"Shiro, no!" Lloyd coughed, pushing himself up from the rubble. "It'll burn you out!"
"We have no other choice!" Shiro yelled back, his voice layered with power. He stretched out his hand, and a conduit of energy flowed from him to Lloyd, reigniting the older warrior's fading strength.
Understanding passed between them. Lloyd grabbed Shiro and, spinning with all his might, hurled him towards the Calamity like a living comet. Shiro shot forward, a spear of pure intent.
But the Calamity was ready. It adapted in the space between heartbeats, teleporting directly into Shiro's path. Its hand shot out, too fast to follow, and closed around Shiro's right arm. With a sickening tear, it ripped the limb from its socket.
Shiro's scream was a sound of pure agony. He tried to retaliate with a final fire blast, but the Calamity slammed him into the ground and pummeled him with destructive orbs, the concussive blasts throwing earth and fire high into the air.
Lloyd watched, one eye swollen shut, his battlesuit torn and drenched in blood. He saw his friend fall. He saw the hopelessness of their situation. And he found a final, grim resolve.
"It still stands after all that…" he murmured. "What a devastating calamity we created." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "If there's no option but to hold nothing back… then I might as well let my body burn away. Knowing he will pick up where I left off… I leave it in your hands, Shiro."
His aura erupted, a sky-rending vortex of red and pink energy that tore itself from his body. He fell into a low stance, focusing every last shred of his life force into a single, ultimate technique. Blood trickled from his nose. His eyes glowed with a brilliant, violent light.
"Calamity… now burn! Slice and Dice!"
He became a blur of motion, firing countless razor-sharp energy rays simultaneously. He walked calmly through his own storm of destruction as the rays assailed the Humanoid, which staggered under the onslaught, its body flaying open. Yet, even now, it adapted, its skin hardening, deflecting some of the rays away to carve fresh scars into the landscape.
'Activating Overdrive has put me on the brink,' Lloyd thought, his vision darkening at the edges. 'And this thing… it adapts faster than we can damage it. At this rate… I will obtain critical damage. If that's the case, I don't mind dying on the battlefield. I have done my part.'
His mind drifted, thoughts flowing like a final river. 'After all the battles I have faced over the years… I fought for all of them. But humanity was consumed by its own greed. We failed to see our limits. We strove for more, knowing it could all go in vain. Look… look what you have created.'
The ground began to shake violently, rocks levitating as a thick, purple smoke coalesced. The Humanoid of Calamity let out a devastating roar that shattered the air. Its body pulsed, the wounds from Lloyd's assault sealing shut in an instant. Then, with a final, contemptuous release of power, it obliterated the ground beneath it into fine dust, the intense air pressure flattening everything for miles.
---
Shiro regained consciousness to a world of pain. His missing arm was a white-hot brand of agony. He tried to push himself up, but a weak, telepathic voice echoed in his mind.
'Shiro… I don't have much left in me.' It was Hiro, their strategist, his own life fading fast from a distant location. 'This is why I wanted you and Lloyd to end this monster. I'll leave an opening. You'll have to gamble… throw everything you have into one shot. Make it quick. Both your life energies are fading. Make it count.'
"I understand," Shiro croaked, blood bubbling from his lips. He focused a weak flame onto his severed shoulder, cauterizing the wound with a sizzle that made him scream. Gritting his teeth, he stood, his body a canvas of blood and bruises, clad only in his tattered pants. He fell, then pushed himself up again, his blood dripping onto the scorched earth.
Far away, in a ruined command center, Hiro activated his own Overdrive. The mechanical components of his arm whirred and reconfigured, transforming into a massive, glowing cannon. His face was burned, his body broken. "This… is all I can do." He took aim. "Aerial Subjection!"
A beam of pure blue energy, containing the last of Hiro's will, lanced across the battlefield. It struck the Calamity with unerring accuracy, lifting it from its feet and hurling it into the side of a nearby mountain, pinning it there for a precious moment.
The scene shifted back to Shiro. He saw his chance.
"I have one last chance…" he muttered, falling into a battle stance. "If I don't make it, this is the end."
He summoned every last drop of his strength. Blood poured from his sealed wound as he speed-blitzed towards the mountain. The Calamity, struggling against Hiro's energy bindings, noticed him. Shiro pushed further, activating his Overdrive once more. His hair turned not just white, but a bloody, vibrant red—a sign he had long passed his limits.
"HYAAAAAA!" he screamed, unleashing his special technique. "COSMIC RAY!"
A pillar of absolute fire, containing the sum total of his being, erupted from his body and shot upwards, engulfing the Humanoid of Calamity. He was not alone. From the ruins below, Lloyd, with his final breath, coordinated his own fading power. "Number Six!" he commanded.
All their remaining attacks—the pink-red energy rays, the absolute flames—converged on a single point. The resulting explosion was not of sound and force, but of light and essence. It was a silent, brilliant dawn that consumed everything, leaving only a wide, circular field of burning purple dust.
---
From a hidden vantage point, two figures observed the aftermath.
"This is why they call them the strongest Elementals," one murmured, a note of clinical admiration in his voice.
"Now we can help them," the other replied, his tone cold. He willed a spear of shimmering energy into existence in his hand.
In the center of the devastation, Shiro was the only thing standing. He stumbled forward, his body running on fumes, towards the cracked and broken form of the Humanoid of Calamity. Its core, a pulsating gem of dark energy, was exposed.
"Our attempts… were not in vain," he whispered to the ghosts of his comrades. "Everyone… it finally ends here."
A spear of light materialized in the air and shot down, impaling the ground between Shiro and the core. He looked up, his vision blurry, to see the two new figures approaching.
"Answer me, damn it," Shiro demanded, though his voice was weak.
"You know it's us," the spear-wielder said. "It's you. This is not how we imagined it would end, but we're going to need that core. You guys are legends. You will survive." A cruel smile played on his lips. "But you know what they say… all legends must fade."
Shiro's mind reeled. Betrayal, at the final moment. "What will you accomplish by doing this?"
"None of your concern," the man replied smoothly. "But we'll help you choose. A painful death, or an easy one. Choose. Any final words?"
Shiro looked at the traitor, then at the core of the calamity they had sacrificed everything to stop. A profound exhaustion washed over him. There were no more fights left in him.
"I hope…" he rasped, "…you rot in hell."
The man nodded to his companion. The second figure raised his hand, and a wave of pure darkness surged forward. It was not the violent energy of the Calamity, but a cold, swallowing emptiness. It consumed the light, the heat, the very world, and finally, Shiro's consciousness.
---
Elsewhere, in a sterile, dark room that hummed with latent energy, a tall, slender figure gazed at a holographic display.The figure was impeccably dressed in a stark white suit, a stark contrast to the gloom.
He reached out a gloved hand and tapped the display, causing the image to vanish.
"Adequate," he murmured, his voice calm and devoid of triumph. "Phase One is complete."
From his other hand, he produced a single, exquisitely carved white king chess piece. He held it over the cold, hard floor, his fingers poised. With a soft, deliberate sigh, he let it go.
The chess piece tumbled through the air, end over end, before striking the ground with a sharp, final crack. It shattered into pristine, white fragments, scattering across the floor.
The camera lingered on the broken pieces for a moment before tilting up, but it revealed only the immaculate white suit and the faint, enigmatic smile on lips that were just out of frame. The figure's face remained a mystery, a ghost presiding over the ruins of the first game.
---
In an instant, everything changed.
The smell of ash and blood was gone, replaced by the scent of pine and damp earth. The roar of battle was a fading echo. Shiro's eyes fluttered open. He was lying on a simple cot. Sunlight streamed through a small window of a wooden cabin.
A gentle, unfamiliar voice spoke from nearby.
"Ohhh, you're awake."