The battlefield was a maelstrom of chaos. The mist from the Tusker drew more and more heartless who attacked as the beast began to heal itself.
The sky above the Spirit Woods was shrouded in rolling, ash-black clouds. Trees had been uprooted, the earth scorched and cratered by the Tyrant Tusker's rampage. The towering beast—its obsidian hide cracked with glowing lines of molten darkness—let out a thunderous roar that echoed across the hills.
Helios stumbled back, dragging Bríon na Lú across the dirt. His breath came in short, ragged bursts. Sparks of light sputtered at his fingertips. His body screamed in protest, and the spear in his grip—once radiantly solid—was beginning to flicker at its edges.
Such a situation reminded him of the time in the Realm of Darkness. Looking at the spear he knew he didn't have much time.
He looked over his shoulder. Aqua and Skuld were fending off swarms of Heartless that appeared called by the mist from the Tusker near the treeline. Pocahontas and John Smith were doing their best to assist—skirting the outer edges of the battle, launching arrows and musket fire to draw away lesser enemies. They were agile and smart, but this battlefield wasn't meant for them.
"Aqua! Skuld!" Helios yelled across the din. "Fall back and cover the tribe member!"
Aqua blasted a cluster of Heartless back with her Tidal Scepter before shooting him a sharp glare. "What are you planning now?!"
Helios didn't answer immediately.
He could feel it.
The light in his chest.
It was peaking.
Bríon na Lú's time was almost up, but before it reverted, he had one chance.
One attack.
"Back up," he shouted. "Now!"
Aqua frowned, but Skuld immediately grabbed Pocahontas and John, ushering them behind an ice barricade conjured by Aqua. Aqua raised her Tidal Scepter once more and reinforced the barrier with layered ice shields, embedding magical resistance into each one.
Helios turned, staggering into the broken woods, and dropped to one knee.
"This better work," he muttered.
Drawing in the last of his light, he began charging Bríon na Lú. The silver edges of the spear were swallowed in radiant white fire, and slowly, the weapon began to change.
Its elegant design became more fluid, almost wing-like. Flames of brilliant light began to dance along the spear's edge, spiraling upward like a coiled sun.
The shaft pulsed.
The air shimmered.
"Holy Firaga," Helios breathed, "take it all."
He dumped everything.
All his light.
All his magic.
All of it surged into the spear.
His body shook. Cracks of golden light ran across the arms of his black armor like glowing tattoos threatening to burn him from the inside out. His vision blurred. His knees buckled. He held on—only barely.
And then the spear ignited.
A blinding white flame engulfed the weapon entirely, taking on the shape of a burning comet.
Helios screamed—not in pain, but to alert the others—then vanished in a flash of golden teleportation.
Aqua, watching from behind the barrier, saw the flash in the sky.
Helios had reappeared high above the battlefield.
And in his hand burned the sun.
"Oh no," Aqua whispered.
She reinforced the barriers with everything she had.
"BRÍON NA LÚ!"
Helios hurled the blazing spear downward.
It tore through the sky like a meteor, trailing searing arcs of light across the clouds. The wind exploded outward in concentric rings. The Tyrant Tusker raised its head too late. The spear slammed into its massive back.
And the world shattered.
A blinding column of white flame erupted upward, consuming everything.
Aqua and the others were thrown off their feet as the explosion tore through the ground. The forest was lit with divine fire. Branches vaporized. The earth cracked open. All nearby heartless were instantly vaporised.
The heat… was pure.
The radiance… cleansing.
The Holy Firaga detonated with all the fury of a dying star.
And then—
Silence.
Ash floated through the air like snow. The crater at the center of the battlefield smoked with light.
Aqua coughed as she pushed herself up, ice melting around her. Skuld emerged from behind the barrier, helping Pocahontas and John to their feet.
And at the center—
The Tyrant Tusker stood.
Or… what remained of it.
The blast had obliterated nearly all of it.
Its left side was completely gone. One leg. Half its chest. Its massive tusks were shattered, one of them still smoldering.
Only its head and core remained—barely clinging to form, twitching with unstable darkness.
Helios knelt just outside the crater, his body limp, his skin glowing faintly from lingering light residue.
He was done.
His spear was gone.
The light had vanished.
Helios chuckled dryly, forcing himself upright on shaking legs. "Well… that worked better than I thought."
The Tyrant Tusker roared—a final, warped sound, pitiful and enraged. Its hollow eye sockets burned red.
Aqua stepped forward, her Tidal Scepter glowing.
"I'll handle it—"
But before she could finish, the Tusker began to shift.
Its remaining core pulsed—then cracked.
"Wait," Skuld gasped. "It's changing!"
The molten darkness at its core expanded, wrapping around the beast. Horns of obsidian light began to grow. New legs, malformed and jagged, took shape. The shattered creature was transforming again—consuming the remnants of Heartless still nearby and reconstructing itself.
"Back!" Aqua shouted, summoning her scepter's water shield.
The creature let out a guttural roar as it completed its metamorphosis—now a nightmarish, armored colossus, even more twisted than before.
Skuld grabbed Helios and dragged him back.
"You idiot," she hissed, "you used up everything, didn't you?"
Helios didn't answer.
He just smiled.
"I bought us time… that's all that matters."
The Tusker began to charge.
But this time—
Aqua stepped forward.
Skuld did too, drawing her keyblade and taking position beside her.
A moment later, Helios stood between them, gripping his reformed keyblade weakly.
They were exhausted.
Their magic reserves were running low.
But to everyone's surprise, the Tusker turned to leave.