The darkness of Belos descended on Luz like a great cloak, smothering everything in its path; every star of that tiny universe fled towards Luz, frightened by the terrible evil of the giant monster. But the puppet showed not the slightest fear; on the contrary, she welcomed each of those stars into her and protected them with her voice. "Come here, everyone" she told them almost as if she were a loving mother. "Let me tell you more stories. Let me tell you about how a young witch oppressed by her family's expectations broke her chains and became the most magnificent creature in this world and the most important person in my life. Let me tell you about my best friends, who were first a very weak and scared cricket and a spider, but who then grew up and became human, showing extraordinary strength of spirit. Let..."

"Do you really think a few stories can create enough hope to defeat me?" Belos asked her with a big laugh. Clearly he was considering her every word and effort ridiculous. "Your head must really be missing a brain. You are such a stupid and arrogant puppet. Your end will not be sweet!"

The darkness became even more oppressive and overwhelming, but the Collector stepped in and his power exploded from him, once again driving away the monster's fury. "You won't go near her!"

"Uh, look who decided to be a hero" Belos scoffed. "You are a fool, Collector. You are fighting for someone who is destined to lose!"

"Luz won't lose" the Collector said with extreme confidence in his voice. "You'll be the one who will lose!"

Belos made an annoyed noise. "What a heroic declaration, what ignoble futility. What makes you so sure of this impossible victory of yours?"

The Collector returned a challenging look. "Because that's what I want to believe"

Meanwhile Luz continued to speak, bringing countless souls to her chest and warming them with her light. She didn't even seem to notice what was happening around her... or maybe she did, but she didn't consider it important. "Let me tell you about a monster hunter who was enslaved by an even greater monster, convinced that his life would always be miserable, and who then discovered what it meant to have friends and love a person, and broke the chains that held him they imprisoned. Let me tell you about a group of rowdy and absurd pirates, who spent their time having fun in the midst of storms or jumping in the faces of sharks. Let me tell you about a basilisk who was terrified of showing himself for what he was, but then he met someone who welcomed him into her heart as his sister, and someone else who he could call mother, and yet another who he called girlfriend..."

Belos's face twisted into a furious grimace."Your actions are senseless and, above all, without any hope of victory!" he growled. "Stop playing games and actually answer me, Collector! Where do you get so much confidence from? Why are you so sure that this miserable puppet will be able to defeat a god? You know it's impossible, so why? Why, why, why you all aren't able to see the reality!?"

"I was sincere even before, because I chose to believe that this is possible. And it will be possible because she is Luz" the Collector replied. "She does impossible things. She always does them"

"What nonsense. Nothing she ever did was impossible" Belos hissed. "Have you ever seen her lift a mountain or move the sun? No! All she did was do what any mortal with a little luck could do. It was just an accident!"

"No, that's what you don't understand" the Collector replied in a strange tone of voice. "Luz wasn't just lucky, all her successes were thanks to her big heart. She was always able to reach people's hearts, show them their mistakes and insecurities, allow them to improve! And after that, those same people have become like an armor for her, allowing her to perform feats that should have been barred to mere mortals. Just as she is doing now!". His eyes narrowed:"And that's why I know she will defeat you!"

"You petulant brat! I will teach you to distinguish between reality and dreams the hard and most efficient way!" Belos roared in extreme anger.

Darkness seemed to wrap around the Collector, and the divine child let out a cry of pain as he felt his body being crushed; it was clear that Belos aimed to tear him apart. But suddenly, the darkness retreated, as if some mysterious force had pushed it away. "Huh!? What!?" Belos exclaimed. "It wasn't you... what's going on...!?"

But he didn't have time to look into the matter too much, because suddenly it was as if all the light that had ever existed had exploded inside him; Luz shone with the force of a billion suns, and the shockwave that exploded through her swept away the darkness as if it were made of nothing more than black curtains hanging on the wall. Her voice became even warmer and deeper than before, as if she were speaking not with her mouth but directly with her soul: "Let me tell you about a poor woman with a heart of gold who lived in a simple shop where she carved puppets and who really wanted a daughter, and of a clumsy but very good and kind fairy who decided to make her wish come true. And let me tell you in particular about that puppet, so full of defects and who made so many mistakes, but who never gave up and chased her dreams even when they seemed impossible, even when she herself doubted she could do it, even when she cried and despaired! Because hope never dies! No one can kill it... let alone a pile of stinky fins and tentacles!"

All the souls that had gathered around her suddenly rushed in all directions, and shone brighter than ever; through them the light expanded, becoming stronger than ever. Some of them were lone stars, but many others merged together, forming large, dancing, pulsating galaxies. It was like watching the birth of a new universe under a microscope, where each star continually tried to chase away the darkness and transport the light beyond every boundary.

Belos narrowed his eyes, and his expression became worried. "Ugh... OUCH! That hurts!" he exclaimed, getting agitated. "It's not possible... how could you have strengthened such a small amount of light magic so much!?"

Luz touched her hands to her chest. She could feel the light magic in her shining brighter than ever. She felt like she had a mass of boiling lava in her heart, but it wasn't burning her, on the contrary it was comfortable and benign and encouraged her to be courageous even in the face of that horrendous and terrifying monster. "Collector" she said at one point. "Stop defending me. Come back outside, and let me talk to everyone else"

The divine child looked at her in surprise. "Luz... are you sure?" he asked not wanting to leave her alone.

Luz nodded. "I'll take it from here on. You just let me make my voice heard by everyone else. Can you do that?"

The Collector nodded. "I will make you heard by everyone else here, no... by every person in this world!" he answered her.

"No! You're not going anywhere!" Belos roared, trying to grab him, but again he was pushed back as if there was an impenetrable barrier around the divine child. "What... why...!?"

The Collector didn't wait for the monster to find a solution to his questions; even if he didn't understand what was happening, he was sure that Luz had something to do with it, and even if she didn't have anything to do with it, it was certainly beneficial for them, so he didn't waste time and dragged himself out of the monster's body. Luz looked down at Stringbean: "You too, you can go if you want"

But Stringbean swirled around her as if she were swimming. "Absolutely not. What kind of magical scepter would I be if I left my mistress alone right now?" she replied winking at her.

Luz smiled, and she opened her hand; Stringbean flew towards it and transformed back into a magical scepter, and the puppet raised her in all her glory: "Hear me, everyone, now! I don't know if you can hear me already, but I believe in the Collector, so I'm sure you do!"

Outside Belos' body, the Collector had reappeared in his corporeal form, and he had risen into the sky and there illuminated himself with the colors of the rainbow; suddenly, everyone could hear Luz's voice, as if the divine child were a means by which she conveyed her words to every person in the world. "I'm facing Belos right now" the puppet began to say, letting every living creature in the world hear her, whether it swam, flew, or walked. "I won't lie to you: the world is facing an unprecedented threat. Belos has finally broken free from his eternal prison, and is about to destroy everything. I know you are scared and you have every reason to be; I don't blame you for that, I'm scared too... yet I smile. I smile because I know that Belos is not invincible, and that we all have a chance to defeat him! I'm inside him at the moment, but I need the strength to give him the final blow!"

Her friends and family heard her, and immediately their hearts did somersaults. "Luz... she's really okay!" Amity exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah... and apparently, she's smiling" Eda commented with a wide smile. "Ah, this girl..."

Camila took a few steps forward, watching the giant monster in front of her continue to thrash. It was a gruesome sight, but she knew that her daughter was in there, and that she was giving that cruel thing a good beating. "You alone surely have all the strength you need" she said proudly. "But if we can help you in any way, tell us and we will!"

Luz couldn't hear their voices, but somehow she was able to understand that they had managed to hear her, because the light magic inside her strengthened even more, demonstrating that outside that horrible body in which she was imprisoned, someone had recovered her hope and they were giving it to her. "I know that we can stop Belos once and for all. He is cruel, greedy, arrogant and selfish, and this will mark his demise! All of you, instead of succumbing to despair, remember your dreams! Have hope that you can live such dreams! Believe that your life will continue, for better or for worse, because today this nightmare of the seas will finally end! Don't give up, but fight so that the light shines and burns this horrible monster once and for all!"

"NO!" Belos roared, and he flew towards the Collector and tried to hit him to stop him from transmitting Luz's voice elsewhere, but again the mysterious force pushed him back and threw him to the ground. "Again!? Why!?"

Everyone was as perplexed as they were to see that scene, but then Amity burst out laughing. "Of course! The contract!" she exclaimed as she couldn't hold back a mocking laugh. "Luz made you promise not to hurt anyone here… but technically you didn't respect that promise! The contract didn't say you weren't supposed to hurt us physically, just hurt us! And you hurt all of us in our heart! And since you alone didn't comply with the terms, the magic of the contract is now forcing you to comply with them by force! You cannot hit us in any way!"

"WHAT!?" Belos shouted in a thunderous voice. "What dirty trick is this!?"

"No tricks. It's a simple contract of dark magic, and you're just as bound to it as she is! First rule of the witches: know the consequences of the terms of the contract well before accepting!" Amity replied while still laughing. Belos didn't take that reaction well and tried to hit her with one of his tentacles, but he couldn't as the mysterious force blocked him every time before he could touch her.

Luz continued speaking, and her voice was heard around the world: "Please... have hope! Believe that tomorrow can be better, even now that the most terrifying and cruel monster ever existed is ready to unleash itself on the world! Hope is like a diamond, and if wielded it can protect and hurt evil beings more than any weapon! Nothing can kill hope, its light will always shine even in the darkest night! Even if the sun goes out, the sea dries up and the land becomes barren, hope will remain as long as there is someone to experience it! So do it! Believe in hope! All of you, whether you are people, animals or even plants, magical or non-magical, good or bad, of any culture, tradition or belief, have hope and give it to me! Believe that this monster can be defeated and eliminated once and for all! He is not a god, he is mortal like everyone else, just a little stronger, and just like anyone in this world he can die! If we all believe it, he can be destroyed! Evil will not win today! I know I'm asking a lot of you, but please, all of you... defeat your fear and only feel hope!"

In case someone doesn't remember: magical contracts oblige those who make them to perform their part if the other has already done so. Luz already fulfilled her part here by letting Belos into her body, but Belos didn't fully fulfill his as he emotionally hurt Amity as soon as he took over Luz's body. As a result, the magic of the contract is now forcibly blocking him, preventing him from harming anyone, including the Collector