Vel dodges the many arrows shot by Crank as each one explodes on impact. She rolls through debris, narrowly avoiding the blasts.
"I'm not as strong as the others, but I'll knock some sense into you!" she screams.
Her charm voice carries through the village, reaching Crank. He freezes mid-draw, and for a moment, he sees Vel not as herself, but as Jen standing before him. His bow lowers—until the darkness worms burst out from the back of his head, wrapping around his face. His body twists and mutates, transforming into a massive spiritual T-rex. With a roar, he charges headfirst.
Vel leaps aside just as the T-rex smashes into a building, stone and dust flying. She runs up its scaled back, slashing at the writhing worms sprouting from his spine. Reaching his head, she flips over him.
"You have no honor in fighting against your own people!" Vel shouts.
Her charm voice stuns him again. Vel spins and lands a sharp kick to the T-rex's skull, forcing a stream of worms to burst out. She slashes them apart in a single motion. But the beast's tail whips around, striking her and sending her crashing into a building. She screams in pain, her voice echoing through the ruins—and once again, Crank sees not Vel, but Boa. Memories of their battles in the prison mines overwhelm him.
Crank roars in agony as his body convulses. From within, spiritual animals burst free—ape, bird, turtle, griffin, and more—each rushing to strike the dark T-rex. But the monster overpowers them with raw strength and its endless swarm of worms.
Suddenly, a powerful roar shakes the village. The Alpha of the old pack appears—the Chimera. The Chimera and the dark T-rex roar at each other before charging. They collide head to head, shaking the village to its core as cracks split the ground and shockwaves ripple across the battlefield.
The Chimera's lion and goat heads bite through the worms while its serpent tail rises, gathering the orange sun's energy until it glows with searing fire. The freed spiritual beasts merge into it, giving the Chimera even more strength.
Prekayda and a group of witches rush to Vel's side, lifting her to her feet.
"We'll cast a spell and remind him who he is," Prekayda says firmly. "Just keep cutting the darkness off him!"
Vel nods, determination burning in her eyes.
The Chimera's serpent tail glows bright, then unleashes a massive orange heat blast that scorches the T-rex, burning countless darkness worms from the T-rex's body. The beast roars, then retaliates with a colossal darkness blast. It tears through the flames and slams into the Chimera, drowning the Alpha in shadows as worms swarm its body.
The T-rex tilts its head upward. The orange sun above still sears its flesh, it then opens its jaws wide, charging a sphere of devastating dark energy.
"I said STOP IT!" Vel shouts.
She leaps in, slashing through the orb. It bursts apart, exploding into a storm of worms that rain down across the village. Vel crashes onto a rooftop, ripping a searing worm off her arm. She rises to her feet, staring down the beast.
The T-rex screams in agony. Its eyes flicker as it sees Vel transform—first into Yunbam, then Boa, Jen, Hank, Wade, and the rest of Boa's crew standing together behind her. Prekayda's spell finally coming into play.
The monster's eyes widen. The worms covering its body flap and writhe wildly as visions flood its mind. Clouds of memory shoots out of it's head swirling around the T-rex showing—Crank's years in the prison, the mines, and every moment with his Boa team.
Behind Vel, Prekayda and the witches chant in unison, weaving the spell deeper.
The illusions of Boa and the others then runs toward the T-rex, embracing it. Their burning auras sear through the worms, peeling them away like molten chains. The beast roars in pain as the orange sun blazes brighter overhead. From its gaping jaws, a monstrous worm writhes outward, black and immense.
"Wake up already!" Vel cries.
She dashes forward and leaps to cleave the worm in half. The impact shatters the illusion into orange orbs—the T-rex form dissolves, and Crank collapses to his knees. The last of the worms drip from his eyes.
Orange aura bursts out of him, bathing his body in the radiance of the sun. Slowly, Crank rises again.
"Welcome back," Vel says softly, smiling.
Crank doesn't answer. He walks past her toward the Chimera, now gasping its final breaths. He kneels beside it, pressing his hand against its side.
"I'm sorry… I caused so much pain… I—" His voice breaks as tears stream down his face.
The Chimera exhales one last time. Its body glows, releasing the many animal spirits it held. One by one, they flow into Crank, merging with him.
He lowers his head, still weeping, as the entire village falls silent. Together, they join in mourning, their grief echoing across the village.
On the western side of the planet, countless beacon Stars carve a glowing path, their bodies shimmering with radiant light. They clash against endless waves of dark monsters, their hand-launched light beams cutting through the gloom.
Suddenly, the battlefield quakes. A massive dark form warps into existence, twisting and reforming into a colossal dragon of shadow. The creature lets out a deafening roar before surging forward. Its darkness crashes like a tidal wave, scattering the light-beacon Stars as they desperately fire their lasers back at it.
At the city's gate, Taeo, Rose, Ortis, Hopper, and others watch through towering digital screens. The path of light stretches before them, glowing like a bridge across a sea of shadows.
"We should be helping them!" Ortis shouts, fists clenched.
"Have faith in them," Taeo answers calmly. "We're going to need every drop of power. This is the last hurdle on the path."
Rose glows brighter, her aura building in preparation.
"I don't think they're strong enough to take it down!" Hopper says, panic lacing his voice.
On the screen, the dark dragon tears through beacon after beacon, shredding the path of light. The defenders falter under its might.
Then—a streak of radiance cuts across the sky, a mecha blazing forward like a comet.
"Is that Gaia?" Ortis asks, eyes wide.
"No," Hopper replies. "She's with Gilga, working on the light machine. Who the hell is that?!"
"Impressive," Taeo mutters with a rare smile. "I'm glad to name this city after me."
Ortis turns to him in disbelief. "That can't be?! You're telling me that's Yuri?!"
On the battlefield, Yuri's mecha rockets forward, chains of light spiraling off its frame. He fires a storm of luminous missiles that slam into the dragon's scales, detonating across its body.
"No more watching on the sideline!" Yuri roars. "I'll fight along with you guys!"
The dragon answers with a mouth-blast of raw darkness. Yuri cuts through it, his chainsaw sword spinning with burning force, his back-torch flaring brighter than ever. The impact carves a hole through the beam, leaving the dragon exposed.
The Stars surge forward, their combined auras blazing as they blast the dragon upward into the clouds. Yuri roars, diving in close. He drives his chainsaw sword deep into the monster's belly. His mecha ignites in full power, glowing like a newborn sun as he releases a colossal light blast through the blade.
The dragon convulses, shrieks, and then explodes into shards of dissipating darkness.
The entire battlefield falls silent as the path of light, lights up even more and curves into the sky.
At the gates, Ortis and Hopper stare in shock, speechless. Taeo's eyes narrow, then he shouts:
"The path is long enough! This will generate the power we need! Beacons of light—keep the darkness away from the path!"
Taeo summons his mecha, the dragon core glowing brilliantly at its chest. His form reshapes into a massive robotic dragon. Ortis, Hopper, and Rose leaps atop it, her aura blazing, as they launch forward down the glowing path. With every moment, every meter gained, the path feeds them more radiant power.
ahead of them, Yuri and the beacon Stars clashes with swarming dark monsters, holding the line, protecting the path with everything they have.
The light-path stretches into the sky, glowing brighter with every moment foward. Taeo's dragon-form surges at its head, wings beating with radiant force. At the end of the path, the horizon splits open, revealing a void of darkness waiting to consume them.
Taeo slams a lever forward.
"Data conversion field—expand!"
A green grid bursts outward from the dragon's chest, warping the space around, creating a giant portal. From within the portal, a colossal machine of light emerges, radiating streams of solar energy. Rose leaps onto it, her aura flaring.
Two figures climb out of the machine—Gaia and Gilga, their fingers dancing across luminous keyboards.
"Power overdrive!" they shout in unison.
The machine shifts, transforming into a massive cannon. Rose takes her place inside, the chamber glowing as she is engulfed in pure light.
Taeo spreads his dragon's wings wide and launches upward, his robotic dragon spewing blue flames that tear through the dark monsters swarming the skies.
On the cannon, Hopper and Ortis climb into position, firing light rifles at dark creatures landing across its frame. Gaia slashes through enemies with her radiant blade, while Gilga unloads precise shots from his glowing pistol, defending the machine.
The cannon locks onto the dark heavens. The sky quakes as the very surface of darkness warps, reshaping into a towering demon. It roars, its hand blazing with shadow before unleashing a colossal wave of darkness.
The cannon responds, firing a massive beam of light—Rose inside, her body fused with its power. The beams collide, light and shadow clashing in a deafening stalemate that shakes the sky.
From Taeo's cockpit, alarms scream red.
"I miscalculated!" he growls. "We need more power!"
He yanks the controls, diving the dragon straight toward the demon. The dragon unleashes barrages of glowing blue orbs that erupt across the demon's body. Explosions scorch its form, but the monster presses forward, its darkness beam unrelenting.
The dragon dives, jaws open, and breathes a torrent of blue fire onto the demon's head. Flames engulf it, forcing a roar of pain, but still it endures.
Suddenly, beams of light streak across the sky. Dozens of beacon Stars dive into the demon's body, detonating into bursts of radiance from within. Its body convulses, light tearing through cracks in the darkness.
Yuri's mecha rockets forward, torch blazing. He stops at the demon's face, eyes burning with conviction.
"I can feel it! The power of HOPE will enlighten you!"
The chainsaw sword glows, then drives deep into the demon's forehead. A golden-blue explosion erupts outward, consuming everything.
In the clash of beams, the tide finally shifts. The cannon's light overtakes the darkness, bursting through the wave and piercing the demon. Rose rides the light itself, her roar echoing through the void as she drives through the demon's core and into the walls of shadow smothering the planet.
The blast carves open a massive tear. Light rips through the sphere of darkness encasing the world.
Rose streaks free, bursting into the vacuum of space—her body blazing like a star. She speeds toward the sun, radiant and unstoppable.
Behind her, the wound in the darkness seals, the planet once again swallowed in the black sphere.
Taeo, in his dragon form, dives through the sky alongside the light beacons from exhaustion, all of them skydiving in a blazing descent.
Below, Gaia and the others are still locked in battle, holding back the endless waves of dark monsters. Suddenly, Ortis spots something plummeting from above—Yuri's mecha suit, breaking apart piece by piece as it falls.
With a deafening crash, Yuri slams into the dirt. Shards of his broken armor scatter across the battlefield.
Ortis's eyes widen. "Yuri!"
Without another seconds, he charges through the swarm of dark monsters, cutting them down one after another as he fights to reach his fallen ally.
Meanwhile, in the dark, ruined land where pale green trees stretch like skeletons, Kayle crashes hard across the field. Her body slams into a glowing tree of light, and its radiant energy surges into her, knitting her wounds. She forces herself up, panting.
"He's so much stronger than before…" she mutters, gazing skyward.
Above, Nox's massive diamond golem collides with Lars, their punches shaking the land. The golem suddenly detonates into a storm of jagged shards. Nox seizes the opening, his shovel flashing as he slashes across Lars's chest. Dark ice immediately seals the wound, but Lars retaliates, hurling a barrage of black ice shards from the floating dark wand orbiting him.
Nox twists aside, deflecting the shards, but Lars's counterpunch smashes him from the sky, sending him crashing down beside Kayle.
Lars prepares to unleash another strike—but then the battlefield trembles. The suspended diamond shards ignite, rainbow lightning lacing between them in erratic arcs. The dark sky transforms into a web of rainbow fire, pulsing and moving unpredictably.
Kayle stares in awe. "Incredible…"
The rainbow bolts lash out, striking Lars again and again, each blast flashing his body in prismatic colors. Nox rises to his feet, his voice hard with resolve.
"Don't hold back. We have to go all out to beat him!"
Kayle steadies herself, her aura flaring. "Alright—let's do this!"
But Lars roars, seizing the wild lightning itself. He whirls the radiant bolts like whips, yanking the diamond shards together in violent collisions. Explosions of rainbow light ripple through the land. Landing with a thunderous crash, Lars charges forward, his entire body radiating with suffocating darkness with his dark ice wand following behind.