The five arenas fractured; pillars of light fell like meteors. Basim's daggers pierced Lacolone's Veilward; blood sprayed. Valgor staggered under Thano's hammer blows, bones cracking audibly. Jessica knelt behind shattered shields, Maria's pistols smoking. Maya's staff splintered against Alister's chain. Every strength has its limit.
Lacolone gripped his bleeding side, whispering: "I need a way out…" Valgor recalled ancient training diagrams flashing in his mind. Jessica remembered Maya's words about harmonizing the Five Pillars. Maya muttered code-phrases through pain. Ghali Salah shouted hints from the Gate. In despair, memory became weapon.
Basim split into dozens of shadows, every dagger a kill-shot. Lacolone's Driftform was too slow; Whispercall fading. He remembered Eden's comment about "storm inside calm" and centered himself. Veilward reforged as a spiraling vortex of red lightning. Basim laughed: "You can't block this!" Assassin's art met desperation's birth.
Thano's Iron Hammer punch hurled Valgor across diamond plains. As he skidded, he saw Thano drawing power from the floor. Whispercall outlined weak nodes in the diamond veins. Riftquake spikes collapsed the veins, cutting Thano's power feed. Cut the roots; fell the tree.
Jessica took a bullet to the shoulder to get inside Maria's guard. Maria was stunned. Jessica pressed her palm to Maria's pistols, Whispercall reading code. Driftform knee strike under Maria's ribs. "Thank you, Maya," she whispered, using Maya's decoding trick mid-fight. Pain bought clarity.
Alister's chain wrapped Maya's throat, lifting her. She injected her last virus spike directly into his arm. Alister convulsed as chains became snakes of code. "Thanks, Valgor… Riftquake at the nerve point." She Driftformed behind him, detonating the spike. Knowledge repaid in survival.
From outside, Ghali Salah channeled Veilward shields over all arenas briefly. Eden chanted, stabilizing Pillar energy. Lacolone gasped: "That gave me a second wind…" Valgor: "We owe them." Maya: "One chance left…" A scholar and a witness became lifelines.
Basim broke Lacolone's katana, laughing. Thano regrew diamond fists despite Riftquake damage. Maria's aura turned black-gold, guns reforming. Alister spewed blood and chains in a storm. Heroes all at critical injuries. At the edge of defeat, doors open inward.
Lacolone closed his eyes; his aura resonated with Valgor's across distance. Jessica felt Maya's Whispercall pulse like sonar. Five Pillars aligned across four fighters. Driftform halos formed a circle above them all. Ghali Salah amplified it through the Gate. Separate streams converged.
Thunderbrand arcs leaped from one duel to another, connecting arenas. Veilward shields overlapped, creating a colossal dome. Riftquake shock pulses synced, destabilizing the Saints' arenas. Whispercall merged senses — they saw one another's fights in real time. Driftform coordinated moves across dimensions. Together, they became a single organism.
Lacolone anticipated Basim's attack using Maya's sensory feed. Valgor dodged Thano's hammer using Jessica's timing cues. Jessica caught Maria's bullet and flicked it back with Thunderbrand. Maya redirected Alister's chain to wrap his own legs. All Saints momentarily staggered. Hints became weapons.
Lacolone entered Soul Fusion Stage 2 — aura of black and white wings. Valgor's Riftquake punch collapsed Thano's gauntlets. Jessica's Driftform triple-kick shattered Maria's pistols. Maya's Thunderbrand staff cleaved Alister's chain entirely. Ghali Salah's chanting accelerated the Gate's opening. Desperation bloomed as transcendence.
Basim bled shadows; Thano's iron hammer cracked. Maria's aura flickered; Alister gasped blood. "They're… synchronizing…" Basim whispered. Jessica: "This is our only shot!" Valgor: "Everyone at once!" Unity pressed like a blade.
All four heroes unleashed Thunderbrand simultaneously in a cross-pattern. Riftquake pulses underfoot like an earthquake. Whispercall locked every Saint in a predictive grid. Veilward dome sealed them inside a red-gold sphere. Driftform tore through space, pulling Saints into a singularity. A symphony of souls.
Silence — dust and broken chains everywhere. Basim knelt, daggers gone. Thano lay unconscious under shattered diamond armor. Maria on her knees, pistols dissolving. Alister half-dissolved into code. Victory tasted like ash.
All heroes collapsed; Pillars flickered out. Ghali Salah laid hands on Valgor. Eden: "They actually did it…" Lacolone whispered thanks to each name as he bled. Maya: "We only won because of you…" Gratitude anchored them to life.
As Saints vanished, the Seventh Door ignited. A monumental lock with thirty-three shifting sigils. Elito's voice: "You've proven yourselves." Jessica: "It's not over." Valgor reached for Maya's hand, stabilizing her. Beyond victory lay judgment.
The Seventh Door half-opened. Inside: a cosmic throne room, seven suns circling a shadowed figure. Pillars flickered like candlelight in a hurricane. Elito's true voice boomed across space:
"You fought as one.
Now face me as one."
Their desperation bought survival. Their unity would decide the end.