The air in the arena was thick with smoke and tension, the battlefield scarred by fiery explosions and jagged craters. Helios and Sephiroth stood side by side, blood dripping from their wounds as they faced their oppos. Across the ptform, Vi and Barret prepared for another assault. Vi’s crimson eyes glowed faintly as he wiped blood from the er of his mouth, while Barret’s gun-arm whirred ominously, charging for another bst.

  Helios tightened his grip on the Equilibrium keybde, sweat dripping down his temple as the Underworld’s curse sapped his strength. His body felt heavier with each passing sed, and his magical reserves were dwindling rapidly. Beside him, Sephiroth’s breathing was steady but shallow, his coat torn and blood-stained. Despite the strain, his pierg gaze never wavered.

  “We don’t have much left,” Helios muttered, his voice low.

  “Then stop wasting time and finish this,” Sephiroth replied coldly, raising Masamune.

  Helios shot him a sideways gre. “You’re wele for saving your ass earlier, by the way.”

  Sephiroth didn’t respond, his focus already shifting back to their oppos.

  Vi moved first, his body blurring as he darted forward. In an instant, his form twisted and morphed, shadows engulfing him as he transformed into Chaos. Bat-like wied from his back, and his crimson eyes burned brighter, now fully demonic. A dark aura radiated from him, dist the air around him.

  “Chaos…” Helios muttered, his chest tightening as the overwhelming pressure hit him.

  Before Helios could react, Vi raised a cwed hand and unleashed a bst of dark energy. The attack streaked toward them like a et, pulsing with destructive force.

  “Move!” Sephiroth barked, shoving Helios aside as he teleported out of the bst’s trajectory. The attack struck the ptform, detonating with a deafening explosion that sent ks of stone flying in every dire.

  Helios stumbled but recovered quickly, summoning Reflect to deflect the debris raining down on him. “We ’t let him stay in that form,” he said, his voice tight. “His magic’s stronger, and he’s not holding baymore.”

  “Then stop talking and act,” Sephiroth snapped, already moving.

  As Sephiroth closed the distao Vi, Barret charged at Helios, his gun-arm now transformed into a spinning wreg ball. “Let’s see how good you are up close!” Barret roared, swinging the on in a wide arc.

  Helios ducked uhe attack, the wind from the swing nearly knog him off bance. He retaliated with a Blizzaga spell, the icy projectile striking Barret’s arm and freezing part of his gun-arm. Barret roared in frustration, smashing the ice off with brute force.

  “Damn, you’re slippery!” Barret growled, switg his gun-arm back to its gatling gun form and opening fire.

  Helios raised his keybde, eling a Thundaga spell that arced through the air toward Barret. Lightning crackled as it struck the gatling gun, causing it to spark and misfire. Helios didn’t hesitate, rushing in and sshing at Barret’s exposed side with the Equilibrium keybde.

  The blow staggered Barret, but he quickly recovered, smming his meical arm into Helios' chest and sending him skidding across the ptform. When he finally stopped Helios wheezed and coughed up some blood.

  Meanwhile, Sephiroth and Vi cshed in the air above the arena. Vi, in his Chaos form, moved with uing speed, his cws sshing at Sephiroth in his one-winged angel form with lethal precision. Sephiroth met each attack with Masamuhe bde’s length giving him just enough reach to parry the strikes.

  Vi’s dark energy fred as he unleashed a barrage of shadowy projectiles. Sephiroth teleported through the air, dodging each bst with effortless grace. Closing the gap, he sshed downward, f Vio block with his cws.

  “You’re persistent,” Vi growled, his demonic voice eg.

  “And you’re in my way,” Sephiroth replied, driving his bde forward.

  Vi retaliated by summoning a sphere of darkness around himself, the energy pushing Sephiroth back. With a roar, Vi expahe sphere, releasing a shockwave that shook the entire arena.

  On the ground, Helios pushed himself to his feet, wiping blood from the er of his mouth. Barret was relentless, his gun-arm now switched to missile mode as he unched explosive rounds in Helios’ dire. Helios rolled to the side, summonio create a wind barrier that absorbed part of the bst.

  As he prepared to ter, Helios felt a strange pull from his keybde. A surge of energy coursed through him, and the Equilibrium keybde began to glow.

  “What the—” Helios muttered, watg in shock as the keybde split into two. In his left hand, he held a radiant bde of light, its silver glow almost blinding. In his right hand was a dark, shadowy bde, its edges crag with malevolent energy.

  The sudden transformation caught Barret off guard. “What the hell is that? The sword split,” he shouted, momentarily hesitating.

  Helios didn’t waste the opportunity. He dashed forward, sshing with the bde of light. The strike left a searing trail across Barret’s chest, f him to stumble back. Before Barret could recover, Helios followed up with the dark bde, the shadowy energy exploding on impad sending Barret crashing to the ground.

  The newfound power surged through Helios, but it came at a cost. The light and darkness within him began to csh, the strain leaving him disoriented. His darkness was overwhelming while his light was weak and this new form of his keybde made both powers rage out of trol. His vision blurred for a moment, aaggered, barely able to stay on his feet.

  “Helios, focus! If you fall I’ll kill you!” Sephiroth’s voice cut through the haze.

  Helios snapped out of it just in time to see Vi desding from the air, his cws aimed for Sephiroth’s back.

  Thinking quickly, Helios raised the bde of light and cast Reflect. The shield of light appeared around Sephiroth just as Vi struck, the terattack sending small explosions of energy back at him. Vi snarled, fling from the bsts, and Sephiroth seized the opening, sshing upward with Masamune.

  “Now!” Sephiroth shouted.

  Helios uood that they o make a final push so he held nothing back. He bined his Thundaga and Dark Firaga spells, creating a swirling orb of fire and lightning. With a grunt of effort, he hurled the spell toward Vi. The orb struck with devastating force, lightning crag through the dark fmes as it engulfed Vi in a fiery explosion.

  Vi fell to the ground, his Chaos form fading as he reverted to human form. He struggled to rise, but his strength was gone.

  Barret, seeing his partner down, roared in defiance. “You bastards aren’t taki that easy!” He charged his gun-arm, the energy building for his ultimate attack.

  Helios and Sephiroth exged a gnce, both battered and barely standing.

  “Together,” Helios said, gripping the two keybdes tightly.

  Sephiroth nodded, raising Masamune.

  Barret fired his charged ser, the massive beam tearing across the arena. Helios and Sephiroth moved in unison, Sephiroth telep to close the distance while Helios summoned Aero to shield them.

  Sephiroth struck first, his bde slig through the beam’s sourd disrupting its energy. Helios followed up, crossing the two keybdes and eling all his remaining magito a bined Firaga and Blizzaga spell. The fire and ice swirled together, creating a devastating vortex shockwave that struck Barret head-on.

  The explosive forocked Barret off his feet, his meical arm shattered. He hit the ground with a heavy thud, unmoving.

  The arena fell silent. Vi and Barret y defeated, and Helios and Sephiroth stood victorious, though barely. Blood dripped from their wounds, their breaths ragged.

  Hades cpped slowly from his throne, his grin as wide as ever. “Well, well, well! You two actually pulled it off. I’m half impressed! Not many survive against these losers.”

  Helios dropped to one khe strain finally catg up to him. Sephiroth leaned on Masamune for support, his expression unreadable.

  “This is over. That was what we agreed upon correct?” Helios muttered, gring up at Hades.

  Hades chuckled. “Yeah, I know. But we never shook hands you see, so I had my fingers crossed. I know you’re running out of gas, kid. But you’ve still got och to go. Gotta capitalize on the excitement we’ve built up now don’t we.”

  The god’s ughter echoed through the arena as Helios and Sephiroth prepared for what was still to e.