Sephiroth’s expression remained eerily calm, almost amused, as he spoke, his voice low and cold. “You… you pulled me out, didn’t you? Why would you disrupt something so… iable?”

  Sephiroth’s smirk was cold as he lunged forward, Masamune fshing in the m light. Helios raised his Keybde, barely managing to parry the blow. The force of the strike reverberated through his entire body, and he ushed back, he struggled to maintain his stance. Sephiroth’s gaze remained unfling, his eyes sharp and predatory.

  “Sephiroth, wait!” Helios called, his voice urgent. “This isn’t necessary. I’m not your enemy—let’s talk about this. Stand down!”

  But Sephiroth’s response was a mere narrowing of his eyes, and without a word, he vanished, only to reappear behind Helios in an instant. Helios spun around just in time to intercept arike, the bde scraping dangerously close to his side. Sephiroth moved with inhuman speed, his form flickering like a shadow as he advanced, leaving Helios with barely any time to react.

  Helios’s heart pounded as he summoned dark lightning, eling his energy into his Keybde and sshing forward. The bolt crackled as it met Sephiroth, but the man merely tilted his head, unfazed, before raising a hand.

  “Firaga Wall,” he intoned, his voice low and almost serene.

  Massive pilrs of fme erupted around them, their heat intense enough that Helios had to shield his face with his arm. The fmes sucked in the air around them, creating a swirling vortex that threateo pull Helios toward the ter. He fought against the pull, pushing back with a bst of Aero, using wind magic to resist the fmes. But as he staggered back, Sephiroth was already upon him again, his bde desding in a deadly arc.

  Helios mao dodge, barely. The Masamune grazed his shoulder, and he hissed as he felt the sharp sting of pain and the warmth of blood seeping through his shirt. Gritting his teeth, he swung his Keybde, casting Blizzaga in an attempt to freeze his foe, but Sephiroth sidestepped it effortlessly, leaving Helios’s spell to crash into the ground, c it in frost.

  Sephiroth extended a hand, juring orbs of dark fire that hovered ominously around him. “Shadow Fres,” he announced calmly, and the orbs uoward Helios with deadly precision.

  Helios leaped to the side, casting Protect to shield himself, but the Shadow Fres pierced through his defenses, eae striking him with the force of a small explosion. Pain seared through him as the dark fmes licked at his skin, the shock of the impact leaving him momentarily stunned.

  “Sephiroth… stop!” he tried again, his voice strained. “I don’t want to fight you! I want to make a deal!”

  But Sephiroth’s expression remained unreadable, cold aached. He lifted a hand to the sky, and with a flick of his wrist, he summoned meteors that revolved around him like a deadly halo. Helios’s eyes widened as he realized what was ing.

  “Meteor!” Sephiroth called, and the meteors shot toward Helios with blinding speed.

  Helios threw up both hands, casting the new spell he had worked from reading Merlin’s books Reflet with everything he had, f a barrier around himself. The meteors collided with his shield, each explosion shaking the ground and sending tremors through his arms. The force was nearly overwhelming, and cracks began to form in his barrier. Just as the st meteor struck, his shield shattered, sending him flying back, tumbling across the ground until he maht himself.

  Blood dripped from his lip, and his entire body ached. Every spell he tried, every ounce of strength he put into defending himself, seemed to be nothing more than a minor invenieo Sephiroth. Still, he forced himself to stand, gripping his Keybde tightly.

  Sephiroth tilted his head, as if studying him, then raised his hand again. This time, his entire form began to glow with a dark, ominous energy. Helios’s heart skipped a beat, reizing the telltale sign of a spell he’d only heard about—“Heartless Angel.”

  A dark halo formed above Sephiroth as he began to t softly, his voice carrying a deadly finality. Helios knew what this meant; if Sephiroth pleted the spell, he’d be pletely drained of his strength, left helpless in the face of the legendary swordsman’s attack. Desperately, Helios summoned every ounce of speed he had, lunging forward, attempting to disrupt Sephiroth’s tration.

  But as he drew close, Sephiroth’s eyes snapped open, and in a fsh, he vanished, reappearing behind Helios in a blur of motion. “Fsh,” he murmured, and before Helios could react, a rapid series of sshes cut into him, sixteen strikes delivered in the span of a heartbeat.

  Helios felt each cut like a searing brand, aaggered, barely able to keep himself standing as blood trickled down his arms and legs. His vision blurred, and his breaths came in shalled gasps.

  “Enough… enough of this,” he rasped, but Sephiroth merely raised his bde, his face devoid of mercy.

  Helios summohe st of his strength, dark fmes gathering around his Keybde as he cast Dark Firaga, hurling it toward Sephiroth. The fmes exploded against the swordsman’s form, but when the smoke cleared, Sephiroth remained unscathed, his smirk growing ever colder.

  “Is that it? Is that all you have too show me?” he taunted, his voice calm as he unched into a deadly series of strikes, eae faster and more brutal tha. Helios barely mao block, his arms ag uhe relentless barrage, but each block left him weaker, each dodge more desperate.

  His body felt like it was on the verge of colpsing, and he knew he couldn’t keep this up much longer. He’d exhausted nearly every spell he knew, every trick he’d learned, a Sephiroth remained untouchable, an unstoppable force of darkness and power.

  “I… I didn’t e here to die,” Helios muttered to himself, f himself to stay upright, to keep his Keybde raised even as his vision darkened.

  But Sephiroth showed no mercy. With a powerful sweep, he knocked Helios’s Keybde from his hand, sending it cttering across the ground. Helios stumbled, his knees bug as he fought to stay standing.

  Sephiroth took a step closer, his gaze unwavering. Helios felt the weight of his stare, the cold, calg ihat promised nothing but annihition. With that, he raised the Masamuhe bde gleaming as he prepared to deliver the final blow.

  But as the bde desded, Helios felt something within him stir—a fsh of memory. His parents telling him to live. Within that, he found the strength to raise his arm yet again, summohe keybde back, and defe the st sed.

  With a burst of energy, he raised his hand, eling the light burning within him into a beam, and fired it at Sephiroth at point bnk. The force of the impact sent a shockwave rippling through the valley, but the shield held, just barely.

  Sephiroth’s eyes narrowed as he regarded the shield with mild curiosity, his lips curling into a thin smile. “Iing… you also possess the power of light within you, after all. A pity it is so weak. That on is also iing.”

  Helios gritted his teeth, pushing himself ba his feet after the light explosion. “This is called a keybde, Sephiroth. It is sidered one of the mightiest ons ever fed said to be able to shatter pead bring great ruin.”

  Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, amused. “Really, then I’ll be sure to use it very after I kill you.”

  Helios smiled as the versation tinued, “Sadly a keybde chooses its wielder and even if you kill me I’m afraid you still won’t be able to wield one. However, if you listen to my deal you may get a ce to bee one of its wielders.”

  “You speak as though you have something to offer me, yet you stand on the edge of defeat, barely able to wield that ‘mighty on’ yourself,” Sephiroth replied, his tone ced with disdain. “What makes you think you’re in any position tain?”