The Tyrant Tusker roared, its molten tusks carving trenches in the ground as it barreled forward like a juggernaut of raw darkness.
Aqua slid across the battlefield, her boots skating along an ice path she conjured mid-dash. Her breath misted in the air, her limbs aching from relentless dodging and countering. She flung her arm forward, summoning a cluster of ice orbs that hovered and spun before slamming them into the Tusker's jaw.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
The beast snarled and staggered, shards of ice embedding into its cracked obsidian hide, but it recovered instantly and reared up on its hind legs. The air shimmered with heat as its core pulsed crimson.
"Tidal Spiral!" Aqua roared.
A geyser of spiraling water erupted beneath the Tusker, lifting it momentarily into the air before exploding in a burst of ice. Aqua followed through, leaping above the monster, forming her Glacial Empress Bow mid-air and firing three arrows in rapid succession—fire, lightning, wind.
The elemental volley struck its chest, staggering it—but the beast twisted in mid-fall and swung its tusks like a wrecking ball.
WHAM.
The blow connected.
Aqua was thrown across the field, crashing into a half-collapsed hut. She winced, pushing herself upright with a groan as the Tusker charged again, glowing brighter now, its body crackling with absorbed elemental magic.
From the side, a gust of wind tore through the air, slamming into the Tusker's legs and forcing it to lurch.
"Hey!" came a voice from above. "Sorry, I'm late!"
Skuld descended in a blur, wind-daggers glowing bright green. She landed beside Aqua, wind circling her like a shield.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Aqua grunted. "I'm fine, I took a hit. He's faster than last time."
Skuld cracked her neck. "Then I'll just be faster. Follow my lead. When its guard is down, shoot an arrow at me."
The Tusker shrieked and slammed the ground. Dark spikes erupted in a wave, lancing through the earth like an earthquake of spears. Aqua dove left, Skuld right—the blast zone exploded behind them.
The duo moved in sync. Aqua launched an arrow high into the sky—Skuld bounced off magical air platforms mid-dash and struck the arrow with her dagger, redirecting it into the Tusker's shoulder.
KRA-KOOM! A lightning shockwave burst out, frying lesser Heartless nearby.
Skuld vanished in a gust, appearing behind the beast. Her dagger now switched to the claws raked across its back in an X-pattern, wind slashing deep. Aqua pressed the advantage, freezing the monster's front leg as it turned, locking it briefly in place.
"Now!" Aqua shouted.
Skuld dove in—but the Tusker roared, its body flaring red-hot. A pulse of dark flame burst outward, knocking both girls back. The recoil launched Skuld into the air—she twisted to recover, but not fast enough.
SMASH.
She crashed through a wooden scaffold. Pain lanced through her ribs, but she forced herself up. "Still alive!" she gasped.
Aqua gritted her teeth, casting Curaga on both of them as the Tusker stomped forward, the ground cracking beneath its fury.
Across the battlefield—
Helios and Ratcliffe stood in the wreckage of the village's ceremonial center. Pocahontas lay cradled in John's arms nearby, unconscious, her breath steady but fragile. John waited until he could safely leave and ran after the evacuated people.
"Do you feel it now?" Helios asked, walking calmly toward Ratcliffe, Equilibrium gleaming at his side. "The end creeping up your spine? The knowledge that soon you'll cease to be. I wonder how that feels? Do enlighten me."
Ratcliffe trembled, blood staining his sleeves, face pale. "Stay away—!"
He raised his pistol—fired.
Helios batted the shot aside with a lazy flick of his blade.
"You've already lost, so why not die with dignity," Helios said.
"No… No, I still have power… I still have THEM! They'll kill you for me!"
Darkness flared around Ratcliffe's feet. Black tendrils wrapped around his arms, crawling into his mouth, his eyes. He screamed as the corruption overtook him.
His body convulsed, twisted. Bones snapped and reshaped.
Then—silence.
From the shadow rose a creature twice the size of a man, its form twisted in the shape of Ratcliffe's greed. A bloated, crowned Heartless with gold chains binding its limbs, its cloak made of black fog and currency. Its maw gnashed with jagged teeth, and in its right claw, it held a staff made of bones and muskets.
Helios stepped forward.
"Ah," he muttered. "So this is what your heart really looks like. A definite improvement in my opinion."
The Greedborn Ratcliffe snarled and slammed the staff down, sending dark coins spinning like saw blades toward Helios. He flickered—teleporting just in time—reappearing behind the beast.
He slashed Equilibrium upward, light exploding from the strike.
But Ratcliffe twisted unnaturally and backhanded Helios, launching him into a stone pillar that shattered on impact.
Helios coughed blood, grinning. "Alright… I'll stop playing around. Time to see what this new light is capable of."
He poured light into his keyblade, and it transformed—silver spearform, gleaming like a falling star. He hurled it high above Ratcliffe's head, teleporting to catch it mid-flight. Then, charging it with the holy flame, transforming it into a flaming spear, he hurled the spear down upon the heartless like a white blazing meteor.
"Holy Lance!"
As the spear rammed into the beast's head, the spell detonated.
KABOOOOOM!
A shockwave of white fire and light blasted out in every direction.
The explosion was so powerful that it blew through the battlefield, tearing through huts and trees. One burning log smashed near Aqua and Skuld, forcing them to retreat from the Tusker's reach.
"Was that Helios?!" Skuld yelled, shielding her face from the heat.
"Yeah…" Aqua said, eyes narrowing. "When did his light get so strong?"
The Tusker, enraged by the interference, turned toward the new crater forming in the distance—but Aqua dashed forward first.
She shot ice into the ground, creating slick terrain. Skuld flew across the path, faster than the beast could react.
Together they moved—one above, one below.
"Combo!" Aqua called.
Skuld launched upward, forming a spiral of wind that Aqua rode into the sky.
Aqua formed a giant elemental arrow, crackling with every element she'd learned. As she loosed it, Skuld redirected it mid-air toward the Tusker's open mouth.
Direct hit.
BOOOOOM!
The Tusker screamed as its molten core exploded from the inside. Cracks raced up its spine, the fight was over. But then something happened that no one could have foreseen the Tusker's bellow, and the half-destroyed heartless Ratcliffe flew over and merged with it.