly.
"We killed them in the future and the past." Harbaro added.
"Ah, but that's the most wonderful part of all." Garland replied with a sinister smile. "Your actions are meaningless. Even as you try to establish order, you create more disorder in the process. Even as you try to avoid your fate, you become victims to it. It is because you destroyed me in the first place that this all happened, don't you see? It is because you destroyed my old body that the power called out to me to have this new one. The disorder created by your actions of destroying me can not be reversed, just as the chaos in the world cannot be reversed. All things head toward this one inevitable chaos. And that is now mine. It was by the disorder that you created that this all came to past. It was because you tried to stop me that the Four Fiends were even released. You four are a part of this inescapable chain that leads to the one great destiny. Your fates are predetermined...that your lives shall end here, while mine shall last forever."
The four were silent at that. However, what Garland had said began to sink in. That was right. If they hadn't killed Garland to begin with, he never would have went back in time to even summon the Four Fiends. The fiends had come to the future because of them. Their mission had begun...because of their own actions. It was another loop, just like Garland's existence. They all began to realize that, and it began to grip them with a frightening and horrifying possibility. What if this was inevitable? What if Garland was right? After all...if they were successful...then that would mean that they never would have set out in the first place. They wouldn't have to, because the Fiends were dead. But what if they were wrong? What if this was all wrong? The fiends were alive in the future...so did that meant they failed now? Was this all hopeless?
Garland picked up on them. He realized their growing fear and doubt. From beneath his horned helmet, his teeth flashed into a grin. But that was only for a moment...before the incisors began to grow. With that, Garland suddenly grunted, and wrapped his arms tightly around his body. He bent his legs and crouched, and he grunted for a moment. But then, he hissed and spat, and began to make noises as if he was straining or in pain. As he did...the four sensed something horrible. He was drawing the power within him out. He was manifesting it...and they could feel it start to exude off of him. It was turning the room cold and dark. The knight hissed and struggled, clenching his teeth harder and harder as they continued to grow sharper. Then, abruptly, he opened his mouth...and gave a roar that wasn't human.
Immediately, Garland's armor burst off of his body. His muscles bulged and grew larger underneath, swelling and poking out. They stretched and twisted his skin, pulling it out and ripping it. Soon, the outer layer of flesh fell off, revealing huge bronzed muscles underneath. The muscle continued to grow larger and larger along with the thing. Only a strip of waist armor remained on him. This armor didn't shatter, but swelled and twisted as well. The loincloth seemed to grow longer and become more ragged and animal-like. The belt began to gleam and extend with the growing body. Garland continued to grunt, but his voice was now that of a monster...if not a demon. Abruptly, the helmet split and shattered as well...but the horns stayed put. The oversized antlers were now seeming to grow out of Garland's head. And they began to turn red and twist, burrowing itself deeper into the head of the creature. Garland's own face began to enlarge to encompass the huge horns. The face began to distort as well, as the grunts and roars became more violent and rough. A cleft palate formed, and the nose became catlike. The eyes began to burn like red coals, and the hair fell out as smaller horns broke out around the monster's head somewhat irregularly. Because of this, the monster now truly did look like a demon. It gave one more stiff shake, and then roared again. With that, a long, thick tail erupted from behind it and extended around the monster, taking up the entire length of the beast. It grunted again, and then shoved one of its arms forward. Immediately, its cape shredded, and a massive black wing emerged. It repeated the action with the other arm, and another black wing came out. The monster fanned them behind it, and then uncrossed its arms. It revealed its bronzed chest and two taloned hands. The belt continued to twist as the creature slowed down its growth and stopped, revealing a skull on its belt with glowing red eyes.
The thing now stood about 24 feet tall, flexing its claws and wings. Darkness exuded from it. Hate and fury filled its eyes. Indeed, all the evil and wickedness in the Temple now seemed to pour through this one being as it glared down at them. Garland was gone. This thing, now...was a true embodiment of Chaos.
The resolve of the four continued to break. They faltered back, staring up at this beast. It was far stronger than all Four Fiends combined. It rippled with evil. And now, it seemed more futile than ever to battle this foe. It seemed impossible to do anything...but die here. The monster took a step forward, shaking the entire floor with its new size. Its wings blew foul air at them. Its tail thrashed around and easily broke one of the columns of the chamber in half before raking against the floor. How could they even begin to fight this horror? Perhaps it was all inevitable...
Don't you four dare give up.
The Light Warriors stopped their retreat at that. The powerful voice of their master blasted through all the darkness and gloom and touched them mentally, and spoke out in a commanding, fierce voice...much as he had done when in anger.
You four haven't taken me this far just to stop now. You've restored my faith in humanity, destroyed the evil of this world, and brought light back to a dark planet. Now you're going to stop because this miserable weakling, this excuse for a human...this person who you killed so long ago and so easily stands against you? You don't seriously believe his nonsense, do you?
The four hesitated at that. They didn't answer right away, but continued to look at the towering demon who loomed ever closer. They were still very fearful of him, but they didn't dare voice it. They mentally spoke back to Bahamut.
But he's right...this all happened because of us. It's like you said...
This didn't happen because of you. This is his doing. This is the work of many evil souls and beings that lived long before him. He is nothing. He's a mere mortal who hasn't even lived a single lifetime. He believes so much in Chaos, but chaos is nothing. Its a void. Its emptiness. There's nothing to believe in there. He thinks there is power there, but power is a result of existence and life. He has nothing.
But...the future...
If you want to change the future, then kill him! Don't let him write your own future for you! If you don't believe and don't want his rendition of fate, then fight against it! Weren't you the ones who refused to follow the fate of your race when I told you that humanity was doomed? So why are you dooming yourselves now? If you care about your own futures...the futures of your race...of this very world...then destroy him!
The four paused for a moment longer at that. They let Bahamut's words flow into them. After a few moments, however, their faces turned. Their fear vanished. Their looks grew determined again. Abruptly, they stopped shaking. They stopped falling back, and planted their feet. Their weapons were drawn and faced the monster again. The Chaos beast, seeming confused at this, stopped and looked at them in puzzlement. But then, it let out a horrible dark laugh. It was mocking their attempts to fight back. But the Light Warriors didn't falter. They stayed standing and stood their ground.
"...Thanks for reminding us, master."
"We won't fail."
Bahamut sighed in response to this. At least they hadn't given up yet...
But they had only eight minutes left.
Giving a yell, Tuck and Darwin both charged forward to attack. Their blades were drawn and they shot forward to the beast, preparing for another X slash. As before, they reached the beast and prepared to hit. However, with a simple fling around, the monster swirled its body around and smacked both with its huge tail. Both were sent flying across the room and smashed into columns. As they slid down, they both spat out blood. Tuck spat out a tooth as well.
The beast bellowed and charged at the wizards next. It extended its horrible claws and reached for them. Harbaro prepared a spell, but he was too slow. The beast moved like lightning, and soon scooped Harbaro up with one massive hand. It dug its nails into his flesh, impaling him through the shoulder and driving the wizard into terrible pain. Lucinda continued to cast, preparing what was a Holy spell. The monster looked down at her, and then simply shot out a foot and kicked her. The blow was like a tree falling onto her stomach, and she was ripped off the ground like a rag doll and thrown across the room. She hit so hard that a breaking sound was heard, and as she collapsed to the ground a piece of rock fell after her. The Chaos beast then spun Harbaro around and smashed him down head first onto the ground. Another crack was heard, and a massive bloody streak was left as his face was raked against the floor.
Darwin managed to shake his head and get up again. As the beast released Harbaro, Darwin rushed to the side to stab it. But as he approached, the monster suddenly wheeled around and exhaled at him. Immediately, a roaring blaze of fire erupted from his mouth and blasted the knight. Darwin gaped in shock, and barely stopped himself, bent down, and brought up his shield to guard himself before the flames hit. Still, ground around him was bathed in horrible flame as the monster breathed its terrible breath over the knight. It continued to do so without end. Darwin grit his teeth and endured it, but the heat continued to build. His cape caught fire. His armor began to melt at the edges. Molten hot iron began to near Darwin's skin, and the knight began to grit his teeth and cry in anguish as the heat grew...
But abruptly, Chaos cut it off so that he could spin around and shoot out a focused, strong blast of water from his mouth. While Darwin cooked and slowly pulled himself up from the flames, a powerful blast of water struck Tuck as she leapt through the air to the Chaos beast. The blast hit her and ripped her out of the air, smashing her into a wall. Immediately, Chaos turned to her and blasted stronger. He put all of his force behind it, and blasted the human with killing force. He widened it to cover her body and continued to shoot. The stone began to break around where she was. Her body was driven in deeper and deeper from the fatal blast of water. Yet the monster only continued to push harder, driving a deeper and deeper crater into the stone...and smashing the body of Tuck further and further into it.
But it was again distracted soon after. It turned to the floor, and saw that Lucinda had recovered. Now, the white wizard was over Harbaro, and was casting a spell over him. She was breathing uneasily, looking as if the thing had obviously broken something. But she wasn't dead. And now, she reconnected Harbaro's broken neck, and soon the black wizard was restored. He wasted no time, and quickly rolled back up and prepared to confront the monster. The Chaos beast snarled, and turned to stomp toward the two wizards. Harbaro saw this happening, and quickly looked up to counter it. He had no time for a powerful spell, so instead he summoned a green ring of light around him, and then shot out a blast of lightning right at the monster. The powerful blast of lightning hit the thing...but it merely made one cutting motion with its hand and immediately made it vanish. The blast did nothing. Harbaro could only gape in shock as the monster came forward and stepped down. Immediately, the black wizard was smashed under a great clawed foot. The monster looked down and snarled at the wizard, and as for Harbaro, he gasped for air and made an expression of agony.
"AIIII!"
However, so preoccupied was the creature, that it didn't notice Darwin behind it. Again, the young knight rolled to his feet, and then charged forward again. This time the beast didn't respond in time. It turned and looked, but it was too late. Darwin drove Excalibur forward, right for the monster's calf, to give it a deep wound that would impale it all the way through and cripple it...
The blade, however, dinged off of the muscle of the creature like a dinner knife on stone. It barely left a dermal scratch, and didn't draw any blood.
Darwin's eyes gaped in shock. As for the creature, it merely turned, looked at him, and then grinned with its monstrous teeth. After a brief moment, it whirled around violently and smashed its tail against Darwin again, flinging him across the room again and into another wall.
Seven minutes left... Bahamut thought. Please hurry...if you can.
The Chaos beast gnashed its teeth and growled at its latest victim. However, even as it did, a glowing power began to appear below it. The monster snorted, and turned down to look at the source. It saw Harbaro with his hands together, aiming upward and holding a glowing power within it. Moments later, a powerful Flare attack erupted from the hands of the monster, flew up, and struck the huge monster point blank in the face.
A massive hot explosion, piercing and powerful, soon connected. The Chaos beast gave out a snarl, and staggered back. Harbaro was soon freed, and he quickly rolled out of the way. The monster overhead staggered a bit more, shaking its head, as smoke cleared from it and the fire died out. But other than that...there was nothing. A small burn mark was on the side of its great head, but other than that no damage had been done. The strongest black magic spell in the world...had barely marked it. Harbaro noticed this, and froze in shock as he slid back.
The Chaos beast shook its head again, and then looked down at the black wizard. It roared in rage, and then stomped forward to attack Harbaro further. The black wizard was stunned, unable to move. Finally, he shook his head, and then aimed forward again. Moments later, icicles ripped out from his hands and shot forward, soon bombarding the creature with huge shards. The creature didn't even stagger. It continued to stomp forward toward the black wizard without stopping. However...before it could get any closer, a green blur suddenly darted in front of it and a flash of steel went in front of its shins. The monster hesitated for a moment from the blow, and gave out a mild shout. It looked down and saw what had happened, freezing in place. What it saw now was the ninja Tuck, restorted and standing before the great creature. Two small scrapes were on its legs, but no blood had been drawn. Now, the two faced each other down.
The Chaos beast hissed, and then suddenly shot forward with one fist. It swung it down against the ground right for the ninja, but the woman managed to leap out of the way just as the fist smashed into the ground. The monster snarled in response, and quickly swung its fist out again at the ninja. Tuck quickly leapt back, and brought his blade down against the beast's wrist. A slight scratch was made against the wrist, but nothing more. The monster didn't even notice it, and violently snapped its fist forward again. Tuck quickly jumped back and curled over to avoid the fist, which smashed into a nearby column and snapped it. Tuck stayed bent over for a moment, but then twisted back up and drove her sword again into the thing's arm. The blade nicked against the arm, but nothing else. Finally, the monster opened its mouth and breathed another stream of water against the ninja. Tuck quickly attempted to leap back, but the blast still struck her in the head in a glancing blow. It sent the woman flying back again and to the ground.
As the monster fought, however, Darwin quickly rushed forward, planted his foot down on the tail of the beast, and then drove his sword down again and again against the appendage. But no matter how he struck, he only could nick and scratch it. The skin was too tough to be pierced. The thing snarled, and spun around to try and smack away the annoyance. But when it did, it noticed a white glare. It looked up, and was just in time to see Lucinda, hands out, robes rippling in her self generated wind, and a white orb within her hands, as she fired off a massive Holy attack straight for the creature. A huge circle of swirling white lights shot forward and sailed straight for the creature. The Chaos beast glared in surprise, and Darwin quickly dodged to one side. Moments later, the circle hit, and immediately a huge blast of light erupted from the thing's face. The monster again staggered back, as a huge cloud of pure light erupted from the side of its head.
The other Light Warriors recovered and looked up to him. They watched and waited, seeing a result. But as the smoke cleared, they saw another horrible revelation. Another small burn was on its face, but nothing else. It recovered, and looked unfazed once again. Their attack had done nothing.
They gaped in surprise...and began to feel hopelessness...
Only six more minutes...and that thing isn't even hurt yet.
...Was he telling the truth?
The monster before them heaved and paused for a moment. But then, it suddenly crossed one of its arms in front of it and held up an open, clawed palm. A moment later, the air seemed to grow colder. Air seemed to drain toward the monster. The breath seemed to be drained out of their lungs. Their bodies seemed to turn to ice, and the light of the stars dimmed. Seeing this, the group began to quiver in fear. This was a horrible attack...one so foul that even Harbaro hated to use it. Only now, it was so massive and strong that it made all previous versions of the attack look like a breath of foul air. It was a terrible magic, one that threatened to crush the spirit out of the recipient. But their was no defense against it. Lucinda couldn't raise a barrier against it soon enough, and even that might not strike against one of this magnitude. All that they could do was struggle to withstand it...and watch as a purple glow began to gather around it. Plumes of dark energy blew up from it like smoke.
Finally, the thing struck. It lashed out and pointed its finger straight at Darwin. Immediately, the cloud projected from it like a ball of flame. But it also twisted and distorted. It reshaped itself as it came to become a great shrouded figure. The figure materialized a huge scythe, and out from its face a horrible grinning skull with sharp teeth emerged. It raced straight for Darwin, bringing the scythe back and giving a rending scream as if the air had all life cut from it. Darwin gazed back at it in fear, gritting his teeth and struggling to steel himself against the onslaught. Then...it struck, and immediately the purple vapor enveloped him and pierced him to his heart. The cloud swirled around his body, and all light ceased around it as shadow enveloped him.
Darwin wheeled back and yelled noiselessly as the energy struck. It felt as if ice had formed in the core of his being, and fingers were crushing his heart. His body turned cold. His flesh turned pale. He felt everything go numb. His mind filled with despair and darkness. Black images of death and nothingness surrounded him. His senses were dulled. His strength was sapped. He forgot who he was...where he was...and everything else. A great darkness from within gained strength, fueled with new power, and threatened to snuff his life out like a candle in a hurricane. He gave a gasp as the last of his air left his lungs, and he began to falter...
But the thing wasn't done. Immediately, it crossed its arms over one another and aimed at Tuck. It extended its cruel talons to the woman, and moments later lightning exploded from its hands and shot straight at her. Instantly, bolts of electricity pierced her body in a thousand places, and she writhed in pain as the bolt fried her flesh. Her body was thrown away and into a nearby column. But the thing didn't let up this time. Laughing hideously, it continued to blast her with light, watching her writhe and twist, watching her skeleton begin to burn deep within her flesh...watching her be totally helpless as the energy slowly killed her...
Abruptly, however, a massive ball of fire exploded right between its eyes, and the beast's head went back a bit. Another huge echo and wave of heat rolled through the chamber, and the thing stopped blasting the ninja long enough for her to fall helplessly to the ground. Then, it turned to who had struck it, its mind filling with fresh irritation. Yet anotherFlare had gone off and struck it head on, and once again it barely had anything to show for it. However, it at least saw who had struck, Harbaro near to Lucinda. It sneered and flexed its powerful muscles. It opened its massive mouth, and a devouring fire blazed from deep within it.
Harbaro panted. He struggled to raise his arms and strike again. But Flare was his strongest spell, and he hadn't the strength to simply strike back so quickly. It took time to recover. And so, Lucinda quickly stepped in front of him. She crossed her arms in front of her and gestured a few times, before her hands glowed with red light. It was like flame, but not dark or vicious like with the Chaos beast. Moments later, a great red wall sprang up in front of the two of them. She held after that, and crossed her staff in front of her to brace herself. Moments later, the beast erupted another blast of searing flame from its mouth.
The huge unholy fire exploded on the shield and immediately spread out. It enveloped it in its massive strength, and soon began to burn more intensely than any other attack they could bear. Soon, Lucinda felt an invisible force push her back, and she grunted and strained as she pushed forward again. Her cloak whipped violently about her. She began to sweat and clench her teeth. Still the fire came, raging hotter and stronger every second. Harbaro panted and struggled to summon the strength. But he was too weak. The spell was too strong. And, being a black wizard, he couldn't even help Lucinda with her power. The white wizard continued to buckle. The terrible heat grew stronger and stronger. The monster didn't weaken, but only brought up more and more strength. Soon, the heat began to burn away the trim of Lucinda's robe. Blood began to trickle from her nose. She screamed, feeling her very body shaking apart from her attempt to maintain the spell. But it was no use. Finally, the thing bulged once and doubled its power. Like dried twigs, the shield was shattered and obliterated, and the huge heat blasted the two wizards. Their bodies were thrown down through the heat like dead leaves in the wind, and soon they were thrown into the walls of the chamber. When they rolled down and came to a rest, they were both aflame, but neither had the immediate strength to roll and put out the fire.
At that moment, a terrible gasp went out, like a drowning man who had broke the surface and gaped in his first precious breath of air. At that, the Chaos beast turned and looked. Darwin soon after collapsed to the ground. He was white as snow, and the light seemed to have drained from his body. His fingers were curled and lifeless, and only slowly regained it. He feebly moved his numb arms to his chest, for they were ice cold and needed heat. He felt as if he had just emerged from an endless nightmare and been thawed out from a block of ice. Somehow, he had shaken off the spell of death, but nearly lost all of his strength and sanity in the process. He couldn't move at all, but only lay on the ground.
At this, the Chaos beast grinned wickedly yet confidently.
The fight was over. Its victory was complete.
No... It is finished...
They're out of power... They were too weak. Damnit...I never should have sent them...
I sent them to their deaths...
The four beaten Light Warriors could only pant on the ground now. Beaten and without stamina, they lay there and struggled to get up. Harbaro and Lucinda barely managed to roll to put out their flames. Tuck could barely move with her fried body. Darwin struggled to even cling to what was left of his life. Death now touched them again, just as it had back when the training had begun. Only now, it beckoned them...and they slowly felt themselves slipping into the blackness. Soon it would consume them all, and they would be lost to the chaos. It continued to surround them...and now grew stronger. The darkness closed around them. All heat left. Their bodies began to grow numb and lifeless, and their minds fell into shadow. Deep within their souls, a dark voice called out to them with a dark smoothness and gentleness to it...
You have met the full breadth of your folly. Your power is swallowed by Chaos. Your hopes...dreams...lives...meaningless now. Now you see how empty and purposeless you are... Now, you fall into your one destiny...
The four didn't respond. Instead, their minds fell deeper into darkness. Their lights dimmed. They felt their breathing slow and nearly stop...and their hearts slowly began to cease as well. Life faded...
You will return to nothingness. You will join the power of Chaos. You will be swallowed by the ultimate power...and become no more. All you have left to do is give in... Allow your light to be extinguished. Allow your despair to quiet your resistance. Lose your pain and misery...and become nothing. It is inevitable now. You are all nothing. All you have done is nothing. You live for nothing. You die for nothing. Now, cease to exist.
Their breathing stopped. Their hearts stopped. Their limbs grew cold and as death. Their minds ceased to think. Their bodies had already become nothing. Their minds were in nothing. Now, their souls as well drifted off. Only darkness and despair remained. Soon they would be nothing, as their will gave out...as they gave up.
Do it. Join with it. It is your destiny. From the moment you were born, this was what to become of you. This is your only fate. Everything you are is worthless. Everything you were is meaningless. And you will never be anything else. Give in. Fade into shadow forever...
Their lights faded...and turned to gray.
Give in...and become nothing...become chaos...
Only then...did the gray linger.
Do it. Fade.
The gray did not change, but remained.
The voices within them grew more biting and fierce.
Do it!
Still, the lights stayed.
DO IT YOU BASTARDS!
Then, the lights changed at last.
They grew stronger.
The voice continued to scream and curse at them, yelling every insult and obscenity known to them. It called them worthless and pathetic. It dragged up past failures. It conjured illusions to make them doubt themselves. But it was all in vain. The light soon show forward stronger than ever. Their minds began to move again. Warmth flooded into them again, and their hearts, after a moment of silence, began to beat again. Their breath returned, and soon their flesh turned pink and warm again. As it did, the voice grew more harsh and bitter, but for all its cursing and screaming it could not make them lay down and die. Slowly, their eyes reopened, as their strength returned. They were still battered and weak, but they were not dead. They wouldn't fall now, not like that. Eyes now open, blazing with determination again, they began to lean up and rise.
No... A foul, loathesome voice cried in their brains. No...no... Why! Why do you try to live when death is inevitable! Why do you rise! Why bother even to keep breathing! You are nothing to Chaos! Surely you have to know that by now! You can't win! You're less than insects! Everything you are is meaningless and pointless! You are less than nothing! And you cannot resist the chaos that you will inevitable become! It's pointless to live! It's pointless to fight! So why are you still trying!
In response, the four, slowly staggering to their feet, stumbling and waving, finally stood. At that, they turned and glared at the monster. But now...their gazes were filled with a hate and determination that could not be crushed, even when their bodies were destroyed. They glared back with such a power and might at the hated creature, that even the thing was astonished and unable to react...unable to strike them down as quickly as before.
"...Because Bahamut was right." Darwin finally stated.
"In the end, you are nothing." Tuck added.
"You couldn't crush our inner light no matter how much darkness you had." Harbaro uttered.
"Because your power does lie in nothingness. You could only try to make us despair to make us die. In the end, you could only win if we let you win." Lucinda contributed.
With that, Darwin hefted his sword and crossed it in front of him. "And that won't work again. Our light is about to drown our your darkness. This fight is far from over."
The monster glared at them. Its easy victory was gone now. But still, it snorted at this. It was angry now at the impudence and the arrogance, but it had no doubt of the inevitable. It would crush them now. It would vent such horrors and evil that they would beg for death before they were done. Now, its anger was aroused. It grit its teeth and dripped acidic drool. It snarled at the four nothings before it and plotted more violence. Even as it did, balls of fire began to grow in its hands, and they began to smolder and crackle with dark flame. Its hate swelled and its chaotic evil raised to its peak. It drew the full measure of its power from the Oblivion Stone, and prepared to finish these weaklings.
Then, bellowing a horrible roar, it rushed at them again.
Bahamut was awstruck for a moment. He hadn't expected such a response from the Light Warriors. He thought they were truly finished. But after thinking that...he cursed himself again. He never should have doubted them. He promised he wouldn't, and here he was doing it again. He believed they could beat this monster. And now, more than ever, he believed they could. He had to remember that there was a time thousands of years ago in which he too had seemed helpless and destroyed before a hellish foe. But he had triumphed then. Now, these new heroes would triumph. He believed again.
The Age of Chaos will end tonight...
It has to end in four minutes.
The Chaos beast flung its fires at the four of them. However, Darwin and Tuck were on the side of either wizard now, and they quickly seized them and pulled them to one side. The balls of fire erupted against stone columns, shattering them and blasting them into smoldering fragments. For once, one of the monster's attacks had hit nothing. And now the group was clear to initiate another attack. The monster stepped back and snarled viciously at them, looking at either side.
Darwin, however, was already rushing in from his side. The Chaos monster saw this and sneered. Then, it merely waited. Once Darwin attempted to hit it, it would simply strike back and smash him down. And so it stood there and waited for the attack. However, Darwin did something unexpected. Instead of attacking, he rushed on by to the column areas, particular to one that was near the monster but was cracked from damage. He immediately leapt up and gave a slash across it as he ran past. In doing so, he sliced through the bottom of it, and then went on by. The beast turned and glared at him, and was just in time to hear the column creak and crack. After a few moments, it lurched forward and broke itself the rest of the way on top. With a rush, it suddenly tipped forward and fell toward the massive beast. There was enough force in it for it to slam down considerbly hard on top of the creature, and it stumbled back from the blow. Darwin continued to rush by.
However, the monster didn't stagger long. It gave a bellow of rage, and then threw the column off of it like it was made of balsa wood. As it flung over to the ground and shattered on impact, the thing lurched forward and surged toward the enemy. Darwin was continuing to rush by, but the thing was too fast for him. Within a flash it was on him, and its tail flew out and whipped at its legs. A biting pain shot through them as some of the armor was flailed off, and soon he stumbled forward. A moment later, and the monster was on him. It shot down and seized the Light Warrior in one grasp before he even finished falling. It drew the knight up, intending to slam him down again and break his neck this time. However, no sooner had he arisen than the knight spun around in his grasp and drove forward his holy blade with all his might straight and true to a desired target. A moment later, the blade managed to pierce right into one of the eyes of Chaos and instantly stabbed it out.
For the first time, the monster felt true agony, and with a roar it threw Darwin aside. Soon, the warrior had his blade ripped out as it held in his grasp, and his body was flung into another column. This time, his armor was dented by the impact, and a wad of blood flew from his mouth. He soon slid off, but the monster was unable to renew its assault. Instead, it grasped its eye in pain, all the while fuming in more range and anger. It staggered about and dribbled more blood and froth from it. Eventually, however, it was able to pull its hand away, and now fumed and snarled in rage. After a moment longer, it turned fully to the fallen Darwin. It was further enraged to see that the knight was not yet dead, and quickly planned to finish the job.
However, it was unable to. Its wings suddenly flapped out and its body staggered forward as a blinding white blast struck it in the back. Burning white holy energy pierced into its flesh, giving it another slight burn from the power. After a moment, however, it recovered and turned around in fury. It saw Lucinda bracing her arm in front of her. She was panting and weak now, but still had her hand aimed at it from where it had fired the spell. The beast flapped its wings out again, and began to stomp forward.
Yet the thing had paid for not kept its eyes out for the enemy. In the delays that Lucinda and Darwin had afforded, Tuck had pulled out a new item...a pair of gauntlets that were oversized, almost as if they belonged on a giant. She banged them together, and summoned a new power out of them that flooded into her body. As it did...her muscles bulged, her senses were heightened, and her body became slimmer. What more, Harbaro extended his hands over her and summoned a new power. As he chanted and waved over her, a green aura slowly flooded into her flesh. It radiated from the inside. And as it did...her brain worked faster. Her heart beat quicker. Her breathing sped up. Soon, a new power was coursing through her, and she was charged with a power far beyond that of her normal strength. With that, she glared at the monster and drew her long curved blade.
The thing was stampeding right at Lucinda now. The white wizard panted in exhaustion, and reeled back to prepare a defense. But there was no time. The thing was already on it. However, as it was just about to attack, a green blur suddenly flashed by its side. Moments later, it froze and gave a yell. It halted and nearly stumbled, and bent over to its side. Catching up a moment later to the tremendous speed that had gone by, an eruption of foul, black blood came from the side of its calf. It bent down and glared at it in astonishment as it roared in pain. It couldn't believe it as it looked to its leg. There was a long cut alongside it. Somehow, the weakling had gained enough power to actually draw blood. It paused and sneered for a moment. Behind, it heard the culprit come to a halt. Already, it could sense its presence there. And on doing so, it began to grow enraged. Immediately, it summoned more dark fire within its hand. It wheeled around in a flash, and flung another ball of flame right at where it sensed Tuck to be.
However, the speed as well as the power of Tuck had increased. In a flash, she had not only dodged forward and avoided the blow, but raced past the monster to give it another slash against its opposite leg.
The creature bellowed in fury and grasped for its other appendage. It turned around madly, its rage beginning to grow again. Now, it was growing as all dark-natured beings eventually turned. It realized a new truth. Despite its power...despite its might...despite all of its best laid plans that extended for millenia...it still wasn't unstoppable. After all this time...all the manuevers to evade the espers...it realized it could still lose. And it could lose to humans. Humans...that it had relied on for power and wickedness...that it had always dismissed as weak and inconsequential...could actually hurt it. And as it was for any creature that realized that death was potential...and that it confronted something that, however unlikely, could possibly destroy it...it reacted with a surge of anger...but also doubt...and the smallest, insignificant amount of fear.
The thing flared up in dark power again, and wheeled around to continue its battle.
Good...they're actually hurting it now. But it still has a lot of stamina left...
And they only have three minutes.
The beast wheeled back its arm next. It held for a brief moment, as the entire arm was covered with a dark aura of energy. Again, it flew off of the arm in wisps like a dark fire. Then, in a flash, the beast swung it forward. It was with such force that it shook the air and made the ground rumble, and immediately a great black shockwave emerged. The blast sailed straight for the ninja. Tuck gasped a moment, but then attempted to run for it. However, it was useless. The wave spread out too far and rushed right at her with blinding speed. In the end, the ninja was only able to jump as it was about to hit. But it was too short. Despite her added power, the wave struck one of her outstretched legs. Instantly, it snapped, and she yelled out in pain. Soon, she fell to the ground and writhed there for a few brief moments.
The monster ignored her, and instead wheeled back to Lucinda. The white wizard was up again, and she was summoning another spell. Hissing, the beast began to raise a massive clawed foot to smash down on the ground. It began to charge with energy as it drew it up. However, Lucinda was faster. Straining and grunting, she managed to make her palms glow again, and a moment later fired off a ball of holy energy right at the thing. But its anger was too strong. The blast exploded on the old injury on its head, but it was too late. Though it burned him deeper, he drove his foot down anyway through the eruption and cracked the ground. The floor split and instantly expanded outward, and a quake rumbled the ground furiously, shattering the few columns that were left and fracturing the world. As for Lucinda, she was powerless to dodge. She could only quiver on her feet for a few moments, before the force of the eruption threw her down to the ground. It opened up moments later, swallowing her within. At that time, the beast could have slammed the ground together again and finished the white wizard...
But it instead wheeled around to its two final opponents. Harbaro had come over to Darwin now. The knight was weakened and fallen, but the black wizard was already casting the same green circle of light around it. It sped up as it encircled him, and charged him with a green aura. He could do little with his new power, weakened as he was. Several of his bones were broken. However, even then, he managed to slowly draw himself up, and with the aid of his speed-infused body he was able to rise quicker. The Chaos monster bellowed. With that, it balled its hands into fists and crossed them in front of itself. It thrashed its tail out and grit its teeth. Its feet slid out into position. Soon, the ground began to quake again. The air felt charged with a dark power, and it was quickly growing. As it did, the thing opened its palms, and slowly through great straining began to pull its arms back. On doing so, it slowly grit its teeth...revealing that a blinding light of fire was beyond...and growing.
Harbaro and Darwin both gaped at this. They knew what it was. The monster was summoning a Flare attack of its own. And where they were, they could not survive it. Lucinda was the only one who could throw up a barrier to this, but she was already down. They had no protection left. For a moment, they panicked as he charged. Darwin struggled to get to his feet, but even if he could get clear he couldn't take Harbaro with him. And so, the black wizard realized after a moment, there was only one thing left to do. Though he was already weary and was nearly spent, he had to try this.
As the monster continued to summon its strength, Harbaro folded his hands together. He soon grit his own teeth as a wave of energy exploded around him. Heat flooded him, for he was barely able to control this spell. It began to singe his own clothing again, and pushed his hat back. However, he bit down and kept summoning. Soon, a blinding light formed between his own hands. It only continued to grow as he pushed it. However, it also became harder and harder to control. Soon the muscles of the wizard were bulging. His own nose began to bleed. His teeth began to crack as he tightened them. But still he pushed. He had no other choice. The wind and heat blew back his hat, but still he summoned with everything he had left. Finally, he was able to focus the power. He collapsed it into a ball. Then, nearly exhausting his mind, he threw it forward with all its might. As he did, the huge beast, its own power at its peak, opened its mouth and fired its own blast. The two deadly flares of energy shot forward with burning fury, and moments later the two collided.
A blinding explosion rocked the chamber. A crater was blasted into the ground and ceiling, and huge fragments of stone were thrown everywhere. Fires and heat raged all over the area, and Harbaro screamed out as he was ripped off his feet and flung violently across the room to smash into the wall behind. He collapsed to the ground, thin, pale, and weak, and unable to throw up even the slightest spell now. He collapsed in a nearly lifeless pile, struggling to recover from the horrible pain that his body was covered with.
In short order, however, the huge monster realized it hadn't succeeded. Only one person was down. The other had already fled. Snorting, it turned around to try and sense him, and soon it found his weak life signature. He was already behind it. It turned and looked, and was just in time to see Darwin finish activating the giant gauntlets. As he did, his body began to bulge as well. His eyes widened and his nostrils flared as his body became superhuman compared to before. Despite the low amount of energy he had left, the two spells had suddenly made him have the strength of seven Darwins.
Now, he too was ready to strike.
Bahamut felt himself consciously begin to sweat now. There were only two minutes left. Somehow, they were still alive. But they were running out of time. If they couldn't finish this thing...assuming they wouldn't run out of strength first...then it would be over. He realized that once the time was up, they would only have a few more moments. Luckily, he had bantered with Odin a bit before the esper had struck the tower. But that would buy them perhaps twenty extra seconds. After that, it was finished. This monster wasn't weakening yet.
Come on...beat him...
The demon creature gurgled once, but then swung its tail forward at the foe. It knew the knight couldn't dodge it. However, Darwin risked something else. Quickly, he threw himself back and to the ground with what strength he had left. As he did, he used one last thrust to fling his sword up as fast as he could. The beast saw this coming, but it was too late. It couldn't pull it back. And so, its tail shot over the deadly blade, and a moment later the end of it flew off with a stream of foul, black blood.
The monster staggered and reeled back a bit at this. However, the Light Warriors soon renewed their assault. They too knew that time was running out. They had to punish this thing and quickly. They had to pound it until it was finished. And so, soon after it staggered, Tuck suddenly flew up with a battle cry. Despite her injured leg, she threw herself forward right at the beast with her blade drawn. However, she was turning her own body into a weapon as she did so. The monster saw her coming, and quickly slipped to one side to let the Masamune sail harmlessly by. But she continued to sail forward with her added speed and power, and soon drove her head deep into the monster's solar plexus. It wasn't strong enough to break anything, but the power was still so strong that it drove deep into the monster, and it left a bruise on its bronze skin. The wind was knocked out of the creature in one blast of fetid air. It staggered even further down.
Then, one final blow struck it as Tuck staggered off and Darwin forced himself to his feet. Lucinda managed to raise her bleeding, broken body from the chasm. She had no power left. She had only enough strength for one final spell. A part of her told her to use it to heal herself. But she realized she couldn't win this battle without magic power. She could have healed Darwin, but something inside her said to use her power for a different purpose. And so, she instead summoned every last ounce of strength inside her to fire off the biggest Holy spell that she could muster. It seemed to drain the life from her very body, but she didn't care. She made it larger, stronger, and more furious than any previous spell on record in the fight. And with everything she had, she fired it at the foul beast. Moments later, it connected with the old injuries in between its eyes. As it erupted into a holy smite of pure radiant power, the explosion rocked deep and powerful. The glorious light pierced through the evil of the being and blinded it, and its flesh fried from the power. At last, the eruption broke its skin and thrust a deep blow into its head, making it explode in blood and pour off of its brow. The blow was too much. The thing staggered one last time before falling back and landing on the ground. Its massive bulk hit and rocked the chamber. Lucinda gave off one last gasp, then fell as well and passed out.
The beast stayed down for a moment, but thensnapped to its feet. It fumed with horrible rage now, its anger fully brought up. Immediately, a dark aura exploded around it. Feelings of evil energy and dark power began to flood through the area. A great aura was generated around it. The lights dimmed in the area, and soon they began to go out. As they did, dark waves began to radiate from the thing. Ripples of numbing dark feelings flooded over everyone. The ground began to shake again, and soon the entire floor began to fracture and fall into the room below. The bleeding thing was filled with power now, and blazing with anger and rage. It had taken enough. It would endure no more. Its chaotic evil was charged to the fullest point, and now it unleashed it.
Waves of dark energy flooded everywhere. Immediately, they morphed into dark wraiths once again. Reapers flooded everywhere, penetrating into everything and everyone in the area. They pierced into building and penetrated stone and flesh. Green dragons on the lower levels gurgled and died as the spell spread to them. But that was only the beginning. The quake intensified, rattling the area apart as it thundered forth. Massive bolts of energy came out from it and began to rip into the surrounding room, tearing apart the walls and the foundations. Poisonous miasma poured from its wounds, covering the area with a terrible sickness and pestilence-inducing waste. The thing finally opened its mouth. Immediately, a blaze like Perdition's Flames poured forth from its mouth and washed forward with horrible, devastating heat right for the two warriors. They gaped at it, but then struggled to defend themselves right before the flames washed over them. As they did, they vanished into the flaming ruin. The monster sent wraith after wraith after them too, knowing that as they melted in the heat that the reapers would crush the life out of them. No shield would survive this. Nothing would. The massive blaze ripped through the stone and melted it into nothingness, and an unholy blast filled the entire tenth floor with flame. The area was annihilated, and filled with death and misery as it vented the full measure of its chaos.
For what seemed like an eternity this endured. But at last, the thing ceased. It was actually panting now. It had worn out its own incredible power. But it also grinned wickedly at what it saw. The area was surrounded with death. Only black, smoldering ruins were left now. The ground was fractured and disjointed. It didn't even look like a floor anymore. The Oblivion Stone on its throne was all that was left, but even the throne was slightly melted. Nevertheless, the thing had exhausted so much of its power and drawn so much of it that the darkness began to light. The stone looked covered with a bleak, black mist now, and still radiated much evil, but it had lost much of its power to the Chaos beast. It began to shimmer and shake, struggling to maintain itself. It was no longer full of empty blackness, but rather looked like a cloud struggling not to break. Its power was at its limit. However, it hardly seemed to matter, for there was nothing left. Not even bodies remained now. The Light Warriors were no more. It had taxed the strength of the beast to its limit, but now none was left.
The thing bared its teeth and grinned.
In the end, chaos always triumphed.
Bahamut was stunned into silence. His link was broken. He couldn't sense them anymore. That could mean only one thing. With only one minute before the fate of the planet was sealed, it was over. The thing had won. In the end, it had destroyed the last hope of the world. Now the Crystals would fall totally into darkness. There would be nothing left. The world would become a place of chaos, and everything would die. His friends...they were gone. There was nothing left for any of them. The world was doomed, and the Age of Chaos would never end.
And yet...despite the fact that the obvious reality stared him in the face...he refused to believe it.
I will not doubt again.
Light Warriors...if you can hear me...finish this monstrosity, and put an end to the evil of Hades forever.
The demon laughed horribly, letting its voice sound. Its victory was complete. Now the world would be forever in evil and chaos. It was the ultimate being. It was unstoppable. Its life would last forever. The last pathetic hope of humanity was gone. The inevitablility of death had crushed them, and chaos had lived. An age of eternal darkness was coming. Nothing would ever stop it again. Nothing. It would make sure of this. In the future, the Fiends would wage war only on humanity. They would wipe them out first. Only when they were crushed, and the hope of the world was forever ruined, would the espers die. Then their planet would follow. But first...there was the matter of summoning them again...to appear in the future...to doom the world to an endless cycle of death and drive it forever into chaos...
The thing turned back to the stone. Yes, that was all it needed. Just to go there. Clenching its hands into fists, it began to walk toward it...
Abruptly, however, a sting was in its foot. It was biting and hard, and it made the thing recoil a bit. Snarling, it looked down to the source. Then...it saw something it couldn't believe.
Harbaro lived. Half of his face was burned away, and his hat was gone. But still he had the strength to cast another spell of Saber on himself, and then had driven his Catclaw dagger deep into the foot of the monster. And now, despite how pathetic the attack was, it was effective. It began to fountain out blood, and it would not cease. Despite the futility, despite the uselessness of it all, the black wizard had lived and dared to keep striking. The Chaos beast merely snarled at the black wizard. It raised a foot to break off the human's skull and shatter it...
But a sharp pain in the head stopped it. Soon, blood poured down into its vision. Snarling, the beast looked up and was just in time to see a heavy hammer of mythril drop from its head. It had been flung straight at it, and had bashed open the wound again. Now, the blood loss from up there was making it dizzy. Sneering, it looked out to the source, and saw Lucinda. Her legs were shattered into bloody bits, but she had managed to pull out a hammer and fling it right at the monster's head, and her aim had been true. It had not only hurt, it had done a little damage. Two of them lived. The thing sneered at its own failure to kill them, but it didn't care. It would kill them now. It stomped forward and prepared to end the life of this nuisance...
When suddenly...it found another pain. It was a sharp stab, and continued to pierce through. It felt this, and at first it was going to roar in pain and anger. However...it didn't. For the first time, its face fell a bit. Its expression turned to a bit of surprise and stunned status. It paused a bit longer, but then turned and looked over to the enemy. As it turned, it saw another sight. Tuck, her mask ripped off but her face full of fury, stood before the thing with an angry glare. Lacerations had ripped through much of her flesh and clothing, but she didn't care. All she cared about was that she stared defiantly and darkly against the great creature...and that her hands no longer held the Masamune. Instead, the stunned beast slowly looked down at its own body...toward the source of the stab. As it did, it saw a blood-soaked blade was poking out from its massive bronze chest. Blood continued to pour forth from around the wound as the blade cut an unclotable wound.
The Chaos beast gaped in shock for a moment longer. But then, the pain hit it. Giving a roar, it fell down, for the first time, to its knees. It grasped its stomach in rage, feeling the terrible wound from inside of it. The sword shifted within, cutting deeper into the creature. It drove it into more agony. Hissing and snarling, the beast thrashed its great wings in agony. Its mouth dribbled blood. But soon, a fire of wrath began to build up in it. It summoned its great strength to itself once again, and threw up its head in rage. It intended to blow the human away for daring to do this...for daring to make it so enraged...for daring to give it this kind of wound. How dare such a miserable...pathetic...
But as it looked up, it froze. Tuck had stepped back now. Instead, Darwin now stood there. His face blazed with passion and power. One of his arms was gone and dripping blood from a severed stump, and his body was charred and burning. However, in the one other hand, he had his arm bent back behind his head and held the Excalibur. It was posed for the final strike.
Now, at last, it came to it. The Light Warriors rose now and glared at their hated foe. The Chaos monster stared back. Its eyes widened, and for the first time the anger totally left its face. Now, it realized the shocking truth. It was over. It had thought itself so powerful...so mighty... Deep within its twisted mind, what was left of Hades gaped in astonishment. It couldn't believe this. After a thousand years...humans had done it. They were the ones who finished it. The weak useless race...the playthings of espers...had done it. All of its evil and might was undone by them.
At that...it realized that it was wrong. It realized it had miscalculated. In the end...Bahamut had been right. There had been great power within men. Their race was strong enough in the end. Somehow...impossible as it was...they had come full circle. They were no longer the sheep anymore. Now...they had power to defend themselves from any foe. It realized that it had been the last survivor of the Age of the Espers. The Age of Chaos would be the final end of the great myths and dark creatures. It would mark the end where humans had been the easy prey of the great powers of the world, and the times where spells and curses and legends had ruled them came to an end. From this day forward, they would shape their own destiny.
This...was the final fantasy of the world.
Then, it came. Darwin brought Excalibur down and sliced off the great horned head of the demon of Chaos.
Even as the head fell, it suddenly closed its eyes and bellowed in agony. It started quiet, but it soon began to rise. It was no longer a mere scream...but was something more. It grew like the force of a hurricane, and quickly built in strength and power. As it did, the cold wind grew in the room. It pushed and gathered, and soon began to whip around violently. Heat and cold alternated. Black light eminated from the neck wound, and the body of Chaos began to shudder. The hands tightened into fists and balled up. The wounds began to enlarge...and black light poured from them as well. The body sizzled and continued to shift. The wings spasmed horribly, and the scream grew and grew. The terrible noise grew as deafening as a thunderclap, and yet still grew. The huge malestom kept growing, throwing about debris and stone beneath them. The Light Warriors gaped in surpise, but staggered back. Crying out, they grabbed their own ears as the final thing screamed. Its body continued to bulge as the dark light intensified. Foul smoke poured out from it, and it was wound up into the malestrom. It all continued to build, ripping off shreds of clothing, flinging about great stones, and continuing to writhe the huge body in a chaotic storm.
Then, at last, the body exploded. A rush of cold air whipped past the group and nearly threw them off their feet. A huge shockwave came forward and spread down into every floor. Its force pushed all enemies to the ground and continued to force itself into the earth. The surrounding world shuddered. The black storm over the building whipped harder. It was a blast of pure darkness as the evil energy of the creature flared up in one last biting blast. It smothered all feelings of light and cheerfulness, and numbed the flesh. It paled the four as they endured it, and all smelled of death and destruction. The thing's body evaporated entirely into this black energy and fountained it out over the whole land without end.
But at last, it did end. The last of it was spent, and it faded. The dark wind ended. The coldness vanished. Slowly, warmth began to come into this chamber. Light began to shine again from the various lights. The tremors stopped, and the wind died once again. A massive blackened crater, still feeling numbing to the touch, was in the center of the room. Merely touching the edge of the crater made the blackened stone crumble to dust. Pieces of debris continued to settle, and everything else calmed. The Oblivion Stone still stood in the throne...but its power was nearly spent. It had lost almost all of it just now, including the spirit of Hades. At last, the foul creature, still screaming, gave up his energy to be recycled into the planet. As for its miserable wicked soul...it was speeding into the bowels of Hell to meet its deserved fate. Only the slightest remnant remained. The stone flashed from opaque to clear now as the chamber stilled. As debris and dust slowly settled, the black smoke within it struggled to hold itself together. All was quiet in the temple, for the deadly creatures on lower floors now cowered in fear or struggled to escape, having lost their dark leader.
However, they were not all that remained. Recovering, slowly putting their arms down, and hardly daring to breathe...the Light Warriors put their arms down and gaped. They were covered with grievous injuries. Their strength was nearly gone. They had all lost a lot of blood and were ready to collapse, perhaps even die. And yet, they all now stood in their charred, weakened status. They were alive.
The beast of Chaos, the enemy of all life, was destroyed.
Had it been any other time, Bahamut would have rejoiced. He would have wept for joy and cried out in triumph. They had done it. Something deemed that was impossible for humans had occured. They had defeated a dark esper...and its foul evil that it had collected. The world was at peace again, and it was all thanks to them. The cycle of death was broken, and all because of them. They would be heroes forever. Indeed, the Age of Man had finally begun. If it had been any other time, Bahamut would have given into these feelings and indulged in these thoughts. But unfortunately, it was not. The Oblivion Stone still remained, and weakened as it was it could one day do this all again. And if the Temple blew up while they and the shards were still in it, then there would be no way to stop it when it eventually recovered.
And now...time was up.
Light Warriors! Bahamut immediately blasted out in a telepathic message. You have no time! You have to destroy the Stone now!
The weary fighters raised their heads at this. Battered and tired as they were, they realized that Bahamut spoke the truth. They turned their heads and looked to the Oblivion Stone. Sure enough, it still had power. This would never truly be finished unless it too was destroyed. Its power was greatly diminished now. Now was their chance, after it has exhausted most of its power on giving it to the Chaos beast. They had to push forward for one last shot, and hope it was enough. Quickly, they turned and began to rush to it.
"So, you decided to show up as well."
Bahamut turned his head immediately to this, expecting an enemy. But there was none. Instead, there was another person outside. He had shed his human disguise, and once again looked like the mighty warrior he was as he dismounted Slepnir. The horse was already buckling nervously, looking ready to take off. But its master kept it quiet. Now, he glared at Bahamut.
The esper gave him a nod. "So, you decided to abandon your kingdom?"
The Light Warriors could barely move over the rubble. It was too fractured and wild, and they were too weak. Tuck had to rush over and grab Lucinda as she crawled forward. In a painful manner, she dragged her too her feet, but she didn't care. They both soon went over to the stone, while Harbaro and Darwin did the best they could to help them as well. They were so weak they all had to work together now, but it didn't matter. Soon, they were all gathered at the stone, and they quickly dropped into the ready position.
"Just momentarily." Odin darkly answered. "You're not the only one that has an interest in wiping out evil…but I have a special tie into this evil."
Bahamut raised an eyebrow to this. "So? You think this is Hades?"
"I sensed his evil." Odin simply replied, turning his head to the citadel.
Hurry...please hurry...
"I know you're both weak." Darwin announced to both Harbaro and Lucinda. "But you have to try one more push. Put everything you've got into it. We're dead anyway the moment we destroy this thing. In seconds, that attack it going to blow this place. We might as well put everything we've got into this."
The wizards hestated only a moment, before swallowing and nodding. All of them knew this now. It wasn't until now, victorious over Chaos, that they realized that doom was inevitable. There wasn't any time or energy left to escape the Temple. This was it. This was their last push. And so, they had to try it the best that they could. They had to make this last shot without holding back, and they would. Immediately, Harbaro and Lucinda bent their heads. Soon, they soon strained and grunted and tightened up. They were summoning the last bit that they had, but now was the time. Soon, their power began to rise and their attacks came forward. As they did, Tuck and Darwin both sighed. They both stood back and put their swords down to their side. They prepared for one last X slash...
"I've sensed several evils in this monstrous thing."
"But it's his structure." Odin went on. "He was intelligent, regardless of anything else. He claimed that I couldn't destroy him…that he had set the foundation for something bigger. It seems as if that has quite literally come to pass. And now, I shall finish what I begun with him."
Now! Now! Do it now!
"We'll hit it with everything on three." Darwin announced. "When we hit three, discharge your spells and strike. Everything we have on one last strike. On three."
Lucinda and Harbaro were sweating now. Blood came from their noses. They were unable to respond as auras began to form around their hands. But he knew they heard. He looked to Tuck after that, and saw her nod and get ready. He too did so, and he leveled his gaze and breathed hard. He slowly began to count.
"One... Two..."
However...he suddenly halted. They all did. Just as he was about to say three, a pleasant, calm, and promising voice sounded in their heads in a simple, almost laughing voice.
Now, you four don't want to do that, do you?
With that, the warrior esper raised both of his hands together and placed the palms together. Bahamut raised an eyebrow at this.
"You truly think you have the power?"
"I have not stopped training in five hundred years." Odin darkly replied, almost sounding a bit insulted. "I have gained much. You may want to shield yourself."
Bahamut gaped in surprise. What had made them halt? They were so close... Why did they stop? They could run out of time at any moment now! He struggled to pierce their minds and yell at them, to tell them what was going on, to tell them to react... He reached deep inside them, struggling to urge them on...
But the four couldn't hear him. They couldn't hear anything, nothing but the pleasant voice within their heads.
You can't do it, can you? The voice pleasantly addressed. No...not when this means so much. Why not take it? It can give you far more power than you have now. It can make you all kings and queens. It can usher in a new era for your race. Within this stone is the power and wisdom to rule all peoples of your race. So why not take it for your own? Chaos is gone now. Now, the power passes on to you. Its yours rightfully. So accept this great gift...
The four hesitated. Normally, they would have pushed through and attacked. But not now. No... Weak as it was, the stone still had great power. And now, it extended its full remaining influence over them. It delved deep into their minds and grasped their hearts, struggling to talk with them. It had nothing left...but it was all that it needed for another few moments. It had blocked their mentor, and now they were finished. Just a few more seconds and they would be the stone's...
Bahamut paused a moment, but then gave a nod. He bent his body lower to the ground and put his wings back, covering his face with his arms. As for Odin, the warrior grunted and focused. As he did, he slowly drew his arms apart. A beam of light was between them, gleaming so brightly and strong that the darkness of the air did nothing to stop it. It only continued to shine on through the wickedness and grow in power. Bahamut had seen this once before, but it was much stronger now. Four times as strong as it had been before. He continued to draw it out, opening his arms wider and wider. Finally, he grunted again, and then quickly snapped his arms around and seized it at the middle. Odin had formed a new Gunge Lance. And now, he turned his full attention to the structure.
No reason to fear...no reason to worry... Think about it...think about what I can give you... Just think about it for a few more moments...
However, at this, Darwin grit his teeth and groaned. The sound of his voice, however weak and mild, nevertheless broke the silence and captivation that the voice had in their heads. It shook them back to reality. It made them forget about any base desires, and made them think instead of what the mission was. They thought of the time and about the empty promises of power that this wicked object gave. All at once, the voice turned wicked, vile and loathesome. It also became craven, quivering in terror, desperate to say anything to save its life. And that only intensified as they listened.
No...no! Listen to me! Think a moment longer!
But that was over. As one, they all opened their eyes and glared at the stone. The hated object had given its last hurrah. The last of its strength was broken. The last defense shattered. Now, it was time. They were somehow fortunate, but there was nothing left. They had to strike before the end. Gritting their teeth and glaring darkly at the object, they all held together and braced for the end.
"Three!"
Glaring darkly through his burning red eyes, Odin hefted the spear over his shoulder and looked up, taking careful aim right at the source of the evil. A brief feeling of hesitation went through Bahamut, for he could still sense…at least, he thought he could…smatterings of light within the darkness. But it couldn't be real…not with all this pulsing evil. And so, he merely stood his ground and watched.
"Hades…I stab the heart of your legacy." Odin sneered. Then, he threw the Gunge Lance right at the building.
Please...let them succeed...
Deep within the heart of the tower, moments before four weak humans were burnt away into ashes by a tremendous power...a combined Flare spell, Holy spell, and the dual strikes of the Masamune and Excalibur struck the Oblivion Stone. The last of its strength buckled. The black smoke faded as it spread out and struggled to sustain itself...but was then spent. As the blaze tore into the area, missing the stone entirely, these strikes hit none the less.
And then, like a thrown glass, the stone shattered into fragments and became nothingness.
To be concluded...