The corridor cracked open with a flash of violet, spitting Helios into another ruin. He hit the ground hard, rolling across cracked stone and debris until the world steadied around him.
He rose slowly, brushing dust from his cape. A forest stretched before him, but it was no living thing—its trees were turned to charcoal and ash, their branches petrified mid-motion. The air smelled faintly of wet iron and smoke. High above, the "sky" of the Realm of Darkness bled through—a shifting canvas of violet and gray that rippled like water with no reflection.
Helios turned in a slow circle. Broken banners hung from blackened branches, their faded crests marked with foxes, arrows, and crowns. Beneath one toppled banner, a cracked stone plaque still bore a name half-swallowed by decay:
SHERWOOD.
He exhaled quietly. "This world is…Robin Hood, right?" he said to himself. "I think that's it."
The forest groaned as a gust passed through, scattering a swirl of soot that glittered faintly before dying out. He walked forward through the stillness, each step sinking into damp soil that pulsed faintly—like a corpse remembering its heartbeat.
Birdsong should have filled the air, or the distant laughter of tricksters from stories long gone. Instead, there was only the sound of dripping—dark water sliding from broken leaves.
Helios tightened his grip on Equilibrium. "Feels like walking through someone else's memory."
He crouched, brushing his hand along the earth. Traces of old magic hummed faintly beneath his palm—residual light, long extinguished. He could feel where life once thrived, and how the darkness had carved through it, leaving hollow echoes.
He straightened. The silence pressed close around him.
Then, from deep within the forest, something moved.
A vibration, low and rhythmic, made the ground tremble beneath his boots. Once. Twice. Then faster.
Thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump-thump.
Helios's expression hardened. "Damn. Already?"
The first wave arrived as shadows crawling across the ground, thin and oily, writhing up into dozens—no, hundreds—of Shadows. Their yellow eyes blinked to life like stars, their bodies slithering forward on hands and claws.
He drew Equilibrium, the blade splitting in two followed by a burst of light and darkness—Bríon na Lú in one hand, its silver glow pure and sharp, and Slánú na nDoimhneacht in the other, its whip-sword form coiling like living night.
"Let's make this quick," he said softly.
Light burst outward as he dashed through them. Bríon na Lú carved radiant arcs through the dark, each swing clean and final. Slánú na nDoimhneacht followed in wide, unpredictable sweeps, catching those that slipped through the gaps.
The forest lit up in flashes—silver against black, violet sparks dancing in the gloom.
But then the ground cracked.
A rift split open beneath his feet as two towering spirals of darkness shot upward—Demon Towers, their forms howling as they twisted together. The Shadows around them recoiled, vanishing into the earth.
Helios leapt back, landing atop a shattered tree trunk. The Towers' spines gleamed red like molten glass.
Then came the roar—deep, broken, furious.
The air itself seemed to shatter as the Abyssal Hide slithered into view, massive and grotesque, its body a fusion of shadow and armor. It moved like liquid metal, its jaw unhinging in a scream that shook the forest canopy.
"So you're still following me," Helios muttered. His armor flared to life—black and purple plating locking into place, visor sliding down with a hiss.
"Alright then."
The world erupted.
He sprinted forward, Bríon na Lú lighting the forest in blinding arcs. Each swing cut clean through a wave of Heartless, vaporizing them into light. He thrust the weapon skyward, shouting, "Halo Bloom!"
A ring of radiance burst from Bríon na Lú, a dozen blades of light descending like falling stars, slicing through Darkballs that hovered above.
Then the light dimmed, replaced by the crackle of shadow. Slánú na nDoimhneacht uncoiled, forming a dark helix around him. With a sharp twist of his wrist—"Umbral Spiral!"—the blade lashed outward, tearing through Neo Shadows lunging from the treeline. Their bodies distorted, vanishing in clouds of black mist.
For every dozen that fell, twenty more crawled out of the dark. Invisibles swooped overhead, their spectral blades cutting at the edges of his armor. Demon Towers drilled upward from the ground again and again, turning the battlefield into a spinning labyrinth of death.
Helios danced between them, his movements blurring into streaks of light and shadow. When one Tower lunged, he sidestepped, flipping onto its side and stabbing Bríon na Lú deep into its spine. A surge of light detonated inside, blowing it apart.
The shockwave sent him tumbling into a heap of broken stone. He landed hard, coughing, armor sparking.
"Persistent bastard," he hissed.
The Abyssal Hide loomed above him now—its maw glowing from within, a crimson light flickering behind its fanged mask. Its massive tail lashed, smashing through petrified trees like matchsticks.
Helios thrust his hand forward, channeling both blades into one—the merged form of Equilibrium.
"Let's see if you like this!"
The Keyblade pulsed, light and darkness spinning together into a vortex. "Equinox Sever!"
A spiral of radiance and shadow erupted outward, cutting through dozens of Heartless and searing the Hide's face. It howled, staggering back. The ground itself warped under the blast, sending fragments of the forest into the abyss below.
For a moment, the air was silent except for Helios's breathing—heavy and strained. His armor cracked, faint blue light bleeding through the seams.
Then the Hide moved again—faster than before. It slammed one of its clawed arms into the earth, opening a rift that swallowed half the battlefield.
Helios barely dodged, landing on a floating platform of rock. Below, thousands of Heartless surged like a tidal wave, climbing upward.
He gritted his teeth. "You've got to be kidding me."
He raised Equilibrium transforming it into Bríon na Lú again, firing off a beam of light that split into dozens of smaller blasts, disintegrating the nearest Shadows. Then he switched to Slánú na nDoimhneacht, its segments snapping outward to impale a charging Invisible. The creature screeched, dissolving into smoke.
But the next moment, a Darkball charged with dark energy collided with him mid-air. The explosion flung him backward, armor shattering as he crashed into the remains of Nottingham's gate.
He tried to rise, but his body screamed in protest. The visor cracked; his breathing came ragged.
The Abyssal Hide descended like a storm, tendrils coiling around him, dragging him toward its open jaws.
Helios lifted his hand weakly, summoning what remained of his light. A faint light shimmered into being around him keeping the heartless at bay—but the Hide's roar destabilized it, fracturing its edges.
"Come on," he rasped, forcing the corridor open. "Work—just this once!"
The darkness portal flared, flickered, and then surged outward with unstable energy. Helios dove for it as the Hide lunged.
A claw scraped across his armor as he was pulled through.
The corridor collapsed behind him.
He hit the ground—a cold, stone floor beneath his cheek. His vision spun, the room bathed in faint golden light.
A figure moved around him, blurred by pain and exhaustion.
One stepped closer—a silhouette framed by orange radiance, his voice calm and low.
"My, that was quite reckless," the man said.
Helios forced his eyes open. Through the haze, he saw him: white beard, golden eyes, a scientist's coat tattered by age and travel.
"Ansem… the Wise" Helios whispered, barely conscious.
"Rest now," came the answer, distant and patient. "You look as if you've done enough for one night."
Helios exhaled, the tension draining from his limbs. His eyes fluttered once more.
The last thing he heard before the world went dark again was the faint hum of machines and the soft murmur of a man who had seen too many worlds fall.
Then silence.
And somewhere far away, in the Realm of Darkness, the Abyssal Hide howled—its voice shaking the black horizon, furious that its prey had slipped away again.